Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 December 1884 — HAIR AND HAIR-DRESSING. [ARTICLE]

HAIR AND HAIR-DRESSING.

Historic Changes—From Boadicea to th« Present Time. Of all professions the most ancient is probably that of the tailor, and scarcely less ancient is that of the barber; yet. in spite of its antiquity, somehow the hairdresser’s calling has never gained very much respect for its followers. The Jews, with the exception of the p:iests, let their hair grow, and at a very early date long hair was regarded as a mark of beauty. From the earliest times the art of curling the hair seems to have been known; the Phry gians and Sybarites curled their locks, and so, probably, did the ancient Britons. Tnese latter gentlemen were dandies, for they were very particular always to shave their chins; and, judging from early pictures, one might imagine that they waxed their mustaches. In the eighth century the first time ol cutting a child’s hair was an important event, and wealthy people generally obtained some’distinguished personage to act as barber on the occasion, who was supposed thenceforth to stand tc the child pretty much in the same relation as a sponsor to his godchild.

In rather later days long hair wbb considered a ina k of rank. Slaves were obliged to keep their hair short, as, for instance, when Caesar forced the conquered Gauls to cut their flowing locks as a token of submission. Queen Boadieea is said to have \v>rn her hair down, and so long was it that her Majesty could sit upon it; while in France, for a long time, none but the royal family were allowed to indulge in long hair. Nay, more, if we may believe the ancient chronicles, if the heir to the throne happened to get his hair cut, no matter how, he forthwith loslj his rank entirely, and became an ordinary person. Louis VII., however, alter his accession consented at the request of the clergy to have his hair not cut, merely, but shaved clean off, and his beard also. Unfortunately he omitted to ask the opinion of his wife, Queen Eleanor, who was so disgusted with his shorn appearance that he sought and obtained a divorce there and then. One would rather like to know why the clergy have always endeavored to keep men’s hair short; but, whatever the cause, there is no doubt as to the fact. They themselves were forced to adopt the tonsure at a very early date, especially in the Eastern Church, but the precise shape of the tonsure has formed the bone of contention innumerable disputes. By a canon of the year 1090 it was ordered that any one who failed to reduce his hair to decent limits should be excommunicated ; and if he should chance to die un clipped, no prayers might be offered for the repose of his soul. Wulstan, Bishop of Worcester, started a regular crusade against long hair; and Serlo, a Norman Bishop, who had come over to England, preached a sermon before the King (Henry I.) on the same subject. So eloquently did the good Bishop plead, that when he had done the whole court consented to lose their flowing curls. Taking the opportunity afforded, the preacher thereupon produced a pair of scissors from his sleeve, and sheared the King and his courtiers on the spot! The lovelocks of the Cavaliers, and the short hair of the Roundheads, were each the subject of unnumbered pamphlets and squibs, such as “The Loathsomenesse of LoDg Haire,” “The Defence of Shorte Haire,” and a host of others. The best known is, nerhaps, the song beginning:

What creature's this with his short hairs, His little head aud huge long ears, That this new faith had rounded? The Puritans were never such The saints themselves had ne’er so mnch— O, such a knave's a .Roundhead. The main difficulty that the Cavaliers found in their favorite style was the niggardly disposition of Dame Nature in the matter of hair. Many a Cavalier could no more get a lovelock to grow than he could fly. The consequence was the introduction of wigs —or, rather, their reintroduction—for wigs seem to date from the days when the world was very young indeed. There is in the British Museum a wig from the Temple of Isis, at Thebes, which is in a state of almost perfect preservation, and the curls are as curly as when they first issued from the hands of the “artist in hair” at that ancient citv. -