Horses and History blog has a new Home!

Horses and History blog has a new home with Horse Canada online. It is under blogs (menu at top) and is still called Horses and History. It’s great to be back with the magazine who published my first material over 25 years ago! I will be writing about 2 blogs a month so please visit the new blog site Enjoy!! The link is   http://horse-canada.com/category/horses-and-history/

Montreal Sleighing Memories: When Life was Simpler and Winter was King!

WINTER LIFE AND LIVING IN A BYGONE ERA

Young Master Corriveau with goat sleigh.Photo courtesy of McCord Museum. Notman photo.

As horseman, horsewomen and history lovers, we owe famous Canadian photographer William Notman a debt of gratitude. Through his camera lens for 78 years, Notman captured the people, places and activities of Canada including the magic of Montreal winters. These treasures demonstrate that, far from loathing this long season, Montrealers of a century ago embraced it wholeheartedly…especially those who enjoyed sleighing in any form.

Andrew Allan's impressive six horse sleigh. Courtesy of the McCord Museum. Notman photo

The sleighs were indicative of this acceptance of winter and were built for every conceivable purpose from lowly farm and tradesman conveyance to Andrew Allan’s six horse hitch complete with postillions. Montrealers made the best of this season by travelling, partying, socializing, sporting and being seen in their sleighs complete with mounds of buffalo robes, clanging bells and drivers and passengers swathed in furs.

SOLDIERS, SLEIGHS AND SOCIETY

Montreal was a garrison town and the grenadier foot soldiers and mounted hussars added an additional seasoning of splash and splendour to the white winter wonderland. Those  soldiers  with social aspirations spent much of their earnings on fast sleighs and well bred horses, the ultimate status symbol. This soldier, part of the passing parade of opulence, finery and snobbery, topped off  his personal showpiece and spectacle with a beautiful woman by his side almost hidden in expensive furs, and dressed, ‘a la Parisienne’. They then paraded for all to see up and down Notre Dame and St. James Streets. Lieutenant Colonel Gamet Wolseley is quoted in Edgar Andrew Collard’s book  ’Calling Back Yesterday’, as saying, ” Altogether it was an elysium of bliss for young officers, the only trouble being to keep single.”

When the garrison in Montreal was withdrawn in 1870, the officers of the militia regiments carried on the traditions and activities of the clubs. The dinner drives along Longue Pointe were wonderful opportunities to show off sleighs, harness, outfits and of course lovely lady friends and wives. These dinner/dance outings started at 3:00 p.m. and saw 50 or 60 sleighs gather at Dominion Square for positioning and photographing before moving off amidst the happy clang of bells, returning after the festivities before midnight.

Saturday afternoons were race days and while foot races were held for the military on Sherbrooke Street, the lines of those taking part in the sleigh races some-times stretched for blocks. The Tandem Club was also famous for its meets that often started in prestigious Westmount and wound up and around

The Tandem Club making its way up Mount Royal. Photo from McCord Museum. Notman photo

Mount Royal. One writer recalls, “The fine stone houses set in large gardens with conservatories and stately trees made a wonderful setting.”

ARRIVAL OF THE HARDY SCOTS!

The Pre-Christmas arrival of anywhere from 15 to 50 massive 12 foot long Glengarry Sleighs bringing supplies from Ontario by Scottish farmers, was an awesome and welcome sight for housewives and servants.

These farmers came from Ontario towns and villages that bore the names of their Scottish past: Dunvegan, Dalkeith, Glen Sandfield, Munroes Mills, Maxville (which was Macsville originally), Loch Garry, and the Scotch River.

To undertake a journey in the old days in winter was a matter of a week — two days to come down, three days in Montreal, and two days to return. The sleighs were large home made affairs ten to twelve feet long, four to five feet wide, with sides three to four feet high. The runners were cut from a large birch or elm tree and the iron on the runners and the necessary nails and bolts were the only items bought for the sleigh. The whippletrees and traces were often the same as used for plough or harrow. The farmers’ sleighs were very much a conveyance of convenience, there was nothing showy or fancy about them.

