Of hats and a song

 

Of hats and a song

Tricorne 

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

The tricorne was the normal military head covering in the seventeenth century until 1786, when it was phased out and replaced by the bicorne as a more practical garment. The tricorne had uncomfortable associations with the aristocracy, which were particularly unwelcome in France, following the French Revolution of 1789 to 1799. Furthermore, the bicorne could be carried under the arm, when it became standard etiquette for men to remove their hats indoors.

There are no songs about the bicorne, but there is one that refers specifically to the tricorne. It is a traditional German children’s song,

‘Mein Hut, der hat drei Ecken,
drei Ecken hat mein Hut.
Und hätt er nicht drei Ecken,
so wär’s auch nicht mein Hut.’

which in English translates as:

‘My hat, it has three corners,
Three corners has my hat,
And had it not three corners
It would not be my hat.’

and in Swedish as:

Min hatt, den har tre kanter,
tre kanter har min hatt.
och har den ej tre kanter,
så är det ej min hatt!

  It is sung to an old Neapolitan melody, and is popular in Sweden, Norway, and Portugal, as well as Germany and Britain, as an action song for young children.

The tune is known as a ‘wandering melody,’ and can be recognised in the works of composers, like Kreutzer, Chopin, Strauss the Elder, and Paganini.

Bicorne

 

Bicorne

Napoleon Bonaparte

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

I have been listening to the Wellington and Napoleon Quartet, by Simon Scarrow. It is historical fiction portraying the parallel lives and careers of Arthur Wellesley, (1^st Duke of Wellington) and Napoleon Bonaparte (1st Emperor of France) A small detail that jumped out at me last night was about the bicorne, and active duty.

The bicorne is a two-pointed hat, usually seen in portraits of Bonaparte, or Wellington, or Admiral Lord Nelson, during the time of the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815). 

Anne, Princess Royal

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

It is still seen in ceremonial dress, though usually in fore-and-aft fashion, whereas Bonaparte et al wore theirs side-to-side, or ‘athwart.’  

By the beginning of the nineteenth century, the practice of wearing bicornes fore-and-aft became more popular. It was more practical, because there was reduced wind resistance, when marching or riding, and a smaller likelihood of interference with weapons. There was also less chance of it being knocked off!

Napoleon famously continued to wear his athwart, while Wellington, according to the author Simon Scarrow, altered his from athwart to fore-and-aft to indicate that he was on active duty.