DEVELOPMENT IN DRESS. 43 



the eighteenth century, this hat was varied by the omission of the 

 plume, and by giving of the brim various " cocks." That these " cocks " 

 were formerly merely temporary is shown by Hogarth's picture of 

 Hudibras beating Sidrophel and his man Whacum, where there is a 

 hat, the brim of which is buttoned up in front to the crown with three 

 buttons. This would be a hat of the seventeenth century. After- 

 ward, during the eighteenth century, the brim was beut up in two or 

 three places, and, notwithstanding that these " cocks " became perma- 

 nent, yet the hats still retained the marks of their origin in the button 

 and strap on the right side. The cockade, I imagine, took its name 

 from its being a badge worn on one of the " cocks." 



The modern cocked-hat, apparently of such an anomalous shape, 

 proves, on examination, to be merely a hat of the shape above referred 

 to ; it appears further that the right side was bent up at an earlier 

 date than the left, for the hat is not symmetrical, and the " cock " on 

 the right side forms a straight crease in the (quondam) brim, and that 

 on the left is bent rather over the crown, thus making the right side 

 of the hat rather straighter than the left. The hat-band here remains 

 in the shape of two gold tassels, which are just visible within the two 

 points of the cocked-hat. 



A bishop's hat shows the transition from the three-cocked hat to 

 our present chimney-pot ; and because sixty years ago beaver-fur was 

 the fashionable material for hats, we must now needs wear a silken 

 imitation, which could deceive no one into thinking it fur, and which 

 is bad to resist the effects of weather. Even in a lady's bonnet the 

 elements of brim, crown, and hat-band, may be traced. 



The " busby " of our hussars affords a curious instance of survival. 

 It would now appear to be merely a fancy head-dress, but on inspec- 

 tion it proves not to be so. The hussar was originally a Hungarian 

 soldier, and he brought his hat with him to our country. I found the 

 clew to the meaning of the hat in a picture of a Hungarian peasant. 

 He wore a red nightcap, something like that worn by our brewers' 

 men, or by a Sicilian peasant, but the cap was edged with so broad a 

 band of fur that it made in fact a low "busby." And now in our 

 hussars the fur has grown enormously, and the bag has dwindled into 

 a flapping ornament, which may be detached at pleasure. Lastly, in the 

 new "busby" of the Royal Engineers the bag has vanished, although 

 the top of the cap (which is made of cloth and not of fur) is still blue, 

 as was the bag formerly ; the top cannot, however, be seen, except 

 from a bird's-eye point of view. 



It appears that all cockades and plumes are worn on the left side 

 of the hat, and this may, I think, be explained by the fact that a large 

 plume, such as that worn in the time of Charles II., or that of the 

 modern Italian Bersaglieri, would impede the free use of the sword ; 

 and this same explanation would also serve to show how it was that 

 the right side of the hat was the first to receive a " cock." A London 



