IRISH ARTS REVIEW

THE ULSTER COAT

Belfast certainly rarely challenged London or Paris in the province of

costume design. Traditionally the dour Ulsterman has seldom been interested in the flippancies of dress-style and, as a result, few fashions have originated in this corner of the kingdom. One of the exceptions is the "Ballykilbeg suit"

made and sold by James R. McKee of Donegall Street in the late 1860s, priced at three guineas. In a notice taken in the Belfast News-Letter of 9 Dec. 1868, the merchant clothier announces that:

"I have this day had the honour of receiving an order from WILLIAM JOHNSTON, ESQ., M.P., Ballykilbeg, for one of the above suits, made to

measure." It appears that this singular vestment

was named after that famous and con troversial Orangeman who had, in the eyes of his followers, won glory in

Bangor that summer by defying a Government ban on Orange parades. It was certainly a cute business angle; there were many loyal brethren in the province only too willing to display solidarity with their leader's cause by sporting his cloth.

Apart from this purely local - and political - tailoring phenomenon, the north of Ireland can boast one original item that brought its clothing trade an

unprecedented fame and reputation. This was the famous Belfast overcoat, the "best storm defier ever produced",

which caused the word "Ulster" accord ing to one advertisement, to be "import ed into every language in the civilised

world." Exceedingly popular throughout the

Empire and in America during the last two decades of Victoria's reign and into the turn of the century, the Tatler and

Cutter went so far as to suggest in 1897 that "no gentleman's wardrobe is complete without an ulster." It has been

glimpsed a hundred times in films set in fog-bound London, usually muffling a

waiting cab-driver or even decked betimes the shoulders of the great Holmes himself. The coat was designed, introduced and sold world-wide by

McGee & Co., of 30-34 High Street, Belfast.

Listed in the mid-century directories as "Tailors, clothiers and general outfit

ters, woollen drapers, hatters, robe and gown makers, Masonic jewellers, etc.", the firm had aspired to a high-class

clientele since its establishment in 1842 by John Getty McGee. Born in Antrim in 1816, McGee arrived as a young man intent on setting up a fashionable tailor ing business in early Victorian Belfast. A stickler for good craftsmanship and quality cloths, his shop quickly attracted the right kind of customers; soon the

McGee cut became a conversation piece for the young dandies and beaux-about town. A year after opening he was able to land the agency in the north of Ireland for Hyam and Co.'s "Pantechneteca" tailoring emporium of Gracechurch Street, London. For many years there after McGee would use this hybrid word (it meant roughly "high-class bazaar") as his trade-mark. Doubtless the cultured classes he was out to attract would have appreciated such a classical designation. Anyway, it proved unusual and successful enough to be

copied, for John Arnold, another tailor a few doors down, decided to follow suit and christened his establishment the "Heimatemporion." McGee was selling a wide range of

goods from the start - frock, dress and riding coats, silk waistcoats, French velvets and fancy satins - and servants' liveries. Determined not to be seen doing things by half measure, he imported a French tailor to run his trousering department and employed a

London hatter. In fact in 1848 he opened a hat warehouse in Donegall Place where he offered for sale, inter alia, "the very best satin hat at seven florins and a half." Already he had an eye to innovation and in 1886 advert ised patent weatherproof Jerry hats "impervious alike to grease and rain and got up in an entirely new style." Four years after opening his High Street doors he was known well enough to merit editorials in the provincial news papers; witness the following from the Downpatrick Recorder of 2 December 1848:

"We know of no establishment in this line of business where a cheaper,

more elegant or a more durable article of dress can be purchased than in the emporium of this spirited firm."

Although the later addition of the "ulster" to the firm's stock-in-trade would make for it an international fame, business was already so satisfact ory that John could afford to reside at "Spafield," a villa in Holywood, then a genteel and fashionable resort. He could also afford to have printed, in the 1840s and 50s pictorial Pantechneteca

Almanacs, "curious illuminated pro ductions" which he gave away gratis to his patrons. Full of "gilt and gaudy" colours and devices they presented "a fanciful appearance", so much so that they attracted reviews in the local press.

