Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1907-10-10
FIRST GLOVE WEARERS.

GauntIets of Ancient Hunters
saints Who Wore Gloves.
Not only on account of the intrinsic
beauty of many specimens that have
been preserved, but also because OF the
symbolism connected with them, gloves
will ever have a special interest for the
student of the past, says writer IN
Collecting
That they were worn at a very early
period there is no doubt, though ex-
actly when they first came into use it
is impossible to say, for there are no
actual references to them in early
Greek or Roman MSS. The first men
ton of gloves is in the Odyssey, IN
which it is stated that Laertes, the
father of Ulysses, wore them on his
hunting expeditions to protect his hands
from the thorns, and in his Cyropaedla
Xenophon reproaches the Persians for
their effeminacy in covering their
hands.
Both in the east and west the glove,
when once adopted, soon became OF
Importance as the recognized symbol Of
the transfer Of property, the seller OF
land giving the purchaser a glove as
token of possession, for which reason II
is generally supposed that in the much
quoted passage in Ruth -, Ito con-
firm all things a man plucked off his
shoe and gave it to his neighbor, the
word shoe should have been translated
glove
In Christian topography glove was
very early associated with certain
saints. notably with St. Front, who is
said to have left his glove behind him
after attending the funeral Of st. Mar
tina, the sister Of Lazarus, and with
St Cesarius, bishop of Aries who is
credited with having sent his glove
full of air to district in his diocese
suffering from Il protracted calm.
4 glove worn on the left hand by
saint is token of noble birth, prob
ably because the falcon was carried on
the left wrist, and as early as the third
century \ d. gloves were given by
| the emperor to the bishops on their
investiture St Ambrose of Milan,
who died in 1913, is represented in
| painting, now in the sacristy of the
| cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle, wearing
| gloves on the back of which star is
| embroidered. Gloves are among the
| emblems of St. Amadeus of Savoy,
whose sister is supposed to have given
given him Il glove she had received
| from the Blessed Virgin, and the story
goes that ST. David of Sweden, when
his sight was failing him from old age,
| hung his gloves on a sunbeam, taking
| it for a cord.
AS is we'll known, the throwing down
| of a glove was in feudaI times a chal-
| lenge to single combat and the picking
| I'D of that glove an acceptance of the
| defiance, a fact skilIfully turned to ac-
count by Browning in his beautiful
| poem THE Glove" in which he makes
| the heroine dash down her glove at
| the feet of the lion, only to have it
flung back in her face by her lover.
Knights used to wear lady's glove
| in their helmets as token that they
would defend her cause against all
corners, and to this day a special sig
| nificance attaches to the gift of Il pair
Of gloves from i man TO a woman. The
| custom of taking off the right-hand
glove before shaking hands with lady
| is probably a survival of the days of
| chivalry. as is ais the presentation Of
| a pair of white gloves to a judge when
| there are no eases to be tried at an
assize, as we'll as TO the giving of black
gloves to mourners at funeral.