1340, and they give us all that wonderful charm, that intimate
knowledge, which we enjoy in the 'Canterbury Pilgrims' and the 'Vision
of Piers Plowman.'
There seems to be something in road-travelling which levels all
humanity; there is no road in England which does not throb with
history; there is no poem or story written about roads in England
which does not in some way move the Englishness in us. Chaucer and
Langland make comrades of us as they move along the highway, and with
them we meet, on terms of intimacy, all the characters of the
fourteenth century. With these illuminators of the Loutrell Psalter
and the Bodleian MS. we see actually the stream of English life along
a crowded thoroughfare.
In these books we may see drawings of every form of agricultural life
and manorial existence: we see the country sports, the bear-baiting,
and the cock-fighting; we see the harvesters with straw hats, scythes,
and reaping-hooks; we see carters, carriers, and great carriages, all
depicted in a manner which we can only compare, in later years, to the
broad humour of Hogarth; and, as we turn the priceless pages over, the
whole fourteenth-century world passes before our eyes--japers and
jugglers; disours and jesters; monk, priest, pilgrim, and pardoner;
spendthrift and wench; hermits, good and evil; lords, ladies, and
Kings.
I have written of the men and their dress--how they were often--very
often--dirty, dusty, and travel-stained--of the red-rusted armour and
the striped and chequered clothes, and now I must write of the women
and the manner of their dress.
Of the time, you must remember that it was the time of chivalry, when
there was a Round Table of Knights at Windsor, founded in 1345; when
the Order of the Garter was founded; when tiltings and all manner of
tournaments were at their height; and you listen to the minstrels of
King Edward's household playing upon the trumpet, the cytole, the
pipe, the taberet, the clarion, and the fiddle.
St. George, the Primate of Egypt in the fourth century, had now risen
to public esteem and notice, so that he became in this time not only
the patron saint of chivalry, but the tutelar saint of England.
Boys were taken from the care of the ladies of the household at the
age of seven, when they became pages to knights, and were sworn to
devote themselves to the graces and favours of some girl. At fourteen
the boy became a squire, and at twenty-one, if he were possessed of a
rental of L20 a year in land, he made his fast and vigil, and was
afterward dubbed knight and given his spurs.
[Illustration: {Twelve hair arrangements for women}]
The noteworthy point about a woman of this reign was her hair. The
Queen herself wore an elaborate mode of coiffure for that time; she
wore a metal fillet round her head, to which was attached two cases,
circular in shape, of gold fretwork, ornamented with precious stones.
She wore her hair unplaited, and brought in two parts from the back
of her head, and as far as one can see, pushed into the jewelled
cases.
[Illustration: {Five sleeve types for women}]
The most general form of hair-dressing was an excess on the mode of
the previous reign, a richness of jewel-work, an abundance of gold
wire. It was usual to divide the hair into two plaits, and arrange
these on either side of the face, holding them in their place by means
of a fillet; they might be worn folded straight up by the face, or at
an angle, but they were never left hanging; if hair was left loose it
was not plaited, but flowing.
The gorget, or throat cloth, was still in general use, and it was
attached to the hair by very elaborate-headed pins. Sometimes the
hair, dressed with the gorget, was divided into four plaits, two on
either side of the face, and fastened horizontally.
The wimple of silk or linen was very generally worn. A caul of gold
net came into fashion, but not until the end of the reign. The ladies
were great upon hunting and hawking, and this must have been a
convenient fashion to keep the hair in order. Some wore a white silk
or linen cap, so shaped as to include and cover the two side-plaits
and combine a gorget and wimple in one. Pointed frontals of pearls
were worn across the forehead, and fillets of silk or linen were so
tied that long ends hung down the back.
[Illustration: {Four women of the time of Edward III.}]
Yellow hair was much esteemed, and ladies who were not favoured by
Nature, brought saffron to their aid, and by such efforts brought
Nature into line with Art.
