THE Britons “like their neighbours the Gauls”[16] (two of whose heads
were shewn copied from Roman monuments,) were Bearded, though, probably,
for some purpose of distinction, their Chiefs, as stated by Cæsar and
others, had merely an enormous twisted moustache. The Druids and their
successors, the native British Clergy, regarded this natural covering as
adding to their dignity and gracing their office and their age.[17]
Footnote 16:
The Goths and Dacians, as seen on the Roman monuments, were Bearded;
and the ancient Hungarians, Raumer states, wore long Beards adorned
with gold and jewels. The Catti also were accustomed not to trim the
hair of the head or Beard till they had proved their manliness by
slaying an enemy in battle.
Footnote 17:
One of the Legends of King Arthur mentions a giant who made “a great
exhibition of domestic manufacture,” consisting of a “cloak fringed
with the Beards of kings.”