Byeplay says of Peregrine, the
leading comic character:
He has got into our tiring-house amongst us,
And ta'en a strict survey of all our properties,
Our statues and our images of gods,
Our planets and our constellations,
Our giants, monsters, furies, beasts, and bugbears,
Our helmets, shields, and vizors, hairs and beards.
With the Restoration wigs came into general wear, and gradually the
beards and moustaches, which had literally flourished so remarkably
from the time of Elizabeth, were yielded to the razor. At this period
theatrical costume was simply regulated by the prevailing fashions,
and made no pretensions to historical truth or antiquarian
correctness. The actors appeared upon all occasions in the enormous
perukes that were introduced in the reign of Charles II., and
continued in vogue until 1720. The flowing flaxen wigs assumed by
Booth, Wilks, Cibber, and others, were said to cost some forty
guineas each. "Till within these twenty-five years," writes Tom Davies
in 1784, "our Tamberlanes and Catos had as much hair on their heads as
our judges on the bench.
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