Part 9

The cockades worn by the Royal servants on the front of their three-cornered hats on state occasions (see Figure 120) are large. The rosette has points, while the upper part, or fan, shows them in profusion, and there is no silk bow. The Royal cockade for semi-state has a simple fan, while that worn on the silk hat at ordinary times (see Figure 121) has no fan, but the edges are cut into points and there is a bow of ribbon in the centre.

The ordinary fan cockade is used in various sizes, and is shown in Figure 116. This is called the "treble," and has a bow of ribbon as a rule. A curious variety worn by the Chelsea Pensioners has no ribbon, while a segment is cut from the lower part of the rosette (see Figure 118). The only other variety with regard to shape that we have now to mention is the "regent" cockade, which is exactly like the treble, but without the fan. (See Figure 119.)

It appears that the cockade can lay claim to have been descended from a very ancient and curious form of head-dress, and Mr. Calthrop[19] has traced in a very interesting way the development of this, as well as of the cockade which is a survival of it in miniature. The head-dress in question was called a chaperon, and came into favour in the time of Richard II. It was itself derived from a hood and a cape which were originally worn separately, but afterwards the two were joined together for convenience, so that they could both be donned at the same time. Fashion lengthened out the peak of the hood extravagantly until it reached nearly to the ground, and then the prolongation was called a liripipe. Next it was ordained that the whole arrangement should be twisted up round the head, so that what was in the beginning a cape with jagged edges stuck out on one side like a cock's comb.

It will be noticed that the modern cockade shows the jagged edges sticking up, and it would appear that the rosette represents a coiled-up liripipe. Even to-day cockades are of various colours, and, as Mr. Calthrop points out, the servant's chaperon from which it was derived used to bear the colours of the master's livery. The chaperon is also to be seen on the robes of the Knights of the Garter at the present day, where it is fixed on the right shoulder as a kind of cape. (See Figure 144.) Mr. Calthrop also points out that the present head-dress of the French lawyer is another descendant of the chaperon, and that the buttons worn by the members of the Legion of Honour and other foreign Orders are connected with the same idea.

A writer in the _Sketch_[20] sees in the rosette and fan of the treble cockade the remnants of the crown and star which we see on military uniforms. He says that the earlier forms seem to have been made of metal, which must surely be a mistake, though the cock of the hat was, as we know, sometimes fastened up with a brooch. The example which he figures, however, and uses in support of his theory, is evidently a helmet plate which displays the star, garter, and St. George's Cross, the whole being surmounted by a crown, and in the cockade he claims to see all these elements in a modified condition. If this derivation of the cockade were correct, it would be in keeping with the quotation which the same writer gives from Cussan's "Handbook of Heraldry," that the privilege of wearing a cockade is confined to the servants of officers in the King's service, or those who by courtesy may be regarded as such. The theory is that the servant is a private soldier who when not wearing his uniform retains this badge as a mark of his profession. We cannot help thinking that Mr. Calthrop's derivation of the cockade is more feasible, though it is not easy to see the remains of the coiled-up liripipe of the chaperon in the way which Mr. Calthrop represents it in his sketch.[21] In the majority of the cockades there is no trace of a spiral such as he indicates in his figure, though in the mourning cockade, concentric rings are very clearly shown. A word may now be said as to those whose coachmen and footmen wear cockades.

The Royal cockade is used by the servants of the King, and by those belonging to members of the Royal Household. It is large and circular, as we have seen, and half the disk projects above the top of the hat. The regent cockade, which has no fan, is worn by the servants of naval officers, and no part of it is allowed to project above the hat. The servants of the officers in the Army, Yeomanry, Militia, and Volunteers wear the treble cockade with the fan, as do also the Lords Lieutenant and their deputies, as well as the servants of the members of the Diplomatic Corps. Besides this, it appears that the same kind of cockade is worn by the servants of the following: All peers and their sons and daughters, baronets, knights, and sheriffs, judges, justices, and magistrates; members and high officers of Parliament and of the Civil Service; dignitaries of the Church, King's Counsel, and law officers of the Crown.

English ambassadors have the fan painted with three stripes of red, white, and blue, and while the edge of the rosette is red, the next part is white, and the centre blue. In this case also the ribbon in the centre shows the same three colours. The cockade of the Danish ambassador is of ordinary black leather, but the centre is covered with a rosette of ribbon, red at the edge, with a circle of white next to it, and green in the centre, while the whole is finished off with an ornamental black button or knob. Other foreign ambassadors have their cockades coloured upon the same principle as the English; but in some the colours are shown on the fan in bands instead of in stripes, and the centre of the rosette may have segments of different colours instead of rings. In the case of the French ambassador the colours on the fan are in stripes, while those of the rosette are in segments.

