THE CLERK. (See page 27.)--The figure of the Clerk possesses peculiar interest, as it represents one of those ancient artists whose paintings in mediæval MSS. are so valuable to us now. His name is Alan Strayler, a designer and painter, and his dress is that of an ordinary middle-class man; it will be seen to be precisely similar to Chaucer’s, who was himself a ‘clerk.’ THE SERJEANT AT LAW. (See page 28.)--It is curious that the mantle of this figure, whose dress is taken from two effigies of Chief Justices of the King’s Bench in the fourteenth century, should recall the Roman toga, being apparently fastened over the hood, on the right shoulder, so as to leave that arm completely free: an instance of the conservatism of official dress, which alters very little with the fluctuations of fashion, whilst those persons whose costume denotes no position are constantly undergoing protean changes. THE DOCTOR. (See page 29.)--The medical man is as much too early as the monk is too late, but it was the most characteristic one I could find, and I preferred thirteenth century to fifteenth century costume. The mantle recalls the Roman toga. (Copy from Sloane Coll. No. 1975.) THE PARSON. (See page 30.)--See a brass of John Islyngton, vicar of Islington, in Norfolk, in 1393. The dress of a plain parish priest is not often represented: it will be seen to be not dissimilar to that of a modern French priest. THE PLOUGHMAN.--(See page 31.)--Studied from figures in a very ancient Anglo-Saxon MS. It appears to me that the liripipe (evidently then worn) is in this case twisted around the head. THE PARDONER. (See page 31.)--The Pardoner may have worn the ordinary clerkly gown, or, as in the Frontispiece, a close-fitting garb. Chaucer does not describe his attire, but says he thought himself ‘al of the newe get’ (_i.e._, fashion). PRINCIPAL AUTHORITIES CONSULTED IN THIS BOOK. Sir S. Meyrick, ‘Antient Armour.’ Lacroix, ‘Manners, Customs, and Dress during the Middle Ages,’ &c., &c. Skeat, ‘Chaucer,’ &c. Morris, ‘Chaucer’ (Aldine edition), 1866, and ‘Chaucer’ (Clarendon Press), 1874. Tyrwhitt’s ‘Chaucer.’ Bell’s edition of ‘Chaucer’s Poetical Works.’ Fairholt, ‘Costume in England.’ Wright, ‘Domestic Manners during the Middle Ages,’ and ‘Womankind in Western Europe.’ Froissart’s ‘Chronicles.’ Planché, ‘British Costume.’ Shaw, ‘Dresses and Decorations,’ ‘Ornaments,’ &c. Furnivall, ‘Babee’s Book,’ and ‘Trial Forewords’ (Chaucer Society), &c. ‘Arthur of Britayn.’ Six-Text Edition of Chaucer’s ‘Canterbury Tales.’ Bonnard & Mercurj, ‘Costumes des XIIIe, XIVe, et XVe Siècles,’ 1840. Le Grand, ‘Fabliaux et Contes du XIIe et du XIIIe Siècle,’ 1781. Barbazan, ‘Fabliaux et Contes,’ 1808. Printed by McCorquodale & Co. Limited, “The Armoury,” Southwark. FOOTNOTES: [1] I use the word ‘emphasis’ in the same sense as one might speak of a _crotchet_ in music, to which you count two, being more emphatic than a _quaver_, to which you count one.