There was the general custom of wearing the surcoat in imitation of
the men, a garment I have described frequently--a slightly-fitting
garment without sleeves--you will see how this grew later into a
gorgeous affair. These surcoats were sometimes of fine cloth of gold
covered with an intricate, delicate pattern in which beasts, birds,
and foliage mingled in arabesque. Under this surcoat was a plainer,
better-fitting garment, made sometimes of the barred and rayed
material so common to the men, or of velvet, cloth, or silk, in plain
colours, green and red being then very favourite; ermines and many
other furs were used to border these gowns. Sometimes you may see that
this gown had sleeves short at the elbow, exposing a different
coloured under-sleeve, buttoned from elbow to wrist; at other
times--in fact, among all fashionable persons--the curious fashion of
the tippet, or long streamer, was worn. I have carefully described
this fashion in the previous chapter.
[Illustration: {A woman of the time of Edward III.}]
The plain gown with tight sleeves was most in use, and the skirts of
this gown were very voluminous, and had either pockets or holes in the
front of them; the holes enabled the wearer to reach the purse hanging
from a girdle which encircled the waist of the under-dress. These
gowns were generally buttoned in front, from neck to waist, or they
were laced.
They also wore a heavier gown which reached just below the knee,
showing the skirts of the under-gown; the heavy gowns were often
fur-lined, and had loose wide sleeves to the elbow.
There was at this time a curious fur or cloth cape in use, longer
behind than in front--in fact, it varied with the taste of the owner.
It was cut in even scallops all round; I say even to show that they
were sewn-edged, not jagged and rough-edged. Any pair of these
scallops might be longer than any other pair. Ladies wore these capes
for hunting, and ornamented the ends with bells.
The shoes of the women were not very exaggerated in length, but, as a
rule, fitted well to the foot and came out in a slight point. You may
use for this reign shoes buckled across the instep, laced at the side,
or buttoned up the front.
For riding and sport the ladies wore the hood, and sometimes a broad
round hat over it, or the peaked hat. The countrywoman wore an
ill-fitting gown with tight sleeves, an apron, and an open hood.
[Illustration: A WOMAN OF THE TIME OF EDWARD III. (1327-1377)
You will notice that the woman also wears the tippet on her arm. The
gorget is high about her neck, and is held up by pins to her plaited
hair.]
Imagine London in the year of the third great pestilence, 1369. It is
October, and the worst of the pestilence is over; John Chichester,
the Mayor, is riding through the streets about some great affairs;
many knights and ladies pass by. It is raining hard after the long
drought of the summer, but, despite the rain, many citizens are abroad
to see the doings in the City, and one may see the bright
parti-coloured clothes of the lords and ladies, and here and there, as
a cloak is blown back, a glimpse of rich-patterned cloth of gold.
Perhaps Will Langland--Long Will--a gaunt man of thirty-seven, is
brushing past a young man of twenty-nine, Chaucer, going to his work.
Silk dresses and frieze gowns, velvet and homespun, hurry along as the
rain falls more heavily, and after a while the street becomes quite
deserted. Then nothing but the dreary monotony of the rain falling
from the gables will come to the room of the knight's lady as she lies
sick of small-pox. John de Gaddesden, the King's doctor, has
prescribed for her that she must lie clothed in scarlet red in a room
of that colour, with bed-hangings of that same colour, and so she must
lie, without much comfort, while the raindrops, falling down the wide
chimney, drip on the logs in the fire and make them hiss.
RICHARD THE SECOND
Reigned twenty-two years: 1377-1399.
Born 1366. Married, 1381, Anne of Bohemia; 1395,
Isabella of France.
THE MEN
The King himself was a leader of fashion; he had by grace of Nature
the form, face, and manner which go to make a dandy. The nobles
followed the King; the merchants followed the nobles after their kind;
the peasants were still clothed in the simplest of garments, having
retained the Norman tunic with the sleeves pushed back over the wrist,
kept the loose boots and straw gaiters, and showed the improvement in
their class by the innovation of gloves made as a thumb with a pouch
for the fingers, and pouches for money of cloth and leather hung on a
leather belt. This proved the peasant to be a man of some substance by
need of his wallet. Everyone wore the chaperon--a cap and cape
combined.
We have now arrived at the reign which made such a difference to the
labourer and workman--such as the blacksmith and miller--and in
consequence altered and improved the character of his clothes. The
poll-tax of 1380 brought the labourer into individual notice for the
first time, and thus arose the free labourer in England and the first
labour pamphlets.
