The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1901-10-23
ANCIENT UMBRELLAS
THEY FIGURED IN CHURCHES IN THE
EARLY CHRISTIAN DAYS.

When First Adopted by the Public,
They Seem to Have Been Utilized
SOLELY ns sun ProtccIors-once AN
Attribute of Dignity.
In the early Christian churches
large umbrella usually hung over the
priest, and Ii IL said that from this
custom 1t became one Of the attributes
of cardinals appointed from basilican
churches. For years the doges of
Venice carried umbrellas of state, and
In 12SS Pope Alexander Ill. declared
that these should be surmounted by
golden statuettes of the annunclation,
Michael Merosinl was the first Nene-
tian layman To carry an umbrella,
which consisted of small, fiat square
OF green stuff, over which was cop
per spiral. Soon after the umbrella
was adopted by fashionable Venetian
DANES. According TO Goryat's "Crudt-
ties" 06ln. the Italian umbrella was
n small canopy and was made OF lcath-
or extended by series of wooden
hoops He says umbrellas were used
by horsemen, who resting the handles
On the thigh rs they rode, bore them
so that they should minister shadow
unto them for shelter against the
scurChlng sun"
In the iInrlelan manuscripts, now In
the British museum, there Is In manu-
script No 603 n crude Illustration
showing the figure of yoeman hold
Ing nm umbrella over his lord which
leads me TO infer that umbrellas were
known In England even In the early
Anglo Saxon period.
Beck, as quoted In the Diapers Die
tionary, asserts that nj the time that
Stephen usurpcd the crown of England
twelfth century, umbrellas We're In
common use among the English The
first mention of the umbrella In Eng
lish literature Is In Florio's World of
Wonders" Q50Sl, where It Is described
MS kind of round fan or shadowlng
that they use to ride With In summer
in Italy; Il little shade,
In 1d56 an umbrella WAS exhibited in
the "AIuseun Tradcscantianum; or.
Collection of Rnrlties Preserved ut
South Lambeth. Near London, by John
Tradcscant," which WAS known MS
"unp of the wonders of the ark"
In the church of Cartmcll, I'm I.anCa-
shire, England, there was preserved
until few years aEa an umbrella said
to be over 200 years old. which was
used chiefly 10 protect the host.
References 10 the umbrella are To he
found also In Blount's "Glossogrnphia"
n61D and Phillips New Worlde of
Words" d6IS In the hrst the refer
cnee reads: "Umhrello, n fashion of
round and broad fans, whercwith the
Indians land from them our great ones)
preserve themselves from the heat OF
the sun, and hence any little shadow
fan or other thing whcrcwith the WON
ON guard their faces from the sun
The second runs: "Umbrcllo. n screen
against the SUMS heat, used chiefly by
the Spaniards. among whom 1t IS known
by the name quitnsole,"
The Imaginative Dean Swift IN the
Tale of Tub" GGpGl depicts Jack, an
ever roguurceful type, making use Of Il
parchment copy of his fathers will ns
Il nightcap when he went to bed and as
nm umbrella In rainy weather Did
the worthy IInnwny take his cue from
this or from Kersey, according TO whom
the umbrella was II "brond fan or
screen commonly used by women TO
shelter them from rainf" The last ref
crencc made IN 1909, Is the first men
tlon Of It ms II protector from the rain.
Later Bailey, who IN his dictionary
Q73O called II n pnrasOl, defined II as
"a sort of small canopy TO keep off the
rain"
Small, Hight umbrellas came into
fashion among the ladies Of the French
court III 1879, and these We're carried
by attendants. Rlchelct tells MS TINT
they were made Of oilcloth or leather
and had ribs of whalcbonc A century
later they found favor with the men,
who carried red umbrellas, with edges
fringed with gold lace.
The precise date when johns Han
way, who died In 1856, introduced tho
umbrella into England Is not recorded
In any of the encyclopedias have mt
hnnd, but they all state that he was
popularity known as It's mtroduccr
With the Dutch as with the Indian
grandces, the umbrella was first an at
tribute of dignity, and wen II might
be, for the prices paid for them at The
Hague IN 1860 ranged from $75 to $12O
each The Dutch colonlsts who settled
at the Cape of Good Hope were not
slow TO insist on preserving the dignity
OF the umbrella for Ryll van Tulbagh,
governor of Cape Colony in 1872, en-
acted that "No one less In rank than
Il Junior merchant or those among the
citizens Of equal rank, and the wives
and daughters only of those who are OF
have been members OF any council
shall venture 10 use umbrellas, and
those who are less In rank thnn mer.
chants shall not enter the castle In fine
weather with an open umbrella. -
Frank II. Nizctclly In New York
Times.
AonGoIfer's Opinion of Golf
Imagine a great fat creature who