During the first half of the nine teenth century the greatcoat or surtout

was the main item of a man's ward robe. Long, full, swinging loosely from the shoulders and often with several overlapping collars or capes, it was for long the required town dress, whatever the occasion or season. Especially suit able for travelling, it was nevertheless heavy and cumbersome; to wear this voluminous garment confidently and with ease took a certain amount of practice. Mid-century, however, was to

Jack McCoy, Local Studies Librarian for the South Eastern Education and Library Board,

Ballynahinch, Co. Down, relates the history of the garment which

made "Ulster" a household word.

p A 0NnE A L

49 O.ON C .. it! z7cC 42

JOHN C. M'CEE & Co., M1ERCHANT CLOTHIERS,

EMBROIDERED VEST MANUFACTURERS, RCBE ANlD GOWF} MAKERS,

(For the Pupit, tae Bar, or the Colkge,)

TAILORS, BY APPOINTMENT,

TI '1'H E QUEEN, H.R.H. PRINCE ALBERT, TIIE LORD LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND,

63eiteral 0ut-litters lo all parts of ike (-Iobt.

PANTE CHNETHECA, 46 & 48 HIGH STREET, BELFAST.

1;ooka if Prices, coxtoixing oirectio.sfor AFeaOures; also Patew

of Neo Materiah, forwarded Grotiu on application.

McGee and Co.'s first premises, before their removal to 30-34, High Street.

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A Ladies' ulster with hood Courtesy of Faber & Faber.

'0' 0

00

The classic caped ulster, circa 1876. Courtesy of Faber & Faber.

Note ticket pocket above the cuff.

see a move away from the all-purpose, all-weather greatcoat towards specializa tion and variety. The new Chesterfield

Overcoat, for example, and the Albert, light, firm and elegant, were ideal for

wearing to the club. Included in this new generation of fashion experiment ers was John McGee who had set himself the task of designing a modern travell ing coat, still as weatherproof as the old surtout, but with a more up-to-date line.

A decade or so before the "ulster" was launched, McGee was already specializ ing in overcoats, advertising in 1852 the "largest stock of winter overcoats in the north of Ireland", some of Irish frieze, and some patent india rubber water proof coats and capes. The previous year, what must have been a shadowy forerunner of the "ulster" was shown as one of the Irish contributions to the

Great Exhibition in London. Described in the Downpatrick Recorder of 19 April 1851 it constituted "an Irish gentle

man's fine frieze wrapper, lined with rich watered tabinet." Tabinet is a

watered fabric of silk and wool resembl ing poplin and, according to the Oxford

English Dictionary, "chiefly associated with Ireland."

After a dozen years or more of reworked and abandoned patterns,

McGee at a last, in 1866, came up with a garment to his satisfaction; following the general trend at the time, his creation was fitted close at the chest, buttoned down the front and fell to

either three-quarters length, or fully to the ankles. It could be single or double breasted. The first versions of the

McGee "travelling wrap" were fitted with a hood but later sported an impressive shoulder cape instead.

Another characteristic of the Belfast coat was the large number of pockets - no doubt to make up for the loss of concealment space under the loose folds of the greatcoat - including a handy little leather ticket pouch above the left cuff. Although certainly of less generous proportions than the surtout it replaced, the garment was still, by our standards, bulky. Made of rugged frieze cloths it was invariably belted although later and lighter models were to retain only a half-belt at the back. In many ways it was a typical north of Ireland product, plain, serviceable and common sense, with few frills, although as the years passed the original design would be modified here and there to accom modate the shifting requirements of fashion. McGee called his overcoat "the ulster" and no one was more surprised than he at the speed and enthusiasm

with which it caught on. Within a few years of its introduction the modest High Street premises - whose lintel exhibited an impressive scroll device - was forced to expand into 26?2 High Street; this extra address was used simply as the "Ulster Coat Warehouse". From 1870 onwards the firm made a point of promoting itself, not just as tailors, but as "inventors and sole

makers of the Ulster Coat", a title it proudly held in its trade advertise ments for the next sixty years.

Some of the earliest "'big-time" advertisements for the "Ulster Coat Overcoat" were run in the Belfast news

papers in the winter of 1870. "Made of best Irish frieze and perfectly water proof' it was "invaluable for travelling or driving to the covert side." Priced at three and a half guineas or five guineas

with Windermere lining, it was obviously fashioned for the professional well-to do. These same advertisements carried the following testimonial from W. Eyre

M. Shaw of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, Watling Street, London, dated 4 November 1868, a mere two years after the coat's introduction:

"I never gave a testimonial about any thing in my life before, but I cannot refuse your request. The 'Ulster' Coat is, without exception, the best driving

Coat I ever possessed. It is quite imper vious to wind and rain; and, even in the present weather, I come home warm and comfortable every day, although I drive some four or five hours at least

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IRISH ARTS REVIEW

THE ULSTER COAT

every time I go out. Congratulating you on your business success, I am, Sirs, yours truly. . ."