Of recent years cockades have been reduced in size until they have become mere pigmies in connection with the uniform of "chauffeurs," or motorcar drivers. The latter customarily wear a military kind of hat with a mushroom top, and as a cockade fastened on the side of one of these would not look elegant, a very small cockade is now made and fixed in the front of the cap just above the peak. Would not one of the wearers of the old cock's-comb turbans be amazed if he could see the most recent outcome of his head-dress in its modern surroundings?

There seems to be little doubt but that the "cockade" forms part of the livery of many who have no recognized right to it. Perhaps the ease with which it can be assumed is shown by the price lists of jobmasters, in which we find, after the charge for the hire of broughams and victorias, a footnote to the effect that cockades are "6d. extra if required."

XVII

CHILDREN'S DRESS

SURVIVALS IN CHILDREN'S DRESS--SPECIAL SCHOOL COSTUMES--THE BLUE-COAT BOY--PUBLIC SCHOOL BOYS--ADOPTION OF A SPECIAL DRESS AT GIRLS' SCHOOLS

Children's costume, though characteristic, is in some instances connected with ceremonies, and in others with particular institutions; it may therefore with advantage be considered at this point.

We find that for very many centuries in this country, children, except when small babies and in their early years, were dressed practically in the same way as their parents, and looked like men and women in miniature.

The ludicrous effect that was sometimes produced is well seen in Hogarth's engravings, which date from the time when infants were powdered and patched as well as dressed in a way that made them truly grotesque.

A relic of this custom is still to be seen in certain costumes which it is now fashionable for children to wear. Possibly the sailor's suit takes the most prominent place, and the Highland dress is also a favourite. It is perhaps not very strange that we do not see little boys going about in the uniform of policemen, and until the South African war occupied the attention of this country, boys were seldom if ever seriously dressed as soldiers, but during the struggle to which allusion has been made, it was not an uncommon sight to see small boys in the khaki uniform and slouch hats which were adopted by the troops in Africa. Now, of course, the knickerbockers of the small boy, and the short skirts of his little sisters, though not absolutely characteristic of extreme youth, are recognized features of children's costume.

As regards small infants, it is still customary for some time after they are born to wrap more or less of a bandage round them in order to protect their tender bodies from injury. The modern "binder" is, of course, a relic of swaddling clothes, or those which consisted of a profusion of bandages. These still survive in the Holy Land. It may here be said that we meet in the word "pupa," which is the scientific term that we apply to a chrysalis, with the old Greek name for a baby in swaddling clothes. It is used now because the wings and legs of the future flying insect are hidden in something the same way as are the legs and arms of the much trussed-up baby. From the same word we get the name "puppet" and the French word "poupée," meaning a doll.

In Roman Catholic churches at the time of baptism it is still the custom to place on the head of the baby a white cloth. It is now too small to cover the body, and it is called the chrysome, or chrism cloth, and with it once the newly-baptized infant was swathed. This was worn for a month by the child, and if the latter died within that time the cloth was used as a shroud. The chrysome is really the remains of a series of vestments which in the sixth or seventh century were worn by the newly baptized. The most important part of the costume was the albe, which was probably similar to that worn by the clergy, and a chaplet of flowers was also used to crown the child after baptism.

There are in this country still a few monumental brasses called chrysom brasses showing babies in their baptismal robes. A case where the child is swathed up even more rigidly than was customary in the old world is to be seen in the case of the North American Indian papoose, which is fastened down to a cradle of board or basket work, and at first is so fixed by the swaddling process that only its head is movable. In some instances several months elapse before even the arms are allowed to be free, and these are fastened up again at night.

It is probably owing to deformities that were at first accidentally caused by this bandaging process, that the fashions arose which demand that the shape of the skull in certain races shall be intentionally and artificially altered. To this subject, however, we shall refer again when dealing with the question of the effects of clothes upon the body.

As might well be imagined, the petticoats of small boys are a survival, and one which is to be commended in every way. The putting of infants at an early age into jersey knickerbocker suits cannot but be bad for them physically, and it makes them look for all the world like little woollen monkeys. Mr. Druitt[22] has described as many as seven brasses of various dates between the years 1585 and 1642, which show boys dressed in petticoats.