We have two word-pictures of the times of the greatest value, for they
show both sides of the coin: the one by the courtly and comfortable
Chaucer, the other by Long Will--William Langland, or Piers the
Plowman. Picture the two along the Strand--Long Will singing his
dirges for hire, and Chaucer, his hand full of parchments, bustling
past.
One must remember that, as always, many people dressed out of the
fashion; that many men still wore the cotehardie, a well-fitting
garment reaching half-way down the thigh, with tight sleeves coming
over the hand, decorated with buttons under the sleeve from the elbow
to the little finger. This garment had a belt, which was placed round
the hips; and this was adorned in many ways: principally it was
composed of square pieces of metal joined together, either of silver,
or enamel in copper, or of gold set with precious stones.
[Illustration: {A cotehardie; hose}]
[Illustration: {Three types of footwear; a coat}]
The cotehardie was generally made of a pied cloth in horizontal or
diagonal bars, in silk or other rich fabric. With this garment the
chaperon (to be more fully described) was worn as a hood; the legs
were in tights, and the feet in pointed shoes a little longer than the
foot. A pouch or wallet depended from the belt, and a sheath
containing two daggers, an anelace, and a misericorde. The pouch was a
very rich affair, often of stamped gilded leather or sewn
velvet--ornamented, in fact, according to the purse of the wearer. In
winter such a man as he of the cotehardie would wear an overcoat with
an attached hood. This coat was made in various forms: one form with
wide sleeves the same width all the way down, under which were slits
in the coat to enable the wearer to place his hands inside, as in the
modern Raglan coat-pocket. Another form was made very loose and
without sleeves, but with the same slits at the side; it was buckled
round the waist on occasion by a broad leather belt, very plain. The
common heavy travelling-coat was made in this way, and it was only the
very fashionable who wore the houppelande for riding or travelling.
Sometimes such a man would wear in winter about the town a cloak
fastened over the right shoulder with three or four buttons, leaving
the right arm free; such a cloak is seen in the brass of Robert
Attelathe, Mayor of Lynn.
[Illustration: {A draped cloak and simple pattern for it}]
In travelling, our gentleman would wear, often in addition to his
chaperon, a peaked hat of cloth, high in the crown, with a brim turned
up all round, ending in a long peak in front--the same hat that we
always associate with Dick Whittington.
His gloves would be of leather, often ornamented with designs on the
back, or, if he were a knight, with his badge.
On this occasion he would wear his sword in a baldric, a long belt
over his right shoulder and under his left arm, from which hung also
his daggers. Although I am not dealing even with personal arms, one
must remember, in representing these people, that daggers were almost
as necessary a part of dress as boots or shoes, and that personal
comfort often depended upon a skilful use of that natty weapon; the
misericorde was used to give the _coup de grace_.
The farmer in harvest-time wore, if he did not wear a hood, a peaked
hat or a round, large-brimmed straw hat.
[Illustration: The Houppelande or Pelicon.]
We may now arrive at the fashionable man, whose eccentricities in
clothes were the object of much comment. How the houppelande or
pelicon actually was originated I do not know, but it came about that
men suddenly began to clothe themselves in this voluminous and awkward
garment. It was a long loose-fitting robe, made to fit on the
shoulders only, having very long loose sleeves, varying according to
the whim of the owner. These sleeves were cut at the edges into the
forms of leaves or other designs, and were lined, as the houppelande,
with fur or silk. It will be seen that such a garment to suit all
weathers and temperatures must be made of various materials and lined
accordingly. These materials were almost invariably powdered with
badges or some other device, sometimes with a flowing pattern
embracing an heraldic design or motto. The sleeves turned back
disclosed the sleeve of a cotehardie underneath, with the little
buttons running from the elbow to the first knuckle of the little
finger. The houppelande had a very high collar, coming well up to the
middle of the back of the head; it was buttoned up to the chin in
front, and the collar was often turned down half-way, the two top
buttons being left undone. It was fastened about the middle by a thin
leather belt, very long; this was buckled, and the long end turned
under and brought over to hang down; the end was ornamented with many
devices--figures of saints, heraldic figures, or other ornaments.
