The History of Coaches

by George Athelstane Thrupp

In Calcutta are several coachbuilders of repute, who employ large numbers of native workmen; Messrs Dyke employ six hundred; Messrs Stewart & Co. four hundred; and Messrs Eastman, three hundred. The men are chiefly Hindoos, and are clever and industrious, but have a singular habit of sitting down at their work. The labourers who have to use grease are all Mahomedans. The wages vary from sixpence to two shillings per day.

A representation of a primitive vehicle, which was in use in Hungary not very long ago, is given by Von Ginzrot as representing the Roman rhedum. It is very curious, and just such a primitive affair as might be made in any country. [[Plate 7].] The body is a disguised waggon; the tilt-top has two leather flaps to fall over the doorway; the panels are of wicker work, such as was in common use for carriages both in Greece and Italy; and of such a character we may suppose the waggons were, which were used by the many wandering tribes that, in the times of the Roman empire, poured out of Asia and Russia, and invaded Germany, Gaul, and Italy. In the history of Julius Cæsar’s wars in Gaul, we are told of the large number of waggons which the savage wandering tribes possessed.

Another primitive vehicle is the Turkish “Araba,” [[Plate 8]] used for the conveyance of women. The lattice-work admits air without too much light. The singular wing-guards over the wheels identify this “Araba” as being derived from the same source as the carriages of Persia and Hindostan. These vehicles have been superseded in many parts of Turkey, Asia, and Egypt by carriages sent from the west of Europe.

In 1860 a carriage was made for one of the ladies of the Sultan’s harem, which consisted of silver as far as possible. It cost, it is said, 2,000,000 Turkish piastres, about £15,000, a very expensive present for the ruler of Turkey to make to one out of many wives.

To speak of one more primitive carriage. Dr Edgeworth describes some cars which were in use in his time (that is in 1800) in Ireland, as the common vehicles of the country. They were composed of shafts with cross-bars; two low wheels of solid wood were wedged on to the axle-tree, so as to form one piece, like a railway axle and wheels; they were nearer together than the shafts, and ran inside the shafts; the axle projected beyond the wheels, and moved in sockets beneath the shafts. These cars, Dr Edgeworth says, “cost only four guineas, including painting; they would follow a horse anywhere, they could scarcely be overturned even with bulky loads, they were light and easily moved by hand, their repair was easy, and they lay so near the ground that they could be easily loaded and unloaded; the whole would turn in a very small compass.” It is probable that these were the primitive cars of Ireland. The nearest approach to them in the present day are the costermonger’s barrows. We have noticed how light and simple are these vehicles, and that a wretched pony or donkey will canter along with three or even four persons sitting upon them. They also resemble the Yarmouth cart, in which the wheels are inside the shafts; but then the difference is, that the shafts of the Yarmouth carts are of great length, and the load is carried between the horse and the wheels instead of over the wheels, as is usual in a cart. In some parts of Wales cars are used of this construction, and are also supposed to be the primitive cars of that country; their wheels are solid. In Yarmouth this shape was adopted to suit the very narrow streets or alleys, which a cart made with the wheels outside the shafts could not traverse. The great length of the shafts is occasioned by the necessity of carrying a quantity of goods, such as barrels or sacks, which would tend to make the vehicle top-heavy, if piled up above the wheels.

The Irish jaunting car, as now built, is superior to the vehicle of forty years ago. It was then on lower wheels, and being hung lower, the shafts pitched up in front, and the unfortunate passengers were huddled upon one another at every jolt in the road. This car was very light, a great benefit for the horse; it is easily turned and moved in a crowded thoroughfare, and is capable of conveying more luggage than might at first be supposed. The car is no doubt very cheap, and perhaps more Irish drivers are able to own their own cars than are the drivers of London cabs. Irishmen, perhaps, like the vehicle to which they are accustomed, but it will never become popular in this country.

The car, however, used in Cork, is still more uncomfortable. It is an inside car, that is, instead of sitting back to back, you sit face to face, and to most there is a hood or tilt; a very good vehicle, no doubt, for two persons at a slow pace, but with four persons at a trot it is the worst vehicle I had ever the misfortune to enter. If the Cork car was hung on higher wheels, and the shafts kept parallel to the ground, it would be a better vehicle; if, however, it cannot be balanced properly, it should be placed upon four wheels, like the inside cars of the North of England.

I will mention one more primitive vehicle,—the cart with a tilt, with side windows, and a door behind, which is called a Coburg, and is used in the south-west of England; when on good springs, it is a very cheap and comfortable vehicle. In Belgium and Holland it is much used, and is usually built of a larger size than in England. It is, however, after all, rather like a bathing-machine on wheels. It is to be found pictured in our earliest illustrations of vehicles in old English illuminated manuscripts, differing from the modern Coburg only in the want of a door and springs.

In reviewing what I have laid before you as to ancient carriages, I would say, that any one who desires to learn more about them can do so in the pages of the London Carriage Builders’ Art Journal for 1859 and 1860, which appears to contain much of the information given by the German work of Von Ginzrot.

It is interesting to observe the character of the different people illustrated in their carriages. The Egyptians, with all their learning and skill, appear to have made no change during centuries of experience; as at the beginning, so at the end, the kings stand by the side of their charioteers, or hold the reins themselves. The Persians and Hindoos introduced luxurious improvements, and in lofty vehicles elevated the nobles above the heads of the people, and secluded their women in curtained carriages. The Greeks introduced no new vehicles, but perfected so successfully the useful waggon, that their model is still seen throughout Europe, without change of principle or structure. The Romans, on the other hand, in their career of conquest, gathered from every nation what was good, and, wherever possible, improved upon it:—From Greece, the waggons; from Persia, the harmamaxa and elevated triumphal cars; and from Hungary, the rheda. We may well add that the genius of the Roman nation speaks through Cicero, when he wrote, “I hear that in Britain are most excellent chariots; bring me one of them for a pattern.”