WHY GOWNS HAVE HOODS

Otago Witness, Issue 3823, 21 June 1927, Page 76

WHY GOWNS HAVE HOODS

By

June Carson.

(For the Otago Witness.)

In a few more weeks the usual Capping Ceremony will take place, and a few niore names will be added to the number of those who are permitted to wear cap and gown.

I wonder how many people know why these gowns have hoods attached to them. The story is ancient history, taking us back to the twelfth century, when many people suffered hardship and unjust punishment, through being unable to obtain the services of a lawyer to conduct their suits on account of lack of funds. One day the climax was reached when a man, honest and true, was before the court, charged with theft. He appeared himself, without counsel, but the man who accused him, the actual. thief, used some of the stolen money to engage a lawyer, who spoke so plausibly on his behalf that the innocent man was declared guilty. His friends raised an outcry, and brought the matter to the knowledge of the authorities, and eventually it came to the ears of the sovereign. To overcome this difficulty, which affected so many of his poorer subjects, the king thereupon selected several lawyers of ability and status, and appointed them to the position of “ King’s Counsel”; these men were to appear for any one who requested their aid, and were forbidden to take any payment for their services. This public recognition of their ability, and the honour attaching to the position, should have been sufficient to satisfy them, but many of them were not above taking money ‘ from clients who offered it, and they thereupon had a pocket made in the hoods of their gowns, and into 'this pocket clients thrust whatever sum they could afford, or were prepared to give, as counsel entered the court on their behalf.

These fees were supposed to be a gratuity, but who can doubt that the wheels of eloquence rattled victoriously when oiled in this way. Formerly the gowns themselves were coloured red, but some thren centuries ago, on the death of the king, the court went into mourning, and the red gowns of the barristers were discarded for black ones. Ever since then the court has -remained in mourning, and the picturesque red gowns of former days are seen no more. These black, gowns certainly add to the dignity of the legal chambers, and in these gloomy precincts beauty is seldom looked for or expected. Sometimes these coveted gowns are allowed to suffer from age, and are often worn in a shabby and torn condition. On an outsider asking the reason for this, he was told to remember that the undergrad always had a preference for rags'