“a prominent part as the natural successors of the hansom cab and the
omnibus,” and draws what must then have been a fanciful picture of a
city upon whose roads there would be seen almost as many horseless as
horse-driven vehicles. To-day we know what has happened since these
words were written. The hansom is a rarity, except during a strike of
petrol-car drivers. The omnibus is a speedy machine with a powerful
engine. The growler persists, but only for the benefit of those with
much luggage or for those afraid of the internal combustion engine,
that extraordinary discovery which has revolutionised locomotion even
more than did steam eighty years ago. With such facts as these it
would be easy to prophesy a total extinction of horse-driven vehicles
except for purely ornamental purposes. Yet I believe that there may
be a reaction in favour of a more leisurely means of locomotion. As
yet it is impossible to be truly dignified in even the most gorgeously
appointed motor-car. “Carriage people” no longer form a class, and the
old coach-building firms which have not followed the times and shown
one or other make of automobile in their rooms are few in number. Mr.
Marillier, moreover, in the article just quoted, speaks of “that ideal
future when life shall consist of sitting in a chair and pressing
buttons”; but the horse is not yet extinct, and although it is not
probable that any horse-carriages of an entirely new type will be
constructed, I imagine that the older forms will persist, at any rate,
for the next century or two. Indeed, to my mind, there must always be
the man who will prefer the reins to the driving wheel. And who can
blame him for the choice?
FOOTNOTES
[1] “In Europe, sledge is the name applied to a low kind of cart,
but in America the word has been abbreviated to sled or changed to
sleigh, which in either case involves the idea that a _sliding_ vehicle
is meant. In the rural districts, the farmer employs a machine we
call a stone-sledge. This is commonly made from a plank, the flat
under surface of which is forced along the surface of the ground by
ox-power.” _The World on Wheels_. Ezra N. Stratton. New York, 1888.
[2] _English Pleasure Carriages._ By William Bridges Adams. London,
1837.
[3] “They also possessed baggage-carts shaped like the chariots. One of
these appears to have had a very high, six-spoked wheel and a curved
roof box. In front of the box is a low seat, from underneath which
projects a crooked drag-pole.” _Stratton._
[4] _A History of Egypt._ J. H. Breasted. New York. 1909.
[5] _Dictionary of the Bible._ 1906. Edited by J. Hastings. Art.
_Chariot._
[6] “We account for this difference by supposing that in battle,
when success depended in a great measure upon the stability of the
chariot, special care was taken to provide a strong wheel, while a
weaker one was considered good enough for a more peaceful employment,
a four-spoked wheel in those days being much cheaper and lighter.”
_Stratton._
[7] The Assyrians also possessed curious litters. “Two eunuchs,” says
Stratton, “are shown carrying a sort of arm-chair on their shoulders,
elegant in design, supplied with wheels, to be drawn by hand should
the king have occasion to visit mountainous regions inaccessible for
chariots.”
[8] _The History of Coaches._ G. A. Thrupp. London, 1877.
[9] See p. 39.
[10] Stratton treats of these Roman carriages and carts in considerable
detail, and mentions in addition to the _plostellum_, or small
_plaustrum_, the _carrus_, _monarchus_, and _birotum_. Of these the
_carrus_, or cart, differed from the _plaustrum_ in the following
particulars: “The box or form could not be removed, as in the former
case, but was fastened upon the axle-tree; it lacked the broad
flooring of planks or boards, which served as a receptacle for certain
commodities when the sides were removed; the wheels were higher [and]
... spoked, not solid like the _tympana_.” The _carrus clabularius_,
or stave-waggon, could be lengthened or shortened as required. The
_monarchus_ was a very light two-wheeled vehicle something like the
_cisium_. The _birotum_ was also a small two-wheeled vehicle, with
a leather-covered seat, used in the time of Constantine, an “early
post-chaise,” as Stratton puts it.
[11] The carts of north Italy in the eighteenth century had remained
practically unchanged. Edward Wright, who visited Italy in 1719, thus
describes them: “The carriages in Lombardy, and indeed throughout all
Italy, are for the most part drawn with oxen; which are of a whitish
colour: they have very low wheels. Some I saw without spokes, solid
like mill-stones; such as I have seen describ’d in some antique
basso-relievos and Mosaicks. The pole they draw by is sloped upwards
towards the end; which is rais’d considerably above their heads; from
whence a chain, or rope, is let down and fasten’d to their horns; which
keeps up their heads, and serves to back the carriage. In some parts
they use no yokes, but draw all by the horn, by a sort of a brace
brought about the roots of them: the backs of the oxen are generally
cover’d with a cloth. In the kingdom of Naples, and some other parts,
they use buffaloes in their carriages, &c. These do somewhat resemble
oxen: but are most sour, ill-looking animals, and very vicious; for the
better management of them they generally put rings in their noses.”
[12] _The World on Wheels._
[13] On the other hand, the scythes used by other nations may well have
been on the wheels. Livy describes those used by Antiochus (_currus
falcatus_): “Round the pole were sharp-pointed spears which extended
from the yoke of the two outside horses about fifteen feet; with these
they pierced everything in their way. On the end of the yoke were two
scythes, one being placed horizontally, the other towards the ground.
The first cut everything from the sides, the others catching those
prostrate on the ground or trying to crawl under. The long spears
(_cuspides_) were not on the yoke, as some say.”
[14] _English Wayfaring Life in the Middle Ages._ J. J. Jusserand.
London, 1888.
[15] _Early Carriages and Roads._ Sir Walter Gilbey, Bart. London, 1903.
[16] This appears to have been similar to the _carroccio_, described
by Stratton as a very heavy four-wheeled car, surmounted by a tall
staff, painted a bright red. Stratton also mentions the _cochio_,
which he describes as a thirteenth-century carriage having a covering
of red matting, under which, in the fore-part of the body, the ladies
were seated, the gentlemen occupying the rear end. Both these _words_,
however, seem to belong to a much later date and may be translations of
an earlier original.
[17] “The XXX day of September the Queen’s Grace came from the
Tower through London, riding in a charrett gorgeously beseen, unto
Westminster.” MS. Cotton. Vitellius, F.v.
[18] _History of Great Britain._ Arthur Wilson. London, 1653.
[19] cf. Spenser, who uses three words which appear to be
interchangeable.
“Tho’, up him taking in their tender hands
They easily unto her charett beare;
Her teme at her commandement quiet stands,
Whiles they the corse unto her wagon reare.
And strowe with flowers the lamentable beare;
Then all the rest into their Coches climb.”
[20] It is probable that the closed carriage in which the Emperor
Frederick III paid a visit to Frankfort in 1474 was one of these cotzi.
Here the interesting point is that the Emperor’s attendants, apparently
for the first time, were relieved of the necessity of holding a canopy
over His Majesty’s head, except when he went to and returned from the
Council Chamber.
[21] Taylor mentions in one place that “for the mending of the
Harnesse, a Knights Coachman brought in a bill to his master of 25
pounds.” He also says that the owners of coaches liked to match their
horses if possible.
[22] _A Book about Travelling, Past and Present._ Thomas Croal. London,
1877.
[23] So Massinger in _The Bondman_ says:—
“For their pomp and ease being borne
In triumph on men’s shoulders.”
[24] The word hackney, possibly derived from the old French _Haquenée_,
was the natural word to be used for a public coach, it being merely a
synonym, used by Shakespeare and others, for _common_.
[25] _Curialia Miscellanea._ Samuel Pegge, F.S.A. London, 1818.
[26] Which was about the same sum that Defoe had to pay in London
earlier in the century. “We are carried to these places [the
coffee-houses],” he wrote in 1702, “in chairs which are here very
cheap—a guinea a week, or a shilling per hour; and your chairmen serve
you for porters, to run on errands, as your gondoliers do at Venice.”
[27] cf.
“With chest begirt by leathern bands,
The chairman at his corner stands;
The poles stuck up against the wall
Are ready at a moment’s call.
For customers they’re always willing
And ready aye to earn a shilling.”
_Echoes of the Street_.
[28] In an article in the _Pall Mall Magazine_ for March, 1912.
[29] Birch’s _History of the Royal Society_.
[30] Some people have considered that the name was not derived from
the city of Berlin, but from an Italian word _berlina_, “a name given
by the Italians to a kind of stage on which criminals are exposed to
public ignominy.” This seems rather far-fetched. In England it was
always thought to have been built first in Berlin, and was a common
enough term for a coach early in the eighteenth century. Swift mentions
it in his _Answer to a Scandalous Poem_ (1733):—
“And jealous Juno, ever snarling,
Is drawn by peacocks in her berlin.”
“It should be noted,” says Croal, “that we find the word differently
applied in the earlier years of the century, and in such a way as to
cast doubts on the derivations quoted. In some of the last Acts passed
by the Scottish Parliaments before the Union, there are references to
a kind of _ship_ or boat, called a berline. The royal burghs on the
west coast of Scotland were in 1705 ordered to maintain two ‘berlines’
to prevent the importation of ‘victual’ from Ireland, this importation
being forbidden at the time, and two years later an Act was passed to
pay the expenses of the berlines.”
