came mixed with plates of steel, arranged to protect different parts of the body and limbs. These plates, during the reigns of Edward the Third and Richard the Second, gradually encroached on the Chain Mail, until in the time of Henry the Fourth, at the commencement of the 15th Century, the Chain Mail was superseded.

The third period commences with the beginning of the 15th Century, and only terminates with the discontinuance of the use of Armour.

Having rapidly glanced at the various fashions distinguishing the dif ferent reigns, which were illustrated by numerous sketches and engravings, Mr. Pidgeon proceeded to the more immediate object of his remarks, the illustration of the figure of St. George, of which the etching is a copy, on a scale a little less than half the dimensions of the original, which measures fourteen and a-half inches by nine inches.

St. George is habited in complete plate Armour. His helmet is of the kind called the Bascinet a baviere, or beavored bascinet. The bascinet was originally a conical cap of steel, to which afterwards was added a visor, or moveable protection for the face, having slits or apertures for sight and breathing. About the reign of Henry the Fifth, the bascinet became turned up behind, and gradually came to resemble the salet or sallade (German Schale, shell) a German headpiece introduced into England in the time of Henry the Sixth. At the top of the cone, is fixed a pipe, into which are inserted three feathers; not a crest, but merely decorative. The feather, as a decoration has led to much controversy. Though they are seen in barrelled helmets on a painting of the reign of Edward the First, Meyrick was the first to call attention to their general introduction in Henry the Fifth's reign. The peculiar arrangement seen in this figure is called the Panache, and is distinguished from the plume, which was fastened at the side or back of the helmet.

This visored Bascinet was the war helmet, and it is therefore quite proper to see it on a figure engaged in so serious an encounter. Compared with the bascinet of Louis duc de Bourbon, the Bourbon of Shakspeare's Henry the Fifth, there is little difference discernible, and were it not for the introduction of the tuille on the St. George, I should have placed the figure in Henry the Fifth's reign.

The Armour of this figure is generally plain. A globular breast-plate is seen over the hausse col, or gorget; below are the taces, or tassets, so called from covering the pocket, and below the taces, and fastened to them, (though the straps and buckle are not seen in this figure) are the tuilles, or flaps, which were introduced soon after the commencement of Henry the Sixth's reign.

The breast-plate is of two pieces, the under plate terminating in a line with the collar bone, the outer plate coming to a point at the pit of the neck. The taces or an apron of mail appear below the tuilles, and the figure admirably shews the purpose for which these flaps were invented, to fill up and protect the parts exposed between the high back and front parts of the saddle.

The saddle very much resembles that suspended over the tomb of Henry the Fifth which is popularly, and perhaps with justice, said to be the saddle in which the hero of Agincourt was borne through that glorious day.

The sword is broad at the base, and gradually tapers to the point, and in its general shape resembles that in the hand of Henry the Fifth, as seen on his great seal. A section of the sword gives an acute lozenge, a form common till the time of Edward the Fourth, when they were made nearly flat.

Unfortunately the figure bears no shield, often one of the best points of identification in ancient figures.

The horse is not at all armed-the bridle is ornamented, and the tail is tied nearly in the middle.

The consideration of the various points I have noticed, induces me to fix the date of this figure in the early part of Henry the Sixth's reign, and a reference to the crowns will rather strengthen this idea. A very similar crown appears on each side of the figure of Henry the Sixth, on his great Seal; one surmounts the shield containing the arms of France; (the 3 lilies, recently changed by Henry the Fifth, in imitation of Charles the Sixth of France,) the other surmounting France and England quarterly.

1.-ON ANCIENT SHOES, AS USED IN THIS AND OTHER PARTS OF THE

COUNTRY.

By J. Mayer, Esq., Hon. Curator.

66

In the few remarks which I propose to make on Ancient Shoes, it is not my intention to refer to the many mentions of Shoes made in the Scriptures, and of their early use in the countries of which the Sacred writings treat, as I presume their importance is well known to you. I shall merely state that they exist at the present day in the neighbouring Isle of Man, in the same form in which they were used by the most ancient people of whom we have any correct pictorial representations. In that Island there is a custom in observance at the present day, on the hiring of a farm servant, which has special reference to the subject we have under consideration. One of the clauses in the agreement, says, that the master shall give his servant three pairs of Shoes every year, of sufficient strength to enable him to perform his work in a proper and efficient manner," and in order to do so, the master provides the hide of a newly slain cow, and the servant placing his naked foot on the most substantial part of it, cuts from the hide pieces sufficiently large to allow him space enough to wrap them over his toes and instep, up the sides and around the heel, that, with the aid of two narrow slips or thongs of the same hide, he may make them into Shoes called Karranes. This is accomplished in the following manner. He first cuts holes at the corners of the piece of hide nearest the toes, and passing the thong through, pulls them together; then crossing it over the instep, he puts the ends through two holes cut on the sides of the foot, and again crossing, passes the opposite ends into slits on the side of the heel, and bringing them again to the top of the instep, draws the whole tight round the foot. Being thus formed into a sort of bag, he fastens them by tying,-sometimes as in the pair before us they are sewn up in front and at the heel.