Part 5

The barber of an English king boasted, says a story, that he must be the most loyal man in the realm, as he had every day the regal throat at his mercy. The king was startled at the observation, and concluded that the barbarous idea could never have entered an honest head, and for the future he resolved to grow a beard as a precautionary measure against summary execution.

With a barber's shop in Lichfield is associated an amusing story, in which the chief figure was Farquhar, a dramatist, who attained a measure of success in the eighteenth century. His manner was somewhat pompous, and he resented with a great show of indignation the dalliance of the master of the shop. Whilst he was fuming, a little deformed man came up to him and performed the operation satisfactorily. The same day Farquhar was dining at the table of Sir Theophilus Biddulph, when he noticed the dwarf there. Taking the opportunity of following his host out of the room, he asked for an explanation of his conduct, and said that he deemed it an insult to be seated in such inferior company. Amazed at the charge, Sir Theophilus assured the dramatist that every one of the guests was a gentleman, and that they were his particular friends. Farquhar was not satisfied. "I am certain," he said, "that the little humpbacked man who sat opposite me is a barber who shaved me this morning." The host returned to the room and related the story which he had just heard. "Ay, yes," replied the guest, who was a well-born gentleman, "I can make the matter clear. It was I who was in the barber's shop this morning, and as Farquhar seemed in such a hurry, and the barber was out, I shaved him."

The works of the old dramatists and other publications contain allusions to barbers' music. It was the practice, as we have said, when a customer was waiting for his turn in a barber's shop to pass his time playing on the gittern. Dekker mentions a "barber's cittern for every serving-man to play upon." Writing in 1583, Stubbes alludes to music at the barber's shop. In the "Diary of Samuel Pepys" we read: "After supper my Lord called for the lieutenant's cittern, and with two candlesticks with money in them for symballs, we made barber's music, with which my lord was well pleased." "My Lord was easily satisfied," says a well-known contributor to Punch, "and in our day would probably have enjoyed 'the horgans.'" We may rest assured that barber's music was of questionable melody.

SUNDAY SHAVING

In bygone England, the churchyard was a common place for holding fairs and the vending of merchandise, and it was also customary for barbers to shave their customers there. In 1422, by a particular prohibition of Richard Flemmyng, Bishop of Lincoln, the observance of the custom was restrained.

The regulations of the Gild of Barber-Surgeons of York deal with Lord's Day observance. In 1592 a rule was made, ordering, under a fine of ten shillings, "that none of the barbers shall work or keep open their shop on Sunday, except two Sundays next or before the assize weeks." Another law on the question was made in 1676 as follows:--"This court, taking notice of several irregular and unreasonable practices committed by the Company of Barber-Surgeons within this city in shaving, trimming, and cutting of several strangers' as well as citizens' hair and faces on the Lord's Day, which ought to be kept sacred, it is ordered by the whole consent of this court, and if any brother of the said Company shall at any time hereafter either by himself, servant, or substitute, tonse, barb, or trim any person on the Lord's Day, in any Inn or other public or private house or place, or shall go in or out of any such house or place on the said day with instruments used for that purpose, albeit the same cannot be positively proved, or made appear, but in case the Lord Mayor for the time being shall upon good circumstances consider and adjudge any such brother to have trimmed or barbed as is aforesaid, that then any such offender shall forfeit and pay for every such offence 10s., one half to the Lord Mayor, and the other to the use of the said Company, unless such brother shall voluntarily purge himself by oath to the contrary; and the searchers of the said Company for the time being are to make diligent search in all such as aforesaid public or private places for discovery of such offenders."

The following abstract of an order of the Barber-Surgeons of Chester shows that the members of the Company were strict Sabbatarians:--

"1680, seconde of July, ordered that no member of the Company or his servant or apprentice shall trim any person on the Lord's Day commonly called Sunday."

In the Corporation records of Pontefract under the year 1700 it is stated: "Whereas divers complaints have been made that the barbers of the said borough do frequently and openly use and exercise their respective trades upon the Lord's Day in profanation thereof, and to the high displeasure of Almighty God. To prevent such evil practices for the future it is therefore ordered that no barber shall ... use or exercise the trade of a barber within the borough of Pontefract upon the Lord's Day, commonly called Sunday, nor shall trim or shave any person upon that day, either publicly or privately." We have in the last clause an indication of public shaving performed in the churchyard or the market place.

The churchwardens of Worksop parish, Nottinghamshire, in 1729 paid half-a-crown for a bond in which the barbers bound themselves "not to shave on Sundays in the morning."

At a meeting of the barber-surgeons of Newcastle-on-Tyne held in 1742 it was ordered that no one should shave on a Sunday, and that "no brother should shave John Robinson till he pays what he owes to Robert Shafto."

The operation was in bygone Scotland pronounced sinful if performed on a Sunday. Members of congregations are entitled to object to the settlement of ministers, says the Rev. Dr Charles Rogers, provided they can substantiate any charge affecting their life or doctrine. Mr Davidson, presentee to Stenton in 1767, and Mr Edward Johnstone, presentee to Moffat in 1743, were objected to for desecrating the Sabbath by shaving on that day. The settlement of Mr Johnstone was delayed four years, so persistent were the objectors in maintaining what they regarded as the proper observance of the Sabbath.