[31] A point of minor interest may here be noticed. When leather was
first used for the covering of the coach quarters, the heads of the
nails showed. But about 1660, “these nail-heads were covered with a
strip of metal made to imitate a row of beads; from this practice arose
the name of ‘beading’ which has been retained, although beading is now
made in a continuous, level piece, either rounded or angular.” _Thrupp._
[32] See below, p. 133.
[33] The reader is referred for the fullest information on the subject
of these stage-coaches to Mr. Charles G. Harper’s _Stage-Coach and Mail
in Days of Yore_. 2 vols. London, 1903.
[34] _Omnibuses and Cabs._ London, 1902.
[35] It was over a _calèche_ presented by the Chevalier de Grammont to
Charles II, that the famous quarrel took place between Lady Castlemaine
and Miss Stewart, afterwards the Duchess of Richmond. The ladies
had been complaining that coaches with glass windows, but lately
introduced, did not allow a sufficiently free display of their charms,
whence followed the gift of a French _calèche_ which cost two thousand
livres. When the queen drove out in it, both the ladies agreed with de
Grammont that it afforded far better opportunities than a coach for
showing off their figures, and both endeavoured to get the first loan
of it. In the fierce quarrel that followed Miss Stewart came off the
conqueror.
[36] _Peter the Great._ By K. Waliszewski. Translated by Lady Mary
Loyd. London, 1898.
[37] _Social Life in the Reign of Queen Anne._ John Ashton. London,
1883.
[38] Originally, I understand, a fish-cart or lugger.
[39] This well-known expression for a carriage is generally thought to
have been used first by an American quaker later in the century. Ned
Ward, however, would seem to have been its real inventor.
[40] At this time M. Dessein used to advertise in the London papers.
In _The Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser_ for July 21, 1767, is the
following: “To be sold, at Calais, a Travelling _Vis-à-Vis_, built
at Paris about a year and a half ago; very fit also to use in the
towns on the Continent upon occasion; being varnished in the newest
taste, and covered with an oiled case to preserve it from the weather
in travelling, and requires nothing but a new set of wheels to be in
perfect repair to make the tour of Europe. Enquire of Mr. Dessein, at
the Hôtel D’Angleterre at Calais, with whom the lowest price is left.”
[41] See next chapter.
[42] This was the Mr. Francis Moore, of Cheapside, who in 1786 and 1790
obtained patents for two two-wheeled carriages. The second of these
bore considerable resemblance to the hansom-cab of a later date. It had
enormous wheels—higher, indeed, than the body of the carriage—and the
driver sat on a small box-seat in front and at a level with the top of
the roof. The door was at the back.
[43] _Caricature History of the Georges_, Thomas Wright. London, n.d.
[44] “The shape of the body,” says Bridges Adams, describing Coates’s
carriage, “was that of a classic sea-god’s car, and it was constructed
in copper. This vehicle was very beautiful in its outline, though
disfigured by the absurdity of its ornamental work.” When Coates had a
fall, Horace Smith, of _Rejected Addresses_ fame, seized the occasion
to write a mock condoling poem.
[45] For a detailed account of these mail-coaches the reader is
referred to Mr. Charles Harper’s book, _Stage Coach and Mail in the
Days of Yore_.
[46] _The Danger of Travelling in Stage-Coaches; and a Remedy Proposed
to the Consideration of the Public_, by the Rev. William Milton, A.M.,
Vicar of Heckfield, Hants. Reading, 1810.
[47] It may be well to add here a note on the simpler springs which
were in use at this time. These seem to have been of five distinct
varieties—the straight or elbow spring, the elliptic spring, the
regular-curved, and the reverse-curved springs, all these being either
single or double, and the spiral spring. The straight spring was used
in the stage-coaches, in the later phaetons, in the Tilbury, and in
most of the two-wheeled carriages. The elliptic spring, invented by
Elliott, was “used single in what are called under-spring carriages,
where the spring rests on the axle, and is connected with the framework
by means of a dumb or imitation spring so as to form a double or
complete ellipse. This is technically called an under spring.” Its
importance, of course, followed on its power of acting as a complete
support, no perch being required to hold the two parts of the
undercarriage together. Sometimes four of these springs were “hinged
together in pairs,” and used thus in the larger four-wheeled carriages.
When a regular-curved or C spring was used, “a leathern brace was
suspended from it to carry the body or weight.” The reverse-curved
spring was used in the older phaetons, and in the fore springs of the
Tilbury, and springs similar to this had been used as body springs
in place of suspension brackets or loops, or as upright springs,
to the earlier coaches and chariots, under the technical name of S
springs—“in which case leather braces were attached to them, and they
were supported by a bracket or buttress of iron called the spring stay.
