•;i- J- -* rr.^ . .t. JOHNA.SEAVERNS m . '.s{' £>^ g,(,o.r — pamlc^ uv c'uiterri^ea. oritke uoitttv Ma(;e Hallen and Fitzwygram's Method. Its Disadvantages. Ma- vor's Patent Shoe. CHAPTER XIII. 558 Modern Farriery in France. Podometric Shoeing. The ' Ferrure a Froid ' and ' Ferrure a Chaud.' Conflicting Evidence. Evils of Cold-ritting. Interesting Experiments. Conclusions. New Inventions. Sanfarouche. Anti-slipping Shoes. The ' Ferrure Watrin.' Naudin and Benjamin's Methods. Machine-made Shoes in France. The * Periplan- taire,' or ' Charlier ' Method of Shoeing. Its Description. M. Charlier's Account. Practice of Shoeing. Tools, and Fabri- cation of the Shoe. Its Application. Discussions. Modifi- cations and Results. Shoeing in England. The latest Novelty. The Transatlantic ' Invention.' Its Admirers and Success. Steel-faced Shoes. CHAPTER XIV. 608 Importance of Shoeing to Civilization. The Greeks and Romans. Inconveniences attending the Employment of Unshod Animals. Roads and Cities. Manual Labour. In- troduction of Shoeing and its Eflects. Various Breeds of Horses. Changes in the Art of War. Increase in Cavalry. Armour. Riding Double. Heavy Equipment. Increasing Importance of Shoeing. Examples. Napoleon's Retreat from Moscow. Danish Retreat from Schleswig. Farriers' Strike in Paris. , CHAPTER XV 625 Progress of the Art of Farriery. Futile Attempts to Improve it. Disadvantages of Shoeing. Functions of the Foot to be Studied. Advantages of the Ancient System. German Shoe- ing and Hoof-paring. Its Evil Results. Traditional Shoeing. Routine. Erroneous Theories. Maltreatment of the Horse's Foot. Lafosse's Teaching. Requirements of Good Shoeing. Structure and Functions of the Hoof. Bad Shoeing. Rules to be Observed. Best Form of Shoe, and Method of Applica- tion. Hereditary Diseases. Shoeing in America and Arabia. Eftects of European Shoeing. Dangers of Improper Shoeing. Scientific Application of the Farrier's Art. An Appeal to Horsemen. ERRATA. Page 334, line 19, for ' brass ' reaJ ' bronze ' „ 454, line S'/"^ ' 1763 ' ^'■'"'^ ' 1673 ' HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. CHAPTER I. THE VALUE OF THE HORSE AS A LIVING MACHINE DEPENDS TO A GREAT EXTENT UPON HIS FEET. THE CARE OF THEM BY ANCIENT PEOPLE. XENOPHON AND HIS ADVICE. THE NECESSITY FOR SOUND FEET. HISTORY OF THE ART OF SHOEING. THE HOOF IN A NATURAL STATE. EFFECTS OF DOMESTICATION AND CLIMATE. THE PER- SIANS, ETHIOPIANS, ABYSSINIANS, TARTARS, MONGOLS, AND OTHER NATIONS. THE GREEKS. DIFFICULTY IN TRACING THE ORIGIN OF SHOEING. SCRIPTURAL TIMES. HOMER, AND ' BRAZEN-FOOTED.' TRYPHIODORUS. BRONZE SHOES, AND SHOELESS HOOFS. XENO- PHON ON THE MANAGEMENT OF HORSEs' FEET. ARISTOTLE. POLY- DORE VERGIL. THE GREEK MARBLES. CLIMATE OF GREECE. EFFECTS OF MARCHING. TRANSLATORS* AND COMMENTATORS' MIS- TAKES. ARRIAN AND ARTEMIDORUS. THE COIN OF TARENTUM. The horse is justly considered, even in these days, when the application of steam power has to a certain extent limited some of his more important functions, one of the most tractable and serviceable living machines, viewing him as a motor, ever pressed into slavery by man, and consequently ranks high above all those crea- 2 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. ^ tures which have submitted themselves to domestication and toil for the benefit of the human species. The varied uses to which he has been subjected, since taken from a wild state, and the willing and cheerful man- ner with which he has undergone fatigue, and performed duties which are, one would think, quite foreign to his nature, have all been owing to his com.bined and un- equalled qualities of strength, courage, speed, fidelity, and obedience, as well as docility ; and though his great value depends essentially upon a just disposition of these, yet more especially is it as a living machine, capable of moving or producing motion, and communicating it to inert masses at all times and in nearly all situations, that he is to be prized. Where, and at what period of the world's history, he was first brought into a state of servitude ; vv'hether at one or more points of the earth's surface man commenced to utilize his noble attributes, we know not. Certain it is, however, that some of the pre-historic races of the human family sought his aid ; and the ancient Aryans, more than three thousand years ago, as we learn from the Riga-Veda, in their home towards the upper valley of the Indus, loved and bred the horse, harnessed him to their chariots with spoked-wheels, and made him assume the principal part in their greatest religious sacrifices. The history of mankind abundantly testifies, that every possible use and application of this animal, whether in war, commerce, or pleasure, seems to have been antici- pated by the most ancient peoples ; proving the earliest sense aad conviction of his immense importance to man. Those old-world nations which, long ages ago, most largely QUALITIES OF THE HORSE. 3 employed the horse, were the great centres of antique civil- ization ; and it may safely be asserted, that, without him, the human race could not have reached its present state of refinement, or have been able to contend against the numerous obstacles to comfort and happiness which have surrounded it ; indeed, it has been said, that next to the want of iron, the want of horses would have been, per- haps, one of the greatest physical barriers to the advance- ment of the arts of civilized life. Doubtless, what might be termed the moral qualities of the horse, had largely conduced to make him so serv- iceable in all ages, but by far the largest share must be attributed to those of a physical kind. Strength, speed, endurance, and astonishing alacrity have endowed him with his most useful characteristics, and given him the pre-eminence over all other dom.esticated animals ; and these qualities again depend upon a marvellous adaptation of the organs and textures of which he is composed to the most varied requirements. Cuvier has somewhere said of the horse, that but for the space of bare gum between the incisor and molar teeth which affords space for the insertion and action of the bit, it would never have been subjected to the power of man. Far rather with truth may it be said, that but for the horse being endowed with a hoof which covers and protects the most beautiful and delicate of structures, and which being solid and a slow conductor of heat and cold, fits it for travelling in snow and ice during the winter of northern regions, and in the burning sands of tropical climates, he would scarcely have proved himself worth the trouble of domesticating. Aieans could have been 4 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. employed to ride and drive him without a bit in his mouth, but no invention or device of man could have compensated for the absence of his solid, hoof-cased foot. From the earliest ages, the attention of horsemen and horse-loving nations has been directed to the conservation or perfectioning of those attributes which make this ever- willing slave so worthy of our admiration and gratitude ; and those horses which had the best conformation, and proved themselves fleetest and hardiest, were ever selected as models for breeding and purchasing. And curiously enough, though it was not to be wondered at, nearly every one of the ancient writers, when speaking of the horse, centre their attention on his feet ; no matter how beauti- fully formed the other points of his conformation may have been, if his feet were defective, all was bad. The excellent horseman and gallant soldier, Xenophon, to whose extant treatises on the horse we are indebted for so much of what we know of equestrian matters in the an- cient world, tersely specifies how essential even in his day, when the uses of this animal were more limited, it was that he have good feet, or there was no profit in him. He says : ' In respect to the horse's body, then, we assert that we must first examine the feet ; for as there would be no use in a house, though the upper parts were ex- tremely beautiful, if the foundations were not laid as they ought to be, so there would be no profit in a war-horse, even if he had all his other parts excellent but was un- sound in his feet ; for then he would be unable to render any of his other good qualities effective.' ' And from the days of Xenophon to the present, when ' De Re Equestri. IMPORTANCE OF SOUND FEET. 5 the uses of the horse have been so multiplied and so much more necessary for our business or pleasure, the truth ot this advice has been daily receiving confirmation, until the aphorism ' No foot, no horse,' has become a painful reality in modern days, though it is but a re-echo of what was enunciated centuries beyond two thousand years ago. For the manifestation of his strength and the due performance of his useful qualities, the horse must, there- fore, rely upon the soundness of his feet, as in them are concentrated the efforts created elsewhere ; and on them depend not only the sum total of these propulsive powers being properly expended, but also the solidity and just equilibrium of the whole animal fabric. So that it is wisely considered that the foot of the horse is one of the most, if not the most, important part of all the locomotory apparatus; and that all the splendid qualities possessed by the noble creature may be diminished in value or hope- lessly lost, if through disease or accident, natural or ac- quired defects, or other causes, this organ fails to perform its allotted task. Seeing, then, the great interest which attaches to this animal, in its being of all creatures most concerned with man in promoting a progressive and long-continued civil- ization, and to the means and appliances which the lord of the creation has from time to time brought to bear in increasing the utility (would I could say comfort and happiness !) of this devoted servant, T have entered on the present inquiry into the origin and early history of what is generally looked upon as a humble art ; for the simple reason that it affbrds us a glimpse, or rather a faint idea, of an obscure occupation, a modest handicraft, in- 6 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. creasing a hundred-fold the value of the horse, and testi- fies to what an apparently insignificant operation very much of our immense progress in civilization has de- pended. I refer to the art of shoeing, by which, in arm- ing that portion of the horse's hoof coming in contact with the ground, and sustaining the whole weight, while it receives the full force of the propelling power, would (in our northern climate, at least) under the strain of load- bearing or draught, soon be destroyed, and the animal rendered useless, injury is not only averted, but the utility and power of the horse are largely increased. An art which has exerted some influence on the des- tinies of man, and lent its aid to the restless wave of human action, deserves some notice from those who care to note the sources and influences on which improvement and increased communication have relied ; and if this be a modest one, it is at least endowed with all the more in- terest in consequence of its being so closely related to the conservation of the best qualities of the noblest quadruped on earth. In a state of nature the hoof requires no protection. The solidity and toughness of its inferior border ; the ab- sence of artificial roads ; nothing but the weight of the body to be supported ; and the matter of which the horny case is composed never being subjected to any other influences than those which it is naturally adapted to resist, all tend to obviate any injurious amount of attri- tion in the roaming-at-will life of the feral horse. But in connection with climate, domestication alters, more or less, the conditions on which the horn depends for its in- tegrity as an efficient protection to the highly sensitive UNSHOD HOOFS. 7 and vascular textures it encloses. In eastern countries, where the climate is dry and the earth elastic and soft, and where the equine species is usually wiry and firm in its organization, with dense inflexible hoofs, an armature of any kind is seldom, if ever, required. Not unfrequently, however, we learn that the care and attention of the people who so employ horses is bestowed on the quality and re- sistance of the hoof; and as this has an important bearing on our inquiry, we will notice a few of the authorities who mention the fact. Thevenot informs us that the Persians cared little for shoes for their horses ; ' the Ethiopians, in the time of Ludolphus, although they seldom rode, did not employ any defence for the hoofs, and v/hen they had to travel over rough and stony ground, they dis- mounted and sat on the backs of mules, leading their horses in hand, so that these might tread lighter, and do their hoofs less dam.age. 'They do not defend their horses' hoofs with iron shoes ; if they travel over rough and uneven ground, they lead them, and ride mules.' ^ The same authority asserts that the Tartars, who ride so much, never shod their steeds. ' In the winter time, when, on account of the frost, roads are rough and hard, they cover their horses' feet with the recently flayed hide of cattle, if nothing else is at hand.' ^ A recent traveller in Abyssinia states that the horses ' Voyages, vol. ii, p. 113. Paris, 1684. ^ Joh. Ludolphus. Hist. iEdiiopic, vol. i. cap. 10. 'Ideo nee ungulas eorum soleis ferreis muniunt : si per aspera et salebrosa loca eundum fit, eos ducunt, ipsi mulis insidentes,' 3 Ibid, in Commentario, p. 149. ' Tempore vero hyemis, viis ob gelu asperis et duris, corio bourn, etiam recenti, si-aliud non suppetat, pedes equorum suorum involvunt.' 8 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. and mules of that country are not shod.' The wandering Mongols who roam between the Great Wall of China, the desert of Gobi, and the Russian frontier, with their flocks of sheep and droves of horses and cattle, do not employ shoes for their hardy but uncouth solipedes, ac- cording to the account of my friend and fellow-traveller, Mr Michie. Whenever a pony selected from a drove has become footsore from being ridden too long a time, the rider dismounts, a fresh steed is caught from the crowd, and the hoof-worn one is set at large again, to recover as it best may the loss it has sustained. So that a traveller often requires to change his invaluable steed when crossing these inhospitable wilds. But in this there does not appear to be any difficulty, as an exchange can be readily effected by paying a slight difference to the nomadic owner of a drove, who knows that by allowing the lame creatures to pasture quietly for a few weeks, they will soon have re- placed the lost horn, and be as serviceable as ever. It would appear, however, that horses are sometimes shod here, but they may only be Russian ones. Tim- kowski in travelling through this country, and when at a halting-place, writes : 'While the smith was shoeing onr horses, a lama, who kept walking about, and seemed very attentive to what he was doing, suddenly mounted his horse and galloped away. It was afterwards discovered that this priest had stolen one of the smith's tools.' ^ Marco Polo, in the 13th century, travelling in Badak- shan, says : ' The country is extremely cold, but it breeds ' Mansfield Parkyns. Life in Abyssinia, vol. ii. See also Baker, Nile Tributaries in Abyssinia. Proc. Roy. Geo. Soc., 1866. ' Travels through Mongolia to China, vol. i. p. 188. ABSENCE OF SHOEING. 9 very good horses, which run with great speed over these wild tracts wdthoiit being shod with iron.' ' The Tanghans, or Tibetan ponies Hooker saw in the Himalayas, are described as wonderfully strong and endur- ing. ' T/iei/ are never shod, and the hoof often cracks and they become pigeon-toed.' ^ Horses are never shod in the Moluccas, or the Straits of Malacca. With regard to Java, Sir Stamford Raffles says : ' Horses are never shod in Java, nor are they secured in the stable as is usual in Europe and Western India. A separate enclosure is appropriated for each horse, within which the animal is allowed to move and turn at pleasure, being otherwise unconfined. These enclosures are erected at a short distance from each other, and with separate roofs. They are generally raised above the ground, and have a boarded floor.' ^ The same kind of floor is in use at Manilla. Lichtenstein remarks of the Cape of Good Hope horses, that, owing to their being accustomed from their youth to seek their nourishment upon dry mountains, they are easily satisfied, and 'grow so hard in the hoojs that there is no occasion to shoe them.' •* Anderssen, describing some of his journeys in South Africa, says : ' On an after-occasion, I remember to have performed upwards of ninety miles at a very great pace, only once or twice removing the saddle for a few minutes. And be it borne in mind that the animals were young, in- ' Narrative of the Travels of Marco Polo. London, 1849. P- ^34- * Himalayan Journals, vol. ii. p. 131. ' History of Java, vol. ii. p. 319. * Travels in Southern Africa, vol. ii. p. 27. London, 1812. lo HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. differently broken in, unshod, and had never been stall- fed.' ' Dr Browne reports of the horses in Jamaica: ^ They are generally small, but very sure-footed and hardy, which renders them extremely fit for those mountainous lands ; and their hoofs are so hard that they seldom require shoes ; but this is the effect of the heat of the country and dryness of the land.' ^ Iron shoes are not used for horses in Japan, and Head, in his ride across the Pampas of South America, tells us that shoes are utterly unknown to all the South Am.erican country horses. ' But even when unshod, the wear of their boundless plains, on which scarcely a stone is seen, is so insignificant, that to keep the hoofs of a proper length, they have even to be shortened by the hammer and chisel.' ^ Another traveller in that region asserts that the mule of the Peruvian Sierras, with its massy and well- rounded hoof, needs no shoes on hard or soft ground, in summer or in winter. Clark says of the north of Sweden : ' Neither the men nor their horses are shod, but go bare-footed. In some parts of Sweden, as at Naples, the hinder feet only of the horses are left unshodden ; but here horses of a beautiful breed were put to our waggon, without a shoe to any of their feet, as wild and fleet as Barbs ;' and again, when en- tering Finland from Sweden, he writes : ' The horses are, as usual, small, but beautifully formed, and very fleet. The peasants take them from the forests when they are ' Lake Nganii, p. 339. " The Civil and Natural History of Jamaica, p. 487. London, 1756. 3 A Ride Across the Pampas, p. 387. CUSTOMS OF DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. ii wanted for travellers, and, with very little harness, fasten them to the carriage. In this state, theij are icithout shoes, and seem perfectly wild ; but it is surprising to observe how regularly and well they trot.' ' Brooke, however, re- marks, that ' so dangerous are the wolves in some parts of Sweden that the peasants, on turning their horses out, generally tip their feet with iron, by which means of de- fence they are frequently enabled to beat off their fero- cious assailants.' ^ It is \ve\\ known that in many southern regions there is but little need for any attempt at shoeing. The littoral of Libya, and some parts of Arabia and Persia, furnish ex- amples. In Tartary, whole tribes ride horses without shoes of iron, and in Senegal the French squadron of Spahis have no farriers, for the simple reason that they have no shod horses.^ In the East Indies, among some races shoeing is far from general. So we can easily understand, that in certain parts of the world, horses have been and can be made service- able to a certain extent without employing an iron de- fence. If one may judge from the paintings of Ancient Egypt and the sculptures of Assyria, where we see the horse portrayed with great skill, and with that minute perception of his external form which seems to us even now very remarkable, no protection for the hoof was ever had recourse to, and no remains of anything bearing a resemblance to such an appliance have been found. And though these countries were acquainted with many arts, ' Travels in various countries of Scandinavia, London, 1838. ^ Travels in Sweden, p. 19. ^ Megnin. Ferrure du Cheval, p. 8. 12 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. and had attained a comparativ^ely advanced state of civil- ization, in which the horse played no insignificant part, yet in the absence of this craft, even with their favourable climate and soil, the use of this animal must have been but limited, compared to what it is in our own days. It is only when we reach the period in which the ancient Greeks begin to figure in history, that doubts and inquiries arise among modern investigators with regard to a real iron or other metal shoe being employed ; and for nearly two hundred years, various writers have spared neither time nor patience in attempting to arrive at some definite con- clusion as to whether or not the Greeks and Romans were cognisant of this art, or at what period it first became known. With the spread of civ^ilization, the demands upon the services of the horse became, doubtless, very much ex- tended ; and the diversity of climate, as well as of races, would lead one to suppose that greater wear and modifica- tions, more or less wrought in the nature and consistency of the hoof, must at an early period have rendered some kind of defence absolutely necessary ; and that this again would be mentioned in the writings of men who largely devoted their attention to the welfare of this animal. Nev^ertheless, the antiquity of shoeing, notwithstanding the well-directed labours of many learned men, is yet a subject admitting of considerable diversity of opinion, simply be- cause of the absence of written documents, or records of a positive character, by which this art could be traced to its origin in any particular part of the world.' True, there ' Among the principal writers who have occupied themselves in this investigation may be mentioned the following : — REASOXS FOR TRACING THE ART. 13 would not probably be much gain in finally deciding as to which race of the human family, or to what age, the successful utilization of the horse by arming its hoofs with a hard rim of metal is due ; and it would, perhaps, be more satisflictory and instructive to trace briefly the progress of the art from its earliest known introduction into the social economy of civilized nations, up to the present time, than attempt to seek its inventors in the perplexing obscurity surrounding this subject. But, as before noticed, the interest which attaches to all that per- tains to the horse, and particularly to the management of its feet, by those people who were among the first to dis- cover the beauties and merits of that noble animal, and to press its strength,^ fleetness, courage, and endurance Raphael Fahretli. Syntagma de Columna Trajani. A. IFinckelmann. Description des Pierres Antiques Gravces, p. 169. Florence, 1760. /. Pt'gge. Archaeologia, 1776. Beckman. History of Discoveries and Inventions, vol. ii. London, ^797- Bourgelat. Essai Theorique et Pratique sur la Ferrure. Hazard. Theatre d' Agriculture, vol. i. p. 630. Paris, 1804. Bracy Clark. An Essay on the Knowledge of the Ancients re- specting the Art of Shoeing the Horse. London, 1831, T. D. Foshrooke. Encyclopaedia of Antiquities. London, 1840. An anonymous writer in United Service Magazine, 1849. C. H. Smith. The Naturalist's Library, vol. xii. p. 128. H. Bouley. Dictionnaire Veterinaire, vol. vi. Art. Ferrure. H. S. Cuming. Journal Archaeological Association, vol. vi. xiv. F. Defays. Annales de MM. Veterinaire, p. 256. Brussels, 1867. /. P. Megnin. De I'Origine de la Ferrure du Cheval. Paris, 1865. La Marechalerie Frangaise. Paris, 1867. Nickard. Memoires de la Soc. Nationale des Antiquaires de France, 1866. 14 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. into their service, is a great inducement to review, in as graphic a manner as possible, all that has been said in re- lation to the existence, non-existence, or status of this art among them. And in this inquiry the poet, painter, and sculptor have some interest, inasmuch as the correctness or incorrectness of their delineations, when this apparently trifling detail comes to be treated, will depend. This will be exemplified hereafter. It is a remarkable circumstance that, considering the mighty influence the horse has been called on to exercise on the destiny of nations and the progress of civilization from the earliest times, — at one period an important ad- junct to luxury, as well as a mainspring of utility ; at another, an essential element in the arts of peace, and a still more potent one in that of war, — the first written indi- cation of horse-shoeing (as we now understand the term) is only found in the annals of a comparatively recent period. The knowledge of being able to defend from un- due wear and injury such an important organ as the horse's foot, and by such an efficacious, yet simple means, one would think indispensable to those who, in primitive times, so largely employed horses, and sought from them such im- portant services. Such is not the case, however, if an en- tire omission of the fact in their writings or on their monu- ments be received as proof; and though several authors of some weight have in recent years asserted that the an- cients were acquainted with this art, and have adduced evidence which appears to substantiate their opinion, yet a careful examination of the times and the meaning of the texts has, in nearly every case, tended to lead others to the opposite conclusion. ANCIENT HISTORY. 15 That shoeing was not known to Old Testament people, no one has yet, so far as I am aware, offered a doubt. Deborah' (b.c. 1296) sings, 'Then were the horse-hoofs broken by the means of their prancings, the prancings of their mighty ones ; ' or, as it might perhaps more cor- rectly be rendered, 'Then did the horses' hoojs smite the ground, and were broken from the haste of their riders.' Isaiah^ (b.c. 760), in the grandly prophetic language in which he foreshadov/s the downfall of Jerusalem by the armies of Rome, mentions the hoofs of their horses and what was esteemed their best quality. He says, ' Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs shall be counted lihe Jlint, and their wheels like a whirlwind.' And Jeremiah ^ (b.c 607), when foretelling the punishment of the Philistines, says : ' At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots.' It is in Homer (b.c iooo) that we find some investi- gators contending for the first notice of a metallic foot- defence. Among these appear Fabretti, Bourgelat, Mont- fau^on, Cuming, and a few others. In reality, however, it was Eustathius, who lived in the 12th century, who, in his Commentaries on Homer, first speaks of that poet mentioning horses as shod. In the 'Iliad' (Book xi., lines 150-2) occurs the passage noted by Eustathius : TTt^ot fiey Tre^ovQ oXekoj' (pevyovTac didyKri tTTTTEtc 2' iTnrrjae — vtto Si ircjiiuiy wpro Kovir} tK mdiuv, Tt)y ihpcrap epiydovrroi Trocet; 'imruji'. ' Judges V. 22. ' Isaiah v 28. 3 Jeremiah xlvii. i6 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. And this striking picture has been thus translated by a recent and celebrated scholar : ' Foot on foot, and horse on horse : While from the plain thick clouds of dust arose Beneath the armed hoofs of clatt'ring steeds.' This it will be readily perceived is an error. The passage, literally rendered, ought to read something like the following : ' Foot on foot and horse on horse, they perished forcibly while flying ; and under them the dust arose from the plain, and the loud-sounding (crushing or thundering) feet of the horses raised it.' The word is Ip/ySouTroi. Another translator of the Iliad renders this passage : * Horse trod by horse lay foaming on the plain. From the dry fields thick clouds of dust arise. Shade the black host, and intercept the skies ; The brass-hoof d steeds tumultuous plunge and bound. And the thick thunder beats the labouring ground.' In another place (Book viii., lines 44-5) Bourgelat, Cuming, and others, found their opinion in favour of the Greeks having shod their horses at this early period, on the fact that Homer speaks of Jove's horses as ' The Iraxen-footed steeds Of swiftest flight, with manes of flowing gold.' The translation of -^aT^-^oxoV 'ixTrcn is correct, and is ,f rendered so by Chapman, an old versifier : *-^ 'This said, his brasse-hou'd (brass-hoof d) winged horse He did to chariot binde.' The ' brass-hoof was undoubtedly used by Homer in a metaphorical sense to denote firmness and solidity, not HOMER AND BRAZEN HOOFS. 17 a hoof shod with brass ; it was meant to convey an idea of the really good qualities of the horn in those days, and which, not being garnished with a defence of brass or bronze, was ever in danger of being destroyed when of a weak nature. Besides, brazen-footed and solid or strong- footed (p^parspmvK^) appear to be synonymous terms ; thus (in Book xxii., lines 192-3) he sings of the time ' When the solid-fuoted horses fly Around the course, contending for the prize.' And again (Book xxiv., line 33 i), strong-hoofed mules are mentioned. The terms were used for many purposes, but never as an indication of shod hoofs. Homer made Achilles and Stentor brazen-voiced.' Bulls, fabular stags, and horses, had solid or metallic feet. Thus Pindar^ (b.c. 520) tells us that Bellerophon was enjoined to sacrifice a strong-footed bull to the mighty encircler of the earth be- fore subduing the winged horse Pegasus; and we find that the Grecian heroes who w^ent in search of the golden fleece would all have been destroyed by the brazen-footed bulls, from whose nostrils flames issued, had not Medsea inter- posed and driv^en away these taurine monsters belonging to King /Etes.3 Virgil'* frequently mentions animals of various kinds with metal feet, and Ovid ^ also alludes to them oftener than once. And an older authority than ^ IHad, hook v. 78^. I Olynip. xiii. 3 Ibid. Olymp. iv. : * His furious bulls, whose nostrils bright Flames of consuming fire diflused, Batteriuij the s^round \\/\\.\\.lra%en tread.' '' ^neid, book vi. 803. 5 Heroid. ep. xii. 93 : Metamorphosis vii. loj : Apollonius, iii. 228. 1 8 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. either of these, and next to Homer himself, the propb.et Micah (b, c. 710), exclaims: 'Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion : for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make tJiij hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people.' ' So that really there is no foundation for supposing that the words quoted bear any reference whatever to shoeing. Homer is very minute in some of his descrip- tions of horses, chariots, armour, and equipment, but there is nothing particular in his poem to lead any one to suspect that the steeds of his warriors were shod. Had they been so, or had he been aware of the art, we can scarcely doubt but he would have introduced some notice of it ; entering as he does into so many particu- lars about horses, which were, next to man, the chief figures in his word-pictures. F^or instance, he speaks of the method of securing horses ; Neptune's team was stabled in a cave ' 'Twixt Tenedos and Imbro's rocky isle.' After driving the brazen-footed steeds through the sea, skimming the waves of blue, Neptune takes them to his retreat, then ' Loosed from the chariot, and before them placed Ambrosial provender ; and round their feet Shackles of gold, which none might break nor loose. That there they might await their lord's return.'^ As Homer's famous epic describes the misfortunes and the siege of Troy, occurring about twelve hundred years before our era, it is important that the words sup- posed to denote shoeing be properly understood. ' Chap. iv. 13. ^ Iliad, xiii. 41-5. THE JFOODEN HORSE OF TROY. 19 A passage from the Greek poet Tryphiodorus has often been quoted to support the argument in favour of Homer's brazen-footed horses being provided with shoes ; and it has been asserted from this passage that shoes of a description similar to those now in use were known at the siege of Troy, because this poet, when speaking of the fabrication of the Trojan horse, mentions that the artist did not forget to put the metal or iron on the hoofs of that wooden machine, in order to make the resemblance more complete. It must be remembered, however, that Tryphiodorus flourished at some period between the third and sixth centuries of our era, when, as will be shown hereafter, this art was not unknown ; and as the poem is of comparatively modern date, he may have introduced imaginary shoes to make his picture more complete, just as some of the modern translators of the Iliad have done, but without the slightest authority, to prove that these were in use at the time of the war between the Greeks and Trojans. In his verses, however, I can find no proof of any such intention, nor any mention of an iron rim for the wooden horse's hoofs. A literal translation of the original Greek is as follows: ' Then at length he finished the Vv'ork, the hoofs appearing not without brass, and shone forth, being covered with tortoise-shell.' Dr Merrick,' who furnishes a Latin and English version, renders the passage thus : ' To deck each hoot and grace the artist's skill. The clouded tortoise yields her polished shell.' There has been nothing more advanced, so far as I ' Tryphiodorus, by Merrick. Oxford, 1742. 