V^äMw
NORTHWESTERN
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
.J.
PURCHASED FROM THE
MINNA SCHMIDT
FUND
THE BOOTS AND SHOES OF OUR
ANCESTORS.
CORDWAINERS' HALL, CANNON STREET, LONDON.
PERSPECTIVE VIEW, SHOWING ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL.
THE
OOTS AND
HOES
OF OUR ANCESTORS
AS EXHIBITED BY
THE WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF
CORDWAINFRS
WirH A 'BRIEF HISrORT OF THE COMPANT
By W. H, button
WARDEN OF THE COMPANY
?
Mitb numerous illustrations in Collotype
LONDON : CHAPMAN AND HALL, LIMITED
ii, Henrietta Street, Covent Garden
MDCCCXCVIII
PREFACE.
N June, 1895, an Exhibition of Boots and Shoes
was held in the Cordwainers' Hall, and excited
very considerable interest. It was in consequence
of the success of this Exhibition that I was in¬
duced to write the following treatise on a subjedl
concerning which little has been written, but
which possesses strong elements of interest even for the casual
students of history and of antiquities.
In appealing to these casual students I feel that I am addressing
a large sedlion of the reading public, but while trusting that they
will find much to repay their perusal of my work, I believe that it
will prove specially useful to those who are able, and who require,
to give more time to studying old-time ways and fashions, such
as Antiquarians, Historians, Artists, and Diredtors of Museums,
Libraries, and Schools of Art. If the present treatise assists such
men in their endeavours to add to the wealth and knowledge of
the nation, I shall feel fully repaid for the long and careful thought
and research which I have devoted to my subjedl.
In conclusion, I tender my warm thanks to the Worshipful
Company of Cordwainers for permission to undertake this work,
Messrs. C. L. Lavers-Smith (Past-Master of the Cordwainers'
Company), F. W. East (from whose excellent photographs of
many objedts in the Antique Sedtion of the 1895 Exhibition the
plates which illustrate the text are produced), W. Greig, W. Box
vi
Preface.
Kingham, C. Purdon Clarke, D. J. Hile, and to many others for
their kind and valuable assistance in colleiting various items of
interest. Author.
N.B.—Since this book was written, and before it was through
the press, the sad event of the author's death occurred, and if any
source of information has not been acknowledged, his wife, who
took the deepest interest in the work throughout its whole course,
trusts that this circumstance will be received as an explanation
and apology.
LIST OF PLATES.
CoRDWAiNERs' Hall. Exterior looking West. Froutispece.
CoRDWAiNERs' Hall. Exterior Front View. Facing page i.
plate.
A. View of Upper Hall, looking East.
B. View of Upper Hall, looking West.
C. The Exhibition (an Interior View).
C2. Marble Urn and Tablet to the Memory of John Came
Cj, John Game's Window.
D. View of Lower Hall, looking West.
E. The Exhibition (an Interior View).
F. Florentine Leather Panels of the Sixteenth Century
Oriental Shoes as worn at the present time, etc
I. The South Kensington Museum Collection.
II. The South Kensington Museum Collection.
III. The South Kensington Museum Collection.
IV. The South Kensington Museum Collection.
V. The Greig Collection.
VI. The Greig Collection.
VII. Collection of W. Box Kingham, Esq^, and of F. Rath
bone, esqi
VIII. Collection of W. Box Kingham, Esq.
IX. Collection of D. J. Hile, Esq^
X. Collection of D. J. Hile, Esq., and of the Author.
XI. Collection of Messrs. Tyrrell and Bennett.
XII. Collection of D. J. Hile, Esq,^
viii
List of Plates.
piate.
xiií.
XIV.
XV.
XVI.
XVII.
XVIII.
XIX.
XX.
XXI.
XXII.
XXIII.
XXIV.
XXV.
XXVI.
XXVII.
XXVIII.
XXIX.
XXX.
Collection of D. J. Hile, Esq^,, of J. Lutwyche, Esq^.,
and of R. zilcken, esq^
Collection of the Directors of Museums to the Cor¬
poration of Liverpool.
Collection of the Directors of Museums to the Cor¬
poration of Liverpool.
Black Jacks.
Collection of R. Zilcken, Esq^
Collection of Sir Henry Irving.
Collection of R. Zilcken, Escí^, of Mrs. Williamson,
of E. Lovett, Esq^, and of C. Purdon Clarke, Esq^,
C.I.E.
Collection of T. Ellis, Esq., and of Messrs. C. F.
Bally and Sons.
The Author's Collection, and the Collection of
Messrs. Tyrrell and Bennett.
Collection of Miss A. Wilson and of D. J. Hile, Esq^
Collection of Messrs. C. F. Bally and Sons.
Collection of D. J. Hile, EsQj^
Collection of D. J. Hile, Esq^^
Collection of D. J. Hile, Esq¡^
Collection of D. J. Hile, Esq.
Collection of D. J. Hile, Esq^
Collection of D. J. Hile, Esq¿
Collection of W. Box Kingham, Esq^
CORDWAINERS' HALL, CANNON STREET, LONDON.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CORDWAINERS'
COMPANY.
HE Cordwainers, one of the most ancient of the
City Guilds, were so called from their dealing in
Cordovan leather, which was manufadlured in
Corduba or Cordova, a city in Spain, of great im¬
portance as a centre of commerce from the ninth
to the twelfth centuries.
The art of preparing leather in the particular manner for which
Cordova became famous was introduced in Spain by the Moors.
The process consisted in the use of alum, and the skins so dressed
were called Altura, which caused the workers to be also known as
Alutarii, by which term the Company is described in their first
Charter. In course of time the process became known in other
countries. The knowledge seems to have reached England about
the time of the Conquest, and it is highly probable that it was
brought by the Normans. This process is now known as tawing,
as distinguished from tanning.
The Alutarii, or Cordwainers, appear to have been associated
as a trade Guild from a very early date. At that time the Cord¬
wainers' Company included the Girdlers, the Tanners, the Curriers,
the Leathersellers, and various smaller trades, such as Pursers and
Pouchmakers. They were at first located round about the site of
B
2
A Brief History of
the Royal Exchange, which was on the verge of the old City of
Londinium when the Roman power was predominant in Britain.
Here they remained for many centuries, their industry forming
one of the staple trades of the country. The gradual growth of
the population forced them to take up their occupation in the
Ward designated after their trade in the thirteenth century, and
known as the " Warda de Cordwanerstrate."
The craft had long been recognized as an important fadlor in
moulding the early municipal life of our towns. Thus the Gilda
Corvesaorum of Oxford in the twelfth century was successful in
obtaining from King Henry 1. a royal charter upon payment of
an annual fine of one ounce of gold. In 1227 we find Henry III.
appointing Gervaise le Cordwainer to the important office of
Chamberlain of London ; and again we find, among the records of
the Bridge House Estates, a charitable cobbler named Robert de
Suthwerk bequeathing, in 1243, a messuage on Old London Bridge
towards keeping the fabric of the bridge in repair.
The first recorded Ordinance of the Company was made in
1272, in the reign of Henry III., which will be found in Liber
Horn, folio 339. It runs thus: "To the good men of the Cord-
wainers of London, by the will and consent of Master Walter
Harvey, Mayor, and the other Barons of the City of London, for the
relief and advancement of the whole business, and to the end that
all frauds and deceits may hereafter be avoided." By this ordinance
the whole of the workers were under the surveillance of the Guild
within the City. The cordwainer, the tanner, and the currier had
separate rights and regulations in the preparing of alum leather, tan
leather, and working cowhides. The cordwainer was to make boots
and shoes of calf hide, and the trades were not to interfere with each
other under a penalty of half a mark, to be paid to the Commonalty
of the City aforesaid ; and further, no master was to keep more than
eight servants. The carrying of shoes through the streets for sale
was only permitted before dinner, excepting between " Corveysere
Strate," now known as Queen Street, and " Sopere Lane," now
the Cordwainers^ Company.
3
Bow Lane; nor were they allowed to be taken beyond twenty
miles of the city, an exception being made during the eves of
festivals. Two masters were prohibited from occupying the same
place, each one being expeited to " stand by himself and work,"
and the craft were only allowed to do nigbtwork between the
Feast of St. Michael and the Lord's Nativity.
During the mayoralty of John le Blound, in the thirteenth year
of King Edward III. (1340), the Court of Aldermen gave the
Guild a renewal of the Ordinance, whereby twelve good and lawful
men, as the principal helpers, were to be eleéled for the regulation
of the Misterie (meaning mastery, as Mister means Master), and
charged to search throughout the whole trade once every quarter
in order to detedl and prevent fraud.
In 1439 King Henry VI. granted the first Charter of Incor¬
poration to this Company, in consideration of a payment of fifty
marks. He conceded to the Freemen of the Misterie of Cord-
wainers (Allutariorum) of the City of London that they should be
one body or commonalty for ever; that they should every year
eleél and make of themselves one Master and four Wardens to rule
and govern the said Misterie and all men and workers of the
Misterie, and all workmen and workers whatsoever of tanned
leather relating to the said Misterie; to teach and try black and
red tanned leather and all new shoes, which should be sold or
exposed for sale, as well within the said City as without, within
two miles thereof ; to have perpetual succession and a common
seal; to be fit and capable in law to acquire and purchase for
themselves and their successors for ever in fee and perpetuity,
tenements, rents and other possessions whatsoever, and from any
person whatsoever. The above Charter was exemplified and con¬
firmed by the Charter 4 and 5, Philip and Mary (1557).
Further charters or letters patent were granted by Q^een
Elizabeth, James I., James II., and William and Mary, the latter
confirming all previous charters, some of which extended the rights
and powers of the Company.
4
A Brief History of
The orders, rules, and ordinances now regulating the Company-
were made and agreed to at a Court specially summoned at
Cordwainers' Hall, May 31, 1749.
In 1898, an Aâ of Parliament, known as the Flaying A61, was
passed, which empowered the Company to examine raw hides and
skins in the City of London, and to inflidt fines in cases where
damage had been done in the removal of the same from the
carcasses.
This Adl was repealed in 1824, and in the following year
Parliament further curtailed the powers of the Cordwainers' Com¬
pany among others, since when the adlive control of the trade
which the Company of the Mistery of Cordwainers had exercised
for more than six centuries has fallen into disuse.
