LADIES' GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 1874, 21 October 1887, Page 33

LADIES' GOSSIP.

— Among the many jubilee gifts received by her Majesty, few are more interesting than the engraved signet ring of Henrietta Maria, presented to her by Mr Drury Fortnum, F.S.A., antiquary and connoisseur. That such a ring had been made for the Queen was proved by the. entry in the PrivySeal books of the Clerk of the Pells, now in the Public Record office, where a warrant of Charles I, dated January 16, 1628, orders the payment of £267, to one Francis Walwyn, " for the cutting and finishing of the. arms of England upon a diamond, with the initials of the Queen on either side." Tradition also pointed to the existence of such a signet ring at a later date ; it was believed to have been in the possession of Tavernier, the wellknown French diamond merchant, whose travels in Turkey and Persia are celebrated ; and it was known that a ring of the same description had been in the Earl of Buchan's collection, where it passed for that of Mary Queen of Scots. Copies of it in paste were exfant. At last it occurred to Mr Fortnum to inquire whether it had by chance come into the hands of the late Duke of Brunswick, svhc, as will be remembered, left his wonderful collection of jewels to the town of, Genpva. There, sure enough, he found it ; and after a long correspondence he bought it, and presented it a few weeks ago to Queen Victoria. It is now included in the lloyal collection at Windsor, where it lies side by side with the fine steel and gold signet of King Charles. — A high hat and frock coat used to be the right thing at Goodwood, but this year the Prince of Wales, his sons, and those who are v among their more intimate friends appeared in tweed suits and gray " pot" hats. On the same occasion the Indian visitors, Sir Salar Jung, Sir Per tab Sing, and their suites were attired in all the colours of the rainbow, j their bright costumes being surmounted by turbans or other headgear of the most glaring shades of what appeared to be tarlatan arranged in a multiplicity of folds, An Indian princess, the Maharanee of Cutchbahar, who was also present, had a gown of her native fashion made of the brightest shade of yellow satin, much trimmed with • steel beads, and arranged in loose folds > fastened on one shoulder. Though she had rather an absent manner, she seemed happy and interested, chatting much in English, correctly and with a good accent. — A different and distinct style of dress for evening concerts, the opera, and theatres, 1 , lias been asked for ladies, by a fashion writer in their interest. There is, perhaps, some- • thing in the idea, as a great many ladies , overdo it at present — to their discomfort, and at a great cost by the frequent repetition - of such a style of costuming. A male concert > o,nd theatre regulation costume will, probably, > be the kindred idea. — Marie Antoinette's favourite pearl necklace, consisting of 16 rows of pearls, formerly i belonging to the Crown jewels of Franpe,' is now to be seen in the shop of Berlin's chief j jewellers, Herren Friedeberg v.nd Sophne. ' —It is proposed that the tercentenary o£ Mary Queen of Scots, already commemorated by an exhibition of relics, should be further, marked by the erection of a permanent memorial in Peterborough Cathedral — for ., a while her place of sepulture. It is suggested that subscriptions be invited from (! " everyone who bears the name of Mary." - This seems to be most unfair. The ta* should be levied rather on "everyone \vhp , bears the name of Elizabeth." . — Writing of the Princess of Wales, thp ' , London correspondent of the Philadelphia. Press says :-— " No wonder that this pretty little woman is such a general favpurite. She has tho social tact of Madame de Stael and the grace of Madame do Kecamier, and if she jias not the brain of a Catharine she has the good heart of a Josephine. It is rather an 6dd thing that the Princess of Wales is usually considered to be a tall woman, while in truth she is of less than average stature, but doubtless reaches in the estimation of the English people that height that ' Orlando v > describes as the most desirable for a woman' to attain." — Among the many gifts and tokens of loyalty presented to the Queen on the occasion of her jubilee, the offering made by Iho Homan Catholic convents of jSngr land, (says the Queen) daserves somp 'I notice. It consists of upwards of 700 dozen " articles of clothing, worked by the nuns, for distribution among the ppor, according ; to her Majesty's