"Feeble. A woman's tailor, sir.
"Shallow. Shall I prick him, sir?
"Falstaff. You may; but if he had been a man's tailor he would have pricked you—Wilt thou make as many holes in an enemy's battle, as thou hast done in a woman's petticoat?
"Feeble. I will do my good will, sir; you can have no more.
"Falstaff. Well said, good woman's tailor! well said, courageous Feeble! Thou wilt be as valiant as the wrathful dove, or most magnanimous mouse—Prick the woman's tailor well, Master Shallow; deep, Master Shallow."
V
THE KIRTLE OR PETTICOAT
The kirtle or petticoat is in reality a development of the tunic. It is the tunic which has become a closely fitting bodice, with long draperies, more or less formal, attached. The names of the different portions of dress have at different periods varied almost indefinitely. The first item of the habit of the Order of the Garter is successively described as tunic, coat, surcoat, and kirtle.
The kirtle, therefore, takes up the story of costume from the time when the loose tunic gave place to a more formal attire—broadly speaking, from the Norman Conquest.