Other duties and trusts which the Company fulfil remain. Of
these the principal is the administration and distribution of the
considerable funds, trust and otherwise, of which they have the
disposal. Among these may be mentioned Came's Charity, for
the benefit of clergymen's widows, blind, and deaf and dumb
persons, nearly 1,000 a year ; Milner's Charity, for poor distressed
fathers of families, ;^i4o, and the proceeds of the fines levied under
the old Flaying Adt, which are given to the poor of the Company.
The Company take great interest in all that concerns the trade
with which they are connedted.
They subscribe liberally to its benevolent societies, and adlively
promote technical education.
They assisted in the formation of the Leather Trades' School
at Bethnal Green, which they help to maintain by an annual grant.
They also pay the salary of a special inspedlor, under the auspices
of the City and Guilds of London Institute, whose duty it is to visit
periodically the different technical schools and classes in the boot
and shoe industry in the United Kingdom, and by advice assist in
perfedling the work and teaching, and the gift of prizes.
They likewise make grants from time to time to hospitals and
other charitable institutions, give scholarships to undergraduates at
the Cordwainers Company.
5
the Universities, pay school fees to children of members of the
Company, contribute annually to the funds of the City and Guilds'
Institute, and in other ways promote education.
Some Early Entries in the Company's Records.
1595-6. Receaued of three several persons which left
New Work and made Old Work . . iij®.
1595-6. Richard Minge and another for late come-
ing on the quarter daye and comeing in
his cloake ...... xij'^.
159 5-6. Spent atte the Buriall of Mr. Bullock's wyfe
over his gwift ..... vi®. x'^.
1598-9. Severall men of the Companie for not come¬
ing to burialls ..... x®. iv**.
1598-9. Mr. Shawe and Mr. Clarke, Wardens of
Yeomanry, their several fynes of iiij^^ a
piece for not making their dinner . . viij'".
1600-1. Mathew Birkhed, for a fyne for making
boote of ill leather .... xij'*.
1606-7. Receaued of severall of the Livery for not
attending the buriall of a brother Livery¬
man, xij"^. each ..... viij®.
1625. X®. allowed towards the buriall of W.
Birkeck, an ancient of the Court, he
dying very poore.
1657-8. Diett, Bred and Mass Biscuits atte the
funeral of Mr. Tarleton, the Upper
Beadle.
INTRODUCTION.
HE manufaélure of Altura, now called leather, is of
very early origin, mention of it being found in
manuscripts many years before Christ. Man in
order to proteél his feet in primeval days was
compelled to adopt a covering of raw hide.
One of the earliest occupations of mankind was
the dressing of leather, in all countries ; and it is remarkable
that Canadian Indians, Laplanders, and Africans dress skins re¬
markably well, although their processes and means are necessarily
of the rudest kind.
The earliest mention of shoes in the Bible occurs in Deutero¬
nomy XXV. lo. According to the writer, Moses, therefore, the
Jewish shoe dates back centuries before the Christian era. We also
find mention of shoes at Exodus iii. 5, when the angel of God
appeared to Moses on Mount Horeb in a flame of fire out of
the midst of the burning bush—a bush which burnt without being
consumed. Moses awed said, " I will turn aside and see this great
sight, why the bush is not burnt ; " when the angel of the Lord
replied, " Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place
whereon thou standest is holy ground." The expression " put off
thy shoes " is more enlightening than any previous notice of shoe-
making in ancient history.
8
IntroduEíion.
We also find that Joshua, on seeing an angel in the pathway,
asked whether he was for Israel or their enemies ; he replied that
as captain of God's host he came, and on Joshua making obeisance
to him he said, " Loose thy shoe from off thy foot ; for the place
whereon thou standest is holy." (Joshua v. 15.)
The uncovering of the foot was undoubtedly a sign of reverence,
and at the present time it is the custom to leave one's shoes at the
door of a mosque, while in Western countries the head is uncovered
on entering a place of worship.
When the Hebrews were preparing to cross the Red Sea, Moses
commanded them thus : "And thus shall ye eat it (the Passover),
with your loins girded, and your shoes on your feet," etc. (Exodus
xii. 11), which shows that shoemaking was known amongst the
Hebrews before they left Egypt. The historian, Herodotus, tells
us : " The Hebrews in the first ages wore boots which covered
altogether the feet and legs."
The sandal and the buskin made up between them the founda¬
tion of shoemaking ; the sandal was no doubt the first foot covering,
raw hide and leather being the material mostly used.
At the present day in Palestine, and probably for many cen¬
turies past, wooden soles have been used by the poorer classes on
their sandals. " Sold the poor for a pair of shoes " (Amos ii. 6).
At the present day these sandals or shoes have usually a raised heel.
If a Hebrew wished to show high respeól to anyone, he took
off his shoes and approached him barefooted.
The shoe was also used as a sign of conquest, the passage
" Over Edom will I cast my shoe " occurring in the Psalms Ix. 8,
and cviii. 9.
We also read that the prophet Isaiah went up to Jerusalem
barefooted.
On the day of Atonement the ancient Israelite did not wear
shoes, except those made of soft material—not wearing his ordinary
leather shoes, in order to go quietly for the sake of his sins.
Before the celebration of Jewish weddings in ancient days, his-
IntroduEíion.
9
torians tell us that the future husband offered a ring to his fiancée^
and after embracing her he gave her a shoe, the shoe being
emblematic of the right of possession, and the bridegroom in
giving this shoe seemed to say to his intended wife, " I give myself
to thee."
The Romans called a shoemaker sutor, from the verb to sew,
or calceolarius, which recalls the flower calceolaria, and which
is so called from its slipper shape. Their shoes were often
buried with them, perhaps as being the most valuable and showy
article of dress, and one that the deceased would least like to part
with. In the ninth and tenth centuries wooden shoes were worn
by the greatest princes of Europe, the upper part of leather and
the sole of wood ; the poorer Anglo-Saxons wore no stockings or
boots, but wore a cloth bound round their feet and legs. In the
Norman period subtulares were worn ; it was a close warm shoe.
When worn by the lower orders, shepherds, etc., the legs were
also covered by a kind of gaiter, but richly ornamented shoes were
worn by the upper classes ; some were ornamented round the top.
A great beau, Robert, surnamed the Horned, who lived in the
reign of William Rufus, used shoes with sharp long points, stuffed
with tow and twisted like a ram's horn. The English word boot
is derived from the Welsh botes, which means shoes.
Pattens, of which a number are exhibited at Cluny Museum,
Paris, and of which a specimen is shown in Plate VIL, Nos. 38
and 35, in olden days took the place of the modern golosh, and
their supposed origin would date back as far as the fourteenth cen¬
tury, when long-toed shoes were in fashion. Its name is derived
from the French patin, and not, as the poet Gay writes,—
" The patten now supports each frugal dame,
Which from the blue-eyed Patty takes its name."
In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries they were worn by
clergy and gentry, and to be as light as possible were made of
aspen wood. In Davenant's " The Wits," published in 1635, we
c
IntroduSiion.
find " From your sattin slipper to your iron patten," including all
grades of society.
The ringed patten, which was a patten with an iron ring on
the sole, to save it from wear and to keep the foot dry, is not older
than Queen Anne's time.
The Polish shoes worn in 1388 were the most ludicrous shoes
ever fashionable in England ; they were fastened to the wearer's
knee by cords of silk, or gold and silver chains. A Duke of Anjou
is said to have first introduced them to hide a bunion on his foot.
In Henry VIII.*s reign shoes grew so broad to suit his gouty
feet, that in his daughter Mary's reign the shoes became so large
that Parliament limited their breadth over the toes to six inches.
Wrinkled boots became fashionable in the reign of Charles I.
With them was worn inside the boot the sashune, which was
bound about the leg to thicken the leg, and so give the boot a
smooth appearance.
Slippers were much worn in Queen Elizabeth's time. In
Webster's "Devil's Law Case," 1623, a character is described as
wearing " tennis court woollen slippers for fear of creaking."
That at a very early date gloves were worn, there can be no
doubt, since both Homer and Xenophon speak of them. They are
also mentioned by Varro (plainly showing they were known to the
Romans) in his " De Re Rustica," who says that olives gathered
by naked hands are preferable to those pulled with gloves on.
Their origin is unknown ; probably the first mention of the
glove occurs in Ruth, iv. 7, 8, nearly three thousand years since,
the word Nangaal meaning to enclose or shut. Thus, when
it is followed by Regel, foot, it must imply a sandal or shoe, but
standing by itself as quoted in the passage it may be translated
glove.
For this we have the authority of the Chaldaic Version, which
renders it Nartek Tad, the case or covering of the right hand.
The ancient Rabbins render the word in the original writings
glove, and not shoe. Sir Walter Scott, who was a great authority
IntroduSíion,
on matters of antiquity, was of the same opinion. Amongst the
Hebrews, gloves were not worn by women, only by men.
The earliest form of glove is represented without separate
fingers. In the fourteenth century they were worn with long
tops, and carried in the hand or under the girdle ; they were
part of regal attire, and often jewelled on the back. Gloves worn
on and carried in the hands are seen in the Arundel MS. 83,
fourteenth century, and their manufadlure would appear at that
period to be specially German, as part of the duty paid to our
sovereign consisted of five pairs of gloves. Jewelled gloves were
worn by the higher clergy as a sign of their rank. In the will of
Archdeacon Dalby, 1400, gloves made of hare-skin are mentioned.
Knights when fully armed wore gloves formed of plates of metal
overlapping, or the fingers were covered by a broad plate, flexible
in the centre. In the fifteenth and following centuries they were
more commonly worn. Wedding gloves are mentioned in a MS.,
1599. Sometimes they were perfumed and embroidered. Steevens,
in his " Notes on Shakespeare," vol. ix., p. 467, tells us that it was
at one time " the custom to wear gloves in the hat on three distindl
occasions, viz., as the favour of a mistress, the memorial of a friend,
and as a mark to be challenged by an enemy." In Shakespeare's
works they are frequently mentioned. Portia begs of Bassanio his
gloves, which she will wear for his sake. Queen Elizabeth pre¬
sented a glove to George, Earl of Cumberland, and in his portrait
he is represented wearing it in his hat as a favour. In a portrait of
Queen Elizabeth by Zucchero she is represented as wearing on her
left hand a dark-coloured leather glove, the back of the hand and
fingers of which appear to be stamped with patterns and ornamented
with small stones and pearls. In the museum at Saffron Waiden
is a richly-decorated glove said to have belonged to the unfortunate
Mary Queen of Scots. It is of a light buff leather, beautifully
ornamented with spangles and needlework in gold and silver
threads, with a gold-lace border and silk opening at the wrist. At
that period the tops of men's gloves were sometimes of red leather.
