At the Sign of the Barbers Pole | Page 4

broad pendent like a spade, to be
amorous as a lover or terrible as a warrior and soldado; whether he will
have his crates cut low like a juniper bush, or his subercles taken away
with a razor; if it be his pleasure to have his appendices primed, or his
moustachios fostered to turn about his ears like vine tendrils, fierce and
curling, or cut down to the lip with the Italian lash?--and with every
question a snip of the scissors and a bow." If a poor man entered the
shop he was polled for twopence, and was soon trimmed around like a
cheese, and dismissed with scarce a "God speed you."
The Puritans looked askance at the fashions introduced by the barbers.
No wonder when the talk in the shop was about the French cut, the
Spanish cut, the Dutch and the Italian mode; the bravado fashion, and
the mean style. In addition to these were the gentleman's cut, the
common cut, the Court cut, and county cut. "And," wrote Stubbes with
indignation, "they have other kinds of cuts innumerable, and, therefore,
when you come to be trimmed they will ask you whether you will be

cut to look terrible to your enemy, or amiable to your friend; grim and
stern in countenance, or pleasant and demure; for they have diverse
kinds of cuts for all these purposes, or else they lie! Then when they
have done all their feats, it is a world to consider how their
mowchatows must be preserved and laid out from one cheek to another;
yea, almost from one ear to another, and turned up like two horns
towards the forehead. Besides that, when they come to the cutting of
the hair, what tricking and trimming, what rubbing, what scratching,
what combing and clawing, what trickling and toying, and all to tawe
out money, you may be sure. And when they come to washing--oh,
how gingerly they behave themselves therein! For then shall your
mouth be bossed with the lather or foam that riseth of the balls (for they
have their sweet balls wherewith they use to wash), your eyes closed
must be anointed therewith also. Then snap go the fingers full bravely,
God wot. Thus this tragedy ended, comes the warm clothes to wipe and
dry him withall; next the ears must be picked, and closed together again,
artificially, forsooth! The hair of the nostrils cut away, and everything
done in order, comely to behold. The last action in the tragedy is the
payment of money; and lest these cunning barbers might seem
unconscionable in asking much for their pains, they are of such a
shameful modesty as they will ask nothing at all, but, standing to the
courtesy and liberality of the giver, they will receive all that comes,
how much soever it be, not giving any again, I warrant you; for take a
barber with that fault, and strike off his head. No, no; such fellows are
rarae aves in terris, nigrisque simillimæ cygnis--rare birds on the earth,
and as scarce as black swans. You shall have also your fragrant waters
for your face, wherewith you shall be all besprinkled; your musick
again, and pleasant harmony shall sound in your ears, and all to tickle
the same with rare delight, and in the end your cloak shall be brushed,
and 'God be with you, gentlemen!'"
John Gay issued in 1727 the first series of his "Fables," and in the one
entitled "The Goat Without a Beard" we get a description of the
barber's shop of the period:--
"His pole, with pewter basins hung, Black, rotten teeth in order strung,
Rang'd cups that in the window stood, Lin'd with red rags, to look like

blood, Did well his threefold trade explain, Who shav'd, drew teeth,
and breath'd a vein."
The wooden chair is next referred to, and then it is stated:--
"Mouth, nose, and cheeks, the lather hides: Light, smooth, and swift,
the razor glides."
Old barbers' shops had their regulations in poetry and prose. Forfeits
used to be enforced for breaches of conduct as laid down in laws which
were exhibited in a conspicuous manner, and might be read while the
customer was awaiting his turn for attention at the hands of the knight
of the razor. Forfeits had to be paid for such offences as the
following:--
For handling the razors, For talking of cutting throats, For calling
hair-powder flour, For meddling with anything on the shop-board.
Shakespeare alludes to this custom in "Measure for Measure," Act v. sc.
1, as follows:--
"The strong statutes Stand like the forfeits in a barber's shop, As much
in mock as mark."
[Illustration: William Shakespeare (the Stratford Portrait).]
Half a century ago there was hanging a code of laws in a barber's shop
in Stratford-on-Avon,