In my
last post I wrote about the horses used for pulling vehicles in the Regency
era. In this post, I will address the vehicles themselves. There is, I think, the romantic idea of what a coach and four should look like, largely engendered by
illustrations for British Christmas cards. From those, it would be easy to think
of the coach as being of British origin which is far from the fact. The
English word ‘coach’ derives from the Hungarian post town of Kocs (pronounced koch)
which was introduced into England from
France during the reign of Elizabeth 1, reputedly by Henry FitzAlan, 19th
Earl of Arundel.
The
coach, as we think of it today, is a closed-cab heavy, four-wheeled vehicle drawn
by four or six horses. This, together with harness, coachmen, and grooms is
termed a turnout. The Four-In-Hand Club of many a Regency tale grew out of a
driving club formed in 1807. Four-in-hand means to hold the reins controlling
all four horses in one hand, the left, while the whip is held in the right. A ‘veritable
whip’ would be someone having mastered the art of driving a coach and four.
The
Four-In-Hand Club dictated that their members wear ankle-length drab coats (drab
is an undyed light brown wool) fastened with large mother-of-pearl buttons beneath
which they sported blue waistcoats with inch-wide yellow stripes. The Barouche Club
rules stated that the horses should all be bay and wear silver-mounted harnesses
with rosettes at their head.
Gigs,
curricles, chaises, and phaetons are the usual vehicles of choice by Regency
characters. A gig was a light, two-wheeled cart with fixed shafts drawn by one
horse or pony. The curricle was also a light, two-wheeled vehicle but big
enough for a driver and passenger. This was the most favoured vehicle for the young
man about town, particularly if he could afford a carefully matched pair of
horses to pull it. The
chaise or post-chaise was a versatile closed-body four-wheeled carriage. It
could seat two or four persons and could be drawn by two or four horses which,
because the chaise was designed as a fast means of travel, would be changed
every ten- to fifteen miles.
 |
| Postillion boots Note the right boot is larger |
This type of carriage could also be driven by
postillions rather than a coachman. The
postillions, often in the livery of their employer, rode the horse on the left
side of the pair, their right leg being protected from the central wooden shaft
and the right hand, or ‘offside’ horse, by a heavy, rigid boot. Horses are
typically mounted on the left, or ‘nearside’, this method left over from
medieval times. Right-handed knights wore their swords on their left side to
make the sword easier to draw. Mounting their horses from the left side was
simply the means to not have the sword in the way when they swung their right
leg over the saddle.
Ladies
who enjoyed the sport of driving might be seen out and about in a phaeton, an
open well-sprung four-wheeled carriage with the pair of back wheels larger than
the front pair. It could be drawn by one or two horses and the very skilled or
daring whipster, either male or female, might opt for the high-perch phaeton.
The unfortunate downside of this particular vehicle was the fact that it was
notoriously unstable, particularly when cornering and especially in the hands
of an unskilled driver.
 |
| High Perch Phaeton |
There
were also barouches, landaus, and hackneys, the latter developing into the familiar
black, two-wheeled conveyance drawn by one horse so familiar in Victorian times
and continuing today with the familiar black London taxicab. Travelling
anywhere during the Regency era could be fraught with danger, from the notoriously
bad roads made worse by inclement weather, attacks by highwaymen, poor maintenance which
could cause the harness to break or wheels to detach from the axles or inexperienced or careless coachmen.
Inspiration for my heroine's driving scenes in His Dark Enchantress came from the notorious Lady Letitia Lade and from more recent history, Mrs. Cynthia Haydon. Here is a short excerpt.
Lucius’ prized Hungarian horses, polished so they gleamed
like copper and harnessed once more, were hitched to the barouche without further
incident. Jem and Sid held the leader’s heads while Emmaline draped herself in
the driving coat and settled herself on the box. Juliana handed her a three-cornered
driving hat and settled herself against the buttoned velvet squabs as Noble
swung up onto the seat beside Emmaline.
“Have no fear, Mr. Noble, I had an excellent teacher.” Emmaline
carefully threaded the reins through the fingers of her left hand. “I drove a
pony and trap when I turned six years old, a pair when I turned nine, a tandem
when I turned eleven and my first four-in-hand on my fourteenth birthday. His
Lordship shall not be disappointed.”
He might not be disappointed, Emmaline thought as she pointed
the leaders out of the yard, but he would undoubtedly be furious.
