66 pendent tails are affixed to its lower edge. It is also seen, worn beneath the cope, in the brass of Thomas Capp, in St. Stephen's, Norwich, 1545, engraved in the same work, pl. 103. See also Dr. Rock's Church of our Fathers," and "Notes and Queries," 5th S., vol. iv.; and the "Tippets of the Canons Ecclesiastical," by G. French, "Jour. Arch. Assoc.," 1850. AMICE. The amice was a rectangular piece of fine linen suspended over the shoulders of the clergy, and fastened by strings: it is derived from the amictus of Rome. It was introduced in the eighth century, to cover the neck, which before was bare. The apparel is the embroidered part, which was fastened to it to serve as a collar. Pugin, in his "Glossary of Ecclesiastical Ornament," etc., says it is a white linen napkin or veil, worn by all the clergy above the four minor orders. It is the first of the sacred vestments put on, first on the head and then adjusted round the neck and shoulders (see figs. 95, 96); and it was customary in France to wear it on the head from the Feast of All Saints until Easter, letting it fall back upon the shoulders during the Gospel. It was anciently considered as a capuchon, or hood. In Picart's" Religious Ceremonies is a representation of the amice worn as a hood, it is here copied. Milton alludes to it thus: See the " Paradise Regained, b. iv. 1. 426. 66 ANELACE. A knife or dagger worn at the girdle. Glossary" to Matthew Paris, in v. Anelacius." In that passage of M. Paris, p. 342, where Petrus de Rivallis is mentioned as 'gestans anelacium ad lumbare ; quod clericum non decebat,' it may be doubted whether the wearing of an anelace simply, or the wearing of it at the girdle, was an indecent thing in a clerk."-Tyrrwhit, note to Chaucer, in the Prologue to "Canterbury Tales," where the knight is described as wearing "An anelace and a gipciere all of silk, Hung at his girdle, white as morwe milk." An interesting illustration of this passage in Chaucer is afforded in fig. 86 of the History, from the Loutterell Psalter; the gentleman there wearing both articles appended to the girdle, as the poet describes them. They are of general occurrence; but we frequently see the anelace alone, as in the brass of a Franklin of the time of Edward I., in Shottesbrooke Church, Berkshire, engraved in Waller's "Monumental Brasses;" or in that of John Corpe, 1361, in Stoke Fleming Church, Devonshire, here copied from the same work, in which instance it is appended to an elegant baldrick, slung across the right shoulder. The anelace had a broad blade, was sharp on both edges, and became narrower from hilt to point. The anelace occurs as late as 1497 in the brass at Ightfield, Salop. ANGON. The Anglo-Saxon barbed spear. ANTIA. The iron which forms the handle on a shield (Meyrick). See fig. 5. APPAREL, EXCESS IN. The following are some of the chief Acts against excess in apparel, and in them will be found many curious details. They were all repealed by an Act of 1 Jac. I. : 2 Ed. II. c. 4; 37 Ed. III. cc. 8. 14; 3 Ed. IV. C. 1; 22 Ed. IV. c. 1; 1 Hen. VIII. c. 14; 6 Hen. VIII. c. 1 ; 7 Hen. VIII. c. 6; 24 Hen. VIII. c. 13; 1 & 2 Ph. & M. c. 2; 8 Eliz. c. 11. In the fourth year of Elizabeth there were special Commissions to inquire into the observance or otherwise, of various sumptuary laws, and the reports exist in the Public Record Office. APPAREL. The apparel of the amice was that portion which formed a sort of ornamental collar where it rested on the shoulders. It was decorated with needlework, or among the higher clergy with gold threads and jewels, or symbols of the Church. In Shaw's "Dresses and Decorations" is engraved the apparel of the amice of Thomas-à-Becket, of a very elaborate and beautiful character; but its general effect may be seen in figs. 95 and 96. The apparels of the alb were at least four, and sometimes six in number, of which the two smaller ones were sewn on the ends of the sleeves just above the back of the hand, the other two at the bottom of the skirts, one before and one behind. The others, one on the breast and one on the back suspended by flat bands over each shoulder. (Rock, "Church of our Fathers.") The cut is from a brass of a priest, temp. Ed. III. at Wensley, Yorkshire. APRON or NAPRON. A covering for the front