The whip spring which succeeded them ... was used in the same way.” But
in addition to these springs, there were all kinds of combinations, and
the whole subject is too complicated for the lay mind to understand.
The chief point, however, to notice is the changes in structure which
were made possible by the elliptic spring of Elliott’s resting on the
axle.
[48] Which reminds me that at the present day there is a singular
three-wheeled cab to be hired in London, if only you know where to
look for it. It is the only one of its kind, and rarely, I believe,
appears until after nightfall. It is the kind of carriage which is to
be avoided by those who have drunk not wisely but too well.
[49] A good description is given of the appearance of these coaches by
Baron d’Haussez, an exiled Frenchman, in 1833.
“The appointments of an English coach are no less elegant than its
form. A portly, good-looking coachman seated on a very high coach-box,
well dressed, wearing white gloves, a nosegay in his button-hole, and
his chin enveloped in an enormous cravat, drives four horses perfectly
matched and harnessed, and as carefully groomed as when they excited
admiration in the carriages of Grosvenor and Berkeley Squares. Such
is the manner in which English horses are managed, such also is their
docility, the effect either of temperament or training, that you do
not remark the least restiveness in them. Four-horse coaches are to be
seen rapidly traversing the most populous streets of London, without
occasioning the least accident, without being at all inconvenienced in
the midst of the numerous carriages which hardly leave the necessary
space to pass. The swearing of ostlers is never heard at the relays any
more than the neighing of horses; nor are you interrupted on the road
by the voice of the coachman or the sound of his whip, which differs
only from a cabriolet whip in the length of the thong, and serves more
as a sort of appendage than a means of correction in the hand which
carries it.”
[50] _Omnibuses and Cabs._
[51] See note on p. 192.
[52] According to Mr. Moore, whose account of this matter seems
perfectly clear, the actual vehicle which proved so popular when
plying the streets contained very much more of Chapman’s work than
of Hansom’s, and, indeed, if full justice had been done, these light
carriages should have come down to posterity as _chapmans_ and not
_hansoms_ at all. On the other hand it is quite possible, that but for
Hansom’s work, Chapman would never have given such careful attention to
this class of vehicle.
[53] It seems, however, that so long as ten years before _one-horse
cars_ of this form had been plying for hire in Birmingham and Liverpool.
[54] _Modern Carriages._ Sir Walter Gilbey, Bart. London, 1905.
[55] Bridges Adams has an amusing passage on the question of colour.
He had his own ideas upon the best colours to use on a carriage body.
“For bright sunny days,” he thinks, “the straw or sulphur yellow is
very brilliant and beautiful; but for the autumnal haze, the rich deep
orange hue conveys the most agreeable sensations. The greens used
are of innumerable tints, commencing with the yellowish olive, and
gradually darkening till they are barely distinguishable from black.
Neither apple green, grass green, sea green, nor any green of a bluish
tint, can be used in carriage painting with good effect as a ground
colour; but in some species of light carriages a pleasing effect may be
produced for summer by the imitation of the variegated grasses.” Quite
a poetical idea! “Blues,” he continues, “were formerly principally used
as a ground colour for bodies, to contrast with a red carriage and
framework. Of late very dark blues have been used as a general ground
colour, and when new they are very rich, being a glazed or partially
transparent colour; but they very soon become worn and faded, the
least speck of dust disfiguring them. Blue is also a cold colour, and
while it is unfitted for summer by reason of its easy soiling, it is
unpleasant in winter, owing to its want of warmth.”
[56] For full and particular accounts of all such carriages as have
been constructed since the middle of last century, the reader is
referred to the various trade journals. Further information is to be
obtained from the Reports on carriages at the successive London and
Paris Exhibitions. Here the more important differences between English,
French, and Austrian carriages are clearly shown in a language which is
not too technical for the ordinary reader to understand.
[57] This was also the case in France.
[58] There is an interesting passage in the 1878 Report which may be
quoted here. “It is somewhat singular,” this runs, “that while the
attention of the English coachbuilders has, for the past few years,
been directed to perfect an arrangement to open and close landau heads
in a simple and effectual manner, the French builders have paid little
or no heed to the attainment of this desideratum, but have instead
adopted a plan which allows of the doors of a landau being opened when
the glass is up, being first introduced by M. Kellner ... in 1866....
The simplest method is to have two pieces of brass, about ten inches
long, in the form of a groove, for the glass frame to slide in, hinged
to the upper extremities of the door pillars, and to close down on the
fence rail when not required for use.”
