Notes and Queries | Page 5

of _The Doctor, &c._ that the story of Dr. Daniel Dove and his horse was one well known in Southey's domestic circle.
A letter is there quoted from Mrs. Southey (then Miss Caroline Bowles), in which she says:--
"There is a story of Dr. D.D. of D. and of his horse Nobs, which has I believe been made into a Hawker's Book. Coleridge used to tell it, and the humour lay in making it as long-winded as possible; it suited, however, my long-windedness better than his, and I was frequently called upon for it by those who enjoyed it, and sometimes I volunteered it, when Coleridge protested against its being told."
While upon the subject of The Doctor, may I direct your attention to the following passage on p. 269. of the one volume edition, which you will admit in many respects accurately describes your "NOTES AND QUERIES"?
"Our Doctor flourished in the golden age of magazines, when their pages were filled with voluntary contributions from men who never aimed at dazzling the public, but each came with his scrap of information or his humble question, or his hard problem, or his attempt in verse.
"In those days A was an antiquary, and wrote articles upon altars and abbeys, and architecture. B made a blunder, which C corrected. D demonstrated that E was in error, and that F was wrong in philology, and neither philosopher nor physician, though he affected to be both. G was a genealogist. H was an herald who helped him. I was an inquisitive inquirer who found reason for suspecting J to be a Jesuit. M was a mathematician. N noted the weather. O observed the stars. P was a poet who peddled in pastorals, {317} and prayed Mr. Urban to print them. Q came in the corner of the page with his query. R arrogated to himself the right of reprehending every one who differed from him. S sighed and sued in song. T told an old tale, and when he was wrong, U used to set him right. V was a virtuoso. W warred against Warburton. X excelled in algebra. Y yearned for immortality in rhyme, and Z in his zeal was always in a puzzle."
Surely, Sir, you have revived the Golden Age of magazines, and long may you flourish.
Q.D.
* * * * *
THE USE OF BEAVER HATS IN ENGLAND.
The notice from Fairholt's Costume in England, concerning the earliest use of a beaver hat in England, is not very satisfactory. Beaver hats were certainly used in this country long before Stubbes's time. They were originally, like many other articles of dress, manufactured abroad, and imported here. Indeed, this was a great source of complaint by the English artizan until a comparatively late period. The author of A Brief Discourse of English Poesy, n.d. (temp. Eliz.) says:--
"I merveil no man taketh heed to it, what number of trifles come hither from beyond the seas, that we might clean spare, or else make them within our realme. For the which we either pay inestimable treasure every year, or else exchange substantial wares and necessaries for them, for the which we might receive great treasure."
"The beaver or felt hats (says J.H. Burn, in his interesting History of the Foreign Refugees, p. 257.) worn in the reign of Edward III., and for a long time afterwards, were made in Flanders. The refugees in Norfolk introduced the manufacture of felts and thrummed hats into that country; and by a statute of 5 and 6 Edward VI., that trade was confined to Norwich, and all other corporate and market towns in the country."
"About that time (says a History of Trade, published in 1702) we suffered a great herd of French tradesmen to come in, and particularly hat-makers, who brought with them the fashion of making a slight, coarse, mean commodity, viz. felt hats, now called _Carolinas_; a very inferior article to beavers and demicastors, the former of which then sold at from 24s. to 48s. a piece."
In the _Privy-Purse Expenses of Henry VIII._, we read, under the date 1532:--
"Item the xxiij day [October] paied for a hatte and a plume for the King in Boleyn [_i.e._ Boulogue] ... xvs."
And again--
"Item the same day paied for the garnisshing of ij bonetts, and for the said hatte ... xxiijs. iiijd."
These entries are curious, as the purchase of the hat was made in a foreign country. It was probably something that took the King's fancy, as we can hardly suppose that his majesty had neglected to provide himself with this necessary appendage before he left England.
Several interesting notices concerning hats, and apparel generally, may be seen in Roger Ascham's Schoolmaster, 1570, which I do not remember to have seen quoted; but the literature of this period abounds in illustration of costume which has been but imperfectly gleaned.
EDWARD F.