Success was so swift and total that, although designed originally as male attire, there was soon a clamouring for a ladies' model. And so, early in the 1870's, an ulster for fashionable gentle

women was on the market, caped (or hooded) and tightly belted in the usual way, but trained slightly along the ground, like the skirts of the time. There was even the hint of a bustle. Compared with the plainness of the man's garment, the feminine version could be quite ornate, with as many as five capes lined, for example, with blue and gold checked satin. The bodice

which was shaped to the figure could be ornamented with coloured buttons.

McGee is discovered advertising his "ladies" ulster coat at reduced prices in the local newspapers during the winter of 1878.

The designers describe their product as follows in a trade notice of 1888:

"made to the ankles; lined with the softest woollen texture; trebly sewed; trebly stayed in every part; the innumer able pockets of wash leather; velvet collar; contracting sleeve inventions; and many other characteristics intro duced by the original makers."

Even at this early stage, the Belfast design was being widely copied, a fact

with which the originators make us familiar at every opportunity:

"since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, it is not surprising to learn that (the garment) has been imitated and pirated by every tailor in the world. Be that as it may, the design is their (McGee's) property and invention and to them its introduction is originally due."

McGee's earliest imitator was Simpson and Marshall of Castle Place who, a

matter of months after the ulster was

released, were advertising "our NEW TRAVELLING COAT which is quite novel in design and better adapted for travelling than any previously worn."

Despite the claims to novelty and superiority, it was nothing more nor less than a straight copy.

John G. McGee the innovative found er and proprietor died in December 1883 on board the Cunard steamer Servia en route from New York. Ailing for some time, he had been pressed to

take a sea-trip for the sake of his health. He had always been noted for his involvement in civic and Church of Ireland affairs and died at the age of sixty-seven, one of the city's most respected citizens. His greatest source of pride was not that persons of worth from Viceroys downwards beat a regular path to his doors, but that he had intro duced a new word - with derivatives -

to the dictionaries. Thus Chambers, for example, enters "ulster" with the defini tion "a long loose overcoat". A light version of the garment is an "ulster ette". The cloth used to make it is known as "ulstering" and to be snugly cloaked in one's travelling wrap is to be - what else? - "ulstered".

The outfitters was carried on by John G. McGee's eldest son James, not only an able businessman but a great devourer of books. The breadth of his knowledge and his intimacy with the latest novels was the unfailing marvel of his customers with whom he delighted in holding literary discourse. Under his astute guidance McGee & Co. continued to flourish and in 1899 was removed to

more modern and spacious premises in

the Scottish Provident Buildings at

Donegall Square West, Belfast. James' residence was the splendid

"Woodville", Hill Street, Holywood, itself a reflection of the firm's health and profitability. It is fair to say that the 1880's and 1890's saw the influence and prestige of McGee & Co. at full tide. The Province's woollen manufacturers were doing particularly well during these decades, providing an unceasing supply of good cloths. All the major Belfast stores are discovered publicizing

McGee's famous ware in the run-ups to Christmas. Alexander Orr Reid & Co., of North Street were offering "stylish cape ulsters"; J. Robb & Co. of Castle Place and Lombard Street had in stock "children's reefers, jackets and ulsters in

the different classes of material, at all prices", and Arnott & Co. of High Street were drawing especial attention to their "ulsters and dolman ulsters."

The following review of the firm's standing published in 1891 bears empha tic witness - however over-zealous the rhetoric - to the coats by now inter national "coverage" and popularity:

"These coats have been turned out

by the firm in endless numbers, and diverse styles, and to suit every taste and requirement. They have gained universal patronage in America, in India, amid the snows of Russia, in

Turkey, and indeed in every land where a warm and waterproof wrapper is a desideratum. In no place has their popularity been more marked than in the United Kingdom, whose humid and varying climate, and chill night airs, are inimical often to life itself. Hundreds of voluntary testimonials bear witness to the wonderful services rendered by this unequalled wrapper to officers on campaign, special war correspondents, sea-going travellers, and all sorts and conditions of racing, coursing, yacht ing, and hunting men."

As intimated previously, McGee & Co. prided themselves on being a "gentlemen's outfitters"; the same re view describes them as

"excellently appointed for carrying on the high-class trade to which alone they confine themselves."

