The Red Cloud chief., 1889-09-06
HISTORY OF HOSIERY.

HISTORY OF HOSIERY.
studies % S~soehsnxs In An Thnes. AGED
and Places.
Il is decidedly Interesting. II not en-
tirely instructive. to look into the his
tory Of stockings. So far AS civilization
and civilized usages must be considered.
the anterior history Of this country is
thai OF the land which furnished the
bulk OF its colOnists. And so it becomes
a matter of p~ertinence to America to,
hat while the Scotch HiSA-
ianders. from the days of Agricola u
the battle of k~illicrankie. looked with
scOrn upon garments OF any sort. at
least In the heat OF battle. the Southern
OF BelSic Britons were clad, like ths
Gauls. in cloth of fine wool, which in
cluded II covering for their limbs also.
But the days of distinctive hose for tho
Highlander and South Bri;on were DAYS
Of slow development.
In the time of the Arglo-SaxOn
drawers reaching half way down the
thigh. and stockings meeting them. were
alluded to by Saxon writer's under the
nance of breech and hose. In France the
femOralia Or drawers of C~harlemagne
were Of linen. The monk of st. Gall
speaks of tibialia Vel coxalia stockings
or drawers) of linen of one color. but
Ornamented with precious workman
ship. 1t is evident from the context
that the writer meant long drawers. or
hose and drawers in one. Ike the brace
Of CAESARS Gauls.
In the days Of the Norman and Plant
agenet Kings the costume for the neither
extremities consisted of drawers with
long stockings. or p%antalOons with feet
to them. called by the Normans .'chaus-
ses." The Saxon word hose occurs i'm
a wardrobe roll of King Johns time.
Cloth stockings embroidered with gold
are among the articles of dress ordered
by Henry Ill. for his sister Isabel. In
the reign of Henry /. the hose were
richly fretted with gold and variously
cOlOred silks.
But Elizabeth was the first English
sovereign to wear genuine knitted
stockings. and rs soon rs the fashion
had been inaugurated the ladies went
wild over it. II is expressly stated i'm
contemporary records that they were
mot ashamed to wear hose of all kinds
OF changeable cOiOrs. as green. red. white
russell. tawney and else what nO::;'
commonly knit" too. and "curiously
indented in every point with quirks.
clocks. open seams and every thing
else accordingly"
1t was Mistress Montague who pre-
seuted the Queen with the first pair Of
black. knit silk stockings. which pleased
her so much that she would never
wear any cloth hose afterward. Soon
after this. says Stow. William Rider.
then apprentice to Thomas Burdet. see
ing a pair of knit wOrsted stockings ut
an Italian merchants. brought from
Mantrim, borrowed them. and having
made O pair like them. presented them
to the Earl Of Pembroke. which was
the frs pair Of worsted stockings knit
in England.
In 1899 William Lee, master Of art(
and fellow Of st. Johns College. Can't
bridge. invented a stocking Name '
attributes the origin of his
to a pique he had taken
q tOwnswOman with whom ho
was in love and who neglected his pas
sion. She got her livelihood by knit
ting stockings. and to ~depreciate her
employment he constructed this frame
and instructed his brother md other
relatives how to work it. The other
stOcking-makers combined and drove
from the country. S o that at last
he died at Paris Of a broken heart.
In the reign Of Anne the vests were
to meet the stockings and
entirely conceal the breeches. the stock
ings being of blue Or scarlet silk. with
gOld or silver clocks. Scarlet stockings
were worn BY fashionable bellies, who
also INDUCED in the practice Of snuff
Mrs Damer. the eccentric and cele-
sculptor Of the days Of George
iii, is said to have been the first female
whO wore black silk stockings in En-
ziand. Ladies wore white stockings.
,ven in mourning as late as the year
1873. and white stockings are worn by
of the English Ome Of all
classes to-day, the cost and trouble Of
notwithstanding.
The bare-limbed lassies of Scotland
Ind Ireland have attracted the eye Of
,very American tourist. In the former
the custom which prevails chiefly
n the rural districts is largely dictated
,y the practice prevalent among
scotch women Of washing heavy arti-
les by trcading them in a tub with
heir feet, and perhaps. also. for con-
renience OF fording the burns or brooks
N the mountainous sections. As to the
IRISH colleen" stockings have been
q superfiuity for a century
,ast. as every contemporary historian
,as taken special pains to record. They
night have added that the average
rish lassie, stockings or no stockings.