The ancient Irish wore a trousers which was so tight-fitting as to show perfectly the shape of the limbs. When terminating below the ankles it was held down by a slender strap passing under the foot. Like other Irish garments it was generally striped or speckled in various colours. Leggings of cloth or of thin soft leather were used, and were laced on by strings tipped with white bronze, the bright metallic extremities falling down after lacing, so as to form pendant ornaments. A _kilt_ was often worn, in which case the legs were left bare at the knees, with leggings below: for the kilt is of Irish origin, and was brought--like many other fashions--by the early colonists to Scotland, where it is still held on, while it has been long disused in Ireland. Both men and women wore a garment of fine texture next the skin, commonly made of wool or linen, but sometimes of silk or satin, embroidered with devices in gold or silver thread worked with the needle. Girdles were commonly worn round the waist inside the outer loose mantle: those used by high-class people were often elaborately ornamented so as to be worth as much as from £40 to £100 of our present money. Garters were worn, partly for use, partly for ornament: often they were made of very expensive materials. Gloves were very common among all classes high and low, and were often highly ornamented. The men wore a hat of a conical shape without a leaf; but among the peasantry, men, in their daily life, commonly went bare-headed, wearing the hair long behind so as to hang down on the back, and clipped short in front. Married women usually had the head covered either with a hood or with a long web of linen wreathed round and round in several folds. The veil was in constant use among the higher classes, and when not actually worn was usually carried, among other small articles, in a lady’s ornamental hand-bag. Shoes were often made of untanned hide stitched with thongs, with several layers for a sole. But there was a more shapely shoe, made of fully tanned leather, having serviceable sole and heel, and often ornamented with patterns stamped in. The Irish were excessively fond of personal ornaments, which among the higher classes were made of expensive materials, such as gold, silver, gems, white bronze, etc. They wore rings and bracelets of various shapes on the fingers (including the thumb), round the wrist and forearm, and even round the leg above the ankle. Necklaces were very common, from the cheapest kind up to those with the studs made of gold, pearls, and other gems, all of which materials were found native.