12
IntroduEíion.
the rest being white ; the tops of others were sometimes trimmed
with rich embroidered stuif. Perfumed gloves were brought as
presents from Italy in the sixteenth century—a custom that con¬
tinued till the middle of the last century. In his " Angler "
Walton speaks of otter skins as being excellent for gloves. As a
means of keeping the hands white, chicken-skin gloves were
invented about the middle of the eighteenth century. In order to
" bleach the hands " properly, the wearer slept in them. In
" Mundus Muliebris," 1690, occur the lines :
" And some of chicken-skin for night
To keep her hands plump, soft, and white."
In a shop-bill issued by a perfumer named Warren he says :
" The singular name and charaéler of these gloves induced some to
think they were made from the skins of chickens ; but, on the
contrary, they are made of a thin strong leather, which is dressed
with almonds and spermaceti ; and from the softening balmy nature
of these gloves, they soften, clear, smooth, and make white the
hands and arms, and why the German ladies gave them the name
of chicken gloves is from their innocent, effedlual quality." There
is no precise date for the origin of the glove trade in England, but
as the etymology of the word is so positively Saxon, it is highly
probable the Saxons introduced it into this country, the word glove
being a corruption of glofe. The first legal enadlment respeéling
the glove occurs in the records of France.
Gloves are first mentioned in the records of Great Britain about
the year 1462, when they were prohibited to be imported into this
country, the glove trade being then a rising one and considered
worthy the protedlion of the legislature. This prohibition was
cancelled in 1825. The gauntlet was introduced into England at
the time of the Norman conquest, and was a mailed glove, that is,
a stout deer or sheep-skin glove, having jointed plates of metal
affixed to the fingers and back. There was attached to the top of
the glove sometimes a circular defensive plate, protedling the wrigt
IntroduSíion.
13
and meeting the armour which covered the arm. The gauntlet
was used both as a sign of defiance and an offensive weapon at the
Trojan games, nearly one thousand years before the Christian era.
Perfumed gloves were at one time imported largely from Venice
and Spain. About the year 1566 embroidered gloves in the highest
perfedlion were imported into England from Venice as articles of
the greatest luxury. Silk gloves were also introduced about this
time. The pradtice of giving gloves at funerals is derived from high
authority. It was at one time customary to bury royal personages
and the higher orders of the clergy and military with gloves on.
The gauntlets of Edward the Black Prince are suspended over his
tomb in Canterbury Cathedral. The ceremony of challenging at
a coronation was probably performed for the last time at the
coronation of George IV., when anyone was challenged to dispute
the right of the sovereign to the throne. His Majesty's champion
entered Westminster Hall mounted and fully armed, and threw
down his glove.
PLATE A.
View of Upper Hall, looking East.
In the foreground is seen a Portuguese chair, the seat and back formed
of embossed leather, of the latter part of the seventeenth century, from South
Kensington Museum. The coat-of-arms of the Cordwainers' Company
appears on the east wall, and banners belonging to the Company, several of
which have been carried in procession on Lord Mayor's day, are shown. On
the north side, facing the orchestra, is a stained glass window erecSted to the
memory of John Came, which was unveiled on the ijth of May, 1896, by
the Rt. Hon. Joseph Chamberlain, M.P., Secretary for the Colonies and a
member of this Company. The design consists of a central figure of a
gentleman clad in the prevailing dress of the period when John Came lived,
and is emblematical of a member of the Cordwainers' Company, being clothed
with the livery gown, as befitting one representing a Past Master. The
figure is placed in a niche of Italian Renaissance work, and above is introduced
the arms of the Company. On the left hand are John Came's coat-of-arms,
and on the right the arms of the Master then in office, Samuel Weymouth
Hopwood. Below these are the figures of St. Crispin and St. Crispinian, the
patron saints of shoemakers, two Italian Christian brothers who, the story
goes, in the times of persecution in the third century under Diocletian and
Maximinus, came to Soissons, in France, working as shoemakers for a
livelihood.. The Roman governor of the town, Rietus Varus, noticing their
preaching and prayers ordered them to be executed on the 25th Odober,
a.d. 287, and their bodies thrown on the shore of the river Arona. Warned
by an angel, an old man and his sister went and found the bodies, and super-
naturally supplied with a boat, carried the martyrs to it, and gave them a
decent burial near their cottage. In the lower portion of the window is a
frame of richly-wrought work held up by two boys, who point to the pidure
contained in it and to the good deeds of John Came, namely, the distribution
of alms to the blind, deaf and dumb, and widows of clergymen.
Plate B
PLATE B.
View of Upper Hall, looking West.
On the west wall hangs the portrait of Past Master Grant, painted at the
expense of members of the Company, by whom he was generally beloved.
On the north wall will be seen some antique Spanish leather wall
coverings, lent by the Direétors of the South Kensington Museum. The use
of leather for decorative purposes, such as wall coverings, was common in
Europe during the Middle Ages. As early as the year 1316 the celebrated
guild of " Guadamacileros " of Barcelona, Spain, is spoken of as makers of
ornamental and embossed leather, so called from the city of Gadames, where
the craft originated, and the fashion later spread from Spain to France, the
Netherlands, and Germany, in the northern portions of which especially it
became very popular.
The material used was calf, sheep, and goat skins, which were covered
with gold leaf on the grain side, or more often with silver leaf, and the
earliest specimens show ornamentations in stamped designs coated with
varnishes of transparent pigments. When silver leaf was used, a coat of
yellow varnish was added to give the effed of gilt.
In the later examples, dating from the seventeenth century on, the ground¬
ing is invariably silver leaf, and the leather is generally embossed in low relief,
produced by being dampened and pressed into matrices of pear-wood, or by
powerful rollers. The design was then accentuated by paintings in opaque
or translucent colours to suit the fancy of the artist. To maintain the relief,
a background of sand or other suitable material was often added. Leather
prepared in this way made exceedingly durable and highly artistic wall
coverings, which harmonized well with the dark wood panellings and ceilings
also in vogue in former days.
D
Plate C
Plate Cl
iTins'JÀBiirr isdirciií .Tin! I«'lijfMoinaiT'jl M''jüll\ ii .
Iiriiiiiv ^cars a valual'li M- --' vi
Im'Ji'lliiivitiv ui t]:'
rChar.'Cicf partii.ul i: Iv ih . ;i v¡' iiu' 1 i. ' - '
feod ChauL^. )o t-imiä-^Ti';, vi-piiVi-a in in. .
Klau-d ih'.-Aiiitu^;,i7o-j, Ii'; M'iiKÍi 1¡>'^ • i h.-yi |
tío the MafLcrWaid'jn -iiii]^'\jlili.iii:> ol d'il. ' i iv;
inrt'via .'n720Ci G'ivcinim-rii ,\niuiiiir- . i'.'
n-'--\nitniiiSlu^riAiiminj"fK liu' lni. i.-ii • •• ,
uiuljj(.rurii(>0. lv\tIlium wliii tl lie I iifj!H-.!lln-.i !• ui] '
^cl i.dlo iul'ifCI lu r.<Tl;iin .'mi'inni:;.- M !• j
lol)fb\ iIk.'Iii uiiriuulK oi'i, r.'iiinK . li lo ^
Cli:io)inens W'nlnv..- l^in<! r'-V'-i- .uid hi,.i .md J"i(mib,'
rVlÜUn^ lir-IUU ni lili.- I V'íi M|'l|. .¡I- IIH-'ll;. i!H d U' !'l- W ill
j it: died ilic ij! I'i M.i\ i¡ .)<•: .I'i 'il 7.'^ .11 .iin! was '
Iburiud in ihu(..^hiiri il n! S.iii.. M-.i . ; I ) 1 '}
Plate C2
PLATE C.
In the foreground will be seen a patent calf skin with the words " Success to
the Cordwainers' Exhibition, 1895," cleverly cut with an ordinary clicker's
(shoemaker's) knife. In the background is a carved marble urn, by
Nollekens, to the memory of John Came, who was a Citizen and Cordwainer
of London.
In the long roll of citizens who have worthily filled the Master's Chair
of the Cordwainers* Company, no name is more honoured than that of John
Came. How Dickens would have loved to portray the quaint humour and
unobtrusive benevolence of the good old man, to whom came the rare
pleasure of hearing, while in office, the comments and surmises of his col¬
leagues concerning the anonymous and frequent donor who happened to be
himself.
His father was Jonathan Came, Cordwainer, of Duke's Place, Aldgate,
in the City of London. At an early age he was left an orphan, and in the
year 1732 was apprenticed to one John Smith, Cordwainer, of Cheapside,
who afterwards became a member of the Livery of the Company. John
Came, upon the termination of his apprenticeship, took up his freedom as a
Cordwainer in 1740, and continued to remain in the service of John Smith.
His master having died in 1746, the management of the business was
entrusted by the widow to the care of John Came, who appears to have been
so prosperous in conducing her affairs that she ultimately became his wife.
The issue from the marriage was a son named Jonathan Came, who became
free of the Company in 1775, was admitted to the Livery in the same year,
and died in 1779.
The continued success of John Came led him to occupy larger premises,
styled in the diredory of that date as a shoe warehouse. There is an anec¬
dote relating to the transferring of his business from one side of the street to
the other, that he had caused to be inscribed upon the facia of his shop front,
" I came from over the way."
He was called to the Livery in 1753, and in the year 1764 he served
the office of Junior Warden, and became a Member of the Court of
Assistants in 1773, and was chosen Master in July, 1780. It is said of him
that towards the close of his life he became blind.
While he was serving the office of Senior Warden, the Court received
an anonymous letter addressed to them as follows :
To the Master, Wardens and Assistants of the Court of the Worshipful
Company of Cordwainers, London.
Gentlemen,
I wish and beg you will do a favor for me to convey throw your hands, for
the benefit of a few individuals, the enclosed sum of One Hundred Pounds.
I hope this will not be thought a troublesome task, though at present there is no appear^
ance of a reward of this world's goods for your labour. The cause, I hope, will appear to
my Maker and you, as it doeth to me, to be good. I hope and wish you and myself a sure
reward in time and Eternity.
