which held a profusion of roses. The forehead was quite uncovered, the hair being strained up from it; and at the side fell the long distinct ringlet, emulated in length by the gold ear-ring that hung pendent beside it. Never had we seen such a head as this; we looked like so many cropped schoolboys. The dress was equally new. A clear silk net over white satin, made very short both in the skirt and the waist, and trimmed round the petticoat with satin rouleaux. The morning dress of one of the first French ladies who made her appearance in England at the termination of the war, is described as having been formed of a plain English gingham, instead of silk or satin, with a beautifully worked chemisette; her hair à la Chinoise, without other ornament than a large Leghorn hat.

No sooner did French modes once more reach our shores than they were instantly seized upon, and the dress of the British fair changed like magic! Toques, berets, tunics, manteaux, chapeaux, bonnets, every article of attire that a French modiste touched with her fairy fingers, was bought with avidity. with avidity. Then appeared bonnets whose shape we cannot better describe than by borrowing the words of Moore:

"That build of bonnet, whose extent
Should, like a doctrine of dissent,
Puzzle church-doors to let it in—
Nor half had reached the pitch sublime,
To which true toques and berets climb;
Leaving, like lofty Alps that throw
O'er minor Alps their shadowy sway,
Earth's humbler bonnets far below,
To poke through life their fameless way."

From this period English costume is so familiar to our readers as to render any description of it quite

unnecessary.

THE TOILETTE IN SCOTLAND.

CHAPTER XIII.

N all the early annals of the Scotch, it is stated that they were a rude and hardy race of men; that they loved war; and were for the most part nearly destitute of clothing. Afterwards we find that they adopted the skins of beasts. Pitscottie, in his "Chronicles of Scotland," speaking of the ancient style of dress, says: "They be cloathed with ane mantle, with ane shirt, fachioned after the Irish manner, going bare-legged to the knie."

The author of a work on Scotland, published in 1603, writes thus: "They (the Highlanders) delight much

in marbled cloths, especially that have long stripes of sundry colours; they love chiefly purple and blue; their predecessors used short mantles, or plaids of divers colours, sundrie ways divided, and among some the same custome is observed to this day; but for the most part now they are brown, most near to the colour of the hadder, to the effect when they lye among the hadders, the bright colours of their plaids shall not bewray them, with the which, rather coloured than clad, they suffer the most cruel tempests that blow in the open fields, in such sort, that in a night of snow they sleep sound."

Pinkerton, speaking of the dress of this people, says: "The kilt is not ancient, but singular, and adapted to their savage life." He also adds, "that it was unknown among the Welsh and Irish, but that it was the dress of the Saxons who could not afford breeches."

The Highlander's dress consisted of the breaconfeile, simply a chequered covering; in original form now almost entirely in disuse. It was a plain piece of tartan, about six yards long and two yards wide. This plaid, or kilt as it was called, was SO arranged that it surrounded the waist in folds, and was held firm by a leathern belt, in such a manner that the lower part fell to the middle of the knee, and then, while the plaid was in folds behind, it was doubled in front. The upper part was fastened on the left shoulder with a large brooch, or pin, so as to give it the most graceful appearance possible, and the two ends were allowed to hang down; frequently, however, that on the right side, as it was much the longest, was permitted to be tucked under the belt.

N

Thus the right arm was uncovered, except in cold weather, when the plaid being thrown loosely on, it covered all the body.

Although this plaid was peculiar to the Highlanders, it was, till the end of the last century, frequently worn by the Lowlanders also. As, of course, it had no pockets, a purse, of goat's or badger's skin, or of leather, supplied their place; it was called a sporan, and people of rank and wealth had it ornamented in the most gaudy manner, with a silver mouth-piece, tassels, and silver fastenings.

Formerly the Highlanders wore on their feet a piece of untanned hide, cut to the shape and size of the foot, and held fast by leathern thongs. This fashion still continues in the Shetland Isles; and to this day the Scotch dislike any covering on their feet so much, that they always go barefooted when not ashamed of being seen; and an author who wrote a century ago affirms, that he visited a well-educated laird in the north, who wore neither shoes nor stockings. At a still later period, respectable people of both sexes might be seen walking to church barefooted, carrying their shoes and stockings in a bundle; when they arrived at or near the churchyard, they quietly sat down, put them on, and, when the service was over, took them off again, and walked home without them. The stockings, generally of the same pattern as the plaid, were formerly not knitted, but cut out of the web, a custom which still prevails in some of the Highland regiments. The garters worn by the men were of rich patterns, very broad, and often ornamented with tassels.

The buskins formerely worn by the Highlanders