Costume.
I. 13. Letter from the Lord Mayor to the Lord Treasurer,
stating that in executing the commands of Her Majesty, for
the reforming of monstrous Ruffs, (fn. 1) and other disorders, he had
friendly admonished Mr. Hewson, son-in-law of the Lord Chief
Baron, (fn. 2) for wearing excess of Ruffs, in the open street, after Easter,
against Her Majesty's proclamation; that he replied in a very contemptuous speech, and for the credit of his office, he had been
compelled to take further steps to enforce the Royal commands,
whereby he had given great offence to the Lord Chief Baron, which
he had expressed in his Letter enclosed, and by refusing to enter his
house, and that, fearing his displeasure for the rest of his life, he
prayed his Lordship's intercession in the matter.
5th May, 1580.
Footnotes
| 1 |
Philip Stubbes, in his 'Anatomie of Abuses,' published in 1583, gives a very curious
picture of the excesses of dress in England, denouncing the great ruffs, costly shirts, hosen,
jerkins, &c. Hall, in his 'Satires,' says of a fashionable, that he is as "double as his
double ruff." A proclamation was issued by Queen Elizabeth, 12th February, 1579,
which is probably the one referred to in the letter, to prevent excesses in dress. It refers to
the several laws passed for restraining the same in the reign of King Henry the Eighth,
and gives a schedule of the permitted and prohibited articles of dress. |
| 2 |
Sir Roger Manwood. |