SPENCERS.

This article of dress originated with the late Lord Spencer, His lordship, when Lord-lieutenant of Ireland, being out a hunting, had, in the act of leaping a fence, the misfortune to have one of the skirts of his coat torn off; upon which his lordship tore off the other, observing, that to have but one left was like a pig with one ear! Some inventive genius took the hint, and having made some of these half-coats, out of compliment to his lordship, gave them the significant cognomen of Spencer!

WIGS.

Wigs were first worn by the Romans, to, hide baldness or deformity of the head; those of the Roman ladies were fastened upon a caul of goat skin. Periwigs commenced with their Emperors; they were awkwardly made of hair, painted and glued together.

The year 1529 is deemed the epoch of the introduction of periwigs into France; yet it is certain that têtes were in use here a century before. Fosbroke says, "that strange deformity, the Judge's wig, first appears as a general genteel fashion in the seventeenth century." Archbishop Tillotson was the first bishop who wore a wig, which then was not unlike the natural hair, and worn without powder. Among the Curiosa Cantabrigiensia, it may be recorded that Charles II., who as his worthy friend, the Earl of Rochester, remarked,

"Never said a foolish thing,

Nor ever did a wise one,"

sent a letter to the University of Cambridge, forbidding the mem bers to wear periwigs, smoke tobacco, and read their sermons!

HAIR-POWDER.

The powdering of the hair took its rise from some of the ballad singers, at the fair of St. Germaine, whitening their heads to make themselves appear ridiculous; this was in the year 1614. It was first taxed in England, 1795.

FANS, &c.

Fans, muffs, masks, &c., and false hair, were first devised by the harlots in Italy, and from France in 1572.

STAYS.

Stays, like many other articles of dress, were first used in the reign of Henry II. of France. They were called Stays here, because they were said to stay the obtrusive charms of woman.

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A curious edict was passed by the Emperor Joseph II., of lawmaking notoriety, to restrain the use and fashion of stays; in the preamble it set forth, that they impaired the health and impeded the growth of the fair sex; in all orphan-houses, nunneries, and other places of public education, they were strictly forbidden, and young ladies still persisting in the fashion, were threatened with the loss of the customary indulgences and countenance which were bestowed on their class; thus they were made a sort of immorality. The College of Physicians also were enjoined to draw up a dissertation in support of the royal edict, which was distributed gratis. But what can a monarch do against fashion? The liberty of the corset was soon re-established in Austria in its full severity,

WOMEN'S BLACKS.

This is the name of the common black worsted stockings, formerly an article of extensive consumption; they are now little made, because little worn. Black stockings were first introduced into England by Henrietta, daughter of Henry IV. of France, and queen of Charles I. Charles was the first who wore black stockings in England; they were of silk, and Charles II. seldom wore any other, as the old prints and paintings testify.

One of the greatest wholesale dealers in "women's blacks,” in a manufacturing town, was celebrated for the largeness of his stock; his means enabled him to purchase all that were offered to him for sale, and it was his favourite article. He was an oldfashioned man, and while the servant-maids were leaving them off, he was unconscious of the change, because he could not believe it; he insisted that household work could not be done in white cottons. -Offers of quantities were made to him at reduced prices, which he bought; his immense capital became locked up in his favourite "women's blacks;" whenever their price in the market lowered, he could not make his mind up to be quite low enough; his warehouses were filled with them. When he determined to sell, the demand had wholly ceased; he could effect no sales; and, becoming bankrupt, he literally died of a broken-heart-from an excessive and unrequited attachment to "women's blacks."

COACHES.

The introduction of coaches into England, is ascribed by Stow to William Boonew, a Dutchman; most accounts agree from Germany, but the precise date, except the sixteenth century, is uncertain. There was no coach-box; the coachman rode on a saddle, as postilions do now. Strutt informs us, in his Manners and Customs of the English, vol. ii. p. 90, that Walter Ripon in 1555 made a coach for the Earl of Rutland, which was the first ever made in England; and in 1564, the same Walter made the

first hollow turning coach, with pillars and arches, for her majesty ; and again, in 1584, he made a chariot throne, with four pillars behind to bear a canopy, with a crown imperial on the top, and before, two lower pillars, on which stood a Lion and a Dragon, the supporters of the crown, of England.

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It was Buckingham, the Favourite, who, about 1619, began to have them drawn by six horses, which, as an historian says, was wondered at as a novelty, and imputed to him as mastering pride." Before that time ladies chiefly rode on horseback, either single, on their palfreys, or double, behind some person, on a pillion. In the year 1672, at which period, throughout the kingdom, there was only six stage-coaches constantly running, a pamphlet was written and published by Mr. John Cresset, of the Charter-house, urging their suppression, and amongst other grave reasons given against their continuance, the author says, "These stage-coaches make gentlemen come to London on every trivial occasion, which otherwise they would not do but upon urgent necessity: nay, the convenience of the passage makes their wives often come up, who, rather than come such journeys on horseback, would stay at home. Then, when they come to town, they must presently be in the mode, get fine clothes, go to plays and treats, and, by these means, get such a habit of idleness and love of pleasure, as make them uneasy ever after."

