A beard is but the vizard of the face, That nature orders for no other place; The fringe and tassel of a countenance That hides his person from another man's, And, like the Roman habits of their youth, Is never worn until his perfect growth. And in another set of verses he has again a fling at the obnoxious beard of the same preacher: This reverend brother, like a goat, Did wear a tail upon his throat; The fringe and tassel of a face That gives it a becoming grace, But set in such a curious frame, As if 'twere wrought in filograin; And cut so even as if 't had been Drawn with a pen upon the chin. As it was customary among the peoples of antiquity who wore their beards to cut them off, and for those who shaved to allow their beards to grow, in times of mourning, so many of the Presbyterians and Independents vowed not to cut their beards till monarchy and episcopacy were utterly destroyed. Thus in a humorous poem, entitled "The Cobler and the Vicar of Bray," we read: This worthy knight was one that swore, He would not cut his beard Till this ungodly nation was From kings and bishops cleared. Which holy vow he firmly kept, And most devoutly wore A grisly meteor on his face, Till they were both no more. In _Pericles, Prince of Tyre_, when the royal hero leaves his infant daughter Marina in charge of his friend Cleon, governor of Tharsus, to be brought up in his house, he declares to Cleon's wife (Act iii, sc. 3): Till she be married, madam, By bright Diana, whom we honour all, Unscissored shall this hair of mine remain, Though I show well in't; and that he meant his beard is evident from what he says at the close of the play, when his daughter is about to be married to Lysimachus, governor of Mitylene (Act v, sc. 3): And now This ornament, that makes me look so dismal, Will I, my loved Marina, clip to form; And what these fourteen years no razor touched, To grace thy marriage day, I'll beautify. Scott, in his _Woodstock_, represents Sir Henry Lee, of Ditchley, whilom Ranger of Woodstock Park (or Chase), as wearing his full beard, to indicate his profound grief for the death of the "Royal Martyr," which indeed was not unusual with elderly and warmly devoted Royalists until the "Happy Restoration"--save the mark!