Related article: the time when the various whips
we have alluded to were invented,
up to the last century, very little
ingenuity seems to have been
exercised in the manufacture of
whips. As we have seen, in the
first instance they were con-
structed for corporal punishment,
but subsequently they were used
by carters to quicken the paces of
beasts of burden, and then only
one lash was required. But where
are any old whips to be seen ?
It is very rare to find a whip of
any date earlier than the Stuart
period ; a few made in the reign
of Charles II. still exist. Racing
men need scarcely be reminded
that the famous Newmarket
Challenge Whip, of which more
anon, dates from this period.
Other whips of Charles II.*s time
may be seen in private collections.
An important change was
effected when whips were con-
structed with bent tops, as we
use them now, for driving. Ap-
parently this fashion came into
vogue about the eighteenth cen-
tury, when whip-making became
a well-recognised industry. Hunt-
ing whips in the earlier half of
the century were made with bent
tops — like a short-handled carriage
whip — as we learn from the pic-
tures of James Seymour and his
contemporaries.
The huntsman's whip of a later
date, if clumsy, was a very for-
midable weapon. There is in
Sir Walter Gilbey's collection at
Elsenham Hall the whip which
belonged to Hoswell, who was
huntsman to Mr. Maynard, the
.1900.] WHIPS.
Countess of Wanvick's grand-
fother (fig. i). It is a large and
heavy whip, constructed in much
the same fashion as the platted
gut crops of the present day,
with a long and stout thong and
a hammer head of steel or iron,
whose face suggests frequent and
vigorous use upon obstructive
gate locks.
About this time whip handles
were covered with " shagreen,"
('.«., fish skin, dressed in a peculiar
way, and fastened on to the stock
in a manner with which no living
workman is acquainted, for the
manufacture of " shagreen " is,
unhappily, a lost art.
In order to show at a glance
the connection between ancient
and modern whips, we give the
following list, and regret that it
seems impossible to satisfactorily
fill the gap between the Roman
period and the last century.
(a) The prehistoric whip was
probably only a goad (^stimulus).
There is no reason to imagine
that it was anything more elegant
to look at than a long stick with a
sharp point to it. This kind of
goad was used up to the tenth
century, and is even used in the
nineteenth century upon sand
donkeys, with both ends of the
stick un sharpened.
(b) After the goad a mild form
of "cat" was invented; it was
used in the reign of Solomon.
We may safely assume that it
was constructed of two or more
thongs of hide, securely bound to
a wooden handle. This was in
vogue A.M. 2971.
(e) Rehoboam had a severe
edition of Solomon's whip. It
was most likely made with bristles,
or perhaps bones acted as sub-
stitutes for knots. Buy Divalproex
(rf) The ancient Greeks, ac-
cording to their historians and
artists (vide the paintings on the
walls of excavated buildings at ""'■ ^.-cold-mohntbd r
3i8
BAILY S MAGAZINE.
[November
Herculaneum, Pompeii and else-
where), had both cats or flagella
mentioned in c. They also had
others that were milder.
(t) The ancient Romans had
fiagella consisting of three short
chains, with knobs of metal at
the end, attached to a short
handle. They resembled a diminu-
tive stockwhip with three lashes.
•* Cats*' with two and sometimes
with three lashes of knotted cords,
or even wire, were used. These
lashes were called scorpions. The
Romans also had ** fasces," «.^., a
bundle of rods tied together with
an axe in the centre, this being a
badge of authority.
(/) We may assume that the
ancient Romans introduced ** the
cat" into the States which they
conquered, for it will be remem-
bered that they were strict dis-
ciplinarians.
{g) From an illuminated psalter,
copied in the eleventh century,
we gather that whips with two
lashes were used in England at
that period. In the fourteenth
century the carter used a whip Buy Divalproex Online
with three lashes.
(h) Prints of the fifteenth cen-
tury show whips having only one
lash.
(i) Postillions were employed in
the eighteenth century and pre-
vious to that period, and conse-
quently noblemen and gentlemen
living in those times paid very
little attention to driving whips,
because they rarely drove them-
selves.
ij) In the eighteenth century
whips were bent at the top, and
became more shapely. The best
cutting whip handles were made
of •* shagreen."
(h) Whips of the present day
far surpass those which have been
mentioned by historians, and they
are not designed to permanently
injure either a human being or an
animal. The Russian knout, also
bullock whip and stockwhips, are
not merciful correctors, but the
Russian knout was not designed
in the nineteeth century.
A curious whip in the Elsenham
collection is the packman's (fig. 5).
This is a specimen of the whip
used by packmen and carriers in
the latter- half of the eighteenth
century : the metal head unscrews
to reveal within the thick part of
the Generic Divalproex stock a receptacle for pen and
ink and spare horse- nails.
There is no great difference,
save in superior workmanship,
between the carriage whip of 1790
and that of to-day. The thick-
ened grip of the typical whip
shown in fig. 2 is clumsier than
the neatly graduated grip put
upon our modern whips, but other-
wise there is little to choose
between the old and the new^.
Fig. 4 shows a phaeton whip
owned and u^ed by King George
IV. ; the stock is holly and the
bark is left on where the twigs
sprang from the parent stem. l^o.
3 dates from the year 1825 and
deserves notice as being an early