[1] According to some authorities (e.g. Pringle) a few settlers
remained on the site of Gloucester, the permanent settlement thus
dating from 1623 to 1625; of this, however, there is no proof, and
the contrary opinion is the one generally held.
GLOUCESTER CITY, a city of Camden county, New Jersey, U.S.A., on the
Delaware river, opposite Philadelphia. Pop. (1890) 6564; (1900) 6840, of
whom 1094 were foreign-born; (1905) 8055; (1910) 9462. The city is
served by the West Jersey & Seashore and the Atlantic City railways, and
by ferry to Philadelphia, of which it is a residential suburb. Among its
manufactures are incandescent gas-burners, rugs, cotton yarns, boats and
drills. The municipality owns and operates the water works. It was near
the site of Gloucester City that the Dutch in 1623 planted the
short-lived colony of Fort Nassau, the first European settlement on the
Delaware river, but it was not until after the arrival of English
Quakers on the Delaware, in 1677, that a permanent settlement, at first
called Axwamus, was established on the site of the present city. This
was surveyed and laid out as a town in 1689. During the War of
Independence the place was frequently occupied by troops, and a number
of skirmishes were fought in its vicinity. The most noted of these was a
successful attack upon a detachment of Hessians on the 25th of November
1777 by American troops under the command of General Lafayette. In 1868
Gloucester City was chartered as a city. In Camden county there is a
township named GLOUCESTER (pop. in 1905, 2300), incorporated in 1798,
and originally including the present township of Clementon and parts of
the present townships of Waterford, Union and Winslow.
GLOUCESTERSHIRE, a county of the west midlands of England, bounded N. by
Worcestershire, N.E. by Warwickshire, E. by Oxfordshire, S.E. by
Berkshire and Wiltshire, S. by Somerset, and W. by Monmouth and
Herefordshire. Its area is 1243-3 sq. m. The outline is very irregular,
but three physical divisions are well marked--the hills, the vale and
the forest. (1) The first (the eastern part of the county) lies among
the uplands of the Cotteswold Hills (q.v.), whose westward face is a
line of heights of an average elevation of 700 ft., but exceeding 1000
ft. at some points. This line bisects the county from S.W. to N.E. The
watershed between the Thames and Severn valleys lies close to it, so
that Gloucestershire includes Thames Head itself, in the south-east near
Cirencester, and most of the upper feeders of the Thames which join the
main stream, from narrow and picturesque valleys on the north. (2) The
western Cotteswold line overlooks a rich valley, that of the lower
Severn, usually spoken of as "The Vale," or, in two divisions, as the
vale of Gloucester and the vale of Berkeley. This great river receives
three famous tributaries during its course through Gloucestershire. Near
Tewkesbury, on the northern border, the Avon joins it on the left and
forms the county boundary for 4 m. This is the river known variously as
the Upper, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Stratford or Shakespeare's
Avon, which descends a lovely pastoral valley through the counties
named. It is to be distinguished from the Bristol Avon, which rises as
an eastward flowing stream of the Cotteswolds, in the south-east of
Gloucestershire, sweeps southward and westward through Wiltshire,
pierces the hills through a narrow valley which becomes a wooded gorge
where the Clifton suspension bridge crosses it below Bristol, and enters
the Severn estuary at Avonmouth. For 17 m. from its mouth it forms the
boundary between Gloucestershire and Somersetshire, and for 8 m. it is
one of the most important commercial waterways in the kingdom,
connecting the port of Bristol with the sea. The third great tributary
of the Severn is the Wye. From its mouth in the estuary, 8 m. N. of that
of the Bristol Avon, it forms the county boundary for 16 m. northward,
and above this, over two short reaches of its beautiful winding course,
it is again the boundary. (3) Between the Wye and the Severn lies a
beautiful and historic tract, the forest of Dean, which, unlike the
majority of English forests, maintains its ancient character.
Gloucestershire has thus a share in the courses of five of the most
famous of English rivers, and covers two of the most interesting
physical districts in the country. The minor rivers of the county are
never long. The vale is at no point within the county wider than 24 m.,
and so does not permit the formation of any considerable tributary to
the Severn from the Dean Hills on the one hand or the Cotteswolds on the
other. The Leadon rises east of Hereford, forms part of the
north-western boundary, and joins the Severn near Gloucester, watering
the vale of Gloucester, the northern part of the vale. In the southern
part, the vale of Berkeley, the Stroudwater traverses a narrow,
picturesque and populous valley, and the Little Avon flows past the town
of Berkeley, joining the Severn estuary on the left. The Frome runs
southward to the Bristol Avon at Bristol. The principal northern feeders
of the Thames are the Churn (regarded by some as properly the headwater
of the main river) rising in the Seven Springs, in the hills above
Cheltenham, and forming the southern county boundary near its junction
with the Thames at Cricklade; the Coln, a noteworthy trout-stream,
joining above Lechlade, and the Lech (forming part of the eastern county
boundary) joining below the same town; while from the east of the county
there pass into Oxfordshire the Windrush and the Evenlode, much larger
streams, rising among the bare uplands of the northern Cotteswolds.
