QUEEN ELIZABETH.

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nation, and maker of purled lacethe other, the before-mentioned“ Callys de Hove, of Burgundy.” 41

Various acts 42 were issued during the reign of Elizabeth inorder to suppress the inordinate use of apparel. That of May1562, 43 though corrected by Cecil himself, less summary than thatframed against the “ whitework ” of the apprentice hoys, was oflittle or no avail.

In 1568, a complaint was made to the queen against the fraudspractised by the “16 appointed waiters,” in reference to the im-portation of haberdashery, &c., by which it appears that hermajesty was a loser of “ 5 or 600?. by yere at least ” in the customson “ parsement, cap rebone bone lace, cheyne lace,” Ac., 44 but withwhat effect w'e know not. The annual import of these articles istherein stated at 10,000?., an enormous increase since the year1559, when, among the “ necessary and unnecessary wares ”brought into the port of London, 46 together with “ babies ” (dolls),“ glasses to looke in,” “ glasses to drinke in,” “pottes,” gingerbread,cabbages, and other matters, we find enumerated, “ Laces of allsortes, 775?. 6s. Sd.,” just one-half less than the more necessary,though less refined, item of “ eles fresh and salt.” 40

1573, Elizabeth again endeavoured to suppress “the silkglittering with silver and gold lace,” but in vain.

The queen was a great lover of foreign novelties. All will callto mind how she overhauled the French finery of poor MaryStuart 47 on its way to her prison, purloining and selecting for herown use any new-fashioned article she craved. We even find Cecil,on the sly, penning a letter to Sir Henry Norris, her Majesty’senvoy to the court of France, “ that the Queen’s 3hije.sty wouldfain have a tailor that has skill to make her apparel both after theFrench and Italian manner, and she thinketh you might use somemeans to obtain such one as suiteth the Queen without mentioning

41 See p. 222, note u . “ The natural-ised French residing in this country areNormans of the district of Caux, a wickedsort of French, worse than all theEnglish,” writes, in 1553, Stephen Por-lin, a French ecclesiastic, in his “ De-scription of England and Scotland."

42 “1559. Oct. 20. Proclamation againstexcess of apparel .'’—State Papers, Dam.Eliz. vol. yii.

15GG. Feb. 12. Ibid. vol. xxxix.

1579. Star Chamber on apparel.

43 “ State Papers, Dom.” Eliz. vol. xxiii.No 8.

44 Ibid. vol. xlvii. No. 49.

45 Ibid. vol. viii. No. 31.

*• The value of thread importedamounts to 13,6711. 13s. id.

47 Wttlsingham writes:—“ In opening acoffer of the Queen of Scots, he found cer-tain heades which so pleased certainladies of his acquaintance, he had takenthe liberty to detain a couple.”