"And there she lay, flat spread as an umbrella."
--_The Devil is an Ass_, Act iv., SC. I.

Of the fact that Umbrellas' were known and used in Italy long prior
to their introduction into France, we find a confirmation in old
Montaigne, who observes, _lib_. iii. _cap_. ix. :--"Les
Ombrelles, de quoy depuis les anciens Remains l'Italie se sert,
chargent plus le bras, qu'ils ne deschargent la teste."

Kersey's Dictionary (1708) describes an Umbrella as a "screen
commonly used by women to keep off rain."

The absence of almost all allusion to the Umbrella by the wits of
the seventeenth century, while the muff, fan, &c., receive so large a
share of attention, is a further proof that it was far from being
recognised as an article of convenient luxury at that day. The
clumsy shape, probably, prevented its being generally used. In one of
Dryden's plays we find the line:--

"I can carry your umbrella and fan, your Ladyship."

Gay, addressing a gentleman, in his "Trivia, or the Art of Walking
the Streets of London" (1712), says:--

"Be thou for every season justly dress'd,
Nor brave the piercing frost with open breast:
And when the bursting clouds a deluge pour.
Let thy surtout defend the gaping shower."

And again:--