20 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. am aware, to prove that the ancient Greeks were cogni- zant of hoof defences, as we now employ them, except the finding of a horse's hoof (of stone ?) in the ruins of the Parthenon. In alkiding to this, Mr Syer Cuming, who appears to have taken some interest in the subject, asks, ' Does not Homer alkide to shoes when he speaks of " brazen-footed horses ?" {■^aKxoTrohsg Ittttoi). Mr Cureton informs me that he has seen horse-shoes of bronze.' ' And at a later period he writes, ' Since the publication of my paper a few facts have come to light, which tend to prove in an eminent degree the assertion therein ad- vanced, namely, that the horses of the classic ages were shod in a similar way to those of our own day. At the time the paper was produced, we had little to countenance the idea that the early Greeks protected the feet of their steeds with metallic shoes, beyond the bare fact that some ancient horse-shoes of bronze were known to be in exist- ence, and the poetical mention of " brazen-footed horses" in the Iliad (viii. 41, xiii. 23). Within these few years, however, Mr Charles Newton, while Vice-consul at My- tilene, found among the fragments of the Parthenon, a horse's hoof with holes all around the inside, clearly indi- cating where a metallic shoe had been fastened, and it is quite unlikely that any such defence should appear upon a statue if a similar article had not been in actual use at the time.' ^ It must be confessed that the discovery of a horse's foot among the world-renowned ruins of the Parthenon, with what appeared to be holes «// round the inside only, ' Journal of the Archaeological Association, vol. vi. ^ Ibid. vol. xvi. THE GREEK POETS. 21 is no indication whatever that a metallic shoe had ever been fastened to it. Had such an article been used, the ancient Greeks would have left us more indisputable proof than a few holes only round the inside of the hoof of one of their statues. The holes were doubtless made for some other purpose, and it is to be regretted that no de- scription beyond this is to be found. This, however, will be referred to hereafter. An allusion to hoofs of horses is frequently discovered in the Greek poets and writers of a later date than the days of Homer, but all negative the idea that they had any brass, bronze, or iron protection. Aristophanes (b.c. 427), for example, in his Comedy of the ' Knights,' makes the chorus address Neptune as the god 'who loves the noise of the hoofs of horses and their neighing.' Further refer- ence to the noise made by the hoofs of horses will be furnished when we speak of the Romans. The strongest evidence that shoeing was not prac- tised among the Greeks of this period, is to be found in the great attention paid to the nature and durability of the hoofs by horsemen and others, and this testimony one would think perfectly convincing. Of these we may select Xenophon, the celebrated Athenian General, in whose eloquent writings enough will be found to satisfy the most incredulous in this respect. This cele- brated cavalry officer appears to have carefully studied that animal's character and habits, and all the precepts he gives in his treatise on horsemanship are dictated with an amount of wisdom and humanity which has not, perhaps, been excelled since his day. The safety and comfort of that animal and his rider were ever before him, and his teach- 23 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. ing was principally directed to make the horse particularly adapted for war, as the importance of cavalry was begin- ning to be perceived by the Greeks in their contests with that nation of horsemen, the Persians. He displays great judgment when specifying the proper form and disposi- tion of parts which collectively make up the nearest ap- proach to a perfect horse, and markedly shows to what a high degree in that distant age this kind of knowledge was cultivated ; indeed, from his writing, we are led to in- fer, that in his time, and perhaps for long before, there were accomplished horse-breakers and public riding mas- ters, as well as men who were excellent judges of horses' qualities. Xenophon's instructions are well worthy of a place in every treatise on horses and horsemanship, and as his chief experience was no doubt derived while following the profession of arms, and during his command of the cavalry in conducting and covering the glorious retreat of the Ten Thousand Greeks from the interior of Persia, abundant opportunities must have presented themselves to justify him in afterwards urging on the attention of those who had the care of horses, the most scrupulous circumspection in the preservation of their hoofs ; thus strongly indicating that shoes were not in use. In advising as to the good ' points ' to be sought for in a horse, he employs the clearest terms to express his meaning. ' A person,' he says, ' may form his opinion of the feet by first examining the hoofs ; for thick (or strong) hoofs are much more conducive to firmness than thin ones ; and it must not also escape his notice whether the hoofs are high or low, as well before as behind ; for high XENOPHO.VS INSTRUCTIONS. 23 hoofs (that is, concave or hollow-soled hoofs) raise what is called the frog (^sXi^ovoc) far above the ground ; and low ones tread equally on the strongest and weakest parts of the foot, like in-kneed men, or like cripples among men, who limp on parts which were never intended by- nature to support them.' Simo ^ says that horses which liave good feet may be known by the sound; and he says this with great justice, for a hollow lioof rings against the ground like a cymbal.' It is somewhat strange to find Markham, in the 17th century, laying stress on this sounding property of a good hoof: 'If a horse's hoofs be rugged, and as it were seamed one seam over another, and many seams ; if they be dry, full and crusty, or crumbling, it is a sign of very old age : and on the con- trary part, a smooth, moist, holloiv, and ic ell-sounding hoof is a sign of young years.' ^ Xenophon continues: 'As attention must be paid to the horse's food and exercise, that his body may be vigor- ous, so must care be likewise taken of his feet. Damp and smooth stable-floors injure even naturally good hoofs ; and to prevent them from being damp, they ought to be sloping ; to prevent them from being smooth, they should ' Ot ynp 'Kayilc ttoXv tCjv Xstttuh' Sia(f>ipov(TLy eig tviro^tai'. STreiTa ov^s TOVTO Sel XavOcit'ti)', iruTEpov at VTrXai elai.' v'ipr]Xui ?) Tarrtiyul, kuI tj-iTTpoadey, kcd viziadtr, 1) ■)(^a[.iT]Xnl. al [ley yhp v\l/r]Xal izuppu) uwo ruv hairiZov tj^oucri tov j(^EXIhora KaXnvixirriv, al ^e rcnreiiai cfioiioQ ftahovtri TUI TE layvpOTUTU), K(U 7W jJiuXaKOJTClTW TOV TTO^OQ, OJCTK^p 01 fiXaKTol TU)V a»'0pw7rwj'.— nEPI 'mniKIIS, Ed. Leunc. p. 932. "" Simo, an Athenian, mentioned by Suidas and cited by Pollux, was, according to Pliny, the first who wrote on horsemanship. Some reference to him is made in a fragment of Hierocles, which is hiserted in the De Re Ve ter in arid oi Simon Grynaeus. Basil, 1537. 3 The Perfect Horseman, p. 129. London, 1655- 24 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. have irregularly-shaped stones inserted in the ground (or be paved), and close to one another, similar to a horse's hoofs in size ; for such stable floors give firmness to the feet of horses that stand on them.' In alluding to groom- ing a horse out of doors, he continues : ' The ground outside the stable may be put into excellent condition, and serve to strengthen the horse's feet, if a person throws down in it, here and there, four or five measures full of round stones, large enough to fill the two hands, and each about a pound (?) in weight ; surrounding them with an iron rim, so that these may not be scattered ; for as the horse stands on these, he will be in much the same condition as if he were to travel part of every day on a stony road. Isaac Vossius observes on this passage, that Xenophon speaks of iron shoes tn-spi l-uTzm^rig, where he directs the hoofs of horses to be protected with iron z^s^i^rjOcba-ai (ri^jrjfiO'j. This is the iron hoop to bind the stones. He also says that in an old manuscript of the Greek Hip- piatrics in his possession, which was illustrated with paint- ings, the marks and traces of the nails that pierced their hoofs were plainly seen. No reliance can be placed on this author's statements, unfortunately, for marks on a hoof in an old drawing are no great proofs of shoeing ; and besides, the strange construction he puts on Xenophon's words, furnishes another instance of how little he could be received as an authority on such a subject. He was re- markable for believing the strangest inconsistencies, and almost anything but the truth ; which caused Charles II. to say of him, ' This learned divine is a strange man ; he believes everything but the Bible.' GREEK AND ARAB EXPRESSIONS. 25 The Greek warrior adds : ' A horse must also move his hoofs when he is rubbed down, or when he is annoyed with flies, as much as when he is walking ; and the stones which are thus spread about strengthen the frogs of the feet.' In another book he' repeats the suggestion as to the improvement of the feet by this kind of pavement, and adds, ' He that makes trial of this suggestion will give credit to others which I shall offer, and will see the feet of his horse become firm.' The word SrpoyyuXoy^, here employed to denote firmness, has evidently the same signification as the Latin word teres: that is, something smooth, round, and of a proper shape, indicative of strength, soundness, and durability. It is curious to note a similar expression in use at the present day among the Arabs of the Sahara. ' The hoof round and hard. The hoof should resemble the cup of a slave. They walk on hoofs hard as the moss-covered stones of a stagnant pool. The frogs hard and dry. The frogs concealed beneath the hoofs are seen when he lifts his feet, and resemble date-stones in hardness.' ^ Furthermore, Xenophon says : ' Those horses whose feet are hardened with exercise, will be as superior on rough ground to those which are not habituated to it, as persons who are sound in their limbs to those who are lame.' In the same work, when treating of the duties pertaining to a commander of cavalry, he dwells on the necessity of attending to the horses' feet : ' You must pay attention to their feet, so that they (the horses) may be in a condition to be ridden even on rough ground, knowing ' Hipparchicus, p. 611. * Dumas : The Horses of the Sahara. 2(5 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. that when they suffer from being ridden they become useless.' He also, in the treatise on horsemanship, speaks of the water used to wash the horses' legs as doing harm to the hoofs by, I suppose, softening them, as the spirit of his teaching was to keep them hard and dry. He makes no mention whatever of any defence for the horses' feet ; though he notices the fashion of defending the legs of soldiers by emhattai or leggings (e/x/3ara<), and in pass- ing them under the feet, he says, they might also serve as shoes. These may have been used in cases of emergency for horses, but nothing is said on this point. He specifies horse-armour and its value : ' Since, then, if the horse is disabled, the rider will be in extreme peril, it is necessary to arm the horse also with defences for his head, his breast, and his shoulders. But of all parts of the horse we must take most care to protect his belly, for it is at once a most vital and a most defenceless part ; but it is possible to protect it by something connected with the housings. It is necessary, too, that that w^hich covers the horse's back should be put together in such a way that the rider may have a firmer seat (than if he sat on the horse's bare back), and that the back of the horse may not be galled. As to other parts, also, both horse and horseman should be armed with the same precaution (so that the armour may not chafe).' ' In a treatise on hunting, ascribed to this author, in speaking of the horse, it is remarked : ' Before the task is accomplished, he falls, the hoofs worn off.' "" And in an- other work 3 he incidentally relates that certain people of Hipparchicus, c. xii. = Sturz, Lex. Xenoph. Cynegeticon. De Cyri Min. Expedit,, p. 228. 3 ARISTOTLE AND CAMELS FEET. 37 Asia (Armenians ?) whom he saw, were in the habit of tying sandals, or rather, drawing socks over the feet of their horses when the snow lay very thick on the ground, to prevent their sinking too deeply. ' The horses in this country were smaller than those of Persia, but far more spirited. The chief instructed the men to tie little bags (Kt>p Ava^) round the feet of the horses, and other cattle, when they drove them through the snow, for without such bags they sank up to their bellies.' This is the only mention made of a garniture for the feet of horses by the renowned author and soldier, and I am not aware of any recent writer mentioning this con- trivance in the uplands of Armenia. It may be remarked, however, that in Kamschatka the dogs employed to draw sledges or catch seals wear socks provided with small holes to allow the claws to protrude. These may to some extent not only protect the feet from injury, but also help to guard against sinking in the snow. Arctic travellers have likewise availed themselves of these appliances for their dogs,' The only Greek writer before the Christian era, after Xenophon, who alludes to a defence for the feet of animals is Aristotle (b.c. 340). In describing the camel's foot, he writes : ' The foot is flesh v underneath, like that of a bear; wherefore, when camels are used in war, and become foot- sore, their drivers put them on leather shoes ('YIIOAE- OYSI Ka^^a.rivaig).''^ They were probably most frequently ' See Beitriige zur Phys. Oekonomie der Russischen Lander. Berlin, 1786. Captain Cook's Last Voyage, and the later Voyages of Arctic Explorers. ' Hist. Animal, lib. ii. p. 850. 28 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. made of raw hide or coarse cloth (as Ludolphus tells us the Tartars used cow-hide for their horses' feet), passing round the feet and up the legs, like a laced boot. They will be noticed hereafter as solea. Polydore Vergil (a.d, 1550), in his ' De Inventoribus Rerum,' informs us that the Thessalians were reported to have been the first who protected their horses' hoofs with shoes of iron. ' Hos quoque (Peletronios, qui Thessaliae populi sunt) primos equorum ungulas munire ferreis soleis ccepisse ferunt.' ' This author, whose Latin was generally more elegant than his descriptions were faithful, does not give his authorities for this statement, which is unsup- ported by any proof of its correctness. In all likelihood, as Mr Pegge observes/ he has misled himself by referring to Virgil, where that poet asserts that 'The Pelian Lapithae Invented bits, and mounted on the back j Broke horses to the ring, and made them spring Under the arm'd, and proudly pace the round.' ^ Vergil made a mistake, or allowed himself to be deceived, when he described these primitive people of North Greece as the inventors of horse-shoes. If we turn from the Greek writers who lived previous to our era, to the wonderful productions of the Greek sculptors, those divine works of art — those graceful chisel- lings portraying groups of men and horses, which are ' Lib. ii. cap. 12. ^ Archaeologia, 1776. ^ GrtJorgics, iii. 115 : * Frena Pelethronii Lapithae gyrosque dedere Impositi dorso, atque equitem docuere sub armis Insultare solo, et gressus glomerare superbos.' GREEK SCULPTURE. 29 ' Not yet dead. But in old marbles ever beautiful,' we will find our suspicions as to the inaccuracy of those who assert that this people provided an armour for their horses' feet, more than confirmed. It must be remembered that the Greeks were the first true interpreters of nature. To this their physical organ- ization, their climate, but, perhaps, most of all their re- ligion, concurred to develop those principles of beauty that induce man to select from nature the forms and combinations which give the highest and most endurable pleasure. The creations of these people, who, according to Pin- dar, ' Strew'd o'er their walls, their public ways, The sculptured life, the breathing stone,'' now that two thousand years have passed away, yet, and will ever, command the admiration of refined taste, speak- ing, as they do, to our imagination and understanding, while carrying with them the greatest beauty of proportion, the utmost simplicity and truth in design, and blending a harmony with a purity and regard for nature such as has never been surpassed. We recognize in their sculptures of horses that intense and astonishing expression of life, which none but the greatest artists are capable of bestow- ing on their imitations of nature, when teeming with vitality and action. Theocritus, two thousand years ago, was enraptured with these chisellings : * How true they stand, and move, and quite appear Alive, not wrought ! What clever things men are ! ' - ' Olympic Ode, VII. ^ Idyll xv. 83. 30 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEIXG. Such a people must have loved the bold, dauntless courage of the horse, and while seeking to do its un- matchable powers justice in their poetry and adoration in their religion, they have testified to all posterity, by the unerring delineations of their chisels, the beauty and the grandeur of his form and disposition. We have an example of this in the Panathenaic frieze, where the horses are not only of exquisite beauty, but full of life and fire. No two out of the hundred and ten which are introduced are in the same attitude, and each is charac- terized by a different expression. Flaxman ever spoke of these horses with enthusiasm, and we cannot wonder at it. ' The horses in the frieze in the Elgin collection,' he said, ' appear to live and move, to roll their eyes, to gallop, prance, and curvet ; the veins of their faces and legs seem distended with circulation ; in them are dis- tinguished the hardness and decision of bony forms, from the elasticity of tendons and the softness of flesh. The beholder is concerned with the deer-like lightness and elegance of their make, and although the relief is not above an inch from the background, and they are so much smaller than nature, we can scarcely suffer reason to persuade us they are not alive.'' The horses of Thessaly are there depicted as they exist at the present day, even to the characteristic large heads and thick necks.^ To say that they are exactly portrayed in every anatomical detail, is to declare nothing but the simple truth, and is sufficient for our object. And yet the very ' Lectures on Science, vol. iv. p. 104. " DodweJJ, Travels, vol. i. p. 339. EXJCTNESS OF THE GREEK SCULPTORS. 31 closest scrutiny of the horses' feet in these marbles with a practised — might I add a professional — eye, leads to the unhesitating conclusion that they are exact copies of nature in every respect, but nature never adorned or protected by an iron or bronze furniture. So true do they appear to real life, that we can almost fancy the animals in their spirited movements have chipped their hoofs at the sides (or quarters) ; and they are of a shape and perfectness which one seldom sees in hoofs that have been shod for any length of time. These unrivalled relics of antiquity offer additional proofs that metal shoes were not in use. The ancient Greeks were very careful in representing the different costumes worn by the riders of these horses, even to the fashion of their foot covers. Not only this, but they had their marble statues adorned with metals in many instances, which again were not unfrequently gilt. ' For the fragments show that the weapons, the reins of the horses, and other accessories, were in metal, probably gilt.'' The horses appeared to have had bits in their mouths, and the holes yet remain at the commissures of the lips wherein they have been fixed ; but no evidence is to be found that any metal was attached to the hoofs. In a bas-relief of Castor and Pollux in the Townley gal- lery of the British Museum, instead of metal bridles for the two horses, red paint appears to have been used. No paint, however, is to be discovered on the feet of any horses to indicate that shoes were worn. In the Temple collection (case S^) in the British ' Description of the Collections of Ancient Marbles in the British Museum. Part IV. page 26. London, 1830. 32 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. Museum, among bronze fragments of a statue and sacrificial implements, is a very perfect hind foot and pastern of a horse, from Magna Grascia. This is unshod, and from the shape and general appearance of the hoof, there can be no doubt that the original of this model had never been submitted to this badge of servile subjection, as old Gwillin has been pleased to designate the modern horse- shoe. And among all the relics to be found in this and other museums, nothing can be discerned that the most lively imagination would transform into a horse-shoe, as employed by the ancient Greeks. Weapons there are without number, articles belonging to religious and do- mestic requirements, armour and spurs for riders, armour and bits for horses, and in the British Museum are also two excellent specimens of muzzles for horses. Xenophon informs us that, in his day, the groom put on the muzzle (xrifjios) when the horse was led from his stable to be groomed or exercised ; indeed on every occasion when he had no bridle on his head or bit in his mouth, to prevent his doing any mischief to other horses or to men. While it prevented the horse from biting it did not inter- fere with his breathing.' A civilized nation which prized the horse so highly, and so largely employed it in war and in the public diversions, could not but display its wisdom in providing everything for its comfort and well-bemg ; but it appears that the Greeks did not understand extending its utility by preventing undue wear of the hoofs and consequent lameness. All the paintings on vases and elsewhere re- present the horse with nude feet. ' Xenophon, Hipp., chap. v. 3. Polhix, i. 202. CLIMATE OF GREECE. ^^ The climate of Greece, it must not be forgotten, is dry, and favourable to the hardness and durability of horses' hoofs ; so that solipedes brought from the north or west, where their journeys would be of a limited character without shoes, may there acquire sufficient strength and cohesiveness in the horny box covering the inferior ex- tremity of the limbs, as to perform a certain amount of labour with no defence. Paul Louis Courier,' who translated Xenophon's treatise on horsemanship, was so pleased with his method of managing the feet of horses, that during the very brief campaign in Calabria in 1807, while with the army corps to which he belonged, he rode horses without shoes, and, as he believed, with advantage. In a note he adds : ' The ancients did not shoe their horses ; this is evidenced in all the writings and monuments they have left us, and we cannot be astonished that the people who, in so many different countries, do not know the use of shoes, should not yet have introduced them. The Tonguses, as well as the majority of the Tartars — the best and the most inde- fatigable horsemen in the world — scarcely work at all in iron ; and for that reason it is impossible for them to shoe their steeds. The Dutch at the Cape of Good Hope have little horses which are never shod, according to Sparmann. And M. Thunberg has made the same re- mark in the island of Java. Another traveller assures us, that at Mogador, and- the west coast of Africa, all the horses journey without shoes, and Niebuhr says the same for those of Yemen. Pallas has seen the horses of the Kalmucks, which have small and extremely hard hoofs, ' Traite de Xenophon sur I'Equitation. Pantheon Litteraire. 3 34 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. ridden without any shoes, and the Cossacks' on the banks of the Ja'ik, he adds, are never shod.' Of the evil effects of prolonged marches, and conse- quent excessive wear of the undefended hoofs in the Greek armies, we find casual mention now and again in the early historians. Diodorus Siculus (b.c. 44) in one of his volumes, when describing the victories of Alexander, states that 'the hoofs of the horses, through ceaseless journeying, had been worn away, and the materiel of war was used up.' ' And Cinnamus speaks in the same strain of the war in Attalia. ' He ordered them to await the rest of the army in Attalia, and to look after the horses, for a disease to which they are liable had attacked their hoofs, and had done serious hurt.'^ In the account which Appian gives of the victory achieved by Lucullus over Mithridates, King of Pontus, at the siege of Cyzicum (b.c 73), we find that Mithri- dates sent part of his cavalry back to Bithynia, such as were useless, feeble from want of forage, and footsore or lame in consequence of their hoofs being worn out {xou This description has been differently given by H. Stephanus (edit. Stephanus, 1592, p. 22,1), and this has ' Diod. Siculus, lib. xvii. cap. 94, p. 233. Edit. Weissilingii. * Equorum ungulae propter itinera nunquam remissa detritae et armorum pleraque absumptae erant.' ' Edit. Tollii Traject. ad Rhenum, 1825. Lib. iv. p. 194. 'Caeteras copias manere in Attalia et equos curare jussit, nam malam cui est obnoxium equinum genus plantes pedum acciderat, graviterque effi- cerat.' 3 De Bello Mithrid. p. 371. Edit. Tollii. JRRIAN AND ARTEMIDORUS. 35 given rise to a serious mistake. His translation is as follows: 'Equos vero turn inutiles et infirmos ob inediam, claudicantesque solearum inopia, detritis ungulis, aversis ab hoste itineribus, misit in Bithyniam.' No such words as solearum inopia occur in the original text ; they are an interpolation by the learned translator without the faintest authority, and have led several writers of note to believe that horse-shoes were then in use : whereas the contrary may be inferred, for the horses, it is explicitly mentioned, were lame by the attrition of their hoofs ; which implies that horses were not shod. Montfauqon was led astray by this addition to the original account. He writes : ' There are certain and undoubted proofi that the ancients shod their horses; thus much Homer and Appian say;'' and Fosbrooke^ remarks tiiat ' an iron horse-shoe is men- tioned by Appian ; so that the conclusion from Xenophon s recommendation for hardening the hoof, that the ancients did not shoe beasts of burden, is too rash.' Subsequent to the Christian era, we find Arrian^ (a.d. 200) comparing the human body to a pack-ass — ovapiov £7z^Krsoi.y[j.ivov, and speaking of a kind of shoe for that animal : ' Otolv l-^sivo ovdpiov j], roKT^a ■yivsrai -^oCKiva^ia. ToG ovaoioo, (r^Tjixaricc, izs-oSTj^aria, xpiSai, ^o^rog. Some translators have rendered uz!Tohri[xotricc as ' ferreac calces ; ' but Didot, in his new Collection of Classical Greek authors, translates it as spartece calces : ' Si asselus est corpus, cetera freni erunt aselli, clitellae, sparte^ calces, hordeum, foenum.' Artemidorus, in his Interpretation of Dreams, about ' Antiquite Expliquee, vol. iv. p. 50. ' Ency. of Antiquities. London, 1840. 3 Commentar. in Epictetum, lib. iii. 36 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. the same period as Arrian, also speaks of a horse shod with a sock or shoe, uztoot^^oc, which was probably made of spartea, like the above. I find on a silver coin of Tarentum.,' now in the British Museum, and struck, it is surmised, about b.c. 300, a curious representation of a horse and two men, which might, at the first glance, be supposed to be connected with our subject (fig. i). fig. I. The horse is beautifully delineated, and admirably represents the breed then famous in this part of Magna Grascia. A groom or boy, nude as the horse attendants are generally represented on ancient Greek vases and sculpture, is seated on the horse's back, and strokes his "^ Tarentum, the modern Taranto, an ancient town of Italy, in the kingdom of Naples, is built on a small island, in the Gulf of Taranto, near Brindisi. It was founded b.c. 700, as a Greek colony, by Lace- daemonian Parthenii, the descendants of a people noted for their love of horses and excellent horsemanship. This city was one of the most flourishing and powerful of Magna Graecia, and was distinguished for its luxury and splendour, as well as for its encouragement of the tine arts. For a long time it resisted the Romans, but at last submitted to them, B.C. 272. The above drawing is twice the size of the coin. TARENTUM COIN. 37 mane as if to soothe him, while another individual, also nude, holds up one of the fore feet, as if to apply a shoe. The atti- tude is very striking, and it would be interesting to discover why such a group should be represented on a coinage. It may be observed, however, that there is no instru- ment in the hands of the dismounted figure whereby to fasten on the shoe, if such be his vocation, and that his attitude is not a very convenient one. This is, never- theless, the posture assumed on the continent of Europe, and generally all over the East, by the workman who arms the hoofs, but then there is another person to hold up the limb. In this example he may be only trying on a shoe ; though the figure on the horse's back would not add to the facility with which this operation might otherwise be performed. I may mention that I have seen and heard of troop horses which, though otherwise tractable, would scarcely allow themselves to be shod unless a man were seated on their backs, stroking their ears and necks in the manner show^n on the Greek coin ; and C^sar Fiaschi,' in the fifteenth century, recommends for horses that will not be shod quietly, that ' mots plaisants ' be used, and 'faire mettre un cavalier sur le dos.' It has been sug- gested that a stone is being removed from the sole ; but without shoes it is almost, if not quite, impossible that a stone could lodge in the foot. Might he not be fastening on a temporary shoe or sock ? Beyond the illustration this affords, we have no evi- dence of shoeing among the Greeks ; and, after all, this may be only an allegorical representation, or a reference to some mythological subject. ' Marechalerie. 3rd French edit., cap. 29. Paris, i$6^. . 38 CHAPTER II. THE HORSE WITH THE ROMANS. THEIR CAVALRY. PLINY. CAMEL SHOEING. SILENCE OF ROMAN HIPPIATRISTS IN REGARD TO SHOE- ING. CATO, VARRO, HORACE, VIRGIL, LUCAN, CLAUDIANUS, FITZ- STEPHEN. ROMAN ROADS, AND COURIERS. COLUMELLA, JULIUS POLLUX. Diocletian's edict, hoof instruments, apsyrtus, PALLADIUS, VEGETIUS RENATUS, RENATUS FLAVIUS. POLYBIUS. CARBATINAI AND EMBATTAI. SOLE^ FERREA. CATULLUS, SCALIGER, SUETONIUS. GOLD AND SILVER SOLEA. EXTRAVAGANCE OF THE ROMANS. CALIGULA, NERO, POPP^A, AND COMMODUS. THEOMNES- TUS. SOLEA SPARTEA, AND THE GLANTE FERREO. HIPPOPODES. CHARIOT-RACING. OPINIONS AS TO THE EXISTENCE OF SHOEING WITH THE ANCIENTS. MONTFAU^ON, WINCKELMANN, FABRETTI, CAMERARIUS, PANCIROLUS, VOSSIUS, PEGGE, SMITH, HEUSINGER, RICH. SUPPOSED NEGATIVE EVIDENCE OF WRITTEN HISTORY AND SCULPTURE. TEMPORARY SHOES AND OTHER EXPEDIENTS TO PRESERVE THE HOOFS IN JAPAN, CHINA, MANILLA, SINGAPORE, ETC. STRAW SHOES. ICELAND AND CENTRAL ASIA. The Romans began to use the horse at a very early period, but not with much advantage until seven hundred years after he had been introduced into Greece ; so that the Greeks were well advanced in the management of that animal, and skilled in its employment long before the Romans. For this reason it is that we find much in the writings of the latter that was borrowed from the older civilization ; while their system of equitation and general care of the horse was altogether Grecian. During a long time, and even up to a comparatively late date, the army ROMAN CAVALRY. 