_Geology._--No county in England has a greater variety of geological
formations. The pre-Cambrian is represented by the gneissic rocks at
the south end of the Malvern Hills and by grits at Huntley. At Damory,
Charfield and Woodford is a patch of greenstone, the cause of the
upheaval of the Upper Silurian basin of Tortworth, in which are the
oldest stratified rocks of the county. Of these the Upper Llandovery
is the dominant stratum, exposed near Damory mill, Micklewood chase
and Purton passage, wrapping round the base of May and Huntley hills,
and reappearing in the vale of Woolhope. The Wenlock limestone is
exposed at Falfield mill and Whitfield, and quarried for burning at
May hill. The Lower Ludlow shales or mudstones are seen at Berkeley
and Purton, where the upper part is probably Aymestry limestone. The
series of sandy shales and sandstones which, as Downton sandstones and
Ledbury shales, form a transition to the Old Red Sandstone are
quarried at Dymock. The "Old Red" itself occurs at Berkeley, Tortworth
Green, Thornbury, and several places in the Bristol coal-field, in
anticlinal folds forming hills. It forms also the great basin
extending from Ross to Monmouth and from Dymock to Mitcheldean,
Abenhall, Blakeney, &c., within which is the Carboniferous basin of
the forest. It is cut through by the Wye from Monmouth to Woolaston.
This formation is over 8000 ft. thick in the forest of Dean. The
Bristol and Forest Carboniferous basins lie within the synclinal folds
of the Old Red Sandstone; and though the seams of coal have not yet
been correlated, they must have been once continuous, as further
appears from the existence of an intermediate basin, recently pierced,
under the Severn. The lower limestone shales are 500 ft. thick in the
Bristol area and only 165 in the forest, richly fossiliferous and
famous for their bone bed. The great marine series known as the
Mountain Limestone, forming the walls of the grand gorges of the Wye
and Avon, is over 2000 ft. thick in the latter district, but only 480
in the former, where it yields the brown hematite in pockets so
largely worked for iron even from Roman times. It is much used too for
lime and road metal. Above this comes the Millstone Grit, well seen at
Brandon hill, where it is 1000 ft. in thickness, though but 455 in the
forest. On this rest the Coal Measures, consisting in the Bristol
field of two great series, the lower 2000 ft. thick with 36 seams, the
upper 3000 ft. with 22 seams, 9 of which reach 2 ft. in thickness.
These two series are separated by over 1700 ft. of hard sandstone
(Pennant Grit), containing only 5 coal-seams. In the Forest coal-field
the whole series is not 3000 ft. thick, with but 15 seams. At Durdham
Down a dolomitic conglomerate, of the age known as Keuper or Upper
Trias, rests unconformably on the edges of the Palaeozoic rocks, and
is evidently a shore deposit, yielding dinosaurian remains. Above the
Keuper clays come the Penarth beds, of which classical sections occur
at Westbury, Aust, &c. The series consists of grey marls, black paper
shales containing much pyrites and a celebrated bone bed, the Cotham
landscape marble, and the White Lias limestone, yielding _Ostrea
Liassica_ and _Cardium Rhaeticum_. The district of Over Severn is
mainly of Keuper marls. The whole vale of Gloucester is occupied by
the next formation, the Lias, a warm sea deposit of clays and clayey
limestones, characterized by ammonites, belemnites and gigantic
saurians. At its base is the insect-bearing limestone bed. The
pastures producing Gloucester cheese are on the clays of the Lower
Lias. The more calcareous Middle Lias or marlstone forms hillocks
flanking the Oolite escarpment of the Cotteswolds, as at
Wotton-under-Edge and Churchdown. The Cotteswolds consist of the great
limestone series of the Lower Oolite. At the base is a transition
series of sands, 30 to 40 ft. thick, well developed at Nailsworth and
Frocester. Leckhampton hill is a typical section of the Lower Oolite,
where the sands are capped by 40 ft. of a remarkable pea grit. Above
this are 147 ft. of freestone, 7 ft. of oolite marl, 34 ft. of upper
freestone and 38 ft. of ragstone. The Painswick stone belongs to lower
freestone. Resting on the Inferior Oolite, and dipping with it to
S.E., is the "fuller's earth," a rubbly limestone about 100 ft. thick,
throwing out many of the springs which form the head waters of the
Thames. Next comes the Great or Bath Oolite, at the base of which are
the Stonesfield "slate" beds, quarried for roofing, paling, &c., at
Sevenhampton and elsewhere. From the Great Oolite Minchinhampton stone
is obtained, and at its top is about 40 ft. of flaggy Oolite with
bands of clay known as the Forest Marble. Ripple marks are abundant on
the flags; in fact all the Oolites seem to have been near shore or in
shallow water, much of the limestone being merely comminuted coral.