They were more than keen to publi cize the patronage they were graced

with by the elevated sectors of society. The catalogue of distinguished clients below, which includes a royal personage, makes splendid reading, if reminiscent at times of Boys Ow Paper:

"Captain E.M. Shaw, well known in

-%.,,ST E Rco

"ULSTER" OVERCOAT

THE ORIGINAL IRISH FRIEZE

DRIVINC AND TRAVELLINC WRAP. P'attcrms of :\aeil,andl all Isrcin for Self -Mcasureme-- : ;-h

1Ittrtt Cataie,g-l, f-)r ardlcd cn, ,pIpli,azi,n-.

M'GEE & CO., BELFAST, IRELAND.

A McGee advertisement for the ulster coat.

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IRISH ARTS REVIEW

THE ULSTER COAT

In every commtanlty you will find young nmen who *t3nil ar-itt trotI tie crowtl- On tVii4 1 ;(ue at- Mfter nCvrftOAts !f 4 .ti er ebrc:,i !1y f.Ating for >'oung mtn's well dresscrl young fellows who. beeatise of the sen. ct,e or,.oThty '2 -hoalua!il of 41 I.X t ayu We A!"o al s t eoti. t t . t U. e r;svge 'A c.'4e et r t?:eir wearing apparel. fairly rraldiate stnocees. Those ;re t !,e .:s wi:o m.ko a i.,t'e -.:t v a at, le ti ni-n r, . : tt to V11'Jr. tl0 ,, I in tt.r tc. and forceiall iM:rejsion when entering business life-the k' zl ltata .a: - to and attr.t W- 1.-ri I ct,.l t ho -an etacdy rak;fe -i t actf ty selr,tion. !sm,:C e r r 5 aubstantiAl business men. if, tru::o: c ii arl lAarks t-I fk 0! hit A

TIIA7I.E D .11 - P 1 (l1A.01)l-.%1 /,y

III -

Ia II, e.t,sgt utig. By'y rse le. I

WA.L1JlY and seytte. l

)w d~ , per ce't

All Around Belted PopularPatch Attractise Double Breasted Popular Double Breasted Our Best Ulsterette-Favorite Pocket Ulaterette. Ulsterette. Belted Ulsterette. Form Fitting Model.

457r4726 Brawn Heat*. 457P4734-Oxford Cray. 4SI54732-Brown sncl Blue hieather. 4S4744-Broewn Heather. 44729 -Gree-n Hiather. 4674?735-Autumn 4574733-Green i 45r474S-Green 4SF4730-D lq

Brown. $19.95 lieather. $28.50 i $18.50 0 D $Gr3y. 36.50 )D Besntet'.rre. .s , 'c IC Br!r?,. .- T:c nt Alt N:goro-ets s>bX ;' f 2': H;~~~~~ii"'- t: 'F j . s st;<S..; : *-; -; ,--e'f 'ci ': r :a >.;-tt teBrt?eas:;'- f>-.1a

! s i~~~

- ; - - - ^ ; ._ - inch. chs 1t_ measure.; ji -82

* ; i s ;; ~~~~~~~~~~~~- e - _ .- .,. . * - - - l - s,n chst meanur e tal- r

I ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~r a ennnrcan

{~~~IZ.3 - SIV 3* to ; :t o. l . e,.. -_ ; r . t . - to 4 I'' ' ' t' ' inchs F_.< n;te het m e ancsre;q t '

\tK..chstentessuee State cheet men- cheet m-easre ice c}'rt mes-^urei t "ern aetrs-t. A:^'-ad SEARS. R0EBUCK&5C0. 393 enocerceet cc. .; -; tc2.O.C 1i. .' ta'en- acre nest . . . . . . . . . . .......______________________________;.-;_'_-,__________,_________;_. .

An advertisement for the lighter "ulsterette". from Sears, Roebuck and Co.'s New York catalogue of 1921.

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IRISH ARTS REVIEW

THE ULSTER COAT

connection with the London Fire Brigade, the Lancet, Bailey's Magazine, Sir Louis Cavagnari, Colonel Allin, A.D.C. to Baker Pasha, Major Higginson, Count Batthyany, Sir William Elliott, the Rev. Mr. Spurgeon, Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar, Capt. the Hon. Robert Neville Lawley, and a host of other well-known personages, who have tested it in all climates and under every condition, are unanimous in the praise of McGee & Co.'s 'Ulster.' One gentle man used it for twelve months as a blanket, in the Rocky Mountains, and after seven years' wear, finds it "as good as new". Another had sat in it, in the saddle, from dawn to dark, under heavy rain, "without a drop penetrating", and Sir P. Louis Cavagnari lay in it all night, in a pool of rainwater, d'uring his service in India, "without knowing anything of it" till the morning, when, though the coat was heavier, "it had not allowed the water to penetrate." Medical men, too, on night duty, find it an indispens able garment, and are loud, even eloquent, in its praise. We need not add another word, except to notice the commendable fact that the material is Irish frieze, and so the whole is in every respect an Irish speciality."

