THE MAN IN THE WOOLLY CAP

He may be wearing a knitted tea-cosy, but archaeologists confirm that this gentleman could prove the most Welsh of icons.  He's wearing a Monmouth Cap. 

From Edward IV to Elizabeth I, the woolly hat played its role in history.  In 1571, a statute required that (with aristocratic exceptions) all over six years old should 'wear upon the Sabbath & Holydays, one cap of wool knit, thicked and dressed in England, upon forfeiture of 3s 4d.'  As early as 1449 a major 'cappers' industry flourished in Monmouth, keeping heads warm & legally dressed.

Literary clues could throw light on our man's trade.  Captain Fluellen, Shakespeare's Welshman at Agincourt, celebrated his Welsh soldiers wearing leeks in their Monmouth caps.  They appear to be standard issue for soldiers. There survives from 1627 an order for 'six thousand suites complete for land soldiers'.  Fighters were to be kitted out with 'cassocks, hose, shoes, stockings, shirts, bands and Monmouth caps'.  

No proof as yet that our man is a soldier.  But further conservation might just unravel the puzzle.