The highest bed of the Lower Oolite is the Cornbrash, about 40 ft. of
rubble, productive in corn, forming a narrow belt from Siddington to
Fairford. Near the latter town and Lechlade is a small tract of blue
Oxford Clay of the Middle Oolite. The county has no higher Secondary
or Tertiary rocks; but the Quaternary series is represented by much
northern drift gravel in the vale and Over Severn, by accumulations of
Oolitic detritus, including post-Glacial extinct mammalian remains on
the flanks of the Cotteswolds, and by submerged forests extending from
Sharpness to Gloucester.
_Agriculture._--The climate is mild. Between three-quarters and
seven-eighths of the total area is under cultivation, and of this some
four-sevenths is in permanent pasture. Wheat is the chief grain crop.
In the vale the deep rich black and red loamy soil is well adapted for
pasturage, and a moist mild climate favours the growth of grasses and
root crops. The cattle, save on the frontier of Herefordshire, are
mostly shorthorns, of which many are fed for distant markets, and many
reared and kept for dairy purposes. The rich grazing tract of the vale
of Berkeley produces the famous "double Gloucester" cheeses, and the
vale in general has long been celebrated for cheese and butter. The
vale of Gloucester is the chief grain-growing district. Turnips, &c.,
occupy about three-fourths of the green crop acreage, potatoes
occupying only about a twelfth. A feature of the county is its apple
and pear orchards, chiefly for the manufacture of cider and perry,
which are attached to nearly every farm. The Cotteswold district is
comparatively barren except in the valleys, but it has been famous
since the 15th century for the breed of sheep named after it. Oats and
barley are here the chief crops.
_Other Industries._--The manufacture of woollen cloth followed upon
the early success in sheep-farming among the Cotteswolds. This
industry is not confined to the hill country or even to
Gloucestershire itself in the west of England. The description of
cloth principally manufactured is broadcloth, dressed with teazles to
produce a short close nap on the face, and made of all shades of
colour, but chiefly black, blue and scarlet. The principal centre of
the industry lies in and at the foot of the south-western Cotteswolds.
Stroud is the centre for a number of manufacturing villages, and
south-west of this are Wotton-under-Edge, North Nibley and others.
Machinery and tools, paper, furniture, pottery and glass are also
produced. Ironstone, clay, limestone and sandstone are worked, and the
coal-fields in the forest of Dean are important. Of less extent is the
field in the south of the county, N.E. of Bristol. Strontium sulphate
is dug from shallow pits in the red marl of Gloucestershire and
Somersetshire.
_Communications._--Railway communications are provided principally by
the Great Western and Midland companies. Of the Great Western lines,
the main line serves Bristol from London. It divides at Bristol, one
section serving the south-western counties, another South Wales,
crossing beneath the Severn by the Severn Tunnel, 4-1/3 m. in length,
a remarkable engineering work. A more direct route, by this tunnel,
between London and South Wales, is provided by a line from Wootton
Bassett on the main line, running north of Bristol by Badminton and
Chipping Sodbury. Other Great Western lines are that from Swindon on
the main line, by the Stroud valley to Gloucester, crossing the Severn
there, and continuing by the right bank of the river into Wales, with
branches north-west into Herefordshire; the Oxford and Worcester trunk
line, crossing the north-east of the county, connected with Cheltenham
and Gloucester by a branch through the Cotteswolds from Chipping
Norton junction; and the line from Cheltenham by Broadway to
Honeybourne. The west-and-north line of the Midland railway follows
the vale from Bristol by Gloucester and Cheltenham with a branch into
the forest of Dean by Berkeley, crossing the Severn at Sharpness by a
great bridge 1387 yds. in length, with 22 arches. The coal-fields of
the forest of Dean are served by several branch lines. In the north,
Tewkesbury is served by a Midland branch from Ashchurch to Malvern.
The Midland and South-western Junction railway runs east and south
from Cheltenham by Cirencester, affording communication with the south
of England. The East Gloucester line of the Great Western from Oxford
terminates at Fairford. The Thames and Severn canal, rising to a
summit level in the tunnel through the Cotteswolds at Sapperton, is
continued from Wallbridge (Stroud) by the Stroudwater canal, and gives
communication between the two great rivers. The Berkeley Ship Canal
(16-1/2 m.) connects the port of Gloucester with its outport of
Sharpness on Severn.
_Population and Administration._--The area of the ancient county is
795,709 acres, with a population in 1891 of 599,947 and in 1901 of
634,729. The area of the administrative county is 805,482 acres. The
county contains 28 hundreds. The municipal boroughs are--Bristol, a
city and county borough (pop. 328,945); Cheltenham (49,439);
Gloucester, a city and county borough (47,955); Tewkesbury (5419). The
other urban districts are--Awre (1096), Charlton Kings (3806),
Circenester (7536), Coleford (2541), Kingswood, on the eastern
outskirts of Bristol (11,961), Nailsworth (3028), Newnham (1184),
Stow-on-the-Wold (1386), Stroud (9153), Tetbury (1989),
Westbury-on-Severn (1866). The number of small ancient market towns is
large, especially in the southern part of the vale, on the outskirts
of the forest, and among the foot hills of the wolds. Those in the
forest district are mostly connected with the coal trade, such as
Lydney (3559), besides Awre and Coleford; and, to the north, besides
Newnham, Cinderford and Mitcheldean. South from Stroud there are
Minchinhampton (3737) and Nailsworth; near the south-eastern boundary
Tetbury and Marshfield; Stonehouse (2183), Dursley (2372),
Wotton-under-Edge (2992) and Chipping Sodbury along the western line
of the hills; and between them and the Severn, Berkeley and Thornbury
(2594). Among the uplands of the Cotteswolds there are no towns, and
villages are few, but in the east of the county, in the upper Thames
basin, there are, besides Cirencester, Fairford on the Coln and
Lechlade, close to the head of the navigation on the Thames itself.
