Why do the clergy wear dog-collars?
This is proving to be a very difficult question. I remember the same question being asked of my School Chaplain
who said, “I’m wearing it ‘til my dog comes home!” There’s no answer to that.
Nine out of ten priests surveyed said their dogs preferred it!(?) - Sorry, what I meant to say is that I asked
one priest who didn’t know why he wore one - and please would I let him know when I found out.
I looked up ‘dog-collar’ on my computer reference library which led me to an illness called ‘Quinsy’ - an
inflammation of the tonsils. I suppose this is possible if a priest’s dog-collar is too tight (or the sermon’s too
long). I digress!
My search led me to the dictionary definition which said: “A dog-collar is a stiff white collar which fastens at
the back, worn by Christian priests and ministers.”
However, the real answer as to why clergy wear dog-collars lies in history. Up until the mid/late 19th century
the clergy were part of the ‘gentry’ and wore a white neck-cloth to denote their status as well as their
profession as a cleric in holy orders. If anyone has seen the BBC adaptation of Anthony Trollope’s Barchester
Chronicles, the costume department had dressed the clergy in white neck-cloths; Trollope was writing these
Chronicles between 1855 and 1867.
By the end of the 19th century the neck-cloth had been replaced by the dog-collar, which was both simple to put
on (I think) and was no longer a status-symbol. Indeed, the status of clergy being numbered among the gentry
disappeared after the First World War.
Steve Mason.
