The Dickinson press., 1889-07-13
HISTORICAL HOSIERY.
STOCKINGS WORN BY THE MEN
AND WOMEN OF LONG AGO.


Unknown in England Until the Middle Of
the sixteenth Century Elizabeth tho
| First Sovereign to Wear tho Genuine
Knitted Article.
The reign of Edward III, which gave birth
TO the fancifu! conceit of the Order of the
Garter, has naturally set the authorities to
work on ti.,, matter of the appendages with
which gartcrs arc generally associated. 1t is
worth while to mention that such high au-
thorites as Sir Elias Ashmole, Sir Walter
Scott and Sir Samuel Mayrick attach not the
slightest Importance to the story of tho
Countess of Salisbury and tho kings apt re-
mark, "lloni soft qui nal y pcnsc." as ho
picked the garter up. 1t is to be remembered,
too, that i'll this reign and for long centuries
aftclward hose, and possibly garters, were
worn by tho sterner sex. Camden the his
torian, says that Edward III gave forth his
own garter rs the signal for tho battle of
Cressy But no indication OF such an article
occurs upon any monument or illumination
of the period, the chausscs or long hose being
attached to tho doubet, or at least ascending
to the middle of the thigh, where they were
met by the drawers 1t is quite likely, how
ever, that gartcrs were Worn by tho ladies of
the period, whose hose wcro in shape pre-
ciscly as stockings of the present day, as may
be seen from an illumination of tho time OF
Edward III.
SAME AS THE FLUNKIES NOW WEAR
But tho orthodox hose or stockings proper
are supposed to have been unknown in Eng
land before the middle of the Sixteenth cen
tnry. a pair of long Spanish silk hose was
presented gift to Edward vi by Sir
Thomas Gresham, and Howe says that Henry
VIII never wore any hoso but such as were
made of cloth. In the Harleian library
there is, however, preserved record of sew
cral pairs of silk hose belonging to Henry
VIII, it being even stated that he had also
olerpairs of satin and velvet. The same docu-
m"nt introduces us to tho word Stocking"
itself, and enlightens us Us to its Derivation.
One of tho entries runs thus: "a yardo and a
quarter of green velvet for stocks to payr
Of hose for the kings grace" and numerous
nllusions occur to certain portions Of stuff
used for ''stockyng of hose" so confounding
tho hose with tho breechcs and leaving tho
stocking an independent article of apparel as
at tho present day. Previous to this it is
quite clear that the word hose, in tho raso Of
men, at least, meant stockings and drawers
| in one.
Howe is the authority for tho statement
that in tho reign of Queen Mary tho London
apprentices Wore brceches and stockings of
white brondcloth, that is, round slopps or
brceches, and their stockings sewcd up close
| thereto, as they were all but of one piece In
| the rcigns of Edward IV and Mary blue
| c"ats and yellow stockings wcro the common
| habit of apprentices and serving men, and
| tho custom is retained by London footmen
and huniies today
But Elizabeth was the first English sover-
cign to wear genuine knitted stockings, and
as soon rs tho fashion had been naugurated
tho ladies went wild over it. 1t is expressly
stated in contemporary records that they
wcre mot ashamed to wear hose of all kinds
of chanseable colors, ns green, red, white,
russct, tawncy and else whatn not . common
ly KNIT" too, and 'curiously indented in
every point with qurks, clocks, open seams
and everything else accordingly"
1t was Mistress Montague who presented
the queen with tho first pair of black knit
| silk stockings, which plcnsed her so much that
she would never wear any cloth hose after
ward Soon after this, says Stow, William
Rider, then apprentice to Thomas Burdct,
seeing pair Of knit worstcd stockings at an
| Italian merchants, brought from Mantrin,
borrowed them, and having made pair liko
thcm presented them to tho Earl of Penn
broke which was tho first pair of worsted
stockings knit in England.
In 1899, William Lee, master of arts and
| fellow of st. Johns college, Cambridge i'll
vented II stocking frame. Tradition attrib-
,ites tho origin of his invention to pislue ho
| had taken against Il townswomnm with whom
ho w;,s in love and who neglected. his passion
| lpY hv.l KNIT Ctl
and to dcprcriate her employment ho con
strnctr'l this frame and INSTRUCTED his brother
and other relatives how to woi; 1t. faiic other
stocking makers combined and drove him
| from Tie country, so that at last he died at
| Paris of n broken heart.
| From and after this period the covering for
the neither cxtremities of men is always di-
! vided into trunk hose, or breeches, and neither
| stocks, or stockings. Some distinction was
| evidently necessary, for tho brecches of men
We're worn Of such enormous size in this and
| tho succeeding reign of James that their
cost was sometimes as high as el0O pair, q
| fortune in those days.
| THE FIRST BLACK SILK STOCKINGS.
| In the reign Of James the stockings were
! gartercd beneath the knee, and tho garters
fastened in Il large bow or rosettc on one side
Tho loose Gallic 'hosenr were still worn and
fastened to tho doublct or jacket by innu-
mcrable points" Silk, worsted and thread
stockings were now almost universally worn,
and cloth or woolen stockings considered un
fashionable
In the year 1858 tho pctticout brccches for
men made their appearance in England, and
the fashion was introduced from France Of
wearing largo stirl,ip hose or stockings two
yards wide at the top, with points through
| several eyelct holes by which they were made
fast to the pcttcoat brcechcs. Tho fashion
went out in the reign of William III, and tho
stockings we're then drawn over tho brceches
to the middle OF the thigh In tho reign of
Anne the vests were heightened to meet the
stockings and entire y conceal the breeches,
tho stockings being Of blue or scarlet silk,
with gold or silver clocks. Scarlet stockings
were worn by fashionable bellies, who also
indulscd in tho practice of snuff taking.
Mrs. Damcr, tho eccentric and celebrated
sculptor Of the days Of George Ill, is said to
have been tho first female who wore black
silk stockings in England. Ladies woro white
stockings, even in mourning, us late as the
year 1878, and white stockings are worn by
two-thirds of the English women of all classes
today, the cost and trouble Of washing not
withstanding.
The baro limbcd lasses Of Scotland and
Ireland have attracted the eye of every Amer
ican tourist. In the former case tho custom
which prevails chiefly in the rural districts,
is largely dictated by tho practice prevalent
among Scotch women of washing heavy ar
tcles by trcading them in a tub with their
feet, and perhaps, also, for convenience Of
fording the burns or brooks in tho mountain
Gus sections. As to the Irish Colleen" stock
inSs have been deemed superhuity for
century past as every contemporary historian
has taken special pains to record. They might
have added that tho average Irish lassie,
stockings OF no stockings, is the most virtuous
girl on the face of the earth.-San Francisco
Chronicle.
He who follows two horses catches neither.
-lOld Proverbl Then some one must catca
them for him if he plows with double team.
He will get there all tho same
Girls who get positions as "salesladiesn in
ctoroS nuct hac,i, mi, r.ool- ,,,1 49,