The hardy Cameron and MacDonald farmers piled their sleighs to bursting with butter, cheese, turkeys, geese, pork, seed and hand knitted mittens. They brought along some bread and cheese and a nip of ‘something’ to ward off the cold, and with wife and children started out on the 80 mile trip from Ontario to Montreal in the nearby Province of Quebec. The first night’s stop was at The Cedars where horses were stabled for 25cents and the lodging fee of a shilling was often saved by sleeping under the sleigh’s buffalo robes in a comer of the bar.

Horses pull hay filled sleighs over frozen rivers. Dead trees and branches were pushed into the snow to mark the way. Photo courtesy of McCord Museum. Notman photo

Next, the 2500 pound sleighs went onto St. Anne’s in Pointe Claire and Lachine; the best part, no doubt, was the price and the perks. Whether they partook or not, the cost for watering their horses was six-pence and included a beer!

The highlight of the trip was the arrival of these sleighs. Imagine the sight of a long line of massive over laden sleighs, accompanied by the noise of bells and bagpipes, these Scottish farmers loyal to their homeland no matter what the occasion. Once in Montreal many of the sleighs went to the famous Bonsecours Market in Montreal which was inaugurated in 1847 and acknowledged still today as one of Canada’s finest heritage buildings.

Our farmer and his family rented stalls for his horse at a Scottish inn for 25 cents a day, and paid twice that for his family. Everybody kicked up their heels and had a grand time, and before leaving hardware and household items were bought and that precious commodity, Liverpool salt was purchased for a shilling a bushel!

With about $250.00 in his pocket, the Glengarry farmer left the bustling city of Montreal knowing that his visit was a breath of fresh air to all, himself included! The visit would be the talk of the town for months on end by both Scottish farmer and English and French Canadian Montrealers. This was just another aspect of the enjoyment of the long cold season when life was simpler and winter was king!

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The photos in this article are from Montreal’s McCord Museum website which has 600,000 of the Notman photographs. These photos are consulted by institutions and researchers from all over the world. Search and enjoy them at: http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/scripts/explore.php?ang=1&tableid=4&tablename=department&elementid=00016__true

Transport and Carriages in the Victorian era (1837-1901)

The recent Royal Wedding gave us a glimpse at some of the beautiful, ornate and priceless carriages that are housed in The Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace in London and that are used for special occasions by members of The Royal Family and others.

With that in mind, I decided to dive a little deeper into transportation, driving, carriages and coaches in the Victorian Era which was from 20 June 1837 until the death of Queen Victoria  on 22 January 1901.

Transport for The Masses

Transport For the Masses.

In 1829, English coachbuilder George Shillibeer launched London’s first ‘hail and ride’ bus service. From 1870, horse-drawn trams on rails challenged the supremacy of the horse bus. Trams ran earlier in the morning and were cheaper than buses, giving working-class Londoners access to affordable public transport.

The “Gondola” was invented circa 1771 in Paris and seated up to a twelve passengers. Later, the omnibus (created circa 1820-1830) carried several passengers just as omnibuses today carry many passengers.

The Railway Chugs Across England.

By the 1860’s, the English were riding the rails en masse. The opening of the Metropolitan Railway, the first section of the underground (or tube as the Brits call it), made way for the era of the subway.

However, things had been changing in England for decades.  Agriculture had been on the decline since the 1800’s and 80% of the population  had moved to the cities with the hopes of a better life off the farm.  London, Manchester and Birmingham had become sorely overcrowded and the subway was a pleasant change. Within months, the Metropolitan Railway was carrying more than 26,000 people a day.

The Hansom Cab.

