Surcoat

“ A longish dark beard partially concealed a hard, firm mouth, while his dark piercing eyes, glittering beneath his broad forehead and bushy eyebrows, betokened a war-like temperament. His coat of plate-armour, fashioned in the latest style, was covered by a surcoat, upon which were embroidered his newly-assumed arms, the fleur-de-lis of France, quartered with the silver lions of England, while a velvet cap took the place, for the time being, of his plumed bascinet. ”

“ The legs, which are not crossed, are covered by long chausses, or stockings of mail, protected at the knees by poleyns or genouillères of cuir bouilli richly ornamented
by elaborate designs. A surcoat, probably of linen, depends from the shoulders to a little below the knees, and is cut away to a point above the knee. ”

“ In some cases, as in the Temple Church figure engraved by Stothard, Pl. xv., the garment has a rigid appearance [Pg 274] across the shoulders, which has been taken to indicate a strengthening of the surcoat at that part. But the same treatment is seen in the enamelled effigy at St. Denis, of John, son of St. Louis; where the garment forms part of a civil dress (Willemin, vol. i., Pl. xci., and Guilhermy's Monuments of St. Denis, p. 164) . The Surcoat sometimes hangs loose, as in our woodcut, No. 86; but usually it is girt at the waist by a cord or strap. ”

“ Such harness, ever growing more beautiful in its rich details, serves our champions until the beginning of the 15th century, when the fashion begins to turn. The scanty surcoat tends to disappear. It may be that during the bitter 15th century. feuds and fierce slaughters of the Wars of the Roses men were unwilling to display on their breasts the bearings by which their mortal foe might know them afar. The horseman’s shield went with the surcoat, its disuse hastened by the perfection of armour, and the banners of leaders remained as the only armorial signs commonly seen in war. ”

“ The sleeveless surcoat was very popular, the upper portion tapering to a small point upon the shoulders, showing the gown worn beneath, and the skirts of these surcoats were decked with ermine and emblazoned with the family arms. The art of embroidery was cultivated assiduously by the rich, whose leisured moments were spent in plying the needle and silk, to accomplish devices which should honour and grace their attire. ”

“ Over the hauberk is worn a sleeveless surcoat, embroidered at the breast and reaching below the knee; it is split up at the sides to allow greater freedom to the limbs. Both surcoat and hauberk are bordered with a fringe, except at the neck, where the surcoat seems to be edged with a setting of stones or studs. A baldric encircles the lower body, and supports a short, broad cross-hilted sword on the left hip, and a dagger or misere-corde on the right. The pommel of the dagger is carved into the resemblance of a grotesque human face. ”

“ The sleeves of the hauberk were similarly cut into two parts at the elbow, and elbow caps, or coudières, of leather came into use over the elbow joint.
At the end of the 12th century, a flowing surcoat of linen or silk was worn over the armour. This generally bore the same heraldic device as the shield, and its use was probably to lessen the effect of the sun’s rays upon the mail. At first, this surcoat had no sleeve, but in the second half of the 13th century sleeves were added to it, and at the same time the hauberk was shortened. ”

“ In the red glare of torches held from windows and from roof he saw the rush and swirl of men below, the ruddy light shining back from glowing brass and gleaming steel. As a wild vision it came to him afterward, the beauty and the splendor, the flying lambrequins, the jeweled crests, the blazonry and richness of surcoat and of shield, where sable and gules, argent and vair, in every pattern of saltire, bend or chevron, glowed beneath him like a drift of many-colored blossoms, tossing, sinking, stooping into shadow, springing into light. ”

“ The ordinary material of the surcoat for the rich was cloth, either scarlet, blue, or reddish brown, or two or more of these colours mixed together; and for the poor, linsey-woolsey or fustian. The nobles, princes, or barons, when holding a court, wore surcoats of a colour to match their arms, which were embroidered upon them, but the lesser nobles who frequented the houses of the great spoke of themselves as in the robes of such and such a noble, because he whose patronage they courted was obliged to provide them with surcoats and mantles. ”