Dr. Alice Vickery thinks that it would be well if infant boys and girls were dressed exactly alike, say up to the age of five or seven. She says it is difficult to judge the extent to which sex bias is imbibed in the earliest years, and we should do our best to postpone it as long as possible. She continues[23]:--"If boys and girls were dressed alike, taught together and played together, this would do much to direct attention away from, instead of towards, sex distinction. The longer such a system could be maintained the longer would be the period during which rewards and punishments, praise and blame, would attach to actions and conduct, to the exercise of self-control, kindliness and generosity, efficiency, industry and alertness, quite apart from all intrusions of sex idea, and its possibilities of subjection and predominance. That would in itself be a great gain."

"The best school for the training of life and conduct is the school of equality, where privilege and subjection are alike unknown, and the co-education of the sexes is a step in the direction of justice and fraternity."

"There is one point more on which I will add a few words. I have always been a great sceptic as to the essential physical inferiority of the feminine. It is true that in the aggregate that inferiority does exist, but where can we find a place, a people among whom the development of girlhood has had full and free scope?"

The custom for young girls to wear their hair down is also an old one, though married ladies of the fifteenth century are occasionally represented with flowing tresses.

At the present day, as a rule, when a girl puts up her hair her petticoats are usually lengthened simultaneously. The age at which these important changes are made varies. For instance, if a girl has a number of unmarried sisters older than herself, the time is often put off. Sometimes the term "old-fashioned" is synonymous with "sensible," and people with such ideas very often keep their girls in short frocks until they are really grown up.

The two changes in the girls' method of dressing are not, however, always made at the same time. In the upper classes we find a tendency for the long dress to come first. Girls, on the other hand, who have to go out into the world as nursemaids and kitchenmaids, may, in order to make themselves look older and more sedate, put up their hair while they are still in short frocks, though it must be said that the effect is not quite pleasing if it is business-like.

In the bib of the infant we find a relative of that part of the apron or the more voluminous pinafore which covers the chest. Although grown-up women sometimes wear pinafores, these, like the bibs, must now be considered as part of children's dress, though no doubt in the beginning they were derived from the costume of grown-up people.

The next subject that we may appropriately consider here is that of the characteristic costumes which are worn in certain schools. In connection with boys, the first case which immediately comes to mind is that of the Blue-coat boys, as the scholars of Christ's Hospital, which was founded in 1552, have come to be called. Their blue coat is part of the ordinary dress of the citizen of the reign of Edward VI, and the scholarly man at this time had the skirts of his blue coat long, while in other cases they were cut off at the knee. Instead of trunks, however, the Blue-coat boy wears more modern knickerbockers, but he clings to his yellow stockings. (See Plate IX, Figure B.)

The scholars of Christ's Hospital have discarded caps (see Plate IX, Figure A), but the one which should go with their dress is flat, like the one which came into fashion in the reign just mentioned. It was the one afterwards called the statute cap, when Elizabeth for the good of trade ordered that "one cap of wool, knitted thick and dressed in England," was to be worn "by all over six years of age except such persons as had twenty marks a year in land and their heirs and such as have borne office of worship." A cap of the same kind was worn by Edward VI, and is still part of the dress of Beef-eaters at the Tower of London.

The blue coat afterwards came to be the ordinary livery of serving-men in the sixteenth and early part of the seventeenth centuries, and blue is still a popular colour for coachmen's liveries at the present day.

In a similar way we find that certain schools are called grey-coat or green-coat schools, and we have blue schools--for instance, one for boys and another for girls at Wells.

Then there is the Red Maid School, which was established in 1627 at Bristol, and in accordance with the founder's will the girls are dressed in red frocks, with white aprons and tippets and plain straw bonnets, trimmed with blue ribbon. In connection with this foundation it may be said that £50 is set on one side each year for the award of marriage portions to girls who have left the school.

Our public schools afford us very interesting cases of special dresses. Perhaps no other coat which a boy wears is so well known as the Eton jacket. This is accompanied by a tall silk hat.

King's scholars who are on the foundation and live "in College" also wear an academical gown of fairly ample proportions. The Eton jacket was not always black, and originally the head-dress was a mortar-board, and there was a broad lace collar or bands round the neck (see page 47). The black coats and top hats were introduced in 1820 as mourning for King George III, and have been worn ever since. The broad collar which takes its name from Eton is probably a survival of lace bands, and is worn over the jacket in the same way.