However, while the steam trains belched their way across the countryside, horse drawn carriages were still found on countless streets and laneways

A Hansom Cab: fast and nimble transport for the gents.

in both city and country.  Perhaps the most common cab was the Hanson cab named after its founder Mr. A.J. Hansom.  This was a nimble 2 wheeled carriage with a low centre of gravity that was able to turn on a dime.  Originally the design had the driver sitting on top of the carriage roof. Then the design saw him at the side but this idea was squelched as the extra weight on one side would mean an unbalanced load for the horse. Finally, the driver’s seat was placed at the back of the carriage behind the passengers where they sat inside.  No doubt, those with a penchant for Dr. Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick Watson in films and on TV shows will recall seeing them dash about the foggy streets of London in a Hansom cab, great for 2 people but a tight squeeze for three.

The driver really called the shots in a Hansom cab: he opened and closed the door with a lever that he controlled from his seat and fares were paid upon reaching a destination. However,  if no fare was forthcoming through the hatch door, then the doors stayed shut.  Instructions and directions were also given through the hatch as passengers and driver could talk to each other.  The Hanson cab was considered a “racy” vehicle, a sort of gentleman’s sports car and it was not considered proper for upper class ladies to ride in them.

The Clarence or Growler. Photo courtesy of Sandi Henning of Time Flies Equine Photography

The Clarence.

The Clarence was the best way to transport more than two people but its common name was the “growler” thanks to the noise its wheels made on the cobblestoned streets.  In movies and TV shows depicting the Victorian Era, we will often see “growlers” waiting at railway stations picking up arrivals or holiday makers setting off for Brighton and Blackpool for their summer holiday. They carried loads of luggage and people with ease.

Only The Best: Personal Luxury.

By the 1860’s, many people used the train to get to their destinations: a trip of a few hours by steam train was a lot more tolerable than hours and hours in a bouncing, poorly sprung carriage over rough roads and country lanes. However, the wealthy still enjoyed the splash and dash in their own carriages pulled by matching horses tacked up in the best harness complete with crests.  The carriages too were painted in the family colours and crests and the ladies especially delighted in this display of wealth.  Coachmens’ livery that matched the carriage interior, blankets, foot warmers, pillows, a clock, visiting list and cut glasses for drinks were  “must haves”.

Gentlemen’s coaching gave driving its last hurrah in the 1890’s: wealthy gents took to driving large 4 and 6 horse coaches normally driven by experienced coachmen in the past and engaged in competitions amongst themselves.

The Quick Silver Royal Mail Coach

Thanks to Esther M. Zimmer Lederberg and this memorial web site. http://www.estherlederberg.com for the  photograph of the omnibus, the Hansom cab and the Quick Silver Royal Mail Coach.

The Mail Must Get Through!!

Horses and Coach Proves Faster Than Modern Methods!!

In the 1700’s the delivery of mail took weeks or months, if at all. A man or delivery child on a pony or with a cart and horse was expected to take and deliver the mail along roads and paths that were often no better than sheep paths. Enter a Bath theatre owner named John Palmer who decided to do something about the slow service. On the 2^nd of August in 1784, the residents of Bristol cheered as the inaugural mail coach thundered down the narrow main street on its way to London. Needless to say the service was a huge success and before long set routes and timetables were put into place. Mail coaches abounded with names like Red Rover, Sporting Times, Tally Ho and their destinations like London, Guilford and Oxford were brightly painted on the doors.

The Mail Coaches were large, uncomfortable but fast for their day.

As these massive coaches approached a town, the guard on the back who kept passengers in line and the schedule intact, withdrew his horn from a leather pouch and let loose with: Clear the Road, Coming By or Pulling Up. Imagine the thrill of the arrival of the mail coach for the country dwellers who lived out in the back of beyond and rarely saw another living soul from week to week.

I cannot leave this brief story of mail coaches without a final word:  On August 1, 1984 a recreation of this inaugural mail run, and a mail delivery test was made. With coachman John Parker at the reins a mail coach left The Nails public house in Bristol. He drove the 131 mile trip by himself and used five teams of Norwich greys along the way. He pulled up in London at 8.30am the following day. At the same time as he left Bristol, a letter was mailed from there to Post Office headquarters  in London.

