Then
snap go the fingers full bravely, God wot. Thus this tragedy ended,
comes the warm clothes to wipe and dry him withall; next the ears must
be picked, and closed together again, artificially, forsooth! The hair
of the nostrils cut away, and everything done in order, comely to
behold. The last action in the tragedy is the payment of money; and lest
these cunning barbers might seem unconscionable in asking much for their
pains, they are of such a shameful modesty as they will ask nothing at
all, but, standing to the courtesy and liberality of the giver, they
will receive all that comes, how much soever it be, not giving any
again, I warrant you; for take a barber with that fault, and strike off
his head. No, no; such fellows are rarae aves in terris, nigrisque
simillimae cygnis--rare birds on the earth, and as scarce as black swans.
You shall have also your fragrant waters for your face, wherewith you
shall be all besprinkled; your musick again, and pleasant harmony shall
sound in your ears, and all to tickle the same with rare delight, and in
the end your cloak shall be brushed, and 'God be with you, gentlemen!'"
John Gay issued in 1727 the first series of his "Fables," and in the one
entitled "The Goat Without a Beard" we get a description of the barber's
shop of the period:--
"His pole, with pewter basins hung,
Black, rotten teeth in order strung,
Rang'd cups that in the window stood,
Lin'd with red rags, to look like blood,
Did well his threefold trade explain,
Who shav'd, drew teeth, and breath'd a vein.
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