This I surely think you with me will conclude it will make some addition to your good
report, if in this way I shall be of public benefit, and my name not known, will give me
great and lasting pleasure.
Gentlemen, the distribution of the above money I beg to have done at your convenience
between Michaelmas and Christmas annually. Gentlemen, you may depend on my sending
the money always before Michaelmas.
Gentlemen, the disposing of the above money I beg to be in the following manner :—
To twenty Clergymen's Widows of the Established Church of England, that their last
deceased Husband a Clergyman, whose duty was done within the Liberty of the City of
London, I wish to confer this benefit to the City of London and Liberty, thinking without
this your trouble will be more than needful by so great a number of Petitioners.
Pray give to twenty you best approve, each of them Five Pounds ; a Widow having no
children must not be less than fifty years old, a Widow having children alive must not be
less than forty years old. Gentlemen, I have not the least doubt but you will make an
impartial choice out of the number of Petitioners, which best recommended and appear most
in want, and I think at least they should have a charafter of their living a Religious Life, and
doeth all they can to support themselves. That being set forth by not less than six of the
principal inhabitants of the Parish the deceased did his duty. Not that I mean by this to
exclude them that are by any way rendered unable to support themselves, I wish and think
they should have the preference.
On the decease of any of these, or by any way there is a vacancy, I beg you will choose
others in their room ; or, if in time any or all of these having obtained the benefit should
appear to you not to answer the charailer given them at first, and you think them unworthy
the benefit, I desire and require of you to strike them off the list, and chuse others in their
room, always keeping up the number.
When the above appears in Public, and I hear how it is approved, and what is the
opinion of mankind, and should see reason to make some alteration as I think will the better
please my Maker and my Conscience, and appear to be of greater benefit ; I then shall
endeavour to do it. Without this I shall not think of any alteration.
Gentlemen, farewell for this time, I wish and hope to remain until death,
«A FRIEND TO MANKIND."
Dated, April ^th, 1780,
Upon the reading of the letter the Court passed an order that the
original should be preserved in the iron chest with the Company's writings,
and entered upon the minutes of the Court of the 5th April, 1780.
In order to carry out the instruftions of this " Friend to Mankind"
they direfted that advertisements should appear in the public press inviting
applicants for the charity. Every endeavour was made by the Court to find
suitable applicants, but, through the limitation by the terms of the letter to
persons only within the area of the City of London, they were unable even
by the public announcement to find a sufficient number of persons qualified
to become recipients. After waiting nearly twelve months to fill up the
vacancies, a second letter was received from the same anonymous person,
direéling them what to do with the money remaining for distribution. The
writer addresses himself thus :
To the Master, Wardens and Assistants of the Court of the Worshipful
Company of Cordwainers, London.
Gentlemen,
By your advertisement in January last, I find not above Fourteen Clergy¬
men's Widows that come within the description I have given. I indeed thought you would
have many more than you could relieve. I think it is for the want of being more publickly
known ; for my part I do not see any reason to alter any part of the description only the
limits, which I beg for the future may be within the bills of Mortality, and I beg and wish
you will always give the preference to those petitions that come within the City and Liberty
of London.
And if you have any petitions that come within the circuit of the enlarged limits, I beg
you will give Five Pounds to three of them you best approve. If you have none that comes
within the new limit you may have and think you surely will have enough to receive all the
money next for distribution.
As to the Fifteen Pounds remaining then in your hands, I humbly beg your acceptance.
It will I hope pay for Advertisements and Books. I should be very sorry to put you to any
charges on my account. I am very much obliged to you for the care as appears to me you
have taken, more particularly in your not enlarging the limits without my advice ; as their
limits are set I think and wish they should be strióÜy attended to. I intend before I send
you the next money for Clergymen's Widows to beg another favour of you similar to this
you have already done for me, the particulars of which in my next, in the meantime and at
all times I am a well wisher to the Cordwainers Company.
Bated, March t,th, 1781.
In the month of July following, the Court received from the same
anonymous donor the sum of ,^100 enclosed in a letter, to be distributed for
the benefit of poor blind persons, addressed to the Company :
Tt the Master, Wardens and Assistants of the Court of the Worshipful
Company of Cordwainers, London.
Gentlemen,
Incouraged by your obliging compliance with the first favour I beg'd of
you, I have taken the liberty of sending you this my second, beging you would not be tired
of well doing. I beg you will through your hands convey for me this enclosed Hundred
Pounds, for the benefit of Blind Men and Women, the time of distribution at your con¬
venience between Michaelmas and Christmas annually.
Gentlemen, the disposing of the above money I beg to be in the following manner ;
Blind Men or Women, the men must not be less than 40 years of age, if a Widow or
Maiden must not be less than 35 years of age, the ages proved by a certificate. They must
not have any allowance, or by any way received any support from any Parish, they must
not have ever begged in the streets, they must live in London or within 20 miles of London,
and their petitions must set forth what they have to support themselves, or by who, or by
what way they are supported, they must have a charafter of their living a sober and godly
life. Their petition must set forth all the above particulars and be signed by not less than
four creditable house-keepers who can vouch that all that is set forth in the petition is the
very truth.
Those that striftly and truly answer to all the above particulars and appear to you to be
most in want, to zo of them you best approve, I beg you will give to each of them Five
Pounds annually. All the Men or Married Women after having obtained this benefit must
at all times when they do not come themselves to receive the money but shall send any friend
to receive for them, that they shall bring with them a certificate certifying that at that time
they are living in such a parish, and the Widows or Maidens must at all times whether they
come or send for the money, bring with them a certificate certifying they are at that time an
inhabitant of such a parish a Widow or Maiden. If any of the Widows or Maidens after
having obtained this benefit, should marry they will by so doing deprive themselves for ever
after receiving any part of this benefit, and I beg all such may be struck off the list and others
chose in their room. If in time any or all of them after having received this benefit, should
appear to you not to answer the charafter gave them at first or any change in their fortunes
and you are convinced they can support themselves without this benefit or by any other
reason you should have to think they are not worthy any longer to receive the benefit, I
desire and require you to strike them off the list, and choose others in their room, always
Keeping up the numbers.
Gentlemen, the Clergymen's Widows and this is all I shall trouble you with in my life
time, all which time I shall be your very much obliged friend and well wisher untill Death.
Dated July \th, 1781.
For twenty-three years John Came sat as an Assistant upon the Court,
silently watching the distribution of his generous bounty, not for a moment
divulging his identity, but assisting those with whom he was so intimately
associated to distribute the money he annually sent for the benefit of needful
recipients, under the instruétions direfted by his letters. At his death, on
the 13th May, 1796, the secret he had withheld from his lifelong friends in
the Company at last became known ; he was the citizen who had been " A
Friend to Mankind " for so many years. By his will, dated 12th August,
1782, he bequeathed all his funded stock, to the amount of ^37,300 standing
in his name at the time of his decease, to the Master, Wardens and Assistants
of the Cordwainers' Company upon trust, the dividends therefrom to be
annually given to deserving widows of clergymen, blind, and deaf and dumb
persons to the amount of each, until all the income of the charity was
expended.
The Trust Fund is now represented by ^¿3 6,400 2f per cent. Consols,
being the whole sum bequeathed by John Came, less only by such part thereof
as had to be realized for payment of the Government duties and the funeral
expenses of the testator. The Company were able by their judicious invest¬
ments to make the first distribution under the will as early as December,
1796, when several persons in each of the separate classes were appointed to
receive from the fund at the disposal of the Company. The appointments
were gradually increased as proper objedts presented themselves, and in
December, 1799, the number receiving relief amounted to ninety blind
persons, forty clergymen's widows, and forty deaf and dumb, which number
had increased in 1896 to 104 blind, forty-six deaf and dumb, and forty
clergymen's widows.
In the year 1863 two sisters, named Martha and Ann Woolnough, who
were blind pensioners for several years, came into some property. They
surrendered their pensions, and out of gratitude for the kindness shown towards
them, gave the Company j^ioo. This amount was invested in the Govern¬
ment funds, and the interest therefrom added to Game's Charity, and now
given to the oldest pensioner.
Pensioners are paid by the Master and Wardens of the Company as
follows : clergymen's widows in the month of February, the deaf and dumb
in May, and the blind in November. All vacancies appearing at the time
of distribution are filled up at the next following Court of Assistants.
Since the foundation of the Charity upwards of ,¿100,000 has been
distributed by the Company amongst the recipients.
The Cordwainers' Company, shortly after the death of this worthy
public benefaótor, commissioned the celebrated sculptor, Joseph Nollekens,
to execute a marble urn with a tablet, to be placed at the east end of the
lower hall to perpetuate his memory with the following inscription ;
This Tablet is dedicated to the Memory of Mr. John Came, many years a valuable
Member of this Company, in Testimony of the many Virtues which adorned his Charafter,
particularly that Spirit of true Benevolence and Charity so eminently displayed in his last
Will, dated the 12th day of August, 1782, by which he gave in Trust to the Master, Wardens
and Assistants of the Company for ever j£'37,200 per Cent. Government Annuities and
¿\oo per annum Short Annuities, the Interest arising therefrom [subjeñ to ¿fio per annum,
which he bequeathed to the Company, and also subjedl to certain Annuities amounting to
145] to be by them annually distributed in Five Pounds each to Clergymen's Widows, Blind
persons, and Deaf and Dumb persons, being of the descriptions mentioned in his Will.
He died the 13th May, 1796, aged 78 years, and was buried in the Church of St.
Mary-le-Bow, London.
On the east wall are to be seen fine specimens of Morocco skins. On
the north wall will be seen paper patterns for shoe manufadure, which were
exhibited in competition. The looking-glass was exhibited in the Exhibition
of 1851, and was at that period one of the largest known.
Plate D
PLATE D.
View of Lower Hall, looking West.
The room in the distance is the Court room of the Company, on the west
wall of which hangs the portrait of Past Master Williams, a worthy member
of the Company ; and on the walls of the Hall and the adjoining room are
paper patterns, and on the table, lasts and boot-trees included in the Com¬
petitive Exhibition.
E
Plate E
PLATE E.
The oil-painting on the wall represents St. Crispin, the patron saint of shoe¬
makers. The cases and shelves contain the large and valuable colleélion of
antique leather goods, the property of Mr. D. J. Hile.
Plate F
PLATE F.
