The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-11-24
HISTORY OF THE EARRING.
How Various Nations Have Regarded tho
Ear Pendants.

ITO ORI W i''- "'''N
How Various Nations Have Regarded tho
Ear Pendants.
The custom of studding the person
with gems is of extreme antiquity,
and the fashion of piercing the ear
lobes for the purpose of sustaining
gems set in gold has been followed
by most races from the earliest
times to the present day. Homer
describes how Juno placed pendants
in the lobes Of her ears. Eardrops
were presented by Eurydamas to
Penelope, and among the Athenians
it was a mark of nobility to have
the ears bored.
Among the Phenicians, however,
the wearing of earrings was the
badge of servitude, and the same
custom obtained with the Hebrews.
The rabbis assert that Ewes ears
were bored when she was exiled
from Eden as sign of slavery and
submission to the will Of her lord
and master. The Egyptian women
wore single hoops of gold in their
ears, and in Biblical times the GUS
tom appears to have been universal.
They appear to have been regarded
as the most cherished possessions Of
their wearers and were only parted
with under great stress Of necessi-
ty. Thus, the golden calf is sup
posed to have. been made entirely
from the gold earrings OF the peo'
pie. Among the Arabs the explses.
sion ito have a ring in ones ears"
is synonymous with 'to be a slave,
and to the present day an Arab who
has been conquered by another
places a ring through his ear ELS q
sign Of obedience and servitude.
So general was the use of earrings
in Rome and SO heavy were they
that there were women whose pro.
fession was that of 'ear healer,
who tended the ears of those ladies
who had torn or injured the lobes
with the weight of their pendants.
These specialists were known as au'
rieuloe ornatirei. At one period the
Roman men. took to wearing ear.
rings, but the custom was forbidden
by Alexander Severus, while in
Greece the children wore an earring
in the right ear only.
Coming to more modern times,
the fashion Of wearing earrings ap.
pears to have been general in Eng
land from the conquest.
The early Saxons appear to have
worn rings Of plain gold in their
ears, while in the fourteenth centu.
~ these appear to have been deco.
rated with small pearls. In the reign
of Elizabeth earrings were adopted
by men of fashion, and the custom
spread until in. James rs time all
the courtiers had their ears pierced.
The earrings worn by men took the
form of either plain wire rings OF
crosses or triangles of gold, studded
with gems.
There is a very ancient notion
which is still held by country folks
that the piercing of the ears is good
for the sight. The origin of this be-
lief is lost, but it has obtained fo1
centuries. It is scarcely necessary
to state that the belief is quite with
out foundation.
In the middle ages it was the Gus.
tom for lovers to present earrings
to their mistresses, and persons who
were about to be married used to
stick flower through the ring OF
over the ear, much as a clerk would
a pen, as sign OF their being en-.
gagged
A curious variety of earring much
worn during the reigns of Elizabeth
and James I was the ear string.
This has been alluded to by many
writer's. Thus in the Westminster
drolleries we find:
Yet for thy sake will not bore my care
To hang thy dustie sillren shoe ties there.
And Marston, in his satires, pub
lished in 1898, has:
What naan'st thou, dim that walks all open
breasted,
Drawn through the ear with ribandsi
AS to whether the wearing Of
wires through the ears is likely to
come into general fashion again in
this country we do not offer any
opinion. There must, we should
imagine, always be prejudice
against the modification of the flesh
necessary, and the custom of hav-
ing children's ears pierced has
ceased to be general for many years,
but the dictates of fashion ara tickle,
and it is just possible that we may
see leaders of fashion wearing both
ear and nose rings before the close
of the century. Who knowsf-Ex-
change.
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