of the dress, either of leather or cloth. One of the earliest representations of this article is given in Strutt's "Complete View of the Dress and Habits of the People of England," pl. 51, from Sloane MS. 3983, a Flemish Albumazar of the fourteenth century. It depicts a blacksmith at work, in an apron precisely similar to the leathern one still worn; it is tied round the waist, and thence rises over the breast, which it completely covers, being secured round the neck by a tie. It was in use previously by females, and so continued long after; and was worn by the upper classes, as at present, as an ornamental addition to the dress. Strutt, in his work above quoted, has given on pl. 88, from Sloane MS. 346 (fourteenth century), a countrywoman's apron; another is here given, from the Loutterell Psalter, which exhibits a female pea sant, carrying her pail of milk on her head; it is traced and engraved the size of the original, and is an agreeable specimen of the drawing of that age, as it is both natural and correct. The apron was then termed barme-cloth, and is so named by Chaucer in "The Miller's Tale," when describing the dress of the carpenter's wife. He says she wore "A barm-cloth eek as whit as morne mylk, meaning that her white apron was tied round her loins in many a plait, or perhaps the gores were the ornamental compartments on the upper part of the apron, expressed by cross lines in that seen in our cut, and which are of very common occurrence. The plain white apron of the fourteenth century is given in fig. 82, that of the succeeding century in pl. 97 of Strutt. After this period the apron became generally confined to good housewives in the country, until the ladies again took them into wear in the sixteenth century, and used them of so fine a texture, and so rich in decoration, that Stephen Gosson thus alludes to them : "These aprons white of finest thread, So quaintlie cut, so richlie wrought; Pleasant Quippes for Upstart New Fangled Gentlewomen, 1596. They were edged or guarded with lace; and may be seen so decorated in fig. 237, from the effigy of Dorothy Strutt, in Whalley Church, Essex 1641. The ordinary apron of the lower classes, with its bib for the breast, is seen in fig. 242. During the time of William III. they became the indispensable dress of the ladies; and are seen in fig. 267. They were worn very small, and fringed all round with lace, covering the upper part of the petticoat, the front of which was fully displayed by the open gown then in use. "The working apron too from France, With all its trim appurtenance," is mentioned in "Mundus Muliebris," 1690. The plain useful country-girl's apron is seen in fig. 272; the lady's apron of the time of Anne, when the queen herself wore them, is shown in fig. 274; in her reign they were sometimes richly decorated with needlework, gold-lace, and spangles, occasionally such ornaments formed a framework for small pictures printed in colours on satin and stitched upon the apron; that of the time of George II. in fig. 280; when they were worn very long and plain, without lace or ornament, and excited the ire of Beau Nash, "the king of Bath," see p. 370. The countrywoman's apron of the middle of the last century is seen in fig. 290; and it may be only necessary to say that the lady's apron was an article of show, fringed and ornamented as a few years ago. ARBALEST (Fr. arcbaleste; Lat. arca-balista). A cross-bow. "Richard bent an arweblast of vys, And it smot thorwgh Sarazynes sevene." Richard Cœur de Lion-WEBER'S Romances. "Both alblast and many a bow War redy railed upon a row." MINOT'S Poems, 1352. The arweblast of vys was one in which some kind of screw was employed for bending it. In some cross-bows an arrangement called the goat's foot lever was employed, in others the detachable mechanism called the moulinet. See History, fig. 172. Crossbowmen, as well as the bow-makers, were hence termed arblasters: "And alblastres with quarellis." King Alisaunder-WEBER'S Romances. In the same romance we find "No of bowiers, no of alblastreris." "Shot of longe bowes and arblasters were not spared on nother side." ARCHER MOUNTED. FABIAN'S Chronicle, p. 206, vol. ii. Representations of English ones will be found in the Richard II. MS., Harl., 1319. 1 Skilfully. |