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THE MEN

[Illustration: {A man of the time of Richard I.; a hood; a shoe}]

The King had but little influence over dress in his time, seeing that
he left England as soon as he was made King, and only came back for
two months in 1194 to raise money and to be crowned again.

The general costume was then as plain as it had ever been, with long
tunics and broad belts fastened by a big buckle.

The difference in costume between this short reign and that of Henry
II. is almost imperceptible; if any difference may be noted, it is in
the tinge of Orientalism in the garments.

There is more of the long and flowing robe, more of the capacious
mantle, the wider sleeve.

No doubt the many who came from the Crusades made a good deal of
difference to English homes, and actual dresses and tunics from the
East, of gorgeous colours and Eastern designs, were, one must suppose,
to be seen in England.

Cloth of gold and cloth of gold and silks--that is, warf of silk and
weft of gold--were much prized, and were called by various names from
the Persian, as 'ciclatoun,' 'siglaton.'

Such stuff, when of great thickness and value--so thick that six
threads of silk or hemp were in the warf--was called 'samite.'

Later, when the cloth of gold was more in use, and the name had
changed from 'ciclatoun' to 'bundekin,' and from that to 'tissue,' to
keep such fine cloth from fraying or tarnishing, they put very thin
sheets of paper away between the folds of the garments; so to this day
we call such paper tissue-paper.

Leaf-gold was used sometimes over silk to give pattern and richness to
it.

[Illustration: A MAN OF THE TIME OF RICHARD I. (1189-1199)]

A curious survival of this time, which has a connection with costume,
was the case of Abraham Thornton in 1818. Abraham Thornton was accused
of having drowned Mary Ashford, but he was acquitted by the jury. This
acquittal did not satisfy popular feeling, and the brother of Mary
Ashford appealed. Now Thornton was well advised as to his next
proceeding, and, following the still existent law of this early time
of which I write, he went to Westminster Hall, where he threw down, as
a gage of battle, an antique gauntlet without fingers or thumb, of
white tanned skin ornamented with silk fringes and sewn work, crossed
by a narrow band of leather, the fastenings of leather tags and
thongs.

This done, he declared himself ready to defend himself in a fight, and
so to uphold his innoc