- The Horse
- Feeding the horse
- The Machine, 1640-1700
The coaches that travelled between London and distant towns were similar in construction to the hackney coach, which plied for hire in the streets, but were built on a larger scale. They carried eight passengers inside, and behind, over the axle, was a great basket for baggage and outside passengers, who made themselves as comfortable as they might in the straw supplied. The “insides” were protected from rain and cold by leather curtains; neither passengers nor baggage were carried on the roof; and the coachman sat on a bar fixed between the two standard posts from which the body was hung in front, his feet being supported by a footboard on the perch. Mr. Thrupp states that in 1662 there were only six stage coaches in existence; which assertion does not agree with that of Chamberlayne, quoted on a previous page; the seventeenth century writer tells us that in his time—1649—stage coaches ran “from London to the principle towns in the country.” It seems, however, certain that the year 1662 saw a great increase in the number of “short stages”—that is to say, coaches running between London and towns twenty, thirty, forty miles distant. - Mr. Daniel Bourn’s Roller Wheel Waggon -1763
Bourn’s reference to the “narrow-wheel waggon” touches a matter which formed the subject of hot debate for generations. It was urged that the narrow wheels of waggons were largely the means of cutting up the roads, and no doubt these did contribute to the general condition of rut and ridge that characterised them. This view was adopted by Parliament, and to encourage the use of wide wheels a system of turnpike tolls was adopted which treated the wide tire far more leniently than the narrow; anything under 9 inches in width being considered narrow. Bourn was a warm advocate for wide wheels, and the book from which the above passage is taken describes an improved waggon invented by himself; the drawing is[80] from the inventor’s work. The wheels of this vehicle resemble small garden rollers; they are 2 feet high and 16 inches wide. Each is attached independently to the body of the waggon and the fore wheels being placed side by side in the centre, while the hind wheels are set wide apart, the waggon is practically designed to fulfil the functions of a road-roller. It does not appear that Bourn’s invention obtained any general acceptance, which is perhaps not very surprising. - Queen Elizabeth’s Travelling Coach
Queen Elizabeth travelled in a coach, either the one built by Walter Rippon or that brought by Boonen (who, by the way, was appointed her coachman), on some of her royal progresses through the kingdom. When she visited Warwick in 1572, at the request of the High Bailiff she “caused every part and side of the coach to be opened that all her subjects present might behold her, which most gladly they desired.” The vehicle which could thus be opened on “every part and side” is depicted incidentally in a work executed by Hoefnagel in 1582, which Markland believed to be probably the first engraved representation of an English coach. As will be seen from the reproduction here given, the body carried a roof or canopy on pillars, and the intervening spaces could be closed by means of curtains. - Going to Bury Fair
From Engraving, A.D. 1750. - Flight of Princess Ermengarde
Carriage used about 1300-1350 in Flanders. Carriages were in use on the continent long before they were employed in England. In 1294, Philip the Fair of France issued an edict whose aim was the suppression of luxury; under this ordinance the wives of citizens were forbidden to use carriages, and the prohibition appears to have been rigorously enforced. They were used in Flanders during the first half of the fourteenth century; an ancient Flemish chronicle in the British Museum (Royal MSS. 16,[9] F. III.) contains a picture of the flight of Ermengarde, wife of Salvard, Lord of Rouissillon. - Horse Litter
Horse litters, carried between two horses, one in front and one behind, were used in early times by ladies of `rank`, by sick persons, and also on occasion to carry the dead. Similar vehicles of a lighter description, carried by men, were also in use. William of Malmesbury states that the body of William Rufus was brought from the spot where he was killed in the New Forest in a horse-litter (a.d. 1100). When King John fell ill at Swineshead Abbey, in 1216, he was carried in a horse-litter to Newark, where he died. For a man who was in good health to travel in such a conveyance was considered unbecoming and effeminate. In recording the death, in 1254, of Earl Ferrers, from injuries received in an accident to his conveyance, Matthew Paris deems it necessary to explain that the Earl suffered from gout, which compelled him to use a litter when moving from place to place. The accident was caused by the carelessness of the driver of the horses, who upset the conveyance while crossing a bridge. The illustration is copied from a drawing which occurs in a manuscript in the British Museum (Harl. 5256). - Comfort
- Mounted Crossbowman, with Cranequin crossbow, and a quarrel in his hat
