WITH 
 
 XUusitratibe OToob 
 
 BY 
 
 iillitrt %. 
 
 itonlion: 
 
 GEORGE BELL, FLEET STREET. 
 
 1850. 
 
iffilantfjfstrr: 
 
 (fffjavlfs i&imnis anti (To., ^Printers. 
 
NOTICE. 
 
 This Paper was read before a meeting of the British Ar- 
 chseological Association at Manchester, on the 34th August, 
 1850, presided over by the Lord Bishop of Manchester. 
 Its favourable reception is mainly attributable to the circum¬ 
 stance of its being read by J. R. Planche, Esq., and illus¬ 
 trated by full-sized Drawings by W. Langton, Esq. To 
 ' these gentlemen I am greatly indebted for their kind and 
 voluntary assistance at a time when my personal attendance 
 was prevented by illness. The Illustrative Wood Cuts have 
 been carefully rendered from my own inefficient Drawings, 
 by the kind attention of Mr. John Bastin. 
 
 G. J. P. 
 
Fi^. 1. 
 
 Cije Ctppets 
 
 of 
 
 €i)t Canons^ Ccrlessia^ticaL 
 
 I N many quarters considerable misapprehension prevails 
 as to the meaning of the word “ tippet/’ which occurs 
 more than once in the Canons of the English Church: 
 it is the purport of this paper to point out, as far as possible, 
 the origin of this ornament, and the different uses to which 
 it is applied. 
 
 The modem and lay signification of the word tippet is a 
 rather small cape encircling the neck and covering the shoul¬ 
 ders. In this form it is still occasionally used, and will be 
 easily remembered as a portion of the dress of many female 
 charity schools. The tippet of the middle ages was a very 
 
 Fig. 1.—“ Thomas Bedel of Redburne,” engraved in Strutt’s English Dresses. Plate 
 cix. 
 
 B 
 
2 
 
 f nf tliB 
 
 different and more important ornament of the person. It 
 
 formed a curious and conspicuous part of the 
 
 hood or capucium, which was then worn almost 
 
 universally by both sexes and all ranks as a 
 covering for the head and shoulders. Its parts 
 and uses will be easily understood by referring 
 
 Fife. 3. to the description of the antiquary Stow. ** 
 he says, « hjerc Ujom tiie rottttHIets upon 
 
 shirts to hci^tnO in their neehs 
 to fteep them toarm, the tijjpet to lie on 
 the shoulher or to tninti 
 
 about their neefts.”* — 
 
 It was, however, worn 
 
 I in various fashions, and 
 applied to curious uses. 
 
 Chaucer tells that the miller in the 
 
 ^^Reve’s Tale” wore on holi¬ 
 days “hi» tippet phounUe 
 about hisJ hebe,”t and of 
 “ The Frere ” we are told 
 that 
 
 “ tippet ap fatiSetr ful ot ttnibe^ 
 ^nlf ptnue^, for to gtbeu fapre toibejS.^t 
 
 The tail-like appendage, called the liri- 
 
 pipe, or tippet, varied in its length and 
 
 * Stow’s Survey of London, edited by Strype. Book v. chap. vii. 
 + Canterhury Tales, “ The Eeve’s Tale.” 
 if Canterhury Tales, “ The Frere,” in prologue. 
 
 Enu)Stratton)3. 
 
 Fig. 2.—Traveller in hood, from Strutt’s English Dresses, edited by Planche. Plate 
 Ixxiv. 
 
 Fig. 3.—Hood twisted round the neck, from English Dresses. Plate Ixxiv. 
 
 Fig. 4.—Hood fastened round the head, engraved in Boutell’s Monume7ital Brasses, 
 
 p. 162 . 
 
 Fig. 5.—Gentleman with hood, from Strutt’s English Dresses. Plate Ixxiv. 
 
i'fliinns tolpsinstiral. 
 
 3 
 
 breadth according to the fluctuating fashions of the time. 
 
 One of its purposes appears to have been to 
 indicate the rank of the wearer. This is 
 illustrated by the en¬ 
 amelled ornaments on 
 the celebrated cup be¬ 
 longing to the Corpo¬ 
 ration of Lynn, which 
 was recently exhibi¬ 
 ted at 'the Rooms of 
 the Society of Arts in 
 London. The noble- 
 
 Pi4 6. 
 
 Fig.?, 
 
 men and ladies of a hunting party are 
 there represented in hoods with tip¬ 
 pets reaching all the way down their 
 backs, while attendants, huntsmen, 
 and abigails have the same ornament 
 varying from a minimum length of a 
 few inches. 
 
 So important was this formerly con¬ 
 sidered, that the fashion of tippets, 
 particularly with respect to their 
 length and breadth, was made the 
 subject of repeated royal ordinances. 
 
 Thus we find that the queen of Henry 
 VII. was entitled to wear a tippet 
 
 "Igtng a gooU lengtl) on traijne 
 of tier mantle, anU m hreaUti^ a nasle 
 anU an inell,” Peers of that time 
 might wear tippets a yard and a half long. The gentry were 
 required to wear them a yard long and an inch broad, while 
 
 Fig 8. 
 
 illujStratton^. 
 
 Fig. 6.—Rustic of the fourteenth century. 
 
 Figs. 7, 8. — Figures from the Lynn cnp, reduced from the enlarged engraving in 
 Garter’s Ancient Sculpture and Painting in England. 
 
€1)b of i\)t 
 
 inferior persons were ordered ** tO f)abf ttO tnautt^ Of ttppctSft 
 founU aiJOttt tijcm.”* 
 
 It must be confessed, however, 
 that these sumptuary laws were 
 never strong enough to resist the 
 more powerful influence of fa¬ 
 shion; as we find, in numberless 
 illuminations of the period, the 
 tippets of the mediaeval damosels 
 and dandies trailing upon the 
 ground, and growing out to the 
 most inconvenient and preposte¬ 
 rous dimensions. 
 
