Clemens of Alexandria, so
runs the tale, surprised wig-wearers by telling those who knelt at
church that to receive the blessing, they must please to bear in mind
that the benediction remained on the wig, and did not pass through to
the wearer! Some immediately removed their wigs, but others allowed them
to remain, no doubt hoping to receive a blessing.
History supplies many interesting passages bearing on our present
investigations. The Lycians, having been engaged in war, were defeated.
Mausoleus, their conqueror, ruthlessly directed the subdued men to have
their heads shaven. This was humiliating in the extreme, and the Lycians
were keenly alive to their ridiculous appearance. The king's general
was tempted with bribes, and finally yielded, and allowed wigs to be
imported for them from Greece, and thus the symbol of degradation became
the pink of Lycian fashion.
Hannibal, the brave soldier, is recorded to have worn two sorts of wigs,
one to improve, and the other to disguise his person.
Wigs are said to have been worn in England in the reign of King Stephen,
but their palmy days belong to the seventeenth and the earlier part of
the eighteenth centuries.
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