BAND

This part of the clerical dre , which is too well known to need description, is the only remaining relic of the ancient amice . (See Amice .) When the beard was worn, and when ruffs came in, this ancient part of clerical dre fell into disuse, but it was generally resumed after the Restoration. The band is not, however, an exclusively clerical vestment, being part of the full dre of the bar and of the universities, and of other bodies in which a more ancient habit is retained, as in some schools of old foundation. Formerly it was worn by graduates, and even under-graduates, at the universities; nor was the custom altogether extinct within memory. It is still worn by the scholars at Winchester, ., and was anciently worn with the surplice by lay vicars, singing men, and sometimes by parish clerks.