GLOVES IN HISTORY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 16 January 1928, Page 8

GLOVES IN HISTORY

In the history of dress the.position of ■(he glovo is unique'. . There was a i ime vvjie'u tho glove was an emblem of cou- «^^ e P ce; . a-.part- tliij regal n- wliabifc, 'it because a badgo of. rank. In s• rMiddlo' Ages the ceremony ‘of 'invest . citure of -dignities'' pr-dands was ‘ celebratgiving, of ,a glovo. If gloves %•" wara-A a Iren away frbiu a nersou it-.' was,a peremonv of degradation. Vti It'-Ar^sf liu custbur to'giye .gloVjfe'-in pa.fVeiit.' f'he gloves. Lining accepted -es-a guarantee of t)iO retiaaner's service; which waj the chief condition of teriuro.

On tho Scottish border tho glove held a high 'place as a gage. Here a glcvc bonne on t-lift point of a. lance proclaimed an act. of perfidy. Biting tho glove wds a, sign of hostile intent, and the Usual prelude to a quarrel. Throughout (he history-of dress, indeed, gloves are symbolical of pledges, gages, gifts, or favours. A lady would give her glove to her .'chosen knight, and lio would hind it. on his ,arm and wear it as a) favour vvlupv going, into battle r.f to a .tourney. Globes alto part of burial riles, and were carried conspicuously in funeral processions until the middle of the eighteenth, century.