“ The second lady is wearing a houppelande with wide, hanging sleeves all cut at the edge; the cut of this gown is loose, except that it fits across her shoulders; she also wears a caul, from the back of which emerges a linen wimple.
[Pg 158] The third lady is in surcoat and cotehardie; the surcoat has a pleated skirt, and the borders of it are edged thickly with fur; it is cut low enough at the sides to show a belt over the hips. The cotehardie, of a different colour to the surcoat, has tight sleeves with buttons from elbow to little finger. ”

“ The surcoat opens over jewelled stomacher and kirtle, and is bordered down the sides and bodice with ermine. The bodice is pointed at waist, square at neck; chemisette of satin, quilted with pearls inside; close honeycomb ruff at throat, a velvet coif, like Marie Stuart's, less pointed, bordered with pearls; gauze veil. Long hanging velvet sleeves, tight under-ones of satin, with ruffles; cloth of gold, the richest jewels, velvet, and brocade are admissible for her more prosperous days. Jewelled girdle, often pearls. The skirt or surcoat is full, and touches the ground. ”

“ During the Middle Ages extravagance prevailed in both male and female costume. Handsome furs were in great request, and several times sumptuary laws were passed. Men wore eight indispensable articles of dress, the shirt, breeches, stockings, shoes, coat, surcoat or cotehardie, mantle, and head dress. The coat or under-dress corresponded with the tunic of the ancients, and was entirely hidden, with the exception of the sleeves, by the surcoat. ”

“ But here the drawing is so careful, and skilful, and self-evidently accurate, that we cannot doubt that the defence of the legs is really of a different kind of armour from the mail of the hauberk and haut-de-chausses. The surcoat is of graceful fashion, [Pg 334] and embroidered with crosses, which appear also on the pennon, and one of them is used as an ornamental genouillière on the shoulder. The helmet is elaborately and very elegantly ornamented. The attitude of the figure is spirited and dignified, and the drawing unusually good. ”

“ It may have been leather (the cuirie, of which we have already noted the existence) ; but there seems no good reason why it should not have been iron: and if so, it is perhaps the earliest example of a body-armour formed of a "pair of plates large [349] " that Europe has to offer. The effigy in question lies at the south-east corner of the group in the Round Church.
About the beginning of the thirteenth century arose the use of the military Surcoat. The first English monarch who, on his Great Seal, appears in this garment, is King John: 1199-1216. (See our woodcut, No. 52.) ”

“ The surcoat and the lambrequin alike protected the metal armour and the metal helmet from the rays of the sun and the resulting discomfort to the wearer, and were also found very effective as a preventative of the rust resulting from rain and damp upon the metal. By the time that the closed helmet had developed the necessity of distinction and the identification of a man with the pictured signs he wore or carried, the evolution of armory into the science we know was practically complete. ”

“ Costlewe, adj. costly, I 415. Cf. Icel. kostligr.
Costrel, s. flask, kind of bottle, L. 2666. See note.
Cotage, s. cottage, B 4012.
Cote, s. cot, E 398; hence, dungeon, A 2457.
Cote, s. coat, jacket (for a man) , A 103, 328; skirt, petticoat, or gown (for a woman) , R. 226, 459, 573, 1242, B 4026, E 913; Cotes, pl. coats, surcoats, or coats-of-arms (see below) , HF. 1332.
Cote-armure, coat-armour, coat shewing the arms, coat-of-arms, T. v. 1651; HF. 1326; A 2140 ”

“ The overcoat is a dark blue ulster-coat, reaching about midway from the knee to the foot, double-breasted, buttoning to the neck with seven large flat black buttons on each side, with a wide rolling collar, with a pocket having a vertical opening on each side above the waist, and fitted with waist straps at the back. Shoulder marks of the same design as those for the white service coat are worn with the overcoat and the rank of the wearer is indicated by stripes of black mohair braid on the lower part of the sleeve. ”