The background of illustration is composed of beautiful specimens of
Florentine leather panels of the sixteenth century. The photographs shown
are of the feet of noted London statues, in which it will be noticed the toes
are square and broad ; above which are specimens of a contrivance to keep
the toes in what the inventor claims to be the proper position. In the fore¬
ground are specimens of Oriental shoes as worn at the present time.
Plate I
PLATE No. I.
'The South Kensington Museum ColleBion.
The number refers to illustration.
No. I. Shoe. Inside are two bones of a human foot from ancient
tombs at Akhmin (Panopolis), Upper Egypt. Probably work of the fourth
to the sixth century a.d.
No. 2. Shoe. Length, 9 inches. From ancient tombs at Akhmin
(Panopolis), Upper Egypt. Probably of the sixth century. Made of
maroon-coloured leather, the upper part cut in one piece and stitched to a
stout sole. A gilt pattern of reélangles, forming a row, runs round the
top, interrupted on the instep by a circle enclosing a star.
(Pan( ^ /.II c/i / ¡ürtlrtD-sixth century a.d.
Made of maroon-coloured leather, pierced with a floral scroll pattern underlaid
with gilt leather, to which it is sewn. The upper part is cut in one piece
and stitched to the sole. Inside are two bones of a human foot.
No. 4. Sandal. Formed of superimposed layers of leather, padded
with papyrus, the upper surface gilt and furnished with a thong to pass
between the toes. From ancient tombs at Akhmin (Panopolis), Upper
Egypt. Probably work of the second century.
■an&ient tombs at Akhmin
Plate 2
8
PLATE No. II.
Reproduöiions. The South Kensington Museum ColleBion,
No. 9. Plaster cast of sandal. The original was found at Bonn, and is
now in the museum there. Roman. Length, io|- inches ; width, 4 inches.
No. 5. Plaster cast of sandal. The original was found at Metersen,
Holstein. It is now in the museum at Kiel. Prankish. Length, inches ;
width, 2^ inches.
No. 7. Plaster cast of sandal. The original was found at Mayence,
and is now in the museum there. Roman. Length, 10 inches; width,
4 inches.
No. 6. Plaster cast of sandal. The original was found at Friedeburgh,
Ostfriesland, and is now in the museum at Hanover. Prankish. Length,
8|- inches ; width, 4 inches.
No. 10. Plaster cast. Boot on the foot of the Dying Persian, one
of the figures in the groups dedicated by Attalus I., King of Pergamon,
on the Acropolis at Athens, probably in the year 200 b.c. The original
figure is now at Naples.
No. 8. Plaster cast of sandal. The original was found at Rosswinkel,
Province of Drenthe, Holland ; is in the museum at Leyden. Prankish.
Length, loj inches; width, 4 inches.
f
Plate 3
PLATE No. III.
T'he South Kensington Museum Colle5íion.
No. II. Leather powder flask. Early part of sixteenth century.
No. 12. Leather bottle, in form of a fluted horn. From Hailstone
College, dated 1659.
No. 13. Leather powder flask, sixteenth century, the corners of
which are protedled with metal.
These were slung from the shoulder, and are all of embossed leather,
very beautiful and rare specimens.
16
15
19
Plate 4
17
PLATE No. IV.
'The South Kensington Museum Colle Si ion.
No. 14. Lady's leather slippers. The uppers and sides are covered
with shagreen. The inside of each is partially covered with embroidered
shagreen. Cabul. Nineteenth century. Length, 9 inches.
No. 15. Shoes. Of wadded leather, covered with scalloped scales of
brass and steel connected by chain-mail. Bhooj, Kuch.
No. 16. Slipper. One of a pair. Embroidered with gold and silver
spangles, thread, and tassels, with grelots attached. Indian (Behar). Length,
8 inches.
No. 17. Pair of woman's shoes, embroidered with gold and silver.
Gwalior, Central India.
No. 18. Pair of woman's shoes, embroidered leather. Gwalior, Central
India.
No. 19. Pair of shoes, embroidered leather. Chatterpur, Central India.
Shoes in India are mostly worn by the higher classes and among a few
of the lower castes. The habit of going shoeless seems to render the toes
of the Hindoo foot almost as lissom as fingers. A blacksmith with a piece
of iron "to file fixes it between the jaws of a small pair of tongs, grasps them
between the toes of both feet, and holds them so firmly that he is able to
file with all the strength of his arms. As he works sitting on the ground,
he occasionally stretches out a leg, and picks up some article which happens
to be beyond the reach of his arm. Such a workman's foot tends to assume
the character of a hand ; not only does the great toe become prehensile, but
there is an adtual enlargement of the distance between it and the other toes.
To go barefooted in India must at times be a positive luxury. The higher
classes in some parts wear no stockings, only covering their feet with white
embroidered slippers. The colour of Oriental shoes appears to be of
importance, indicating, it is supposed, the rank and caste of the owner. Red
and yellow are the favourite hues, the sole being often red, or black tipped
with red. Yellow is the Mohammedan colour.
Plate 5
PLATE No. V.
The Greîg CoîleBion.
This valuable colleétion is the property of T. Watson Greig, Esq., of
Glencarse, N.B., to whom the author is indebted for much valuable informa¬
tion in the writing of this work. It was the obje6l of great admiration at
the Cordwainers' Exhibition, comprising as it does so many boots and shoes
of great historic interest. Some of the choicest are illustrated in the accom¬
panying plate.
No. 24. Shoe of Lady Mary Mordaunt, the material of which is
closely-spotted black silk. The shoe, which has sharp and elongated toes,
is without bow, tie, or straps, and has a plain appearance ; and its low heel
makes it partake rather too much of the nature of a slipper.
No. 20. Shoe of Miss Langley, who lived in the reign of Charles II.
Made of pale silk, most beautifully embroidered, the shoe may be considered
as a chef-Tœuvre in shoe manufacture of the times, while the lace is of an
elegant pattern. In the centre of the lace trimming, on the instep, is a
single pearl. Its general appearance is very pretty and graceful, and reflects
great credit on the shoemakers of that period.
No. 23. Shoe of Lillias, daughter of the 12th Earl of Eglinton, and
was worn by her at her marriage, about the middle of the eighteenth
century. It is made of lavender-coloured kid, with slashes of white satin
" let in " in front, forming a pattern narrow at the toe, and widening towards
the instep. The bottom of the heel is in the form of a heart, which
peculiarity cannot be observed in the illustration, though perfectly apparent
in the original. The height of the heel is about an inch, and the toe is
pointed. About 1790 a change came over the fashion of ladies' shoes;
they were made with low quarters and very flat and low heels, and finished
with plaited ribbon and small tie in front in place of the buckle, which
began to be occasionally discontinued. The Duchess of York at this time
was remarkable for the smallness of her foot ; it measured inches in
length, the breadth of the sole being only inches. A shoe she wore was
made of green silk ornamented with gold stars, bound with scarlet silk ;
the heel scarlet, and the shape similar to the shoe described above.
No. 21. Shoe of Grace, only daughter of Fletcher Norton, Speaker
of the House of Commons, and afterwards created Lord Grantley ; married
John Charles, Earl of Portsmouth. This shoe was found amongst the eifeds
of the late Lady Menzies of Menzies, who had received it from her aunt,
and was worn by the Countess of Portsmouth with fancy dress. It is made
of pale silk striped with blue, and is richly embroidered in steel beads. The
form and style is apparently that of the eighteenth century. The inside is
beautifully finished, being lined with pale pink silk and white kid. The toe
is pointed, and the heel, which is of wood and very large, is covered with
the same material as the shoe.
No. 22. This shoe belonged to Anna Frances, wife of Walter Wood¬
cock, and daughter of William Lea, of Halesowen Grange, Shropshire,
by Frances his wife, granddaughter of Edward Ward, Lord Dudley, and
Frances his wife, daughter of Sir William Brereton, Bart. Mrs. Woodcock
was consequently great-granddaughter of Frances, Lady Dudley, and lived in
the beginning of the last century.
The stuff of which the shoe is composed is fine spotted silk brocade
of a yellowish colour, and ornamented with a pattern of pale blue silk
embroidery above the toe. The shoe was worn with a buckle, has a small
heel and round pointed toe.
No. 25. This large-buckled shoe was worn in the reign of Queen
Anne, though unfortunately the owner's name is unascertainable.
The material is pink silk ; the embroidery in silks and metallic threads
is very rich, and the colours wonderfully preserved. The heel is of an
immense height and breadth, and the toe is so extravagantly pointed that it
must have projedied for a considerable distance beyond the foot.
Plate 6
PLATE No. VI.
The Greig ColleSîîon.
No. 29. Russet leather lady's walking shoe, period Charles I., with
square toes and buckle flaps, in all probability worn with silver buckles.
Found at Harley House, Worcestershire. Soles standing out from sides of
shoe like the present broad welt.
No. 26. Shoe supposed to have belonged to the beautiful and unfortunate
Mary Queen of Scots. Though remarkable for the smallness of its size, it is
by no 'means a specimen of the elaborate workmanship of former days, being
made of plain black satin; the simplicity of which, however, would in all
probability be relieved by a diamond buckle to fasten, as was the fashion
in olden times, with straps which were made to overlap each other across
the instep. It is interesting and valuable to the antiquarian on account of
its antiquity and of the rank and historical celebrity of its quondam wearer.
No. 28. This mule shoe belonged to Mary of Lorraine ; its probable
use was that of a bedroom slipper as now worn. It is made of natural-
coloured leather, embroidered with narrow braid, the original colour of which
was red. The toe is extremely pointed ; the heel is very high and peculiarly
shaped. Date of shoe sixteenth century.
No. JI. This sew-round shoe is made of brown kid, without stiiFening,
with a wool rosette. Worn in early part of present century. From the
Gibson-Craig Colleétion.
Shoe-roses, or rosettes, which consisted of bunches of ribbons formed
like a rose, and worn upon the shoe, were very fashionable at the Court of
Queen Elizabeth, where they were worn as large as saucers, and were con¬
stantly alluded to by dramatic writers of that period :
" With two Provençal roses on my razed shoes."
Shakespeare, Hamlet, aft; v., scene 2.
" With overblown roses to hide your gouty ankles."
The DeviPs Law Case, 1623.
G
Shoe-roses, more or less full-blown, were worn during the reign of Charles I.,
and the shoes worn by William IV. at his coronation were decorated with
them. They were often laced and jewelled, and are to be seen in several
portraits of the period. They again came into fashion amongst ladies about
1850.
