the head, or thrown upon the shoulders, is distinctly seen. They carry gloves in their hands, a very common practice at this period. The lady's dress is too simple to need comment.

The brilliant reign of Edward III. was favourable to the full development of that display in costume which began during that of his unfortunate father, and to the fostering of a good taste for its regulation. Peace and commerce did much

in inducing this, as new luxuries were imported in great abundance. No less than eight sumptuary laws were enacted in one session of Parliament in this reign. The effigy of Edward at Westminster is remarkable for its simple, yet rich and majestic style. A long dalmatic, open in front to the thigh, displays the under-tunic, the sleeves of which reach to the root of the thumb, and are buttoned closely all the way from the elbow; his mantle and dalmatic have rich borders, and the shoes are splendidly embroidered.

The ordinary costume of the upper classes, during the early part of this reign, is very well displayed in the figures annexed. The

gentleman wears a closefitting tunic, called a cotehardie, with tight sleeves, and considerably shorter than the dresses worn dur. ing the previous reign. It does not reach to the knee, and leaves room for the full display of the embroidered garter, which encircles the leg, and hangs from the buckle after the fashion of the usual representations of that of the knights of the Garter. His girdle is confined by a large circular buckle in its

centre; and he wears, suspended from it, on the left side, an ornamental purse (or gipciere, as it was now generally termed),* and a small dagger. His shoes have long pointed toes, and are fastened up the centre with rows of buttons-an exceedingly common and fashionable mode of securing and ornamenting any portion of the dress that required fastening. Not the least curious part of this figure is the hood, carried over the left shoulder, and which clearly shows the peculiar shape of this head-tire. It is in this instance so slung, that the pendant, or liripipe, hangs in front of the breast; the opening for the face is seen, and the double border ornamenting the neck; it must have been an exceedingly warm article of clothing, encasing head and shoulders, with but a slight oval opening for the face. The lady wears a long gown, over which is a cyclas, or tightly-fitting upper-tunic. She carries in her hand her gloves, which at this period were very commonly worn, and are as commonly depicted in the illuminations, either carried in the hand, or tucked in the girdle, when not actually worn. Her hair is fastened in a reticulated caul, and from it streams the long contoise, so fashionable during this reign and the preceding one, and which frequently floats a yard or more in length from the jousting-helmet of the knight. It was no unfrequent thing for the noble ladies to decorate their long gowns with the armorial bearings of their family. A good example occurs in the cut on next page, copied, as are the two figures just described, from the illuminations in the famous Psalter executed for Sir Geoffrey Loutterell, who died in 1345. It represents that nobleman, armed at all points, receiving from the ladies of his family his tilting-helmet, shield, and pavon, as the triangular flag held by one of the ladies was termed. The cut will show the constant repetition of his coat-of-arms (azure, a bend between six martlets argent) on every article where it could be introduced; and embroidered on a large scale upon the flowing dress of the foremost lady, who displays the arms of Loutterell impaling or, a lion rampant vert for Sutton; his wife, whom this figure represents, being the daughter of Sir Richard de Sutton. The lady behind, who carries the shield, impales azure, a bend or, a label argent, for Serope of Masham, the two eldest sons of Sir Geoffrey Loutterell having married the daughters of Sir Geoffrey Scrope. The frequent tournaments and jousts, so much patronized by the kingwho, indeed, re-established at Windsor the "Round Table," and

A very fine specimen in stamped leather will be found engraved in the Glossary to this volume.

H

encouraged to the utmost the chivalric feeling of the nobilityrendered a great display of heraldic gorgeousness a necessary means for detecting the knight who was so completely concealed by the arms he wore. The brilliant exhibition of so much coat-armour, with all its quaintness of form and figure, and splendour of colour, must have presented a coup-d'œil of great beauty and magnificence; and may still be useful to the painter who desires rich masses of colour, and variety of tint, on portions of dress generally monotonous; the forms and lines of heraldic fancy may also frequently be brought to bear usefully, if judiciously introduced into a composition.

