That grows about the chin,
With his bushy pride, and a grove on each side,
And a champion ground between.
Last, the clown doth rush, with his beard like a bush,
Which may be well endur'd."
Charles I. wore the Vandyke-beard, made familiar to us by the great artist. This fashion, set by the king, was followed by nearly the whole of his Cavaliers. It has been thought by some students of this subject that with the tragic death of the king the beard disappeared, but if we are to put our faith in an old song, dated 1660, we must conclude that with the Restoration it once more came into fashion. It says:—
"Now of beards there be such company,
Of fashions such a throng,
That it is very hard to treat of the beard,
Tho' it be never so long."