Doubtless on the coasts of Scandinavia and North Germany, the chief home of these composite crossbows after the time of the Crusades, whalebone was easily obtainable, whilst in other parts of the Continent, the pieces which formed the heart of the bow, were made from the straightened horn of an animal. This ancient form of crossbow with a composite bow, survived in an improved form in Scandinavia and in the north of Europe, as a weapon of sport and war, till about 1460, or for nearly a hundred years after the far superior crossbow with a thick steel bow and a windlass had been in use in France, Spain and Italy. Some of these later weapons were made so strong in the fifteenth century, that after the invention of the powerful cranequin for bending steel bows, this apparatus was also employed for bending the composite bow - horse
- The Stage coach
The Stage coach is used in the country where towns are few. The stages meet trains at the stations and take on passengers to be carried to their homes away from the railroad. Some of the stage routes are several hundred miles long. - Horses in the fire station
The fire horses stand ready in their stalls, and at the sound of the alarm gong the stall chains are let down and each horse goes quickly to his place at the engine, and the big iron collars are clamped around their necks and off they go to the fire, with the engine, at break-neck speed. - Horses in a heap, Leader down, Wheelers falling over him
I have twice had three out of the four horses in a heap, from a leader coming down and the two wheelers falling over him; but in such a case as this there is very little danger if the coachman has the presence of mind not to leave his box till there is sufficient strength at the horses' heads to prevent them jumping up and starting off frightened. - Man riding horse
Man riding horse - Man leading a horse
Man leading a horse - Man and horse outside a house
Man and horse outside a house - Going through the gate
Going through the gate - Trotting across a field
Trotting across a field - Feeding time
Feeding time - Horse and Dog
`Horse and Dog - Two dogs and a horse
Two dogs and a horse - Two children riding ponies on the beach
Two children riding ponies on the beach - Two horses
Two horses - Two horses looking at their food
Two horses looking at their food - Lady driving in a horse and cart
Lady driving in a horse and cart - Horse and chickens
Horse and chickens - Boy and girl feeding the horses
Boy and girl feeding the horses - A horse
A horse - Cowboys rounding up their herd
Cowboys rounding up their herd - Cowboy on a bucking bronco near Garden City, Kansas
Cowboy on a bucking bronco near Garden City, Kansas - Cowboy
Cowboy - Hunting
Hunting - Coursing
Coursing - Coaching
- Boating
Boating - Racing
Racing - Justing.—XIV. Century
The figure is a representation of the just, taken from a manuscript in the Royal Library, of the thirteenth, or early in the fourteenth century, where two knights appear in the action of tilting at each other with the blunted spears. - A Horse dancing to the Pipe and Tabor
A Horse dancing to the Pipe and Tabor - In the Row
The old gentleman in the Row undoubtedly first appeared there on Shetland ponies under the watchful eye of the groom. It is not a thing to tire of, and Sunday after Sunday these well-dressed people attend church-parade as seriously as they attend church. - Akhnaton driving with his Wife and Daughter
Akhnaton driving with his Wife and Daughter - Thothmes IV. slaying Asiatics
When Thothmes IV. ascended the throne he was confronted by a very serious political problem. The Heliopolitan priesthood at this time was chafing against the power of Amon, and was striving to restore the somewhat fallen prestige of its own god Ra, who in the far past had been the supreme deity of Egypt, but had now to play an annoying second to the Theban god. Thothmes IV., as we shall presently be told by Akhnaton himself,[8] did not altogether approve of the political character of the Amon priesthood, and it may have been due to this dissatisfaction that he undertook the repairing of the great Sphinx at Gizeh, which was in the care of the priests of Heliopolis. The sphinx was thought to represent a combination of the Heliopolitan gods Horakhti, Khepera, Ra, and Atum, who have been mentioned above; and, according to a later tradition, Thothmes IV. had obtained the throne over the heads of his elder brothers through the mediation of the Sphinx—that is to say, through that of the Heliopolitan priests. By them he was called “Son of Atum and Protector of Horakhte, ... who purifies Heliopolis and satisfies Ra,” and it seems that they looked to him to restore to them their lost power. The Pharaoh, however, was a physical weakling, whose small amount of energy was entirely expended upon his army, which he greatly loved, and which he led into Syria and into the Sudan. His brief reign of somewhat over eight years, from 1420 to 1411 B.C., marks but the indecisive beginnings of the struggle between Amon and Ra, which culminated in the early years of the reign of his grandson Akhnaton. - Great Seal of King Stephen
Great Seal of King Stephen. Drawn from an impression among the Select Seals in the British Museum, and from that appended to Harleian Charter, 43, C. 13. The helmet seems to have had a nasal, but the seals at this part are so imperfect that it cannot be clearly traced. Behind is seen a portion of the lace which fastened the coif or the casque. - Great Seal of King Henry the First
Great Seal of King Henry I., circa 1100. From Cotton Charter, ii. 2 (in British Museum). The instrument is a confirmation of the gift of Newton by "Radulfus filius Godrici," and is witnessed by Queen Matilda and others. The material of the hauberk is represented by that honeycomb-work so often observed in seals of this period, and which appears to be one of the many modes in use to imitate the web of interlinked chain-mail. The leg does not shew any markings as of armour, but these may have disappeared from the softening of the wax, and the prominence of the seal at this part. The helmet is a plain conical cap of steel, without nasal : the spur a simple goad. The lance-flag terminating in three points, is ensigned with a Cross. The shield is of the kite-form, shewing the rivets by which the wood and leather portions of it were held together. The peytrel of the horse has the usual pendent ornaments of the time. - From the Great Seal of Alexander I, King of Scotland
Seal of Alexander I., King of Scotland : 1107-1124. The figure is armed in hauberk with continuous coif, apparently of chain-mail ; worn over a tunic or gambeson, seen at the wrist and skirt. Conical nasal helmet, lance with streamer, kite-shield, and goad-spur, are the other items of the equipment. The leg does not shew any armour, though the softening of the wax may have obliterated markings which originally indicated a defensive provision at this part. The ornaments of the portrait are usual at this period. - Great Shield of William the Conqueror
Great Seal of King William the Conqueror : from the fine impression appended to a charter preserved at the Hotel Soubise in Paris. The charter is a grant to the Abbey of St. Denis of land at Teynton, in England. The king wears the hauberk of chain-mail over a tunic. The hemispherical helmet is surmounted by a small knob, and has laces to fasten it under the chin. The legs do not appear to have any armour : the spur has disappeared. A lance with streamer and a large kite-shield complete the warrior's equipment. The legend is + Hoc NORMANNORUM WILLELMUM ITOBCE PATRONUM sI(GNO). - Anglo-Saxon soldiers
Another group from Cotton MS., Claudius, B. iv. - The two wise cart-horses
Cart-horses, though heavy-looking animals, are more sagacious that their more gracefully formed relatives. A cart-horse had been driven from a farmyard to the neighbouring brook early one morning during winter to drink. The water was frozen over, and the horse stamped away with his fore-feet, but was unable to break the ice. Finding this, he waited till a companion came down, when the two, standing side by side, and causing their hoofs to descend together, broke through the ice, and were thus enabled to obtain the water they required. - The right way to mount—facing toward his tail
In mounting, stand on the left side and place the left foot in the stirrup. Swing the right leg over the horse and find the right stirrup with the toe just as quickly as possible. Do not jerk a restless horse or otherwise betray your excitement if he starts. Let him see by your calmness that he too should be calm. - Jumping fences is the highest art of horsemanship
Jumping fences is the highest art of horsemanship - The wrong way to mount a horse—facing forward
The wrong way to mount a horse—facing forward - Horse and buggy in a snowstorm
Horse and buggy in a snowstorm - Horse looking at a bicycle
Horse looking at a bicycle - Galloping Horse
Galloping Horse - Clara Barton
The Girl Who Unfurled The First American Red Cross Flag. It was Big Brother David who taught the little sister many things that were to make her a very practical “Angel of the Battlefield.” At five years of age, thanks to his training, she rode wild horses like a young Mexican. This skill in managing any horse meant the saving of countless lives when she had to gallop all night in a trooper’s saddle to reach the wounded men. David taught her, also, to drive a nail straight, to tie a knot that would hold, and to think and act quickly. - Peasant Wagon, Hainburg
Peasant Wagon, Hainburg - Horse
Horse - He called to the coachman to stop
One day, when Handel was seven years old, his father announced his intention of paying a visit to the castle of the Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels. Handel was most anxious to be allowed to accompany his father, because he had heard that the Duke kept a great company of musicians to perform in his chapel. But the father refused his consent, and the boy turned away with a look of fixed determination in his eyes. 'I will go, even if I have to run every inch of the way!' Handel did not know then that forty miles lay between his home and the castle, but having formed his bold resolution he awaited the moment when his father set forth on his journey, and then, running behind the closed carriage, he did his best to keep pace with it. The roads were long and muddy, and although he panted on bravely for a long distance, the child's strength began at last to fail, and, fearing that he would be left behind, he called to the coachman to stop. At the sound of the boy's voice his father thrust his head out of the window, and was about to give vent to his anger at George's disobedience; but a glance at the poor little bedraggled figure in the road, with its pleading face, melted the surgeon's heart. They were at too great a distance from home to turn back, and so Handel was lifted into the carriage and carried to Weissenfels, where he arrived tired and footsore, but supremely happy at having won his point. - Death of General Johnston
Death of General Johnston - The conveyance of a Persian official traveling in disgrace to Teheran at the call of the shah
The conveyance of a Persian official traveling in disgrace to Teheran at the call of the shah