No. 30. Red morocco slipper with very pointed toe, flaps fastened
with black ribbon tie. It belonged to Rosa Anderson, wife of one of the
Provosts of Perth. She eloped with a Scottish earl of the period, and, being
deserted, died afterwards in great poverty in Paris.
No, 27. Mary of Lorraine's shoe. Sixteenth century.
This shoe, of which the workmanship is somewhat rough, is made of
brown natural-coloured leather, with two perforated side-flaps and centre
thong, which overlapped when worn, and were connected by a lace. The toe
is long and square, resembling a duck's bill in form, and is slightly polished.
The soles are two in number, the second and lower one beneath the instep
and heel, forming a kind of patten. This shape of shoe was peculiar to the
sixteenth century.
Marie, owner of the one above described, was daughter of Claude Lor¬
raine, Duke of Guise. She was born November, 1515 ; married James V.,
May, 1538 (being then widow of the Duke of Longueville) ; she was mother
of Mary Queen of Scots, who was born December, 1542 ; and died 1560.
The shoe was purchased at the Gibson-Craig sale in Edinburgh, March,
1887, and was exhibited in Glasgow, 1888.
Slippers, it may be mentioned, were first worn in the reign of Queen
Elizabeth. Startups, which were high shoes opening at the side, were also
worn at this period.
Plate 7
37
PLATE No. VIL
ColleSlion of W. Box Ringham, Esq.
No. 34. Brocade shoe, silk covered, stitched shell heel. This shoe
was exhibited in the Exhibition of 1851.
No. 33. Shoe of the Duchess of York, 1791, made of silk brocade,
stitched cork sole, stitched wood heel.
No. 32. Black satin shoe, worn by the Duchesse de eville.
French make. '
No. 36. Pair of green morocco leather shoes. French, a.d. 1787.
From colledtion of Mr. Viétor Bathe.
No. 37. Pair of pumps, made with a thin sole and low heel, 1800,
worn by gentlemen for dress, and by attendants. They were worn as early
as the reign of Elizabeth. Shakespeare (" Midsummer Night's Dream,"
aét iii., scene v.) says, "Set good strings to your beards, new ribbons to
your pumps." Velvet pumps to dance in are mentioned in 1621. They
were in olden days considered part of the equipment of running footmen.
In Middleton's " Mad World, My Masters," published in 1608, they are
spoken of, charadterizing a footman, " Puh ! passion of me, footmen ! why,
pumps, I say, come back ! "
No. 35. Pair of old pattens, or clogs, worn with high heel shoes.
Seventeenth century.
No. 38. Pattens, made to wear with high heel shoes. Seventeenth
century. This is made of wood, and has an oval iron ring rivetted.
Colleëiion of F. Bathhone, Esq.
Plate 8
PLATE No. VIH.
ColleSîion of W. Box Ringham, Esq.
No. 44. Leather sandal. Niger River distridt.
No. 39. Pair of Persian slippers.
No. 40. Pair of sandals. Niger River distriél.
No. 43. Pair of Indian Rajah's slippers.
No. 41. Embroidered slippers. Hindostán.
No. 45. Pair of valuable Indian ivory sandals, worn by the Brahmin
priests at their temple services.
No. 42. Pair of dried grass slippers. From the Niger River distridl.
Plate 9
PLATE No. IX.
ColleBion of D. J. Hile, Esq.
No. 48. French postilion's boot with clog bottom, lined with iron
plate, used as an overboot to proteót the leg in riding. They are of pro¬
digious size, weighing twelve pounds the pair. Probably sixteenth century.
Has been much worn.
No. 46. Child's boot. Eskimo, made of untanned skin. Eighteenth
century.
No. 47. Man's Eskimo boot, made of untanned skin, and sewn
throughout with raw-hide thong.
Plate 10
PLATE No. X.
ColleBion of D. f. Hile, Esq.
No. 49. Military Jack boot, with spur. Period of William III.
Weight about ten pounds the pair. Part of the heel, which was very high
and clumsy, is lost. The tops are rudely stabbed, and the legs have an
outer casing of leather doubled. The boot is covered with an instep guard ;
and at the back of the boot, rising from the seat to the height of the
counter, is appended an iron rest for the spur. The toes are round. Two
pairs of these boots can be seen in the Tower of London.
With William III. came in the clumsy military boot. Sir Samuel
Meyrick possessed one of these boots in his colleétion of armour at Goodrich
Court, and it has been engraved in his work on "Ancient Arms and
Armour." It is as straight and stiff a boot as the most inveterate Dutch¬
man could wish, and quite in keeping with the starched formality of taste
and dress rendered fashionable by the rigidity of William and his Court.
Such were the boots of our cavalry, and in such cumbrous articles did they
fight in the Low Countries, following the example of Charles XII. of
Sweden, whose figure has become so identified with them that the imagina¬
tion cannot easily separate the sovereign from the boots in which he is so
constantly portrayed, and of which a specimen may be seen in his full-
length portrait preserved in the British Museum.
The Author^s ColleBion.
No. 50. Jack boot, with spurj Seventeenth century.
The heel is very high, and made with stout wooden pegs through the
top piece ; the leg is closed with outside seams back and front ; the sole is
welted, and has a bevelled edge. The toe, which is blocked, is square, but
not broad. The boot is made throughout of stout calf-skin, and covered
with a neat instep guard. It is a fine specimen of the Jack boot of the period,
being more elegantly finished than the other specimens illustrated.
H
Plate I I
PLATE No. XL
Colle Sí ion of Messrs. Tyrrell and Bennett.
No. 51. Military Jack boot worn at siege of Winchester in Cromwell's
time. It has a remarkably high heel, and shows a great want of technical
education. The toe is square and blocked ; the tongue is put in with a flat
seam ; the top is made very full.
No. 52. Military Jack boot, with spur and rest; 1690. Similar to
No. 49. Plate X.
A few notes colledted by the author on spurs may not be uninteresting.
They were worn as early as the Saxon period, when they consisted of a
single goad. An early form of spur appears on an efEgy in the Temple
Church, London. About the Norman period, to suit the ankle, the shanks
were bent. In the fourteenth century rowelled spurs first appeared ; they
were sometimes decorated with jewels and richly chased. They were always
used at the tournaments. During the reigns of Henry V. and Henry VI.
spurs with very long spiked rowels were worn, some measuring as long as
six inches. In the reign of Henry VIII. these long-necked spurs went out
of fashion, giving place to the close ones shaped like a star. At the battle
of Cressy the Earls of Northampton and Arundel sent a messenger to the
king, who was surveying the battle from an eminence, asking him for
immediate aid for his son the Black Prince. When he had delivered his
message, the king inquired, " Does my son live, or so wounded that he
cannot help himself ? " " God forbid. Sir," the messenger replied ; " he is
closely beset, and your aid would be right welcome." The king replied, firmly,
" Return to those who sent you, and tell them from me, they must not send
for me to-day as long as my son is alive. Let the boy earn his spurs." The
spurs were the distinguishing charaóteristic of knighthood, and the young
knight sought to show himself worthy of them, or, in other words, to earn
them by some gallant deed of chivalry. During the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries the custom of spur-money prevailed, jingling spurs being then
worn, the noise of which disturbed the worshippers at divine service in the
cathedrals. A penalty was claimed by the beadle and choristers from those
who wore them. It was ordered that " if any knight or other person
entitled to wear spurs enter the chapel in that guise, he shall pay to the
choristers the accustomed fine." There was one way of escaping the tax,
the spur-wearer being held exempt if the youngest chorister present failed to
repeat his gamut corredlly upon being challenged to do so. This curious
saving clause is set forth officially in a notice issued by the Dean of Chapel
Royal in 1622. At this period Ripon in Yorkshire was famous for its
manufa¿lure of spurs. James I., when he passed through the town in 1617,
was presented with a pair, and on that account they were sometimes called
Rippons. On the belfry walls of All Saints' Church, Hastings, hangs the
following rhymed notice, declaring the belfry free " to all those that civil
be," with a proviso,
" If you ring in spur or hat,
Sixpence you pay, be sure of that."
The knights of old were proud of their spurs. Lady equestrians adopted
spurs at a very early period. The fops of Shakespeare's day delighted to
hear their spurs jingle as they strutted through the streets.
PLATE No. XII.
ColleSîion of D. J. Hile, Esq.
No. 54. Specimen of antique Oriental shoes.
No. 53. Specimen pair of Persian shoes, with straps and buckle. This
shoe suggests that it was designed to preyent the foot from kicking up the
dust, peculiarly unpleasant in hot countries.
The name given in the Middle Ages in France, chaussure à foulaine,
was given on account of the resemblance of the points of the shoes to the
prow of a ship; but here in Persia we get shoes which look like little
models of boats. Our example only wants a mast and sail, and you might
imagine it lying in some Oriental river. The pointed toe then comes from
the East, and its origin was a simple necessity of common life. Fashion,
ever ignorant and careless, elongated it into an ornament beautiful or
barbarous, or reduced it to a mere rat's tail, as it appears in some Persian
boots.
No. 55. Grecian shoes, similar to those worn by Lord Byron. Seven¬
teenth century. (See Plate XV.)
No. 57. Man's Spanish sandals, probably worn at the beginning of the
present century.
No. 58. African sandals. Niger River distridt ; antique.
No. 59. African sandal. Niger River distriót.
No. 56. Burmese sandals.
Plate I 3
S3a
6Sa
PLATE No. XIII.
ColleBion of D. f. Hile, Esq.
No. 6oa, North American shoe.
No. 60. North American shoe.
No. 53a. Child's Persian shoe ; antique.
No. 61, " Cordwainer's Last Mystery." An entire shoe made without
a wood or iron last, without a seam. There is no opening in the top. The
upper is one piece of leather quite seamless ; the shoe is otherwise properly
made. The question is—How was it sewn without a last ? At the Cord-
wainers' Exhibition in 1895, where it was the objedl of great interest, being
viewed by a large number of praftical shoemakers, the mystery was solved
by Mr. Kenwood, who made one similar to it.
ColleSiion of J. Lutwyche, Esq.
No. 63a. Child's shoe.
ColleSiion of R. Zilcken, Esq.
No. 63. Baby's velvet shoe. Seventeenth century.
ColleSiion of D. J. Hile, Esq.
No. 62. Norwegian shoe.
Plate 14
64
PLATE No. XIV.
ColleBîon of the Dîreôiors of Museums to the Corporation of Liverpool.
