The wig
had been graciously lent by the barber to one Lawrence, belonging to the
legal profession, but also an amateur actor. In this wig, we are told,
he proposed to disport himself in the character of Shylock. The
plaintiff could not get it back again, and brought the action for its
recovery. The wig had been accidentally burnt, and the judge awarded the
plaintiff the sum of L2 as a compensation for the loss of the relic.

[Illustration: Lord Mansfield.]

STEALING WIGS

[Illustration: Stealing a Wig.]

In the palmy days of wigs the price of a full-wig of an English
gentleman was from thirty to forty guineas. Street quarrels in the olden
time were by no means uncommon; care had to be exercised that wigs were
not lost. Swift says:--

"Triumphing Tories and desponding Whigs,
Forget their feuds, and join to save their wigs."

Although precautions were taken to prevent wigs being stolen, we are
told that robberies were frequently committed. Sam Rogers thus describes
a successful mode of operation: "A boy was carried covered over in a
butcher's tray by a tall man, and the wig was twisted off in a moment by
the boy. The bewildered owner looked all round for it, when an
accomplice impeded his progress under the pretence of assisting him
while the tray-bearer made off." Gay, in _Trivia_, thus writes:--

"Nor is the flaxen wig with safety worn:
High on the shoulders in a basket borne
Lurks the sly boy, whose hand, to rapine bred,
Plucks off the curling honours of thy head."

THE WIG-MAKERS' RIOT

On February 11th, 1765, a curious spectacle was witnessed in the streets
of London, and one which caused some amusement. Fashion had changed; the
peruke was no longer in favour, and only worn to a limited extent. A
large number of peruke-makers had been thrown out of employment, and
distress prevailed amongst them. The sufferers thought that help might
be obtained from George III., and a petition was accordingly drawn up
for the enforcement of gentlefolk to wear wigs for the benefit of the
wig-makers. A procession was formed, and waited upon the king at St
James's Palace. His Majesty, it is said, returned a gracious answer, but
it must have cost him considerable effort to maintain his gravity.

Besides the monarch, the unemployed had to encounter the men of the
metropolis, and we learn from a report of the period they did not fare
so well. "As the distressed men went processionally