Black silk cravats, at the time of our author's writing (1828), were generally worn, and coloured silk handkerchiefs occasionally patronised. It appears that Napoleon invariably wore a black silk cravat, but at Waterloo it was observed that, contrary to his usual custom, he wore a white neckerchief with a flowing bow, although the day previous he appeared in his black cravat. The superstitiously inclined will note this fact; it is, however, extremely unlikely that the change influenced in the slightest degree the result of the battle. In the late thirties and early forties Dame Fashion turned her attention in the direction of embroidered muslin. Delicate floral patterns, often displaying considerable taste in design and a high degree of technical skill, were wrought upon collarettes, cuffs, chemisettes, &c.; it was chiefly produced in the north of Ireland, and an extensive trade arose, finding employment for large numbers of women and girls in the counties of Donegal, Tyrone, and Down. The delicacy of the material and the absence of colour, lent itself insensibly to a naturalistic treatment. As is usual with the caprices of fashion, the art only lasted for a comparatively brief period. It still survives, however, in the form of embroidered handkerchiefs, for which there is even now a demand. FOOTNOTES: [17] Stow. [18] This lady, in 1601, registered a vow not to change her linen until the town of Ostend was taken. The siege lasted three years and three months, by which time her under-clothing had attained a colour which is perhaps easier to imagine than to describe. It provided a name for a stuff, "Couleur Isabella," which was fashionable in France for over a century. [19] "What I have said, I have said" (the Right Hon. Joseph Chamberlain). [20] The Castalian spring is at the _foot_ of the mountain, but it should have been at the top, where the tired and thirsty traveller would be most likely to need it. Besides, it is not to be expected that we could reverse the order of the paragraph--"_we have said it_." VIII HATS, CAPS, AND BONNETS "'In _that_ direction,' the Cat said, waving his right paw round, 'lives a Hatter; and in _that_ direction,' waving the other paw, 'lives a March Hare. Visit either you like; they're both mad.'" _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland._ [Illustration: FOOLS IN A MORRIS DANCE. _Bodleian MS. (free rendering)._] VIII HATS, CAPS, AND BONNETS Mad as a hatter? How comes an honest craft to be thus maligned? Hatters were never mad--that is, not more so than the rest of us--until they adopted the pot of the chimney as a model.[21] Nature has provided in the hair a natural covering for the head. Hats are not really a necessity.