Jonathan Edwards, 2nd.
Soon nearly every parson in England and every colony wore wigs. John Wesley alone wore what seems to be his own white hair curled under softly at the ends. Whitfield is in a portentous wig like the one on Dr. Marsh [(here]).
In the time of Queen Anne, wigs had multiplied vastly in variety as they had increased in size. I have been asked the difference between a peruke and a wig. Of course both, and the periwig, are simply wigs; but the term “peruke” is in general applied to a formal, richly curled wig; and the word “periwig” also conveys the distinction of a formal wig. Of less dignity were riding-wigs, nightcap wigs, and bag-wigs. Bag-wigs are said to have had their origin among French servants, who tied up their hair in a black leather bag as a speedy way of dressing it, and to keep it out of the way when at other and disordering duties.
Patrick Henry.
In May, 1706, the English, led by Marlborough, gained a great victory on the battle-field of Ramillies, and that gave the title to a new wig described as “having a long, gradually diminishing, plaited tail, called the ‘Ramillie-tail,’ which was tied with a great bow at the top and a smaller one at the bottom.” The hair also bushed out at both sides of the face. The Ramillies wig shown in Hogarth’s Modern Midnight Conversation hanging against the wall, is reproduced [here]. This wig was not at first deemed full-dress. Queen Anne was deeply offended because Lord Bolingbroke, summoned hurriedly to her, appeared in a Ramillies wig instead of a full-bottomed peruke. The queen remarked that she supposed next time Lord Bolingbroke would come in his nightcap. It was the same offending nobleman who brought in the fashion of the mean little tie-wigs.
It is stated in Read’s Weekly Journal of May 1, 1736, in an account of the marriage of the Prince of Wales, that the officers of the Horse and Foot Guards wore Ramillies periwigs when on parade, by his Majesty’s order. We meet in the reign of George II other forms of wigs and other titles; the most popular was the pigtail wig. The pigtail of this was worn hanging down the back or tied up in a knot behind. This pigtail wig, worn for so many years, is shown [here]. It was popular in the army for sixty years, but in 1804 orders were given for the pigtail to be reduced to seven inches in length, and finally, in 1808, to be cut off wholly, to the deep mourning of disciplinarians who deemed a soldier without a pigtail as hopeless as a Manx cat.