Gig (carriage)
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A gig is a light, two-wheeled open carriage with large wheels, a forward facing seat, and shafts for a single horse. The gig's body is constructed above the shafts, and it is entered from step-irons hanging from the shaft in front of the wheels. Gigs are enclosed at the back, and have luggage space under the cross-seat. Early gigs were crude and unsprung; later gigs were elegant for town driving and were constructed with springs. The term "gig" is short for "whirligig".[1]: 85–6 [2]: 132–3 [3]: 107
The Oxford English Dictionary gives the date of first known reference to a horse-drawn gig as 1791, and they were ubiquitous by the early 1800s.[4]
Gigs were typically named after their designers, builders, or their shape.[2]: 133 There are several types of gig, including:[5][6][7][8]: 90–91
- Dennett gig: Early 1800's resembling the Stanhope gig but with three springs, one crosswise and two horizontal[1]: 63
- Skeleton gig: Very light; no luggage space.[1]: 148
- Spider gig: Very high gig, French version had high outward curving dash and curved shafts.[1]: 72, 82
- Stanhope: typically having a high seat and closed back; designed and built by Fitzroy Stanhope around 1814.[1]: 153
- Stick-back gig: designed with the seat back made of sticks or ribs.[1]: 155
- Suicide gig: Very high gig popular in Ireland. Dangerous to drive or mount.[1]: 86
- Tilbury or Seven-spring gig: designed by Fitzroy Stanhope, but named after builder Tilbury. Heavier than the Stanhope because it had seven springs and two braces. Popular where roads were rough.[1]: 161 [2]: 274
- Whiskey or whisky: lightweight, often constructed with canework. Named for whisking over the road.[1]: 173 [2]: 133
Gigs travelling at night would normally carry two oil lamps with thick glass, known as gig-lamps. This led to the formerly common slang word "giglamps" for "spectacles".[9]
Nineteenth century literature frequently recounted "romantic tales of spills and hairbreadth [e]scapes" from these vehicles, but is equally fulsome on the fearful thrill experienced in driving them.[10]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i Smith, D.J.M. (1988). A Dictionary of Horse Drawn Vehicles. J. A. Allen & Co. Ltd. ISBN 0851314686. OL 11597864M.
- ^ a b c d Walrond, Sallie (1979). The Encyclopaedia of Driving. Country Life Books. ISBN 0600331822. OL 4175648M.
- ^ Felton, William (1996) [1796]. A Treatise on Carriages (Reprint of both volumes). Astragal Press. ISBN 1879335700. OL 21753408M. (Original Vol I, Original Vol II)
- ^ Byrne, Aoife (2015). ""Very Knowing Gigs": Social Aspiration and the Gig Carriage in Jane Austen's Works". Persuasions: The Jane Austen Journal. 37: 198ff.
- ^ Newlin, A. (1940). An Exhibition of Carriage Designs. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, 35(10), 186-191.
- ^ McCausland, Hugh. (2013). The English Carriage. Read Books Ltd.
- ^ For descriptions and definitions see: Berkebile, Donald. H. (2014). Carriage Terminology: An Historical Dictionary. Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 9781935623434
- ^ Nockolds, Harold, ed. (1977). The Coachmakers: A History of the Worshipful Company of Coachmakers and Coach Harness Makers, 1677-1977. JA Allen. ISBN 0851312705. OL 26258137M.
- ^ "gig-lamps n." Green’s Dictionary of Slang. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
- ^
- Bradney, Jane (2005). "The Carriage-Drive in Humphry Repton's Landscapes". Garden History. 33 (1): 31–46. doi:10.2307/25434155. ISSN 0307-1243. JSTOR 25434155. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
- Burgess, James W. (1881). A Practical Treatise on Coach-Building, Historical and Descriptive. Crosby Lockwood and Co. p. 13. OL 22890382M.
Further reading
[edit]
- "Gigs, Cabriolets and Curricles". The Jane Austen Centre. Archived from the original on 2 March 2012.