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b'\\u201cThere\\u2019s many a man hath more hair than wit\\u201d

But worry not for this is no Comedy of Errors and there\\u2019s certainly more to this unexpected history.Let us join our host with the Cranium full of Chronicles, Professor James Daybell, and the Authority of the Archives, Dr Sam Willis as they bob and weave their way through the unexpected history of hair. From the Duke of Wellington and theories of Great Men in history, tonsures and ritual practices, to the political implications of French provocation at sea.

\\u201cLike quills upon the fretful porpentine\\u201d, they make the hair-raising links via the Bodleian Library, Romsey Abbey, and French ballrooms. It\\u2019s enough to turn one\\u2019s hair grey; for which P.G. Wodehouse suggests there is only one cure, the guillotine. Too drastic, how about this:

Roman ladies were supposed to use pigeon poo to lighten their hair, or there\\u2019s always the sixteenth century cure for baldness to consider \\u2026 boiled slugs and honey anyone?

Dr Sam Willis - @DrSamWillisProfessor James Daybell - @JamesDaybellFollow the show\'s\\xa0new Twitter: @UnexpectedPodHistoryHit Network - Twitter\\xa0Facebook

Producer -\\xa0Dan Morelle

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