As already mentioned, a very distinctive feature of this period, which lasted only four, or at the very most six decades, is the skirt of mail called “lamboys,” or in the language of the day, “bases,” which resembles a full gathered or plain petticoat, or kilt of laminated hoops, held together with “Almayne” rivets. A drawing is given of this kind of armour from an example in the author’s collection (Fig. 25), which is said to have come from an old castle in the Tyrol into the family from whom he obtained it. The suit could only be traced back some seventy or eighty years. Armour with long skirts was current during the reign of Henry VI., but this description differed from the “bases” of the reign of Henry VIII. in the plates being flexible in a vertical direction; capable, as Viscount Dillon says in Archæologia, vol. li., p. 258, of being lifted up like a Venetian blind. As shown by the fine suit with lamboys or bases, by Conrad Seusenhofer, in the Tower of London, which will be commented on somewhat later in these pages, it is obvious that this style of armour was to the fore during the later years of Maximilian’s reign, but it became more de rigueur in that of his successor. The general pose of the suit (Fig. 25) is excellent and characteristic. The armet is fluted and “Maximilian” in three pieces, and is a most perfect specimen and graceful in outline. There is a small comb on the crown-piece, and a plume-socket. The visor moves on rosettes of nine petals, and it projects sharply forward to a point, the front consisting of four deeply indented bevels, with two broad lights above them, and two smaller slits in each bevel. There is a spring-catch for closing the visor. The bevor is attachable to the crown-piece by a similar catch. The helmet has a collar of three lames, and weighs five pounds. It is almost identical in form with one catalogued No. 47 among the helmets exhibited at the rooms of the Royal Archæological Institute in July 1880. The date given is 1515–30. In all probability the helmet on Fig. 25 was made earlier than the date fixed upon for the suit, and perhaps was not worn with it. The cuirass has a tapul with a projection near the base, like the “peascod,” and this feature seems at first to be indicative of a rather later date than 1550–60. The same form is present, however, on a suit with lamboys in the Vienna collection, made by Mathaus Frauenpreis of Augsburg in 1550. This armour, like the one in the author’s collection, is for fighting on foot. The lamboys in Fig. 25 consist of nine lames, the lowest much broader than the others, with a band studded with rivets for an inner lining, terminating with an ornamental string-like piping. These skirts are attached to the lower rim of the cuirass by sliding adjustable screws, and each lame is provided with a similar screw on both sides for attaching the back and front portions together. The back of the lamboys is the same as the front. These sliding rivets are believed to be the “Almayne” rivets so often referred to in inventories of the reign of Henry VIII. They are present also on the fine suit with lamboys in the Tower, made by Conrad Seusenhofer of Innsbruck for Henry VIII. The Tower suit is earlier than the one under discussion, has pikeguards, and the “base” has a brass border, which was doubtless once gilded or silvered. The pauldrons of the author’s suit are very large, and of equal size both back and front, while the rerebrace is freely laminated. The coudières are cup-formed, and go nearly round the elbow joints. The heart-shaped guards, the tops of the pauldrons, and bottom of the rerebrace are enriched by a small piping. The gauntlets are “mitten,” quite complete, and of fine workmanship. The cuffs have their upper edges adorned with a similar piping to that on the other pieces, and the same design is repeated at the base of the last finger plate. Over the knuckles is a bold twisted piping, and the laminated plates over the back of the hand number five above the ridge, while those below are the same in number. The gauntlet is of the type prevailing about 1535–40. The cuisses and jambs have a ridge running down to the sollerets, while the genouillières are ornamented with a double bevel in the centre. The knee-guard is oval, and bevelled in the centre. The sollerets are small, and of the “bec-de-cane” type.