pleasure. A loyal address, _' beautifully illuminated, accompanipd the offering. The Queen requested Cardinal Manning to direct the distribution pn her' behalf, reserving some tortion fpr ppor Roman Catholics; and his Eminence has. handed the larger portion to the Bishops of London and Rochester, who have undertaken to distribute it amongst the London poor, " reserving the remainder, in accordance with the Queen's desire, for the poor Roman Catholics of Westminister and Southwark. — Many are the advantages misled by the non-cultivation of the left' hand. Occasionally an artisan is seen who is equally able to handle tools with either hand. Such a one has constant advantage over his fellows, not only in the avoidance of fatigue, but in doing nice work and overcoming with ease difficulties that present themselves to those skilled only with one hand. The man who can use a hammer or knife, or a pen, or peform any other feat with the left hand at the same time that the right is busy, will . find frequent occasion to exercise his skill. Another and important reason for training the left hand to act with as great ease and precision as possible, is that if injury occurs to the right hand, the left can exercise readily all the functions possible to one hand unaided. By training the left hand in youth, one would be spared in such a casp from spending much valuable lime in educating muscles hardened by age, arid, unaccustomed to obey the mandates of 'the will. , — Nothing in all the morning of the Jubilee service at Westminster Abbey was more effective and pretty ,(says Truth ) than the entrance of Princess Feodore of BaxeMeiningen, the granddaughter of the Crown Prince of Germany and Queen, Victoria's great-granddaughter—a charming little girl of eight. She entered alone and walked-, up the navl, heralded by two of the Lord Chamberlain's myrmidons, and followed by a lady-iu-waiting, She waa dressed in white with

pink ribbons, and a leghorn hat with a white feather. The demure way in which she stalked up the abbey, bowing and smiling at every step, was inimitable, and it so charmed that assembly that every one rose to do her honour — an unexpected tribute which evidently delighted her. She is a very pretty and most; intelligent looking child, and seemed as if she had stepped out of a picture by Sir Joshua Reynolds. , —The Queen of Italy asked her husband at the beginning of last summer whether he did not think her now too old to continue wearing her favourite summer gowns of white muslin. "That point needs consideration," he remarked, but gave no opinion. Some weeks after the King's chamberlain informed the Queen that he was the bearer of the answer to a question she had asked his Majesty. The " answer " was a huge trunk containing six lovely white muslin gowns from Paris. — A well-known peeress, having lost her temper with her maid, slapped her face, and gave her notice to quit. Notice having expired, the maid drew her wages, saw her boxes on the cab, and went meekly upstairs to do her mistress' hair for the last time. Having deftly bound it to the chair-back, she proceeded to box her mistress' ears to her heart's content, and then curtseyed out of the room and drove away. — It is stated that there are nearly 4000 men and women in Paris who obtain their livelihood by making personal adornments and habiliments for dogs, and that the sum paid for their labours amounts to nearly a quarter of a million sterling a year. The toilet of a fashionable dog varies with its size and breed; but every self-respecting animal must, before he goes out for a walk, >( don his tall doeskin boots to protect his feet from dust and dirt. The dogs of the nobility have their own dressing cases, containing brushes, combs, sponges, and other appliances of the dressing room, as well as outdoor and indoor costumes and adornments. Little smooth-coated terriers are often seen wearing gold bracelets adorned with their their mistress' monograms. Rough-coated terriers often in the house wear collars, into which are let miniature photographs of their fair owners. — The Queen drove into Cowes on the first day of the Cowes Week in an open carriage drawn .by four Jgrdys, and preceded by two outriders. Her Majesty wore a gown of rich black silk, on her shoulders a soft white Indian silk shawl, embroidered in raised white flowers Her bonnet was of white lace, trimmed with feathers and a white osprey, and ornamented with jet. The Duchess of Oonnaught wore a pretty costume of fawncoloured summer serge, the loose - fronted jacket opening over a plastron