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The main sources from which we obtain our knowledge of Saxon Costume are the illuminated MSS. remaining to us. The earliest MS. we have was written A.D. 720, about 200 years after the Saxon Conquest. Of this long period we have no reliable record.

We know, however, that on their first appearance in Britain, they were not so advanced in civilisation as the inhabitants, who had gained a considerable advantage, in this respect, from the Roman occupation. The only reliable source from which information can be gained of this period is in the tumuli or graves. In these have been found weapons and many personal ornaments of a rich character.

Saxon Male Costume.

A kind of shirt, reaching to the knee, worn next to the skin, was the universal, and, in the case of the humblest, the only garment, and it was always made of linen. Over this was worn a tunica, which was generally short, but, in the case of persons of high rank, it was worn longer. It fitted closely around the neck, and was cut open in front, being also often open at the sides from the hips to the hem. Sleeves were worn to this garment, and for many years were worn rucked upon the fore-arm in a very peculiar manner, probably so that the sleeves could be drawn down over the hands in cold weather. The hem was often decorated with embroidered work.

A short cloak, or mantle, was generally worn over the tunica, fastened by a fibula or brooch upon the right shoulder or in the centre of the chest. In the case of a person of high degree, a larger cloak was also wrapped around the figure.

The head was generally uncovered, except in time of war. The hair was worn long, reaching down to the shoulders, parted carefully in the centre, and tucked behind the ears. When the head was covered, a cap of the Phrygian shape (Fig. 8) was worn. Persons of distinction, like the members of the Witan, wore a sugar-loaf shaped cap.

The beard was worn either round or long and flowing. In the latter case, it was divided in the centre like a fork, and was called the “bifid” beard.

The breeches were tight to the leg, and sometimes wide at the bottom, reaching to the middle of the thigh.

Stockings were worn, either long enough to join the breeches or short, reaching nearly to the knee. The rustic frequently wore no stockings.

Civilians often bound strips of coloured cloth, and soldiers strips of leather, around their stockings, forming what is called cross-gartering.

Their shoes were generally low, and had an opening up the instep.

Female Costume.

The female costume was also very simple, and consisted of a long, tight-sleeved garment, the gunna or gown, reaching to the feet, with a tunic over this, reaching to the knees. The tunica was girdled at the waist, and had wide sleeves extending to the elbow.

A wide mantle, a characteristic feature of the costume of both men and women, covered the upper part of the body, and a head-rail or hood consisting of a piece of material adjusted over the head, was always worn.

When making a journey, a large travelling cloak was also worn.

No illustration shows the complete arrangement of the hair, but, as the women of Continental nations at this period wore it in long plaits, we may conclude that the same fashion was followed here; but the hair was always covered. A kirtle was also probably worn, corresponding in form to the garment now known as a “princess petticoat.”

Military Costume.

There was but little difference between the civil and military costume of the men. In MSS., soldiers are often represented with no other weapon than a shield or spear, or an axe or a bow with arrows, and attired in ordinary costume. Occasionally, one is represented wearing a kind of cuirass formed of scales, made of overlapping slices of horn sewn upon coarse linen.

During the reigns of Edward the Confessor and Harold II., owing to the constant intercourse between the English and the Norman Courts, the English adopted many of the customs and much of the costume of the Normans, so that, among the upper and military classes, at any rate, when William of Normandy invaded England, the members of the two opposing armies were armed and attired in a very similar manner.

PLATE 10.

(Fig. 1): A Saxon rustic, wearing only a solitary garment, with a pointed cap which has a comb, and shoes. (Cott. MS., Claudius B. iv.) (Fig. 2): A Saxon lady, attired in (1) the gunna, (2) the tunica, (3) the mantle, (4) the head-rail. (Harl. MS., 2,908.) (Fig. 3): A Saxon, dressed in (1) the tunica, (2) the mantle, (3) breeches, with cross-gartered stockings, and shoes, and (4) a banded Phrygian cap. (After Mrs. Ashdown.) (Fig. 4): Saxon, showing the bifid beard and the arrangement of the hair. (Cott. MS., Claudius B. iv.) (Fig. 5): An English Freeman, wearing a tunica, with short stockings and shoes, and armed with sword, spear, helmet, and shield. (From a MS.) (Fig. 6): A Saxon soldier, wearing a tunica covered with a mantle, stockings, and shoes, with spurs. (Note the manner in which 31the mantle is fastened on the right shoulder.) He is armed with a spear, and has his head covered with a conical helmet. As is pointed out above, the military costume did not differ from the civil costume, except as regards the helmet and the arms. (Figs. 7 to 12): Saxon head-dresses. (Fig. 7): A form of the square helmet. (Fig. 8): A Phrygian-shaped cap of leather, bound with metal; the bifid beard is also shown again. (Fig. 9): Another form of the square helmet, with a kind of crest or comb. (Fig. 10): A pointed helmet of simple form. (Fig. 11): A pointed hat serrated along the back like a cock’s comb. (Fig. 12): The commonest form of helmet, a conical cap with a rim, probably of metal. (The other form of beard is shown in this figure.) (Figs. 13, 14 and 15): Saxon shoes, from MSS. (Figs. 16 and 17): Saxon crowns, from MSS.

PLATE 11.

(Fig. 1): A Saxon monarch represented as seated on a throne, wearing a square crown, and holding a sceptre in his right hand. He is attired in a richly embroidered tunica and a mantle of ample proportions, gathered up with a brooch on the left shoulder. His stockings are cross-gartered and ornamented at the knees and in the lozenges formed by the gartering. (Cott. MS., Tiberius Cvi.) (Fig. 2): A fiddler, wearing the tunica, long stockings and shoes. (MS., Tib. Cvi.) (Fig. 3): A gleeman or juggler, attired similarly to the fiddler. (From the same MS.) (Fig. 4): A husbandman, engaged in digging. (From MS., after Strutt.) (Fig. 5): A blacksmith, working at the anvil. (From MS., after Strutt.) (Fig. 6): A Saxon king, with a bifid beard, on the seat of judgment, crowned and attired in a tunica, covered with a short mantle, which is fastened in the centre of the chest by a brooch of rectangular form. (Fig. 7): A Saxon noble, with long hair and a bifid beard, holding a sword of characteristic Saxon form. He is wearing an ornamented tunica reaching to the ankles, and over it a voluminous mantle. His head is covered with a conical helmet. The rucking of the sleeve on the fore-arm is plainly shown. (Figs. 6 and 7 from a MS., after Strutt.) (Fig. 8): A Saxon horn-blower, attired similarly to the fiddler and gleeman (Figs. 2 and 3), from the same MS. (Fig. 9): A carpenter at work with an axe. (From a MS., after Strutt.) (Note.—In Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 9, all the heads are bare.) (Figs. 10 to 14): Saxon personal ornaments, buckle, rings, etc., found in tumuli.