[Illustration: ANCIENT SHOES--A, B, C, D, E, EGYPTIAN; F, PERSIAN; G, H, GREEK; I, J, K, L, PHRYGIAN AND DACIAN.]
In the reign of Henry VII. clocks on stockings are discernible; and the Poet Laureate of this king, describing the dress of the hostess of an inn, gives an indication of how boots were cleaned:
"She hobbles as she goes, With her blanket hose, Her shoone smeared with _tallow_."
It is supposed that hose or stockings of silk were unknown in this country before the middle of the 16th century. A pair of Spanish silk hose was presented by Sir Thomas Gresham to Edward VI., his father never having worn any but those made of cloth. In the reign of good Queen Bess, nether socks or stockings were of silk, jarnsey, worsted crewel, or the finest yarn, thread, or cloth, and were of all colours, "cunningly knit and curiously indented in every point, with querks, clocks, open seams, and everything else accordingly." Planché states, in the third year of Elizabeth, Mistress Montague, the Queen's silk-woman, presented Her Majesty with a pair of black silk knit stockings, made in England; and from that time she wore no others, in the laudable desire to encourage their home manufacture by her own example. The Queen's patronage, and the invention, in 1599, of a weaving frame, by William Lee, Master of Arts, and Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, gave a great impetus tus to the stocking trade, which has been carried on with considerable success ever since, particularly in the Midland counties of England.
Spurs can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon period, which is quite far enough for this purpose. They had no rowels, but were made with a simple point like a goad, and were fastened with leathers. Early in the 15th century spurs were screwed on to a steel shoe, instead of being fastened with straps. They were long in the neck, and the spikes of the rowels of formidable dimensions. From a sketch of a spur worn at the Battle of Naseby, in the reign of Charles I., it will be seen that, as progress was made in armour and military gear, considerable attention was paid to this portion of the soldier's outfit; indeed, it was more elaborate in design than is now considered necessary. From a very early period spurs have been used by both sexes.