 The custom of cutting the edges 
 of the dress in a leaf-like pat¬ 
 tern which 
 prevailed 
 during the 
 reigns of 
 Henry V. 
 and Henry 
 VI., was 
 extended to 
 the tippets. 
 
 Cambden, 
 quoting a 
 satirical 
 “ The 
 
 F'.e 9. 
 
 Fig. 10 
 
 writer of that period says. 
 
 Fig. 11. 
 
 * “The ordinance and reformation of apparel for great estates .... made by 
 the right high mighty and excellent Princess Margaret Countess of Kichmont 
 
 .mother to the mighty Prince King Henry VII. in the eighth yere of 
 
 his reigne.” — Strutt’s English Eresses, vol. ii. p. 212. 
 
 3Enu^tratt0iiS. 
 
 Fi<js. 9,10.—Figures from the Lynn Cup. 
 
 Fig. 11 .—Person of rank, engraved in Strutt. Plate cx. 
 
(CnEnns (^trlB0iE0tiral. 
 
 5 
 
 Fig 12. 
 
 liripipes or tippets pass round the neck, and hanging down 
 before, reach the heels all 
 jagged” 
 
 As additional proof that 
 the old tippet was an or¬ 
 nament of considerable 
 length, and not a mere co¬ 
 vering to the shoulders, it 
 is only requisite to mention 
 that the last implement of 
 the law was known until 
 lately under the slang name 
 of a ‘‘ Tyburn 
 tippet/’ 
 
 The tippet or 
 
 liripipe is easi- Kg.w. 
 
 ly recognised in the hoods worn 
 by graduates of Cambridge and 
 Dublin; though less noticeable, 
 it is also to be seen in the Oxford 
 hood; and it is not a little curious 
 that while these hoods have en¬ 
 tirely departed from their origi¬ 
 nal shapes in the parts intended 
 to cover the head and shoulders, 
 so that they now serve no other 
 purpose than that of a mere 
 badge, the tippets should have 
 remained comparatively unal¬ 
 tered. It may be remarked 
 Pig. 13. that the present mode of wearing 
 
 ItluitrattflUiS. 
 
 Fig. 12. — Female, engraved in Strutt. Plate cxi. 
 
 Fig. 13. — Lady of rank, engraved in Strutt. Plate cxxiii. 
 
 Fig. 14. —A statue in the Chapel of Henry V. in Westminster Abbey, engraved by 
 Carter, showing the jagged tippet. 
 
6 
 
 (T'jit d:’i|i|irts nf ij)t 
 
 the University hood', hanging by a ribbon and reaching 
 
 nearly to the ground behind, is of 
 questionable taste, as it has entirely 
 altered the character and uses of the 
 habit. At the time that the Canons 
 were promulgated, the hood was 
 worn upon the shoulders, and re- 
 
 Fig. 15. 
 
 
 tained in its place by 
 about three inches 
 of the portions which 
 meet at the chest be¬ 
 ing sewed together, 
 —a more elegant and 
 consistent arrange¬ 
 ment than that which 
 is now usual. 
 
 It is perhaps not 
 unworthy of notice 
 that the appendage 
 known in mediaeval 
 times as the tippet, 
 is by no means pe¬ 
 culiar to that pe¬ 
 riod nor to this 
 particular country. • 
 
 It would almost seem as if humanity 
 in every age and climate has an 
 inherent ambition to assume this 
 tail-like distinction of the lower 
 animals, though it is wisely worn 
 
 F16. 17. 
 
 Fig.18. 
 
 Fig. 19. 
 
 SnujStratinnd. 
 
 Figs. 15,16,17.—The Cambridge, Dublin, and Oxford modern M.A. hoods, laid flat. 
 Fig. 18.—Mode of wearing the B. A. hood, from an engraving in Speed's Maps, about 
 1610. 
 
 Fig. 19.—Mode of wearing the M.A. hood, from an engraving in Speed’s Maps, about 
 1610. 
 
Cniinns frikainstiral. 
 
 7 
 
 « 
 
 fig. 20. 
 
 fig. 21. 
 
 the Life 
 
 with a difference/^ as an ornament to the head. Liripipes 
 or tails may be traced in the dress or armour of 
 the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Jews, Romans, 
 Persians, and other Eastern nations; in the hair 
 of the modern Chinese, Mahomedans, American 
 Indians, Hindoos, and Swiss maidens, as well as in 
 the queues, pig-tails, club-tails, and bag-wigs of 
 English sailors, soldiers, and gentlemen, only 
 fifty years ago. May it not 
 still be recognised in the 
 horsehair appendages flow¬ 
 ing from the helmets of 
 Guards, and in the ever- 
 ehanging lappets, ribbons, turbans, 
 streamers, and toques of modern female 
 fashion ? 
 
 During the reign of Henry VI. the 
 hood began to be superseded by the use 
 of hats among the higher elasses. In 
 this ehange, however, the tippet re¬ 
 tained its importance, and was 
 frequently appended to the hat* 
 a fashion which originated the 
 still universally used hat band. 
 
 In an inventory of the effects 
 of Sir John Eastolffe, we find 
 enumerated among other articles 
 of dress, “A Hode of Damask 
 felwet with I Typpet fastyed with 
 
 * See Cut at page 15. 
 
 Pig. 23. 
 
 Fig. 20.—Figure of a Trojan, from a tracing by D’Agencourt. 
 
 Fig. 21.—A Jew, from an illumination in an ancient Greek MS., engraved by 
 D’Agencourt. 
 
