mple;
but could the ghost of Hamlet's father ever have defied the poet's
portraiture of him, and walked the platform of Elsinore Castle without
a "sable-silvered" chin? Has an audience ever viewed tolerantly a bald
Romeo, or a Juliet grown gray in learning how to impersonate that
heroine to perfection? It is clear that at a very early date the
players must have acquired the simple arts of altering and amending
their personal appearance in these respects.

The accounts still extant of the revels at court during the reigns of
Elizabeth and James contain many charges for wigs and beards. Thus a
certain John Ogle is paid "for four yeallowe heares for head-attires
for women, twenty-six shillings and eightpence;" and "for a pound of
heare twelvepence." Probably the auburn tresses of Elizabeth had made
blonde wigs fashionable. John Owgle, who is no doubt the same trader,
receives thirteen shillings and fourpence for "eight long white berds
at twenty pence the peece." He has charges also on account of "a black
fyzician's berde," "berds white and black," "heares for palmers,"
"berds for fyshers," &c. It would seem, however, that these adornments
were really made of silk. There is an entry: "John Ogle for curling of
heare made of black silk for Discord's heade (being sixty ounces),
price of his woorkmanshipp thereon only is seven shillings and
eightpence;" and mention is made of a delivery to Mrs. Swegoo the
silk-woman, of "Spanish silke of sundry cullers, weighing four ounces
and three quarters, at two shillings and sixpence the ounce, to
garnishe nine heads and nine scarfes for the nine muses; heads of
heare drest and trimmed at twenty-three shillings and fourpence the
peece, in all nine, ten pounds ten shillings."

The diary or account-book of Philip Henslowe, the manager, supplies
much information concerning the usual appointments of a theatre prior
to the year 1600. In his inventory of dresses and properties, bearing
date 1598, is included a record of "six head tiers," or attires. An
early and entertaining account of the contents of a theatrical
"tiring-room" is to be found in Richard Brome's comedy, "The
Antipodes," first published in 1640. Byeplay says of Peregrine, the
leading comic character:

He has got into our tiring-house amongst us,
And ta'en a strict survey of all our properties,
Our statues and our images of gods,
Our planets and our constellations,
Our giants, monsters, furies, beasts, an