Sometimes the entire belt was sewn with small devices in precious
metal or enamels.
Now, to be in the height of fashion, one either wore the houppelande
extremely long in the skirt or extremely short--so short, in fact, as
to leave but a frill of it remaining below the waist--leaving the
sleeves still their abnormal length. Pretty fads, as tying a dagger
round the neck, or allowing it to hang low between the legs, or
placing it in the small of the back, were much in vogue.
[Illustration: {Two types of long shoe}]
Every form of beard or moustache was used, and the hair was worn long
to the nape of the neck. By the dandy it was elaborately pressed and
curled at the ends. Bands of real or artificial flowers encircled the
heads of the dandies, the artificial flowers made in enamels or gold.
Rings were worn of great size on thumb and finger; long staffs with
elaborate heads were carried.
Under the houppelande was the skirt and the cotehardie of thin
material, and on the legs hose, pied or powdered, made of silk or
cloth cut to the form and sewn.
[Illustration: A MAN OF THE TIME OF RICHARD II. (1377-1399)
His chaperon, or hood, is twisted and tied about his head with
the liripipe, the elongated peak of his hood, thrown over his
shoulders.]
The shoes were of great length, with long points; rarely we find
examples of the absurd fashion of wearing the points so long that they
were tied back to the knees, but often they were so long that the
points came out 6 inches beyond the toe. They were made of every
material, sewn with pearls on cloth or velvet, stamped with gold on
leather, or the leather raised. The toes were sometimes stuffed hard,
sometimes allowed to hang limp.
For walking in the streets high clogs of wood were used, made with
long pointed ends to support the shoes.
I may add that the hose were gartered below the knee to hold them taut
with rich garters, but if a man were a Garter Knight he wore but the
garter of his Order.
[Illustration: {Evolution of the hood to the chaperon}]
Much in favour with this court of gallants were rich chains about the
neck, having for pendant their badge or some saint's figure in gold or
silver.
[Illustration: {Five types of head-wear}]
Now we come to the most interesting and universal fashion of wearing
the chaperon, which I am anxious to show in its various stages. It
began with a cape and a hood worn separately; these were joined for
convenience so that a man might put on both at once. This fashion held
for many years, and then the fashionable man in search of novelty
caused the peak of the hood to be lengthened until it grew to reach to
his feet. Then he cast about for a fresh mode for his head-wear, and
so he twisted the whole affair about his head, leaving the end of the
cape, which was jagged at the edge, protruding like a cockscomb. Time
went on, and he avoided the trouble of tying this himself, so he had
the hat made up all ready tied, much in the manner of a turban.
Finally, the chaperon grew into disuse, and it remains to-day a
curious reminder in the cockade worn by coachmen (it is almost a
replica in miniature, with the round twist and the jagged edge
sticking up above the hat) and on the cloaks of the Knights of the
Garter, where it is carefully made, and forms a cape on the right
shoulder, and in the present head-dress of the French lawyer, a relic
of the Middle Ages.
The chains worn about the neck remain as badges of office in Mayors
and Judges and in various Orders.
The button worn by the members of the Legion of Honour and other
foreign Orders is, I believe, an idea resulting from the cockade,
which, of course, was at the beginning the chaperon in the colours of
the servant's lord.
[Illustration: {A houppelande showing the leg opening}]
When one knows a custom so well, one is apt to leave out many things
in describing it. For example, the houppelande was open from the
bottom of the skirt to the knee in front or at the side, and this
opening was often cut or jagged into shapes; also it was open all the
way up the side of the leg, and from the neck to the breast, and
buttoned over.
I have not remarked on the jester, a member of many households, who
wore an exaggeration of the prevalent costume, to which bells were
attached at all points.
So was much good cloth wasted in vanity, and much excellent time
spent upon superfluities, to the harm of the people; perhaps useful
enough to please the eye, which must have been regaled with all these
men in wonderful colours, strutting peacockwise.
[Illustration: {Simpler clothing, hat and hood, and bags of peasants}]
The poor peasant, who found cloth becoming very dear, cared not one
jot or tittle for the feast of the eye, feeling a certain unreasonable
hunger elsewhere.
And so over the wardrobe of Dandy Richard stepped Henry, backed by the
people.
