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mountains; those of Mr. Green's are veritable mountains; he says that he knows their anatomy and he is undoubtedly right. He has etched sixty large plates, which form as many excellent studies, viz., he etches only the outlines, in the manner of crayon, and washes them afterwards in Indian ink. He sells the outlines at 5s. each, or £1. IIS. 6d. finished in Indian ink.”

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THE MOUSTACHE IN EARLY IRISH

SCULPTURE.

BY HENRY COLLEY MARCH, M.D., F.S.A.

G

IRALDUS CAMBRENSIS, though of Norman descent, was born, as his designation indicates, in Wales. In 1185 he went to Ireland with Prince John in the capacity of secretary. As he has given a trustworthy account of the habits of Irishmen, he enables us to see their barbaric wealth and splendour, and shows us how conservative they were both by heredity and by environment.

"Gold," he says, "which the people require in large quantities, is brought here by merchants who traverse the ocean for the purposes of commerce." In earlier days the demand of the Irish for that metal was doubtless supplied by their own country; but when the auriferous deposits of the streams of Wicklow and Wexford were well nigh exhausted, gold was imported from abroad. It has been ascertained that the total weight of prehistoric gold objects in the museum of the Royal Irish Academy amounts to about five hundred and seventy ounces, whereas the weight of prehistoric gold in the British Museum, from England,

Wales, and Scotland, amounts altogether to only twenty ounces (Jour. R.S. Antiq. of Ireland, v. 23).

"The greatest delight of the Irish," says Giraldus, "is to be exempt from toil; their richest possession is the enjoyment of liberty. Thus they are truly barbarous, being so not only in their dress but in allowing their hair and beards to grow enormously in an uncouth manner, just like the modern fashion recently introduced." He refers to the method that came into vogue in the reign of Henry I. "This people," he continues "so remote from the rest of the world, learn nothing and practise nothing but the barbarism in which they are born and bred, and which clings to them like a second nature."

Pure races, however, do not readily change their manner of wearing the hair. In describing national peculiarities Tacitus thought it well to mention of the Suevi that they twist their hair back and fasten it in a knot at the top of the head (Germ., xxxviii.), and of the Chatti that they let the hair and beard grow until they have slain a foe, when they begin to shave (ibid, xxxi.).

It is when races are mingling that fashion changes; Tacitus, with his usual acuteness, noticed the fact, and in speaking of the custom of the Suevi observes that with other tribes, either from some kinship with the Suevic race, or, as often happens, from imitation, the practice is a rarer one, and is restricted to youth" (ibid, xxxviii.). We should have known more of Irish customs if a Tacitus instead of a Giraldus had been Prince John's secretary.

How is the hirsute face represented in mediæval Christian art? On the greater number of ivory tablets of the Carlovingian period the same subjects are carved,

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