HACKNEY COACHES.

Hackney coaches, as well as hackney horses, derive their name from the village of Hackney, which was, at a former period, of such great resort, that numbers of coaches and horses were in constant employ in carrying the citizens thither. It was in the year 1634 that Captain Bayley first introduced these coaches, when a tolerable long ride might then be procured for the small sum of 4d.

CABS, OR CABRIOLETS.

These convenient vehicles, which have now almost entirely superseded the old hackney coach, were introduced into London by Maberley the well-known Banker, and Government contractor. Their form has undergone various modifications, but the public seem now to have decided on patronizing only two descriptions: the Clarence cab, which is very convenient for carrying four passengers and luggage-and the Hansom's Patent, which is especially constructed for getting quickly over the ground.

OMNIBUS.

This is the name given to a peculiar kind of public carriage which takes passengers at a cheap rate. They were first introduced into Paris in 1825, whence they were introduced into

London by Shillibeer in 1829. When first introduced into London, they were drawn by three horses abreast.

SEDAN CHAIRS.

It was in 1634, that Sir Saunders Duncombe first introduced sedan-chairs. Sir Saunders was a great traveller, and had seen these chairs at Sedan, where they were first invented.

SIDE SADDLES.

The Princess Ann of Bohemia was the first who introduced side-saddles into England. It was in the year 1399; prior to which, ladies either rode on pillion, or astride like men.

WALKING-STICKS.

Walking-sticks were first introduced into fashion by the effeminate Henry II. of France, but did not become a requisite appendage to the gentlemen of fashion in England till the year 1655, at which time they were formed with an indented head, in order to afford a more easy pressure of the hand which they supported. Ingenuity, which, in matters of fashion, is for ever on the alert, now crowned it with the addition of the round and hollow top, which sometimes contained nutmeg or ginger, to warm the stomach of the valetudinarian, and sometimes sugar-candy for the asthmatic; but snuff soon after coming into universal use among the bon ton of society, the cavity was exclusively appropriated to its reception; and the meeting of two friends was invariably marked, after the first salutation, by the unscrewing of the tops of their walking-sticks.

STANHOPE.

So called from being introduced into the beau monde by the Hon. Mr. Stanhope.

DENNET.

A vehicle which derives its name from the inventor, whose name was Dennet.

TANDEM.

This equipage derives its name from the Latin words tan dem, i. e., at length; one horse preceding the other. It is a cognomen somewhat far-fetched, but it is accounted for by saying, it is of University origin.

USE OF MAHOGANY IN ENGLAND.

Dr. Gibbons, an eminent physician, in the latter end of last, and beginning of the present century, had a brother, a West

India captain, who brought over some planks of mahogany as ballast. As the doctor was then building him a house in King Street, Covent Garden, his brother thought they might be of service to him. But the carpenters finding the wood too hard for their tools, it was laid aside for a time as useless. Soon after, Mrs. Gibbons wanted a candle-box; the doctor called on his cabinet-maker (Wollaston, in Long Acre), to make him one of some wood that lay in his garden. Wollaston also complained that it was too hard. The doctor said he must get stronger tools. The candle-box was made and approved; insomuch that the doctor then insisted on having a bureau made of the same wood, which was accordingly done; and the fine colour, polish, &c., were so pleasing, that he invited all his friends to come and see it, and among them the Duchess of Buckingham. Her Grace begged some of the same wood of Dr. Gibbons, and employed Wollaston to make her a bureau also: on which the fame of mahogany and Mr. Wollaston was much raised, and things of this sort became general.

TORTOISE SHELL.

This substance consists of certain large horn-like epidermoid plates, which cover, in an imbricated or overlapping manner, the carapace or back shell of the marine tortoises, or turtles (Chelone). The species which afford the most valuable of these plates are— the Karet tortoises, or imbricated turtles (Chelone imbricata, Chelone caretta), from which are obtained five large plates off the middle of the carapace, and four large ones off each side; these plates, thirteen in number, are technically called 'blades;' twentyfive smaller plates are obtained from the margin of the carapace, which are called the feet or noses, in commerce. The other plates, collectively, are called the head of the turtle.

IRISH BOG-YEW.

For a series of Irish Bog-yew decorative furniture, designed to illustrate the history, antiquities, animal and vegetable productions, &c., of Ireland, see the Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue of the Great Exhibition, vol. ii. p. 735.

D'OYLEYS.

These dessert napkins take their term from a very respectable warehouseman of the name of D'Oyley, whose family of the same name had resided in the great old house next to Hodsoll, the banker's, from the time of Queen Anne. This house, built by Inigo Jones, which makes a prominent feature in the old engraved views of the Strand, having a covered up-and-down entrance which projected to the carriage way, was pulled down