COMBS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1290, 19 November 1896, Page 16

COMBS.

On an unknown day very early in the world's history it must have occurred to some prehistoric i\arcissu3, as he contemplated his not too attractive physiognomy in the clear water of a pellucid brook or well—the most ancient of mirrors—that the tangled masses of hair which covered his head, and fell thickly>npon his shoulders, were susceptible of some improvement in the way of orderly | arrangement. The reflection would suggest [ action ; and our prehistoric friend would doubtless discover, instinctively, that the ; passage of the fingers through his matted i locks—difficult and painful as the operation may have been—was the initial step towards the attainment of a more orderly chevclurc. This was the first stage in the history of the comb; for, as fingers were made before forks, so the same useful members just as surely preceded combs. The next step was 1 easy. It must soon have occurred to the : least intellectual of our earliest ancestors 1 that an artificial implement, however rude in construction, might easily be made which { would do the work of disentanglement more i effectually than thick or clumsy fingers. * And so, at some unknown but very early ' date in the history of the world, the first ( - comb made its appearance, carrying with t and within it the “promise and potency of a world of toilet appliances, of which, n assuredly, the untutored savage who first c learned to comb his objectionable locks d never dreamed. h

Combs are found among the relics of the earliest forms of civilisation. In the British Museum, for instance, may be seen combs, with hair-pins, mirrors, and other toilet articles, which were used in world-old Egypt thousands of years ago ; and earlier than the wonderful civilisation of the land of the Nile it is hardly possible to go—at least with any attempt at historical precision. Leaving these twilight regions of extreme antiquity, however, and coming to more distinctly historic times, combs are found to have been used by most European nations, whether civilised or the reverse. Ancient Roman combs were made of boxwood, or of ivory, or of still more precious materials ; and similar articles have been disinterred from the houses of long-buried Pompeii.

The more barbarous races of northern Europe were equally familiar with these aids to the toilet. The old chronicle history of Ely tells us that our Danish invaders, following the custom of their country, “ used to comb their hair every day, bathed every Saturday, often changed their clothes, and used many other such frivolous means of setting off the beauty of their persons.” These Danish dandies—in whom, however, dandyism did not beget effeminacy—left many traces of their presence in the eastern counties of England. Sir Thomas Browne, of “ Urn-Burial ” celebrity, records that in 1858, between forty and fifty urns were dug up in a field at Walsingham, in Norfolk. Many of these receptacles contained bones—skulls, ribs, jaws, thigh bones, teeth, &c.— besides small combs, brazen nippers, and other implements. “Now,” continues Sir Thomas, “ that they accustomed to burn or bury with them things wherein they excelled, delighted, or which were dear UDto them, either as farewells unto all pleasure, or vain apprehension that they might use them in the other world, is testified by all antiquity.” It cannot be positively stated that these urn relics at Walsingham belonged to the Danish invaders, who so largely' settled in East Anglia, and influenced East Anglian life and speech for centuries ; but it is at least certain that the urns and their contents were of pagan origin. Combs that have been discovered in certain other buryingplaces are just as clearly connected with early Christian sentiment. When tin: grave of Bt. C’uLhbi-rt, in Durham Cathedra!, was opened ia log?, there was J’ouud reposing upon the breast of the prelate a plain Saxon comb, made of ivory, and measuring in length by 4Hn in width. This may now be seen by any visitor to the cathedral. Similar relics have been found in other sepulchres in the same sacred building. More than one reason has been suggested for this burial of a comb with dignitaries of the Christian church ; but there can be little doubt that it was in some way associated with certain liturgical uses of the same article. Full information as to these uses of the comb may be found in various ecclesiastical writers. It will be sufficient here to say that it appears from several ancient rituals that the hair of the priest who was to celebrate mass was combed, before celebration, bv the deacon, not only in the vestry or sacristy, but, according to at least one fourteenth century ritual, several times during the service. Many of these ecclesiastical combs were of considerable value. At Sens Cathedral there is still preserved a large ivory comb, adorned with precious stories, and carved with figures of animals. From an incised inscription, it is supposed that this relic dates from the sixth century. Henry Ilf. presented Canterbury with a comb, set with precious stones. Henry VIII. carried off from Glastonbury, together with other plunder, a golden comb, “ gar-

nished with small turquases and other coarse stones,” and weighing altogether more than eight ounces. Dugdale, in his “ History of St. Paul’s.” gives an inventory of the precious contents of the treasury of the old London Cathedral. And among rich vestments, jewelled crosses, and reliquaries, invaluable manuscripts, and service books, and many other things of worth, now nearly all perished, there are entered several ivory combs. At the present time the comb has no ecclesiastical associations, save in the consecration of a Catholic bishop, when an ivory comb is directed to be used in arranging the newly consecrated prelate’s hair, after his head has been anointed with oil and dried with bread.

With regard to modern secular uses of the comb there is little to be said. One or two points only are worth noting in connection therewith. In the seventeenth century, and perhaps a little later, it seems to have been not unusual to use leaden combs for the purpose of darkening the natural colour of the hair. A French writer of “ Philosophical Conferences” —an English version of which appeared in folio in 10(15—says that “at Ragusa, they black the hair with litharge, black-lead, or with leaden combs.” This folly was not confined to southern Europe. Swift, in his “ Journal cf a Modern Lady,” writes :

Iris, for scandal most notorious, Cries, “ Lend, the world ;s so censorious,” And Rufa, wiih 1 e:- combs of lead, ’Whispers that Sappho's hair is red. A like use of “ ccm'bs of lead” has not been | unknown in much more recent times. [ When the wearing of wigs came into ' fashion, combs of special design had to be made for the keeping of the new head-gear . in an orderly condition. The instrument case of a hairdresser of Restoration times is described as containing a set of horn combs with wide teeth —“ for the combing and readying (dressing) of long, thick, and stouy heads of hair, and such like perriwigs ” “ Stony heads of hair” is good. Beard and other combs were also to be found in the same box of implements. About the close of the seventeenth century the wearers of wigs were accustomed themselves to comb those adornments in public. The beaux carried in their pockets large combs of ivory or tortoiseshell; and to pass these through their wigs, when walking in the Mall, or when at Court, or in the boxes or on the stage of the theatre, was regarded as an act of gallantry. Your true gallant combed his wig almost as assiduously as he took snuff. Butler, in one of his pungently written “Characters/

describing a “Modish Man,” says that this hero, when at the play, “mounts his bench between the acts, pulls off his peruque, and keeps time with his comb and motion of his person exactly t > the music.” Such a pro. ceeding seems tc us ridiculous and disgusting enough; but the performance was quite in keeping with the manners of the age.