39 on which the Romans depended for their conquests was mainly composed of infantry — they were not an equestrian nation. But, by degrees, they began to perceive the advantages of cavalry, and during the period when Rome was mistress of the world, and even before, many of the Roman battles were specially planned with a view to the operations of that arm. We can trace on and on, through the history of the Empire, a growing regard for, and dependence on it. Then it played a most important, and in most cases a decisive, part in their battles, as the num- ber of horses and horsemen began to be increased. 'A storm of horse' was the language of Antonius, for the brilliant charge of cavalry against an enemy.' But their country, and particularly their capital, was in general more humid than Greece, and their horses more lax in fibre, consequently softer-hoofed. Their legions, scattered in many regions of the world, were brought into contact wdth nations of horsemen, living and fighting on the backs of small, agile, hard-footed steeds, inured to incessant fatigue. Though mounted on stronger animals, the Roman cavalry could make but little impression against that of Persia and Arabia. The faculty of moving quickly, and coming down in a flying cloud of skirmishers, as well as rapid retreating and rallying, always assured the superiority of the Numidian and Parthian horse when contending against the heavy infantry and cavalry masses of the Romans. Dureau de la Malle offers the following reasonable re- marks with regard to this subject : ' The durability of the ' Tacitus, lib. iii. cap. 53» 40 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. hoof for a cavalry not shod was an indispensable condition. It appears that the Parthian horses, bred in the plains of Mesopotamia, were not provided with shoes, and this fact alone explains why, in the wars with the Romans, the Parthian armies, almost entirely formed of cavalry, and always victorious in their sandy deserts, melted away or suddenly disappeared when they had pursued their adver- saries into the mountainous and volcanic regions of Ar- menia, which are covered with obsidian and sharp stones ; it was simply because the Parthian or Persian horses were not shod. The absence of a protection to the horn ex- plains why — and I believe that this fact has not yet been remarked or appreciated at its just value — the Ten Thou- sand Greeks, in their retreat after the battle of Cunaxa, and of Mark Antony and Julian, falling back on Armenia and its mountains after their defeat in the plains, were able to escape from the numerous Persian and Parthian cavalry which incessantly pursued them.' ' If the Greeks were unacquainted with the art of attaching a rim of metal or other hard substance to the part of the hoof brought into contact with the ground, it might be expected that the Romans who imitated them so closely in equestrian matters would not, at any rate for some time, be in a position to devise anything of the kind ; and that, as a consequence, the utility of the horse must have been as limited as with the Grecians. And such would appear to be the fact. When nearly all the arts had attained a high degree of perfection, the one in question, which would have been of the greatest assist- ' Megnin. Op. cit. p. 9. — Notice sur h\s Races Domestiques cles Chcvaux. Moniteur Universel, March 16, 1855. PLINY. 41 ance to the conquering armies of Greece and Rome, was yet, it seems, unknown to them. Of this, in tlieir writings, we have apparently ample evidence. We have similar injunctions and observations with regard to the care and quality of the hoofs, and to their being uncovered, as well as to the injuries sustained in travelling, as we had from the Greek writers. No author mentions metal plates for horses' hoofs fastened on with nails. Pliny (a.d, 66) is very minute and circumstantial in his history of discoveries, and in other portions of his writings. He tells us that Tychius, the Boeotian, first invented or taught the art of making shoes for the feet of men, and enumerates many other discoverers ; but nothing whatever as to the invention or employment of horse-shoes, though he speaks of the introduction of bridles and saddles by Pelethronius, and the people of Phrygia as being the first to use chariots. With regard to the camel, however, he follows Aristotle closely in his description of that animal's foot, and the way in which it was then protected : ' The camel has pastern bones like those of the ox, but somewhat smaller, the feet being cloven, with a slight line of division, and having a fleshy sole, like that of the bear ; hence it is, that in a long journey the animal becomes fatigued, and the foot cracks, if it is not shod (calceatu)^ ' The term employed by the Roman naturalist to ^ Hist. Naturalis, lib. xi, cap. io6. ' Camelo tali similes bubulis, sed minores paulo. Est enim bisculus discrimine exiguo pes imus, vestigio carnoso, ut ursi j qua de causa in longiore itinere sine calceatu fatiscunt.' Edit, Gabriels Brotier. London, 1826. 42 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. designate shoeing; is referred to in a foot-note in the o o edition of his writings from which this paragraph is ex- tracted : ' Q-Liam ob causam, inquit Philos. loc. cit. in bellicis expeditionibus, carbatinis calceantur, cum ipsis pes dolet. Est autem xaf^^anvrj vile et rusticum calcea- mentum, una sappactum solea.' The Mongol Tartars, as I have before noticed, seldom if ever shoe their ponies, chiefly, perhaps, because of the scarcity of iron, their peripatetic mode of life, and the large numbers of these animals they always have to select from ; but perhaps also as much from the presence of camels in their droves of animals, and which are their principal beasts of burthen. In consequence of these creatures being able to traverse the dreary steppes of Mongolia without suffering much injury, they are preferred ; and in thus economizing the labours of the horse, they diminish the need for shoeing it. According to M. Hue,' however, the camel in that distant region is not exempt from some of the evils which are incidental to the unshod feet of horses ; and lie relates that, after a long journey, when this most useful creature has become footsore, the Tartars make sheepskin shoes for it. My friend Mr Michie, who has travelled overland from Peking to Siberia, across the desert of Gobi, tells me that whenever a camel's feet have become tender from long journeying, it assumes the recumbent position ; and this being observed by the driver, an examination is at once made of the soles, when, if the thick cuticle which covers these pads is found raised and looking white- blistered, as it were, shoeing is determined on. This is ' Travels in Tartary, Thibet, and China, in 1844-5-6. ROMAN AGRICULTURAL IFRITERS. 43 accomplished as follows. Two or three strong Mongols watch their opportunity, and when the creature is still reposing and off its guard, they make a simultaneous rush upon it, throw it on its side, and in a few seconds of time secure it ; then with much dexterity a square piece of leather, large enough to cover the bruised place, is applied, and nimbly, yet Jirmly stitched luith a slightly curvet needle to the foot, through the thick skin of the sole. After this the beast is able at once to resume its toil. This is bold treatment, and eminently suggestive of that originality which must have prompted the desperate attempt, when made for the first time, to nail a rim of iron to the horse's foot. The one appears at first sight as hazardous as the other, and were we still ignorant of the art of nail-shoeing, I fear many of us would be incredulous if told that it was practised by other nations. Roman writers on agriculture and other subjects are silent on that of shoeing, as it is now understood ; though from the general minuteness with which they treat all details connected with their studies, had they not been unconscious of it altogether, it must, one cannot help con- cluding, have received at least some passing allusion. Nearly all, however, speak of the deperdition of the hoofs, and the qualities they should possess to enable them to withstand wear. Marcus P. Cato, commonly designated the Censor (b.c. 2,34-149), says nothing in reference to this matter in his ' De Re Rustica.' Marcus Varro (b.c 60), in his celebrated work, when advising as to the choice of a horse, says : ' It ought to have upright, straight, and symmetrical limbs, round 44 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. knees, not too large, nor yet inclining inwards, and hard hoofs,''' showing that the latter were an essential quality in unshod horses. He also asserts that the hoofs are injured by standing in manure, as the horn thereby becomes softened.^ Q.. F. Horace (b.c. 30), in one of his famous satires, alludes to the mode of buying horses as practised by a certain class in his day. ' This is the custom with men of fortune ; when they buy horses they inspect them covered : that if a beautiful forehand (as very often hap- pens) be supported by a tender hoof, it may not take in the buyer, who may be eager for the bargain, because the back is handsome, the head little, and the neck stately. This they do judiciously.' ^ And the same author, in one of his admirable Odes, alludes to the sound caused by the horses' unshod feet on the smooth flagstones of their wonderfully paved roads, and in a sense similar to that noticed in the Greek writers already quoted : ' And the horseman will beat the streets of the city with sounding hoofs.' '^ It is interesting to note, that the poetical epithet of 'sounding foot.' is almost constantly applied to the horse by various writers, at this and a later period. For example : Virgil (b.c 20) in the ^neid, exclaims, ' Infatuate ! ' De Re Rustica. ' Cruribus rectis et equalibus, genibus rotundis nee maguis, nee introrsum speetantibus, ungulis duris.' Lib. ii. p. 306. Edit. Gesner. ' ' Ne sternis comberat ungulas eavendum,' Lib. ii. cap. 7. 3 Book ii.. Satire 2. ^ Et urhem Eqiies sonante verbernhil luignla. ROMAN POETS. 45 who, with brazen car, and the prancing of his horn-hoofed steeds, would needs counterfeit the storms and inimitable thunder.'' And again: 'Their acclamations rise; and, a squadron formed, the hoof beats with trampling din the mouldering plain.' ^ In another place he also alludes to the favourite epithet by which this animal was popularly known to the Roman — that of Sonipes. ' On its sound- ing hoofs the horse stands, and impatient champs the foaming bit.' ^ In the Georgics, when he wishes to point out in a particular manner, one of the most cherished qualities in the noble animal he so beautifully describes in that poem — the density and shape of the external covering of the foot, — he eloquently says of the war-horse : ' With his hoof of solid and deeply-resounding horn, he hollows out the earth.'"* Or as Sotheby more poetically expresses it, ' earth around Rings to the sohd hoof that wear the ground.' Virgil mentions the wheels shod with iron as ferati orhes, but makes not the most distant allusion to a like garniture on hoofs. And M. A. Lucan (a.d. 60) in his poem ' Pharsalia,' frequently mentions the nature of the horse's feet. For in- stance, when speaking of the horses belonging to Curio's ' Book V. 592-4. ' Book viii. 596-8. ^ Book iv. 135. ' Stat sonipes, ac frena ferox spumantia mandit.' Another example is found in the same poem : ' Quo sonipes ictu fiirit arduus altaque jactat.' " Book iii. 88,— ' Cavatque Telhirem, et solidus graviter sonat ungula cornu.' 46 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSESHOEING. detachment, which had fallen into an ambuscade when attacking the Numidians, he says : ' Not there did the charger, moved by the clanging of trumpets, shake the rocks with the beating of his hoof. .... Nor avails it any one to have cut short the delay of his hojiiy-hoofed steed, for they have neither space nor force for the onset.'' And referring to an incident in the campaign which cul- minated in that important engagement, it is written : ' Pompey care deters, by reason of the land being ex- hausted for affording fodder, which the horseman in his course has trodden down, and with quickened steps the horny -hoof \\2i?> beaten down the shooting field.' ^ The poet Claudianus, three centuries later, addressing the Emperor Honorius, in one of his epigrams exclaims, ' O felix sonipes cui tanti fraena mereri Numinis.' Even so late as the 12th century, Fitz-Stephens, when describing London, and the excellent quality of the horses, remarks, 'Cum talium sonipedem cursus imminet,' etc. The expression was, doubtless, borrowed from Virgil, or some of the old Latin poets. And yet later, the characteristic designation is alluded to, for Ludwig Carrio, in comment- ing on Leutprand's Chronicle, quotes an old verse, a line of which runs : ' His parvus sonipes, nee marti notus.' Though the appellation may be traced to the Greeks, yet it has been surmised that it had its origin with the Romans, from the circumstance that in consequence of their not knowing how to protect their horses' feet in a substantial manner, they were compelled to construct their roads to accommodate the unarmed hoof; thus were formed ' Book iv. 749-67. ' Book vi. 'SOUNDING feet: 47 those mighty works which surpassed all the other monu- ments of this people. Made at immense labour and ex- pense, they extended, it may be said, from the Pillars of Hercules, through Spain and Gaul, to the Euphrates and the most southern parts of Egypt. Everything was sacri- ficed in their construction ; hills were sometimes perfor- ated, and mountains and great rocks were deeply cut for their passage, as at Terracina. Those of Italy, if we are to judge by their remains, were the best made ; the Ap- pian Way is perhaps the most solid. These admirably formed highways were elaborately and curiously built. The centre, being subjected to the greatest amount of wear, was higher than the sides, and consisted of strata of sand, gravel, and excellent cement, overlaid by the pave- ment, in the form of not very large flat stones, laid close together and firmly bound by the cement, thus making a hard smooth causeway. Near Rome the flags were of granite. From their very even surface, and their passing between banks, mounds, and through valleys, the hard hollow hoofs of prancing steeds would sound loud enough, when compared with the noise made by other quadrupeds. Hence the epithet of ' sounding feet ' was very appropriate, and naturally suggested itself, according to Bracy Clark. Montfauqon says the surface was very smooth, like glass, a circumstance which must have made the horses in wet weather slide about very much ; even in the best weather, travelling must have been uncommonly slow, had horses worn iron shoes, because of their slipperiness. Besides, they would not have lasted nearly so long, and so far as I can ascertain there are no traces of horse-shoe 48 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. wear to be discovered on their surface — a fact worthy of notice. The Romans travelled very fast on them, so well adapted were they, all things considered, for the preserva- tion of the horses' hoofs. Towards the Christian era, Augustus introduced cou- riers (pub/ici Cursores, or Veredarii) to forward the public despatches, and along these roads government post-houses {mutationes) were erected at intervals of five or six miles, and each was constantly furnished with forty horses. By means of these very frequent relays, no doubt necessary where the hoofs were exposed to damaging attrition, it was possible to travel a hundred miles a day. About a century before our era, Cicero received at Rome, on the 28th September, a letter dated in Britain the first day of the same month. Considering the passage by sea, and crossing the Alps, or making a wide detour to avoid this troublesome mountain range, the twenty-six days appear a remarkably short space of time to travel this distance in. And three hundred years later, during the reign of the Emperor Theodosius, Caesarius, an im- portant magistrate, travelled from Antioch to Constan- tinople, a distance of 725 Roman {66^ English) miles, in six days. At Terracina, where a stony ridge is cut through to a depth of 16 feet to form the public way, the glassy surface of this rocky thoroughfare is grooved {sillonne) trans- versely, so that the horses might have foot-hold. It may here be noticed that at Tempe, by the side of the Peneus, the highway is excavated in the rock, but is so steep and rugged, that possibly to save their horses' hoofs, as well as to prevent their tumbling into the river. COLUMELLA AND HARD HOOFS. 49 the Greeks scooped out resting-places or wide steps to diminish the risks attending a descent/ We will return again to the Roman authors. L. J. M, Columella of Cadiz (a.d. 40), a writer well acquainted with the science of his day, and a scholar, gives us an admirable outline of veterinary medicine as it was then known to the Romans ; and his influence on the development of this department of the healing art has been very great. In one of the twelve books of the ' De Re Rustica,' still in existence, he alludes to the- stable management of a country villa in the following terms : ' The master should frequently go into his stable, and should be particular in observing that the floor of the stalls is sufficiently high in the centre, and not made of soft wood, as ignorance or negligence often makes it. The floor should be made of hard oak-plank closely laid ; for this kind of wood hardens the hoofs of horses and makes them like stones' ^ It is somewhat remarkable that, as already observed, in Java, where horses are unshod, they are kept standing on hard-wood floors without any straw or other soft sub- stance between the boards and their hoofs ; and at Singa- pore and Manilla — ^places I visited in i860 — all the ' See Montfau9on, ' Antiquite Expliquee,' vol. iv. pt. 2, p. 177; Bergier, ' Hist, des Grands Chemias de 1' Empire Romaine,' livre ii. chap, i.j Procopius, 'Hist. Arcana,' cap. 303 Libanius, ' Oralioues/ 22, and ' Itineraria,' pp. 572-81. ' Lib. i. p. 73 ; edit. Manheim. ' Diligens itaque dominus stabulum frequenter intrabit, et primum dabit operam, ut stratus pontilis emineat, ipumque sit non ex mollibus lignis, sicut frequenter per imperiliam vel neolisentiam evenit, sed roboris vivacis duritia et soliditate compactum j nam hoc genus ligni equoram ungulas ad saxorum instar obdurat.' 4 so HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. horses are made to stand on planks raised above the ground, in order, I suppose, that the undefended hoofs may be kept dry and hard. In selecting horses, Columella recommends that they should have ^ luird, upright hoofs, hollow in the sole, and round, with medium-sized coronets.' ' Elsewhere he advises that the foal should be taken from its dam when a year old, and pastured among the mountains and in other exposed or inhospitable places, ' so that the hoofs may be hardened to resist wear, and then become fitted for long journeys.' ^ And Pliny, about this period, observes, in speaking of mules, ' They are produced by an union between the mare and the domestic ass ; they are swift, and have extremely liar d feet' ^ Julius Pollux, a Greek, and the favourite and pre- ceptor of the Emperor Commodus, in whose reign he died (a.d. 238), has left us, in one of his works,"^ some ex- cellent maxims concerning horses. Indicating the par- ticulars in which a good horse differed from a bad one he maintains that it is more especially in the nature of their feet. ' A corpore quidem ungulae cavas, ut scilicet quam vocant testudinem, elata sit, ne in solum impingens, molestetur : hujusmodi enim ungula (ut Xenophon inquit) ' Lib. vi. p. 50. ' Diiris ungulls et aids, et concavis rotundisque, quibus coronae niediocres superpositae sunt.' ^ Ibid. p. 63. ' Ut ungulas duret sitque postea longis itineribus habilis.' 2 Hist. Natural. * Generantur ex equa et onagris mansuefaciis mulae velocis in cursn, duritia eximia pedum.' * Onomasticon, lib. i. cap. 1 1 ; De Corpore et Animo Equi Boni et Mali. DIOCLETIAN'S EDICT. a J' cymbali instar ad solum resonat.' A bad horse was known by the inferior quality of its hoofs and their softness, ' mollis ungulas ; ' while a good one should have them ' carne.'C pleneac.' It will be observed that he refers to Xenophon ; he also follows him in recommending a stable paved with large round stones to harden the feet. In this work, he mentions every article of horse-furniture then in use, but is silent with regard to that for the hoofs. In 1827, an edict of the Emperor Diocletian, supposed to have been promulgated about a.d. 300, was discovered. It fixes the maximum rate of wages and price of provisions, and two passages in it give us an idea, not only of the functions and emoluments of the individual who minis- tered to the requirements of sick animals, but also affords another proof that the hoofs of solipedes were not shod. The mulomedicus who clipped the hair and trimmed the hoofs, was to receive for each animal six denarii ; and for currying and cleansing the head, twenty denarii.' Had shoeing been knowm or practised, it must have been mentioned in such an edict as this. And here we may notice, in connection with this hoof-paring among the Romans, that Bonanni has given drawings of two iron objects found at Rome, near the Castra Peregrina, which Montfauqon ^ reproduces as ancient Roman instrimients of farriery. One, he notes, is like the present boutuir or boutavan of the French marechal ' Martin Leake. Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature, vol. i. p. 196. 'Mulomedicus tonsurae et aptaturae pedum.' ' Eidem deplecorse et purgaturae capitis.' "^ Vol. iii. lib. V. cap. 5, pt. 5. Plate 197. 52 HORSE'SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. for rant, and the other has been intended to remove the horn and in- cise it in cases of disease (fig. 2). These are the only relics of Roman farriery I have been able to trace ; and their having been found fig. 2 at the capital of that empire, would show that the hoofs required paring and dressing, and that this was of frequent occurrence, since the mulomedicus was bound to be satisfied with a fixed price for performing that duty. Vegetius recom- mends the employment of such instruments. Apsyrtus (a.d. 330 — 340), a Greek of the Byzantine empire, and one of the most renowned veterinarians of this period, who was employed in the army of Constantine the Great, says that those horses which have a small frog are swift of foot and valuable ; ' and those which have their frogs growing close and small were best for work.^ Lead- ing us to infer that those horses which had wide flat soles and prominent frogs, being unshod were liable to become lame from bruises to these parts. Palladius Rutilius Taurus ^milianus (a.d. 300 — 400) advises that strong oaken planks be laid down as a floor- ing for stables, and that straw be laid over them at night ' Apsyrtus, Scrip. Graec. Vet. p. 2152. y>.{Kil6va Vi yuK^av tynvrtc. vi)-KohtQ, Kn\ ayadol. ' Ibid. Ol (7vii(j)vtic KUTOjdtr kqJ xtXi^uyaQ f^uKpag tx^ovrtg. FEGETIUS RENATUS. 53 only, so that it might be soft for the horses when resting, and hard for their iioofs when standing;/ CD « Publius Vegetius Renatus (a.d. 450 — 510?)% a veteri- narian, has left us the most complete treatise on veteri- nary medicine of any ancient writer. He describes more fully than any other Roman hippiatrist the maladies and accidents to which horses were liable in his day ; and though he speaks of contracted tendons, horses and mules walking on the fronts of their hoofs, and the casual- ties these animals are exposed to, as well as the method of curing them, yet he says nothing of shoeing (in a modern sense), either as producing disease or injuries, or as a means of remedying these. When treating of the hoofs and the feet generally, however, it is plainly intimated that such a practice as nailing on iron plates was not available in his age. He * Scrip. Rer. Rustic, edit. Schneider, vol. iii. ^ There is much uncertainty with regard to the period in which Vegetius hved. Nothing whatever is known of him, and his writings alone otfer evidence as to the date about which they were composed. Eichenfcld thmks he lived in the second century, and Sprengel, in his History of Medicine, carries him forward to the twelfth century, while others have placed him at various periods between these two extremes. A recent writer, M. Megnin (Recueil de Med. Veterinaire, 1867, p. 803), gives what is termed a mathematical demonstration that Vegetius knew the art of horse-shoeing, and that he lived and composed his work in A.D. .945. He partly founds his demonstration on Lebeau's ' Histoire du Bas-Empire,' in the chapter in which reference to Constantine VH. is made. According to M. Megnin, the reason why Vegetius did not speak of shoeing, was because he did not wish to do so (c'est qu'il n'a pas voulus et qu'il la connaissait parfaitement). For lack of better evi- dence than is here adduced, I think it will be preferable to follow Heusinger, and retain the date I have given above. Niebuhr (Mero- baudes, p. 12) found at St Gallen some short fragments of a very old codex, (palimpseste) which were ascribed to Vegetius, and supposed i_to 54 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. says : ' By the riiggedness of roads, and long journeys, the hoofs of animals are worn out, and hinder their walking. (Aiumalium uugiiUc asperitate ac longitudine itinerum deteruntur et impediuut iiice.s.si(/u, etc.) From a twisting or contusion also, if horses or mules be forced to gallop or run on a rugged or stony road, bruises and chaiings arise ; lastly, though no cause has preceded, when they stand idle in the stables, they begin to halt and go lam.e. You shall foment the feet that are bruised and worn underneath with warm water.'' Alter a journey, it is recommended that the horses' feet ' be carefully washed and examined, lest any clay or mud remain about their joints and soles. They must also be rubbed with oint- ment, that their hoofs may be nourished, and that what horn the journey has worn away may, through the virtue of the medicament, grow up again.' He then gives various prescriptions for applications which nourish the hoofs and make them firm. These were to be rubbed in around the coronets and over the feet. At the wane of the moon ' the soles and hoofs of the animals must be trimmed with a paring iron, which allows the heat to escape, cools and refreshes them, and makes their hoofs the stronger.'^ 'It is a more prudent counsel to preserve the soundness of horses' feet, than to cure any disorder in them ; but have been written in the sevettth^-or eighth century. The codex of Corbey belongs to the ninth century. From the quotations atibrded above, it will be seen that he could not have known anything regarding shoeing with nails, otherwise he could not avoid mentioning it. As will be noticed hereafter, this art was practised at Constantinople before 945. ' J^egetii Renati. Artis Veterinariae. Lib. ii. cap. 55. Basil, 1528. ^ Lib. i. cap. 56. STABLE MANAGEMENT. 55 their hoofs are strengthened if the horses or mules stand in a very clean stable, without dung or moisture, and if their stalls are floored or laid with oaken planks You must remember that the hoofs are renewed bv grow- ing, and therefore after a certain number of days, or every month, such care ought not to be wanting, by which the weakness of nature is assisted and amended.' In an- other place, speaking of the stable and stalls, he closely follows Columella. ' A careful master must go frequently into the stable. In the first instance, take care that the place where they stand and lie be raised higher than the other parts of the floor, and that it be compactly made — not of soft wood, as frequently happens through unskilfulness or negligence, but of solid, hard, lasting oak, well put to- gether ; for this kind of wood hardens the horses' hoofs like rocks. Moreover, the trench which is to receive the urine ought to have a sink or drain under the ground to convey it away, lest the urine overflowing touch the horses feet.'^ ' The hoofs of animals that are too small, grow larger, or such as are worn, are repaired if you take,' etc. (Ani- ma/il'u.s exigiue crescunt, vel attritce reparantur, etc.) Numerous recipes are given to harden soft hoofs, espe- cially the soles. Frequent mention is made of suffiision in the feet, and casting the hoofs, doubtless through injuries sustained from the want of shoeing. ' If perchance, from the fatigue of a journey, a sufllision or defluxion shall happen in his feet,'^ etc. ' If a horse or mule has cast his hoof the cure is diflicult.'^ 'But such horses or mules whose hoofs have become diseased by sufllision or spread- ' Lib. i. cap. 56. ^ Lib. i. cap. 38. ^ Lib. ii. cap. 57. 6 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. ing of matter, or by some voluntary act of your own, or by the under part having been injured by some obstacle in the way, and have been a long time lame, this is the cure.'' The principal remedy proposed for these hoof-worn animals consisted essentially of pitch and rosin melted, and applied to the sole and the part coming in contact with the ground. It may be well to note here, that in the East Indies, melted pitch is largely applied to the feet of elephants when they become lam.e from journeying, or are about to travel over rocky ground. Perhaps a stronger proof than any that horses were not accustomed to be shod at this time, lies in the fact, that in the many directions given with great detail as to the management of the feet, and the performance of vari- ous operations in and on the sole, not a word is said as to removing the shoe previously, or replacing it afterwards. Besides, Renatus mentions every malady to which the un- shod foot is liable ; had nailed shoes been in vogue he must have spoken of the accidents arising from their use, such as pricks from the nails, which give rise to great lameness and often dangerous consequences now-a-days ; and he could scarcely omit noticing wounds and fractures caused by kicks from shod hoofs. Mention is made, however, of horses and mules being squeezed or bruised with the stroke of a wheel or an axle-tree. Vegetius appears to have been no stranger to the manners and customs of other and oftentimes distant countries, and to have been perfectly acquainted with the breeds of horses in them. For instance, in treating of the characteristics of horses, by which their native country ' Lib. i. cap. 26. FOREIGN HORSES. ■ 57 could be ascertained, he writes : ' In exchanging or selling horses, a lying story with regard to their native country is used, to introduce the greatest fraud. For men being desirous of selling them at the dearest rate, they falsely pretend that they are of the best breed ; which circum- stance has induced us, who, by travelling frequently into so many different and distant foreign countries, are per- fectly well acquainted with all kinds of horses, and have often kept them in our own stables, to explain the cha- racters and real merit and qualifications of every nation. For not to mention the meaner services they are employed in, it is manifest that horses are chiefly necessary for three uses — for war, for the circus, and for the saddle. The horses of the Hunni are by far the most useful for war, by reason of their endurance of fadgue, cold, and hunger. Next to them, those of Thuringia and Burgundy with- stand fatigue and bad usage the best. The Phrygian or Friesland horses are reckoned invincible, both with respect to swiftness and perseverance in running. Next, those of Epirus, Sarmatia, and Dalmatia, although they are ob- stinate and refractory to the bridle, yet are reckoned very fit for war. The noble disposition of the Cappadocian breed for chariots is much renowned ; equally, or next to these, the glory of the prize in the circus is reckoned due to the Spanish horses ; nor is Sicily much behind in affording for the circus such as are not inferior to them, although Africa is accustomed to furnish the Spanish breed with the swiftest of any. Persia, in all its provinces, furnishes better horses for the saddle, and they are reckoned as a great part of their patrimonial estate ; being very gentle and easy to ride upon, tractable and submissive, and of 58 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. exceeding great value for the nobleness of their breed and pedigree. The Armenian and Sophenian follow next ; nor in this respect must you despise the Sicilian horses, nor those of Epirus, if their manners, or good temper and behaviour, and beauty do not forsake them. Those of the Hunni have a great crooked head, projecting eyes, small nostrils, broad jaws and cheek-bones, a strong and stiff neck, manes hanging down to their knees, large ribs, crooked spine, strong bushy tail, strong legs, the lower part of their feet small, a.ndj}(/l, .spreading hoof^; their flanks hollow, and bodies angular ; no roundness in their quar- ters, or brawny development of their muscles ; their stature is rather in length than height ; the bones are large, there is a graceful leanness, and their very deformity constitutes their beauty. Their temper and disposition is moderate and prudent, and they are patient of wounds. ' The Persian horses do not differ very much in their stature and build from other kinds of horses, but they are known and distinguished from them only by a certain gracefulness in their gait and manner of walking. Their step is short and frequent, and such as delights and ele- vates the rider ; nor is it taught by art, but freely bestowed upon them by Nature, — for their action is a mean between ' pacers ' and those commonly called ' gallopers ; ' and whereas they are like neither of them, they are thought to have something common to both. These, as has been proved, have more gracefulness in a short journey, but in a long journey their endurance is but small. They have a proud spirit, and unless it be subdued with continual labour, they are stubborn and contumacious with their riders. Nevertheless, they are prudent, and, what is FEGETIUS RENATUS FLAllUS. 