20 HISTORY OF LAOE. The armorial shield of the family, coronets, monograms, the beasts of the Apocalypse, with fleurs-de-lys, hearts, &c., for the most part adorned those pieces destined for the use of the church. If, on the other hand, intended for a pall, death’s-heads, cross- bones, and tears, with the sacramental cup, left no doubt of its destination. As late as the year 1850, a splendid cutwork pall still covered the coffins of the fisher tribe when borne in procession through the streets of Dieppe, a votive offering, worked by the hands of some lady saved from shipwreck, and presented as a memorial of her gratitude. In 1866, when present at a peasant’s wedding in the church of St.-Lo (Departement de la Manche), the author observed that the “ toile d’honneur,” which is always held extended over the heads of the married pair while the priest pronounces the blessing, was of the finest cutwork, trimmed with lace. Both in the north and in the south of Europe the art still lingers on. Swedish housewives pierce and stitch the holiday collars of their husbands and sons; and careful ladies, drawing the threads of the fine linen sheets destined for the “ guest-chamber,” produce an ornament of geometric design. Scarce twenty years since an expiring relic of this art might be sometimes seen on the white smock-frock of the English labourer, which, independent of elaborate stitching, was enriched with an insertion of cutwork, running from the collar to the shoulder crossways, like that we see decorating the surplices of the sixteenth century.