No. 64. Boots and gloves worn by Henry VI., which were left by
him at Bolton Hall after the battle of Hexham, May 15th, 1463, when he
took to flight. The boots, made of tanned deer-skin, somewhat resemble
elongated gaiters, being buttoned on the outside, and without stiffening ;
they have wedge heels, which are very low. Boots of the same cut, with
similar fastenings, were worn in the middle of the eighteenth century by
infantry.
The gloves, which bear a resemblance to the fur-lined gloves of the
present day, are made of alum-tanned deer-skin with the hair on.
After the disastrous- battle of Hexham, Henry escaped by hard riding
from the close pursuit of Edward IV.'s followers, and took refuge, after
various changes of abode, at Bolton Hall, then the abode of Sir Ralph
Pudsey, where he remained for about six weeks. Finding, however, that
his retreat either was or would soon be known to his rival, and desiring not
to involve in his ruin his friend Sir Ralph, the monarch voluntarily quitted
the hall, leaving behind the above-mentioned objeds. From Bolton Henry
fled to Waddington Hall, the ancient seat of the Tempest family, where he
left a penner or pen-case of leather or cuir bouilli, ornamented with gilt roses
and crowns, which is now in the South Kensington Museum. A print of this
relic appears in Mr. Shaw's publication, " Dresses and Decorations of the
Middle Ages." Soon after his arrival at Waddington he was betrayed by
Talbot of Bashall into the hands of the Earl of Warwick, by whom he
was conveyed a prisoner to the Tower of London.
The boots, gloves, and penner were exhibited at the Loan Exhibition
of 1862, at South Kensington, by the Rev. James Beck, M.A.
These relics are particularly interesting, as Henry VI. granted to the
Cordwainers' Company, in 1439, their original charter; but it was more a
matter of business than of royal kindness, for the king pocketed fifty
marks over the transadion.
I
Plate i 5
PLATE No. XV.
Colle51 ion of the DireSíors qf Museums to the Corporation of Liverpool.
Lord Byron's Cap, Gloves, and Shoes.
No. 65. Blue plush cap, with silk tassel and ornamented peak, and
gauntlet gloves, which are sewn with an outside seam, the same as at the
present day ; also Grecian shoes, with latchet and straps, which are made
with a front and back seam, the sole and upper being one whole piece of firm
leather, without heels, the toes curiously pointed.
The above were worn by Lord Byron in Greece, in 1822.
Plate I 6
Black Jacks, or Leather Jugs of the 16th and 17th Centuries,
PLATE No. XVI.
Black Jacks.
No. 68. Black Jack with the arms of Oxford, also those of the Joiners'
Company, painted on it.
No. 66. Leather jug or Black Jack. Sixteenth and seventeenth
century.
No. 67. Early specimen of Black Jack. Fifteenth century.
Plate I 7
69
PLATE No. XVIL
ColleSiion of R. Zilcken, Esq.
No. 72. Lady's carved clogs, pointed. Nineteenth century.
No. 71. Lady's leather shoes. Dutch, seventeenth century.
No. 73. Wooden shoes.
No. 70. Specimens of stockings made in centre of Turkey.
No. 69. Circassian boots, embroidered silk. Modern.
No. 74. Gentleman's slippers. Dutch, 1715.
Plate í 8
PLATE No. XVIII.
ColleBion of Sir Henry Irving.
No. 75. Sandals worn by the late Charles Kean in play of " Julius
Caesar," 1818.
No. 76. Coloured morocco Wellington boots worn by the late Charles
Kemble about 1810.
K
Plate 19
PLATE No. XIX.
ColleSlion of R. Zücken, Esq.
No. 78. Lapland shoe or rullion, made of raw ox-hide with hair on.
No, 79. Lady's shoes. Silver top. Seventeenth century.
Collediion of Mrs. Williamson.
No. 80. Antique wooden sandals.
No. 81. Sioux Indian girl's shoes. Yellow deer-skin, ornamented
with glass and pearl beads.
No. 83. Swiss shoe, leather and stuff material.
ColleSlion of E. Lovett, Esq.
No. 82. Foliated leather shoes. Tangier, Morocco. Present day.
No. 85. Child's ornamented shoes. Delhi, India. Present day.
ColleSlion of C. Purdon Clarke, Esq., C.I.E.
No. 77. Camel-driver's boots. Modern. Ornamented with cut
leather. Have five separate soles. Scinde, India.
ColleSlion of E. Lovett, Esq.
No. 86. Decorated sandal. Northern India.
No. 84. Shoe made of twisted fibre. Present day. Kashmir.
Plate 20
PLATE No. XX.
Colleölton of T. Ellis, Esq.
No. 87. Pair of bride's clogs and leather socks. Damascus.
No. 90. Pair of clogs used by women id Turkish baths,|Constan¬
tinople.
ColleSiion of Messrs. C. F. Bally and Sons.
No. 88. Wooden chopines for women, inlaid with ivory, as worn at
Cairo at the present day. Seven inches high. Made at Bagdad.
Chopines, perhaps the greatest of all monstrosities in feet attire, were
of Eastern origin, and were originally worn in Turkey by the ladies of the
sixteenth century, and probably earlier. The fashion spread in Europe in
the early part of the seventeenth century, and is alluded to by Hamlet in
a¿t ii., scene 2, when he exclaims, "Your ladyship is nearer heaven than
when I saw you last by the altitude of a chopine," showing that something
of the kind was known in England, where it may have been introduced from
Venice, as the ladies there wore them of the most exaggerated height. They
were made of wood, and some covered with leather of various colours. They
were called chapinez, and were never worn with ordinary shoes. Many of
them were curiously painted, others gilt. Some attained as great a height as
half a yard ; as a rule, the higher a woman's rank, the higher her chopines.
The ladies were assisted and supported either by men or women when they
walked abroad to prevent them falling, being usually borne up by the left
arm. A writer visiting Italy in 1648 speaks of them as "walking May¬
poles."
No. 89. Kap Kap. Wood carved. Syrian. Five inches high.
ColleSiion of F. Ellis, Esq.
No. 90. Turkish bath clogs.
Plate 21
PLATE No. XXI.
The Author s Colleëiion.
No. 93. Pair of Jack boots and spurs.
These boots are also illustrated in Plate No. X., and a description of
them there given.
The Author's ColleSíion.
No. 92. Top boots with brown tops, worn by the Duke of Marlborough
at the battle of Blenheim, 1704.
ColleSlion of Messrs, Tyrrell and Bennett.
No. 91. Jack boots worn at siege of Winchester in Cromwell's time.
Plate 22
96
PLATE No. XXII.
Colle Si ion of Miss A. Wilson.
No. 94, An antique Spanish leather stole for priest, made of green
leather stamped in gold. Early part of eighteenth century ; a rare specimen.
From a very early period stoles have been worn, as they are at present,
as a portion of the ecclesiastical vestments of a priest, and also of the corona¬
tion robes of a sovereign prince. " Forth comes the priest with stole about
his neck."—Chaucer, Canterbury 'Tales. Henry IV. is described as having
been arrayed at the time of his coronation as a bishop that should sing mass,
with a dalmatic like a tunic, and a stole about his neck. (MS. W.Y. College
of Arms.)
When the tomb of Edward I. was opened in Westminster Abbey, a.d.
1774, his corpse was found arrayed in a dalmatic or tunic of red silk and a
mantle of crimson satin, fastened on the shoulder with a gilt buckle or clasp,
decorated with imitative gems and pearls. The sceptre was in his hand, and
a stole was crossed over his breast of rich white tissue, studded with gilt
quatrefoils in filigree work and embroidered with pearls in the shape of what
are called " true lovers' knots." The stole of Thomas à Becket, which is
elaborately ornamented, is preserved with other of his vestments in the
cathedral of Sens.
ColleSlion of D. "J. Hile, Esq.
No. 95. Man's antique leather girdle, ornamented with metal design.
No. 96. Man's antique leather girdle, interwoven with metal wire.
, No. 97. Man's antique leather girdle, ornamented with metal studs.
To " gird the loins" is of course a very old custom. Girdles, worn by
the Saxons and Normans, as depiéled in illuminations or tapestry, are not
remarkable in form or ornament, but those worn by people of distinftion
were most costly, being frequently adorned with jewels, as Charlemagne's was.
The earliest information extant upon girdles dates from the twelfth
L
century. On King John's effigy in Worcester Cathedral is a gilt girdle, and
mention is made in an inventory of his jewels of a gold girdle set with gems.
In the reign of Henry IV. Caddis leather girdles were worn, so often men¬
tioned as manufaólured at Cadiz from English leather. To them the pouch or
purse was appended, as well as the dagger and rosary, and in some instances
the penner and inkhorn, and books were also carried by the studious. " May
my girdle break if I fail," was an old saying of imprecation against false
promises, because the purse hung to it. Early in the reign of Edward IV., in
order to promote a reform in dress, an a6t was passed prohibiting the wearing
of girdles which were ornamented with gold or silver on any part of them.
Many examples of this article of dress occur in the brasses and monumental
effigies, and it is frequently alluded to by writers of the Middle Ages. During
the reigns of Henry VII. and Henry VIII. very beautiful girdles were worn
by ladies. Girdles sometimes took the form of chains, particularly in the
time of Mary and Elizabeth, and had large pendants to the ends, as seen in a
brass in Margaretting Church, near Brentwood, Essex. They were frequently
entirely composed of links of metal, gold, or silver, with flowers, engraved
cameos, or groups of stones intermixed. The gentleman's girdle was less
elaborate, and frequently of leather ornamented with studs. Girdles with
rich buckles were fashionable in 1738, and a common form of robbery was to
cut the lady's girdle behind and draw it from the waist.
Plate 23
lOO
HO
PLATE No. XXIII.
Colleëiion of Messrs. C. F. Bally and Sons.
Footgear worn at present time in India.
No. 98. Men's sandals. Madas or Kabaib. Taka.
No. 99. Men's sandals. Madas or Kabaib. Hodcida.
No. 100. Women's sandals. Mekka style. Cairo.
No. 105. Men's shoes. Afghan. Cabul.
No. 106. Men's shoes. Sindh.
No. 107. Slippers. Singhalese. Ceylon.
No. 108. Women's shoe. Embroidered yellow. Cairo.
No. 112. Sandal of Hindoo workman. Bombay.
No. 113. Men's embroidered slipper (made on European last). Sindh.
No. 114. Women's embroidered slipper. Ceylon.
