Sea boot

“ Moreover, it makes people imitate sea-crabs, in being drawn sideways, as they are when they sit in the boot of the coach; and it is a dangerous kind of carriage for the commonwealth, if it be considered.” This boot, or this pair of boots—which did not in the least resemble, in shape or position, the fore and hind boots of a later age—was a method of carrying the outsides in days before the improvement of66 roads rendered it possible for any one to ride on the roof without incurring the danger of being flung off. ”

“ The water-tight boots and shoes are made of the skin of the small seal (neitiek) , except the soles, which consist of the skin of the large seal (oguk~e) ; this last is also used for their fishing-lines. When the men are not prepared to encounter wet, they wear an outer boot of deerskin, with the hair outside.
The inner boot of the women, unlike that of the men, is loose round the leg, coming as high as the knee-joint behind, and in front carried up, by a long pointed flap, nearly to the waist, and there fastened to the breeches. ”

“ In later years I often wore similar boots myself. We navvies call them "subs." and they can be bought very [Pg 100] cheaply in rag-stores and second-hand clothes-shops. One boot has always the knack of wearing better than its fellow. The odd good boot is usually picked up by a rag-picker, and in course of time it finds its way into a rag-store, where it is thrown amongst hundreds of others, which are always ready for further use at their old trade. A pair of odd boots may be got for a shilling or less, and most navvies wear them. ”

“ One of our naval friends, who was an ardent naturalist, had a pair of French wooden shoes, which he found a great protection while wading among sharp rocks in search of specimens, where india-rubber boots would have been cut and become leaky. A perfectly waterproof boot or garment of any kind is an excellent thing, but an imperfect one is worse than useless; and for wading after specimens or working in the water, if it is not convenient to be naked, a pair of wooden clogs, with a flannel shirt and drawers, and a straw hat or Tam o’ Shanter bonnet, is as good an equipment as any. ”

“ But no matter how frequent and plentiful the wreck and refuse in the matter of bottomless kettles, superannuated umbrellas,262 and broken dishes, the Old Boot is the commonest object of the seashore, highway, by-way, lane, or ditch—no mountain too high, no valley too deep for it to be found. The angler lands it with language and dashed expectations from the trout stream; the trawler finds it unaccountably in his trawl-net when he returns from the bay; the ploughman disinters it from the field; and children dig it up from the sands: everywhere is the Old Boot. ”

“ Some of the men could dance a hornpipe in theirs without taking the boots off the deck. Others, by exerting all their strength, could not squeeze their foot through the narrow way and reach paradise. The leg was so narrow that even the most delicate little foot could not get through it, and to make up for this the foot of the boot was so huge that it could comfortably accommodate twice as much as its owner could show. ”

“ I have no hesitation in pronouncing the Tibetan boots, from a practical point of view of utility, as the best in the world. They have all the advantages a boot should possess, especially those with flat soles of thick twisted cord. The upper part, being made of red and green felt, keeps the foot warm without preventing ventilation, and plenty of spreading room is left for the toes when walking. The felt gaiter, reaching to just below the knee, holds the soft sole of the boot flat under the foot, giving absolutely free action to the ankle. ”

“ A broad sole throughout materially stiffens the boot and gives a welcome sense of security when standing in ice-steps. The boot should fit closely at the heel and around the instep but entire freedom in all directions must be provided for the toes. If the toes are cramped they will freeze very easily. ”

“ But as this kind of sensitiveness is, in healthy persons, very much a matter of habit, it is perhaps quite as well for such to accustom themselves to wearing an ordinary doubled boot through the winter, unless much exposed, and put on a light boot, shoe, or gaiter for the summer. Appropriateness and adaptation to weather or circumstances are always to be considered. A heavy leather boot with double sole is as much out of place and time in a warm day, as a light cloth gaiter in a snow-storm. ”

