"The eighteenth century saw a fad among the rich of hiring someone to personify melancholy in their estate parks. The person was usually instructed to dress like a hermit, to refrain from cutting his hair or nails, and to live in a picturesque grotto provided by the employer. When hermits were scarce, statuary or clockwork figures were used instead."
- Alice W. Flaherty, The Midnight Disease, p.65
Image source here.