No. 101. Men's sandals, Kabaib. Cairo.
No. 102. Men's shoe worn by middle class Hindoo. Bombay.
No. 103. Men's shoes. Punjaub.
No. 104. Men's shoes. Umritzur.
No. 1x8. Gipsy women's bridal shoe. Corfu.
No. 109. Women's Chopine, painted for Hindoo. Zanzibar.
No. 117. OfEcer's Opanken. Corfu.
No. 110. Women's shoe. Umritzur.
No. III. Men's shoe for Bohorree. Bombay.
No. 115. Leather sandal worn by the better class Singhalese. Ceylon.
No. 116. Wooden sandal. Mahomedans of the coast land, Ceylon.
Plate 24
122
123
120
PLATE No. XXIV.
Colleidion of D. f. Hile, Esq.
No. 119. African leather flask. Cut design, seventeenth century,
with loop on back for suspending to girdle.
No. 126. Leather powder flask. Ornamented seventeenth century.
The powder flask or horn for carrying gunpowder was naturally
necessitated by the invention of firearms ; they varied greatly in form and
material in the early examples, as will be better shown by drawings than by
descriptions.
No. 127. Drinking vessel or goblet, holds half a pint. Nineteenth
century.
No. 122. Leather jug. Seventeenth century, ten inches high.
No. 123. Leather powder flask, stamped and embossed, eight inches
high. Fifteenth century, iron bound, with rude hook for suspending from
the girdle, and two rings on each side.
No. 124. Leather powder flask, stamped and embossed with raised
figures, eight inches high. Sixteenth century.
No. 120. African leather water-bottle with metal spout and leather
handle, stitched with leather thongs, beautifully ornamented on both sides
with cut design. Antique.
No. 125. Black Jack, seventeenth century. Dated 1647.
No. 121. Pilgrim's Costrel or water-bottle. Fifteenth century.
Plate 25
PLATE No. XXV.
ColleSîion of D. f. Hile, Esq.
No. 129. Mocassin leggings, worn by North American horsemen, in
variously coloured leathers. Nineteenth century.
No. 130. Ornamental wallet from Central Africa and Niger River
distrid.
No. 131. Leather powder horn. Inscribed, gilt, and painted.
Bulgarian, seventeenth century.
No. 128. Leather powder flask, bottle shaped, stamped, with leather
sling.
Plate 26
134
143
No. 133.
century.
PLATE No. XXVI.
Colleêiton of D. f. Hile, Esq.
North American mocassins, with native spurs. Nineteenth
No. 134. Specimen of Turkish shoes.
No. 135."
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
Eight specimens of Indian shoes.
No. 143. Specimens of Norwegian shoes, made of coloured stuff
materials with braid-like fastenings, no leather used in their manufadure
at all. Nineteenth century.
No. 144. Specimen of Indian shoes.
M
Plate 27
PLATE No. XXVII.
ColleSiîon of D. f. Hile, Esq.
No. 145. Leather bottle, sixteenth century, holding half a gallon.
These bottles at one time became so famous that a song was written and
originally printed in D'Urfey's "Pills to Purge Melancholy."
The song of the " Leather Bottle " may be here repeated.
" Now God above, that made all things,
Heaven and earth and all therein.
The ships upon the seas to swim,
To keep out foes, they come not in.
Now every one doth what he can.
All for the use and praise of man,
I wish in Heaven that soul may dwell
Who first devised the Leather Bottle.
" Now what do you say to the canns of wood ?
Faith, they are nought ; they cannot be good ;
When a man for beer he doth therein send.
To have them filled as he doth intend.
The bearer stumbleth by the way.
And on the ground his liquor doth lay ;
Then straight the man begins to ban
And swears it was long of the wooden can.
But had it been in a leathern bottle.
Although he stumbled, all had been well.
So safe therein it would remain
Until the man got up again ;
And I wish in Heaven, etc.
" Now for the pots with handles three.
Faith, they shall have no praise of mine ;
•When a man and his wife do fall at strife
(As many, I fear, have done in their life)
They lay their hands upon the pot both
And break the same although they were loth.
Which they will answer another day
For casting the liquor so vainly away;
But had it been in a bottle filled
The one might have tugged, the other have held.
TJiey both might have tugged till their hearts did ake,
And yet no harm the bottle would take.
And I wish in Heaven, etc.
" Now what of flagons of silver fine ?
Faith, they shall have no praise of mine ;
When a nobleman he doth them send
To have them filled as he doth intend.
The man with his flagon runs quite away
And never is seen again after that day.
Oh ! then his lord begins to ban
And swears he hath lost both flagon and man ;
But it ne'er was known that page or groom
But with a leathern bottle again would come.
And I wish in Heaven, etc.
"Now when this bottle is grown old.
And that it will no longer hold.
Out of the side you may cut a clout
To mend your shoe when it's worn out.
Or hang the other side on a pin,
'Twill serve to put many old trifles in.
As nails, awls, and candle ends ;
For young beginners need such things.
And I wish in Heaven his soul may dwell
That first invented the Leathern Bottle."
No. 146. Military leather bottle, eighteenth century, with metal cap
to screw on, and side straps, oval shape, eleven inches high. Figure 4 on
bottom.
No. 148. Leather wallet, embossed with silver thread, and name
"Samuel Harvey, 1684."
No. 149. Leather wallet, embossed with silver thread, from Con¬
stantinople. Date 1730.
No. 150"!
No. 151 I
No. 152
No. 153
Leather pouches and wallets, with ornamental leather work.
No. 154. Leather wallet, containing prayers in Arabic. Seventeenth
century.
Nos. 155 and 156. Leather flint and steel pouches, seventeenth
century, ornamented and studded in brass work. Used for igniting the
tinder in order to obtain a light with a brimstone match. The flint was
carried in the pouch, and the steel forms the lower portion of the pouch.
No. 157. Leather wallet. Seventeenth century.
No. 158. Leather pouch, with ornamental leather work, curiously
studded with brass studs. Antique Bulgarian.
No. 159A. Fellowship porter's badge and tally. Fellowship porters
were dissolved in 1893 or 1894.
No. 160. Leather pouch with embossed figures, in imitation of the
antique. Modern.
Nos. 161 and 162. Leather bags, ornamented. Antique, Bulgarian.
No. 147. Flat water-bottle, to be slung over shoulder, eight inches
in circumference. Eighteenth century.
Plate 28
Í63
PLATE No. XXVIII.
ColleSiîon of D. f. Hile, Esq.
No. 163. Colleélion of shoe buckles of the eighteenth century.
Perhaps the shoe in one form or other is nearly as ancient as the foot.
It originally appeared under the name of " sandal." This was no other than
a sole without an upper leather. But, whatever was the cut of the shoe, it
always demanded a fastening. Under the house of Plantagenet the shoe shot
forward horizontally from the foot to an enormous length, so as to require
the extremity to be fastened to the knee, sometimes with a silver chain, at
other times with a silk lace, and even with a piece of common pack thread.
This enormous beak to the shoe became the subje¿l of legislative enaftment,
for we find that in 1465 an Order of Council was issued, prohibiting the
wearing of shoes whose beaks projefted more than two inches in front of the
foot on pain of a fine to the king, and even of excommunication. When
this fashion changed, the rose shoe-tie sprang up in compliment to the
houses of Lancaster and Tudor. This rose in its turn gave way to shoe¬
laces and strings, which were often made of silk, tagged and fringed with
silver. At length, in the reign of William and Mary, the shoe buckle made
its appearance. This mode of fastening the shoe became very generally
accepted in foreign countries as well as our own, and the town of Birmingham
became celebrated for the large number as well as the excellence of the
buckles made there. Seventy years ago the kind of buckle most in demand
was made of pinchbeck, an alloy of copper and brass, so called from the
name of the person who so employed it. Another variety was the plaited
buckle. This was cast in pinchbeck, with the pattern on its surface, and a
silver coating was laid on by means of a flux of turpentine and resin, and
the surface was finally chased or stamped. A third and more valuable
quality was the " close-plated " buckle. A form of buckle extensively made
for foreign sale was produced from a compound metal known among the
workmen as Tutaunia, and cast in moulds. It is said that in Germany this
article was manufaftured in the open streets, so that a passenger might choose
his pattern, see the process of making, and march off equipped with shoe
buckles in the course of five or ten minutes. Each form of buckle had
at that time some fanciful name by which it was known in the trade, such
as "Bull's eye," the "Marquis of Granby," the "Whim Wham," "Job's
fancy," the "Crow's foot," and others. Pepys notes, Jan. 22, 1659-1660:
" This day I began to put buckles on my shoes." Goldsmith, in his Essays,
1759, describes his cousin Hannah in a gown of cambrick, cut short before
in order to discover a high-heeled shoe, which was buckled almost at the
toe.
In the accompanying illustration will be seen some beautiful specimens
of buckles, some of them very rare, the property of Mr. D. J. Hile.
For the above information on shoe buckles I am indebted to a valuable
book, entitled " Produdion of Clothing."
Plate 29
PLATE No. XXIX.
Colle5lion of D. f. Hile, Esq.
No.
164.'
165.
166.
167.
> Specimens of Chinese shoes.
168.
169.
170.^
No.
171.
Specimen of Japanese Corpines.
No.
173-
Japanese straw sandals.
No.
174.
Japanese straw bath slipper. Modern.
No.
172.
Specimen of Turkish sabots.
No.
175-
North American mocassins, beaded.
No.
176.
Specimen of Indian clogs.
No.
177.
Black leather English tie shoes. Eighteenth century.
No.
178.
Lady's white satin sandals, left " after the ball " held
Cordwainers' Hall, 1850. It will be noticed that at that period broad toe
shoes without heels were worn. This was the case with all women both in
the upper and lower classes.
N
Plate 30
PLATE No. XXX.
Collection of W. Box Kingham, Esq.
No. 181. Cream and red brocaded buckle shoe, as worn in the time
of Queen Anne; red heels, white kid, cork rand, stitched white.
No. 180. Prize shoe made to raise funds to defend the. notorious
Chartist shoemaker. Fay, who was prosecuted at the Old Bailey and trans¬
ported. It was exhibited by Mr. Johnson, who kept " The Mulberry
Tree" public-house. Shoe Alley, Watson Street, Finsbury, in 1848, and was
on one occasion taken through the streets of London in a procession.
CHISWICK PRESS : CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND
TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON.