CHAPTER II.
Whirlicote of the Middle Ages—Charettes—Cars of the Middle Ages—Revival of Carriages—The first Coaches—The German Waggon—Ancient Saxon Waggon—The Horse Litter—The Old Coaches at Coburg—Early Italian Coaches—Coach of Queen Elizabeth—Coach of Charles I.—Coach of Henri Quatre—Time of Louis XIV.—The Brouette and Steel Springs—The Berlin—Old Coaches at Vienna—Horse Litter at the Imperial Mews—Utility of Steel Springs—Mr Samuel Pepys’ Diary—Sedan Chairs—Coachbuilding in 1770—Chariot à l’Anglaise—Encyclopædia on Coachbuilding—Cabriolets—Light Chariots—The Darnley Chariot.
WITH the decadence of the Romans we may well suppose many of the arts of civilisation fell into disuse. The skilled artisans died out and left no successors, for their work was not required, and for some centuries we find little or no mention of carriages.
Ordinary carts were used, it is true, but the great and wealthy moved about the cities or travelled on horseback, and if ill they had litters carried by men or horses. But another cause tended to the disuse of wheeled carriages—the state of the roads.
The Romans had been celebrated for the perfection of their roads; some of these have lasted nearly two thousand years. There is one, called the Appian way, which leads from Rome to near Naples, made B.C. 500 by the Consul, Appius Claudius, which is paved with blocks of stone, and can still be travelled upon after such a lapse of time. Roads like these could easily be traversed by carriages, but in the course of time they fell into disorder, whilst barbarian tribes had overrun Italy and driven the Romans from Germany, France, and Britain.
The increase of population caused a gradual increase of traffic, and the formation of new roads, which, from the absence of method in making them, soon became mere horse-tracks, and very unsuitable for travelling on wheels for pleasure. We ascertain, however, from old manuscripts and books, that, by degrees, the use of two and four-wheeled carts was revived by the wealthy, in addition to riding on horseback as a means of travelling. The only distinction, however, from common carriers’ carts was in the use of carving on the woodwork, and gaily coloured curtains and cushions.
In the reign of Richard II., we find mention of a vehicle termed a whirlicote, viz., a cot or bed upon wheels. The king and his mother rode a whirlicote in 1380, when she was sick, and history tells us that they were much used for the conveyance of ladies, but still more for their luggage. We are told by Stowe that “in the following year King Richard took to wife Anne, the daughter of the King of Bohemia, and she first brought hither the riding upon sidesaddles, and so was the riding in those chariots and whirlicotes forsaken except at coronations and such like spectacles.” We have here evidence that the chariot and whirlicote of that time were identical. In 1294, Philip, King of France, issued an ordinance prohibiting the citizens’ wives the use of cars or chars. In 1267, Charles of Anjou entered Naples, and his queen, Beatrice, rode in a Caretta, the outside and inside covered with sky-blue velvet powdered with golden lilies, and in 1273 Pope Gregory X. entered Milan in a caretta. In an early English poem, the father of a princess of Hungary promises—
“To-morrow ye shall on hunting fare,
And ride my daughter in a char;
It shall be covered with velvet red,
And cloths of velvet about your head.”