GLOVES THROUGH THE AGES

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 106, 7 May 1942, Page 9

GLOVES THROUGH THE AGES

It is believed that gloves were known to prehistoric cave-dwellers, and that they were worn thousands of years ago is proved by the fact that Homer refers to them. As far back as the eighth and ninth centuries gloves (at first without separate lingers) were worn even by labourers in the fields in almost every north European country. It is doubtful if gloves were commonly worn in England before the 13th century, but they gradually became more and more ornate till Queen Elizabeth set the fashion by wearing magnificent gloves decorated with rich embroidery and precious stones. Long ago it was customary for a man whose pride had been wounded to pull off his glove and fling it to the ground, saying: "I throw down my glove." He would then bid his opponent pick it up, and if he did so it was his way of saying that he accepted the challenge and was ready to do battle. In the days of chivalry a gallant knight rode out with his lady's glove in nis helmet, defending it with his life; and it was perhaps this ancient custom which prompted Sir George Clifford, the Sailor Earl, to wear Queen Elizabeth's glove in his hat. There is a picture of him with the glove, studded in diamonds, pinned to the front of his hat. The story is that Sir George was the first to carry to Elizabeth news of the defeat of the Spanish Armada, and that in her agitation the queen dropped her glove. The gallant earl would have handed it back, but she said: "Keep it in memory of this hour." He kept it to the end of his days. At one time clergymen used to wear gloves to show that their hands were clean and not open to bribes: and it is still the custom for a pair of white gloves to be presented to the judge if there is no prisoner to be tried at the Court.