Laborites, Tories & Wigs

In Britain's courts the awful majesty of the law is made visible by the spaniel-eared, full-bottomed wigs of the robed judges, and by the pigtailed wigs and billowing gowns of learned counsel. Last week, in a committee debate on Parliament's new Criminal Justice bill, Laborite Emrys Hughes launched a movement to unwig and unfrock Britain's men of law. "These medieval practices,"* he charged, "are out of keeping with modern courts." "The whole method," chimed in Communist Willie Gallacher, "is designed to create a feeling of fear and terror."

A hasty coalition of Laborites and Tories rushed to defend the wigs. Conservative Edward Percy Smith said: "Without their official wigs and gowns, [judges] look very odd and ordinary." Laborite Hector Hughes agreed: "I believe," he said, "Mr. Emrys Hughes is seeking to reduce people to dull sartorial drabness."

On the final vote, wigs won, 15 to 4.

*Only the gowns are medieval. Wigs first became fashionable in Europe in 1624, when King Louis XIII of France hid his premature baldness under a mop of false hair. For years afterward Britain's professional men continued to wear wigs that marked them as doctor, lawyer, soldier or clergyman. Today, Britain's judges and lawyers, the Speaker of the House of Commons, the clerks of Parliament and the Lord Chancellor all wear wigs on duty.

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