Elizabeth of Woodville is represented on the previous page in a close, slightly-pointed coif made of a trellis of ribbon and jewelled above the cap of black, the filmy white veil hanging over these with much grace; and the bodice of her velvet dress, which is cut round to show a fine linen chemisette, bears collar and cuffs of embroidery.

VARIETIES OF THE HENNIN.

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The hennin reached its height of popularity in every sense of the word in the reign of Edward V. Briefly it may be described as a lawn kerchief stiffened with canes or wires, these kerchiefs being plain or diapered with gold, the frame projecting outward from the back of the head, and beneath it the hair is gathered up into a caul of gold or embroidery. The original hennin was a tall funnel-shaped tube in brocade worked in beads and fixed firmly on the head, and from the top floated a fine veil. The "little hennin" was a short head-dress covered by a veil which fell over the shoulders. The hennins—and you can see many examples decorating the coloured page—were large or small, plain or decorated, as the individual fancy might dictate, and their adoption was common alike to England and to France, where they afforded a complete change from their predecessors, the small béguins or hoods, and shared favour with the two-horned head-dresses, with horns about a yard high. The linen for the hennin was stiff, to help the fine wire or cane frames to do their duty with greater success; and to accentuate further their importance there were great wings on either side, so widely set that the passing of a doorway was a difficulty.

THE HORNED HEAD-DRESS.

Priests and husbands inveighed alike against this fashion, and one monk felt its absurdities so acutely that he rode through the provinces, deploring the excess of the hennin as of equal gravity with that of gambling and the throwing of dice. He preached this doctrine so plausibly that he induced the easily-aroused populace to chase in the streets the women who were wearing the hennin, and even to spatter them with mud or pelt them with stones. Such enthusiasm, however, like the photographs of Hiawatha, "failed completely"; and after the departure of the prophet, hennins grew and ever grew, and they were decked with jewels and hung with chains, and all the best obtainable prodigalities of fashion were consecrated to their honour.

HEAD-DRESS Of JEWELLED VELVET AND LAWN.