To begin with the clogs, they are either plain or matted. A plain clog consists essentially of a piece of wood, oblong or with rounded ends, just large enough to cover the sole of the foot, and supported by two flat, oblong pieces of wood, running from side to side and one behind the other. The sole-piece has three holes, one on each side just in front of the hind support and one in the middle in front of the forward support. A thick thong of hemp is passed through the side-holes from above and the ends are tied together under the sole-piece; the part on the upper face of the sole-piece, which is covered with cloth or leather, is just long enough to be stretched out to the third hole; a similarly-covered thong is passed through a hole pierced in the top of the first thong and its ends are pushed through the hole in the sole-piece and tied in a knot on the nether side. The second thong thus holds down the first, which is separated from the sole-piece by a distance just enough to pass the toes between them. In wearing a clog the toes are slipped in under the side-thong and the top-thong is held tightly between the big and the second toe. The side-thong presses on the joints of the toes and prevents the clog from slipping off. If the top-thong is gripped tightly, the toes will naturally be bent and press down the fore-end of the clog and, the top-thong acting as a fulcrum, the hind-end will press against the heel. Thus, there will be little difficulty in walking in clogs. But if the grip be relaxed, the hind-end will drop and, in walking, be dragged on the ground; and as it will hurt the toes to be always in tight grip, the clogs are very often merely hanging on to the toes and are consequently dragged along. It is this dropping and dragging of the hind-end which makes the clogs clatter so noisily on the stone pavement and wooden flooring. [Illustration: PLAIN CLOGS.] Plain clogs vary in height; they are cut out of a single piece of wood or else have the sole-piece made separately from the supports. Those for rainy weather are five or six inches high; the supports are made separately and fit into grooves on the nether side of the sole-piece, and the thongs are covered with leather. There is a toe-cap to serve as mud-guard, made of thick waterproof paper or leather and held down by two pieces of twine from its ends, which are tied behind the hind support. There is a similar kind, much shorter and without a toe-cap, which is put on in fine weather. But the favourite form with men at present is cut out of a single piece of wood; the thongs are covered with cloth or leather, preferably the latter. The rain clogs for women have their edges and nether sides often varnished black.