of silk of a darker shade ; bonnet of coarse rush straw, trimmed with two shades of brown to match the dress. Princess Irene of Hesse, cream Cashmere, small bonnet of cream tulle, cream feathers and aigrette. Her sister, the young Princess Alix, white muslin embroidered frock, high straw hat trimmed with white and pink. — An odd practice prevails in regard to mourning for deceased relatives in Corea. Anyone who has suffered such a loss goes about for a year wearing a kind of pointed basket on his head, which completely hides his face, and no one is permitted to address or speak to him. The Empress of Japan, accompanied by a retinue of 20 persons, will visit the United States in October. She will land at San Francisco, stop at Salt Lake, Omaha, and Chicago, and return, after two months' gojourn, by the Southern Pacific route. —On the morning of a wedding day in Bulgaria the villagers, comprising a troop of young men and women and children, enter the house of the bridegroom, who is placed on a chair in the middle of the apartment, and while he is undergoing the process of shaving, the young women join hands and dance round in a circle, singing the while. He afterwards has his hair cut, when the young women carefully collect from the ground all the fallen locks, and subsequently place them in a box containing the bridal outfit. As soon as the barber has completed his task he receives a small sum of money from each of those present. The bridegroom t len washes his face and kisses the hands of a'l the young women, and proceeds to don h's wedding garments, after they have been Cirefully weighed three time 3by a young lid. On her arrival in New York, en route for her disorganised kingdom and husband, Queen Kapiolani wore over her dark travelling gown one of the curious hi made from the plumage of a certain Hawaiian bird, which lei, or scarf, is exclusively the mark of royalty with her race. As has been frequently mentioned by travellers, these f jathers (about the size of a sixpenny piece, and bright chrome yellow) are plucked from a species of " small pheasant, indigenous to the islands, aud entirely black with the excaption of a single feather under each wing. The species was rare a hundred years ago, and is almost extinct now. King Kalakaua has a long, flowing coronation robe made of these feathers, which has been handed down from king to king since the time of Kamehameha I, for whom it was made. There are over 30,000 feathers in it. How Women Danced. It is only within the past 500 years that women have danced publicly with men. In Italy, however, as early as the thirteenth century promiscuous dancing was tolerated, although the Church sternly condemned the innovation as immodest and unbecoming and it was not at all general. When Henry 111 of France visited Venice, early in the sixteenth century, there was a grand ball given in his honour, to which all the noble ladies in Venice were invited. Nothing could exceed the splendour of their dresses and the iacredible number of enormous pearls which they wore ; but whereas 300 of them danced n the presence of the King, not one of them was assisted by a male partner. However, Sanudo, in that part of his diary in which he gives minute details of the progress of Lucrezia Borgia from Rome to Ferrara on the occasion of her marriage with her fourth husband, informs us that she was particularly fond of dancing the salta and the bosola. Thus he tells us on one occasion : " My Lady Lucrezia, the bride, being dressed in the French style, in crimson satin, striped with fish scales of beaten gold, each stripe being two lingers in breadth, and wearing on

her head a coif of pearls of great price, danced the salta with the French Ambassador until it was time to attend the performance of.lhe 'Miles Gloriosus ' of Plautus. " This salta is the original of our waltz and was first introduced into these islands on the occasion of the marriage of Magdalene de Valois with James "V of Scotland, and gave terrible scandal to the pious folks of Edinburgh. The pretty young Queen died a few years later, and her demise, which was really the result of consumption, was attiibuted to a celestial punishment upon her for the iniquity of having " gyrated in this naughty French dance." The salta was very popular at the court of Henry VIII, and was quite as fashionable then as the waltz, with which it is identical, is at the present time. Possibly it was while dancing a salta or volta, as it was indiscriminately called, that this luxurious monarch fell in love with Anne Boleyn. — Saturday Review.