defiance of taxes and times, were still subjected to the
operation of powdering and frizzling, and who for that purpose divided
his time among the three employers whom fashion had yet left him.

"'Fly with this letter, Caxon,' said the senior ('The Antiquary'),
holding out his missive, 'fly to Knockwinnock, and bring me back an
answer. Go as fast as if the town council were met and waiting for the
provost, and the provost was waiting for his new powdered wig.' 'Ah,
sir,' answered the messenger, with a deep sigh, 'thae days hae lang gane
by. Deil a wig has a provost of Fairport worn sin' auld Provost Jervie's
time--and he had a quean of a servant lass that dressed it hersel', wi'
the doup o' a candle and a dredging box. But I hae seen the day,
Monkbarns, when the town council of Fairport wad hae as soon wanted
their town-clerk, or their gill of brandy owerhead after the haddies, as
they wad hae wanted ilk ane a weel-favoured, sonsy, decent periwig on
his pow. Hegh, sirs! nae wonder the commons will be discontent, and rise
against the law, when they see magistrates, and bailies, and deacons,
and the provost himsel', wi' heads as bald an' as bare as one o' my
blocks.'" It was not in Scotland alone that the barber was peripatetic.
"In the eighteenth century," says Mrs G. Linnaeus Banks, author of the
"Manchester Man" and other popular novels, "he waited on his chief
customers or patrons at their own homes, not merely to shave, but to
powder the hair or the wig, and he had to start on his round betimes.
Where the patron was the owner of a spare periwig it might be dressed in
advance, and sent home in a box or mounted on a stand, such as a
barrister keeps handy at the present day. But when ladies had powdered
top-knots, the hairdresser made his harvest, especially when a ball or a
rout made the calls for his services many and imperative. When at least
a couple of hours were required for the arrangement of a single toupee
or tower, or commode, as the head-dress was called, it may be well
understood that for two or three days prior to the ball the hairdresser
was in demand, and as it was impossible to lie down without disarranging
the structure he had raised on pads, or framework of wire, plastering
with pomatum and disguising with powder, the belles so adorned or
disfigured were compelled to sit up night and day, catching what sleep
was possible in a chair. And when I add that a head so dressed was
rarely disturbed for ten day