The Camail, or tippet of mail, which is the distinctive detail of the armour of the late fourteenth and early fifteenth century, was either hung from a flat plate of metal which was fitted over the vervelles or staples on the bascinet and kept in place by a lace or a thick wire, or the mail itself was hung over the vervelles and the plate fitted over it and secured in the same way. This latter method appears to have been more commonly in use, to judge from sculptured effigies and brasses. A bascinet in the Ethnological Museum, Athens,[68] shows the vervelles, plate, and wire that secured it still in place, but the mail has all corroded and disappeared. A good restoration of the camail on a bascinet with a leather band instead of a flat plate is to be found in the Wallace Collection (No. 74). [Illustration: FIG. 20. Coif of Mail, (1) Effigy of William Mareschal, Earl of Pembroke, Temple Church. (2) Effigy in Pershore Church, Worcs. (from Fairholt).] In the thirteenth century we find one of the most unpractical of all the armourer’s contrivances in the nasal flap-hinged or laced to the camail, hanging down over the chin when not in use, and fastened, when required, to the bascinet by a pin or hook. The nasal of the eleventh century, figured on the Bayeux Tapestry and elsewhere, was practical because it provided a defence for the nose and face which was as rigid as the helmet itself; but this later nasal could only protect the wearer from the actual cutting of the skin, for the full force of the blows would be felt almost as much as if there were no defence at all. These nasals are figured so frequently in Hewitt, Hefner, and elsewhere that no special illustration is necessary in the present work. A variety of mail which, from the sculptured effigies and from miniatures of the thirteenth century, appears to have been in high favour, has come to be known as “Banded Mail.” [Illustration: FIG. 21. Attachment of Camail, effigy of Sir R. Pembridge, Clehonger Church, Hereford. FIG. 22. Attachment of Camail.] In both painted and sculptured records the methods of representation differ considerably from those employed to suggest the ordinary mail of interlaced rings. In the middle of the last century, when the subject of armour began to be seriously studied, this banded mail was the subject of many theories and suggestions. Meyrick considered that it was composed of rings sewn on to a fabric, overlapping each other sideways; but a practical experiment will prove that such an arrangement would be impossible, as the weight would be excessive and the curve of the body would cause the rings to “gape.” Other writers have considered that the same arrangement of rings, covered with leather which would prevent the “gaping,” is the correct solution; but here again the heat would be a grave drawback.[69] [Illustration: FIG. 23. Banded Mail.