gown is abbreviated to the hips; the sleeves are wide, and the chausses are tight-fitting to the limbs; while the shoes have long pointed toes. He wears a jewelled circlet around the forehead. (Figs. 7, 8, 9): Costumes of ladies in the reign of Richard II. (Fig. 7): Shows the sideless garment faced with fur, terminating in long, full skirts worn over the kirtle (or loose gown). (Fig. 9): Shows a lady with the outer sleeveless garment, so long as to be gathered up and carried under the arm. (Figs. 10, 11, 12): Various forms of head-dresses of men of the reign of Richard II. (Fig. 13): A singular kind of hood covering the head and shoulders, reaching to the elbows, and having pointed ends spreading out at each side. This was worn in the time of Edward III.] MAIL ARMOUR. Pure mail armour, _i.e._, armour worn without additional defence over the mail but the heaume, was in use from 1150 A.D. to 1300 A.D., but its use was finally discontinued about 1350 A.D. There were several kinds of mail, and different ways of representing it on effigies, brasses, etc., _viz._: (_a_) Mail apparently formed of rings or _mailles_, sewn on to a leather garment by the edge only, and arranged so that one ring overlapped the next. (_b_) Mail formed of rows of rings sewn on strips of linen or leather, the strips being then applied to the garment. (_c_) Mail formed of rings interlocked with each other (chain mail). (_d_) Mail called “banded mail,” in which double lines separated each row of links. (_e_) Armour formed of rings or small discs of metal sewn flat all over the garment. Another similar kind of armour was formed of scales or overlapping plates of leather or metal, fastened to a leather or linen foundation. The chain mail or armour formed of interlacing rings was finally adopted throughout Western Europe, being copied from that of the Saracens in the Crusades. We have not many contemporary illustrations of the armour and knightly apparel in the period between the Norman Conquest and the Edwardian era. There are but few illuminated MSS.; sepulchral monuments are not numerous, and the valuable series of monumental brasses had not begun. The plaited or mail shirt of the Early Norman was superseded by a stout, quilted tunic, also called the _hauberk_, reaching to the knees and with short sleeves, and a _coif_ or hood of mail on the head. Frequently a metal breastplate or _plastron-de-fer_, and a steel cap or _chapel-de-fer_, were worn under the mail. Sometimes over the coif a close-fitting iron helmet was worn. The hauberk sleeves were lengthened, covering the hands as mittens or fingerless gloves of strong leather strengthened by mail or pieces of metal.