Fig. 20.Fig. 21.Fig. 22.Fig. 23.Fig. 24.
Fig. 20.Fig. 21.Fig. 22.Fig. 23.Fig. 24.
Fig. 20.
Fig. 21.
Fig. 22.Fig. 23.
Fig. 24.
One would think, from their clumsy appearance (Fig.16), that it must be rather awkward work to walk in them, but the peasants do not seem to find it so, andeven indulge in the “light fantastic” with considerable grace and freedom of motion.
Their chief objection, however, is the noise they make. Having lived for some time in the close vicinity of a public school in Brittany, where some one or two hundred children were in daily attendance, wearing these wooden sabots, I have a very distinct recollection of the din and clatter these little ones would make, as they raced each other down the hill on their release from school. Not many years ago an attempt was made to introduce wooden shoes into the United States, but it met with so little success that its projectors were forced to abandon the scheme.
In Venice we find that the custom in olden times was to have the shoes of the women mounted very high, so as to make walking as difficult as possible. By this means jealous husbands thought they would be able to keep their wives at home; but the plan did not succeed very well, I believe.
Figs.17 and 18show the Venetian shoes of this period, the sixteenth century. The first one, of white leather, is cut out in a delicate lace-work pattern, furnished with a broad sole, and would have been comfortable enough, were it not for its high support.