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 on the brasses and effigies of that period. Often the standard of chain mail, which was worn like a small tippet with a reinforced stiff collar around the neck, was edged with brass links riveted with iron. The fullness in the mail that extends over the shoulder is obtained by gusseting, the lower edge of the mail being made into four escallops like one half of a hexagon with concave sides. The ends of the collar were either strapped together at the back or fastened by a hinge with a movable pin. We illustrate three examples:—the first (Fig. 523), a remarkably fine standard in the Artillery Museum, Rotunda, Woolwich, where the actual collar of reinforced mail is of unusual depth; the second (Fig. 524), formerly in the Roach Smith Collection, now in the British Museum, and originally found near Thames side; the third (Fig. 525), a specimen in the collection of Mr. W. H. Fenton, found in Worship Street, and of rather later date than the two others mentioned.

Early XVth century. Collection: Author



As plate armour became the vogue in the early part of the XVth century, chain mail more than ever became an auxiliary defence of the fighter; though in countries more distant from the centre of civilization it long remained the principal one. In Hungary, Poland, Russia, and in semi-civilized states, for example, it was the sole armament till well into the XVIIth century. The