Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1888-04-05

similar sentiment of disgrace attached,
at somewhat later period, to any at
tempt to pull the beard, so we find
note in Grey's "Hudibras: ITO
pull the devil by the beard, common
saying in England" The being pulled
by the beard in Spain is deemed as
dishonorable as being kicked in En-
gland. Archbishop Laud, when adj
vised to make his escape, replied: "If
l should get into Holland / should
have every Anabaptist come and pull
me by the beard"
The expression to beard a person
that is to affront him or to set HIM at
detancc--is illustrated by the words
in Shakspeare's King Henry w., Part
l., act l.: Il beard thee to thy face"
For this the French expression was
faire la bar6e a quetquun; and in Italy
it was said, ia Ia barbe al uno. 1t is
difficult to ascertain when the very
personal custom of pulling the nose
superseded that of pulling the beard;
but it most probably was adopted as
sufficiently strong equivalent when
the chin became naked and close
shaven. and so afforded no handle for
an intended insult. In the reign of
James H. as much rs EGO. 600 was paid
by William Cavendish, Earl of Devon
shire, for this treatment of a person at
court.
That there may be an element of
danger in the beard we gather from a
story, given in "Plutarch's Lives" of
Alexander, who caused his Macedonian
soldiers to be clipped. lest their enc
mics should make use of their boards
as handles in the fight. Caesar has left
it upon record that ancient Britons
wore no boards, though they allowed
hair to grow upon the upper lip; and
Strabo bears testimony of an opposite
sort, writing of Scilly islanders in his
time, whose custom it was to grow
boards. goat fashion, in Il point below
the chin.
A strong proof of the value set upon
this part of their personal adornment
by men is found in the fact that, when
the Normans sought to compel the En-
glish to shave, as they did themselves,
many chose rather to abandon their
country than to lose their whiskers,
That this form OF pride was not con-
fined to comparatively modern days
we know from St. Chrysostom, who
tells us that Persian Kings wore long
boards interw oven with golden threads,
while slaves in the same country were
shaved as sign of scrvitude.
The argument commonly adopted by
those who do not shave is that "nature
knows BEST" and although many in
all ages have ignored this maxim. OF
contradicted it by removing more OF
less the hairs upon their face, it seem:
to have occurred to none. except to
that most subtle race. the Chinese, tC
supplement the gifts of nature and Il
attach with considerable skill false
tufts of hair to the smooth surface o
their chins.
Some humors of the beard may b,
gathered from early sources. Ii
"Epigrams for the MUSES. Recreation, )
1910, we find:
"Thy beard is long, better it would thee fit,
To have a shorter beard and longer wit"
! That the large and profuse beard. a
worn by Cramer, Knox. Cardinal Pol,
and others, was much ridiculed b,
writer's of the Sixteenth Century, W,
find in play of that date:
"A dozen of boards
To stuffe two dozen of cushions"
And in Decker's "Gull's Hori
Book" 1909, we read of boards 1T,
stuff breeches aud tennis balls" Will
Shakespeare makes a similar sportiv
allusion in Coriolanus, act ii, scene
"And your beard deserve not so hon
orable grave as to stuff botcher
cushion or to be entombed in an ass
pack-saddlc. As akin to this w
may quote from another play tn
words: All my mistress lines tina
she dries her clothes Oh are only mad
of mustachio stuff. Illustrated Lon
don News.