59 wonderful with so much fire and spirit, with the greatest care do they maintain their graceful carriage, the neck being bent into a bow, so that the chin appears to lean upon the breast.' ' A writer who thus carefully describes the varieties of foreign horses, and enters into such details with each, would surely have mentioned the practice of preserving the feet of these useful creatures had it been known to him ; but nowhere in his writings does he allude to it. Vegetius Renatus Flavius, who flourished towards the end of the fourth century, in the reign of the Emperor Valentine, has often been confounded with the preceding writer, and his ' De Re Militari' has been, by Bracy Clark and many others, ascribed to Publius Vegetius. In this much-valued and classical military treatise, there is a par- ticular enumeration of everything pertaining to an army forge ; yet there is no mention made of workmen to shoe horses, nor yet of any implement or article intended for such a purpose. For examples of the losses sustained during war through horses' feet being unprotected, we are not so well supplied as in Greek history. One marked instance, however, would appear to be shown in Polybius, when that writer informs us that the horses of Hannibal's army (b.c. 216) lost their hoofs in the marshes of Etruria : ' Equorum etiam multis, ob longum per paludes iter, un- gulas exciderunt.' That a defence for the feet of some of the larger domestic animals was in use, there can be no doubt. Aristotle for the Greeks, and Pliny for the Romans, state ' Lib. iv. cap. 6. 6o HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. that the feet of camels were in time of war, or on long journeys, shod. And we infer that the Kaf'fbanvai men- tioned by them were formed of a pliable leather sock covering the foot, stouter perhaps on the sole than else- where, and which, passing up the leg, was there fastened by thongs or bandages. A friend who was for a long period surveying in Africa, and whose duties carried him as far as the Soudan, informed me that horses are but seldom shod on the immense alluvial surface of the Sahara, where, for enor- mous distances, not a stone the size of a pebble is to be seen. In the rocky or stony regions, however, all are shod, and on long journeys the retention of the shoes and protection of the hoofs is a matter of much concern to the horsemen. To guard against the evil consequences that would follow the loss of one or two shoes by a horse when others could not be readily supplied, the conductors or followers of caravans, as well as the horsemen, are careful always to carry with them a sufficient quantity of leather to make socks to wrap the exposed hoof in. On the death of a camel — an event of frequent occurrence^ a piece of the thickest part of the hide is removed ; and when this begins to dry, it is subjected to long-continued and almost incessant manipulation, to make it soft and pliable, so as to lit closely to the hoof when required. The Arabs are often observed on the march pulling, rubbing, twisting, and stretching the lately-stripped camel- skin, solely with the intention of using it as a sock for the horses or camels when they become foot-sore. In Japan, in i860, the large black bulls used as pack animals, were often seen wearing foot-covers of this de- FOOT DEFENCES. 6i scription, to enable them to traverse the roads with their heavy burthens. There is nothing, however, to show that the 'Embattai' of Xenophon, or the ' Carbatinai ' of Aristotle and Pliny, were employed for solipedes. Nevertheless, now and again a curious passage occurs in the writings of some of the authorities we have just quoted, and in historical descriptions, which acquaints us that on certain occasions, contrivances, which would appear to have been only of a temporary character, were put on the feet of horses, mules, or oxen, to prevent injury to the horn, or to assist in remedying disease. As with the camel, the foot- defences of these creatures seems to have been suggested by that worn by man himself, and improvement in material, according to the ingenuity or wealth of indi- viduals, would, of course, from time to time appear. But there is no description of these improved defences, and their form and means of attachment to the limb have given rise to endless surmises and disputes. Catullus (B.C. 50) speaks of some kind of shoe, when he is desirous of throwing one of his too solid townsmen off a bridge into the river, so that he might shake him out of his lethargy, as a mule leaves its shoe in a stiff bog : 'And leave your sluggish mind sunk in thick mire, as the mule his iron shoe in a tenacious bog.' ' Joseph Scaliger,^ in a note on this passage from ' Carm. xvii. 20. Nunc eum volo de tuo ponte mittere pronum. Si pote stolidum repente excitare veternum, Et supinum animum in gravi derelinquere cceno, Ferream ut soleam tenaci in voragine mula.' ' Encyclopedie Methodique, vol. ii. p. 651. Art. Antiquites. 62 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. Catullus, is of opinion that this solea was drawn over the hoof, and not fastened with nails, and in this opinion he is perhaps justified. An ordinary leather sock, such as would prove serviceable for the wear of a camel, would soon be found to be but little adapted to tlie rough usage of a horse or mule ; the sharp unyielding margin of the hoof-wall must in a very brief space, and particularly on paved roads or rocky ground, have cut through any envelope of hide or other soft material ; so borrowing the idea from their own caliga or calceus, or the wheel — the ferati orbes of Virgil, they shod this covering with stronger materials, such as brass, iron, or even silver, or gold, but most frequently iron. Like their shoes, these solecp, or horse-sandals, were in all probability fastened round the legs with loops and straps, or fillets. It may be observed here that the name given to their own shoe or sandal — • calceus or calceamentum — was never given to this ap- pliance for horses and mules, which is always designated solea ; the act of shoeing, however, is found expressed by the verb calceo, and is alike employed for man and beast. The fastening with thongs or straps must of course have been a very insecure one, as modern experience has taught us, and the leathern sole covering the ground surface of the foot would still further tend to weaken it, particularly in marshy or clayey soil. Even now, with our incalculably firmer-attached armature, it is well known that in the hunting-field, when crossing heavy ground, a leather sole acts like a sucker, and is almost certain to cause the shoe which covers it to be left in the mire. Such must have been a frequent occurrence with VESPASIAN AND HIS MULETEER. 63 the solea ; so that Catullus only referred to it in a figur- ative but popular sense. To show that the soleoD were probably fastened to the extremity in this manner, the example afforded by Sue- tonius (a.d. 120), may be quoted. In that historian\i ' Lives of the Twelve Emperors,' when treating of Ves- pasian (a.d. 60), he casually intimates that this good Emperor was in the habit of preserving the feet of his mules when travelling. Suspecting once during a journey that his mule-driver had alighted to shoe his mules, in order to have an opportunity for allowing a person they met, and who was engaged in a law-suit, to speak to him, he (Vespasian) asked him how much he got for shoeing the mules, and insisted on having a share of the profits.' The Commentator of Suetonius, under the Life of Vespasian, has made the same blunder in introducing words into the text which do not belong to it as Stephanus ; and this, as Bracy Clark has pointed out, has induced Schoeffer, the author of ' De Re Vehiculari Veterum,' to perpetuate the error. He writes : ' Ut testa- tur Suetonius in Vespasiano, qui frequenter solebat lectica deferri in villam suam Catiliam, sed a mulis quoniam quadraginta milliarum intervallo abesset Roma : Hinc qui lecticam ejus deferebat, solicitatoris cujusdam donis corruptus, e mulis retentus fingeret se aptaturum soleam. ferream pedi unius ex mulis, tempus dabat supplici ad porrigendum Imperatori libellum.' It is seen that there is no authority for this ' soleam ferream ' in the text. ^ Suetonius, Vita Imp. Vespasian de Facetis, Lib. xxiii. p. 120. ' Mulionem in itinere quodam suspicatns ad calciandas mulas desilisse, ut adeunti litigator! spatium moranique praeberet : interrogavit, quanti calciasset : pactusque tst lucri partem.' 64 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. As Mr Clark has remarked, the circumstance of the emperor's muleteer dismounting and fastening on the shoes of the mules, in order to detain the car while the solicitor who had bribed him presented his petition, would show that they were not attached by nails ; for nailed shoes are not so readily put on in the highway, and coachmen would not be likely to carry tools and other requisites for this purpose. The passage in Suetonius is against such an inference. The muleteer doubtless dis- mounted to readjust, or make more secure, the fastenings of some of the solec^, which were supposed to have broken loose. And Ribauld de la Chapelle,' in the last century, was also of opinion that the ancient Romans did not put the modern-shaped shoe on their horses or mules, but en- veloped them in a sock {sabot), an act indicated by the words, '- Jumentis soleas inducere.' He alludes to this instance in the Life of Vespasian, where the muleteer could change the coverings of the mules' feet when they were worn out. Suetonius, in commenting on the great extravagance of Nero (a.d. 6o), asserts that he never travelled with less than a thousand four-wheeled chariots, drawn by mules whose feet were shod with silver ; and the drivers of which were dressed in scarlet jackets of the finest Canusian cloth. ^ And the elder Pliny, speaking of the instances o luxury in silver plate among the Romans, amongst others relates the following : ' We find the orator Calvus com- ' Dissertation sur FOrigine des Francs, etc., p. 199. " De Neroue ipso Tranquillas, cap. xxx. ' Nunquam carrucis minus mille fecisse iter traditur, soleis niularum argenteis,' POPPyEJ AND COMMODUS. 65 plaining that the saucepans are made of sih^er ; but it has been left for us to invent a plan of covering our very car- riages with chased silver, and it was in our own age that Poppaca, the wife of the Emperor Nero, ordered her favourite mules to be shod even with gold.'' This refer- ence to shoeing has troubled many commentators. Vos- sius ^ notes from Xiphilinus, that Poppsca's mules were many of them furnished in their feet with shoes made of broom twisted and gilt. He calls their golden shoes eTci-^^urrioL SHAPTIA. In Dion Cassius' History of Rome, it is mentioned that this Sabina had her mules shod with gold, and that the milk of 50 she-asses was devoted to her lavatory.3 In the same work, we learn that the barbarous Emperor Commodus (a.d. 190), caused his horses' hoofs to be gilt or covered with gold. 'When the horses became too old for the race-course, they were sent away to the country, Commodus replacing them by others, and introducing these into the circus with their hoofs gilt, and their backs covered with a cloth of gold. When they were suddenly brought before the people ' Hist, Nat., Lib. xxxiii. cap. 49. ' Nostraque aetate Poppaea, con- jux Neronis principis, delicatioribus jumentis suis soleas ex auro quoque induere.' * Poppaea, the empresse, wife to Nero, the emperour, was known to cause her ferrers ordinarily to shoe her coach-horses, and other paltries for her saddle (such especially as shea set store by, and counted more dainty than the rest), with cleane gold.' — Holland's Plinie. == Ad Catullus. 2 Historice Rumance, Lib. Ixii. ' Sabina vero haec adeo delicate vixit (nam ex paucis quibusdam caetera intelligentur omnia) ut mulas, quibus agebatur, haberet auresis soleis calceatas ; et ut quingentae asinae, quae recens peperissent, quotidie mulgerentur, quo ipsa lacle earum lavaretur.' dd HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. loud shouts arose from every one, "Behold, Pertinax is here ! " ' The allusion made by Pliny to the garniture of Pop- paea's mules, Mr Pegge remarks, would seem to imply that the solea was pulled on like an ordinary sock ; but, as previously mentioned, Vossius doubts this : ' Verum qua ratione absque clavis id fieri possit, non satis liquet ; ' and then he makes the assertion before alluded to, to prove that even the Greeks put on the hoof-armature with nails : 'in vetusto exemplari Hippiatricorum Grascorum, quod habeo, cui etiam picture accedunt, clavorum quibus trajiciantur ungulae signa et vestigia manifeste apparent.' And yet, Pegge maintains, the (rz^^a^ria en^rl-^pua-a men- tioned above could not well be nailed, but must have been drawn on and fastened in a different manner, perhaps by being tied round the leg, like the snow-bags Xenophon saw, and as urxroOTJixncra used for the soleag or shoes of mules seems to imply. Scaliger,^ from attentive examin- ation of all the passages referring to this subject, certainly was of opinion that the shoes of horses and mules, what- ever may have been their materials, were not fastened V' ' Ibid. Lib. Ixxxiii. ' Post haec equum eundem, quum ob senectu- tem dimissus esset a cursu, et ruri ageret, Commodus arcessiverat, et introduxerat in circum, inauratis imgidis, ac inaurata pelle in dorso ornatum : qui ubi de improviso comparuit, rursum conclamatum est ab omnibus, " Ecce Pertinax adest." ' Stephanus thinks that Poppaea's mule-shoes were merely the soleae spartea gik, and he adds (though we must not forget the mistake he previously makes) : * Equi bellatores apud Romanos non habebant munimenta pedum sen soleas, sed sole jumenta, ut ostendit Fabrettas (Col. Traj.) Pertinacis tamen equi iraprift^yoTOQ ungulas inaurabat Commodus, tuq OTrXag j^araxpuffworaf. ' Pitisc. ad Suet. Nero, cap. 30. THE EMPEROR CALIGULA. 67 on with nails, particularly in Suetonius' and Nero's time. Aklrovandus ' remarks, that Suetonius, in his Life of Caligula (a.d, 40), expressly notices the iron shoe, with eight or more nails ; and Colonel Smith,^ who quotes this naturalist, appears to think him correct. ' We read con- cerning Caligula, in Suetonius, that the day previous to the races in the circus, he ordered the soldiers to maintain strict silence in the neighbourhood, lest his horse should be disturbed. He remembered when a journey was to be undertaken, if the country to be traversed was mountain- ous or rough, that, instead of eight, fourteen nails were to be affixed ; because such ground wore away the nails rapidly.' I have carefully read two editions of Suetonius (one of them the ' Bibliotheca Classica Latina ' of C. B. Hase; Paris, 1828), but do not find the most distant allu- sion to horse-shoes in the ' Life of Caligula.' The refer- ence is not trustworthy. For reasons which will be hereafter given, it might be concluded, that when shoes for horses or mules are men- tioned by any of the Roman or Greek writers immediately preceding or following the commencement of our era, that the modern method of applying a shoe to these animals' feet is not meant, and that there is no proof that it was known. But as additional evidence that the solea was a temporary ' De Quadrupedibus, p. 50. Fnmcoflirti, 1623. ' De Caligula itaque legimus apud Suetonium pridie quam Circensis fierent, viciniae silentium per milites indixisse ne eques saus incitatus inquietaretur. Cum iter faciendum est, meminerit, per quae loca fiet eundem nam si per montes vel quaevis asperiora loca fuerit agitandus, loco octo clavorum, quatuordecim inv^enio affigendos, quod plurimum illic atterantur clavi.' ' Naturalists' Library, vol. xii. Edinburgh, 1841. 68 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. contrivance, secured round the pastern or fetlock with straps or thongs, we may refer to the writings of Roman and Greek hippiatrists, who testify to their nature and uses in several instances, and in a more or less explicit manner. Columella, the agricultural writer already noticed, and who lived near the time of Augustus, prescribes a shoe or sandal of broom, or wicker-work, for lame oxen, though not for ordinary wear, but only as a surgical appliance, under the designation of solen spartea. Speaking of cattle that had become crippled in the limbs, he says that if it be low down, or in the hoofs, ' you should make a small opening between the digits with a knife, and after- wards apply soft bandages steeped in salt and vinegar; then have the foot covered with a shoe of spartea, let there be great caution exercised to avoid wet, and keep the stable very dry.' ' Theomnestus, a Greek veterinarian of the Byzantine empire, of whom extremely little is known, save what is to be casually gleaned from his vivacious writings, but who is supposed to have lived in the 6th century, speaks about excessive abrasion of the hoofs, and the a]:)plication of this rush or wicker slipper. ' If a horse is much ivorn in the hoofs by travelling, and is then neglected, he becomes feverish, and is soon destroyed by the fever if not attended to. To prevent this, you must use warm water in which the roots of althaea or wild mallows have been boiled, and ' De Re Rust, lib. ii. p. 27. 'At si jam in ungulis est, inter duos ungues cultello leviter aperies, postea linamenta sale atque aceto imbuta applicantur, ac solea spartea pes induitur, maximeque datur opera ne in aquam pedem mittat, et sicce stabuletur.' THE SOLEM SPARTEM. 69 foment the feet with it till they become clean and soft. Then the loose parts must be removed from the hoofs, and all bruises be laid bare in the water ; and then you are to have in immediate readiness slender tivigs of broom y or twine cords, and rough cloths, tow and other coarse stuffing, with garlic (aAXiov) and axle-grease — one by one, so as to have them ready to fix by ties (or bands) round the hoofs. If they (the feet) should inflame, let blood be abstracted from the coronets, and cause the horse to remain in a warm place where there is sunshine, or let a fire be kindled if it be winter-time, and make him a bed of dry dung, that he may not stand on what is hard. The feet may suffer in this way without being much inflamed. Let him be attended for eight days, and stand in-doors on dung ; also have his water brought to him, that his hoofs by walking be not torn asunder, but may grow, being nourished by w^hat comes from the dung.' ' As Bracy Clark has noted, the twigs of the ' spartium ' are here recommended to be simply employed as cords to maintain the soft dressing to the tender feet, enclosing the hoofs like a net. The w^ord spartum, as used by the Greeks and Romans, was meant by them to indicate several species of plants which, like hemp or flax, could be easily manufactured into various articles of utility. But the former people, more particularly, applied this term to a shrub, the Spar- tium Junceum, or Spanish broom, which is found in a wild state on the dry lands of the Levant and the southern parts of Europe, and the slender branches of which were woven into baskets, while the shoots were prepared and ' Ruellis. Scriptores Graeci Veteriiiarii, p. 254. 70 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. put to the same uses as hemp. At the present day, the people of Lower Languedoc, towards Lodeve, manufac- ture it into various household textures, such as table- cloths, shirts, and other things, employing the bark as fuel. It is the species called by Pliny (Book xxxix. cap. 9) genista, but which he seems, though wrongly, to consider as another variety — the Stipa {macrochloa) tenacissima. This last variety certainly grows in Spain and Africa, and is there designated sparto or esparto. As described by him (Book xix. cap. 2), it is still in great request for the manufacture of baskets, mattresses, ship-cables and cord- age, and when treated as hemp, is converted into more delicate articles. The Spaniards make of it a kind of shoes called alpergates, which form a large export com- modity, being in popular demand in the Indies, where these sandals are more suitable than anything else. It is also an essential material for the fabrication of coverings for rooms, balconies, and chairs ; and makes, besides, ex- cellent panniers for mules. It is most likely that the Greeks employed the spartium and the Romans the stipa, in making shoes for their beasts of burthen. In more modern times, however, sandals for horses have been made from spartum, as appears from J, Leonis.' It is also now largely employed in the manufacture of paper. We have already examined what Vegetius had to say about horses' feet, and their injuries from non-shoeing. We will now consider what he relates with regard to some portions of their treatment, as a supplement to his mention of ' detritus pedibus,' ' subtritus pedibus.' etc. He ' Africae Descriptio. Lib. iii. p. 120. SHOES^ OF SPANISH BROOM. 71 several times alludes to the soiece spartcpci, or shoes of Span- ish broom, particularly for the ox when foot-sore, or when disease was present ; and to show that this animal some- times wore this, or something analogous, when travelling or at work, he writes : ' If the sock has hurt his pastern or hoof, wrap up hard pitch and hog's lard,' etc. 'But if the sock has entered into it, the sea-lettuce, which the Greeks call Tithymallos, mixed with salt, is put upon it. Also wdien his feet are worn and bruised underneath, they are washed wdth ox's urine made w^arm ; then he is forced to tread upon the burning-hot embers of vine twigs, and his hoofs are anointed with tar, together with oil and hog's lard. Nevertheless, they do not go so lame if, when they are unyoked from their work, their hoofs be washed with cold water, and their pasterns and coronets, as well as the cleft of the hoof itself, be rubbed with old hog's lard.' ' If he has trodden upon a nail, or pierced his hoof with a sharp tile or stone .... Then having a shoe of Spanish broom put upon it for the space of three days,'' etc. With regard to the horse, we often find the words ' animal calciabis,' ' calciatis pedibus per multos dies ;' and when describing the treatment for a horse that has bruised or inflamed his foot, he finishes by adding, ' you shall take care to put a shoe of Spanish broom upon it, that, after the evacuation of the humours, the hoof may be repaired.'^ (Sparcia calciare curaHs, ut post egestione liumore iingula reparetur.) From this veterinarian, then, we might be led to think that the Romans did not generally shoe their horses, mules, or oxen ; and that when they were impelled to do so from ' Lib. iii. cap. i. "^ Lib. i. cap. 26. 72 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. motives of pride and display, or from urgent necessity, the shoeing was of the most simple kind, and much as they were accustomed to cover their own feet in a sock of leather or pelt by enveloping the whole surface. It is not improbable that the portion covering the front of the hoof may, when display was wanted, have been gilded, or covered with gold or silver, and the under portion also strengthened by gold, silver, bronze, or iron plates. That this was the case we find amply illustrated elsewhere in Vegetius' writings, where he speaks of lemnisci, which were doubtless intended to strengthen the solea, and may have been of strong leather, or even iron ; a circumstance of some importance to remember. In the following passage this is found more particularly noticed : ' Pedes quos sanos habet glante ferreo vel si defuerit, spartea calceabis, cui lemniscos suhjides^ et addita fasciola diligentissime colli- gabis, et suppositicum facies parti illi quae misera est, ut planas ungulas possit ponere.'' The glante ferreo is found for the first and only time here, and Bracy Clark thinks that it may have been only an insertion into, or corruption of, the text with which, by frequent transcription, the work abounds. He adds : ' There is, however, something very singular about it, for glans signifies an acorn, the fruit of the oak, and the figure which this fruit presents projecting from its cup, would, if divided by a longitudinal section, not badly re- present the figure of the modern horse-shoe, or a section of its cup would do the same ; but as nothing is said of nails for fastening it on, it cannot properly be considered, without other collateral evidence, to mean any such thing. ' Lib. iii. cap. i8. THE GLANTES FERREI. 73 It may have been possibly a piece of iron turned round to the figure of the liorse's hoof, and which was then fastened on by rivets or otherwise to the leinnisci, or leather soles, and this, it is not at all impossible, might, under the pressure of necessity, have been applied directly to the foot itself, and given birth to the modern horse- shoe. It is therefore probable that these metal plates, or acorns of iron, used to strengthen their soiap, or shoes, were distinguished by the name of glantes ferrei, and the passage tells us if these were not to be had they were to be contented with the lejnnisci, and if not these, with the sparteum opus, which was rarely honoured with the title of so/ea.''^ The English edition of Vegetius, published in 1748, thus translates the above passage, which relates to the treatment for disease in the hip : ' You shall shoe his feet that are sound with an iro)i patten, or sandal, or if this be lacking, with a shoe made of broom, and you shall put bandages upon it, and bind it up most carefully, and so make it able to support that part which is in misery, that the animal may be able to set down his hoofs flat and full upon the ground.'^ At the present day, in this country, what are called poultice-bags or boots, and which are made of leather, fastening with a strap round the pastern, are very fre- quently shod with an iron shoe to guard them from wear. The Roman solece may have resembled these, and it is possible that on other, though rarer, occasions they may ' Op. cit. p. 25. "" Fegetius Renatus. Of the Distempers of Horses, &c., p. 275. 74 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. have been entirely of iron, suspended to the hoof by a bandage, or strap and buckle. It is satisfactory that Vegetius has so particularly de- scribed the mode of attaching this garniture to the limb: * et addita fasciola diligentissime colligabis ;' because it elucidates what might have otherwise been an obscure reference in Apsyrtus, a Greek veterinarian who lived more than a century before Vegetius. In chapter 107 of that writer's work, in the Hippiatrica, is found the heading : 'Apsyrtus on the injuries from foot defences or fastenings of the same.' And the chapter goes on to relate : ' It happens that the legs {[xsrroxuvicx., the parts from the knees to the hoofs) of the horse, from the foot defences or shackles (fTTTroTrsSr;^), or its fastenings by the thong or cord, become injured, so that the skin is torn off or destroyed, and the tendons of the fetlock are laid bare. There is danger of this accident proving fatal if it happen to both joints. It is proper, therefore, in the first instance, to apply wine, vinegar, or brine and vinegar ; next, to use the lipara and soft applications of white plasters ; and, to complete the cure, of ceruss one part, of ammoniacum one half, of myrtle-berries a sufficient quantity — then tritur- ating the ammoniacum, mixed with the ceruss, pour upon them the myrtle, and use it.'' ' Ruellii (Hippiatr. lib. ii. p. 100) renders this passage from the Greek as follows : 'Apsyrtus iis aui compedibus aut vinculis collisi viTiANTUR. Usu veiiit ut suffragines, quas mesoci/nia vocant, tricis, pedi- cis, vinculisque quibusdam loro vel fune districtis plerunque lacessantur, quibus corium procidit, sic ut nervuli hujusce partis aperiantur, ac nudi pateant : id quod vitae discrimen adfert, praesertini si in utroque flexu articulorum evenerit,' etc. ROMAN HIPPOPODES. 10 This passage, and the term ' hippopodes,' here used for the first and only time in the ancient veterinary writers, obviously refers to the sandal or solea worn by horses or mules on rare occasions, and to the way in which it was maintained on the extremities by the corrigice, or rather the Jhsciolce, mentioned by Vegetius. That this was really the case, a very fine terra-cotta or baked clay (the kind named ' typi ' by Pliny), now in the British Museum (2nd vase Room, and marked T 337), has been brought forward by Bracy Clark as a proof (fig. 3). The example is cer- fig- 3 tainly, so far as I can ascertain, unique; but taken in connection with what the ancient authors have said in regard to this matter, it would appear to afford conclusive evidence. The age of the tablet is, unfortunately, un- known ; but it belongs to a number which were found about the year 1765, in a dry well, near the Porta Latina, 76 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. at Rome ; and which were sometime afterwards added to Mr Townley's collection. The bas-relief exhibits a chariot-race, having something of the Greek character in design. The charioteer, wearing a helmet and what Suetonius calls the ' quadrigarian ' dress/ stands in a two- wheeled cur ri cuius or car, drawn by four horses, which are galloping towards the metce or pillars, round which the competitors were obliged to turn in these contests of the circus. The upper part of his body appears to be swathed in his robe, and the reins, four in number, two in the left and two in the right hand, according to the fashion of the times, encircle his waist."" The bits are the simple snaffle, and not the curb, which we know the Romans introduced ; and Combe,^ who has made these terra-cottas his particular study, says the instructions of Nestor,-* that in turning round the goal, the right-hand horse should be urged on with a loose rein, are exactly followed in this instance. The reverse, how- ever, appears to be the case. At the base of the metag, there may have happened an accident ; but this part is rather disfigured ; while turning the goal the back of a horseman is seen, with what seems to be reins round his body, and who may only be keeping the course clear. On ' Suetonius, Vita Calig. cap. 19. ' Per hunc pontem ultro citroque commeavit, biduo continenti. Prinio dei phalerato equo — Postridie quadrigario habitu, curriculoque bijugi famosorum equorum, prae se ferens Darium puerum ex Parthorum obsidibus; comitante praetoria- norum agmine, et in essedis cohorte amicorum.' Lampridius (Vit. Commodi, cap. 2) has also ' Aurigse habitu currus rexit.' ^ Statius, Theb., lib. vi. 104. 3 Description of the Ancient Terra-cottas in the British Museum. ' Iliad, 335—341- ANCIENT TERRA-COTTAS. 