Te Deum

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22332, 1 February 1936, Page 6 (Supplement)

Te Deum

> r■■ * A King has passed thii way, and think but if hi* 10-day—-tkat he was a man . noble and revered, who choteio seek the paths of simple state. Let not your grief be led by .muffled measured tread, . nor drooping flags, . nor tolling bells. . Lift up your hearts and praise God for a Throne. —Warwick Lawrence, Auckland.

the Gold Coast mourners wear red, and in Egypt a blue band on the head of a woman indicates the recent death of a relative or employer. ; . In very early England the outward manifestations of mourning were very simple, the sombre hues of the outer garments, either black* or brown, being the sole mark of . mourning. But, by the time of Edward m. wearers of such sable attire had begun-to compensate their vanity by wearing enormous quantities of material in their gowns and mantles. It became the vogue to judge the depth of a mourner's grief by the number of yards of crepe in his garment, rather than by the solemnityof his expression and behaviour. The heavy black mantles would be banded with rich yellow, lined with priceless ermine, frilled with exquisite lace. Even wo© developed its luxuries- Those of highest rank wore the deepest mourning, the quantity of material worn increasing with social status. 'Mourning Rings During the 17th century the custom of giving and wearing mourning rings was very much in vogue. The diarist Evelyn tells us that his daughter s death was commemorated by the distribution of 60 rings, and in a will dated 1622, an English lady of quality left -rings' to-all her sisters-in-law and £lO to eiich of her brothers to buy rings in her memory. She also provided £2O to be spent in rings for her friends, to the value of ten shillings each. There was a much-more doleful custom, common to several European countries, of putting the bedroom into black when a woman lost her husband, and no well-furnished establishment was complete without a black-curtained bed ready for use in- such emergencies. Within recent, years, the wearing of mourning has been greatly modified, the periods having been curtailed and the wearing ©f crepe discontinued except ... in comparatively rare cases. The origin of the widow's veil goes back to medieval times, when, as a general rule, widows went into seclusion as " vowesses " in some monastic establishment, sometimes to ecape over-fer-vent suitors for their hands and fortunes, sometimes for spiritual comfort, sometimes for food and shelter itself. But the veil, which used to be worn for & year and a day, is now almost as rare as the " vowesses," and merely " quiet clothes " are considered in the best of taste. - Great latitude is allowed for men, the plain black tie usually being regarded as adequate, though a band of crepe is. still seen at times on a mourner's left arm. The latter is an old army custom, and also a feature pf traditional Highland dress.

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FANTASY

Aty loot is a-sail on a purple sea; It flies with the wind. I am free! I an • free I IThe stars in their orbits are calling to me, "A* they swim in the ocean of night. Embark I Embark for an island bay, Colombo, New York, or Mandalay I Bat we must be back when the dawning day Harriet Hhe slats to flight. Thi» is r lhe 'ship where priest and clerk, Doctor, merchant and sweep embark, Where. I dreams abotmd in the star-strewn .rfarfe To put day's cares to-flight. Embatkl Embark for an island lay, Rio. Madrid, or far Cathay I y t - follow mar dreams—for dream, they say, within oar sight. . : '—Christine Comber, Sydney.: