Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1897-09-23
Saint Maru's Beacon
History o. tho Earring.

toward the revival Of she earring,
and . writer 10 the Golden Penny
devotes some space 10 o history Of
that relic Of bar5arism.
The custom, Of studding the per-
son with gems 10 of extreme anti
putty, and the fashion Of piercing
the ear lobes for the rarpose Of sus-
tanning gems set in gold has beer
followed BY most races from the
earliest times to the present day.
Homer describes how Juno placed
pendants in the lobe Of her ears.
Ear-drops were presented by Fury
dsmas to Penelope, and among the
Athenians il was O mark Of nobili-
~ to have the ears bored.
Among the Phenicians, howev-
er, the wearing Of earrings was the
badge Of servitude, and the same
custom obtained with the Hebrews.
The rsbbis assert that Ewes ears
were bored when she was exiled
from Eden % . sign Of slavery and
submission TO the willsof her lord
aud master.
The Egyptian women wore sin.
gle hoops Of gold in their ears, and
in Biblical times the custom APP
pears 10 have been universal. They
appear to have been regarded ~ the
most cherished possessions Of their
wearers, and were only parted with
under great stress Of necessity.
Thus the golden calf ID supposed
TO have been made entirely from
the gold earrings Of the people.
Among the Arabs the expression
"to nave q ring in ones ears" 10
synonymous with "to be o slave,"
and to the present day an Arab who
has been conquered by another
places q ring through his ear 40 O
sign Of obedience and servitude.
So general was the use Of ear
rings in Rome, and so heavy we're
they that there were women whose
profession was that OF "earhealer"
who tended the ears Of those ladies
who had torn or injured the lobes
with the weight Of their pendants.
These specialists were known 10 an.
ricul@ ornatirci. AZ one period
the Roman man took to wearing
earrings, but the custom was for
hidden by Alexander Severus, while
IN Greece the children wore On ear
ring in the right ear only.
Coming to more modern times,
the fashion Of wearing earrings APP
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 che fourteenth centu-
~ these appear to have been deco
rated with small pearls.
In the reign OF Elizabeth ear
rings were adopted by men of fash
ion, and the custom spread until in
James Is time all the courtiers had
their ears pierced. The earrings
worn by men took the form Of eth.
er plain wire rings, or crosses or
triangles or gold studded gems.
AN ANCIENT SUPERSTITION.
There 10 q very ancient notion
which 10 still held BY country folks
that piercing Of the ears 10 good for
the sight. The origin Of the belief
10 lost, but il has obtained for GEN.
turtles. IL 10 scarcely necessary to
state that the belief 10 quite with.
out foundation.
In the Middle Ages It was the
custom for lovers to present ear
rings to their mistresses. and per.
sons who were about 10 be married
used to stick o flower through the
ring or over the ear, much % clerk
would q pen, a. . sign OF their be.
ing engaged.
A curious variety Of earring much
worn during the reigns Of Eliza
beth and James / was the ear string.
This has been alluded to By many
writer's. Thus in the Westminster
drolleriss we find
Yet for thy sake ! win not bore my care
TO hang inv dustie silken shoo ties there.
And Marston, in his satires pub
lished in 1898, has
What maaa's. thoa. him that walks all open
Drawn through the ear with ribandsp
AZ to whether the wearing Of
wires through the ears 10 likely to
come into general fashion again in
this country We do not offer any
opinion. There must, we should
imagine. always be a predjudice
against the modification or the
flesh necessary, and the custom of
havsu~ .hstl~>~y.