Postilion
A postilion (or postillion, occasionally Anglicised to "post-boy"[1]) rider was the driver of a horse-drawn coach or post chaise, mounted on one of the drawing horses.[2] By contrast, a coachman would be mounted on the vehicle along with the passengers.
Postilion riders normally rode the left (or "near") horse of a pair because horses usually were trained only to be mounted from the left.[3][4] With a double team, either there would be two postilions, one for each pair,[5] or one postilion would ride on the left rear horse in order to control all four horses.
This style of travel was known as "posting",.[6] The postilions and their horses (known as "post-horses")[7] would be hired from a "postmaster" at a "post house".[1] The carriage would travel from one post house to the next (a journey known as a "stage"), where the postilions and/or horses could be replaced if necessary.[1] Posting was once common both in England and in continental Europe.[8] In England, however, it declined once railways became an alternative method of transport.[1] It remained popular in France and other countries.
[edit] See also
- Le postillon de Lonjumeau, an 1836 French comic opera by Adolphe Adam.
- "My postillion has been struck by lightning". A comical phrase supposedly found in old-fashioned foreign language phrase books.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Rogers (1900), p. 280
- ^ Definition of postillion by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.
- ^ Which side of the road do they drive on? Brian Lucas.
- ^ Rogers (1900), p. 279
- ^ Rogers (1900), pp 282-283, 107
- ^ Rogers (1900), p. 278
- ^ Rogers (1900), p. 282
- ^ Rogers (1900), pp. 279-280
[edit] Bibliography
- Rogers, Fairman (1900). A Manual of Coaching. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company. OCLC 6478019. http://books.google.com/books?id=PqdFAAAAMAAJ.
[edit] External links
 |
Look up postilion in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
 |
This horse-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