And so, we learn that the great ulster could double most conveniently as sleeping-bag or groundsheet; doubtless the "treble-sewing" had a say in the

matter. By the end of the first decade of the

century, although the ulster-style coat was still quite in vogue, the fortunes of McGee & Co. began to wane notice ably. James had died in 1905 and the subsequent management seems to have been complacent rather than dynamic. As a result, the mantle of tailoring pre eminence in the town passed to the shoulders of Wj. Marshall & Co., who lost no time flaunting it for all it was

worth. In the Belfast newspapers of 1910 we read that this concern claimed to be

"long known as one of the leading fashionable tailors in the city, employ ing a cutter of recognized ability and the best society workmen."

Sited at 39, High Street, just a few doors from McGee's earlier premises, they promoted themselves unabashedly as the "Ulster Overcoat House" and "sole makers of the 'Pluventus' Irish frieze Ulster coat." Not only that but

they were tailors "by Royal Warrants of Appointment

to His Late Majesty King Edward VII, and His Majesty King George V; also patronized by the Earl of Aberdeen, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and Earl Dudley, the late Governor-General of Australia."

The registered "Pluventus" ulster, which was their speciality, they described as

"up-to-date.. .waterproofed by a special process and lined with blanket or camel fleece lining (which) have proved a great boon to many of the gentry and professional men of Ireland, as well as in other parts of the world,

who have much travelling in wet and cold weather by car, motor, or rail."

It all seems like a remake of the original story, but under a different name.

McGee's hit back at the "Pluventus" with a new "Slieve Donard" ulster and could boast, by the 1920s "appointment to His Grace the Governor of Northern Ireland" - but it was a second best to royal patronage. McGee's was obviously

moving into eclipse. It is interesting to read that the master tailor, T.H.

Holding, editor of The London Tailor and The Ladies' Cutter, writing in 1902, confirmed that the popularity of the

ulster had already passed its zenith (besides giving a couturier's estimation of the apparel):

"It is important that every tailor should be able to cut properly a really stylish Ulster. It is true he may only

make a few in the season, for the reason that there are so many competitive coats now in use, and in the next place because one of these coats lasts a man a lifetime, and again in the third place they are not - thanks to lighter makes of overcoats - so much in demand as they were when Magee, of Belfast, first introduced them, now thirty-six years ago.

Many of us remember the time when every country gentleman must have one of these wardrobes - if one may call it so, for it weighed half-a-dozen suits - in frieze, and the -more it curled, and the thicker and heavier it was, the better. I have seen linings almost as thick as the outside put in, until these coats have weighed nearly two stone. [ed. 28 Ibs]

Irish frieze is a grand material for overcoats, but, milled up to the thickest possible pitch, made into a heavy and extravagantly big coat lined in heavy tweed also inside, brings it to a weight that no man could do anything in except sit still."

The ulster has both added to the English language and been included in its literature. Sherlock Holmes - more -usually associated with the Inverness cape. - nevertheless took recourse to the Irish frieze when the season demand ed it. As the sleuth and his companion stepped out, for example, to investigate the case of the Blue Carbuncle, Watson recounts that

"It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped cravats about our throats."

Ironically, literature also records the Victorian era's most infamous criminal as favouring the Belfast wrap. Marie Belloc-Lowndes' classic novel, The Lodger (1913) has Jack the Ripper stalk ing the gas-lit alleys of Whitechapel swa thed in an ulster. In the 20th Century Fox film of the book, made in 1944 and starring Merle Oberon and with Laird Cregar as the villain of the piece, we see the mysterious lodger burning his caped overcoat in the fireplace after it had become bespattered with blood during one of his - as he weakly explained to his landlady - "pathological experi

Laird Cregar as Jack the Ripper in a caped ulster.

Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox.

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IRISH ARTS REVIEW

THE ULSTER COAT

ments." It was altogether a rather fitting garment in which to dress the Ripper; its massiveness afforded a degree of anonymity and its folds - and innumer able pockets - easy concealment for the instruments of his grisly practice.