The Rev. Patrick Bronte, father of the famous novelists, was Perpetual Curate of Thornton in Bradford Dale, from 1815 to 1820. Although a sense of decency was sadly deficient among the majority of the inhabitants of the district, they kept watch on the clergy, and were ever ready to make known to the world their presumed as well as their real offences and failings. The mistakes of some of them are well illustrated in an anecdote related by Mr Abraham Holroyd, a well-known collector of local lore. When Mr Bronte resided at Thornton it was rumoured in the village that he had been seen by a Dissenter, through a chamber window, shaving himself on a Sunday morning, which was considered to be a very serious disregard of the obligation of Sabbath observance on the part of a clergyman. Mrs Ackroyd, a lady residing in the parish, had an interview with Mr Bronte on the subject. On his hearing what she had to say, he observed: "I should like you to keep what I say in your family; but I never shaved myself in all my life, or was ever shaved by any one else. I have so little beard that a little clipping every three months is all that is necessary."

Occasionally, at the present day, barbers are brought before the magistrates for working on Sunday. They are summoned under an old Act of Charles II., for shaving on the Lord's Day. The maximum fine is five shillings, and the costs of a case cannot be recovered from the defendant. Generally the local hairdressers' association institutes the action.

FROM BARBER TO SURGEON

From the ancient but humble position of the barber is evolved the surgeon of modern times. Perhaps some members of the medical profession would like to ignore the connection, but it is too true to be omitted from the pages of history. The calling of a barber is of great antiquity. We find in the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel (v. 1) allusions to the Jewish custom of the barber shaving the head as a sign of mourning. In the remote past the art of surgery and the trade of barber were combined. It is clear that in all parts of the civilised world, in bygone times, the barber acted as a kind of surgeon, or, to state his position more precisely, he practised phlebotomy, the dressing of wounds, etc. Their shops were general in Greece about 420 B.C., and then, as now, were celebrated as places where the gossips met. Barbers settled in Rome from Sicily in B.C. 299.

The clergy up to about the twelfth century had the care of men's bodies as well as their souls, and practised surgery and medicine. Barbers gained much experience from the monks, whom they assisted in surgical operations. The practice of surgery involved the shedding of blood, and it was felt that this was incompatible with the functions of the clergy. After much consideration and discussion, in 1163, the Council of Tours, under Pope Alexander III., forbade the clergy to act as surgeons, but they were permitted to dispense medicine.

The Edict of Tours must have given satisfaction to the barbers, and they were not slow to avail themselves of the opportunities the change afforded them. In London, and it is to be feared in other places, the barbers advertised their blood-letting in a most objectionable manner. It was customary to put blood in their windows to attract the attention of the public. An ordinance was passed in 1307 directing the barbers in London to have the blood "privately carried into the Thames under the pain of paying two shillings to the use of the Sheriffs."

At an early period in London the barbers were banded together, and a gild was formed. In the first instance it seems that the chief object was the bringing together of the members at religious observances. They attended the funerals and obits of deceased members and their wives. Eventually it was transformed into a semi-social and religious gild, and subsequently became a trade gild. In 1308 Richard le Barber, the first master of the Barbers' Company, was sworn at the Guildhall, London. As time progressed the London Company of Barbers increased in importance. In the first year of the reign of Edward IV. (1462) the barbers were incorporated by a Royal Charter, and it was confirmed by succeeding monarchs.

A change of title occurred in 1540, and it was then named the Company of Barber-Surgeons. Holbein painted a picture of Henry VIII. and the Barber-Surgeons. The painting is still preserved, and may be seen at the Barber-Surgeons' Hall, Monkwell Street, London. Pepys pronounces this "not a pleasant though a good picture." It is the largest and last work of Holbein.

The date assigned for its commencement was 1541, and it was completed after the death of the artist in 1543. It is painted on vertical oak boards, 5 ft. 11 in. high, and 10 ft. 2 in. long. It has been slightly altered since it was delivered to the Barber-Surgeons. The figures represent notable men belonging to the company and leaders of the healing art of the period at which it was painted.

In the reign of Henry VIII., not a few disputes occurred between the barbers and the surgeons. The following enactment was in force: "No person using any shaving or barbery in London shall occupy any surgery, letting of blood, or other matter, except of drawing teeth." Laws were made, but they could not, or at all events were not, enforced. The barbers acted often as surgeons, and the surgeons increased their income by the use of the razor and shears. At this period, however, vigorous attempts were made to confine each to his legitimate work.

The Rev. J.L. Saywell has a note on bleeding in his "History and Annals of Northallerton" (1885). "Towards the early part of the nineteenth century," observes Mr Saywell, "a singular custom prevailed in the town and neighbourhood of Northallerton (Yorkshire). In the spring of the year nearly all the robust male adults, and occasionally females, repaired to a surgeon to be bled--a process which they considered essentially conduced to vigorous health." The charge for this operation was one shilling.

Parliament was petitioned, in 1542, praying that surgeons might be exempt from bearing arms and serving on juries, and thus be enabled without hindrance to attend to their professional duties. The request was granted, and to the present time medical men enjoy the privileges granted so long ago.

In 1745, the surgeons and the barbers were separated by Act of Parliament. The barber-surgeons lingered for a long time, the last in London, named Middleditch, of Great Suffolk Street, Southwark, only dying in 1821. Mr John Timbs, the popular writer, left on record that he had a vivid recollection of Middleditch's dentistry.

Over the last resting-places of some barber-surgeons are curious epitaphs. At Tewkesbury Abbey one in form of an acrostic is as follows:--

"Here lyeth the body of Thomas Merrett, of Tewkesbury, Barber-chirurgeon, who departed this life the 22nd day of October 1699.

=T=hough only Stone Salutes the reader's eye, =H=ere (in deep silence) precious dust doth lye, =O=bscurely Sleeping in Death's mighty store, =M=ingled with common earth till time's no more. =A=gainst Death's Stubborne laws, who dares repine, =S=ince So much Merrett did his life resigne.