Far up in the Lech valley, remote from railway communication, is
Northleach, once a great posting station on the Oxford and Cheltenham
road. In the north-east are Stow-on-the-Wold, standing high, and
Moreton-in-the-Marsh near the headwaters of the Evenlode. In a
northern prolongation of the county, almost detached, is Chipping
Campden. Winchcomb (2699) lies 6 m. N.E. of Cheltenham. In the
north-west, Newent (2485) is the only considerable town.
Gloucestershire is in the Oxford circuit, and assizes are held at
Gloucester. It has one court of quarter sessions, and is divided into
24 petty sessional divisions. The boroughs of Bristol, Gloucester and
Tewkesbury have separate commissions of the peace and courts of
quarter sessions. There are 359 civil parishes. Gloucestershire is
principally in the diocese of Gloucester, but part is in that of
Bristol, and small parts in those of Worcester and Oxford. There are
408 ecclesiastical parishes or districts wholly or in part within the
county. There are five parliamentary divisions, namely, Tewkesbury or
northern, Cirencester or eastern, Stroud or mid, Thornbury or
southern, and Forest of Dean, each returning one member. The county
also includes the boroughs of Gloucester and Cheltenham, each
returning one member; and the greater part of the borough of Bristol,
which returns four members.
_History._--The English conquest of the Severn valley began in 577 with
the victory of Ceawlin at Deorham, followed by the capture of
Cirencester, Gloucester and Bath. The Hwiccas who occupied the district
were a West Saxon tribe, but their territory had become a dependency of
Mercia in the 7th century, and was not brought under West Saxon dominion
until the 9th century. No important settlements were made by the Danes
in the district. Gloucestershire probably originated as a shire in the
10th century, and is mentioned by name in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in
1016. Towards the close of the 11th century the boundaries were
readjusted to include Winchcomb, hitherto a county by itself, and at the
same time the forest district between the Wye and the Severn was added
to Gloucestershire. The divisions of the county for a long time remained
very unsettled, and the thirty-nine hundreds mentioned in the Domesday
Survey and the thirty-one hundreds of the Hundred Rolls of 1274 differ
very widely in name and extent both from each other and from the
twenty-eight hundreds of the present day.
Gloucestershire formed part of Harold's earldom at the time of the
Norman invasion, but it offered slight resistance to the Conqueror. In
the wars of Stephen's reign the cause of the empress Maud was supported
by Robert of Gloucester who had rebuilt the castle at Bristol, and the
castles at Gloucester and Cirencester were also garrisoned on her
behalf. In the barons' war of the reign of Henry III. Gloucester was
garrisoned for Simon de Montfort, but was captured by Prince Edward in
1265, in which year de Montfort was slain at Evesham. Bristol and
Gloucester actively supported the Yorkist cause during the Wars of the
Roses. In the religious struggles of the 16th century Gloucester showed
strong Protestant sympathy, and in the reign of Mary Bishop Hooper was
sent to Gloucester to be burnt as a warning to the county, while the
same Puritan leanings induced the county to support the Parliamentary
cause in the civil war of the 17th century. In 1643 Bristol and
Cirencester were captured by the Royalists, but the latter was recovered
in the same year and Bristol in 1645. Gloucester was garrisoned for the
parliament throughout the struggle.
On the subdivision of the Mercian diocese in 680 the greater part of
modern Gloucestershire was included in the diocese of Worcester, and
shortly after the Conquest constituted the archdeaconry of Gloucester,
which in 1290 comprised the deaneries of Campden, Stow, Cirencester,
Fairford, Winchcombe, Stonehouse, Hawkesbury, Bitton, Bristol, Dursley
and Gloucester. The district west of the Severn, with the exception of a
few parishes in the deaneries of Ross and Staunton, constituted the
deanery of the forest within the archdeaconry and diocese of Hereford.
In 1535 the deanery of Bitton had been absorbed in that of Hawkesbury.
In 1541 the diocese of Gloucester was created, its boundaries being
identical with those of the county. On the erection of Bristol to a see
in 1542 the deanery of Bristol was transferred from Gloucester to that
diocese. In 1836 the sees of Gloucester and Bristol were united; the
archdeaconry of Bristol was created out of the deaneries of Bristol,
Cirencester, Fairford and Hawkesbury; and the deanery of the forest was
transferred to the archdeaconry of Gloucester. In 1882 the archdeaconry
of Cirencester was constituted to include the deaneries of Campden,
Stow, Northleach north and south, Fairford and Cirencester. In 1897 the
diocese of Bristol was recreated, and included the deaneries of Bristol,
Stapleton and Bitton.
