ad-dresses, the
"shiptire," the "tire valiant," &c., which were commonly worn in these
days of gorgeous finery, and which were rendered still more _outre_
and unnatural by the _dyed_ locks which they surmounted. The custom of
dyeing the hair is of great antiquity, and was very prevalent in the
East. Mohammed dyed his hair red; Abu Bekr his successor did the same,
and it is a custom among the Scenite Arabs even to this day.

The ancients often mixed gold dust in their hair, and the Gauls used
to wash the hair with a liquid which had a tendency to redden it. It
was doubtless in personal compliment to Queen Elizabeth, that all the
fashionables of her day dyed their locks of a hue which is generally
considered the reverse of attraction. Periwigs, which were introduced
into England about 1572, were to be had of _all colours_. It is in
allusion to this absurd fashion that Benedick says of the lady whom he
might chuse to marry:--"Her hair shall be of what colour it please
God."

Men first wore wigs in Charles the Second's time; and these were
gradually increased in size, until they reached the acme of their
magnificence in the reign of William and Mary, when not only men, but
even young lads and children were disguised in enormous wigs. And
though in the reign of Queen Anne this latter custom was not so
common, yet the young men had the want of wigs supplied by artificial
curlings, and dressing of the hair, which was then only performed by
the women.

One Bill preserved amongst the Harl. MSS. runs thus:--

"Next door to the Golden Ball, in St. Bride's Lane, Fleet Street,
Lyveth Lidia Beercraft. Who cutteth and curleth ladies, gentlemen, and
children's hair. She sells a fine pomatum, which is mixed with
ingredients of her own making, that if the hair be never so thin, it
makes it grow thick; and if short, it makes it grow long. If any
gentleman's or children's hair be never so lank, she makes it curle in
a little time, and to look like a periwig."

And this, indeed, the looking like a periwig, seems to have been then
the very _beau ideal_ of all beauty and perfection, for another fair
tonsoress advertises to cut and curl hair after the French fashion,
"after so fine a manner, that _you shall not know it to be their own
hair_."

How applicable to these absurdities are the lines of an amiable censor
of a later day!--

"We have run
Through ev'ry change, that Fancy, at the loom
Exhausted, has