a knight of the camail period. The head is covered with a conical basinet (without a face-piece), to which the camail of chain mail is fastened. The lower edge of the hauberk is shown below the close-fitting, sleeveless jupon which covers the body. The arms, legs, and feet are covered with plate armour, and the laminated plates which superseded roundles are seen at the shoulders and elbows. The hands are protected by gauntlets, and the knight is armed with long, straight sword and misericorde. (Fig. 15): A mace, from a MS., c. 1350.] LANCASTRIAN AND YORKIST PERIODS. MALE COSTUMES. The effigies of King Henry IV. and his Queen at Canterbury are some of the most splendid of our royal effigies, uniting richness, grandeur, and simplicity. The King’s crown is particularly remarkable for its magnificence (Fig. 1.) Since there had been very great extravagance in costume during the reign of Richard II., when he came to the throne Henry revived the sumptuary laws of his predecessors regulating the quality of the clothing to be worn by the various classes of his subjects. Four years after that, all slashing and cutting of garments into various devices was forbidden; but the people were very fond of display, and perfect disregard was shown by all classes of the community to any of these laws. A notable decoration that appeared in this reign was the collar of SS. Various accounts of its origin have been given, but the most probable one is that S is the initial letter of Henry’s motto, “Souveraine,” which he had borne while Earl of Derby. The houppelande of Richard’s reign, with its high collar, huge sleeves, and full skirt, was still worn, and is always depicted scarlet in MSS. The “bag sleeves” came into fashion during this reign. They were of great size and fulness, but gathered at the wrist and at the shoulders. In the reign of Henry V. little change was made in costume, for the minds of men were occupied with more serious matters in the war with France. Long and short gowns with large sleeves, either sweeping and indented at the edge or of the “bag sleeve” variety, were the common upper garments of all classes. In some instances small bells were worn, fastened to a baldric or belt passing diagonally like a sash across the body from the shoulder to the waist. Beards were not worn much during this reign, and moustaches were only partially worn, for the fashion was to be clean shaven, and the hair was cut close above the ears. At the commencement of Henry V.’s reign the colour of the surcoat was again changed to white. Henry VI. was invariably plain in his dress, and we are told that he refused to wear the long-pointed shoes worn by the gentry. It is an interesting reflection on the unsettled condition of the country in the unfortunate reign of this King that the costumes were numerous and diverse, being “a curious mixture of the costumes of preceding reigns.”