Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1889-11-01
MEN WITH LONG HAIR.
How Warriors of Olden Times Per-
mitted Their Head Adornments to
Grow to Their Waists.
To Have Come With Curling Under
CrOmwell's Eye Was Almost Sure
to End i'll Death.


the Corinthians in his first epistle to them.
On the other hand, Huychius. patriarch of
Jerusalem. A D. 500. declared the out
ward, visible signs of manly perfection to
consist in an ample beard and in hair
flowing down the shoulders. In remote
ages the Persians. who now have their
heads shaven, wore long hair. Darius had
most luxurious poll and Alexander. who
conquered him, probably paid few visits to
the hair-cutter's In the course of his life.
Alcibades and his clique of rOgues intro
duced the eliminate fashion of hair into
Greece. Before their time the Athenians
were r0undheads, and it is fair to presume
that Aristides the Just, who did not pride
himself above measure on his devotion to
the graces, spOrted good crop of bristleS
and ignored a comb.
Herodotus relates that IN token of mourn
ing the Persians We're want to cut off not
only their own hair but the names of their
horses. The same historian tells that the
Ayrians, being defeated by the Lacedamo-
mans, made sacrifice of their locks. and
vowed that they would remain shOrn
as long as they had not conquered Thyr8.
At Sparta, Lycurgus had decreed the
wearing of long hair; but this law, to
which Plutarch alludes, was never much
obeyed. The Spartans when they attained
their sixteenth year, did as the young
Athenians. and burned their hair upon
the altar of either Diana or Mars. The
fact is. all the barbarians, who used to
come from across the seas in those times.
wore flowing locks, and the Greeks had no
wish to resemble them, says the Boston
Traveller. Our primitive ancestors, the
Britons, and like them. the GaulS, allowed
their hair to grow undisturbed. 1t often
reached below the waste, and men like
Caractacus must have looked curious
Conquered by the Romans, the Gauls and
BriJons were ANONYMOUSLY clipped. In
his enumeration of the Gallic tribes led
into captivity by Caesar, Lucian speaks of
the LIguSes. now shOrn, but erewhile
possessed of an abundant mass of hair
Those of the Gauls who obtained their lib
GRAFTON hastened to let their hair grow
again. In order the more to mark the i'm
portance they attached to flowing locks
they took to shaving themselves.
In France when a nObleman was CON
victed of any felonious otfense the razor
was invariably applied to his pate. Clot-
alre l., king Of France, caused his own
son, GOndeband, to be shOrn for COnspir-
ing against him; and by way of adding to
the disgrace of his sentence. he immediate
Iy afterward issued an edict cOndemning to
the severest penalties any one who should
by stealth or violence cut off the hair of An
honest man. The hair question assumed
disquieting proportions in France, for in
the year 1901 Pierre Lombard, archbishop
of Paris Whose head left much to be desir-
ell In the matter of capillary adornment),
was prevailed upon by the malcontents to
become their champion He was a learned
and good man, and no doubt he had often
pOndered upon the unseemingly appear
anCe of his cIoSe-clipped crown III the
silence of the closet, until he took up the
cudges like a man determined to win.
The king of France at that time was the
gallant Philip H.. generally known as
Philip Augustus After giving the matter
his most attentive consideration he signed
the magma charter of capillary liberty, at
about the same time his royal compeer,
John of England, was making dismal
face over the charter of Runnymede
Generally speaking, the English follow
the French In the matter Of personal adOrn
memt, but in this case the English were be
fOrehand. So early in the reign of Henry
II. our plebeian forefathers had obtained
exemption from the obligation of having
their hair cut, and they obtained it without
much ado
We hear nothing more about short hair
until the sixteenth century. From the time
of Philip Augustus to that of Francis |.
every one, lord or lumpkin, let his hair fall
down his back
Historians and chronicIers speak great
deal about oils and ointments that were
used by the wealthy and noble of the mid
die ages, and 1t appears to have been a
pretty prevalent custom to powder ones
locks with gold dust
The 9th of January it was cust Q nary in
France for mummers to elect a ing and
engage in a mimic war against rival par
ty, who would pretend to dethrone the
mock monarch. Francis, hearing that the
Lord of a neighboring castle had been
elected king by some friends of his, dis
guiSed himself and went with Il party of
twenty cOurtiers to offer battle to the re-
velerS. The challenge was accepted. A
fort was erected in the great hall OF the
castle and Francis intended to carry it by
storm 1t was usual to fight with eggs in
guise of shot. and bags of -four in lieu of
maces; but after little the fight waxed
hot. and somebody threw a lighted brand.
which fell upon the disguised kings head
and feled him Senseless. The wound was
very serious one, and when Francis made
his appearance in the court his hair was
cropped quite close, while his beard on the
contrary, had been suffered to grow lux
uriousy. Imitation being the sincerest
fattery. the courtiers hurried off to put
themselves into the hair-cutters hands.
Gradually people followed the example,
and hair became short and boards length
ened.
From France the fashion passed into
England and other countries, and lasted
for nearly 100 years.
Every one knows how long hair and
short hair had a marked political signif-
canoe during the war of Charles l. against
the Pretender. 1t was no Joke then to be
caught with bristles in Prince Rupert
camp. and to have come with curling locks
under Cromwell 5 eye would have been to
run the risk of being sent not to the hair,
but to the head cutters.
Charles II. brought back the fashion of
| long cavalier locks, but these were soon
| superseded by the towering wigs introduc-
| ed by Louis NV. He had a very poor
| head of hair, thin, lank, and of a dirty
! buff color, and his barber devised most
| voluminOus perique to meet the emergency
| The fashion remained In use until the mid
| die of Louis AlN.'s 5 reign. when it gave
| way to the famous powdered wig. The
| great republic swept away the wigs and
many Of the heads that were in them. It
was then that the pig-taiI fashion came in
! for both high and low. and lasted long
! enough to be remembered by some men Of
| the present day. Napoleon |. mercilessly
! cut off the pig tails of his republican sol
dierS, and nearly caused a mutiny among
the army of Egypt by so doing. Similar
| ly, immense discomfort was excited in the
British navy when the admiral abolished
| thc 2ig-tail some seventy years ago. So we
| come down to the present time. when we
! crafty our individual tastes In the matter
| of our heads Of hair, unless. indeed. We
| are private soldiers. or paupers. or conyi9ts,
! or are put into reformatory. when for
/ the general coed. we must yield to sani-
tary cropping laws.
ASTONISHES THE NATIVES.
The Effect of Ice and Snow on the Tropical
Imagination