Oswald Barron

“ COLLAR, something worn or fastened round the neck (Lat. collare, from collum, neck) , particularly a band of linen, lace or other material, which, under various shapes at different periods, has been worn by men and women to serve as a completion or finish to the neckband of a garment (see Costume) ; also a chain, worn as a personal ornament, a badge of livery, a symbol of office, or as part of the insignia of an order of knighthood, an application of the term with which the present article deals. ”

“ Certain legal dignitaries have worn them since the 16th century, the collar of the lord chief-justice having knots and roses between the letters. Henry IV.’s parliament in his second year restricted the free use of the king’s livery collar to his sons and to all dukes, earls, barons and bannerets, while simple knights and squires might use it when in the royal presence or in going to and from the hostel of the king. The giving of a livery collar by the king made a squire of a man even as the stroke of the royal sword made him a knight. ”

“ Collars of Esses are sometimes seen on the necks of ladies. The queen of Henry IV. wears one. So do the wife of a 16th century Knightley on her tomb at Upton, and Penelope, Lady Spencer (d. 1667) , on her Brington monument. ”