77 the upper part of the tablet, which is in size one foot four inches by one foot, is an inscription, Anniae Arescusa, who may have been the winner of the race, or the artist of the terra-cotta. Most important of all, however, for our present purpose, is the representation of what look like bandages on the fore limbs of all the horses — a little rubbed on the nearest, but certainly most distinct on the middle and left-hand horses. There is nothing of the kind on the hind limbs, and this may easily be accounted for. Admitting that these are the bands of the hippopodes, it is well known to all horsemen that the fore feet are more liable to suffer from attrition, when unshod, than the hind ones, simply because they have to support more weight and strain. In India, for instance, cavalry and other horses are frequently only shod on the fore feet, as they require this defence ; while the hinder ones can be submitted to a great deal of wear without suffering at all to the same degree. Thtfasciohe cover the limb apparently from the knee downwards, and though nothing of the sandal itself can be distinguished, yet it is to be observed that the hoofs of the fore extremities are much larger, and altogether look clumsier than those behind, which have no bandages above them ; a circumstance that leads to the inference that the hippopodes enveloped the hoofs as closely as they could be made to do. In the same collection of terra-cottas are some very fine bas-reliefs in which horses are admirably represented, but none have their limbs swathed liked these, which had probably been subjected to an extra amount of racing, being noted horses, and had consequently become foot-sore. 78 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. It is very probable that an ancient seal, reported by Bracy Clark and others to be in the British Museum, but which I have been unable to trace, is also intended to convey the idea of the hippopodes being used for cavalry. From the attitude of a warrior, who kneels down in front of a horse, and with his right hand seizes its right leg, while another soldier is aiding him by holding up the left one as high as the elbow, it has been conjectured that this boot is being attached to the animal's foot. The Abbe Winckelmann has described this paste, and also made some interesting remarks on shoeing ; so, in consequence of my inability to discover its whereabouts in the Museum, if it ever was there, I reproduce what he says : ' Pate Antiq. Un homme avec un bonnet, qui tient leve avec force le pied droit d'un cheval, tandis qu'un soldat arme qui est a genoux devant le cheval, paroit lui lier des bandages au dessus du sabot. II seroit, sans doute, hardi d'avancer, que ce soldat soit la pour mettre des fers a son cheval. II ne veux pas repeter ici, que les mulcts des Anciens etoient ferres, et je sais bien qu'on ne trouve des chevaux ferres sur aucune ancien monument. Je soutiens de plus que le pied ferrc d'un cheval qui est sur un bas- relief du Palais Mattei a Rome, representant une chasse de TEmpereur Galien, ou Fabretti a cru trouver I'epoque des chevaux ferres, je soutiens, dis-je, que cette jambe est une restaiiration muderne. Je ne disconviens pas pourtant qu'on ne sache que les Anciens, et en particulier les peuples de I'Asie, iirent des fers a leurs chevaux, comme on voit dans ce qui dit Appian dans I'Histoire de la guerre de Mithridate. Scaliger se fondant sur la parole solea, le fer de mulcts dans Catulle, et sur ccllc t/TroSrj/xov, le fer des CONFLICTING EVIDENCE. 79 chevaux dans Appian, est un sentiment qu'on leur lioit les fers.' ' But even these defences must have been rarely resorted to, as the above are the only two instances in which there is any attempt to represent them. It may also be ob- served, that in the Greek or Latin languages there are no words corresponding to those we employ to designate a horse-shoe, or the artisan who applies it, and there is nothing to prove in a logical manner, in ancient history or the writings of veterinarians, that hoofs were furnished, as now-a-days, with a defence attached by nails. As before observed, this subject has given rise to much dispute and research for very many years. Montfau^on ^ asserts : ' The custom of shoeing horses is very ancient, although there are certain proofs that it was not general among the Romans. Fabretti says, that among the great number of horses which occur in ancient monuments, he never saw more than one which was shod, though he made it his business to examine them all, both upon columns and other marbles. As to the mules, both male and female, they are often said by writers to have been shod. There are, nevertheless, certain and undoubted proofs that the ancients shod their horses ; thus much Homer and Appian say (?) ; though it does not appear, indeed, that the custom was general.' In another place, he writes : ' The horses' feet (on an Etruscan tomb) have iron shoes, a particular rarely seen on ancient monuments. Fabretti says, that of all the horses he saw ' Description des Pierres Gravees du Feu Baron de Stosch. Florence, 1760, p. 169. ^ Antiquite Expliq., vol. iv. p. 50. 8o HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. on monuments, he never observed but one with four shoes.'' Fabretti's remarks are vakiable in many respects, but with regard to shoeing it can scarcely be doubted that he has allowed himself to be deceived. (See above for Winckelmann's notice.) He writes : ' I am certain that the shoeing of draught animals was introduced before the time of Trajan (a.d. 98); but in this country we cannot recognize shoes on the statues, though many other de- tails are found. For neither in the marble nor old brass statues, as it would seem, is a single thing else excepted. It would be by no means vain to assert that the Romans at this time did not shoe their war-horses, for lack of which they were not a little lightened in their work, and were less liable to receive injury from each other when at large.' After referring to the wTitings of Xeno- phon, Suetonius, Catullus, Pliny, and to Poppaea's mules, which, he acknowledges, had foot defences attached by golden bands, he adds that there was seen a statue on the fourth landing of the staircase of the temple dedicated to the memory of Cyriacus Matthasius, in the Caelian Garden, with shoes on the horses' feet fixed by nails. 'But this statue has nothing to do with Trajan ; because it was either destroyed by Severus, 1 20 years from Trajan's time, or it refers to something which took place in the last days of the Caesars. This conclusion only do we arrive at, that those authors are ignorant of this matter who sup- pose that the application of iron shoes to the hoofs of horses was first made at the time of P. Theophilum Raynaudum in Tabula Chronologica, year DCCIC, by ' Op. cit., vol. vii. p. 558. FABRETTI AND GUIDO PANCIROLUS. 8i Lascus Polonus. Nearer to the time of Trajan we find the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, and anotlier marble one on the first platform of the orator's staircase, nudas ferro ungulas habent ; at the bottom, also, two statues of Trajan himself on each side of the Arch of Constantine. But lest it should be asserted that details were not intended to be shown on these statues, it so happens that the artist has designed the soles of the shoes worn by the soldiers with iron nails, which Festus and Isidorus in their Orig. xix. cap. ult. termed "c/«?^ ¥ fig- 7 128 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. horse-shoe which had been worn through at the toe (fig. 8). M. Megnin, a com- petent judge, and from whose description I have freely trans- lated, saw these fragments at the Besanqon Archaeological Muse- um. Many other tombs have furn- ished, with the debris of arms, cuirasses, girdles, and collars of boars' teeth, various articles simi- lar to the preceding, and among them the characteris- tic 'kelt' (fig. 9), together with iron nails with a flat head {clef de violon), which had served to attach horse- shoes, as in fig. 10, of the same origin, and in which three similar nails are yet fixed. fig. 8 fig- 9 fig. 10 But the most curious discovery made in the tumuli of Alesia was that of a complete Celtic forge, which M. Castan, who presided at the exhumation, thus describes : ' The heights of Alesia terminate towards the north in three I THE BAN-DU-PRETRE. 129 promontories, which are parallel and overhang the Lison. One of these promontories, situated in the central axis of the heights, is covered with tumuli and ruins. This place is called the Chateleys, and is an immense tongue of land, which rests on a gigantic perpendicular basement, 164 yards elevation. On the margin of this region, at a place called the Champs-Motfets, are seen three Celtic tumuli built of pebbles, and about 33 to 40 feet in length, l\\o of these were opened simultaneouslv, and were found completely empty. The third contained a certain number of thick and short bones, which the osteologists have pronounced to be the remains of a bear of the largest species. In the same collection was found the half of a cloven foot belonging to a stag or buck. These remains of what had no doubt been sacrifices, no less than the vicinity of the place designated Bau-du- Pvetre (priest's ban), were, in our opinion, indications that we were touching on sacred soil. Pursuing our exploration, we reached the extreme point of the promontory of Chateleys, which was occupied by one of those heaps of stones the English archaeologists term cairns. The traditions of buried treasure, which had always haunted this mound, had induced a farmer in the neighbourhood to open it. Quickly deceived in his expectations (he had only taken away, we were told, the foot of a bronze pot), this gold- hunter abandoned the spot, leaving the mound pierced with a large hole at its summit. This opening, which had been made about sixty years before, and about the origin of which nearly every one had forgotten, caused the ruin ot the Chateleys to be looked upon as the base of a tower 9 130 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. or circular habitation. In its primitive condition, the cairn or hillock of Chateleys had the figure of a cone with an oval base, and was 98 feet in length, and about 66 feet in width. The neck of land which served for its foundation was naturally in the form of an amphitheatre ; and the covering of stones, formed of large pieces, con- tained absolutely nothing, and appeared to have been constructed solely with a view to protect the bed of debris covering the floor of the interior, against the effects of time and the cupidity of mankind. All around the -"^tone which formed the altar, were spread long tracks of cinders mixed with charcoal, fragments of vases, and the calcined bones of men and horses. To one side of these extinguished fires, lay scattered on the ground the maxil- lary bones of pigs and the skeleton of a bear. In the middle of the hearth, which occupied the north side, were found successively a little triangular file, 2^ inches in length (fig. 11); the fragment of a thick flat file, nearly an inch in width; a small chisel i^ inch long, intended to be fixed in a wooden handle (fig. 12); three iron cinders or scorice ; two morsels of bronze castings about i inch thick, one of which was ornamented with round points, executed with the grav- ing tool ; a large iron hammer weigh- ing 5 pounds, and still retaining six iron wedges which had been used to fix the handle (fig. 13). Not far from this hammer-head, under the heap of cinders that extended to the fig. la fig. II AN AXTiqUARIAN ' FIND.' 131 north-west, lay an iron buckle, composed of two rings tied together by a flap, through which passed a tongue of metal (fig. 14). Then came a fragment of a horse- shoe (fig. 15), furnished with a flat oblong-headed nail (fig. 16); afterwards the blade of an iron knife which had lost its point, and was yet 5 inches long (fig. 17). fig. 14 %• 13 fig- 15 fig. 16 fig. 17 The numerous bits of pottery collected from among the cinders and the charcoal were of grey clay full of silice- ous particles, but better tempered and more solid than Celtic pottery in general. Some fragments had acquired, from prolonged baking, the hardness of stoneware ; others, more friable, were covered with a black varnish and very salient mouldings. The vases to which these belonged appeared to have been broken, and their pieces scattered on the ground designedly, for the scraps gathered over a wide surface, and which have been put 132 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEIXG. fis;. 18 together, form the neck of a jar (fig. 18). From all this it will be seen that the cairn of Chateleys was not an ordinary tomb. I do not hesitate to assert that it was more than a tomb. This forge- hammer ; these imple- ments for working in iron ; these horses and pigs, emblems of Gaulish nation- ality, lying [jele-inele on the sacrificial hearth, beside an altar built by nature— all this composed a page of antique symbolism curious to decipher. The Druidical traditions of Ireland tell us that each of the great regions of the Gallo-Cimbric race had a centre, a sacred rallying-place, to which all parts of the confederate territory resorted.' In this centre burned, on an altar of rough stones, a per- petual fire, which was designated the parent flame. The guarding of this sanctuary, and the maintenance of the sacred fire, w^ere entrusted to a school or college of pontifl- artists, commanded or directed by a smith. This Druidi- cal college combined with the exercise of the pontificate, the teaching of mysteries and the industrial arts. ' It forged two kinds of swords and lances: — religious arms— the glaive of honour and death-dealing weapons — the sword and lance for fight.' In this way is the mystery which shrouded the promontory of Alesia cleared up. Instead of being a hill devoted to graves, we have discovered the sanctuary of Alesia, the oppidum which Diodorus terrned the primitive metropolis of the Celts. Nothing is wanting to complete ' Henri Martin. Hi.^tuire de France, vol. i. p. 71. THE SANCTUARY OF ALE SI A. 133 the picture ; neither the altar, which the hand of man has not fashioned, nor the insignia of the pontiff-blacksmith, nor the buckle of his magical leather apron, nor yet the sacrificing knife, or the bones of boars, horses, and bears mingled with the remains of human victims consumed by the flames. More able men than ourselves had fanned these embers eighteen centuries ago, and from them had attempted to wring out lamentable secrets. They carry us back to distant ages, and show us the chiefs of Gaul de- liberating around this place of worship, and the Druids, the ovates, and the bards seeking to gain, by sacrifices and sup- plications, the countenance of the tutelary genii of their nation ; then, when all hope has disappeared, when the fates have pronounced the fatal decree, the worshipping priests have broken the sacred instruments, and have covered over their holy place to conceal it from the pro- fanation of their vanquishers.'' The publication of this discovery gave rise to much discussion. Col. Coinard denied the accuracy of the con- clusions arrived at by the Besanqon archaeologists, and clung to the written history of the Greeks and Romans. M. Quicherat, however, replied to his attacks in a very direct manner. ' M. de Coinard exults because we ad- mit that the Gaulish horses were shod ; he overwhelms us with citations to prove that shoeing was not practised, neither in the Roman cavalry nor yet in that of Mithri- dates, when we speak of the cavalry of Gaul. Horse- shoes are discovered with Gaulish pottery ; in two of the tumuli of Alesia they are embedded in the floor of the graves, in the midst of cinders, under a thick pavement. ' Castan. Les Tombelles Celtiques. Besan^on, 1858. Megn'in. 134 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSESHOEING. M. Castan has mentioned this discovery in his reports on the tombs of Alesia. / ivas present, and I can certify that there was a well-alluijed bed {g'isement). The author- ity of the compiler Beckmann, quoted by M. de Coinard, cannot prevail against a fact of which Beckmann was ignorant, and of which M. de Coinard cannot speak.' ' M. Troyon, the celebrated Swiss archaeologist, in noticing these discoveries, and the dispute as to which of the Alesias Caesar had to contend with, remarks of this I one : ' This is not the place to enter into the discussion I raised as to whether this Alesia is the place of which Caesar speaks. Whatever may be the opinion of savans on the ' subject, it cannot be doubted that the majority of the ob- jects discovered in these later years characterize the first age of iron. It is evident that this locality has been the seat of a Gaulish establishment of great importance. The numerous tumuli of Alesia no doubt cover the re- mains of diverse generations interred in the age of bronze, and during the Roman period. However this may be, the intermediate epoch is largely represented ; the major- ity of the specimens collected belong to the space between these two periods, and give rise to important relations with the Helvetic antiquities.' ^ Lest it be supposed that this haunt of Druidism was only destroyed in a.d. 864, it may be useful to recollect, that the Druids were banished from Gaul by Tiberius and Claudius in the first half of the first century of our era. This holy blacksmith, the pontiff' of the Druids, will be alluded to hereafter, when we come to speak of the ' Moniteur de TArmee, April 16, 1864. ' Habitations Lacustrcs, p. 334. THE BATTLE OF THE FINGEANNE. 135 discoveries of horse-shoes in Britain ; in the mean time we must not forget to mention, that these researches and speculations on the treasures found in the tumuli sur- rounding the ruins of the ancient city of Alesia, are sup- plemented by similar discoveries in the neighbourhood, of articles which may be referred to the same period. During the war in Gaul, Cccsar had often to encoun- ter the brave and numerous cavalry of Vercingetorix, the Gaulish general. Before the blockade of Alesia, a severe cavalry engagement took place on the Vingeanne, near Longeau, which resulted in the defeat of the Gaulish horse. The Emperor Napoleon thus alludes to the his- torical proofs of this event : — ' The field of battle of the Vingeanne, which M. H. Defay, of Langres, first pointed out, answers perfectly to all the requirements of the Latin narrative, and moreover, material proofs exist which are undeniable evidences of the struggle. We allude to the tumuli which are found, some at Prauthoy, others on the banks of the Vingeanne, at Dardenay, and Cusey, and those which, at Pressant, Rivieres-les-Fosses, Chamber- ceau, and Vesores, mark, as it were, the line of retreat of the Gaulish army, to a distance of twelve kilometres. Two of these tumuli are situated near each other, between Prauthoy and Montsaugeon. There is one near Dar- denay, three to the west of Cusey, one at Rivieres-les- Fosses, another at Chamberceau. We will not mention those which have been destroyed by agriculture, but which are still remembered by the inhabitants. Re- searches lately made in these tumuli have brought to light skeletons, many of which had bronze bracelets round the arms and legs, calcined bones of men and horses, 136 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. thirty-six bracelets, severa iron circles which were worn round the neck, iron rings, fibular, fragments of metal plates, pieces of Celtic pottery, an iron sword, &c. It is a fact worthy of remark, that the objects found in the tumuli at Rivieres-les-Fosses and Chamberceau bear so close a resemblance to those of the tumuli on the banks of the Vingeanne, that we might think they had come from the hand of the same workman. Hence there can be no doubt that all these tumuli refer to one and the same in- cident of war. 'We must add that the agricultural labourers of Montsaugeon, Isomes, and Cusey have found during many years, when they make trenches for drainage, horse- shoes buried a foot or two deep under the soil. In i860, at the dredging of the Vingeanne, hundreds of horse-shoes, the inhabitants say, of excellent metal, were extracted from the gravel of the river, at a depth of two or three feet. They are generally small, and bear a groove all round, in which the heads of the nails were lodged. A great number of these horse-shoes have preserved their nails, which are flat, have a head in the form of a T, and still have their rivet — that is, the point which is folded back over the hoof (the clench) — which proves that they are not shoes that have been lost, but shoes of dead horses, the hoofs of which have rotted away in the soil or in the gravel. Thirty-two of these horse-shoes have been col- lected. One of them is stamped in the middle of the curve with a mark, sometimes found on Celtic objects, and which has a certain analogy with the stamp on a plate of copper found in one of the tumuli of Montsau- geon. When we consider that the action between the GAULISH HORSE-SHOES. 137 Roman and Gaulish armies was merely a cavalry battle, in which were engaged from 20,000 to 25,000 horses, the facts just stated cannot but appear interesting, al- though they may possibly belong to a battle of a later date.'' I have not been able to find any more detailed men- tion of these grooved shoes than in this brief notice, and it would be irnportant to ascertain if the groove be really continuous in any, or all of them. If the fact be as is stated, then they probably belonged to the horses of the German cavalry which we know Csesar largely employed to subdue the Gauls. These German shoes we will speak of hereafter. A very careful inspection of the Vingeanne shoes would be most interesting in various ways. According to M. Mathieu,'' in the neighbourhood of Alesia, and in the valley of Brenne, the ground can scarcely be dug to the depth of 3 to 6 feet without discovering shoes of small dimensions, and the cover so wide that only a small triangular s[)ace is left for the frog. The excavations for the railway between Paris and Lyons, in the valleys of Armanc^on and Brenne, have exposed thousands even in the brief space separating Ancy-le- Franc from Alesia ; while some have been found below the Roman road leading from Alesia to Agedincum (Sens). This road is supposed to belong to the Augustan era. M. Mathieu considers them to be of two sizes — a very small one, and a larger ; a circumstance which may be accounted for by supposing that the German auxiliaries drew their supply of horses from different parts of Germany. The ' Vie de Caesar, vol. ii. p. 362. " Recueil de Med. Yeteriiiaire. November, 1868. 138 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. form of the nail-head in the Vingeanne specimens is that always found with the Gaulish or Celtic shoe. The museum of Besanqon is v^ery rich in specimens of Celtic horse-shoes, as well as those of the Gallo-Roman and middle-age, according to M. Megnin. This may be explained by the importance which always attached to Besanqon ; at one time it ranked as the chief town of the Celtic Mandubians {Man Diibis=.M.an of Doubs) ; under the Romans it was the capital of Sequanian Gaul, Visonti- uni ; later, it was the principal city of the kingdom of Bur- gundy ; as Bisanz, it was a part of the German empire ; then it became the metropolis of the Bisontine arch- bishops, potent individuals in the middle ages ; and lastly, it was the capital of Spanish Franche-Comte. Its sub-soil offers traces of the industry and the arts of each of these epochs. More than a hundred pieces of antique farriery figure in its museum. Twenty of these are from the tumuli of Alesia ; others have been found at variable depths in the sub-soil of the town in digging sewers, or excavating foundations for houses, and often side by side with mutilated marble statues, indicating that they belong to the Gallo-Roman period. Other shoes, apparently belonging to this epoch, have been met with by M. Delacroix in the clayey soil of Beaune and Can- dar ; and some have been found at Montbeliard and Mandeure. At Besanc^on, but at a less considerable depth, shoes of better workmanship are encountered, but they are much heavier and clumsier than the Gallic and Gallo-Roman shoes, and may be allotted to the middle ages. M. Delacroix reports in 1863: 'Excavations are DlSCOrERlES IX BESJXCOX. 1.39 actually in progress in many streets of the town, for the formation of new sewers. The depth of the cuttings has not been so great as could, in the interests of archaeology, have been desired ; they have generally penetrated only to the 4th-century layer : that is, to the same level as the debris of the first Gallo-Roman villa destroyed by the Emperor Constantine, the veritable barbarian of those days, whose wish it was to raze systematically all the dwellings on the left bank of the Rhine to a distance of forty leagues, and to convert Sequania into a desert. This 4th-century ground is characterized by a layer of debris which rests on the admirable paved road so well preserved, and immediately beneath the middle-age strata. From the day of commencing this work, the labourers have been asked to collect carefully all rusty fragments denoting the presence of iron, and to note the level. As since the Gallo-Roman times, and even the Celtic period, the Grand-Rue of Besanc^on and the Rue Battant have not ceased to be the lines of thoroughfare, the strata, de- posited, it might be said, century after century, have each in their turn rendered testimony to the manner in which animals have been shod during, perhaps, eighteen cen- turies. Indeed, in the Rue Battant, the roadway has been cut down to the living rock, which is here found grooved by ruts, and lies at least two metres' beneath the great layer of Roman tiles, cinders, and antique remains by which we at Besanqon recognize the ruins of the 4th cen- tury. But everywhere is found, with differences in details only, the horse-shoe as at present known The fol- lowing are the most notable characteristics of these shoes : ' The metre is equivalent to nearly 39I inches. I40 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. three holes on each side, each hole having a kind of groove, twice as long as it is wide, to receive the similarly elongated head of the nail, and to protect it from wear, at the same time that it permits it to project considerably; the outline of the shoe is wavy (Je.stomie), and its contour marks the situation of every hole ; each branch terminates in a calkin (eponge a crampon), the whole of the project- ing nail-heads and the calkins forming a level bearing- surface. The wavy outline seems to disappear quickly after the period of the destruction of ancient Besan(^on ; five to six specimens, all having the holes counter-sunk in an oblong manner, resemble more the even margin of modern shoes. One of these pieces, the bed of which was not so accurately determined, terminates by two rapidly tapering branches, on the under surface of which the calkin was represented by a protuberance a little way from the points of the heels. Two very small shoes were pierced by only four holes each. These may have be- longed to asses or mules. The metal is extremely ductile, like that of all antique horse-shoes, and very white. Some nails remaining in the holes had been curved round in the hoof, so as to form more than a circle The number of shoes collected has been one hundred ; many escaped our possession, and yet it was in an excavation of 4 feet wide that so large a quantity of these objects was found. From this numerous collection, an important fact relating to the ancient breed of horses in Sequania was immediately recognized. It is, that towards the 4th cen- tury, the size of the shoes indicate excessively small feet ; not a shoe exceeds a total width of 4! inches. These be- longed to the fine breeds of which the various provinces DESCRIPTION OF ANCIENT HORSE-SHOES. 141 of France boasted in all ages. A superior officer of cavalry, who is much more occupied with the varieties of horses than antiquities, exclaimed, on seeing this lot of shoes, that they had all belonged to Arab horses. Their width varies from 31 to 4^ inches ; their length from toe to heels 4 to 4f inches.' ' The Celtic or Gallic, and the Gallo-Roman shoes, as we may then fairly designate them, possess a remarkable identity, and their special features it may be here con- venient to notice a little more closely than in the report furnished by M. Delacroix of the interesting and valuable collection made in Besanqon, where shoeing appears to have been largely practised at a remote epoch. Their most noteworthy characters are four in number: i. The general shape of the shoe with regard to size, weight, and width of cov'er ; 2. The shape of the nail-holes; 3. The outer border ; 4. The nails. In shape, the Celtic and Romano-Celtic shoes are extremely primitive, i. Their form is irregular and deficient in outline ; the majority of the specimens I have seen give one the idea that the Druid smiths and their immediate successors (if they were really the workmen) did not possess an anvil with a bick-horn, or beak, to fashion them to the proper shape. The width of their surface is irregular, but in no instance have I ob- served it to be anything like that noted in shoes of the mid- dle ages ; and their thickness is inconsiderable. The size varies, but is always small, and such as would suit diminu- tive round-footed horses, or little horses with long, mule- shaped hoofs. None of the shoes have toe or other clips, ' Delacroix. Memoires de la Soc. d'Emulation du Doubs, 1863, p. 20'-220. 142 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. so far as I am aware^ to aid in retaining them on the feet. The great majority of them have calkins or catches at the extremities. 2. The nail-holes are certainly peculiar. They are six in number in all, save very exceptional, instances. For each hole there is a long and wide oval cavity, evi- dently intended to give partial lodgment to the head of the nail, and through the middle of this socket the opening is made. 3. The disproportionate size of these cavities, and perhaps the absence of a suitable anvil, has left these primi- tive defences with an irregular bulging or undulating outer margin, and not unfrequently the inner one also, like the undulated ' saunions ' these people fought with. 4. The nails are also curious. The head is very large and flat, so that it must have projected much beyond the shoe, even when imbedded in the ovoid groove, and generally ap- proaches the letter T in shape. Their appearance will be more particularly noticed when we speak of individual specimens of shoes. The shoes of a later date, as will be seen hereafter, are larger, wider across their face, and thicker ; they are also more regularly formed, and the holes are square., or ' counter- sunk ;' their borders are very rarely, if ever, un- dulated; or they have a continuous groove running along their ground surface into which the nail-heads fit. The Abbe Cochet' reports that, in 1844, a discovery was made which was all the more interesting because it appeared to carry with it a determined date. At Yebleron, near Yvetot (not far from Rouen), a wooden bucket, mounted with an iron handle and hoops, was found, and inside it were three bronze chandeliers, one of which, ' Le Tombeau de Childeric I., p. j6i. GALLO-ROMAN DISCOVERIES. 143 borne by a goat, bore the stamp of antiquity ; also the coulter of a plough, a hammer, a horse-shoe, and a spur — these latter were of iron. Founding an opinion on the style of the chandeliers, this group of objects was supposed to belong to the Gallo-Roman or Gallo-Frankish period. The shoe (fig. 19) has six nail-holes, and its border is fig. ig fig. 20 markedly undulated ; the nail-head is also of the Celtic pattern. The length of the shoe, according to the scale, is about 4t inches, and the width 3 inches. The spur is undoubtedly very antique (fig. 20). M. Castan has seen the half of a horse-shoe, which had the sinuous border and the usual number of holes, as well as a calkin, extracted from a Gallo-Roman villa at Egli- series, in the Jura, on the same level from which a coin of Marcus Aurelius (a.d. 161) was gathered. This villa appears to have been destroyed in the second century. Many articles in bronze and iron accompanied it, and all were covered by a thick bed of rubbish, consisting chiefly of tiles and Roman pottery. In 1842, M. de Widranges met with an iron horse- shoe in the ruins of a Gallo-Roman habitation, in Sauvoy 144 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. (Meuse), amongst a heap of tiles with the cliaracteristic border of the period, pottery, cinders, and fuel (fig. 21). This shoe had eigJit holes, the wavy margin, and one of its sides so greatly expanded as to cover one-half the sole. This was no doubt a pathological shoe, intended to cover and protect an injured part of the foot, and perhaps also to retain some healing application. Its length is 5^ inches, and width 4 inches. In 1848, a shoe identical with the primitive model was found beside a coin of Trajan, in the foundation of a new hospital at Tonnerre, by M. Dormois, a distin- guished archasologist. And the Calvet museum contains a small, wide-covered shoe, with a triangular space between its branches. It was found in clearing away the theatre of Orange, in 1834, on a Roman pavement. The remains of Celtic farriery have also been found in Switzerland. In the Canton Vaud, at Chavannes, is a mound named the hillock of Chatelard {motte de CJicite- lard), which M. Troyon, a learned Swiss antiquarian, believed to be a place for sacrifices, for on examining it he found nearly five hundred bones of animals. Among the iron articles discovered in this mound, there were spurs, bridle-bits, and horse-shoes. Tliese last, five in number, are of small dimensions and very primitive work- manship. They have no calkins, and the holes, three on each side, have, as with the shoes of Alesia and elsewhere, distorted the sides of the metal. The nails are thicker in FRENCH MUSEUMS. H5 the stalks or bodies than those now in use, and have the high, flat head which for a long time would serve the purpose of a calkin (fig. 22). The museum of Nantes con- tains nine shoes with wavy bord- ers. Two of these were found in the nv^er Erdre, near Nantes, in 1827, during the construction /' fig. 22 of the Orleans bridge ; the others have been extracted from the bed of the Vilaine, in the neighbourhood of Rennes, and from a tumulus near Pousanges. The mAiseum of Troyes, near Paris, possesses three shoes, two with undulated edges and six nail-holes. The third shoe is evidently more modern, and is very peculiar and fanciful in shape ; being a modification, or rather exaggeration, of our ' bar-shoe.' These shoes were found in cutting the canal, and were described by M. Thiollet at the French Archaeological Congress assembled at Troyes in 1853 In the museum of Cluny, near Lyons, there is, says M. Megnin,' an undulated, very light, and very elegant shoe, which was found at Vassimont, ' Megnin, Op. cit. p. 26. To this veterinary surgeon's able but brief treatise, I am indebted for much of the foregoing description of the contents of several French museums. 