OF BRITISH PEASANTS
While searching in the annals of the bygone costume of the peasant, the
most democratic person might be tempted to regret the repealing of all
sumptuary law. We are grateful to-day to recognise the artistic value
of the red tie of the masculine tiller of the field, or of the coloured
handkerchief over the head of the harvest-woman, but, in those other
times, the plains and the fields, the woods and the forests, were the
background for a people in brave array, on which blue, red, green, and
white played conspicuous part. And not alone in colour must their garb
have been pre-eminently attractive to the eye, but in the simplicity of
its make, the liberal display of white linen about the neck and the head,
and the further addition of coloured lacings. These completed an effect
of picturesque carelessness which may well have been allowed to cover a
multitude of sins of omission in personal cleanliness.
Glancing roughly through the periods, I find that the dress most worn
in England by the peasant women in the eleventh century consisted of a
coarse woollen gown with long sleeves closely fitting to the wrists, a
white linen apron, and a linen kerchief covering the head as a wimple.
In the reign of Henry I. it is recorded that men wore simple tunics of
red lined with white, innocent of a girdle, and open from the waist at
the left side, the sleeves possessing long cuffs reaching almost to the
elbow. The mantle was often added, and beneath the tunic were chaussés
or drawers, and either boots or shoes, with crossed diagonal lacings.
Hats or hoods were of leather, felt, or cloth, and warm mitten-shaped
gloves of coarse make were adopted. In the time of Henry II. women, who
held faithfully to linen aprons, caps, and kerchiefs, wore long gowns
and plain bodices laced up the back, the sleeves put rather full at the
shoulders, and the petticoats pleated at the waist.
In the thirteenth century the bliaus, or smock, of canvas or fustian was
made in many varieties of coarse cloth, russet, and cordetum produced
for the use of the poor. The peasant women were converted towards some
ambition for the beautiful, and their costume became impressed with the
ornamental, consisting of a bodice cut low in the neck to show a pleated
chemisette of white linen, and attached to a fully gathered skirt,
fastening with buttons down the front. Their boots were high and had
buttons on the fronts, while the white linen apron and white linen cap or
kerchief still held their place.
In the days of King Edward II. the men adopted a long gown buttoning
from the neck to the waist, with loosely hanging sleeves, showing
closely-fitting under-sleeves, the hood being folded back or pendent, and
the shoes pointed.
The double dress was introduced in the fourteenth century, a dress
which is in the form which we now associate with the fishwife's dress,
the upper skirt being pinned back over a full petticoat, the bodice
of this being laced and the sleeves loose. Chaucer describes his poor
Ploughman as wearing a tabard--a garment unheard of before the fourteenth
century--a hat, scrip, and scarf; the Shipmanne was garbed "all in a gown
of falding to the knee." This material was a kind of frieze, and in this
day the coarse red woollen material still used by the Irish peasant women
for petticoats and jackets is the old falding.
In the fifteenth century the chemisette to some extent yielded place to
the bodice high at the neck and fastened at the back, finished by a small
linen kerchief tied in the front. A plain full woollen petticoat was in
vogue, and the sleeves were turned back with pleated cuffs, the option in
headgear being allowed between a close hood or kerchief and a plain hat
of straw.
In the reign of Edward IV. the peasant women reverted most wisely to
the bodice, which was cut low at the neck in a circular form; the plain
skirts were gathered at the waist, and over a white linen cap they placed
a hood and cape cut in one piece.
In the days when the greatest widower was achieving his conjugal record,
an old country-man is described as wearing a "buttoned cap" (one with
flaps over the ears, turned up and fastened with a button), a "lockram
falling band, a narrow turned-down collar of coarse linen--coarse but
clean, a russet-coat; a white belt of horse hide, right horse collar
white leather; a close round breech of russet sheep's-wool, with a long
stock of white kersey, and a high shoe with yellow buckles." A pretty
fellow, I'm convinced.
In this reign, too, ornamental braid found its place on the costumes of
the peasant women, whose bodices, cut square and edged with braid, were
laced up at the back. However, novelty, which is ever desirable, was
obtained by limiting the bodices, raising the waists, and tightening the
full sleeves at the wrists, where they were finished with a small frill.
Braid later gained further patronage, and in the reign of Mary was
allowed the privilege of ornamenting the full petticoats, when the
closely-fitting bodices were still laced in V-shape and flaunted an
upstanding collar of Medici tendency cut in one with revers. On the
top of the sleeves was a padded roll, and upon the head a quaint cap
displayed a small point in front, and bore a close resemblance in the
crown to the penny bun.
The early Elizabethan peasant woman's dress consisted of a double skirt,
the under one of serge, full, the upper one with braid round the hem,
made in a contrasting shade, and folded back to form a panier. The
tight-fitting bodice had a pointed plastron edged with ribbon on either
side, and the bodice was bound at the hem with ribbon, which tied in
a bow at the waist, a larger bow appearing at the bust, while round
the neck a gauffered frill outspread itself with stiff importance. The
sleeves were full, and the head was covered with a lawn cap, the crown
of which was full, and the curtain, turning back in front, was trimmed
with lace. Yet another style of dress worn at this period had a full
skirt braided round the hem and an upper skirt with a wider braid, the
square-cut bodice, also braided, being finished with a turned-down linen
collar. The sleeves displayed double puffs to the elbow, thence fitting
tightly to the wrist, and braid again appeared on the mob-cap of lawn,
and on the hem of the lawn apron.
This might have been the attire of many a wilful wench hieing forth on
her holiday, in the hopes of catching a glimpse of some green-clad figure
in the wake of gay Robin Hood.
Pleasant reading is of the milkmaid of the reign of James I.; she must
have been a bonny figure in her box-pleated under-skirt of red serge,
with a blue serge over-skirt tucked up on the hips. Her tight bodice was
of blue and laced down the front, her sleeves were long and loose to
allow of their being rolled back to the elbow, round her neck was wound a
bright-coloured kerchief, and on her head another, while, for merrymaking
and fêtes, she would tie her apron with coloured ribbons, and let bunches
of ribbon adorn her smart high-heeled shoes. As an alternative to the
kerchief she would wear over her hood a plain straw hat with a slightly
turned-up brim decked with ribbons.
The Commonwealth brought with it austerity of dress; sad tones of dull
brown and grey receiving popular patronage, while the formal linen cuffs,
collar, and cap were ubiquitous. A plain material formed the over-skirt
of many a dress which bore a striped under-skirt, tight sleeves, and a
plain, tightly-fitting bodice. Cuffs and collars grew wider, the linen
apron had two pockets, and there was added to costume a circular cape
of dull serge. The high felt hat was adorned simply by a plain band of
ribbon.
During the Restoration, colour asserted itself once more, and dress was
again pretty, a commendable example having a blue linen skirt with a
band of fancy material round the hem, a full basque, and a linen collar,
the front adorned with braid, the apron striped.
Stripes were quite a feature of fashion then and in the later days of
William III., when the striped skirt would be adorned with a deep band
of plain material trimmed with braid, the striped bodice cut V-shaped to
show a vest of pleated linen, the sleeves being plain with linen cuffs,
the apron of linen, and the cloth hood and cape cut in one piece.
Fancy materials were made in the reign of Anne, when short skirts
frequently were composed of stripes beneath a plain over-skirt bunched on
the hips. The bodice then came out in the glory of a muslin fichu, and
the long sleeves were turned back to the elbow, the cap was of muslin
too, with a full crown and gauffered edge. A charming picture of a
country-woman of 1711 shows her wearing a tucked-up gown with short loose
sleeves, a pair of stiff stays, and an apron, with high-heeled shoes and
a low cap turned up in front. Caps yielded place to hats for the lower
orders in the eighteenth century, when plain flat straw hats became the
only wear, being recognised as serving a useful purpose in the carrying
of fruit and fish.
Cretonne first enjoyed a share of recognition in the reign of George
I., when the under-skirts were made of this in stripes, gathered at the
waist, and over these was worn a serge skirt tucked up at the hips. The
tight-fitting bodice was of serge laced in front, cut low in the neck,
and outlined with a loosely-knotted handkerchief, the full sleeves being
turned back below the elbows.
