'What's become of all the _gold_
Used to hang and brush their bosoms'--

not 'all the blue' or 'all the brown,' though some of us, it is true,
are condemned to wear our hair brown or blue-black. But such are only
unhappy exceptions. Yellow or gold is the rule. The bravest men and the
fairest women have had golden hair, and, we may add, in reference to
another distinction of the colour we are celebrating, golden hearts.
Hair at the present time is doing its best to conform to its normal
conditions of colour. Numerous instances might be adduced of its
changing from black to gold, in obedience to chemical law. 'Peroxide of
hydrogen!' says the cynic. 'Beauty!' says the lover of art.

And it might be argued, in a world of inevitable compromise, that the
damage done to the physical health and texture of the hair thus playing
the chameleon may well be overbalanced by the happiness, and consequent
increased effectiveness, of the person thus dyeing for the sake of
beauty. Thaumaturgists lay much stress on the mystic influence of
colours; and who knows but that, if we were only allowed to dye our hair
what colour we chose, we might be different men and women? Strange
things are told of women who have dyed their hair the colour of blood or
of wine, and we know from Christina Rossetti that golden hair is
negotiable in fairyland--

'"You have much gold upon your head,"
They answered all together:
"Buy from us with a golden curl."'

Whether Laura could have done business with the goblin merchantmen with