Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-01-02
THE DAY OF THE BEARD.
When it Was Not Only in Fashion
but Held in High Respect.

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The longest beard referred to in
European history is that which adoraed
the person Of John Mayo, painter to
the Emperor Charles ". 1t is said of
him that though he was very tall, his
beard was so long that he could tread
upon it. Naturally he was very proud
of his possession and took such great
care of it that he usually went about
with it carefully gathered up into fes-
toons, the points of the hair being
looped up and tied with ribbon to a
buttonhole Of his coat.
But sometimes by the express de-
sire of the emperor says the London
Globe, Mayo would unite his beard to
it's full length, whereupon his majesty
would command the windows to be
opened so that the beard might have
full play. THE emperor" are inform
ed. took great sport in watching the
wind blow this long beard into the
faces of his courtiers.'
If we may believe the historian, the
beard on one occasion was the means
of staying a terrible conflict between
two desperate foes, for we read that
when the Gauls under Brennus were
engaged in sacking the city Of Rome
they were struck with such reveren-
tial awe at the sight Of the long beard
ed Roman senators that they suspend
ed their fury and slaughter in order
to contemplate the respectable pros
pect before them" Boards, Of course,
were held in high veneration by the
Greeks and Romans.
Homer never mentions the famous
boards of Priam or Nestor without
respect, and in those days a well-cov-
cred chin was often regarded as the
outward mark of a man of great learn
ing and wisdom.
The reign of Henry w. of France
was the golden age of boards, for at
that time of day quite as much atten-
ton was paid to them as to the dress
ing of the hair Of both sexes. Boards
were clipped in all manner Of fash
ions-round, square, pointed, fan
shaped, and after the fashion Of an
artchoke leaf. Unfortunately, when
the craze for boards of all shapes and
sizes was at it's height Louis XIII.
who was then a child, came to the
throne and the beard had to go in
honor of the hairless chin of the new
monarch.
Soon afterward the tuft or toupee,
which is still so fashionable across
the channel came into vogue. But no
European nation has ever held the
beard in greater veneration than the
Spaniards, who at one time of day
had a prOverb which declared the alb
sence of the beard to signify the loss
of a mans soul Spain must have been
the last of European countries to toll
crate the razor.
In the reign of Francis l. of France
boards formed the excuse for an or
ganized system of persecution among
the Drebendaries of the church. The
clergy were very punctilious in the
matter of boards. and it occurred to
Duprat, lord high chancellor at the
time, that a very handsome revenue
might be raised in this connection.
Accordingly the pope was persuaded
by Francis to publish bull by which
the clergy were enjoined to shave their
chins, failing which the king was to be
entitled to levy tax on all who dis
obeyed the order. AS a result all
those who could afford it paid the tax.
while the rest shaved off their boards
But the wickedness of Duprat met with
it's just reward in the end. Franciss
successor, Henry H., appointed Duprat
to the bishopric of Clermont, and the
latter was proceeding thither to take
up his duties when he found himself
waylaid by the Chapter, who insisted
that before he took office he should
shave off the very fine beard that he
himself still had the effrontery to
wear.
The new bishop refused and fled
literally before the brandishing razors
of his Chapter. Soon afterward Du-
prat, whose health appeared to have
suffered a severe shock from this un-
Expected contretemps, fell i'll and died.