Parker’s team’ consisted of 35 “helpers”: grooms, farriers, vet, horse box drivers and two liveried guards. His guards couldn’t better the horn blower record of 70 seconds in one continuous breath but his grooms beat the  record later set in 1888 of 46 seconds for changing horses and the wheel switch was completed in 41 seconds flat.

In Robert Marks’s article published in This England magazine, he stated that: “the pressure on the reins compared with holding 14 bags of sugar in one hand for 17 hours.”

And who proved faster: Horsepower and man power or motor power and man power? Well, the letter arrived in London days after the coaches arrival…but you probably already figured that one out.

The Black Beauty Story

Anna Sewell, author of Black Beauty

When Queen Victoria came to the throne in England in 1837, industrialization was taking hold and more and more young men and women left their farms to make a living working in factories and manufacturing companies. Cotton factories allowed Britain to produce more than half the world’s supply of cotton and coal mining around Newcastle was expanding to meet demand. Railways were booming and goods were moved to shipping ports which also gave ship building a boost. However while advances in manufacturing, medicine and education saw many leaving life on the farms in the country, life for the masses was certainly not easy. Life for animals was no better and a horse was viewed as a beast of burden to be worked till natural death, disease or exhaustion claimed it.

One young lady who actually did do something about these atrocities towards horses was Anna Sewell, author of Black Beauty. Anna Mary Sewell was born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England into a devout Quaker family. Her father was Isaac Phillip Sewell (1793-1879), and her mother, Mary Wright Sewell (1798 – 1884) was a successful author of children’s books and a kind gentle person who instilled values into her two children. Throughout their lives both Mary Sewell and her daughter Anna were involved in good works.

The family later moved to Stoke Newington and a few years later at the age of fourteen Anna slipped and injured both her ankles.  The injury was never set properly, she was disabled for the rest of her life and because of this Anna had to use a crutch for walking and was unable to stand for long periods of time.  Anna had to take carriages and buggies when she travelled due to her injury and it was this exposure to horses and carriages that first alerted her to the way they were treated.

Anna’s and her mother were devout Quakers and although they changed to the Church of England, Anna still held fast to her Quaker beliefs in kindness to animals. While in Europe where she went for her health, Sewell met artists and other writers including Lord Alfred Tennyson, people that she might never have met in her former social circle. At home she helped her mother write and edit popular evangelical books for children.

Anna’s only book was the famous story of Black Beauty, written to bring attention to the mistreatment of horses. It was written towards the end of her life, her health was declining at this time and she was usually confined to her bed where her mother transcribed her notes. Her goal, she said was “a special aim being to induce kindness, sympathy, and an understanding treatment of horses”.

The book Black Beauty brought attention to the cruel use of check reins on driving horses. Photo courtesy of Time Flies Equine Photography

The book took her six years to write but she lived long enough after its publication to see its initial success. It is considered a children’s classic and it had a strong moral purpose. It was also instrumental in abolishing the cruel practice of using the check rein on driving horses (a short rein used to prevent a horse from lowering its head).

Black Beauty was sold to the publisher Jarrolds and was published just 5 months before her death.  Anna died of hepatitis or tuberculosis in November 1877 . She is buried near Buxton and her home has been turned into a museum.

Horse Whisperers: Part II

Farriers and blacksmiths were often horse whisperers as they needed to manage frightened and unruly horses.

Secret Societies, Oaths and Handshakes:

Latter day horse whisperers can claim credit for the formation of many secret societies that sprang up in Great Britain during the 18th century, each with its own secret handshake, oath and password.  Scottish whisperers were regarded with great awe and the expression ‘orra loon’ meaning odd or misplaced was applied to members of this group.  It makes one wonder if the adjective ‘loonie’ that is applied to an odd person comes from this?

The Scottish Brotherhood or Society of Horse Whisperers was still in existence in the late 19th Century and possibly into the early 20th in the areas of Aberdeenshire and Morayshire.  Other areas of Scottish lowlands may also have retained their fair share of horse whisperers as the flatter terrain enabled horses to work even after tractors were invented.

