Oooh a new catagory! Ornamental hermits have long been a fixation of mine, a bizarre late 18th century phenomenon stemming from the picturesque movement and tumbling into the gothic, a person's life became essentially a fad in gardening design. In her wonderful book "English Eccentrics" Edith Sitwell explores the topic and there were a few aristocrats who found the urge of a hermit an irresistable addition to their estate. They advertised for the post and the rules for anyone were quite strict - there was no sneaking into the main house for warmth and comfort once any visitors had left - these hermits were expected to lead the austere life that the hermits of a traditionally more spiritual bent chose to live throughout history. They might not have been expected to live on top of a pillar like the Stylites, or fast for great lengths of time, but they were taking on a contract, sometimes of many years, to give up the outside world. I've been thinking about why this might have appealed to the psyche of the time - the urges of employer and employee should in theory be very different, though I can't help but think that in the age where the Romantic imagination truly captured England that some noblemen could have been living out an unobtainable fancy of their own to escape the world when they employed a hermit on their estate.
But anyway, I digress - hermit of the day!
Going against the idea of answering an advertisement to placate a whim of the aristocracy this ornamental hermit was self-pronounced and lived a more sensibly comfortable life than the others for who austerity was an essential part of their employers' vision. This unnamed hermit lived in the village of Newton Burgsland in Leicestershire and justified his self-pronounced title as "true hermits throughout the ages, have been the abettors of freedom" (note - Edith Sitwell's "English Eccentrics"). He played the part appearance-wise with a long flowing beard (slightly less extreme than the aesthetic demands of ornamental hermit employers - they often insisted that hair and nails must never be cut!), but why he is hermit of the day is his numbered suits and hats all labeled with a particularly symbolism. As a fan of esoteric conceptual dressing I had to give him today's hermit crown. Here are a few examples of his outfit system:
1. Odd Fellows - without money, without friends, without credit.
5. Bellows - Blow the flames of freedown with God's sword of truth.
7. Helmet - Will fight for the birthright of conscience, love, life, property, and national independence.
13. Patent Teapot - To draw out the flavour of the tea best - Union and goodwill.
17. Wash-basin of reform - White-washed face and collyed heart.
20. Bee-Hive - The toils of industry are sweet; a wise people live at peace.
The shapes of his hats mirrored their symbolic meaning. He also had a good forrester outfit made from soft suede. His garden was also full of his questions, including three seats of self-enquiry bearing the questions "and I vile?", "am I a Hypocrite?" and "am I a Christian?". He had a strange desk in his garden he used as a personal pulpit and a kitchen walk decorated with representations of kitchen utensils. A true English Eccentric - I wonder sometimes if they are a dying breed...