[59] Here, I suppose, should be included the _Eridge cart_, invented by
Lord Abergavenny. It holds four persons on two parallel seats.
[60] The phaeton has found particular favour in France. At the Paris
Exhibition in 1878 was shown a phaeton built at Rouen, which, according
to the official Report, was “the finest small carriage exhibited in the
French department for ingenuity and fitness for work.”
[61] Sir Walter Gilbey had a _posting brougham_ built for his own use,
which to an even greater extent resembled the old chariot. In this case
postilions were used.
[62] “The Patent Dioropha, or two-headed carriage, combining in one
a clarence or pilentum coach, complete with all its appointments; a
barouche, with folding head and three-fold knee-flap; and an open
carriage. The heads can be removed or exchanged with facility by means
of a pulley attached to the ceiling of the coach-house, aided by a
counterpoise weight.” _Vide_ the Official Catalogue, which also gives
illustrations of several Indian carriages, such as the _Keron_, the
rath, a Mahratta carriage from Bengal, and a lady’s carriage from
Lahore—the last being a four-wheeled conveyance covered with scarlet
and crimson cloth, and shut in with thick curtains.
[63] The only sulky now to be seen in this country is the trotting
carriage used in races—a mere skeleton. See also p. 210.
[64] _Suspension of Road Carriages._ A Paper read before the Institute
of British Carriage Manufacturers at York. 1899.
INDEX
_Index_
Abergavenny, Marquis of, 270 n.
Ackermann, William, 230, 234
Adams, T. G., 232
Adams, William Bridges, 19, 49, 62, 65, 154, 212, 214 n., 227-230,
232-236, 258 n.
Addison, Joseph, 151
adometer, 115
Adrianople, 152
Africa, South, 278
Agrippina, 33
_Alchemist, The_, 75
Aldersgate Street, 190
_Alexander and Campaspe_, 58
Alexander of Parma, 67
Alexander Severus, 35
Alexander the Great, 27
Alexandria, 27
_All sorts of Wheel Carriage, Improved_, 166
ἅμαξα, 26, 27
Amelia, Princess, 104
_amempton_, 272
America, North, 36, 140, 205, 220, 221, 225, 236, 263
America, South, 20, 189, 236
Amsterdam, 225, 226
Andersen, Henry, 90
Andrews, coachbuilder, 267
Anne, wife of Richard II, 49
Anne, Queen, 154, 174
_Anne, Social Life in the Reign of Queen_, 158 n.
Anne Boleyn, 54
_Annual Register_, 214
Anstice, J., 205
Antioch, 29
Antiochus, 40 n.
ἄντυξ, 25
Antwerp, 68, 110
ἀπήνη, 26-28
_Apollo, or a Problem Solved_, 162
Appian Way, 28
_araba_, 40
Arabia, 40
_arcera_, 29
_Arlington cab_, 280
ἄρμα, 25, 26, 29
ἁρμάμαξα, 26, 27, 29
Arnot, Hugh, 102
Arundel, Earl of, 76, 77
Ashby, Lady, 120
Ashton, John, 158
Asia, 107, 108
Assyrian chariot. See _chariot_
Athens, 36
Ausonius, 31
Australia, 223
Austria, 51, 232
_automobile_, 256, 269, 282
_Automobile: a Forecast, The_, 281
axles, movable, 256, 269, 282
Babylon, 27
_back-door cab_, 249
Bailey, Captain, 88
Balack, Donald, 105
_barcos de tierra_, 20
_barge_, 276
Barker, Edward, 74
_barouche_, 206, 229, 230, 264, 271n.
_barouchet_, 230
Barrow, John, 107
_Bartholomew Fair_, 75
Baskerville, John, 191
basket, the, 168, 169.
See also under _boot_
_basterna_, 32, 37, 52
Bath, 61, 103, 104
_Battlesden cart_, 279
Baudry, M., 252
Baxter, coachbuilder, 258
Baynardes Castle, 77
beading, 120n.
Beatrice of Anjou, 50
_Beau’s Ideal, The_, 160
Beckmann, 65, 116
_Bedford cart_, 279
Belgium, 35
Bellasis, Richard, 57
Belvoir, 71
_benna_, 32, 35
Bennet, Mr., 221
Bennett, coachbuilder, 235
Berlin, 118 n.
_berlin_, 62, 109, 118-121, 139, 141, 175, 176, 216;
Korff berline, 207 _et seq._
_berlina_, 118 n.
_berline_. See _berlin_
_berlingot_, 141
_bian_, 239, 281