 Fig. 22. — A hood with tippet attached, from Strutt’s English Dresses. Plate Ixxvii. 
 Fig. 23. —A secretary in hood, from illuminations in Strutt's English Dresses. Plate 
 cxiv. 
 
8 
 
 of i\}t 
 
 a lase of Silke/^ showing that the hood and tippet could be 
 separated, — A Russett Hode of Satyn withowgt a typpet,” 
 — and “a Typpet halfe Russet and halfe blake felwet,” 
 indicating their complete separation and independent use. 
 When this separation took place it appears that our ancestors 
 were for a long time puzzled as to the best mode of disposing 
 of the tippet. The first lord mayor of London who wore a 
 hat suspended his tippet from his neck. Ladies frequently 
 presented theirs to favoured knights, who wore them in their 
 helmets or as streamers from their lances. Some gentlemen 
 wore them tied on the left arm over their armour,* 
 others arranged them like a baldric fastened on the left 
 shoulder,t and sometimes they were knotted under the left 
 arm like the ribbons of the orders of knighthood, which may 
 probably owe their origin to the same source. The military 
 sash may be recognised as another adaptation of the tippet 
 fastened round the waist. 
 
 Mourning habits are always the last to be influenced by 
 changes of fashion. At such a time many customs and 
 rehcs of bygone days still chng around us, which have quite 
 disappeared from the costume of the gay world. The hood, 
 in its simplest form, and the antique black cloak, are still 
 used at funerals in some parts of England; and the long, 
 solemn hatband of crape or silk is but a variety of the more 
 ancient tippet. J Such hatbands, under the name of tippets, 
 are even now a part of the recognised mourning for royalty, 
 and as such were, until lately (if they are not still) under the 
 surveillance of the heralds, among whose duties their regula¬ 
 tion is particularly enumerated. By the royal letters patent 
 
 * Vide portrait of Eichard Earl of Warwick, ob. 1658, in Lodge’s Portraits. 
 
 t Vide portrait of Sir Walter Ealeigh, ob. 1618, in Lodge’s Portraits. 
 
 J The modem custom of wearing at funerals both a hatband and a scarf over 
 the shoulder, curiously marks the extravagance which has crept into such cere¬ 
 monies. They both represent the original tippet, which, when hoods were 
 discarded, retained its place as a hatband in mourning costume. 
 
€i\\mm dh'rrli'sinstirnl. 
 
 9 
 
 of King James II., appointing Sir Henry St. George, Knt., 
 Clareneieux King of Arms, he is authorised to reforme and 
 eontroule all such as at any funeralls or interrments shall use 
 or weare any mourning apparell as gowns hoods or tippetts, 
 or such hke, contrary to the orders limited or prescribed in 
 the time of the most noble Prince King Henry the Seaventh 
 otherwise, or in any other sort, than to their estates and 
 degrees, doth or shall appertaine.^^* 
 
 It is, however, to the tippet as a part of the modern eccle¬ 
 siastical costume that our attention is in the present instance 
 to be directed. There are three separate ornaments, having 
 different origins, and applicable to different uses, which 
 appear to be included under this general name — a circum¬ 
 stance which has caused no slight confusion in their use. 
 The first of these is the Chaplain^s scarf. 
 
 * Dallaway’s Enquiry into the Origin and Progress of Heraldry, p. 311. 
 
 C 
 
10 
 
 €\}t nf tjie 
 
 €f)t Cfiaplam’s 
 
 It was a custom of the middle ages, when the nobles 
 trusted less to law than to their own strong hands for the 
 protection of their real or supposed rights, to engage, in 
 addition to their ordinary retainers, the services of numerous 
 persons of all ranks, but particularly tradesmen and artisans, 
 who undertook to assist them with arms or otherwise, as 
 they might he required, to swell the ranks of a pageant or 
 add to the strength of a military force. And these parties in 
 their turn expected the good offices of their patron to aid and 
 countenance them in their ordinary avocations. The usual 
 badge of this alliance was a hood of the livery colours of the 
 patron, presented by him, and worn by his humbler retainer 
 at all such times as his services were required. Stow 
 quaintly informs us that ** ffjesie ltber$ toew tU OlU 
 
 times maUe m eolours, aeeorUmg to ti^etr gobnes, 
 biere of thio colours, as retr and hlehi or reti anti ipurple, 
 murrag, or as it ipIeaseU tJjeir master to appoint. But 
 noto of Jate tliep tiabe useti to he all of one colour anb ti^at 
 of tl)e sabbest, hut tljeir hoobs hetng mabe the one half of 
 the same cloth thtir gobms he on, the other half remaineth 
 reb as of olb time, ^nb so £ enb as tnanting time to tra« 
 hail farthur in this hjorft.”* 
 
 ♦ Stow’s Svrvey of London, edited by Strype, book v. chap. vii. 
 
11 
 
 Numerous instances are related of tlie citizens of London 
 assuming hoods of the royal colours in compliment to the 
 king, on such occasions as his coronation, marriage, or return 
 from a successful war. When Henry V. returned from the 
 battle of Agincourt, he was met Hflanor of iLonUon 
 
 toitlj tlje ^lOetmen anm craftg to tf)c mtmher of four i^unDreU 
 rtDmg tn reU loitfj liootiis rrtt anU bjtjite.” And in 1432 
 King Henry VI., after being crowned in France, returned to 
 London, and " ioas met hg ttje lillanor in ertm^on helhet, a 
 great helbet fjat furreO, a gtrUIe of golK aliout miDUle, 
 anU a hatuOrteft [tippet or scarf] of goltf aliout neeft 
 trtllmg Koton heijutU ^im. S^i^e ^tUermen tn gotons of 
 ssearlet totti) sangutue i^ooUs, anti all ti^e eommottalitn m 
 loljtte gohjns taitlj searlet IjoolJs,”* &c. &c. 
 
