The morning call., 1890-08-24
ANCIENT GLOVES.
They We're Worn by TroglCdytes
Very Long Time Ago.

carving of long glove has been found in
hole where cave-dwelers once lived. Just
when these strange people existed has not
been decided, but it was thousands of years
ago. and the sculptured glove is of the same
shape as the many-button ones worn by
fashionable ladies of the present. The
gloves of the ante-slacial occupants of
cave are supposed to have been made sof
dressed skin sewn with needles of bone;
but they were worn just the same,
and the general pattern remains un-
changed. There Is plenty OF other
evidence that gloves are of very
remote origin, although none that goes back
so far. The Angl0-SaXons, asserts 4 writer
in the st. Louis Globe Democrat, wore
gloves in the seventh century, but the men
were the ones then to observe the custom,
the ladies covering their hands with their
sleeves. Earlier than this Norman officials
and high perSOnageS OF that country covered
their hands, and in many places in the Bible
the word 'shoe" is used when scholars
maintain it means glove"
The glove trade is under great obliga-
tions 10 the church. In the year 200 Charlie
magne granted to the abbot and monks of
Sithin an unlimited right of hunting, for
making their gloves and girdles of the
skins Of the deer they killed, and also for
covers for their books. But gloves had
more near connection with the church than
the industry Of the monastery. They had
distinctive employment In the rites and
services. They were worn by the priests
officiating. The laity were expected to take
off their gloves in church, while ecclesiastics
alone might wear them, rever sal OF our
modern fashions.
The symbolism of the church did not for
get the glove as gifted with hidden signif-
canoe. Bruno, Bishop of Segni, says that
"they are made Of linen to denote that the
hands they cover should be chaste, clean
and free from all impurlty." The gloves
on the hands of Boniface VIII. at the time
of his interment were of white silk, BEAU
still used by Roman Catholic bishops and
advertised in the lists of clerical neces-
saries. According to Saint Charles Borro-
meo, a bishops gloves should have golden
circle on the outside, and this is seen on
the gloves OF Bishop William of Wykeham,
preserved in New College, Oxford.
Gloves were. in 14l6, often set with pre-
cious stones, and sufficiently valuable as to
be left as legacies. The jeweed gloves of
ST. Martial were said to have rebuked an
act of sacrilege. The gloves OF Bishop
Grayesend, worked with gold and enamel,
we're priced at e5, great sum in 1910. But
the sturdier Bishop Button wore thick yell
low leather gloves, at ten pence pair.
However, that love Of luxury and Of vest
mentS which then, as now, threatened to
sap certain division of the church, led TO
the passing of sumptuary restrictions. The
clergy might not wear Gloves" red or
green or striped; neither ring, brooch, OF
namental glrdie nor gloves" Monks were
not to wear gloves of deerskin, but were to
content themselves with gloves OF -heep-
skin. But gloves were stu made of costly
material for Bishops, and the higher clergy,
who were then adorned with jewels. in spite
of sumptuary laws
Bishop Ricufus, who died in 913, left as
an important legacy pair OF gloves, and
the earliest silk gloves on record were found
on the hands of Thomas Beckett.
Gloves have ever been an accessory to the
dress of royalty. They have place i'll the
regalia, and we read OF purple gloves orna-
mented with pearls and precious stones,
which were deemed ensgns OF imperial
dignities. They were so intimately con-
nected with kingly power that mOparchs
were invested with authority by the de-
livery of glove.
The knights glove or gauntlet has more
that is romantic and symbolical attached
than all others. The word comes from the
early French word CANT" meaning the
hand. As distinctive article of defensive
dress, the gauntlet did not come Into use
until the thirteenth century. In the time of
Edward leather glove covered with mail
was introduced, and during the reign of
Edward Ill spikes OF steel were fixed to
the knuckles. The gauntlet of Edward,
the Black Prince, was a formidable affair,
with its steel goads on the back of the hand,
the very appearance being calculated to in
spire terror. The buff gloves of Cromwelps
troopers were protected at the wrist by
metal scale work, well arranged to break
sword blow.
Perfumed gloves were brought from Italy
by Edward We're, Earl of Oxford, after his
exile. and his present to Queen Elizabeth Of
a pair with embroidered roses is mentioned
in history. But the refinement of perfumed
gloves had been known for three centuries
in France before the days of the Virgin
Queen, and in Spain the gloves
VIC fotnnno ha
parted sto them long before her day.
The luxurious court of Charles ii used per-
fumed gloves, and those trimmed and
laced as fine as Nell's" were mentioned in
comedy. Louis XIV also issued letter
patents of his ''marchands maitres gantiers
parfeumeurs." In Venice, where the love
Of dress was conspicuous, perfumed gloves
were introduced by q dogess as early
as 1911.
Gloves of chlcken-skin were in vogue in
the early part of the seventeenth century.
These were used at night to give the Eand
whiteness and delicacy. Thin and delicate
gloves were first made at Limerick They
were so thin that they could be put in a
walDut-shell. Cough says that gloves were
not worn by all women before the Reforma-
ton. But this is not absolutely correct, for
Chaucer speaks, in his translation of the
'Romaunt of the Rose" of Idleness:
And for to keep her hands fayre,
OF gloves white she had a pair
ne ladles Oh inc court OF Catherine de
Medicis carried their gloves in their hands
or tucked them under their girdes.
Mary, Queen Of Scots, wore gloves with
richly embroidered wrists on tie morning
OF her execution, giving them to friend at
the last moment. They were made of light,
cool, buff-colored leather, the elaborate EN-.
broidery on the gauntlet being worked with
silver wire and silk OF various colors. The
roses are of pale and dark blue and two
shades of very pale crimson; the foliage
represents trees, and is composed of two
shades of esthetic green. A bird in flight.
with long tail, figures among the work.
The embroidered gloves for women of the
sixteenth century were very beautiful,
made OF the gauntlet shape and richly en-
broidered on the cuff. They were of chew
eril leather; so it was said of a man. che
hath cheyeril conscience"-one that would
stretch easily. Cheveril was made of parch-
ment. by the use of alum and the white of
eggs. Goatskin was the foundation.