462 



THE NORTHERN FORESTS. 



[Part IX. 



be discerned the origin of the " hangmgs " of which the 

 room-paper of modern times is but a recent imitation. 

 Tlie introduction of tapestry was one of the refinements 

 which followed the return of the Crusaders (a fact mdi- 

 cated by the term tapis Sarrazinois ^), and in Europe, as 

 in India, its first use was to conceal the rude earth-work 

 and stones which formed the walls of every apartment ; 

 and to impart unusual splendour on the occasion of 

 festivities or royal receptions.^ 



Two circumstances serve to estabhsli the identity of 

 practice in the western hemisphere with that which still 

 prevails in the East ; the painted and embroidered 

 pieces wliich in Eiu-ope adorned the walls upon occa- 

 sions of ceremony were not exclusively appropriated 

 to that purpose, but, hke the TrsTrXog of the Greeks, were 

 worn as shawls by their wealthy proprietors, just as 

 the cloths wliich the Singhalese and Tamils suspend in 

 honour of then* guests, and spread upon the foot-paths 

 to receive them, form portions of the ordinary apparel 

 of tlieh owners, ^schylus represents Agamemnon as 

 rejecting the " garments " s'/jotara, that Clytemnestra 

 ]iad directed to be spread on his path to welcome lihn 

 on liis return from Troy.^ Plutarch mentions that 

 w^heii Cato left the Macedonian army, the soldiers 

 laid down their cloths for him to walk on ; and the 

 more solemn illustration will suggest itself of the mul- 

 titude, who " spread their garments on the way " to 

 welcome the Saviour to Jerusalem. The other point 

 of similarity is that in Europe, as in Ceylon, these 

 highly prized articles were not fixtures on the walls ^, 



^ JTJBrNAL, Recherches sur V usage 

 des Tapisseries, »§e., p. 16. 



2 " Non seulement elles servirent 

 alors pour tenclre les appartemeiis et 

 faire disparaitre leiir nudite, mais on 

 les employa surtout daus les occa- 

 sions solenuelles ; par exemple, aux 

 entrees des princes, a donner line 

 physionomie joyeuse aux villes et 

 aux places publiques." — Ibid., p. 20. 



3 .'EscuYLTJS, Ar/am.j V. 896. 



^ In the Transactimis of the Kil- 

 kenny ArcJueolo(jical Societi/ are 

 documents showing that the tapes- 

 tries belonging to the Ormonde 

 family were carried from house to 

 house as the earls removed fi-om 

 one of their residences to another. 

 Vol. ii. p. 8. 



