So late as 1614 it was the custom
for fashionable gentlemen to wear blue coats on St.
for fashionable gentlemen to wear blue coats on St.
Ben Jonson - The Devil's Association
_ 5.
189).
=3. 3. 165 St. Georges-tide? = From a very early period the 23d of
April was dedicated to St. George. From the time of Henry V. The
festival had been observed with great splendor at Windsor and other
towns, and bonfires were built (see Shak, _1 Henry VI. _ 1. 1). The
festival continued to be celebrated until 1567, when Elizabeth
ordered its discontinuance. James I. , however, kept the 23d of April
to some extent, and the revival of the feast in all its glories was
only prevented by the Civil War.
So late as 1614 it was the custom
for fashionable gentlemen to wear blue coats on St. George's Day,
probably in imitation of the blue mantle worn by the Knights of the
Garter, an order created at the feast of St. George in 1344 (see
Chambers' _Book of Days_ 1. 540).
The passages relating to this custom are _Ram Alley_, _O. Pl. _, 2d
ed. , 5. 486:
By Dis, I will be knight,
Wear a blue coat on great St. George's day,
And with my fellows drive you all from Paul's
For this attempt.
_Runne and a great Cast_, _Epigr. _ 33:
With's coram nomine keeping greater sway
Than a court blew-coat on St. George's day.
From these passages Nares concludes 'that some festive ceremony was
carried on at St. Paul's on St. George's day annually; that the court
attended; that the _blue-coats_, or attendants, of the courtiers,
were employed and authorised to keep order, and drive out refractory
persons; and that on this occasion it was proper for a knight to
officiate as _blue coat_ to some personage of higher rank'.
=3. 3. 165 St. Georges-tide? = From a very early period the 23d of
April was dedicated to St. George. From the time of Henry V. The
festival had been observed with great splendor at Windsor and other
towns, and bonfires were built (see Shak, _1 Henry VI. _ 1. 1). The
festival continued to be celebrated until 1567, when Elizabeth
ordered its discontinuance. James I. , however, kept the 23d of April
to some extent, and the revival of the feast in all its glories was
only prevented by the Civil War.
So late as 1614 it was the custom
for fashionable gentlemen to wear blue coats on St. George's Day,
probably in imitation of the blue mantle worn by the Knights of the
Garter, an order created at the feast of St. George in 1344 (see
Chambers' _Book of Days_ 1. 540).
The passages relating to this custom are _Ram Alley_, _O. Pl. _, 2d
ed. , 5. 486:
By Dis, I will be knight,
Wear a blue coat on great St. George's day,
And with my fellows drive you all from Paul's
For this attempt.
_Runne and a great Cast_, _Epigr. _ 33:
With's coram nomine keeping greater sway
Than a court blew-coat on St. George's day.
From these passages Nares concludes 'that some festive ceremony was
carried on at St. Paul's on St. George's day annually; that the court
attended; that the _blue-coats_, or attendants, of the courtiers,
were employed and authorised to keep order, and drive out refractory
persons; and that on this occasion it was proper for a knight to
officiate as _blue coat_ to some personage of higher rank'.