10 i4<5 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. 24 at the chateau of the Counts of Champagne (fig. 24). It is catalogued as being of the sixteenth century ; but this is evidently an error ; it does not belong to that, nor yet to very many previous cen- turies. In a French antiquarian publication/ it is mentioned that when destroying a Roman bridge to construct the Canal de Bourgogne 'there was found in the joints of the stones forming the body of the chaussee, a horse-slioe.' Unfortunately no description is giv^en. The Abbe Cochet mentions a small shoe with six nail-holes and uneven border, which was obtained from the marshes of Dompierre-sur-la-Somme. It resembled that found at Chavannes by M. Troyon. The collection of M. Houbigant, at Nogent-les-Vierges, contains several antique shoes, but the Abbe says nothing of their origin, save that one of them, belonging to a mule (?), and with six nail-holes, was fished up in the river Oise, in 1842, not far from Creil, where the same antiquarian had fixed the Roman station of Litanobriga. The other shoes were collected, to the number of one hundred and fifty, not far from a Roman road at Nogent-les-Vierges. They had a fullering or groove around their circumference, and were so small that it was supposed they were intended rather for mules than horses. ' Mem. des Autiq. de la Soc. de France, vol. xii. p. 47. MONTE-CHALENCON. 147 M. Traullc, an antiquarian of Abbeville, who died in 1828, stated that he had seen a large number of males shoes extracted from the battle-field of Saucourt, where Louis III. defeated the Normans in 881 or 882/ M. J. Long, author of a memoir on the Roman an- tiquities of Vocontia, which appeared in the transactions of the Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, states : — ' I possess a horse-shoe slightly different from that now in use, and in perfect preservation. It was found in the neighbourhood of Monte-Chalenc^on, among cinders, with lachrymatories and burnt bones. Its preservation ought to be attributed to the cinders and animal charcoal. The branches of this shoe are very narrow ; the stamping of the nail- holes has produced bulgings. These stamp- ings are elongated apertures ; those of modern shoes are square. The ancient shoe has no ajustwe, or concave form, which facilitates support. The freshness of the stampings and the state of the toe, leads to the presump- tion that it has been little worn. It therefore appears that, contrary to the opinion of several authors, horse- shoeing was known to the ancients.' The remains ac- companying this article were pronounced to be Gallo- Roman. At Premeaux, arrondissement of Nuits, a quantity of horse-shoes were exhumed in the vicinity of a road of Rom^an construction by the pickaxe of a labourer. Many of them were found buried beneath the strata of the road. ' This circumstance is worthy of notice, because it has been asserted that the ancients were not in the habit of shoeing their horses. Found in such a bed, these shoes ' Le Tom beau de Cliilderic. 10 * 1 48 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. can belong to no other than the Roman, if not an earlier, period.'' In the Liverpool Museum, two shoes belonging to the Rolfe collection, and said to have been found by M. Boucher de Perthes on the battle-field of Crecy, near Abbeville, in 1851, are of the Gaulish or Roman period in shape. I can scarcely believe that they belong to the age in which the famous battle was fought. All my researches lead me to think that this form of shoe was out of use even long before the tenth century. It must not be forgotten, that the district in which the famous battle was fought, has been the scene of conflicts from the earliest times. The sub-curator of this museum remarks in his notes to me on these specimens, that they ' are remarkable from the nails used to secure them being oblong throughout the shank, and with oblong and narrow flat heads, as is evidenced by the socketed holes.' The size of the first (fig. 25 ) is 4^ inches long by 4 inches wide ; and the second is the same length, but only 3A inches wide (fig. 26). fig. 25 fig- z6 ' Constitutionnel, May 31, 1865. FAISON MONUMENT. 149 If any other evidence was needed to provx that the ancient people of Gaul shod their horses, beyond that furnished by the discovery of these articles in situations, and accompanied by relics, which cannot leave a doubt as to the fact, it would be supplied in a most conclusive and satisfactory manner by the monument which has been, it may be said, re-discovered in the public museum of Avignon, by that most indefatigable and typical archaeolo- gist, Mr C. Roach Smith. This most interesting piece of sculpture was foimd at Vaison, in the department of Vaucluse, on the Ouvese, a tributary of the Rhone ; a place retaining almost unchanged the ancient name, Vasio, and described by Pomponius Mela and Ptolemy as one of the wealthiest cities of Gallia Narbonensis. It was the capital of the Vocontii, and the vast quantities of antiquities which have at times been recovered from the ancient site, cover- ing, as it did, a large extent of ground, bears witness to its opulence in ancient times. ' All we know of this monu- ment is the meagre assertion that it was found at Vaison. The structure, to which the portions about to be described originally belonged, appears to have been of large dimen- sions, erected probably upon a quadrilateral basement. The summit is wanting, and two of the sides ; but the two which remain are in line preservation, and covered with sculptures in a good style of art. The inscription is lost, so that we have no clue whatever to the name or history of the persons to whom such a costly memorial was erected, except so far as the two principal subjects, in the central compartments, may be accepted as referring to the public offices he held, the usual object of such representations. One of those subjects is a travelling scene ISO HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. (plate 2). In a four-wheeled vehicle, drawn by two mules, are no less than four persons, exclusive of the driver. Two of these are seated, face to face, in the inside ; and two, back to back, on the roof. The passengers upon the top of the vehicle are all provided with hoods which fall down upon the back; and the driver wears the Gaulish bracae or trowsers. The centre figure of the upper group is seated in what resembles, in some degree, the body of the common chariot, or biga, while the personage in the rear is seated upon what seems to be a chest, perhaps contain- ing luggage. He carries what appears to be a securis, or long-handled axe, which is, unluckily, broken ; but I think may be nevertheless recognized as an axe. The whole gives a striking and interesting picture of the equip- ment and arrangement of a travelling party in Gaul, not to be found, in all probability, elsewhere ; and it may doubtless be depended upon as a very faithful representa- tion.' Mr Smith believes the carriage to be the rheda or petorritum, of which Cicero,' Ausonius,^ Isidore,^ Quin- tilian,'* Juvenal, and Martial speak. He then adds: 'The custom of shoeing horses among the ancients has been much discussed pi-o and con. If it could remain an un- settled question after the repeated discovery of iron horse- shoes themselves, among unquestionable Roman remains, the indications of the nails are so decidedly marked in the feet of the rnules in the Vaison monument, as to leave no doubt that the artist intended to show that the mules were shod ; and we may conclude that the shoeing of horses, as well as very many more inventions in the useful arts, ' Oratio pro Milone ; Philippica Secuuda ; Attico Epist. " Epist. vii. ^ Origiiium, 1. XX., c. xii. " Instit. i. 5. O > L.lll. ■■^- 7Vr^\\<'/^^<\ C^ ^^im'^' ^t,i^.W^^/^^^^^: c^ ,( I n I \ w wwynwwnw uu\ wui iiirifiri irrn7»iTTTT:n jjfy- ^ >.r'^'>.'-^^^>^~^ ';'^-:':!'^> '-S-/ >-r- 'S-\ .■'^" fiflflitiiMiliJHflMMf C.JB.S-del. CS' ~>r-^T7 — 1 cZiSTTJ-c. V A 1 S O N I^a^e 03. A SACRIFICIAL SCENE. 153 fesses to some doubts as to its real character, however, and says he would rather have seen it on the foot of a horse/ It appears that this Vaison monument was found in the sixteenth century, in building the Chateau de Marodi, and was kept in that building as an ornament until recently. French archieologists are of opinion, that it has been sculptured towards the second century of our era, at the time of the Roman decadence. The sacrificial scene (plate 3) on this grand memento of Gallic history lends additional evidence as to its an- tiquity. ' The chief personage is, I believe, one of the inside passengers in the rheda, who, as Jlamen, or chief sacerdotal magistrate of the province, or district, is jour- neying to superintend some important religious ceremony. The attendant carrying the securis is as significant of this office as the eagle, vexillum, or other standard would have been in denoting a military office ; while the whole details of this second scene are so carefully rendered, as to determine a connection between the two, allusive to one of the chief offices which the deceased object of the monument held. Provincial inscriptions prove that dis- tinguished persons commonly held the highest sacer- dotal offices in connection with the first civil appoint- ments.' ^ Shortly after their conquest of Gaul, the Romans appear to have commenced the suppression of Druidism, and the priests shared the fate of the vanquished nation in being doomed to slavery, or at best were permitted to ' C. Rnach Smith. Op. cit. ^ Ibid. p. 22. 1^4 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. enjoy the scanty privileges of freemen.' Many of the most devoted Druids doubtless fled to remote places, and exercised their arts in secret, in order to maintain a precari- ous living ; so that the sound of the anvil in caves and forest fastnesses, would alone denote the dwelling-place of those Druid priests, who had become fugitives to avoid the degradation of slavery. The Druidical monopoly in the arts was abolished by the Romans, who established large manufactories of arms in eight diff'erent parts of Gaul, and in them the slaves fabricated weapons for their conquerors. When these bondsmen contrived to obtain their liberty, they then worked on their own account, and with the trading class formed a bourgeoisie who dwelt in the towns ; but they were so heavily taxed and kept under that they never at- tained any position.^ Only the nobles who had given in ' Meg}i'in. 'The freemen were a very numerous class in Gaul, who derived their origin from the various nations against which tlie Romans had carried their arms. And the most numerous chiss at the time of the invasion of the barbarians was that of the slaves. . . . All the Gauls invested with the title of citizen had to renounce Druidism. The edicts of Augustus proscribed it, and the other Celtic notions, to- gether with the language, were consigned to the lower classes The freedmen were in possession of nearly all the arts and handicrafts, and they laboured at them unceasingly 3 but they enjoyed no consider- ation or authority, and had to submit to vexatious laws.' — Sis/voinli. Hist, des Fran^ais, vol. i. pp. 6, 58, 104. " 'The tradespeople and artisans were responsible for the industrial impost, as the Curials were for the land-tax. An iron hand stifled tree trade and prevented its competing with slave labour, which was devoted to the imperial exchequer This oppression gave rise to such a degree of despair, that they abandoned their homes to live in the forests and deserts with the Bagauds and fugitive slaves.' — H. Martin. Hist, de France, p. 327. THE FRANKS. • 155 their adherence to the Roman rule, and in everything, ev^en to their names, had become Roman, became senators, gained a high rank, and in becoming rich became also effeminate, like the Romans themselves. Thus was extin- guished the valorous Gallic nation; and, with its decadence, disappeared its love for the horse. During the Gallo- Roman period the cavalry became so scarce, that at the invasion of the barbarous hordes it can scarcely be traced. That the barbarians who overthrew the Roman empire shod their horses we have no proof whatever ; though it has been maintained by eminent authorities that they in- troduced this art. The Sarmatians appear not to have known the use of iron, for they had armour of horn plates sewn on cloth and overlapping each other ; and their horses, so extremely hardy, but which were so numerous that every horseman had two or three to select from when the one he rode was fatigued (as with the Mongol Tartars, who do not shoe their horses), were also covered in the same manner/ The confederacy of German tribes who conquered the Lombards, assumed the name of Franks (the Free), and finally obtained possession of Gaul, were not an equestrian people ; their battles were chiefly, if not alto- gether, fought by infantry.^ The Franks had no cavalry, and up to the time of Charles Martel, no evidence of it is to be found in their armies. The nobles alone were mounted on horses, and with the descendants of Clovis the ' Amm. Mane!/. Lib. xvii. cap. 23, p. 506. " H. Martin. Hist, de France, vol. i. p. 377. Sisii/omli. Hist, de Fran^ais, vol. i. p. 340. 1^6 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. Great a most valuable present consisted of a few horses. At the reception of Theodebert by his uncle Childebert, king of Paris, among all the considerable gifts he received, none excited so much admiration as six horses;' and when Theodebert entered Italy in 539, with an army of 100,000 combatants, the only mounted men were a few armed with lances who formed his body-guard. All the others were footmen.^ The renowned Clovis himself, after defeating the Visigoths at Vouglc, went to the tomb of Saint Martin to return thanks for his victory, and presented the monastery with the horse he rode at the battle. But so scarce were good horses, that in a very short time he repented hav- ing bestowed his courser, and offered to buy it again for fifty marks of silver. The monks, however, sent an answer that Saint Martin was very tenacious of the pre- sent made to him ; so that Clovis was obliged to double the amount in order to overcome the defunct Saint's scruples. This crafty stratagem caused the impious Si- cambre to murmur in his beard, ' Saint Martin does his friends good service, but he sells it somewhat dear.' When the nobles or their families travelled it was either on foot, or in carriages {bastenie) drawn by oxen ; kings even journeyed in this manner, and the possession of horses did not denote nobility or wealth. Martin, alluding to this period, gives us an example of this undignified mode of progression, ' Clodowig hastened to send an official ambassador to Gondebald, who, not without hesitation, permitted the deputies to espouse ' Gregnr. Turn)!. Lib. iii. pp. 24, 198. " Sisrnondi. Op. cit. vol. i. p. 275. SJXON TRIBUTE. 157 Clotilde in the name of Clodowig, by the sou cVor and the denier crargent, according to the Salic custom, and after a plaid (court) held at Chalons, between the knights of Burgundy and the French envoys. These last led away Clotilde in a basterne, a covered chariot drawn by oxen.' ' The same author describing the entry of the young chief Sighismer into Lyons when about to marry the daughter of the King of Burgundy, writes : ' His hair resembled the gold of his vestments ; his complexion was as dazzling as the scarlet of his dress ; his skin equalled in whiteness the silk with which his robes were trimmed. He came on foot, surrounded by a troop of chiefs of tribes and a cortege of companions terrible to look upon, even in time of peace. Their feet were covered by velvet boots ; their limbs were naked, and their vestments were so short and narrow that they scarcely reached the knee. They wore gowns of green silk bordered with scarlet, and carried glaives suspended from their shoulders by rich baldricks, curved lances, throwing hatchets {haches de Jet), and double bucklers of iron and copper beautifully polished.'^ When the Prankish kings imposed tribute on the Saxons, whom they had vanquished, the impost levied was cows. ' In 632, the Saxon deputies took the oath on their weapons, according to the custom of their nation, to defend the Austrasian frontier until such time as the king (Dagobert) should abolish the tribute imposed upon them and their ancestors by the Prankish kings since the reign of Clotaire I. ; then the army would be disbanded. ' Hist, de France, vol. i. p. 416. "^ Hist, de France, p. 406, note. 158 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEfNG. This annual tribute, which the Saxons considered so onerous, was 500 cows.'' Pepin the Short was the first who sought to sub- stitute the five hundred cows thus levied for three hundred horses. In a campaign against that people, he thoroughly subdued them. ' The battle v;as very san- guinary, but Pepin gained the victory. He advanced to the Weser, and destroyed the fortresses or Jertes built by the Saxons. The West Saxons submitted, and were compelled to pay a tribute of 300 horses a year, and to permit the preachers to preach among them in the name of the Lord.'^ This was also considered a very severe punishment. This indifference of the Merovingians to horses may have had everything to do with the absence of horse- shoes from their graves and other remains, which have been explored in France within the last few years. The Abbe Cochet remarks, in reference to this fact : ' It ought to be mentioned that, up to the present time, nothing has proved more rare in Prankish graves than the shoes of horses. With the three or four horses we discovered at Envermeu no shoes were found, although all the limbs were present. But buckles and bits of a very character- istic shape were there. Lindenschmidt, who found the skeleton of a horse lying beside a warrior, at Selzen, positively asserts that it was without shoes. Of all its har- ness there was only found a bit and some small bronze rings. This archaeologist adds, that it has been the same at Sinsheim, Ascherade, Langweid, and Heidesheim. At Nordendorf three skeletons of horses were discovered, but ' Fre(/('garii/s. Cap. Ixxiv. p. 441. ' Ibid. Annal. Metz. ap. Scrip. Rcruni Francic. V. S3^- CHARLEMAGNE. 159 they were also without shoes, and had only their bits.' MM. Durrich and Menzel, in their interesting search at Oberflacht, found an almost complete equipment of a horse, but no shoes.^ Thus nothing is more common than the bridle bit, and nothing so scarce as shoes.' 3 It was the extreme rarity of these articles that led the Abbe to doubt Chifflet's reported discovery of one in the grave of Childeric. It would also appear that with the second or Carlo- vingian dynasty, shoeing, and indeed the value of cavalry, was still held in little esteem. The war with the Moors began during the reign of Charles Martel, but every engagement only showed the advantages of cavalry on the one side, and infantry on the other. This monarch would have gained a far more decisive battle at Tours, had the solidity of his infantry been supplemented by cavalry to crush the defeated and retreating Moors, who got away undisturbed ; and though the world was saved from Mahommedanism, yet this equestrian people, by their courage and rapidity of movement, harassed the Franks long afterwards. Charlemagne seems to have become aware of the necessity for mounted troops, and to have organized a large body of cavalry, to which he owed many of his victories. His army appears to have been extensively horsed from Spain, the successes of his lieutenants in that country, in their contentions with the Moors, giving them an opportunity for making captures.* From this source ' Das Germanische Todtenlager, bei Selzen, pp. 6, 28. ^ Die Heidengraber am Lupfen, p. 31. 3 LeTombeau de Childeric, p. 154. ** Eginhard. Annales, p. 213. i6o HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. he was able to present the King of Persia with a number of Spanish horses and mules.' In his expedition against the Avares of Hungary, he had a very strong force of cavalry ; but at Ems the horses were attacked with a contagious disorder, which destroyed nearly the whole of them. So great a reliance did he place upon cavalry, and so severe was this in- fliction, that he preferred waiting for three years, until this arm could be recruited by horses from Spain and elsewhere ; notwithstanding the greatest possible provoca- tions offered him by the enemy in the interval.^ An ordinance, or capitulary, published at Aix la Cha- pelle in 807 {De villis impei'ialihus), is curiously illus- trative of the manners of this time. Among other things it is enacted that the ' Judex,' or steward of each villa, was to provide stallions (C. 13); that care was to be taken of the stud mares, and the colts were to be separated at the proper season ; the stables were to be thoroughly prepared ; there were to be good artificers, particularly blacksmiths ; and at Christmas, in giving an account of their administrations, with many other items, mention was to be made of what profit was derived from the labours of the blacksmith, as well as from colts and fillies. In peace everything was to be prepared for war : ' Our cars for war to be litters well made, covered with hides so closely sewed, that if necessity occurs for swim- ming rivers, they may pass through (after being lightened of their contents), without water entering.' His cavalry was always kept on a war footing. ' The Monk of Saint-Gall. Hist, des Gaules. ' Poet. Saxon, iii., apud Scrip. Rer. Franc. V. 155. REVIVAL OF EQUESTRIANISM. . i6i The ' Chroniques de Saint-Denis' recite some won- derful stories of Charlemagne's strength, such as his cleaving a warrior in two with a blow of his sword, and carrying a heavily-armed man by one hand. Shoeing must have been practised in his day, for tradition says of him that he bent, and even broke, with his hands alone, a shoe that had been made by a smith for his horse. He was, however, outdone by the farrier, who, to show his strength, broke in like manner the piece of gold paid him by the Em])eror for his shoeing. The revival of Celtic legends and traditions may have operated largely in infusing into Charlemagne and his successors a love of the horse and equestrian exercises — a revival due, perhaps, to the arrival of St Columbanus and his followers from Ireland.' The historian Nitard is par- ticularly careful in informing us how the two kings, Charles and Ludewig, arranged troops of cavalry, con- sisting of Saxons, Wascons, Austrasians, and Bretons, and manoeuvred them against each other, causing them to gallop their horses fiercely, and brandish their arms. Shoeing would therefore appear to have been prac- tised, though perhaps only occasionally ; indeed, there is some ground for believing that the Celts, Gauls, and Franks (when the latter began to avail themselves of this defence for their horses' feet), only resorted to iron plates for the hoofs of their steeds when the horn had been considerably worn way. No implements have been discovered which one might infer were employed to remove the superfluous growth consequent on the wearing of shoes, and it is not at all unlikely that the ' Martin. Hist, de France, vol. ii. p. i 14. 11 i62 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. hoofs were allowed to be worn down to their natural size when they had attained an undue length, instead of being shortened by instruments as at present. Shoes would, of course, be more particularly required during wet and frosty weather ; and such is indicated in the description given by Pere Daniel,' when speaking of the difficulties surrounding Louis I., the Dehonnaire (832) : *La gelee qui avoit suivi (les pluyes de I'automne) avoit gaste les pieds de la plupart des chevaux, qtion ne pouvoit faire ferrer dans un pais devenu tout d'un coup ennemi, lorsq'on y pensoit le moins.' From this passage we might conclude that horses were but seldom shod, though the art of shoeing was known and practised ; and that it was only on particular occasions that the hoofs were so protected, as in winter, when ice and frozen roads damaged them, or during war. In some parts of Germany at the present day, agricultural horses are only shod in winter. Towards the termination of the Carlovingian reign, and the beginning of the Capet dynasty, shoeing became more general. Lobineau, in his History of Brittany, gives many copies of seals of the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries, on which are dej)icted knights whose horses are shod with iron shoes fastened by nails. Those who had the care and management of horses became men of high rank, and the Comte de i Etahle soon became the commander of armies.^ The shoer of ' Histoire de France, vol. i. p. 556. ^ ' But Witikind had reappeared, and the Saxons took to their arms again. The Saraves, a Sclavonic people living between the Elbe and Sorba, had invaded the neighbouring frontiers of Saxony and Thuringia. CHIVALRY. 163 horses not unfrequently bore this honourable distinction, and when the era of chivalry developed itself from the usages of the feudal system, we find him on a different footing, and uniting with his handicraft those functions which the Comte de I'Etable had relinquished — such as the government of the stables and studs, and assuming the title of ' ecuyer,' or officer of the feudal lord to whom he was attached. This shows a return to the Celtic customs, and testifies that the Roman and barbarian usages were rapidly disappearing. ' In so far as it was a military institution,' writes M. Martin,' ' chivalry descended in a direct line from the Celtic customs. The fashion of receiving young men among the warriors fell into disuse with the Gallo- Romans, but was preserved among the purely Celtic people. Feudality revived it, and gave it the significant title of " chivalry," which indicated that the possession of a war-horse — of a destrier,'' was the distinctive sign of a Charles quickly despatched three officers to check them : these were Adalgiste, Cuhlculare or Chamberlain, Cellar, Cumte de Vetable, and Worad, Comte du palais; for already the servile functions which be- longed even to the person of the monarch, were regarded as honourable distinctions and gave a title to commanders of armies.' — Eginhard. Annales, p. 205. This Comte de IV'table was the origin of 'Consta- ble,' an honourable designation which has been in use for many centuries. ' Hist, de France, vol. iii. p. 2)3S- " Destrier was the name given to a war-horse, which was also the Latin destrarius, or dextrarius, of the middle ages ; derived, we are told, from dextra, because the horsemen handled their steeds only with the right hand ; or more likely because the war-horse was led by a groom or squire until required for battle. The Troubadours often mention it : Chacuns d'eux broche son auferrant Gascon. La peust on voir maint auferrant d'Espagne. D'Es triers, auferrant et Gascon. II* i64 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. nobleman. The young noble, before attaining the rank of chevalier, or complete warrior, had to serve many years' apprenticeship under the designations of page, variety damn'Lseau, and ecuyer It was in the name of Saint George or Saint Michael that he W2cs> armed as a chevalier.' The young nobles filled in the castles of their lords all kinds of domestic offices, to which the feudal system, the conservator of Celtic traditions, did not attach any idea of servility.'^ The Gauls and Bretons had already afforded an example of this servitude. The popular ballads of Brittany, collected by M. la Ville- marque, and which are supposed to have been sung by the bards of the fifth and sixth centuries, contain allusions to it. One ballad savs : 'And all the castles he saw were full of men-at-arms and horses, and each warrior furbished his helmet, sharpened his sword, cleaned his armour, and shod his horse' Another song, entitled ' Le Barde Merlin,' recounts the success of a young noble in a horse-race, the prize for which was to be Leonora, the king's daughter, and says : ' He has equipped his red steed, he has shod it ivith polished steel, he has put on its bridle.' ^ In connection with this greatly increasing importance The bards of the 6th century, however, use the word eddestr for a charger, which was of Celtic derivation. ' Varlet, vaslet, vasselet, under-servant. Damoiseaii, from domicellus, diminutive of dominus, an inferior lord. Ecuyer, scutifer, or shield- bearer. He carried the buckler of his lord, and attended him in combat, like the Gaulish ' trimarkisia.' Saint Michael was the chief of celestial chivalry, and Saint George of the terrestrial. " Hist. France, p. io8. 3 Megnin. La Marechalerie Fran9aise, p. 72. THE PA IX DE DIEa 165 of the horse, the office of marechal, or farrier, also assumed a higher rank ; but of this notice will be taken hereafter. In the tenth and eleventh centuries, the horse-shoe formed a part of every horse's armour, and, in fact, con- stituted his state of belligerency. This is manifest in a curious passage occurring in the oath administered to the nobles of Franche Comte by Archbishop Burhard, in the treve or Paix de Dieu (a.d. 1027), where it is said: 'I shall neither assail the clerk nor the unarmed monk, nor those who accompany them without arms ; I will not seize upon any ox, cow, goat, ass, nor their burdens ; I will also respect birds, cocks and hens, that is, if I do not require them, when I will buy them for two deniers ; neither will I carry away the " unshod mare " {jument non ferree), nor the untrained colt.'' Megnin thinks the designation ' auferrand,' sometimes given to war-horses, probably arose from this state of the hoofs. It may be remarked, however, that so far as I have been able to trace it, this name has been always applied to grey, or, as we term them, ' iron-coloured horses.' The ferrant^ auferrant, and blancferrant, were only different shades of this hue ; which was probably due to the early admixture of African and Barbary blood with the indigenous or Gothic race of horses — a breed soon renowned throughout Navarre to the Garonne ; and in consequence of the preponderance of greys in it, it received the above names. The ' ferrant ' at a later date is as frequently met with in history as the 'auferrant;' and in one instance we have ' Castan. Origines de la Commune de Be.san9oii, p. 42. Frag- mentum Concilii Verdunensis, apud Cliifflct. i66 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. a curious play upon the word. In the reign of Philip Augustus, King of France, Count Ferrand of Flanders was taken prisoner at the battle of Bovines (12 14), and carried in chains behind four shod horses into Paris. The populace improvised a song for the occasion, the refrain of which was founded upon horse-shoes (Jer-s), horses {Jerrant.s), the Count's title (Ferrand), and his igno- minious condition. Et quatre ferrants bien ferrcs, Trainent Ferrand bien enferre. i6; CHAPTER IV. HORSE-SHOES FOUND IN SWITZERLAND : THEIR ANTiaUITY, AND SHAPE. M. aUiaUEREz's RESEARCHES AND OBSERVATIONS. VALU- ABLE INDICATIONS AFFORDED BY THE SHOES AS TO THE BREEDS OF HORSES, AND THE DIFFERENT RACES OF PEOPLE. FORGES IN THE JURA ALPS. VERY ANCIENT SHOE. PREVALENCE OF SHOES WITH CELTIC REMAINS. ROMAN CAMPS. HORSE-SHOES OF DIF- FERENT FORMS. THE BURGUNDIANS AND GROOVED SHOES. INCREASE OF SIZES. SHOES OF THE MIDDLE AGES : THEIR CHARACTERISTICS. farriers' marks. SHOES FOUND IN BELGIUM. GERMANY. HORSE- LOVING TRIBES. INFERIOR HORSES. ANCIENT HORSE-SHOES OF LARGE AND SMALL SIZES. GROSz's DESCRIPTION. ROMAN CAMP OF DALHEIM. THE BURGUNDIAN GROOVE. STEINFURT. MONUMENT WITH RUNIC INSCRIPTION AND FIGURE OF A HORSE-SHOE. THE BURGUNDII. THE FARRIER AS ARMOURER. THE DWARF REGIN. SAINT ELOy's day AT THE BURGUNDIAN COURT. THE PATRON SAINT. GERMAN HISTORY. WIDE PREVALENCE OF THE GROOVED SHOE. SCANDINAVIA. THE SMITh's ART. GOLDEN SHOES. PEAT- MOSSES AND THEIR CONTENTS. In Switzerland, as has been noticed, shoes of the form peculiar to the Celtic, Roman, and subsequent periods, have been found. Those discovered by M. Troyon' in the supposed sacrificial mound of Chavannes, have been described as differing only in the absence of calkins from the majority of those already considered. They were five in number, and very primitive in shape. Their Trot/on. CoUiue de Sacritices dc Chavanncs-sur-le-Veyron, p. 5. 