After the Conquest very extensive lands and privileges in the county
were acquired by the church, the abbey of Cirencester alone holding
seven hundreds at fee-farm, and the estates of the principal lay-tenants
were for the most part outlying parcels of baronies having their "caput"
in other counties. The large estates held by William Fitz Osbern, earl
of Hereford, escheated to the crown on the rebellion of his son Earl
Roger in 1074-1075. The Berkeleys have held lands in Gloucestershire
from the time of the Domesday Survey, and the families of Basset, Tracy,
Clifton, Dennis and Poyntz have figured prominently in the annals of the
county. Gilbert de Clare, earl of Gloucester, and Richard of Cornwall
claimed extensive lands and privileges in the shire in the 13th century,
and Simon de Montfort owned Minsterworth and Rodley.
Bristol was made a county in 1425, and in 1483 Richard III. created
Gloucester an independent county, adding to it the hundreds of Dudston
and King's Barton. The latter were reunited to Gloucestershire in 1673,
but the cities of Bristol and Gloucester continued to rank as
independent counties, with separate jurisdiction, county rate and
assizes. The chief officer of the forest of Dean was the warden, who was
generally also constable of St Briavel Castle. The first justice-seat
for the forest was held at Gloucester Castle in 1282, the last in 1635.
The hundred of the duchy of Lancaster is within the jurisdiction of the
duchy of Lancaster for certain purposes.
The physical characteristics of the three natural divisions of
Gloucestershire have given rise in each to a special industry, as
already indicated. The forest district, until the development of the
Sussex mines in the 16th century, was the chief iron-producing area of
the kingdom, the mines having been worked in Roman times, while the
abundance of timber gave rise to numerous tanneries and to an important
ship-building trade. The hill district, besides fostering agricultural
pursuits, gradually absorbed the woollen trade from the big towns, which
now devoted themselves almost entirely to foreign commerce. Silk-weaving
was introduced in the 17th century, and was especially prosperous in the
Stroud valley. The abundance of clay and building-stone in the county
gave rise to considerable manufactures of brick, tiles and pottery.
Numerous minor industries sprang up in the 17th and 18th centuries, such
as flax-growing and the manufacture of pins, buttons, lace, stockings,
rope and sailcloth.
Gloucestershire was first represented in parliament in 1290, when it
returned two members. Bristol and Gloucester acquired representation in
1295, Cirencester in 1572 and Tewkesbury in 1620. Under the Reform Act
of 1832 the county returned four members in two divisions; Bristol,
Gloucester, Cirencester, Stroud and Tewkesbury returned two members
each, and Cheltenham returned one member. The act of 1868 reduced the
representation of Cirencester and Tewkesbury to one member each.
_Antiquities._--The cathedrals of Gloucester and Bristol, the
magnificent abbey church of Tewkesbury, and the church of Cirencester
with its great Perpendicular porch, are described under their separate
headings. Of the abbey of Hayles near Winchcomb, founded by Richard,
earl of Cornwall, in 1246, little more than the foundations are left,
but these have been excavated with great care, and interesting fragments
have been brought to light. Most of the old market towns have fine
parish churches. At Deerhurst near Tewkesbury, and Cleeve near
Cheltenham, there are churches of special interest on account of the
pre-Norman work they retain. The Perpendicular church at Lechlade is
unusually perfect; and that at Fairford was built (c. 1500), according
to tradition, to contain the remarkable series of stained-glass windows
which are said to have been brought from the Netherlands. These are,
however, adjudged to be of English workmanship, and are one of the
finest series in the country. The great Decorated Calcot Barn is an
interesting relic of the monastery of Kingswood near Tetbury. The castle
at Berkeley is a splendid example of a feudal stronghold. Thornbury
Castle, in the same district, is a fine Tudor ruin, the pretensions of
which evoked the jealousy of Cardinal Wolsey against its builder, Edward
Stafford, duke of Buckingham, who was beheaded in 1521. Near Cheltenham
is the fine 15th-century mansion of Southam de la Bere, of timber and
stone. Memorials of the de la Bere family appear in the church at
Cleeve. The mansion contains a tiled floor from Hayles Abbey. Near
Winchcomb is Sudeley Castle, dating from the 15th century, but the
inhabited portion is chiefly Elizabethan. The chapel is the burial place
of Queen Catherine Parr. At Great Badminton is the mansion and vast
domain of the Beauforts (formerly of the Botelers and others), on the
south-eastern boundary of the county.
See _Victoria County History, Gloucestershire_; Sir R. Atkyns, _The
Ancient and Present State of Gloucestershire_ (London, 1712; 2nd ed.,
London, 1768); Samuel Rudder, _A New History of Gloucestershire_
(Cirencester, 1779); Ralph Bigland, _Historical, Monumental and
Genealogical Collections relative to the County of Gloucester_ (2
vols., London, 1791); Thomas Rudge, _The History of the County of
Gloucester_ (2 vols., Gloucester, 1803); T. D. Fosbroke _Abstract of
Records and Manuscripts respecting the County of Gloucestershire
formed into a History_ (2 vols., Gloucester, 1807); _Legends, Tales
and Songs in the Dialect of the Peasantry of Gloucestershire_ (London,
1876); J. D. Robertson, _Glossary of Dialect and Archaic Words of
Gloucester_ (London, 1890); W. Bazeley and F. A. Hyett,
_Bibliographers' Manual of Gloucestershire_ (3 vols., London,
1895-1897); W. H. Hutton, _By Thames and Cotswold_ (London, 1903). See
also _Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological
Society_.
GLOVE (O. Eng. _glof_, perhaps connected with Gothic _lofa_, the palm of
the hand), a covering for the hand, commonly with a separate sheath for
each finger.
The use of gloves is of high antiquity, and apparently was known even to
the pre-historic cave dwellers. In Homer Laertes is described as wearing
gloves ([Greek: cheiridas epi chersi]) while walking in his garden
(_Od._ xxiv. 230). Herodotus (vi. 72) tells how Leotychides filled a
glove ([Greek: cheiris]) with the money he received as a bribe, and
Xenophon (_Cyrop._ viii. 8. 17) records that the Persians wore fur
gloves having separate sheaths for the fingers ([Greek: cheiridas
daseias kai daktylethras]). Among the Romans also there are occasional
references to the use of gloves. According to the younger Pliny (Ep.
iii. 5. 15) the secretary whom his uncle had with him when ascending
Vesuvius wore gloves (_manicae_) so that he might not be impeded in his
work by the cold, and Varro (_R.R._ i. 55. 1) remarks that olives
gathered with the bare fingers are better than those gathered with
gloves (_digitabula_ or _digitalia_). In the northern countries the
general use of gloves would be more natural than in the south, and it is
not without significance that the most common medieval Latin word for
glove (_guantus_ or _wantus_, Mod. Fr. _gant_) is of Teutonic origin (O.
H. Ger. _want_). Thus in the life of Columbanus by Jonas, abbot of
Bobbio (d. c. 665), gloves for protecting the hands in doing manual
labour are spoken of as _tegumenta manuum quae Galli wantos vocant_.
Among the Germans and Scandinavians, in the 8th and 9th centuries, the
use of gloves, fingerless at first, would seem to have been all but
universal; and in the case of kings, prelates and nobles they were often
elaborately embroidered and bejewelled. This was more particularly the
case with the gloves which formed part of the pontifical vestments (see
below). In war and in the chase gloves of leather, or with the backs
armoured with articulated iron plates, were early worn; yet in the
Bayeux tapestry the warriors on either side fight ungloved. The fact
that gloves are not represented by contemporary artists does not prove
their non-existence, since this might easily be an omission due to lack
of observation or of skill; but, so far as the records go, there is no
evidence to prove that gloves were in general use in England until the
13th century. It was in this century that ladies began to wear gloves as
ornaments; they were of linen and sometimes reached to the elbow. It
was, however, not till the 16th century that they reached their greatest
elaboration, when Queen Elizabeth set the fashion for wearing them
richly embroidered and jewelled.
The symbolic sense of the middle ages early gave to the use of gloves a
special significance. Their liturgical use by the Church is dealt with
below (_Pontifical gloves_); this was imitated from the usage of civil
life. Embroidered and jewelled gloves formed part of the _insignia_ of
the emperors, and also, and that quite early, of the kings of England.
Thus Matthew of Paris, in recording the burial of Henry II. in 1189,
mentions that he was buried in his coronation robes, with a golden crown
on his head and gloves on his hands. Gloves were also found on the hands
of King John when his tomb was opened in 1797, and on those of King
Edward I. when his tomb was opened in 1774.
See W. B. Redfern, _Royal and Historic Gloves and Shoes_, with
numerous examples.
_Gages._--Of the symbolical uses of the glove one of the most widespread
and important during the middle ages was the practice of tendering a
folded glove as a gage for waging one's law. The origin of this custom
is probably not far to seek. The promise to fulfil a judgment of a court
of law, a promise secured by the delivery of a _wed_ or gage, is one of
the oldest, if not the very oldest, of all enforceable contracts. This
gage was originally a chattel of value, which had to be deposited at
once by the defendant as security into his adversary's hand; and that
the glove became the formal symbol of such deposit is doubtless due to
its being the most convenient loose object for the purpose. The custom
survived after the contract with the _vadium_, _wed_ or gage had been
superseded by the contract with pledges (personal sureties). In the
rules of procedure of a baronial court of the 14th century we find: "He
shall wage his law with his folded glove (_de son gaunt plyee_) and
shall deliver it into the hand of the other, and then take his glove
back and find pledges for his law." The delivery of the glove had, in
fact, become a mere ceremony, because the defendant had his sureties
close at hand.[1]
Associated with this custom was the use of the glove in the wager of
battle (_vadium in duello_). The glove here was thrown down by the
defendant in open court as security that he would defend his cause in
arms; the accuser by picking it up accepted the challenge (see WAGER).
This form is still prescribed for the challenge of the king's champion
at the coronation of English sovereigns, and was actually followed at
that of George IV. (see CHAMPION). The phrase "to throw down the
gauntlet" is still in common use of any challenge.
_Pledges of Service._--The use of the glove as a pledge of fulfilment is
exemplified also by the not infrequent practice of enfeoffing vassals by
investing them with the glove; similarly the emperors symbolized by the
bestowal of a glove the concession of the right to found a town or to
establish markets, mints and the like; the "hands" in the armorial
bearings of certain German towns are really gloves, reminiscent of this
investiture. Conversely, fiefs were held by the render of presenting
gloves to the sovereign. Thus the manor of Little Holland in Essex was
held in Queen Elizabeth's time by the service of one knight's fee and
the rent of a pair of gloves turned up with hare's skin (Blount's
_Tenures_, ed. Beckwith, p. 130). The most notable instance in England,
however, is the grand serjeanty of finding for the king a glove for his
right hand on coronation day, and supporting his right arm as long as he
holds the sceptre. The right to perform this "honourable service" was
originally granted by William the Conqueror to Bertram de Verdun,
together with the manor of Fernham (Farnham Royal) in Buckinghamshire.
The male descendants of Bertram performed this serjeanty at the
coronations until the death of Theobald de Verdun in 1316, when the
right passed, with the manor of Farnham, to Thomas Lord Furnival by his
marriage with the heiress Joan. His son William Lord Furnival performed
the ceremony at the coronation of Richard II. He died in 1383, and his
daughter and heiress Jean de Furnival having married Sir Thomas Nevill,
Lord Furnival in her right, the latter performed the ceremony at the
coronation of Henry IV. His heiress Maud married Sir John Talbot (1st
earl of Shrewsbury) who, as Lord Furnival, presented the glove
embroidered with the arms of Verdun at the coronation of Henry V. When
in 1541 Francis earl of Shrewsbury exchanged the manor of Farnham with
King Henry VIII. for the site and precincts of the priory of Worksop in
Nottinghamshire he stipulated that the right to perform this serjeanty
should be reserved to him, and the king accordingly transferred the
obligation from Farnham to Worksop. On the 3rd of April 1838 the manor
of Worksop was sold to the duke of Newcastle and with it the right to
perform the service, which had hitherto always been carried out by a
descendant of Bertram de Verdun. At the coronation of King Edward VII.
the earl of Shrewsbury disputed the duke of Newcastle's right, on the
ground that the serjeanty was attached not to the manor but to the
priory lands at Worksop, and that the latter had been subdivided by sale
so that no single person was entitled to perform the ceremony and the
right had therefore lapsed. His petition for a regrant to himself as
lineal heir of Bertram de Verdun, however, was disallowed by the court
of claims, and the serjeanty was declared to be attached to the manor of
Worksop (G. Woods Wollaston, _Coronation Claims_, London, 1903, p. 133).
_Presentations._--From the ceremonial and symbolic use of gloves the
transition was easy to the custom which grew up of presenting them to
persons of distinction on special occasions. When Queen Elizabeth
visited Cambridge in 1578 the vice-chancellor offered her a "paire of
gloves, perfumed and garnished with embroiderie and goldsmithe's wourke,
price 60s.," and at the visit of James I. there in 1615 the mayor and
corporation of the town "delivered His Majesty a fair pair of perfumed
gloves with gold laces." It was formerly the custom in England for
bishops at their consecrations to make presents of gloves to those who
came to their consecration dinners and others, but this gift became such
a burden to them that by an order in council in 1678 It was commuted for
the payment of a sum of L50 towards the rebuilding of St Paul's.
Serjeants at law, on their appointment, were given a pair of gloves
containing a sum of money which was termed "regards"; this custom is
recorded as early as 1495, when according to the _Black Book_ of
Lincoln's Inn each of the new Serjeants received L6, 13s. 4d. and a pair
of gloves costing 4d., and it persisted to a late period. At one time it
was the practice for a prisoner who pleaded the king's pardon on his
discharge to present the judges with gloves by way of a fee.
Glove-silver, according to Jacob's _Law Dictionary_, was a name used of
extraordinary rewards formerly given to officers of courts, &c., or of
money given by the sheriff of a county in which no offenders were left
for execution to the clerk of assize and judge's officers; the
explanation of the term is that the glove given as a perquisite or fee
was in some cases lined with money to increase its value, and thus came
to stand for money ostensibly given in lieu of gloves. It is still the
custom in the United Kingdom to present a pair of white gloves to a
judge or magistrate who when he takes his seat for criminal business at
the appointed time finds no cases for trial. By ancient custom judges
are not allowed to wear gloves while actually sitting on the bench, and
a witness taking the oath must remove the glove from the hand that holds
the book. (See J. W. Norton-Kyshe, _The Law and Customs relating to
Gloves_, London, 1901.)