In the horse whisperers oath dating from 1780, novices had to promise to:

“heal, conceal and never reveal any part of the true horsemanship which I am about to receive at this time.”

They also swore not to tell their friends, family, nor to write it, speak of it, carve it in wood or stone nor to reveal it to anybody less than 16 years of age or older than 45 unless the potential member had been questioned and examined by ‘three or more lawful sworn brethren present.’

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

For those who didn’t keep their promise the consequences were dire: their flesh would be torn to pieces by a wild horse, the heart cut out with a horseman’s knife, and his bones buried on the sands of a seashore where the rides ebbed and flowed every 24 hours.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

After taking the oath the novice was blindfolded and a ‘regal crown, the royal robe, and the sacred sword belt of the Brotherhood’ were placed upon him.  When his blindfold was removed, he found that this was in fact an old hat bedecked with imitation horse ears, a horse blanket and a girth strap.  Young farmhands would then  be taken into a darkened byre to shake hands with the “auld chiel” – the devil – after swearing the oath of secrecy. The evening then degenerated into ‘true drunkenness and horseplay.’

Whisper It…Klu Klux Klan origins in Horse Whisperers.

There is a final and chilling note to this Scottish Society of Horse Whispers that never fails to astonish.

While many horse whisperer societies forged links with Masonic Societies,  some went a step further. On Christmas Eve in 1865, six young Confederate army officers who had emigrated from Scotland  held a meeting to form a secret society using their knowledge of the whisperers’ traditions and oaths as the basis in Pulaski, Tennessee. They discussed possible names and because horse whisperer meeting back home were called ‘kuklos’ a word that comes from the Greek word meaning circle, they settled on the same with the word clan added to it but spelled with a K.  The group probably started out as a drinking and hellfire club that soon got out of hand and finally emerged as the Klu Klux Klan.

Today the initiation rites for this infamous group include the robing of a new member along with a ‘sacred crown, robe and sword’ which are modern versions of the old hat, blanket and leather strap.

Can You Explain This?

Today, many people claim to be able to communicate with animals. However, unlike the horse whisperers of old, today’s animal communicators do it through mental telepathy, or with visions.  While it is easy to dismiss the old horse whisperers as horsemen who just knew a trick or two, some of the faded old photos of the whisperers at work might make you stop and reconsider hasty judgement.

One such photo taken at a fair in West Lothian, England reveals a middle aged gent complete with peaked cap and tweed coat standing beside two enormous draft horses who are lying down with their heads facing the camera.  They are fully harnessed complete with hames and their manes are braided and topped with ribbons.  Their plow lies in front of them.  One has to wonder if those with ‘the word’ might have indeed had the special gift of communication bestowed upon them.  After all when was the last time you were able to get two 18 h.h. Shire horses to lie down for you?

Horse Whisperers Part 1: Origins, societies and secrets.

Tinkers, travelers, gypsies...call them what you will, they were the original horse whisperers. Thanks to Harlequin Farms for this great photo.



HORSE WHISPERERS:  Part 1

Origins and Explanations:

The term horse whisperer is nothing new despite the interest gained in these individuals over the last 20 years or so. Today’s horse whisperers with their round pens and new training methods are a far cry from the original horse whisperers. The originals, usually from gypsy or Romany stock were common in the 17 and 1800s in the British Isles and in other countries and they bring to mind visions of ancient and mystical charms and skills dating back to an a medieval guild craft.

However, these societies, often secret, can be credited with the inception of many expressions and traditions and societies, including the notorious Klu Klux Klan.

These days the last two remaining centres of Romany or gypsy horse trading are in the North of England at Lee Gap in mid August and Latter Lee in mid September . These fairs originated thanks to King Stephen’s Royal Charter of 1136 and are England’s oldest surviving charter fairs where horses, ponies and donkeys are traded and sold.

