It is the exquisite intimation of the lively character of the inward spirit, shown in the active movements of the feet, which Sir John Suckling has imitated in his ballad of the Wedding:—
“Her feet beneath her petticoat
Like little mice stole in and out,
As if they feared the light;
But oh, she dances such a way,
No sun upon an Easter day
Is half so fine a sight!”
Very beautiful also is the following, from one of our old poets. The words are given entire, in Wilson’s “Cheerful Ayres for three Voices.” Who could do any harm to so beautiful a part of the human frame?
“Doe not feare to put thy feet
Naked in the river sweet;
Think not newt, nor leech, nor toade,
Will bite thy foot where thou hast trode.”
These pretty allusions to pretty feet might be multiplied to a great extent; they will, however, suffice to show the homage paid by all true poets to these useful and beautiful members.
I come now to the more practical part of the subject, and will, to the best of my ability, say a few words to the ladies respecting boots and shoes of the present day. I am of opinion that the best coverings for the feet are boots; not only do they look neat and tidy, but the general and gradual support they give all over the feet and ankles induces strength and gives tone to the veins and muscles. Shoes, on the contrary, and especially long-quartered ones, require a great effort from the muscles to be kept on, and this, when long applied, tires and weakens. The lace and button boots usually worn need not be described; they are very good and suitable to most feet, and, if cut well and lasted properly, generally give comfort and satisfaction. The trouble, however, of lacing and unlacing, the tag coming off, the button breaking, or the shank hurting, the holes soon wearing out, and many other little annoyances, have all been experienced as bores by thousands who have worn that kind of boot.
About ten years since I first thought of an elastic boot, that might possibly remedy in a great measure all these minor evils, and combine many advantages never possessed by any former boot. I am not, however, sure that an elastic boot was not known at a very early period in England.
The following passage from Chaucer seems to favor the idea:—
“Of shoon and boot’es new and faire,
Look at least thou have a paire,
And that they fit so fetously,[2]
That these rude men may utterly
Marvel, sith they sit so plain,
How they come on and off again.”
What this boot could have been, we are now at a loss to know, and unfortunately the paintings and sculptures of antiquity, are not sufficiently clear in these little matters of texture and material, to gain any information: no such boot has, however, been known in our time, or many centuries before.