In the picture of the interior of a barber's shop, a
patient is undergoing the operation of phlebotomy (figure 11). He holds
in his hand a pole or staff having a bandage twisted round it. It is
stated in Brand's "Popular Antiquities" that an illustration in a missal
of the time of Edward the First represents this ancient practice.
In a speech made in the House of Peers by Lord Thurlow, in support of
postponing the further reading of the Surgeons' Incorporation Bill, from
July 17th, 1797, to that day three months, the noble lord said that by a
statute still in force, the barbers and surgeons were each to use a
pole. The barbers were to have theirs blue and white, striped, with no
other appendage; but the surgeon's pole, which was the same in other
respects, was likewise to have a galley-pot and a red rag, to denote the
particular nature of their vocation.
A question is put in the _British Apollo_ (London, 1708):--
"... Why a barber at port-hole
Puts forth a party-coloured pole?"
This is the answer given:--
"In ancient Rome, when men lov'd fighting,
And wounds and scars took much delight in,
Man-menders then had noble pay,
Which we call surgeons to this day.
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