In glancing through the records, I find in the reign of George II. but
little change from this state of affairs. The bodice was laced over a
white linen chemisette, and finished with a deep collar and tight sleeves
with frills of muslin at the elbow, the apron with its two pockets being
ornamented with a deep band of embroidered muslin. The hair, however,
received more attention, being tied round with a ribbon under a muslin
cap, while a straw hat was worn over it when the fair maids took their
walks abroad.
The modish mandate was reversed in the following reign, when the
under-skirt was of serge with the over-skirt of chintz gathered on to the
bodice, which was full at the back and opened in the front, the bodice
being further adorned by lacings over a velvet vest, cut low, with a
muslin fichu to put the finishing touch and white muslin frills appearing
to adorn the tight sleeves. The apron of muslin had a large pocket on
the right side, and the straw hat was invariably trimmed with a bow of
ribbon, also placed on the right side.
When George IV. was king the full skirt was gathered on to the short
bodice all round beneath a band of ribbon, which finished at the back to
conceal the fact. The muslin fichu was generally adopted, padded rolls
were on the shoulders, the white linen apron was long, and the head bowed
itself to the fascinations of the bonnet of drawn white cambric.
A full woollen skirt, gathered round the waist, was the popular costume
in the time of William IV., when the tight bodice buttoned down the
front, a triple cape attached to a band of ribbon and fastened in the
front was thrown over the shoulders, and ribbon proved itself as
serviceable as becoming over the crown of the straw hat, where it was
placed to secure it firmly to its wearer.
My investigations by the way of Scotch and Irish and Welsh peasants have
been few, but the details of one modern representative Irish peasant's
dress I can quote as including "a short skirt of linsey turned up over
a petticoat of red or some other bright colour, with the bodice belted
round the waist and laced down the front, worn beneath a long frieze
cloak with cap and hood; the head is covered with a kerchief." Of
imperishable memory is the red Connemara colleen cloak; and the native
Welsh dress is not less dear to the lovers of the picturesque, with its
high pointed hat worn above a frilled lawn cap, the worsted shawl, the
short petticoat, and white apron and trim shoes. The Highland dress was
in its original form a chequered covering known as a breconfeile, a plain
piece of tartan two yards wide and six yards in length placed round the
waist in folds, and held in position by a leather belt. The plaid was
fastened on the left shoulder by a large brooch, the right end hanging
down longer than the left, being tucked into the belt, while the right
arm was left uncovered save in the severest weather, when the plaid was
thrown over the whole body. This was the wear, until the end of the
eighteenth century, of Lowlanders and Highlanders alike.
The Scotch, and the Irish too, had a rooted antipathy to foot-gear,
preferring to carry their shoes and stockings rather than permit them to
do their proper duties, and when the etiquette of church-going demanded
the sacrifice of this inclination, they yielded only during the service,
afterwards sitting on any convenient gravestone to remove the unwelcome
impediments.
The national head-dress of the Highlanders is the round flat bonnet of
blue cloth, with an eagle's feather; and for many centuries men and women
wore plaids alike, the usual colours being white striped with red, black,
or blue, the men's stockings matching these.
Thinking seriously over the dress of the peasant in the North, South,
East, and West, I am tempted to protest that progression has meant
retrogression, and that the modern country-woman, with her indiscreet
lace-trimmed blouse revealing the ragged belt of her mud-coloured
petticoat, makes a sorry figure in comparison with her sister-toiler
of the past; and I recall sorrowfully even this description of an
early Victorian peasant-woman's dress which reads: "To consist of a
full skirt of print gathered into a band at the waist; there is a full
crossover-bodice over a full vest of the same material, finished with a
frill at the neck. The sleeves are full above the elbow with two puffs,
and from these are tight to the wrists, and a muslin mob-cap is worn with
a bow of ribbon in front."
The country-woman who dwells in the indulgent times of Edward VII. should
ponder over the picture, and repent of her shapeless bodice divorced from
her unsympathetic skirt, and her cloth cricket cap held by aggressive
pins above a group of tortured wisps of hair bound in steel bondage to a
cruel curler.