‘294
HISTORY OF LACE.
extravagance of the French court (see Fig. GO, page 121).Mr. Brooks, in his speech in the House of Commons against costlyapparel (18 Janies I.), says, “ Nowadays, the roses worn by Membersof the House on their shoes are more than their fathers’ apparel.”Peacham speaks of “ shoe ties, that goe under the name of roses,from thirty shillings to three, four, and five pounds the pair. Yea,a gallant of the time, not long since, paid thirty pounds for a pair.” 66Well might Taylor say they
“ Wear a farm in shoe-strings edged with gold,
And spangled garters wortli a copyhold.”
It was not till the year 1635 that an effort was made for theprotection of our home manufactures, “ at the request and for thebenefit of the makers of those goods in and near London, andother parts of the realm, now brought to great want and necessity,occasioned by the excessive importation of these foreign wares.”Foreign “ Purles, Outworks, or Bone-laces, or any commoditieslaced or edged therewith,” are strictly prohibited. Orders arealso given that “ all purles, cutworks, and bone laces English madeare to be taken to a house near the sign of the ‘ Bed Hart,’ inFore Street, without Cripplegate, and there sealed by ThomasSmith or his deputy.” 67
An act the same year prohibits the. use of “ gold or silverpurles” except manufactured in foreign parts, and especiallyforbids the melting down any coin of the realm.
The manufacture of bone lace in Englaud had now muchimproved, and was held in high estimation in France. We hearof Henrietta Maria sending ribbons, lace, and other fashions fromEngland, in 1636, as a present to her sister-in-law, Anne ofAustria; 68 while, in a letter dated 7th February 1630, theCountess of Leicester writes to her husband, then in France, who
66 W. Peacham, “Truth of the Times,”1638.
Hamlet says there are
“ Two Provencal roses on my regalshoes.”
“ When roses in tho gardens grow,And not in ribbons on a shoe:
Now ribbon-roses take such place,That garden roses want their grace.”Friar Bacon's Frophesie, 1604.
“ I like,” says Evelyn, “ the bouclebetter than the formal rose.”— Tyrannus,or the Mode.
67 This proclamation is dated from“ our Honour of Hampton Court, 30thApril, 1635 .”—Itymers Feedera, t. sis.p. 690.
68 When Anne of Austria was suspectedof secret correspondence with Spain andEngland, Richelieu sent the chancellorto question the Abbessof the Val-de-Gr&ccwith respect to the casket which had been