To the pendent streamers from the hood were now added others from the elbow. They first appear as narrow elongations from the sleeve of the upper-tunic, or cote-hardie; they afterwards assume the form of long narrow strips of white cloth, and were called tippets, generally reaching from the elbow to the knee, or lower. They are seen upon the second figure in the cut introduced on next page. This figure wears a hood, with a border of a different colour, and cut into escalops. His cote-hardie fits tightly to the waist, and is particoloured, half being with its sleeve of one colour, and the other half with its sleeve of another. The stockings also are of different tints;

the shoes of rich workmanship. The other figure, which is an excellent example of the ordinary costume of a gentleman of the day, is from an illumination of this period in my own possession, which, with some others, have been ruthlessly cut from a copy of the famous Roman de la Rose. His hair (which during this period was generally cut close over the forehead, and allowed to flow at the sides, encircling the shoulders) is luxuriant. His hood, less ample than that of the other figure, embraces the

:

neck, and hangs behind it is of crimson. His tightly-fitting cotehardie, of dark blue, is encircled at the hips by an elegantly ornamented girdle, which is never represented, either on male or female figures, as encompassing the waist, and is generally divided into a series of square compartments, exhibiting ornamental patterns, many of which are of great beauty: a small dagger or anelace hangs from the girdle. The right stocking is white, the left one red, and the shoes (of the general fashion) are open at the instep, and fastened round the ankle.

A knight of France, Geoffroi de la Tour Landry, wrote a treatise on morals and behaviour for the use of his daughters, which he began in 1371, and in which occur many very curious notices of dress.* He alludes to the cote-hardie as a German (Almayne) fashion in a story he tells of two knights, brothers, who took upon them always to reprove improprieties. One day, at a great feast, there came in a young squire clothed in a cote-hardie, after the German fashion; one of the knights called this young squire, and asked him where was his fiddle, or such other instrument as belonged unto a minstrel. "Sir," said the squire, "I cannot meddle with such things; it is not my craft nor science." "Sir," said the knight, "I cannot understand you; your array is like unto a minstrel. I have known all your ancestors, and the knights and squires of your lineage, which

This manuscript is preserved in the Harleian Collection, No. 1764. The book, under the title of The Knight of the Tower, was printed by Caxton,

1484.

were all worthy men, but I never saw one of them clothed in such array." This comparison of his appearance to that of an itinerant fiddler, induced him to put on "another gown" immediately, and give the offending garment to a servant.

The parti-coloured dresses were especially obnoxious to the clergy and satirists. The red side of a gentleman, they declare, gives them the idea of his having been half-roasted, or that he and his dress were afflicted by St. Anthony's fire! The clergy were strictly enjoined to eschew the heterogeneous fashion, and church canons were levelled at those whose love of finery induced them to patronize it.

The beautiful bronze figures of the children of Edward III., that are on the south side of his sumptuous tomb in Westminster Abbey,

may be cited as fine examples

of the costume of this era; two are engraved here. The lady has her hair arranged in square plaits at the sides of the head, similar to Queen Philippa's; a band, ornamented with jewels, encircles the forehead; her tight-fitting gown is plain and unornamented, hanging in folds over the feet; long streamers fall from the upper part of the arm to the ankles, and the hands are placed in pockets, which now begin to appear in ladies' dresses, and into which they are most generally thrust, in the manner that a modern French girl places hers in the pockets of her apron. The male figure is exceedingly simple, extravagant in nought but buttons. Indeed, that this is the most beautiful of the various dresses worn in England has long been my opinion; and if we omit the ugly streamer from the lady's costume, it must be granted that both figures, for elegant simplicity, could not be exceeded by anything of classic times. There is a very curious figure engraved in Hope's Costume of the Ancients, copied from Caylus, volume vi., and delineating the ancient Etruscan attire, which is here given to show its extraordinary similarity to that now under consideration: the rows of buttons down the tight tunic, the girdle round the hips, the close-fitting