From its appearance this shoe must be a very old one, but the date and name of its wearer cannot be discovered. It differs from many of the preceding ones by the fact that the heel, instead of being covered with the same material as the shoe, is formed of dark red leather. The old brocade is very rich in texture, and harmonious in colouring; and the flap above the instep is kept in place by a ribbon strap of a corresponding hue. [Illustration: IX] PLATE X. This large buckled shoe was worn in the reign of Queen Anne, though, unfortunately, the name of its owner cannot be ascertained. The material is pink silk; the embroidery in silks and metallic threads is very rich, and the colours wonderfully preserved. The heel is of an immense height and breadth, and the toe so extravagantly pointed, that it must have protruded for a considerable distance beyond the foot. [Illustration: X] PLATE XI. This shoe is fastened by a ribbon tie, instead of the overlapping straps with ornamental buckle. It is made of plain black satin, with the silk binding that is usual at the present day. The heel is neatly shaped, and not of such extravagant height as that of other shoes of a corresponding date, probably about the middle or end of the last century; toe pointed. [Illustration: XI] APPENDIX. I. The following is an extract from “Fashions Then and Now,” by Lord William Pitt Lennox:--“From caps we descend ‘_au pied_.’ We have seen dancing-shoes four inches in height at the heel, shoes of no measure, some as broad as a tea-cup’s brim, some as narrow as the china circle the cup stands upon. While upon the subject of shoes, I may remark that some sixty years ago fashionable ladies turned ‘cordonniers,’ and having purchased a wooden last, tools, leather, soles, silk, satin, and prunella, furnished their evening ‘chaussures.’ So long as the wearers remained in-doors, or drove out in a carriage, all went well; but when these articles, ‘warranted’ (as the cheap bootmakers announce) to be made at home, were put to the test in the promenade or ball-room, the chances were ten to one they would not stand the wear, and that a heel or ball of the foot would obtrude.” -------------- II. CATALOGUE OF SHOES IN THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITIES, EDINBURGH. 1. Series of Specimens of Ornamental Shoe-Buckles of the 17th and 18th centuries. 2. Pair of Jack Boots as worn in the middle of the 17th century. 3. Sandal, dug up in the Magdalen Yard, Dundee, Forfarshire.--A. Sutherland, 1827. 4. Old Celtic Shoe, with open-work, found six feet below the surface, near Callander, Perthshire. 5. Soles of Shoes, found in the “Moray Vault,” under St Giles’ Church, Edinburgh.--A. Ritchie, 1837.