Very similar coats are also worn by the younger boys at Westminster and at Harrow. In the latter case the jacket finishes off in a small point at the back, whereas the jacket worn at Eton is cut straight. The older boys at Eton wear a morning coat, a stick-up collar, and a white tie. This white tie is also worn by the masters, whether they be clerks in holy orders or not, and it seems to be a survival of a white choker which was wound round and round the stick-up collar, though, on the other hand, it may represent academical bands.

At Winchester the scholars wear bands, and this is no doubt connected with the use of academical dress, for it is usual for the boys on the foundation of public schools, as we have seen to be the case at Eton, to wear gowns.

The upper boys at Harrow, on the other hand, wear dress-coats with swallow tails; but should, however, a lower boy outgrow his short jacket, he is given what is called "charity" tails.

When speeches are made at Eton, those who take part in the performance wear dress-coats, knee-breeches, silk stockings, and buckled shoes.

Some costumes have probably been in existence since the foundation and endowment of the schools, and we can find parallel cases in the dress of some almshouses and hospitals for pensioners. Probably the idea originally underlying the wearing of a special dress is the same as is to be seen in modern charity schools, where all the boys or girls are dressed alike. It must simplify the tailoring and dressmaking arrangements, but at the same time it intentionally or unintentionally brands the children. Nevertheless, we see that the boys at most aristocratic and celebrated schools are in very much the same kind of boat.

To return to Eton again, we might mention one or two fashions in the ordinary dress which are curious. It is ordained that the lowest button of the waistcoat should be left unbuttoned and the bottom of the trousers should be turned up, while it is part of the performance to thrust the hands deeply into the trouser pockets. If a boy elects to wear an overcoat, and he does not occupy a certain definite position or status in the school, public opinion forces him to keep the collar of his top coat turned up. Of course, schools generally, and sometimes the various houses in important schools, make a particular point of school or house colours.

At Eton, on the Fourth of June, in connection with the boating there are interesting ornamentations added to the straw hats in the shape of flowers, and three boys who act as coxswains wear the uniform of an admiral and carry bouquets. The Fourth of June celebrations were instituted to take the place of the festival known as the Eton Montem. The ceremony consisted of a procession to a little hill near Slough, when many old and interesting costumes were worn.

The custom came to an end in the early years of Queen Victoria's reign, and its immediate object was the collecting of money with which to send the head boy of the year to the University. It seems, however, to have originated in a piece of folk-lore, probably connected with the old tree worship, but sanctioned by the early Christian authorities as a semi-religious function. In this connection it is pleasant to think that flowers seen in the hats on the Fourth of June are a survival of the green branches and garlands that were once brought back each year from the Montem expedition.

When dealing with children's dress we ought not to forget the special costumes that have been adopted in some private girls' schools, nor how much is being done in them towards disseminating ideas on the subject of dress reform. For, after all, it is to the women of the future that we must look if any alteration is to be generally made. The introduction of exercises in the gymnasium has necessitated the adoption of a drilling dress in very many cases, but there are schools where such a costume is generally worn at all times, and others where it forms the working dress, while long skirts are only put on when no active exertion is expected.

At Coombe Hill School, Westerham, in Kent, the dress takes the form of a tunic with wide sleeves which come to the elbow (see Figure 126). It is put over the head and has no fastenings. It is modelled upon the Djibah of the Dervishes, and is made of soft woollen material of a fawn colour. The yoke is of green embroidery and the underslip is tussore. Under the tunic a blouse of white silk is worn, and the sleeves, of course, show from the elbow downwards. The rest of the costume consists of cloth knickerbockers and stockings, with sandals or shoes that are made to the shape of the foot. This dress is worn on all occasions at school, and the girls are very proud of it.

At the Croft School, Betley, in school and when any basket-making, book-binding, drilling, or Morris-dancing is going on, a special costume is brought into use. In this case it consists of a tunic without sleeves, of red material with a velvet yoke, and shoulder straps (see Figure 127). As a finishing touch there is a girdle tied loosely in a bow. It is not placed round the waist proper, but drops towards the left knee as did the sword-belts which the knights in olden times wore over their armour. A white silk blouse shows above the yoke round the neck and has full sleeves. The knickerbockers in this case are made of red knitted stockinette instead of cloth. The whole costume has been carefully worked out, and Miss Hodgson, one of the principals of the school, has an interesting doll which is dressed exactly like the girls. It should be said that all the girls wear this dress whether they are nine or nineteen years old, and as it is much appreciated by them there is no doubt but that when they come to have girls of their own they will support any movement in favour of the more general adoption of a sensible costume.

XVIII

WEDDING GARMENTS