There are two other notable horse fairs in England  attended by gypsies and tourists alike and every year more than 10,000 travellers plus up to 30,000 visitors descend on the small town of Appleby-in-Westmorland in Cumbria, Northern England. Stow-on-the-Wold horse fair also attracts hundreds of sightseers twice a year and gypsies gather from all corners of England for a meet and greet and hundreds of horses are paraded and sold, all in one day.

In days gone by, as the heavier draft horses once used to carry knights were crossed with the British natives breeds like the Suffolk, Shire, Fell and Dale ponies  and Cleveland Bays, it is thought that it was with these resulting sturdy, sensible gentle giants that horse whisperers first got started with their secrets oaths, societies and handshakes. Often cared for by the children, it was essential that the horses be kind and quiet, with a willing disposition.  They were pastured, fed and ridden within the gypsy camps so it was important that they became almost part of the family.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­________________________________________________________________________________________

In 1873, William Smith, an amateur historian and diarist went to Lee Gap Fair in Yorkshire and wrote about a gypsy man who could control horses, “from a distance without any word of command, but with a slight gesture of the hand seemingly bid them to now come, now stay, now run, now canter or gallop as he wished.”  Smith was told that the art lies, “in a charm amulet which possesses some preternatural efficacy over the horses.”

________________________________________________________________________________________

A gypsy camp dated 1902. The horse is very much part of the "family."

Why the Secrecy?

As with many societies, horse whisperers wanted to protect their craft and in the less enlightened days of centuries past, they were considered witches. However superstitions die hard and as late as the 1940’s in Worcester, Charles Walton, the last known whisperer with powers over toads, cattle, birds and horses, was killed with his own pitchfork by those who viewed him as a witch.

However, it was in the East Anglia region that horse whisperers endured the longest thanks to the flat farmland that enabled farmers to use horses long after the advent of tractors. A folklorist George Evans wrote down many of the traditions, stories and customs associated with whisperers and those possessing the “word” through stories passed down through generations.

‘Thus I Command”

“Thus I Command or the Latin version of “sic iubeo” was used by the whisperers as a password and as the control words used for horses. However it was the talismans that these whisperers used that held the true power to “draw” or attract horses, and others for repelling or “jading” horses which rendered them unable to move. Their origins sound like something out of a black magic text book.

The drawing talisman was the milt or pad, the spongy mass found in a foals mouth at birth that was, with great speed and dexterity removed from the foal’s mouth before it was swallowed. It was then impregnated with aromatic oils like sorrel, cinnamon and rosemary and tansy.

The jading talisman comes from killing a frog or natter jack toad and impaling it on a whitethorn to dry. It was then buried for a month till the flesh rotted away. The bones were then collected, thrown into running water, and the bone that didn’t float and drifted against the current was kept. This bone, the ilium or main bone in the frog’s pelvic girdle was shaped like the frog in the horses hoof and was carried about in a small pouch along with a piece of raw flesh or gobet of animal grease and Dragon’s blood, the red resin from various plant, all objects that offended an animals’ sense of smell and repelled them.

Some of the horse whisperer’s “magic” was startlingly crude as demonstrated by the old horseman’s trick of putting raw ginger under an old nag’s tail to transform him into a high stepping youthful beast or by twitching the upper lip when working on another part of the body. However, not all their goings on can be as easily explained and the non believers often paid the price when their horses refused to leave the stable or barn after a visit by a whisperer.

Some of their “magic” is easily explained today but centuries ago it was considered truly mysterious. For example the healing properties of penicillin found in culture moulds were not known in the 1700’s and mouldy cheese or bread or a strip of mouldy harness wrapped around a wound saw improvement in a few days. Whisperers were also called upon to cure humans of various ailments and for goitre, caused by an overactive thyroid, they wove and gave a horsehair necklet to the sufferer or offered them the powdered mouldy fuzz on old bread to cure worms.

In my next blog, we will look at the incredible origins of the infamous Klu Klux Klan in the USA and how they are linked to the horse whisperers.  You will be surprised!