The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Brooch

BROOCH, an ornament worn on the dress, to which it is attached by a pin stuck through the fabric. Brooches are of great antiquity and were formerly worn by men as well as women. They were used by both sexes among the Greeks and Romans, and also in the Middle Ages. Among the Highlanders of Scotland there are preserved, in several families, ancient brooches of rich workmanship and highly ornamented. Some of them are inscribed with characters to which particular virtues were attributed, and seem to have been used as a sort of amulet or talisman.