 This custom was not confined to the laity. The ecclesi¬ 
 astical barons bestowed their hveries on immense numbers of 
 adherents. And chaplains wore the livery hoods of their 
 lords of like material and colours, though difiering somewhat 
 in form from those of lay servants. It is probable that 
 chaplains, ranking above servants and tradesmen, would, as a 
 distinction, have liripipes to their hoods of considerable 
 length. In a curious satire of the time of Henry VIII., 
 called " STbr 'SMvM of tlje Urutll/’ there occurs: Item I 
 
 gebe unto ti^e best parte of tbe Cleargte, eberpebe a reb 
 bloobp gobjtte, anb eberg other of tljem, a long greene 
 gobme, or a fgne blaebe gotone bjitb ebergebe tbeir tippettes 
 of belbet anb sareenet, bobjue to tbe grounbe, to be bnobme 
 from other mew follobjinge me to mg bunall/’t 
 
 As a farther illustration of the custom, we abstract from 
 
 f 
 
 the Household Book of the Earl of Northumberland, during 
 
 * Sfcow’s Survey of London, book v. chap. vii. The Plantagenet livery co¬ 
 lours were white and red. 
 
 t Of this curious satirical pamphlet there is a unique copy in the Advocates’ 
 Library, Edinburgh. The quotation is from a reprint of a few copies, one of 
 which is in the Author’s possession. 
 
12 
 
 4i|i|itt0 nf \\)t 
 
 the reign of Henry VIII., the following items from the list 
 of articles prepared against My Lord^s going over the sea 
 with his Prince.” 
 
 “ Stem h’ ot IBamaiSSc fatten of 33 r{ 5 t)S sarhetr 
 
 initf) (Srenr fatten of 33rtgt)S for mg HorlfjS jirttg CaptagnoiS. 
 
 “ JEtrm h* pair of roSSriS, of evaSiti of rrtm^on brl&rt 
 a^ mang tnfjtfr trr^jSaunW to grmr, for to ^rt upon tf)r forr-- 
 sfaghr Cotgs? of 
 
 “ Stem pt grrif;S anh t q^cr 0 f rrhr rloth for tit gotonriS for iti 
 dfjapIagnciS gt inrnt o&rr toftf) mg iLortf. 
 
 “ JEtem tit 33rnlJg)S of 2J3hdc S>arSenrtt anlf (Srntr, toit]^ bt CroSiS. 
 t)i HoSiS anh bt CroSSaunt for ti^^ ^aihr tu C^^apTagnr^.”* 
 
 The green and white sarsnet were probably for the chap- 
 lain^s hoods, or tippets, so that my Lord Percy’s “petty 
 captaynes” and his chaplaynes wore his peculiar livery and 
 badges, as did also, “Esperaunce his pureyvaunt,” his grooms, 
 footmen, and soldiers. 
 
 This very objectionable custom, however, was not confined 
 to the persons of the clergy, but was irreverently extended 
 even to the most important ornaments of the church. Pox 
 tells us that, in the second year of Queen Mary, the rood 
 having been set up in St. Paul’s Church with much cere¬ 
 mony, ‘♦not long after tljts a nterrg felloto came into 
 Paul’s, anU spteO the rooUe toith Plarg anU Jloljn nebj set 
 up, Infiereto, among a great sort of people, Ije maUe loin 
 eurtesle, anh salh: ‘Sir, pour mastership ts Ineleome to 
 toinne; ® IjaH thought to Ijahe talfeeh forther inlth pour 
 mastership; hut that pe he hf^vf elotljeh in the iBVueene’s 
 colours, $ hope pe he hut a summer’s hirh, in that pe he 
 hresseh in inljite anh greene.’ "t 
 
 * Northumberland Household Book, in the Antiquarian Repertory, toI iv. 
 p. 365; cressents, &c., were the badges, green and white the livery colours of 
 that noble house. 
 
 t Box’s Ecclesiastical History, vol. iii. p. 101. 
 
(L'nnnns (^trltsinstirnl. 
 
 13 
 
 Chaplains are now appointed, under eertain regulations as 
 to number, by royalty, the nobility, bishops, sheriffs, and 
 other eivil functionaries ; the office is instituted by the pre¬ 
 sentation of the patron’s scarf, or tippet, which is worn by 
 the chaplain. It is, however, no longer of livery colours, but 
 of plain black silk, in three folds, reaching to the skirt of the 
 clerical gown, over which it is worn. The ends are usually 
 deeply notched with mitre-shaped openings. The chaplain’s 
 scarf is frequently confounded with a scarf, or tippet, pecu¬ 
 liar to the clergy of cathedrals and collegiate churches and 
 to certain academical degrees, afterwards to be described; and 
 great irregularity in the use of both has been practised ever 
 since the Reformation. A letter in the Spectator shows the 
 abuse of the scarf in the last century, and likewise proves 
 that the idea of its being a kind of livery worn by chaplains 
 was at that time commonly entertained: — 
 
 ^^As 1 was the other day walking with an honest country 
 gentleman, he very often was expressing his astonishment, to 
 see the town so mightily crowded with doctors of divinity; 
 upon which I told him he was very much mistaken if he took 
 all those gentlemen he saw in scarfs to be persons of that 
 dignity; for that a young divine, after his first degree in the 
 University, usually comes hither to show himself; and on 
 that occasion, is apt to think he is but half equipped with a 
 gown and cassock for his public appearance if he hath not 
 the additional ornament of a scarf of the first magnitude to 
 entitle him to the appelation of doctor from his landlady 
 and the boy at Child’s. . . . When my patron did me 
 the honour to take me into his family (for I must own my¬ 
 self of this order) he'was pleased to say he took me as a 
 friend and companion; and whether he looked upon the 
 scarf like the lace and shoulder-knot of a footman as a badge 
 of servitude and dependancc, I do not know, but he was so 
 kind as to leave mv wearing it to mv own discretion. . . , 
 
