medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
The long tail on a hat is usually called a liripipe. However the photograph
which Diana's link calls up isn't of someone in a liripipe hat. It looks
more like pageant dress to me. Both the heads in the photograph are on
shields, but the one on the right looks almost like a genuine
head-and-shoulders portrait, whereas the fellow on the left in the
wyvern-adorned hat seems to emerge from a collar with ?feathers on it like a
heraldic motif of some sort. His high collar-band may be the braid at the
neck of a shirt (which wd fit with the early C16 date) or could be the
collar of a high-necked overgarment -- the line wd fit with C14 pourpoint or
doublet but it cd also be pageant dress.
I'd be inclined to feel there is some significance to the fact that the
wyvern/dragon is facing backwards, possibly connected with the foolish
person idea which Nancy Spies floats. The expression wd go with that too!
Pat
> Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2006 14:57:05 -0500
> From: Diana Wright <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: caps and wyverns
>
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> Susan's St. Levan's hats: http://nauplion.net/levan-hats.html
<snip>
> Susan Hoyle wrote:
>
>>
>> I have been staring at the carvings in St Levan church again (St Levan, west
>> Cornwall), and have found a pair of wyverns on a pew end (which I'm sure
>> have been noted before) -- and also a possible wyvern head at the end of a
>> long
>> cap on a young man's head.
>>
>> The number of wyverns in this little church (there are many on the
>> roodscreen) is leading me to wonder whether there is some direct heraldic
>> purpose in
>> its depiction. Does anyone know where I could look further into the
>> symbolism?
>>
>> Would someone tell me what to call a cap with a long tail (which could
>> double as a scarf?)?
>>
>> And is it common to put symbols at the end of these caps?
>>
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