Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1872-10-08

Ehuuluontss
One of the most perfect rudiments is presented
by top boots. These boots were originally
meant to come above the knee; and as NAV be
observed in old pictures, it became customary TO
turn the upper part down, so that the lining was
visible all round the top. The lining being of
unblackened leather formed the brown top
which is now worn. The original boot tar NAV
he observed in the form of mere wisp OF leather
sewed to the top, while the real acting tag is
sewed to the inside of the boot. The back or the
top is also sewed up, so that it could not by in
genuity be turned up again into its original
position.
Again, why do we black and polish our boots I?
The key is found in the French cirdge, or black
ing. We black our boots because brown leath-
er would, with wet and use, naturally GET dis
colored with dark patches, and thus boots to
look well, should be coEored black Now, shoot
ing boots are usually creased; and that it was
formerly customary to treat ordinary boots in
the same manner is shown by the following
verse in the ballad of 'Argentile and Curran:"
He borrowed on the working daiss
His holy russets oft,
And of the bacon's fat, to make
His startops black and soft.
Startops were kind of rustic high shoes. Fair
holt in his work, states that "the oldest kind of
backing for boots and shoes appears to have
been a thick, viscid, oily substance" But for
neat boots cleaner substance than grease would
be required, and thus wax would be thought of;
French word cirer, which means inditferently to
wax" or 10 "poish boots" Boots are, of
course, polished, because wax takes so good a
polish. Lastly, patent leather is an imitation
of common backing.
A gentleman at ball might, perhaps be little
inclined TO think that his boots present mere
imitation of the grease on his shooting boots;
but think that the fact seems clear.
have now gone through the principal articles
of mems clothing, and have shown how numer-
Gus and curious are the rudiments or "surviv
ais" as Mr.. Taylor calls them; more thor
ough search proves the existence of many more.
For instance, the various gowns worn at the
universities and elsewhere afford examples
These gowns were, as late as the reign of Queen
Elizabeth, merely upper garments, but have
survived into age as mere badges. Their chief
pecuiiaritieS consist in the sleeves: and it is
curious that nearly all of such peculiarities
point TO various devices by which the wearing
of the sleeves has been euded, or rendered less
burdensome. Thus. the plats and buttons in
barrister's gown, and the slit in front of the
sleeve ofthe B. AS gown, are for this purpose
In an NJ. AS gown the sleeves extend below
the knees; but there is a hole in the side
through which the arm is passed; the end of
the sleeve is sewed up; but there is kind of
scallop at the lower part, which represents tine
narrowing for the wrist. barrister's gown
has a small hood sewed to the left shoulder
which would hardly go on the head of an in
FAINT, even il it could be opened out into hood
shape.
1t is not, however, in our dress alone that
these suryVals exist; they are to be found in all
the things of our every day life. For instance,
any one who has experienced a drive on a road
so bad that leaning back is impossible, under
stands the full benefit to be derived from arm
sings such as are placed in first class railway
carriages, and will agree that in such carriages
they are mere survivals. The rounded tracery
on the outside of railway carriages show the
van n44 al, L.
pattern on which to build them; and the word
GUARD" is derived from the man who sat be-
hind the coach and defended the passengers
and mails with his bfnnderbuss. That these
are not mere coniectures may be seen from pic
lures of the first railway trains
There were special mail carriages on the early
trains 1S37-S) on the Birmingham railway,
which were made very narrow, and to hold four
in each compartment 1.-TWO and two), so as to be
like the coach they had just superseded.
The words dete, tranSpose, stet, used In cor
reciing proof sheets; the words Sed Uide, or s. o..
tt1t sup, IBID Toe. sit, used in foot notes; the
~, being merely corruption of the word ct,
the word fRtS, until recently placed at the ends
of books; and the old fashion of giving an Eng
fish book Latin title, are all doubtless suryi-
walls from the days when all books were in
Latin; the mark A, used in writing, for inter.
polating, appears TO be the remains of an ar
row pointing to the sentence to be included.
The royal "broad arrow" mark is a survivor of
the head of ga barbed javelin, carried by ser
geants at arms in the kings presence as early
as Richard the First's time"
Then, again, we probably mount horses from
the left side, lest our swords should i'm.
pede us. The small saddle on the sur.
cingle of a horse, the seams in the backs
of cloth-bound books and at the backs oil
gloves, are rudiments; but to give catalogue
of such things would be almost endless. have
said enough, however, to show that by remem
bering that there is Hibu sine cdusd the observ
alton of even common things of everyday life
may be made less trivial than it might at first
appear.
1t seems a general rule that on solemn OF
ceremonial occasions men retain archaic forms
thus it is that the court dress is a survival Of
| the everyday dress of the last century; thai
uniforms in general are richer in rudiments thar
| common Dress that carriage with position
| is de rtylteur at a wedding; and that (as men
| toned by Sir John Lubbock) the priests of s
savage nation, acquainted with the use of met
| ais, still use a stone knife for their sacrifices
| just as Anglican priests prefer candles to gas.
The details given in this article, although
merely curious, and perhaps insignificant il
| themselves, show that the study of dress from
| an evolutional standpoint serves as yet one fur
| ther illustration of the almost infinite ramitica
| tions TO which natural selection and its associ
| ated doctrines of development may be applied
Mdcmilldn'S Magazine.