THE WOMEN
If ever women were led by the nose by the demon of fashion it was at
this time. Not only were their clothes ill-suited to them, but they
abused that crowning glory, their hair.
No doubt a charming woman is always charming, be she dressed by woad
or worth; but to be captivating with your eyebrows plucked out, and
with the hair that grows so prettily low on the back of the neck
shaved away--was it possible? I expect it was.
[Illustration: {Two types of head-dress for women, showing different
views and a detail}]
The days of high hennins was yet to come; the day of simple
hair-dressing was nearly dead, and in the interval were all the arts
of the cunning devoted to the guimpe, the gorgieres, the mentonnieres,
the voluminous escoffions.
[Illustration: {Two types of head-dress for women, showing different
views and a detail}]
At this time the lady wore her hair long and hanging freely over her
shoulders; her brows were encircled by a chaplet, or chapel of
flowers, real or artificial, or by a crown or plain circlet of gold;
or she tucked all her hair away under a tight caul, a bag of gold net
enriched with precious stones. To dress hair in this manner it was
first necessary to plait it in tight plaits and bind them round the
head, then to cover this with a wimple, which fell over the back of
the neck, and over this to place the caul, or, as it was sometimes
called, the dorelet. Now and again the caul was worn without the
wimple, and this left the back of the neck exposed; from this all the
hair was plucked.
[Illustration: {Three types of head-dress for women}]
For outdoor exercises the lady would wear the chaperon (explained in
the previous chapter), and upon this the peaked hat.
The poorer woman wore always the hood, the wimple tied under the chin,
or plain plaited hair.
One must remember always that the advance of costume only affected the
upper classes in the towns, and that the knight's lady in the country
was often fifty years behind the times in her gowns. As an instance of
this I give the fur tippet hung with bells, used when hawking.
[Illustration: {A woman of the time of Richard II.}]
In the early part of the reign the cotehardie was the universal
woman's garment. It was made in two ways: the one a simple,
well-fitting garment, skirts and bodice in one, buttoned in front,
with neck well open, the skirts ample and long, the sleeves over the
hands to the first joints of the fingers, and ornamented with buttons
from the elbow to the little finger--this was the general form of the
garment for all degrees of rank. The lady enriched this with a belt
like a man's, narrow in width round the waist with hanging end, or
broad round the hips and richly ornamented. The other form of
cotehardie was exactly as the man's, ending short below the hips,
under which was worn the petticoat.
[Illustration: {Three types of dress for women}]
The winter addition to these was the surcoat (as usually worn by a
knight over his armour); this was often lined with fur. The surcoat
was a long garment without sleeves, and with a split down the sides
from the shoulder to the top of the thigh; through this split was seen
the cotehardie and the hip-belt. The edges were trimmed with fur, and
very frequently ornamental buttons were worn down the front.
Over the shoulders was the cloak, left open in front, and fastened by
means of a cord of rich substance passing through two loops in the
backs of large ornamental studs; this cord was, as a rule, knotted at
the waist, the ends hanging down as tassels.
[Illustration: {Two types of dress for women}]
Later in the reign, when the second Queen of Richard had brought over
many rich fashions, the ladies adopted the houppelande, with its heavy
collar and wide, hanging sleeves. Every lady and most women carried a
purse in the hand or on the girdle, ornamented according to their
station.
The merchant's wife wore, in common with her maids, a white apron. The
child who was spinning a peg-top in the street was simply dressed in a
short-skirted cotehardie.
[Illustration: A WOMAN OF THE TIME OF RICHARD II. (1377-1399)
Her loose surcoat is cut away to show her under-dress. Her hair is
completely hidden by her jewelled caul.]
For riding and sport the woman was dressed almost exactly as a
man--with houppelande or heavy cloak buttoned on the right
shoulder, hawking-glove on her left hand with a bell or metal ball
depending from it. She wore boots laced up at the side, or long boots
of soft leather fastened with hook and eye; shoes like a man's, but
not so pointed and extreme. Sometimes for riding a big round hat was
worn over a hood.
In many cases the dresses were powdered with the monogram of the
Blessed Virgin, with badges of the family or some small device, or
they were ornamented with a simple flowing pattern, or were plain.