Writing about 1467, he
says of his class that they were "clothed in a long robe, priest-like,
with a furred cape about the shoulders; and therefrom a hood with two
labels, such as Doctors use to wear in certain Universities, with the
above-described quoyf." The "long robe"--the proverbial emblem of the
legal profession--evidently corresponds with the cassock, the "furred
cape" to the tippet, and the "labels" probably belonged, not, as
Fortescue seems to intimate, to the hood, but were rather the strings of
the coif, which were the attribute of Doctors of Laws. Here we have all
the marks of graduation--that is, the process necessary for the lawful
exercise of a learned calling--and graduation might be equally
accomplished in the schools of Oxford and Cambridge and the Inns of
Court.
As regards the remainder of his dress, the Serjeant-at-Law might pass
for a Master of Arts or a Bachelor of Divinity. The distinguishing
feature is the coif, and, wherever it is discovered, it may be safely
accepted as a criterion. Thus in Gosfield Church, Essex, there is an
interesting brass of Thomas Rolf (d. 1440), who is represented as
wearing a cassock, sleeved tabard, tippet, hood, and coif. The
last-mentioned forms a circle round the head, and attached to it are two
loops or lappets, which appear below the hood. Boutell has figured this
brass, which he states to be that of a serjeant-at-law. The inscription,
which has the words _legi professus_, already pointed to that
conclusion, Rolf being devoted to law, as, under the circumstances, he
might have been devoted to religion.
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