 * <7’ V 
 
14 
 
 €\)t nf tjip 
 
 The privileges of our nobility to keep a certain number of 
 chaplains are undisputed, though perhaps not one in ten of 
 these reverend gentlemen have any relation to the noble fa¬ 
 milies their scarfs belong to/’ * 
 
 Another correspondent of the Spectator concludes a letter 
 complaining of improper expressions introduced by the clergy 
 into the prayer before the sermon in these words : — There 
 is another pretty fancy. When a young man has a mind to 
 let us know who gave him his scarf, he speaks a parenthesis 
 to the Almighty; ‘ Bless, as I am in duty bound to pray, the 
 right honourable the countess.’ Is not that as much as to 
 say, ^ Bless her! for thou knowest I am her chaplain ?’ ” f 
 It appears to have been sometimes thought that a patron, 
 on presenting his scarf to a clergyman, and thus constituting 
 him chaplain, removed him from the surveillance of the 
 higher church authorities, and even beyond the reach of ec¬ 
 clesiastical law: thus we find that, “ when the reverend Mr. 
 Remain was turned out of St. George’s, Hanover-square, but 
 reluctant to part with many who were dear to him, and who 
 wished still to profit by his labours, he met them at the 
 house of a Mr. Butcher; for which pretended irregularity, 
 being threatened with a prosecution in the most apostolic 
 spiritual court, the excellent Lady Huntingdon, supposing 
 she had a right to protect him from this fresh oppression, 
 gave him her searf, and as her chaplain he continued to 
 preach to the poor in her kitchen.” J It is also stated that, 
 under somewhat similar circumstances, this eccentric lady 
 bestowed her scarf, patronage, and protection on Mr. 
 Whitfield.” II 
 
 * Spectator, No. 609. This paper was published on the day of the corona- 
 nation of King George the Third; the author (a clergyman) is unknown. 
 
 t Spectator, No. 313. 
 
 t Life of Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, vol. i. p. 133. 
 
 II Life of Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, vol. i. p. 192. 
 
€mm (0ttlB3ia0tital. 
 
 15 
 
 During mourning, the black silk scarf, or tippet, of the 
 chaplain is often exchanged for one of crape, the form being 
 exactly the same. It should be worn over the black gown 
 only, and (though the arrangement is seldom attended to) not 
 over the surplice, because it then usurps the place of other 
 tippets of at least equal, if not greater, importance, which we 
 now proceed to describe. 
 
IG 
 
 nf tljp 
 
 CJ)e C{)oir Cippet* 
 
 For many centuries before the Reformation the clergy of 
 cathedral and collegiate ehurches were aceustomed to wear 
 over th.eir surplices, partly as a distinetion, hut more espe¬ 
 cially as a protection from cold during the early morning and 
 the nocturnal services, a vesture of fur and eloth, which 
 varied in form and eolour in different places and at different 
 periods. Its most frequent form was a kind of fur hood, 
 with long ends or tippets, sometimes of fur but more fre¬ 
 quently of eloth or silk, which hung down before. It was, 
 however, quite different from the hoods of monastie orders or 
 from those of the laity, whieh usually had the long tippet 
 behind instead of in front. 
 
 This particular hood was not worn by the priest officiating 
 in the more solemn services of the church, but by the cathe¬ 
 dral clergy, of whatever rank, in their plaees in the 
 choir. It was called the almuce, aumess, or amys; 
 and the name is so much like that of another or¬ 
 nament of the officiating priest, the amice, (amic- 
 tus,) differing only in orthography, that there is 
 a necessity to point out the distinetion between them, par¬ 
 ticularly as they have been eonfounded until very recently 
 
 Fig, 24. 
 
 JEnwitratton^. 
 
 Fisj. 24.—A priest iii amice, worn on the liead, engraved in Picard's JMit^ious 
 Ceremonies. 
 
17 
 
 by the most eminent authors on liturgical subjects. The 
 amice (amictus) was an oblong square of fine linen placed 
 by the priest upon his head at the time he assumed the usual 
 eucharistic vestments. On that portion which covered the 
 forehead was sewed an embroidered ornament called the 
 apparel, and, when so worn, the appearance of the amice was 
 nearly that of the Jewish philactery. 
 
 When the more important vestments 
 were put on, the amice was thrown back 
 upon the neck, in which state the apparel 
 appears exactly like, and is frequently 
 mistaken for, a collar on the chesuble. 
 
 Numerous examples of this occur on the 
 brasses of priests. 
 
 The aumess (almucium) or choir tippet worn by canons 
 was usually made of the fur of the gray squirrel, those of the 
 inferior cathedral clergy of common brown or black fur, 
 while dignitaries wore them of sable, and members of noble 
 houses of ermine. The hood portion of this vesture appears 
 to have been early disused, and in its stead a square cap was 
 worn in choir, which could with greater ease be lifted from 
 the head when the sacred name occurred in the services. 
 This cap was retained in the Eeformed Church of England 
 until after the accession of James I., and is still used by the 
 Roman Catholic clergy. The choir tippet is also worn by 
 the clergy of Continental cathedrals, though the form and 
 colour vary in almost every church. We learn from the Rev. 
 Mr. Webb’s Sketches of Continental Ecclesiology, that at the 
 cathedral, Ratisbon, ^^the chapter wear red silk tippets in 
 the stallsat the Duomo, Milan, “ the canons wear over the 
 surplice a scarlet cape and mantle, the minor canons carry 
 furred capes over the arms, and the singing men wear over 
 
 Fig. 25. 
 
 inuitrationS. 
 
 Fig. 25.—Priest, with the apparel of the amice on the neck, from a brass. 
 