The coat receives an honourable mention too in James Joyce's Dubliners, first published in 1914. In the story 'Grace,' we find Mr. Power, "a tall agile

gentleman of fair complexion, wearing a long yellow ulster, (coming) from the far end of the bar," to assist a Mr.

Kernan who had fallen down drunk in the lavatory of a public house. In all likelihood it is an "innocent" reference, but certain critics - particularly American - remain unconvinced that such a meti culous wordsmith as Joyce would have used the term without hinting at a deeper meaning. Richard M. Kain, of the University of Louisville, for example, notes in his critical analysis of the story (James Joyce's Dubliners, ed. by Clive

Hart, Faber & Faber, 1969) that Mr. Power works for the English in the Constabulary Office. That being the case, he suggests that there is a significance both in the man's name and in the fact that he is wearing an "ulster", a word loaded with political import. Other critics have drawn atten tion to the atmosphere of "shabby gentility" prevalent throughout the story; it is appropriate therefore that an ulster - a gentleman's garment - should be worn in this context, and also, that it should be yellow - the colour of decay.

The popularity of the garment was given an extra lease of life - as revealed by W.J. Marshall's advertisement seen above - by the arrival of the private motor car. Given the draughty and unprotected nature of the early auto mobiles, a snug wind-cheating water proof for driver and passenger alike was essential; it became for a time the ideal car-coat. We read, for instance, in the

Wind in the Willows how Mr. Toad, that irrepressible motoring fanatic, was arrayed in all the required parapher nalia:

"goggles, cap, gaiters and enormous overcoat."

As he was an Edwardian gentleman, as well as a motorist, one could make a safe bet as to the make of the overcoat.

The advent of the enclosed saloon car, however, soon removed the need for such cumbersome wear, and with it,

an important market. The ulster had by now had its day. A brief revival in the 1930s, of large, square-shouldered coats for men did little to check the falling out of fashion of the Irish mantle. It was during this period that McGee's finally and tellingly dropped their "inventors" title and chose instead to promote themselves as "naval and military tailors", a profitable line they had developed during the First World War. They would not repeat the success in the second war though, for, unable to stem their decline, they folded in 1940. The remnants of the business were bought over by R.A.Erskine the last surviving director, and refloated under the new trade-name "McGee & Co. (1940) Ltd." Removed to the less central premises of 34, Arthur Street, the firm struggled on for another decade in name only. Their reputation, little remembered now, or realized at all by a different generation, had largely passed away.

The business which had started to trade under the young Queen Victoria and had won worldwide fame for itself and brought honour to its native city was unable to reach into a seventh reign. By the time of the present sovereign's coronation, the shutters had gone up for good.

Little tangible remains today of McGee & Co. and their heritage. Their various addresses bear no traces to suggest that they had ever been. James McGee's salubriously positioned "Woodville", once elegantly ringed with trees, has long since been bull dozed; the site was purchased for the erection of a new primary school, opened in 1954.

Of the ulsters themselves, very few have been preserved in historic dress collections. As they were much prized at the time by their owners - and expensive - they were worn out rather than relinquished for exhibition. Neither the Victoria and Albert Museum,

Kensington, nor - ironically - the Ulster Museum, retain an example of McGee's celebrated cut.

Jack McCoy

I wish to acknowledge the assistance of Elizabeth McCrum of the Department of Art, The Ulster Museum and Avril Hart of the Department of Textiles and Dress, The Victoria and Albert Museum. Thanks are due also to the British Film Institute for supplying the still from The Lodger.

SOURCES

Penelope Byrde, The Male Image, London, Batsford, 1979 C.W. and P.E. Cunnington, A Dictionary of English Costume, 900-1900, London, A. and C.

Black, 1968.

C.W. and P.E. Cunnington, Handbook of English Costume in the nineteenth century, Third edition, London, Faber, 1973. Death of Mr. John G. McGee, Belfast Newsletter,

14 December 1883. T.H. Holding, Coat cutting, Fourth edition, London, T.H. Holding, 1902. T.H. Holding, The Coat Cutter, 1902, gives patterns for double-breasted and single-breasted ulsters, and instructions for their assembly. Industries of Ireland, London, Historical Publish

ing Co., 1891.

The man who put Ulster in the dictionary, Belfast

Telegraph, 18 January, 1941.

John Montgomery, 1900: The End of an Era, London, George Allen & Unwin, 1968. The Ulster Coat, Belfast Newsletter, 2 October

1951.

The Belfast Newsletter, passim. The Downpatrick Recorder; passim.

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