Gig (carriage)

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]: 78 

A modern gig
Skeleton gig being driven tandem

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 caused 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
  1. Smith, D.J.M. (1988). A Dictionary of Horse Drawn Vehicles. J. A. Allen & Co. Ltd. ISBN 0851314686. OL 11597864M.
  2. Walrond, Sallie (1979). The Encyclopaedia of Driving. Country Life Books. ISBN 0600331822. OL 4175648M.
  3. Felton, William (1996) [1796]. A Treatise on Carriages. Astragal Press. ISBN 1879335700. OL 21753408M.
  4. Byrne, Aoife (2015). ""Very Knowing Gigs": Social Aspiration and the Gig Carriage in Jane Austen's Works". Persuasions: The Jane Austen Journal. 37: 198ff.
  5. Newlin, A. (1940). An Exhibition of Carriage Designs. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, 35(10), 186-191.
  6. McCausland, Hugh. (2013). The English Carriage. Read Books Ltd.
  7. For descriptions and definitions see: Berkebile, Donald. H. (2014). Carriage Terminology: An Historical Dictionary. Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 9781935623434
  8. 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.
  9. "gig-lamps n." Green’s Dictionary of Slang. Retrieved 11 April 2024.

Further reading
Look up gig in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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