 D 
 
18 
 
 nf tliB 
 
 their surplices hooded black mantles faced and lined with 
 green;” and at “theDuomo, Verona, the clergy wear blue 
 cravats, cassocks, and short laced surplices tied with ribbons 
 of diflFerent colours.” Such are some of the varieties of the 
 ancient aumess, as now worn by the clergy of the Roman 
 Catholic Church. 
 
 The choir tippet occurs frequently on the brasses of Eng¬ 
 lish canons in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; it may 
 be distinguished fi:‘om the 
 stole by the rounded ter¬ 
 minations of its long tip¬ 
 pets, whether of fur or 
 cloth, and by small plum¬ 
 mets of lead frequently 
 appended to weigh them 
 down; it is usually worn 
 over the sm’plice and un¬ 
 der the splendid proces¬ 
 sional vesture called the 
 
 Fi4.29. 
 
 FiJ. 30. 
 
 Fi4. 31. 
 
 inuStrattDUiS. 
 
 Fios. 26,27, 28.—Canons, from brasses, in surplice, aumess, and cope. 
 
 Ftps. 29,30.—:Snds of tippets weighted with plummets of lead, from brasses. 
 
 Fig. 31.—Canon, in aumess, bordered with bell-shaped ornaments, from a brass. 
 
Cnnnns tolBsinBtirul. 
 
 19 
 
 cope. This, however, was not always the case, as in nume¬ 
 rous instanees it is found without any 
 superior covering. In very early exam¬ 
 ples a kind of 
 bell -shaped 
 ornament is 
 found attached 
 to the aumess, 
 whieh at a 
 later period was represented by 
 the tails of the animals whose 
 skins formed the eape. This 
 was particularly the case in the 
 reign of Plenry VII, about which 
 time the long tippets were se¬ 
 vered, just as the tippet disap¬ 
 peared from the lay hood. Per- m^.33. 
 
 haps it is to this bell-shaped ornament of the aumess that 
 Chaucer alludes, as enabling him to recognise the ehanon in 
 the Canterbury Tales — 
 
 “ In mg ^ertt tD 0 ntfrnt 3E Iirflan 
 
 that 6® tiTT t^at 3E unlfcriStotfc 
 ll^obj tl^at l)iS cloltr fioa^ to bijS j^oirr, 
 
 JTor tubtch i batf Ions atJt'Srtr me 
 S ifemetf bi»w Some cbanon for to fie.”* 
 
 Clok, it must be remembered, was the old name for a bell or 
 bell-shaped ornament, as the elok of a stocking. 
 
 It is just possible that at an early time the eanons’ hoods 
 had real bells attached to them, whieh we know was the case 
 with the robes of the Jewish priesthood, and the custom was 
 
 * Canterbury Tales. 
 
 illuStrattoniS. 
 
 Fig. 32.—Canon, from the title page of Fox’s Martyrology. 
 
 Fig. 33. —Canon, in furred aumess, with a fringe of tails, from a drawing in trick, 
 engraved in the Antiquarian Repertory, vol. i., representing procession to the christen¬ 
 ing of Prince Arthur, son of Henry VII. 
 
20 
 
 ijlF (Iip|ift3 nf tjic 
 
 adopted by Christian ecclesiastics both of the Eastern and 
 Western churehes. I>r. Eock informs us that a few years 
 ago he was shown in the inner sacristy at the great church of 
 Aix-la-Chapelle, an old cope trimmed at the bottom with a 
 row of silver bells beautifully made, of a slender tapering 
 form, both in shape and size very much resembling the un¬ 
 blown flower of the graceful fuehsia fulgens.” * 
 
 There is a triangular shaped piece of stufi* worn attaehed 
 to the hood by certain university oflfieers, and by the 
 preaehers at St. Mary^s, Oxford, which has been for some 
 time a kind of archaeological puzzle. It is shaped like the 
 clok of a stocking, and may probably be such an ornament as 
 Chaucer^s canon had sewed to his hood, though this is merely 
 offered as eonjecture. It may be remarked that Chaucer did 
 not intend to say, as most of his commentators have supposed, 
 that the eloak or mantle was sewed to the hood; this would 
 have been no distinguishing mark of the eanon, as it was an 
 ordinary eustom among all classes at that period; nor would 
 that aceomplished master of language be likely to describe a 
 larger garment as sewed to a smaller; had he meant what the 
 commentators supposed, Chaucer would have said, “his hode 
 was sewed to his eloke.^^ 
 
 To show that the ehoir tippet was adopted into the Re¬ 
 formed Chureh of England, I quote portions of the aecount 
 which Archbishop Parker has left us of his own eonsecration 
 to that office at Lambeth Chapel. “ he 
 
 says, “enters tfje ei^apel about flbe or six through th^ 
 tern gate, elotheO iotth h^ searlet golnn reaching to his fert, 
 
 anO ioith his ht*oO«” t After morning prayers and a sermon 
 by Seory, bishop elect of Hereford, eommunion was cele¬ 
 brated by the bishop elect of Chichester in a surplice and 
 silken cope, assisted by the archdeacons of Canterbury and 
 Lincoln similarly vested. The conseeration having taken 
 
 * Church of our Fathers, vol. i. p. 418. 
 
 t Account of the rites and ceremonies which took place at the consecration 
 of Archbishop Parker. Published by the Cambridge Antiquarian Society. 
 
C annus dEttlfsiastirnl. 
 