_Pontifical gloves_ (Lat. _chirothecae_) are liturgical ornaments
peculiar to the Western Church and proper only to the pope, the
cardinals and bishops, though the right to wear them is often granted by
the Holy See to abbots, cathedral dignitaries and other prelates, as in
the case of the other episcopal insignia. According to the present use
the gloves are of silk and of the liturgical colour of the day, the edge
of the opening ornamented with a narrow band of embroidery or the like,
and the middle of the back with a cross. They may be worn only at the
celebration of mass (except masses for the dead). In vesting, the gloves
are put on the bishop immediately after the dalmatic, the right hand one
by the deacon, the other by the subdeacon. They are worn only until the
ablution before the canon of the mass, after which they may not again be
put on.
At the consecration of a bishop the consecrating prelate puts the gloves
on the new bishop immediately after the mitre, with a prayer that his
hands may be kept pure, so that the sacrifice he offers may be as
acceptable as the gift of venison which Jacob, his hands wrapped in the
skin of kids, brought to Isaac. This symbolism (as in the case of the
other vestments) is, however, of late growth. The liturgical use of
gloves itself cannot, according to Father Braun, be traced beyond the
beginning of the 10th century, and their introduction was due, perhaps
to the simple desire to keep the hands clean for the holy mysteries, but
more probably merely as part of the increasing pomp with which the
Carolingian bishops were surrounding themselves. From the Frankish
kingdom the custom spread to Rome, where liturgical gloves are first
heard of in the earlier half of the 11th century. The earliest authentic
instance of the right to wear them being granted to a non-bishop is a
bull of Alexander IV. in 1070, conceding this to the abbot of S. Pietro
in Cielo d' Oro.
During the middle ages the occasions on which pontifical gloves (often
_wanti_, _guanti_, and sometimes _manicae_ in the inventories) were
worn were not so carefully defined as now, the use varying in different
churches. Nor were the liturgical colours prescribed. The most
characteristic feature of the medieval pontifical glove was the ornament
(_tasellus_, _fibula_, _monile_, _paratura_) set in the middle of the
back of the glove. This was usually a small plaque of metal, enamelled
or jewelled, generally round, but sometimes square or irregular in
shape. Sometimes embroidery was substituted; still more rarely the whole
glove was covered, even to the fingers, with elaborate needlework
designs.
Liturgical gloves have not been worn by Anglican bishops since the
Reformation, though they are occasionally represented as wearing them on
their effigies.
See J. Braun, S.J., _Die liturgische Gewandung_ (Freiburg im Breisgau,
1907), pp. 359-382, where many beautiful examples are illustrated.
_Manufacture of Gloves._--Three countries, according to an old proverb,
contribute to the making of a good glove--Spain dressing the leather,
France cutting it and England sewing it. But the manufacture of gloves
was not introduced into Great Britain till the 10th or 11th century. The
incorporation of glovers of Perth was chartered in 1165, and in 1190 a
glove-makers' gild was formed in France, with the object of regulating
the trade and ensuring good workmanship. The glovers of London in 1349
framed their ordinances and had them approved by the corporation, the
city regulations at that time fixing the price of a pair of common
sheepskin gloves at 1d. In 1464, when the gild received armorial
bearings, they do not seem to have been very strong, but apparently
their position improved subsequently and in 1638 they were incorporated
as a new company. In 1580 it is recorded that both French and Spanish
gloves were on sale in London shops, and in 1661 a company of glovers
was incorporated at Worcester, which still remains an important seat of
the English glove Industry. In America the manufacture of gloves dates
from about 1760, when Sir William Johnson brought over several families
of glove makers from Perth; these settled in Fulton county, New York,
which is now the largest seat of the glove trade in the United States.
Gloves may be divided into two distinct categories, according as these
are made of leather or are woven or knitted from fibres such as silk,
wool or cotton. The manufacture of the latter kinds is a branch of the
hosiery industry. For leather gloves skins of various animals are
employed--deer, calves, sheep and lambs, goats and kids, &c.--but kids
have had nothing to do with the production of many of the "kid gloves"
of commerce. The skins are prepared and dressed by special processes
(see LEATHER) before going to the glove-maker to be cut. Owing to the
elastic character of the material the cutting is a delicate operation,
and long practice is required before a man becomes expert at it.
Formerly it was done by shears, the workmen following an outline
marked on the leather, but now steel dies are universally employed not
only for the bodies of the gloves but also for the thumb-pieces and
fourchettes or sides of the fingers. When hand sewing is employed the
pieces to be sewn together are placed between a pair of jaws, the
holding edges of which are serrated with fine saw-teeth, and the sewer
by passing the needle forwards and backwards between each of these
teeth secures neat uniform stitching. But sewing machines are now
widely employed on the work. The labour of making a glove is much
subdivided, different operators sewing different pieces, and others
again embroidering the back, forming the button-holes, attaching the
buttons, &c. After the gloves are completed, they undergo the process
of "laying off," in which they are drawn over metal forms, shaped like
a hand and heated internally by steam; in this way they are finally
smoothed and shaped before being wrapped in paper and packed in boxes.
Gloves made of thin india-rubber or of white cotton are worn by some
surgeons while performing operations, on account of the ease with
which they can be thoroughly sterilized.