The Dress of Mourning.

Otago Witness, Issue 1862, 29 July 1887, Page 33

The Dress of Mourning.

Note how little real importance can be attached to black as a colour far mourning. In many parts of England it is oustomary to wear white silk hat bands for young girls, and in our own oountry white ribbon is hung at the handle of the street door to signify the death of a ohild or young unmarried woman, Violet is the mourning colour of Turkey, and was also used by the kings of Franco, and at one time by the English sovereign, It is notioeable that all these colours are used emblematically. Egypt and Burmah take yellow, in allusion to the fall and decay of the " sear and yellow leaf ; " and the Persians mourn in pale brown, the colour of withered leaves. Some Asiatic nations, notably the Syrians and Armenians, by their sky-blue garments, express the hope that the deceased has gone to heaven. Grief was always expressed in other ways than by wearing mourning, The Jews, who sometimes protracted their mourning to 30 days, tore their clothes, smote their breasts, abstained from washing and anointing themselves, and cut off the hair and beard. The ancient Greeks also out off their hair and beards, while the Persians shaved not only themselves but their horses and mules. So late as the time of Charles I many of the Royalists, after his execution, as a sign of mourning allowed their beards to grow without being cut for the remainder of their lives.