 21 
 
 place, he continues: lengtil f5amO riteu hemg 
 
 anU (ompletcO, ^rrtjbtsijop goes out hg ti)t 
 norti^ern porch accompantcU hg the four Bishops loho hah 
 eonseerateh hint» anh forthtotth, attenheh hp the same Bi^ 
 shops, hf returns through the same porch, elotheh loith the 
 tohtte episcopal surplice* of a Bishop, anh ^chimera,’ as 
 theg call it, mahe of hlaeh silft, about his neeh, hut on some 
 part of his collar bjcre seloeh precious shins tljeg eommonlg 
 call sables — also the Bishops of Chichester anh i^ereforh 
 
 being elotljeh in their ofcon 
 episcopal garments, bi^ loith 
 the surplice anh chimera.” 
 
 In the same document we are 
 told that Miles Coverdale, 
 who assisted at the consecra¬ 
 tion, ^‘useh nothing but a 
 bjoollen gobm reaching hoUm 
 to his ancles.” 
 
 In the chimere of the epis¬ 
 copal habit the ancient choir 
 tippet or aumess will be rea¬ 
 dily recognised, though it ob¬ 
 tained upon this occasion a new 
 and secular name, in deference, 
 probably, to the known opinions 
 of Coverdale and others who were 
 parties to the consecration. The 
 identity of this chimere of Arch¬ 
 bishop Parker with a furred scarf 
 or tippet worn by proceeding 
 church dignitaries may be seen 
 
 Fi®. 34. 
 
 Fig. 35. 
 
 * The rochet. 
 
 illuitratton^. 
 
 Fiff. 34.—Archbishop Parker, from an engraving in Lodge’s Portrails. 
 
 Fi{i. 35.—Archbishop Warhani, from a painting at Lambeth Palace, engraved in 
 I.odge’s roftraits. 
 
22 
 
 (Kljt (t^ijiprts nf tljt 
 
 from the portrait of Parker, where the searf without the sable 
 is suffieiently evident, and that of Arehbishop Warham, 
 where the sable collar and the silk scarf may be both distin¬ 
 guished. The chimere has since grown into a robe of black 
 satin nearly covering the rochet, and to it the lawn sleeves 
 are now attached. The choir tippet, however, has not been 
 discarded; it is still a portion of the episcopal costume worn 
 in addition to the chimere; it also continues to be used by 
 prebends and canons of English cathedrals over the surplice, 
 irrespective of any appointment as chaplain, or of their aca¬ 
 demic status. 
 
 The modern English choir tippet and the chaplain’s scarf 
 resemble each other, not only in form and material, but in 
 the circumstance that they may both be worn as a part of the 
 everyday and outdoor costume of the clergy, neither of them 
 being essential to the offices of the church, nor intended to 
 be used in administering her more solemn services. The one 
 serves to mark connection with a cathedral or collegiate 
 body, by whom a regular service with daily prayers is per¬ 
 formed ; the other is the badge of an engagement to offer 
 prayers for, and to superintend the religious duties of, some 
 particular person or family. 
 
 The seventy-fourth canon ecclesiastical, enjoining decency 
 in apparel to ministers,” appears to refer both to the chaplain’s 
 scarf and choir tippet now described. By it deans, masters 
 of colleges, archdeacons, and prebendaries, in cathedral and 
 collegiate churches, being priests or deacons,” are instructed 
 to wear gowns with hoods or tippets of silk or sarsnet and 
 square caps, an injunction applicable in all respects to the 
 choir tippet. “ Doctors in divinity, law, and physic, bache¬ 
 lors in divinity, masters of arts, and bachelors of law having 
 any ecclesiastical living,” are entitled to wear the same cos¬ 
 tume. This appears to be a permission granted by the 
 church in compliment to their academic rank, irrespective of 
 connection with any cathedral church or of any appointment 
 
C^nnnns 
 
 23 
 
 as chaplain; all other ministers, who have not the requisite 
 academic degree, are “ to wear the like apparel as aforesaid, 
 except tippets only,^^ that is, gowns and tippets, but not the 
 hood, that being an indication of university rank dis¬ 
 tinctly prohibited to ministers who are not graduates under 
 pain of suspension by the fifty-eighth canon. The tippet 
 permitted to these non-graduates is presumed to be the scarf 
 presented by patrons to their chaplains, and which may 
 be worn by priests or deacons, whether graduates or 
 otherwise. 
 
24 
 
 4jie nf i\}t 
 
 €f)t Cippet or ^tole^ 
 
 The fifty-eightlL canon, whicli regulates the dress of the 
 clergy ^‘reading divine service and administering the saera- 
 ments,” directs graduates to wear upon their surplices the 
 hoods of their degrees, and permits such ministers as are not 
 graduates to wear “ deeent tippets of black.” It is presumed 
 that this particular tippet does not refer to the chaplains^ or 
 canons’ scarfs, neither of which would be applicable under 
 such circumstances according to the aneient usages of the 
 Christian ehureh, but rather to the orarium or stole, one of 
 the earliest symbolical vestures of Christianity. To identify 
 this ornament of the elergy with the tippet 
 of the Reformed Chureh, it may be only 
 neeessary to mention that Bingham, in a 
 translated quotation, says that ^^the deaeons 
 resembled the wings of angels with their 
 veils or tippets on their left shoulders, run¬ 
 ning about the church and crying out. Let 
 none of the catechumens be present at the 
 eelebration of the mysteries.”* And again, 
 “ The council of Laodicea has two canons concerning the little 
 
 * Antiquities of the Christian Church, vol. i. p. 646. 
 
 JElIuStratianS. 
 
 Fig. 36.—Deacon with stole on the left shoulder, from an engraving in D’Agencourt’s 
 collection, reduced from the original manuscript of the eleventh century. 
 
25 
 
 habit called orarium, which was a scarf or tippet to be worn 
 upon the shoulders, and might be used by bishops, presby¬ 
 ters, and deacons,” &c. 
 
 The stole in the earliest days of the Christian church was 
 called the orarium; it then consisted of a strip of linen hung 
 over the neck. Some writers derive its name from ora, be¬ 
 cause it was employed to wipe the face by those who minis¬ 
 tered in public; though its more probable origin is from 
 orare, as it was ever the peculiar symbol of prayer, and is 
 said to have been worn by females during public prayers as a 
 covering for the head, in aceordance with the admonition of 
 St. Paul: “ Judge in yourselves : is it comely that a woman 
 pray unto God uncovered?”* The orarium had purple 
 
 borders, a custom derived from the 
 classical garments, which were but 
 slightly modified when first used by 
 the early Christians. Indeed exam¬ 
 ples are frequently met with of an 
 ornament exactly similar to the mo¬ 
 dern stole worn upon the shoulders 
 of the ancient Romans when ofieriug 
 saerifice. 
 
 The orarium or stole, by whieh 
 name for a long period it has been 
 known, is a part of the sacerdotal 
 eostume which has always been held of the highest import¬ 
 ance by both the Greek and Latin Churches. Its purpose 
 was to symbolise the priestly office and authority; for though 
 worn by deacons, it was over one shoulder only, as indica¬ 
 ting the limited powers of that office. All orders above that 
 
 * 1 Corinthians, xi. 13. 
 
 Fig. 37 .— Centurion offering sacrifice, from a Roman bas-relief engraved in Fair- 
 holt’s Costume of England, p. 52. 
 
 Fig. 37. 
 
 E 
 
26 
 
 €i|i|i]et0 Df tljB 
 
 of deacon invariably used it in the solemn services of the 
 church. The modern stole of the Church of 
 Rome has greatly widened ends, with crosses 
 embroidered upon each, and a third in the centre. 
 Those used in the thirteenth and early in the 
 fourteenth centuries had frequently a broader 
 Kg. 38 . piece placed upon the ends, and fringed. But the 
 best examples from brasses show the stoles of uniform width, 
 or of very slightly and gracefidly increased dimensions at the 
 ends. It is rare to find on them at that period the three 
 crosses now considered indispensable by the Roman Catholic 
 clergy, though doubtless every stole was marked with one 
 
 Kg. 39, 40, 41, 43, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47. 48, 
 
 cross in the centre where it rested on the neck, a custom 
 which was extended to all vestments set aside for sacred pur¬ 
 poses. No satisfactory reason has been assigned for the 
 broad ends of the modern Roman Catholic stole, which can¬ 
 not be compared for elegance of form with those of the four¬ 
 teenth century. The stoles were made of the very richest 
 materials, embroidered in gold, silk, or jewels, and in colours 
 corresponding with the vestments used at the particular 
 seasons of fast or festival. It is presumed that the Reformed 
 Church, in repudiating this custom, ordered the tippets of her 
 ministering clergy to be decent (^.e. plain) and uniformly black. 
 During mass, the ofiiciating priest of the Roman Catholic 
 
 $nu)Strati0n^. 
 
 Fig. 38.—End of a stole, part of a set of Spanish vestments in the author’s possession. 
 Figs. 39 to 48.—Examples of the ends of stoles, from ancient brasses, engraved in 
 ISoutell. 
 
27 
 
 r-g. 4?. 
 
 communion crosses the ends of the stole upon his breast, fas¬ 
 tening it under the girdle, while the dea¬ 
 con pins the ends under the right arm. 
 These customs, however, are of compa¬ 
 ratively recent introduction, and were 
 not practised in the early church; nor, 
 except in a few recent instances, has it 
 ever been the cus¬ 
 tom of the Reformed 
 Church in England. 
 
 Numerous examples 
 of the form of the ancient 
 stole may be met with on 
 the monumental brasses 
 of bishops and priests; 
 they are seen with the 
 ends terminating in a 
 fringe worn under the 
 cope, or falling beneath 
 the edge of the chesuble, 
 and always correspond¬ 
 ing in shape and orna¬ 
 mentation with the ma¬ 
 niple hung over the left 
 arm. The clergy of the 
 Reformed Church of 
 
 Fifi. 51. 
 
 England, who adopt the tippet as a stole, 
 wear it in the form of a strip of black silk 
 about four inches wide, a little more than 
 three yards long, and simply fringed at the ends. It is of 
 course never worn over the gown, but only with the surplice. 
 
 Fi6. 50. 
 
 iXlnitvatiQixg. 
 
 Fig. 49 .—Deacon in crossed stole, from a black letter pontifical in the author’s pos¬ 
 session. 
 
 Fig. 50 .—Priest in crossed stole and cope, from a brass. 
 
 Fio. 51 .—Priest in chesuble and stole, from a brass. 
 
28 
 
 Df tjiB Cnitnns tolmnstiral. 
 
 In the Latin version of the canons, the word liripipium 
 corresponds with the English tippet. It is difficult to account 
 for the origin of this word, which has been supposed to be 
 derived from cleripeplum; probably it may be a compound of 
 lira, a ridge between two furrows, and peplum, a long robe of 
 white or purple worn by the goddesses, which nearly corres¬ 
 ponds with the ancient classical vestment, with its purple 
 borders upon the white linen. This, however, is mere con¬ 
 jecture. 
 
 The canon further restricts non-graduates to the use of 
 some decent tippets of black, so it be not silk.” This is a 
 clause from one of the sumptuary laws which attempted very 
 unsuccessfully to regulate the inordinate passion for extrava¬ 
 gance in dress so frequently complained of by early English 
 writers, and, like many other of the canonical regulations, is 
 no longer applicable to the present altered state of society. 
 
 Fig 5>, 
 
 3ElIuiStratt0n^. 
 
 Fig. 52.—Lady in eared hood and long tippet, from an engraving in Fairholt’s 
 Costume in England, p. 20-1. 
 
 Charles Simms anil Co., rriiiVt-rs, Manchester.