“ I dispense with toecaps, or have a very short one just covering the ends of the toes, as I have never found a bootmaker who could put on a toecap of the regular length without contracting the end of the boot and compressing the toes in a dangerous manner.
The ordinary bootmaker knows nothing about an alpine boot, which is very different from a shooting boot. The fault of Swiss-made mountain boots is that the leather is very hard and the boots much too cumbersome and heavy. A guide’s equipment is the very last to be imitated. ”

“ This boot was worn by citizens, as well as in the army and navy; it was made with a seam at each{143} side, and reached nearly to the knee. In front it was scolloped, and ornamented with a black silk tassel. Sometimes gold tassels were worn by military and naval officers in full dress. We recollect having seen Commodore Decatur, while his ship, the United States, lay in the river Thames, in Connecticut, during the war of 1812, wear a pair of elegant Suwarrow boots, with gold tassels, on an occasion of his being invited to a dinner party in Norwich. ”

“ A very good type of serviceable boot for rough country wear, is one which laces over the instep and ankle, and, in its general cut, resembles the field boot or shooting boot. As these can be loosened over the instep, they do not bind the foot or bring discomfort after a long day’s wear, and they are much more comfortable for walking. ”

“ All day long these little roguish-eyed rascals wander round the plaza carrying their boot boxes and begging you to let them kneel in front of you and make your boots like looking-glasses. The boys are all so pretty and have got such winning smiles that you are insanely inclined to have your boots blacked every quarter of an hour. Joking apart, boot-blacking has been reduced to a science in Merida, and the operators put out of joint the noses of the London Boot Brigade. ”

“ Each of the different kinds of boots has certain peculiar advantages which, in addition to its being fashionable, contribute to make it popular. The side-spring boot, that has been a favourite so long, seldom slips at the heel, and this is a decidedly good point; it also, by fitting closely at the ankles, gives a feeling of snugness and security which is comfortable, [Pg 140] while it admits of perfect freedom in all movements of the ankle in walking. ”

“ Get boots like those of a man, low-heeled and with a straight line from heel to back of top. Don't have the tops wider than absolutely necessary not to bind, and don't have them curved or fancy in shape. Be sure that there is no elbow sticking out like a horse's hock at the back of the boot, and don't have a corner on the inside edge of the sole. And don't try to wear a small size! ”

“ Travellers find these boots great comforts, they take up very little room in the portmanteau, are{128} soon cleaned, and are on and off in an instant; if made of patent leather, they need only a wipe with an old silk handkerchief. No boothooks are ever required, the best hooks being nature’s own, the fingers, and the only bootjack ever wanted, is the toe of one boot applied to the heel of the other.
Dress Pumps are almost the only shoes now worn; they are generally made of patent leather, and should be cut to sit well at the quarters. ”

“ The sole does not hit a road with monotonous regularity upon the same dry spot of blistering skin.
I find that in the mountains a boot of rather lighter sole is preferable, with either brads or Phillips rubbers. One must nevertheless beware of shoddy. After the second scramble amid rocks I have seen the whole sole of a boot part company with the upper. I have seen the heel come off. Well established lines of workingmen’s boots are safer than fair-seeming boots for clerks. On the other hand, boots whose nails come through are a nuisance, digging holes in the soles of one’s feet. ”

“ For positive use, the boot ought to come up fully to, or above, the knee, in order to stand the wear and pressure of the saddle; but for ornament, it may well be allowed to rise only partially up the leg, and to be, in short, the beautiful Hessian or Hungarian boot—far the most graceful covering ever put on the leg of a modern European. That such a truly elegant boot, so gentlemanlike, so dressy, and yet so thoroughly serviceable, should ever have gone out of fashion, is to us a melancholy, though not a needed, proof of the sheer caprice by which men's fancies are commonly swayed. ”

“ It consists of a skate blade attached by means of plates screwed to the sole of the boot. The front plate is under the ball of the foot, and the heel plate at the heel, and if a very thick-soled boot be used, the absence of support between the two points of attachment, is not practically felt. But a heavy boot is not only unsightly, but fatiguing. If a thinner-soled boot be used, the heat of the foot softens the leather of the sole, which, bending, no longer supports the instep, and fatigue and cramp ensue. ”

