he authority of Herodian, "glittered from
its natural whiteness, and from the quantity of essences and gold-dust
with which it was loaded, so that when the sun was shining it might have
been thought that his head was on fire."

It is supposed, and not without a good show of reason, that the Saxons
used coloured hair-powder, or perhaps they dyed their hair. In Saxon
pictures the beard and hair are often painted blue. Strutt supplies
interesting notes on the subject. "In some instances," he says, "which,
indeed, are not so common, the hair is represented of a bright red
colour, and in others it is of a green and orange hue. I have no doubt
existing in my own mind, that arts of some kind were practised at this
period to colour the hair; but whether it was done by tingeing or dyeing
it with liquids prepared for that purpose according to the ancient
Eastern custom, or by powders of different hues cast into it, agreeably
to the modern practice, I shall not presume to determine."

It was customary among the Gauls to wash the hair with a lixivium made
of chalk in order to increase its redness. The same custom was
maintained in England for a long period, and was not given up until
after the reign of Elizabeth. The sandy-coloured hair of the queen
greatly increased the popularity of the practice.

The satirists have many allusions to this subject, more especially those
of the reigns of James and Charles I. In a series of epigrams entitled
"Wit's Recreations," 1640, the following appears under the heading of
_Our Monsieur Powder-wig_:--

"Oh, doe but marke yon crisped sir, you meet!
How like a pageant he doth walk the street!
See how his perfumed head is powdered ore;
'Twou'd stink else, for it wanted salt before."

In "Musarum Deliciae," 1655, we read:--

"At the devill's shopps you buy
A dresse of powdered hayre,
On which your feathers flaunt and fly;
But i'de wish you have a care,
Lest Lucifer's selfe, who is not prouder,
Do one day dresse up your haire with a powder."

From the pen of R. Younge, in 1656, appeared "The Impartial Monitor."
The author closes with a tirade against female follies in these words:
"It were a good deed to tell men also of mealing their heads and
shoulders, of wearing fardingales about their legs, etc.; for these
likewise deserve the rod, since all that are discreet do but hate and
scorn them for it." A _Loyal Litany_ against the Oliverians