The coachman was an important figure in pre-automobile society, driving horse-drawn carriages and playing a role in trade, travel, and mail delivery. The term originated in England and Europe, while in America the operator of a stagecoach was called a stage driver. Horse-drawn coaches still exist as a romantic novelty, and ancient cultures imagined the sun as a cosmic charioteer.
A coachman is the driver of a horse-drawn carriage. In the pre-automobile era, buses were essential methods of transportation within and between urban areas. Driving them was a special skill, and their driver played an important role in society at the time. Charioteers also figure prominently in pre-20th-century fiction and mythology. In modern times, horse-drawn coach travel still exists, mostly as a romantic novelty.
Horse-drawn wheeled vehicles have been used around the world for thousands of years. In 15th-century Hungary, a new design made these carriages faster and relatively comfortable; these were called trainers, after the Hungarian town of Kocs. Cities like Kocs have become stopovers for those traveling long distances by bus; these stops were called stages, leading to the term stagecoach. In the 18th century, travelers to Europe could hire a public bus for short or long journeys. Wealthy families who could afford to keep a private coachman on staff were sometimes called carriage people.
The coachman had a specialized skill set not unlike the modern taxi or bus driver. He held an unusual position in society because of his important role in trade, travel and even mail delivery, often working directly with the wealthy upper classes despite coming from a poor and uneducated background. Some coachmen prided themselves on the speed of their services, and chariot racing remains a sport to this day. With the advent of trains and automobiles, the importance of the coachman began to decline. Horse-drawn coaches, now called carriages to differentiate them from coaches, are still available for hire in large cities, public parks and Renaissance festivals.
The term coachman was mainly used in England and Europe. In America, the operator of a stagecoach was often called a stage driver. Other terms have been used in various locations around the world such as jarvey, coachee or simply driver. Modern bus companies use the term carriage driver as it can refer to people of both sexes.
Ancient cultures, such as the Greek and Hindu people, imagined the sun as a kind of cosmic charioteer, driving a chariot of fire across the sky. The popular literature of pre-industrial Europe often portrayed the coachman, sometimes as the victim of highwaymen who preyed on coachmen in remote areas. In the story of Pinocchio, the charioteer is a sinister figure who captures naughty boys so they can be turned into donkeys and sold into slavery. In Alan Moore’s graphic novel From Hell, a coachman named John Netley is the only accomplice to Jack the Ripper’s crimes. This character, who appears in other Ripper fiction, was based on a carriage driver who lived in Victorian England.
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