1 68 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. ^ measurement appears to have been — length, 4^ inches ; width, 43 inches. The strongest branch, which may be looked upon as that for the outer border of the hoof, had the holes punched coarsely (that is, farther from the ex- ternal border) ; and the inner or weaker branch, Jiner, or nearer the outer edge. The holes were a little more rectangular than is usually seen in these primitive spe- cimens. M. Troyon was in doubt as to the epoch to which this mound, and the bones, spurs, bits, and other articles, belonged ; but elsewhere he appears to refer the shoes to the second ' iron age,' or the Helveto-Roman period ' (see fig. 22). In speaking of these articles, this able antiquarian remarks : ' A horse-shoe has been discovered, with arrow-heads and lances, in a tumulus in the neighbourhood of Aussee, which appears to me to resemble that of Chavannes. Another has been found in a tumulus in the Canton Berne, but its form is ex- actly that of those met with in the Roman ruins. We see horse-shoes like those of Chavannes, but of more advanced workmanship, from the battle-field of Cressy, and preserved iii the Artillery Museum of Paris.' "" Baron Bonstetten gives a drawing of a fragment of a shoe of this description, obtained by workmen who were de- molishing a tumulus standing between Sariswyl and Murzelen, Canton Berne. It is merely the toe-piece of the shoe, without holes or any other indication of its antiquity. In three other tumuli explored by this rrch^- ologist, arms and several objects in bronze were recovered, ' Rapport sur les Collect. d'Antiq. du Musee Cantonal a Lausanne, ^ Colline de Sacrifices, p. 12. SmSS RELICS. i6g which were classed as belonging to the Helveto- Roman age.' The Museum of Avenches exhibits many shoes ob- tained from the Roman ruins of Avencium, the ancient capital of Helvetia. They have all, with one exception, six nail-holes ; the largest has eight," In the excavations made at Grange, near Cossonay (Canton Vaud), relics of the same kind have been picked up. The figure of one designed by M. Bieler, gives its size as barely 4 inches in length and 3 inches in breadth (fig. 27). It has low calkins, and a slight groove runs from heel to heel. Al- together, it looks a much more recent shoe than any of those usually ascribed to the Celtic or Gallo-Roman age ; though M. Bieler is of opinion that it belongs to the third century. A specimen in the Berne Mu- seum, and which was dug out of a tumulus at Garchwyl, near Berne, does not differ much in appearance from the last. It was found with a very fine specimen of a vase and other articles, but their age is uncertain. The tumulus was supposed to be very old — anterior, it was surmised, to our era, and at any rate not dating any later than the third or fourth century.^ In appearance it is more modern, and is chiefly remarkable for having the groove ' Recueil d'Antiq. Suisses. .' Bieler. Journal de M^d. Vet. de Lyon, vol. xiii. p. 246. ^ Ibid. I/O HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. fie. 28 passing continuously from toe to heel — in having four nail-holes on one side and three on the other, and show- ing also a toe-piece with six marks proceeding from it (fig. 28).' The Roman camp on Mount Terrible has also furnished a number, which are in the priv^ate museum of M. Qui- querez. M. Bieler thus sums up the general characteristics of the shoes he has examined : ' The shoes of the Roman epoch have usually six holes [etampures), and very rarely the largest have eight. These rectangular holes are generally dis- tributed along a groove analogous to that of the Eng- lish shoes, and without interruption at the toe ; but the holes are much larger than the grooves, and cause bulgings on the external border. The ajusture (fitting to the shape of the foot's surface) is null, or nearly so. Lastly, the heels are rolled over in some shoes, others have rude calkins, and some have also a crampon., or toe- piece. With regard to the nails, they differ essentially from our own, and are more of the Arab form. The head is flat, about half a line in thickness ; its shape is nearly semicircular, and it is from one-half to three- quarters of an inch in diameter ; the shank or body {lame) is square and rather strong. When the head has been worn to the surface of the shoe, the part buried in the cavity of the aperture is in outline like a T.' From the excellent memoir on the horse-shoes found ' Jahn. Antiquarisch Gesellschaft. Zurich, ^^jo. fJORSE-SHOES IN THE JURJ ALPS. 1 / r in tlie Jura Alps, by M. Quiquerez,' who has distinguished himself by his researches into the situation and mode of working the Celtic forges, we will make a few extracts, which are perhaps as satisfactory as they are lucid. ' For a long time,' he says, ' there have been remarked various kinds of horse-shoes in the monuments belonging to several ages, without our having been able until the present time to make them serve as a guide to recognize with precision the period in which they were used. They have also been collected from the pastures, forests, and cultivated lands, at such depths that it could not be admitted they belonged to modern times. Some par- ticular forms, and especially the diminutiveness of these shoes, indicated a smaller race of horses, or a breed with small feet, such as are yet noticed in certain kinds of well-bred animals. At any rate, the meagre quantity of metal employed seemed to point to a light race, or perhaps the scarcity of iron, or even these two causes combined. It is very remarkable that these small shoes are not limited to one portion of the Swiss Jura, but are found from the banks of the Rhine to Geneva, through- out the whole extent of the Alps, on both its slopes, as well as in its central valleys. We may then be assured that these are the shoes of the indigenous horses which have pastured over the whole of this country at various periods, during a long space of time. They ought, therefore, to aftbrd a characteristic index of those Gaulish horses so renowned in bygone ages, but which have been ' Les Anciens Fers de Chevaux dans le Jura. Mem. de la Soc. d'Emulalion du Doubs, 1864, p. 129. 172 HORSESHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. modified by crossing with strange breeds during the Roman and barbarian conquests. A more attentive study of these shoes, and of the localities from whence they were procured, permits their being divided into at least two classes, belonging, if not to different epochs, at least to people shoeing their horses diversely in the same country. These differences of form correspond also to an augment- ation in size, thickness, and weight, and in such a way that those we look upon as the most ancient weigh scarcely more than from 90 to 120 grammes;' while those of the following ages also increase in weight and dimensions, so that for the time of the Romans they reach from 180 to 245 grammes; then to 2>^$'-> and lastly, in our own days, they weigh from 490 to 850 grammes, and even more. These modest objects of antiquity thus reveal facts no less interesting to archaeology than to agriculture. Under the last head they seem to indicate a progressive augmentation in the height of the horses, and an amelioration in the indigenous species, arising from the progress of agriculture and commerce, as the two began to require horses with more strength than elegance or lightness. In an archaeological point of view, they furnish a material proof of the persistence of the usages of a country in its mode of shoeing horses ; so that the invasions and foreign occupations could not cause them to be entirely abandoned by our native farriers. This last fact also testifies to the existence of the same people in these regions, and their surviving the ' The gramme is etjual to 15.4 grains troy, or 16.9 grains avoirdu- pois. PERSISTENCE OF FASHION. 173 Roman and barbarian domination. Nevertheless, it is not only the permanence of the shape of the horse-shoes which has given rise to this opinion, but also the persist- ence that the people and the artisans of the country have shown in the reproduction of the forms of ordinary articles, instruments, or arms; and to such a degree is this the case, that the hatchets of stone, for example, and those of bronze and iron, are found, after long intervals, to be so similar in form and dimensions that the difference of material could not be taken into account. This evidently proves the influence of habit in the use of utensils of a certain form. The hatchet of bronze remains as small as that of stone ; and it is the same with the weapon made of iron — apparently for the same reason, that the untempered instrument of iron was scarcely better than the one made of bronze. Drawings of Roman antiquities and those of the middle ages represent iron arrow-heads, keys, knives, and designs of vases, which are exactly the same. The same fact is noticed in certain details in architecture ; for instance, the church of Moutiers-Grand-Fal, built in the 7th century, we find the same details that may yet be discerned in the theatre of Mandeura. ' The shoes we look upon as the oldest, show, to com- mence with, that the Celts were already acquainted with siderurgy ; the examination we have made of the ancient forges in the Jura furnishes us with important indications in this respect. (More than 160 siderurgical establish- ments of various epochs have been already discovered, and some of them have furnished antique objects which serve to determine the age of the iron. The furnaces 174 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. and crucibles disinterred by us are peculiar in form, and appear to testify that the use of the blast to hasten the combustion of the fuel was then unknown.)' It may here be remarked that Mr T. Wright shows that the Romans in Britain smelted their iron very imperfectly. ' It is supposed that layers of iron ore, broken up, and charcoal mixed with limestone as a flux, were piled together, and enclosed in a wall and covering of clay, with holes at the bottom for letting in the draught, and allowing the melted metal to run out. For this purpose they were usually placed on sloping- ground. Rude bellows were, perhaps, used, worked by different contrivances.' Air Bruce, in his account of the ' Roman Wall,' has pointed out a very curious con- trivance for producing a blast in the furnaces of the extensive Roman iron-works in the neighbourhood of Epiacum (Lanchester). A part of the valley, rendered barren by the heaps of slightly-covered cinders, had never been cultivated till very recent times. ' During the opera- tion of bringing this common into cultivation,' Mr Bruce says, ' the method adopted by the Romans of producing the blast necessary to smelt the metal was made apparent. Two tunnels had been formed in the side of a hill ; they were wide at one extremity, but tapered off to a narrow bore at the other, where they met in a point. The mouths of the channels opened towards the west, from which quarter a prevalent wind blows in this valley, and sometimes with great violence. The blast received by them would, when the wind was high, be poured with considerable force and effect upon the smelting furnaces at the extremity of the tunnels.' This primitive mode of CHARACTER OF PRIMITIVE SHOES. 175 smelting is still in use among some peoples unacquainted with the improvements of civilized nations. The ancient Peruvians, for example, built their furnaces in this manner. Mungo Park also noticed a similar practice in Africa, and it has also been described as existing in the Hima- laya mountains of Central Asia. 'The shoesof the first period are small, narrow, and scant of metal, constantly pierced with six holes, whose external opening is strongly stamped in a longitudinal form, to lodge the base of the nail-head. The slight thickness, and especially the narrowness of the metal, causes it at each hole to bulge, and to give a festooned appearance to the external border of the shoe. The thickness of the latter is from one-eighth to one-seventh of an inch, and the width from six to seven-tenths of an inch between each hole, thus indicating the dimensions of the bar of metal before stamping. The form of the stamped holes in- dicates the employment of a steel punch, and consequently a knowledge of the manufacture of steel at the period when these horse-shoes were made. ' One of these shoes (fig. 29) has been found, with a portion of the bones of a horse, in a peat-moss near the old abbey of Bellelay, at a depth of twelve feet, resting on the primitive soil. There was, therefore, every reason to believe that this horse had not been buried in the peat, but that, on the contrary, it had perished in this place before the formation of the heap, inasmuch as its scattered bones testified to the work of carnivorous ani- mals gathered around their prey. Many of these shoes have been found at various depths in the turf-beds of the Helvetic plain, but we have not been able to obtain pre- 176 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. cise information with regard to them. This turf-pit has yielded numbers of coins from the first half of the 15th 31 _--^^ 32 fig. 29 century to the year 1480. These were only covered by 23 1" inches of turf, still spongy, but which had never- theless taken at least four centuries to form. Taking this particular case into consideration, and reckoning the overlying deposit as accumulating at the rate of 6 inches in a century, — far too low an estimate by reason of the FERY JNCIEAT SHOE. 177 density the turf assumes as it becomes old and forms the inferior layers, — the shoe discovered at the bottom ought to have lain there at least 2400 years. These same turf- beds enclose, or rather cover, a place where there is char- coal beneath 19 feet 8 inches of peat, and this being on the primitive ground, gives a period of more than 4000 years since it was laid there. In the neighbourhood there are iron scoriae indicating an ancient forge, and in this country, where iron mines only exist, wood is carbonized for no other purpose than to work that metal, and all the ancient forges used nothing else. ' More than twenty of these shoes have been collected in the soil of a Celtic establishment between Delemont and Soyhiere, on the right bank of the Byrse, territory of Courroux, and near Vorbourg (fig. 51). There were no traces of Roman articles, nor yet those of a posterior age, but only antiquities of the stone, those of the bronze, and, lastly, of the iron periods. The last was characterized only by horse-shoes, and by two discs resembling the iron money of the Spartans. On the other bank of the river similar shoes were also found (figs. 30, 31, 32), and two beautiful lance-heads or Gaulish javelins. Near the first shoes was a pointed spur. Another shoe of the same form has been met with in the track of an antique road, near Saint-Braix, not far from one of those ancient forges where objects belonging to the stone age have been dis- covered. A neighbouring hamlet is called Cesais or Caesar, a characteristic name also given to a ridge or mound near which passes a Roman road joining the plateau of the Franches-Montagnes with the enclosure of Doubs, and which shows traces of military works. The 12 178 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. Jurassian Society of Emulation is about to publish what we have written on the new discoveries made in this por- tion of our mountains (figs. o^2)-> 34)- 'Other shoes, aWays like the former, are frequently met with in pastures, forests, and cultivated lands, but constantly a" somewhat considerable depths. They often also mark the ancient narrow^ road-ways, which have ruts worn into the rock, and wdiere the short axle-tree has scraped away the stone at the sides in its passage, at a height of from 12 to 13 inches (Celtic roads). We have rarely found this description of shoes in the Roman camps ; in fact, only on that of Mount Terrible, which was formed on an oppidum; we believe, however, that the shoes from this place belonged to the same category as the Celtic objects of the three ages, and which have been found in such large numbers. Nevertheless, it is very remarkable that one of these shoes has been gathered in the ruins of the castle of Asuel, supposed to have been built in the iith century and destroyed in the 15th (fig. '^1,). But it might well belong to an earlier period, as we have found a similar specimen in the walls of the chateau of Sogron, where a horse certainly never planted foot (fig. 0^^). This building dated from the 8th century, and was burned in 1499; in its vicinity we have found a stone hatchet and two Celtic coins of Togirix. ' We might also mention the discovery of one of these shoes with undulated borders at a great depth near the glass-works of Moutier, on the track of a Celtic road at the entrance to the passes of Court, and also farther aw^ay at the level of the river Byrse (fig. 52). We have seen PREFJLEACE OF SHOES JFITH CELTIC REMAINS. 179 debris of shoes on the continuation of this road near the mill of the Roches de Courrendelin, and also near Grel- lingen, always beside deep ruts, and sometimes beside transverse grooves and cuttings in the rock, in the bed of these passages, intended to prevent the horses slipping. These same shoes are also found at the bottom of the tourhieres of the Swiss plain, in the Gaulish monuments of Alesia, in the plains of Champagne, on the battle-field where Attila is said to have been defeated in 45 i .' The Cossacks, the descendants of the ancient Scythians, or Huns, yet shoe their horses in the same fashion. We might cite many other discoveries of these same shoes, as well in Switzerland as elsewhere, and particularly in the districts of the Jura. We think that these are assuredly the shoes of the indigenous horses which wandered or pastured on the mountains of our country, long before the arrival of the Romans; and they have remained in use with the Jurassic people during the Roman domin- ation, and still later, concurrently with those we are about to describe. It may have happened that the shoeing of the Gallic horses was derived from the relations of the Gauls with Asia, where nail-shoeing is said to have been of high antiquity ; and if we, as well as our neighbours, regard these small shoes as of Hunnic, Saracenic, or even of Swedish origin, it is simply because people confound the epochs of the invasions which have desolated the country. Even now, these articles are attributed to the Cossacks in 18 14. ' In the numerous Roman camps whose remains occupy ' Camu-Chardon. Notice sur la Defaite d'Attila, Mem. de ]a Soc. Acad, de I'Aube, 18^4. i8o HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. the summits of the mountains or hills of the Jura, along Upper Alsace, as in the chain of Lomont, in the castles of the same period, perched on culminating points, in the ruins of Roman villas buried beneath nearly every village, on the track of roads of the like date, and also scattered over the country, we have gathered horse-shoes of a different form to those already noticed, but whose dimensions yet resemble them, though they are always more circular. They are also stronger in metal, and consequently more heavy, varying from i8o to 245 grammes. They are with or without calkins [crampons)^ and pierced by six holes — three on each side, placed farther from the external border than in the preceding. The heads of the nails are still oblong, but not so high or salient, and indeed are nearly hidden in the holes counter- sunk for this purpose. There are other shoes which, in form, in weight, and in dimensions are allied to these, and are found in the same places ; but they offer a character- istic difference. This consists in a groove {rainure, Angl. fullering) extending around the outer border of the shoe from the heels to the toe, and sometimes deep enough to completely lodge the heads of the six nails with which they are furnished. At other times, this groove is scarcely noticeable, and would appear only to have been used to indicate the line on which the farrier sought to make the holes. Shoes with a deep groove are yet in use in Eng- land ; but with us they seem to have been older than, or contemporaneous with, the cutlasses with wide blades, sharpened only on one side, and provided with one or two of these longitudinal grooves. Knives of the same period are similarly ornamented, and these certainly belong to ROMAN CAMPS AND VILLAS. i8i the end of the 4th or the commencement of the 5th century. The weight of these fullered shoes amounts to about 265 gram.mes each (about 9^ ounces). ' These two varieties of shoes are not only met with in Roman establishments, civil and military, but also in the Burgundian tombs of the 5th century, and in ruins of the 7th and 8th centuries; as also in the dwellings of the mid- dle ages, and in all the districts over which horses of this epoch have passed. According to all appearances, during the Roman period the people of the country had pre- served the mode of shoeing practised by their ancestors of Celtic origin, and the breed of horses had scarcely in- creased in size; while the Romans, or rather the foreign troops attached to the legions, had imported stronger horses, and employed shoes different from those of our nation. Such is at least the opinion that we derive from the facts and the circumstances accompanying the dis- covery of these articles. We possess some shoes found with a heap of horses' bones, the hoofs of which yet re- mained shod, and which were lighted upon when repair- ing the road from Courtemantruy to Saint-Ursanne, not far from the Roman camps of Moron and Mount Ter- rible (figs. 0^6, 37). Another shoe, almost identical with them, has been gathered in the last-named camp, on the same level with Roman relics (fig. 38). A fragment was also found in the same place (fig. 39), The ruins of the Roman villas of Debilliers and Fourfaivre contained a considerable number of the type represented in figures 40 and 41. It would be superfluous to offer any more descriptions or drawings, because in nearly all the Roman sites in the country, shoes of the same, or of slightly dif- i82 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. ferent form have been collected. It is at all times neces- sary to remember, however, that the majority of the Roman villas destroyed during the first invasion of the barbarians have been subsequently more or less repaired to serve as habitations, either by the Gallo-Romans, or by the Burgun- dians, when these last established themselves in the country. We'have already given numerous proofs of these restor- ations of the 4th and 5th centuries by the Burgundians, and recovered many of the relics of these warriors of six THE BURGUNDIANS AND GROOVED SHOES. 183 feet in height, still armed with their grooved " scramasacs," the pointed spur at the heels, and wearing great girdle- plates of iron damascened with silver. One of these " six-feet" people of the 5th century was laid in a tomb formed of large masses of tufF roughly chiselled, and near him were found the bones of a horse, which had pro- bably been that of the giant, the shoes of which yet exist- ed; they had six oblong holes and were " fullered " (« rainures) (hg. 42). Not far from this many other graves, of the same or an earlier epoch, have furnished horse- shoes ; the one we give a drawing of is the smallest, the others are wider in metal, so as to cover the greater part of the sole. This is not an exceptional form, for we have a number of the same kind. In addition, these shoes differ but little from those of the Roman period, and show a continuation of the same manner of shoe- ing, with the slight modifications the farriers adopted according to circumstances. There are always shoes with six nails, sometimes fullered, but not undulated as in the first period. In the foundation of the church of Mou- tiers-Grand-Val, built in the 7th century, a similar shoe has been found (fig. 40). To the shoes of certain origin, we add another form which has also been admitted at divers epochs, though more rarely, and appears to in- dicate a mode of shoeing strange to the country. We give as a type of these shoes (fig. 44) a specimen found on the track of the ancient road from Aventicum to Augusta Rauracorum by Pierre Pertius, and in the valleys of the Byrse, between Laufon and Bale. They are par- ticularly distinguished by the massive form of the calkins, which appear like a great protuberance a little in front of the extremities, which become sharp. The one repre- 1 84 HORSE-SHOES JXD HORSE-SHOEIXG. sented is the thickest we have found ; it was associated with more than twenty others mixed up with some Ro- man remains and coins of the 4th century. This variety is found in tlie middle ages, in tlic ruins of various castles, as that of Sogron (fig. 45); a circumstance which leads us to think that they commence in the barbarian epoch, and continue during the middle af:;es, not regularly or as a generally ado|)ted style, but rather as a foreign import- ation whose origin is unknown. 'Shoes really oi the uiiddlc ages, and anterior to the HORSE-SHOES OF DIFFERENT FORMS. 185 15th century, are characterized in those (figs. 45,46,47), from the Chateau of Sogron (8th to 15 th century); and also those of Asuel and Vorbourg (figs. 48, 49). One of them is peculiar in having a very primitive toe-clip {pi?i- con), formed by the toe of the shoe being a little elongated and bent upwards (fig. 49 ) ; and another has the calkins inverted, or turning towards the heel of the foot (fig. 46). The specimen from Vorbourg (fig. 49) closely resembles that from Souboz (fig. 50) ; and yet the latter was found at such a great depth in a quarry, that the work- men believed the rock must have growm since it was deposited. But there can be little doubt that it was lost in the pasture on this part of the mountain traversed by a Roman road, and at a very remote date had slipped through a crevice in the rock. ' It has already been remarked that in the ruins of various castles, as elsewhere, shoes have been gathered like those of early times, but we have emitted doubts as to their employment at a later period. The shoe from the Chateau of Asuel weighs 425 grammes, and it has six nail-holes like those of the 12th century, mentioned in the Roman da Renard (edit. Willems, p. 241), when the cunning fox engaged the wolf Isangrin to read, under the feet of a mare, on what conditions she would surrender the flesh of her foal ! This description of shoe, stronger in metal and of similar dimensions, appears to characterize the horses of the middle ages, which had to carry heavy caparisons of iron and riders covered with weighty armour. They sometimes offer an important indication, consisting in -the mark of the farrier who forged them. This is very distinctly seen on the shoe from Asuel, and on those of Vorbourg and Sogron. That from Asuel reminds us of 1 86 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. the time when the last owner of that place fought for Charles le Temeraire against the Swiss and their allies. The size of the shoes of these various epochs is not the only thing to consider in the determination of the species, for the dimensions must necessarily have varied a little. Nevertheless, it is very remarkable that those of the first period scarcely vary, and they might be confounded with the shoes of mules and asses found sometimes with the more noble steed. Certain small light shoes, bearing the characteristics just described for each epoch, may have belonged to some palfrey or hackney ridden by a young Gaul or Gallo-Roman, as well as to the steed of the fiery Clidtelaine of the middle ages. ' This notice of the horse-shoes which have been worn in the Jura in ancient times is far from being complete; and it has no other merit than furnishing specimens of ascertained origin, and offering as closely as possible types rather than exceptions, for we have been careful to choose those for our drawings which represent the most characteristic and usual forms.' In Belgium, shoes of this ancient type have also been discovered. In making a road at Jodoigne, in a cutting at a certain depth from the surface, some Roman pottery and four of these plates were discovered in a bronze vase. They were described by M. Schayes, who remarks : ' The horse-shoes were, like the pottery, in perfect preservation. I believe them to be of Roman origin. They are less regular in form than our modern shoes, and are no more than from 4 to 4J inches long, and 3J and 4 inches wide. The vessel containing these was supposed to be no older than the 15th century, and it was surmised SHOES FOUND IX BELGIUM. 187 that the articles had been put into it from some tomb and again buried. The previous year bones had been found in the place in which this collection was dis- covered.'' No drawings accompany the description. In the Royal Museum of Antiquities at Brussels is a shoe, found in 1863, during excavations carried on at Wundrez-lez-Binche, Hainault. With it were several antiquities, and notably a bronze coin of Faustina (a.d. 175). Four inches in length and width, this specimen of farriery (fig. ^^) has only four nail-holes, and though broad in the cover, is yet thin and light, and un- provided with calks.'' The outer border is even, the holes quadrilateral and well placed. A very interesting dis- covery was made in 1 848, during mining operations at Lede, a village near Alost, Eastern Flanders. Three shoes were found along with relics which authorities have stated to be Frankish, and to belong to about the 6th century. One of these relics is an earthenware vase (fig. 54), which certainly bears a striking likeness to one type of that ware pertaining to that age and country. The first horse-shoe we might designate a Romano-Frankish speci- ' Bulletin de 1' Academic des Sciences de Belgique, vol. xiii. p. 193. fig- s^ -TIM A,),'- iiiiii /.ii.« ci» II \i »»'Vr.V) %,P«Mairi,„,,-„,„j , lit fig- 54 i88 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. fig- 55 men, from its resemblance to those we have named Gaulish and Gallo-Roman (fig. i^i^). It has the usual irregular outer border, the six peculiar nail - sockets, only one calkin, and is light in form. It measures four inches in length and width. The second exam- ple has a more modern appearance ; has curi- ously shaped calkins on both heels, an even border, and six quadrilateral nail-holes. It is a little larger than the first specimen, and it will be seen from a side view that it bends up towards the heels of the foot (fig. ^6). The third shoe is of the same width, but an inch longer than the last, and is particularly striking from its being coarsely grooved, hav- ing calkins which are strong exaggerations of those already described, and being greatly curv- ed towards the heel and toe, so that the mid- dle of the shoe is on the same level with the ground face of the calk (fig- 57). In this respect it bears a marked resemblance to the ajusted shoe introduced by Bourgelat in the last century. It is somewhat remarkable to find these three types of shoes fig- 56 GERMANY. 