“ Rubber boots are indispensable for hunting in most seasons, and a rubber coat should also be included in every hunter's outfit. I found the Hannaford ventilated rubber boot the most comfortable and perfect footgear I have ever worn. You can scarcely walk a mile in any direction in this country at any time of year, on mountains or lowlands, without encountering water. Moccasins soon become soaked, and are then the most uncomfortable things imaginable. ”

“ The female angler—the lady who fishes for compliments—has no more killing fly about her than the clean-fitting, clinging, decisive boot. It has revolutionised the whole chaussure. As for sandals, they are as much things of the past as the Vandals—out of doors. Even the final dogma that a black boot cannot be worn with a white dress has been smiled away; and well-booted ladies in any-coloured dresses step fearlessly forward, trampling, with more hauteur, on Plato’s pride. To wear a light-coloured boot requires, indeed, a very small foot ”

“ Sometimes a light mast carries a spread seal-skin for sail, but as a rule the boat is propelled by short, bone-tipped paddles which, in the hands of several strong women, carry the umiak thirty miles a day through smooth, ice-free water. When going near the ice a heavy seal-skin is hung before the bow to prevent the delicate boat skin from being cut. When a little hole is worn through, the women deftly thrust a bit of blubber through it until the boat is hauled up on the shore, which must be done daily to dry the sea-saturated covering. ”

“ I have invariably used elastic-side boots on my mountain expeditions in the Alps and elsewhere, and have found that they give sufficient support to the ankles and never draw off. My Alpine boots have always been made by Norman—a maker who knows what the requirements are, and one who will give a good boot if allowed good time.
It is fully as important to have proper nails in the boots as it [pg xii] is to have good boots. The quantity is frequently overdone, and when there are too many they are absolutely dangerous. Ice-nails, which may be considered a variety of crampon, are an abomination. ”

“ They wear jackets of a dark linen cloth, braces a hand’s breadth wide, displayed over the chest, and trousers of black leather, from the pocket of which a brass rule sticks out as a badge of honour; but their pride and joy are their boots, which are probably the largest that are worn in any part of the world, for they may be drawn two spans above the knee, and the raftsmen may walk about in water at three feet depth without getting their feet wet. ”

“ His feet are thrust into a pair of botas de potro, or colt's-foot boots, manufactured from the hide of a colt's fore-leg, which he strips off whole, chafes in his hand until it becomes pliable and soft, sews up at the lower extremity,—and puts on, the best riding-boot that the habitable world can show. ”

“ In Scotland, ladies wear in the daytime little else but these tailor-made suits. In the matter of boots, black leather Balmoral walking boots are best, with thick soles, and for bad weather, the gaiter boot, which comes half-way up the leg. Phipps and Barker, of Cadogan-house, Sloane Street, have brought out a water-tight Highland boot, to button or lace. ”

“ They always put your other boots into inaccessible places. They chiefly enjoy depositing them as far under the bed as the wall will permit. It is because this compels you to get down in an undignified attitude and make wild sweeps for them in the dark with the boot jack, and swear. ”

“ When the outside of the boots was blacked it would form a distinct contrast to the inside, which remained brown, and in modern top boots the difference in colour has been in many cases greatly accentuated. Indeed, the upper parts are made of different leather, and as ordinary coat cuffs are now incapable of being turned down, the tops of the [66] boots are immovable and cannot be turned up. It is curious, however, that the tags at the sides are still represented and sewn to the boot so as to be quite useless, while new tags placed inside the boot now do their duty. ”

“ By far the best way, and the only right way, is to wear a heel sufficiently long to give all the needed support, and a shank as flexible as it can be without breaking or clinging to the foot when the boot is drawn off. The foot—at least the heel and arch portion—is then left unimpeded in its natural action. If it be said that the stiffness is intended to keep the sole in its proper shape, it is replied that when the boot fits naturally and easily—not loosely—it will keep its correct shape without any help, while if it does not it will tread badly in spite of all the stiffness. ”