“ The Frock-coat worn by Field-Marshal, etc., is made of blue cloth, D.B., with blue velvet collar and cuffs, cuffs being round 3 inches deep: plain flaps are put in the back pleats, 11⁄2 inches wide and about ll inches long, for an Officers 5ft. 9in. in height. There are two rows of buttons down the front, the rows being 8 inches apart at the top. 4 inches at the waist; two buttons at the waist behind and one at the bottom of each skirt flap. The skirts are lined with black silk; shoulder cords of the same pattern as used on the Tunic. ”

“ The large man puffs himself out in his warm topcoat, which protuberates sensibly at the paunch. Someone looks at him enviously, because his deputy has at least asked him to wait, while others allege absence or simply send word that they cannot come. Perhaps he is also envied his warm overcoat, since there are so many thin suits under a wretched threadbare overcoat, worn through autumn and winter with pretended resignation, so many pepper-and-salt trousers under a green overcoat, so many trousers of a dirty yellow under a cinnamon-coloured, ancient, worn-out overcoat. ”

“ The upper curve is especially intended for overcoats, because the overcoat armhole is cut deeper than the under coat armhole. The upward curve forms a gusset, or a wedge, which allows the arm to be raised on the same principle that the lap of the shoulder and sleeve on top allows the arm to be moved downward. When the arm is down, and in its natural position, the gusset on top is taken up and the one below the arm is hidden, and will not show at all. But if the arm is to be moved upward, it is there for supply, and the body of the coat is not required to go along. ”

“ Nevertheless we have never been able to conquer our instinctive feeling that a fur-lined overcoat indicates the possession of a great deal of money and a doggish tendency to spend it on wine, women, and—well, the singing is not so important in the picture. Whenever we see a man sporting a fur-lined overcoat our first thought is to wonder whether or not his wife has found out about him. Our second is to wish we had a coat like it. ”

“ The coats are very loose also, and expose the bare skin of the stomach when the wearer reaches his hands above his head.
The coats of the women differ from those of the men only in having a short tail in front, and a much longer one behind. They also have a loose bag on each shoulder, and the hood is much longer than the men wear. The women's outside coats are always made of the short hair, the same as are their ar-tee'-gee. Their trousers reach further below the knee, fit closer to the leg, and are worn with the hairy side out. Women never wear but the one pair in any weather. ”

“ The word coat, meaning a garment for men for covering the upper part of the body, has been in use for centuries; but of very changeable and confusing usage, for it also constantly meant petticoat. The garment itself was a puzzle, for many years; most bewildering of all the attire which was worn by the first colonists was the elusive, coatlike over-garment called in shipping-lists, tailors’ orders, household inventories, and other legal and domestic records a doublet, a jerkin, a jacket, a cassock, a paltock, a coat, a horseman’s coat, an upper-coat, and a buff-coat. ”

“ A man can scrape two skins in a day, and some of the women—many of them are, indeed, very skillful with their crude, home-made needles—can make a coat in two days, and a pair of trousers in one day. Some of the young men, whose wives are good tailors, affect considerable ornamentation upon the inside coat; but this is usually seen in the trimming that surrounds the lower edge and the border of the hood. Successive narrow strips of white and black fur, with very short hair, compose this trimming, and the lower edge is finished with fringe made of thin skin, which is quite ornamental in effect. ”

“ The overcoat for officers is a double-breasted sack overcoat of knee length made of forestry-green cloth. It has a turn-down notched collar with soft lapels, two horizontal side pockets with straight flaps, and shoulder straps similar to those on the jacket but slightly larger. On each of these shoulder straps is worn a Greek cross of red cloth or silk embroidery. The buttons of the overcoat are plain bone buttons of a color to match the coat. On each side of the collar one inch above the notch in the lapel the initials A. R. C. in plain bronze block letters are worn. ”

“ The frock-coat should be ample and loose, and a tall well-built man may throw it back. At any rate, it should never be buttoned up. Great-coats should be buttoned up, of a dark color, not quite black, longer than the frock-coat, but never long enough to reach the ankles. If you have visits to make you should do away with the great-coat, if the weather allows you to do so. The frock-coat, or black cut-away, with a white waistcoat in summer, is the best dress for making calls in. ”