VARIATION IN FORM OF ENGLISH SHOES. 453 



subject of shoeing ; although it is probable their efforts 

 to improve it met with little success. 



In England, the form of the shoes in ordinary use 

 would seem to have varied to a notable degree in different 

 parts of the country, and on one occasion this variety gave 

 rise to a remarkable incident connected with the Civil War 

 that broke out about the middle of the century. When 

 Charles II. was making his escape from England in the win- 

 ter of 1649, and got as far as Lynne, he put up at an inn 

 in a village where his attempts at getting away, and his 

 being somewhere in the locality, were well known. ' The 

 passengers who had lodged in the inn that night, had, as 

 soon as they were up, sent for a smith to visit their horses, it 

 being a hard frost. The smith, when he had done what 

 he was sent for, according to the custom of that people, 

 examined the feet of the other two horses (the king s) to 

 find more work. When he had observed them, he told 

 the host of the house, "that one of those horses had 

 traveled far ; and that he was sure that his four shooes had 

 been made in four several counties." Which (says Lord 

 Clarendon), whether his skill was able to discover or no, 

 was very true. The smith going to the sermon (it was 

 Sunday), told this story to some of his neighbours ; and 

 so it came to the ears of the preacher, when his sermon 

 was done.' ' This preacher was a most enthusiastic 

 puritan, and having strongly suspected Charles to be in 

 the neighbourhood, at once gave the alarm ; the king, 

 however, contrived to make a very narrow escape. 



Whether it was in grateful recognition of the acute- 

 ness manifested by this son of Saint Eloy, or a necessity 

 ' Hist, of the Rebellion, vol. iii. p. 330. Oxford, 1702. 