189 in the same place, along with Prankish re- mains, though neither of them differ from those described by M. Quiquerez. All these specimens are now in the Royal Museum of Antiquities, Arms, and Artillery, at Brussels, to the obliging curator of which I am indebted for information relative to them. In Germany, we find the same traces of antique shoes as are discovered in France, Switzerland, and Belgium. The Germans, like the Celts, represent one of the most remarkable races of early times ; and though their history does not extend so far back as that of the CeltcE, yet the ancient writers made very little distinction between them, and when they first encountered them found they were also in possession of iron. The Cimbri or Germans, then, wore mail armour, had polished white shields, two- edged javelins, and large iron swords. They were also to some extent a horse-loving people ; and when they fought with Marius they numbered 15,000 cavalry mag- nificently mounted. Each had a fine lofty helmet, and bore upon it the head of some savage beast, with its mouth gaping wide ; an iron cuirass covered his body, and he carried a long lance or halberd in his hand. The Teucteri, a tribe on the banks of the Rhine, were famous for the discipline of their cavalry. Their ancestors, in the ipo HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. early ages of tradition, established this force, and it was maintained by posterity. Horsemanship was the sport of their children, the emulation of their youth, and the exercise in which they persevered to old age. Horses were bequeathed along with the domestics, the household gods, and the rights of inheritance, and unlike other things, they did not go to the eldest, but to the bravest and most warlike child.' Their horses were neither remarkable for beauty or swiftness, nor were they taught the various evolutions practised by the Romans, The cavalry either bore straight before them, or wheeled once to the right in so compact a body that none were left behind. ' Who are braver than the Germans ?' asks Seneca,^ 'who more impetuous in the charge ? who fonder of arms, in the use of which they are born and nourished, which are their only care ? who more inured to hardships, insomuch that for the most part they provide no covering for their bodies — no retreat against the perpetual severity of the climate ? ' Caesar tells us that they passed their whole lives in hunting and military exercises.^ The chief's com- panions or select followers required from him ' the warlike steed and the bloody and conquering spear.' Their pre- sents from neighbouring nations were most valued when they consisted of fine horses, heavy armour, rich housings, and gold chains. The Suevi had, according to Caesar, poor and ill-shaped horses. Yet they must have proved very efficient, for the Suevi, ' in cavalry actions, frequently leap from their ' Tacitus, cap. 32. " On Anger, i. i r. Bel). Gall. vi. 21. LARGE AND SMALL SHOES. 191 horses and light on foot, and train their horses to stand still in the very spot on which they leave them, to which they retreat with great activity when there is occasion ; nor, according to their practice, is anything regarded as more unseemly or more unmanly than to use housings. Accordingly, they have the courage, though they be themselves but few, to advance against any number what- ever of horse mounted with housings.' ' In the last century, shoes were dug out of graves, which were to all appearance pre-Roman. One of these shoes has ' been described as having the catches or calkins projecting in a peculiar manner upwards instead of downwards, as if to grasp the hoof; but it is not stated whether there were also nail-holes.^ Many years ago, veterinary surgeon Plank ^ mentioned finding shoes in Bavaria, which, from their antique form and the situation they occupied when discovered, he believed to have been worn by Roman cavalry horses. Schaum also speaks of ancient shoes as being found in his district.-* At Willerode (Mansfelder Gebirgskreise), Rosenkranz ^ speaks of a variety of old iron work being found in grubbing up a forest called Wolfshagen. This consisted of rusty spikes, unusually large horse-shoes (ungewohnlich grosse Hufeisen), a battle-axe, and a kind of sharp knife, made of flint, which he thought might be a sacrificial knife. ' Bell. Gal. iv. 2. • Beckmann. Beschreibung der Mark Brandenburgh. Berlin, I7ji. Arnhiel. Heidnische Alterthiimer. 3 Veterinartopographie von Baiern, p. 18. * Alterith. S. von Brauentels, S. 2)9- 5 Neue Zeitschriff. Halle, 1832. Band i. Heft 2. 192 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEIXG. Klemm' remarks : ' The horse must have been equally valuable to the war-loving German as the intelligent and trusty hound was to the huntsman. The German horse- men were respected by the Romans. They displayed great affection for their steeds and had them under excellent control, although Tacitus does not praise the horses for either their beauty or speed. The Germans had saddles and horse-shoes ; the latter are often found in the soil of the fatherland. They indicate a small race of horses then in existence. The horse-bones dug up by Dr Warner were also small.' ArnkieV speaking of the supposed horse-shoe found in Childeric's grave, notices that the most ancient shoes discovered ' are small and thin, very much oxydized, and have neither toe-pieces {griff') nor toe-clips, but small calkins at the heel, and the nail-holes are near the centre of the shoe.' Ludwig Lindenschmidt,^ who has so ably, and almost exhaustively, explored the ancient grave-mounds of Sig- maringen and its vicinity, is puzzled at the presence of single horse-shoes in graves, without the bones of horses, spurs, or equipment. ' They form one of the unsolved mysteries of the graves, and are in no way accounted for ' Handbuch der Germanischen Alterthumskunde, p. 133. Dres- den, 1836. * Cinib. Heidenrcl. p. 164. I much regret that I have been unable to refer to a paper by S. D. Schmidt on what were called Swedish horse-shoes : ' Ueber Sogenannte Schwedenhufeisen, niit Nachtr. v. Prof. Renner,' in Jena Variscia, iii. 61. ^ Die Vaterliindischen Alterthiimer der Fiirstlich Hohenzoller'schen Sammlungen zu Sigmaringcn. Mainz, i860. THE GRAVES OF GJUSELFIXGEN. 19.3 by the supposition that they may be intended as a sign of the former occupation of the deceased — as, for ex- ample, that of a smith. The Royal Museum contains several such single horse-shoes, discovered in graves, all of diiferent kinds, and from different places. These objects buried in the tomb seem rather to bear some relation to symbols of old heathen superstitions — such as the practice of nailing a horse-shoe on the trireshold of the door, which yet lingers in some places. Certainly the subject requires further investigation and explanation.' The very old grave- mounds of Gauselfingen yielded many primitive curiosities, such as celts, arm and finger-rings, glass beads, &c., ot the Celtic or early German people. 'The third grave- mound contained two horse-shoes (figs. 58, 59), an iron fig- 58 fig- 59 arrow-head, a fine iron dagger, the handle of which was much damaged. Beside these lay the remains of a leathern girdle, ornamented with metal knobs.' In the Grand-Duchy of Luxemberg, there are re- mains of what is known to arch^ologists as the Roman camp of Dalheim, which for many centuries have con- sisted in nothing more than substructures, though everything connected with them demonstrates that they 13 194 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. constitute the debris of one of the most considerable establishnrients the Romans founded in this region. Many ancient thoroughfares, still known to the peasantry as pagan roads, abut on these ruins. The archseologists, from various proofs, but chiefly those derived from the pre- sence of coins, attribute the final destruction of this important villa to the barbarian hordes under Attila, about A.D. 450. It has proved particularly rich in an- tiquities, which have been referred to the interval be- tween Augustus and the fall of the Roman empire, and for many years excavations on its site have been carried out with great care. In 1 85 1, this camp commenced to be intersected by a new public road, and the excavations instituted by the Board of Public Works were placed under the direction and surveillance of the Archaeological Society of the Grand-Duchy. Among other objects, evidently Roman, recovered from these remains, were four horse-shoes of a comparatively modern form — that is, more of the Bur- gundian than the Gaulish or Celtic shape. They were not all of the same dimensions. Figures 60 and 61, de- lineated by M. Fischer, a veterin- ary surgeon of Cessingen,' represent the smallest and largest of the four. The former is about the usual size of the early period to which they are supposed to belong, but the \9 latter is large. All had been worn, U and bent nails yet remained in the fig. 60 holes. They were very much cor- Annales de Med. Veterinaire, p. 28. Bruxelles, 1853. THE CAMP OF DALHEIM. 195 roded, and the two smallest were broken. The 'Bur- gundian ' groove was present in the four speeimens, and was continued from one extremity to the other. This mode o{ fullering is not now practised in this part of Europe. The least of these articles appears to have had six holes and no calkins ; but M. Fischer represents the largest as furnished with nine apertures, and two square, well- formed calkins. M. Namur, the archaeologist who described the antiquities found in the camp, asserts that they each had eight holes.' In 1852-3, the excava- tions being continued, a small shoe of the same shape was found, but it had ou\y four nail- holes ;^ and in i 854-5, the same antiquarian rescued several more, but they did not, it appears, differ from the others. M. Namur gives no drawings or descriptions of them, but merely states that they were of the ordinary form, and were found associated with Roman reliquce of various kinds and dates. It may be noted that these specimens of antique shoes bear much resemblance to shoes found in various parts of Wiirtemberg, which Grosz figures, and which will be alluded to presently. He thought they belonged to the middle ages. It is also somewhat remarkable, that at Steinfurt, in fig. 61 ' Publications de la Soc. pour la Recherche et la Conservation de Monuments, etc., vol. vii. p. 185. Luxembourg, 1852. '' Ibid. vol. ix. 13 * 196 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. the same Duchy of Luxemberg, Engling ' found two iron plates which had been horse-shoes, and he figures them among Roman urns and vases from this antique locality, believing them to be Roman. Each shoe pos- sesses six nail-holes, and has the ra'niure circling from heel to heel. In shape they are not very unlike those from Dalheim (and which are now in the Archaeological Museum of Luxemberg). They are described as so remarkably small that they were surmised to have been worn by mules ; but, from their form, they were un- doubtedly intended for the small indigenous horse (figs. 62, 6oj). This grooved shoe is perfectly distinct from that of the Gauls or Celts, and is certainly a great advance in work- manship. The rough, bulging border gives place to an uniform ^^- ^^ ^^- ^3 one ; and the groove, as well as the nail-holes and general form of the shoe, evidence skilful manufacture. From these discoveries, we are led to be- lieve that the powerful equestrian nation of the Suevi, as well as the German tribe which in after-times con- stituted the Burgundi, shod their horses immediately after, if not before, the Christian era. How they acquired the art we know not ; but it is well to remember that, in the 3rd century b.c, the Gauls passed along the line of the Danube as conquerors, and in their course left colonies among the Suevi, who, even in the time of Tacitus, still spoke the Gaulish tongue ; ' and also that it was often ' Lc Tombeau de Childeric I., p. 158. " Tacitus, lib. xliii. THE DRUDEN ALTAR OF IFESTPHALIA. 197 the Siievian cavalry, under Ariovistus, that the Sequani either fought with or against, in the wars between them and the ^Edui or Romans. Colonel Smith, in noticing the universality of horse- shoeing, says for Germany : ' We have seen it sculptured in bas-relief with a Runic inscription certainly as old as the 9th century, accompanying a figure of Ostar, upon a stone found on the Hohenstein, near the Druden altar in Westphalia, a place of Pagan worship that was destroyed by the Franks in the wars of Charlemagne. Had the horse-shoe been invented in that age, it could not already have become an object of mysterious adaptation in the religion of barbarians, which was on the wane at least a century earlier.' ' Grosz^ mentions that, in the years 1730, 1744, 1761, and 1820, a somewhat large number of horse-shoes was found at certain places in Bavaria, during excavations. Some of them were very deeply buried, and thickly covered with rust. Though he does not altogether coin- cide in the views of several antiquarians as to the antiquity of these objects, yet his remarks are not without interest, particularly as he describes the different varieties which have been noted in Germany. ' The horse-shoes which have come down to us from remote periods, having been found in several parts of the country at various depths, show in general three essential varieties. ' Op. cit., p. 131. The horse-shoe arch occurs frequently as a figure on the sculptured stones left by the Celts, and which are found hi England, Scotland, and elsewhere, ^ Lehr- und Handbuch der Hufbeschlagskunst. Stuttgart, 1861. J98 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. fig. 64 formed from the shoe itself 'The most numerous is that shown in figure 64. At the toe it is more than twice as broad as at the heel, but it is thinner throughout than a German shoe of now-a- days. All shoes of this kind are furnished with calks at the heels, and sometimes at the toes, some of which have been welded on after the shoe was made, and others The greater number have a groove, in which there are generally eight nail-holes. The seat of the shoe is flat. The heads of the nails are some- times narrow and sometimes broad, and project beyond the shoe. This variety of shoe is of several sizes, and no difference can be perceived between those of the fore and hind feet. According to tradition, it has been assumed that these broad shoes dug up in certain places were brought into the country by foreign armies, particularly by the Swedes (1632-48); but if one considers that not quite a hundred years ago there w^ere no high roads in the country, and that horses were used mostly on badly-con- structed paths, it is then probable that with us such a broad shoe was customary and necessary for special pro- tection to the hoof. Still less should it be assumed that these shoes, as some would wish us to believe, were introduced by Roman armies ; for the Romans have been expelled Germany since the 3rd century, and it might well be asked whether iron would remain so long in the ground (1500 years) without becoming entirely destroyed by rust. . . . STUTTGART SPECIMENS. 199 Shoes of the second type, as shown in figure 6$, are not unfrequently found in the neighbourhood of Stuttgart. They are of medium size, broad at the toe, with six or eight nail-holes, and partly grooved for the nail-holes. The sole is in some instances a little hollowed out towards the inner circumference ; the calks are high, square, and placed towards the ends of the branches, something like slipper-heels {Pantqffelstollen), cut off obliquely, and in some very much prolonged. Some of these shoes have only one calk («), which is long and pointed, while the other heel of the shoe (Z'), has merely an edge bent down- ward to match it. This shoe has a seat (rich tang, curve to fit the foot) quite peculiar, the heel extremity being quite thin and tapering, and curving up towards the back part of the foot (fig. 66, a). The Oriental and Arab shoes have the same bend given to them even in the present day. Since these articles corre- spond with the descrip- tion of Spanish shoes both in their form and curve, and since Stuttgart was alternately besieged and occupied by the Spaniards in the years 1546 to 155 1, and in 1638, it may be assumed with reasonable certainty that they are of Spanish origin.' fig. 66 200 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. fig. 67 ' Figure 6"] exemplifies a form of shoe of somewhat rarer occurrence. The specimens found are generally small, cer- tainly never larger than mid- dle size ; they are narrow throughout, some being grooved and furnished with six or eight nail-holes ; opposite to which the outside edge bulges a little. Instead of having calks, the heel-ends of the shoes become gradually narrower and thicker towards the extremities. The nail-heads are wedge or chisel- shaped, and project beyond the face of the shoe. Judging from the size and shape of these objects, and from the character of the nail-heads, they appear to have served as winter shoes for riding-horses, and without doubt were introduced by foreign cavalry. (From the end of the 13th to the close of the i8th century, Stuttgart and its vicinity was often visited by foreign troops, such as Im- perialists, French, S[)aniards, and Swedes.) These shoes are so oxidized and incrusted that they may well be looked upon as several hundred years old. ' Besides the horse-shoes just described, antique shoes of peculiar shapes and different construction have been found here and there in several places in and outside Wlirtcmberg ; so that it is evident that at the ])eriod to which they belong, the art of shoeing was in a very primi- tive condition. Some few examples are provided with a groove, while others have long quadrangular nail-holes, often with o\al countersinking; some, again, are furnished EARLY TRACES OF GROOTED SHOES. 201 with heel and toe calks of unusual shape, others are plane, but, at the same time, as a rule, they are of exceedingly coarse workmanship : a fact which may still be perceived despite the ravages made by rust Universal as the practice of shoeing is at the present day, there are yet places, such as North Germany, Hungary, and others, where it is not always necessary, and where horses are seldom shod, except on the fore-feet, or only in winter ; others, on the contrary, as the horses of the rich, being shod merely as a kind of luxury on all four feet.' The ^ajusted' or curved antique shoes are peculiar to Germany, it would appear. They have not been found in France, so far as I am aware; neither, as we will see hereafter, have they been met with in this country. It will be remem- bered that two specimens were found in Belgium. They seem to be generally grooved, and have peculiar calkins. Grosz's last illustration gives us the primitive undulating- bordered shoe. We have seen from M. Quiquerez's report, that the earliest traces of grooved or 'fullered' shoes are found with remains of the Burgundi, and constitute a new and characteristic form. This ancient people — one of the principal branches of the Vandals, originally inhabiting the country between the Oder and Vistula — have left numerous traces of their passage through, and sojourn in, various regions of Switzerland and Gaul in the 4th and subsequent centuries. They established themselves to the west of the Jura, about the same time that the Goths entered Aquitaine,' and appear to have been, from the remotest times, distinguished from the other German ' Aug. Thierry. Lettres sur I'Hist. de France, vi. 202 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. tribes by living together in villages or biirgen (from whence their name); which caused them to be looked down upon by the Teutonic race, and accused of degen- eracy, in leading a life more adapted for the business of blacksmith or carpenter than that of a soldier. Sidonius Apollinaris, nevertheless, speaks of them as an army of giants ; ' and it appears certain that they were not only good artisans, but also brave warriors, in the intervals of peace earning a sufficient livelihood by their handi- crafts ; and that at the period of their residence among the ruined Gallo-Roman villas they shod their horses' feet with iron shoes. The discovery, in the tombs of these warriors, of the ' scramasax ' — a large cutlass, sharpened only on one edge, and a characteristic weapon of the ancient Germans, with knives belonging to the same period (between the 4th and 5th centuries), all having long deep grooves on both sides corresponding with that in their horse-shoes — indicates that with the Burgundians, as with the Gauls and Celts, the same individual was at once armourer and farrier. The earliest tradition we have of this people, and which belongs to the period preceding their invasion of Gaul, would lead us to believe that they were skilled horsemen and workers in metals. 'The dwarf Regin fled from the Burgundians to the court of the Frankish king Hialprek (Chilperic), who reigned on the banks of the Rhine, and there he undertook the duties of ' marechal' (master of the horse and farrier). At this time he met the young Sigurd, son of King Sigmund, a descendant of Odin, who had mira- culously escaped from the murderers of his father. The ' Carmen xii. apud Scrip. Franc, i. 811. THE DJVARF REGIN AND ST ELOY. 203 dwarf directed the education of this prince, and spoke to him of the wonderful treasure of the Nibelungen, raising in him the desire to carry it off to Tafnir. He forged for him the sword 'Gram,' the blade of which was so sharp, that, when plunged in the Rhine, it cut in two a lock of wool carried against it by the current. He also attended to the incomparable steed ' Grani.' ' This skill in fabri- cating arms, and in the management of the horse, appears to have been a particular feature in the history of this people. In the middle ages, so highly were the services of the farrier esteemed, that at the court of the Dukes of Burgundy, on Saint Eloy's day, a piece of silver plate was given to the individual who shod the ducal horses.^ St Eloy, Eligius, or Euloge, was Bishop of Noyon in the 7th or 8th century, and by some means or other became the patron saint of farriers, and a gentle name to swear by in the days of Chaucer, who, in his ' Canterbury Pilgrims,' speaks of the 'Nonne' * ' That of hir smiling was full simple and coy j Hir greatest othe u'as but by Seint Eloy.' The prioress's very tender oath, which custom of swearing was not at all an indelicate one for ladies, even for some centuries after Chaucer's time, has excited much con- tention among the commentators of the old poet. Warton declares that St Loy (the form in which the word appears in all the manuscripts) means, St Lewis ; but in Sir David Lyndesay's writings St Eloy appears as an independent personage, in connection wdth horses or horsemanship, in ' A. Rt'ville. Etude sur FEpopee des Nibelungen. " E. Huucl. Hist, du Cheval chez tous les Peuples. 204 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. the way he occurs in the above and other traditions relating to horses or farriery. Lyndesay says : And again : * Saint Eloy, he cloth stov;tly stand, Ane new horseshoe in his hand.' ' Sonae makis oftering to Saint Eloy, That he their horse may well convoy.' Horsemen also appear to have sworn by the good bishop ; for Chaucer makes the carter in the ' Friar's Tale,' when he had been assisted out of the mud into which his horses and cart had stuck fast, to thank his assistants by the best animal in his team, and to exclaim ; ' That was well t wight (pulled) my owen Liard boy, I pray God save thy body, and Saint Eloy.' The saint was supposed to work great miracles among diseased animals. We will have more to say about him, however, at a later period. So far as I am able to ascertain, we have no written evidence to show that the Germans shod their horses before a.d. i 185. According to Anton,' about that time mention is made of the shoeing of two horses (II. equorum ferramenta, Kindliger). In some old German records, given on the authority of Shopflin, there is a notice that the smith was obliged to deliver sixteen horse-shoes and the necessary nails. And in another writing (Sachsen Spiegel), it is ordered that 'the horses of messengers (die Pferde der Boten) shall only be shod on the fore-feet.' ' Geschichte der Teutschen Landwirthschaft von den Altesten Zeiten bis zu Ende des Funfzehnten Jahrhunderts, p. 37. Gorlitz, 1802. GERMAN RECORDS. 205 Grosz ' says that the shoeing of two horses is noticed in a Westphalian record of 1085. In the year 1336, we find the Abbot of Waltersdorf, in Bavaria, making the following contract with his smith concerning the work to be accomplished, and its payment. ' He (the smith) is to make for his (the Abbot's) riding- horse three new steeled shoes {gestaehlte ei.seii) for two pence ; and to repair three old ones for one penny. For two or three nails to fasten them, he is to receive nothing and the work above stated is to be done with the Abbot's iron,' &c. In 1400, a tax was fixed at Stuttgard for smith's work, and among other items, ' 6 heller (halfpennies or farthings) was to be paid for forging a new shoe.' "" Horses appear to have been early employed by the Germans to draw carriages or carry litters, for it is re- corded that in the campaign of Arnulph or Arnold, Emperor of Germany, in Upper Italy, in 896, when returning across the Alps, a disease broke out among his horses which was so fatal, that, ' contrary to custom, oxen were employed to draw the litters instead.' ^ The use of horses in draught or carriage would have been very limited for Alpine travelling had they not been shod. In Germany, as elsewhere at this early period, the blacksmith held a good position, if we may judge by the price of his luekr-geld, or ' blood-money.' The law of Gondebaud or Gombette, the most ancient of the bar- barian codes, makes it manifest that the life of a smith ' Op. cit., p. 8. " Ibid., p. 9. ^ Annales Fuldens. Pertz M., i. p. 411. 2o6 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. was valued at five times the amount of a labourer or shepherd, and equal to that for the murder of a Roman slave belonging to the king.' The German and Salic laws also show that the duty of the ' marechal ' or ' mariscalcus ' was to attend to twelve horses. ' Si maris- calcus, qui super xii. caballos est, occiditur,' &c.^ From the Rhenish provinces as far as Russia, what is termed the German shoe is in use. This is the model figured by Quiquerez, and which is fiat on both sides, and with the fuller or groove for the nail-heads so far from the edge of the shoe, as to make the nail-holes very coarse. Immense calkins, and even toe-pieces of various shapes, are as much in vogue with the Germans as they are with the waggoners of Manchester, Liver- pool, and other large cities in England and Scotland. The Dutch and Russian shoes are coarse imitations of the German ones. For Scandinavia, I am not aware of any discoveries which would show that this handicraft was practised at a very early period. If we are to give credence to the his- torians, archaeologists, and anthropologists of that country, the Celtae inhabited this region of the north ; and if they did so, they doubtless preserved the same arts and usages as their nation in other parts of Europe. The 'Duergars' were their traditional workers in metals ; and these fabricated steel and iron implements in secret caves. I can find but little mention of shoes, however, though doubtless these cunning workmen armed the hoofs as well as the bodies of the warriors, who were essentially an equestrian race. ' Martbi. Op. cit., i. p. 437. ' Lex Alemannor. Lex Salica. SCANDINAVIA. 20 / The liigh antiquity of the iron-worker''s art is made apparent in the Voluspa, a poem containing the oldest traditions of the Northmen yet discovered, and which is an outline of the earliest Northern mythology. We are told how — The Asae met on the fields of Ida, And fi-amed their images and temples. They placed their furnaces. They created money. They made tongs and iron tools. At a later period, to be a proficient in metallurgical operations was the ambition of princes. Harold, for example, in the poem entitled his 'Complaint,' when describing his address as a warrior, relates : ' I am master of nine accomplishments. I play at chess ; I know how to engrave Runic letters ; I am apt at my book, and I know to handle the tools of a smith ; I traverse the snow on skates of wood ; I excel in shooting with the bow, and in managing the oar ; I sing to the harp, and compose verses.'' From the Sagas and the history of this region, it is evident that in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark horses were shod at an early period. At first only the rich and noble, perhaps, resorted to the use of shoes for their steeds, and some of these only for display, others when they had to travel on hard roads or during frosty weather. When used for agriculture, the horses may have been deprived of these defences. Col. Smith states that horse-shoes were in use in Sweden before the Norman conquest of England, since the figure of one is struck on a Swedish coin without ' Mallet. Introduction a I'Histoire de Danemarc. London, 177°- 2o8 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. inscription, and therefore older than the use of Runic letters on medals. In the eleventh century, shoes appear to have been in general use, for it is recorded that Oluf Kyrre, the first Norwegian king, caused those who sought his court to shoe their horses with golden shoes. Recent discoveries in the peat-mosses of Thorsbjerg and Nydam in Sleswig have exposed remains of men and horses, supposed to have found their way there in the ' early iron period of the third and fourth centuries ; ' but no shoes were found, though there were bridles, spurs, and nose-pieces to protect the horse's nose. Skulls and bones of horses, sometimes almost complete skeletons, were noted, and the state in which they were found is curious. ' Near a tolerably complete skeleton of a horse, were found, besides shield-boards, shafts of lances, and other wooden objects, several beads, two iron bits, several metal mount- ings for shields, an iron spear-head, a whetstone, several arrow-heads, an awl of iron, and a Roman silver denarius. Not far from it were two skulls and other remains of horses, and near them some iron-bits. The skulls of horses, which, just as those last mentioned, appeared to have been deposited without the other parts of the animals, had still their bits in their mouths, one of the bits being in- complete and evidently deposited in that state. And if there could still be any doubt as to the skeletons being contemporaneous with the antiquities, it must yield to the fact that several of the skulls have been exposed to a similarly violent and inexplicable ill-treatment as the vast majority of the other objects deposited.' The bones were examined by Professor Steenstrap, the Director of PEAT-MOSSES AND THEIR CONTENTS. 209 the Museum of Natural History of Copenhagen, who pro- nounced them to have been the remains of three stallions of middle size. But the strangest thing is, that the skulls show the marks of heavy sword-cuts, which we are told could not have been inflicted while the animal was alive. Other portions showed that the horses had been pierced with arrows and javelins, while some of the bones had been gnawed by wolves or large dogs. There is here clearly something more than the mere death of the horse in bat- tle. The enemy in such a case would never have taken the trouble to hew away at the skull, ' lying,' we are told, ' on the ground before him,' and that. Professor Steenstrap is inclined to think, when the lower jaw had been separated from the upper, and when the bones were no longer covered with flesh. All this leads us irresistibly to think of some sacrificial ceremony, and of the famous proscription of horse-flesh by the Christian missionaries. Horse-flesh must have been held to be an unchristian diet only because it was in some way connected with the idolatrous worship of the Northmen ; the Mosaic prohibition could not have been urged by men who doubtless ate hogs, hares, and eels, without scruple. But then Professor Steenstrap tells us, that no ^ such marks have been discovered on the horse- bones from Nydam as could indicate a severance of the limbs, or that the flesh had been eaten." ' These appear to have been war-horses, and possibly at this time shoes may not have been worn at all frequently. We have seen that in France and Germany, long after shoeing was known, it was not universally practised. ' Denmark in the Early Iron Age, by Conrad Engelheart. — Satur- day Review, Oct. 13, 1866. H 2IO CHAPTER V. SHOEING AMONG EASTERN NATIONS. BRAND-MARK OF CIRCASSIAN HORSES. LYCIAN TRiaUETRA. THE HEGIRA. TARTAR HORSE-SHOES. THE KORAN. INTRODUCTION OF SHOEING TO CONSTANTINOPLE. ARAB TRADITIONS AND CUSTOMS. ARAB SHOES, AND MANAGEMENT OF THE HOOFS. SYRIAN, ALGERIAN, AND MOORISH SHOES. HORSES ON A JOURNEY. INSTINCT OF ARAB HORSES. ARAB METHOD OF SHOEING. COMPARISON BETWEEN FRENCH AND ARAB METHODS. CENOMANUS. STRONG HOOFS. MUSCAT. PORTUGAL, SPAIN, AND TRANSYLVANIA. CENTRAL ASIA. JOHN BELL AND TARTAR TOMBS. MARCO POLO. COSSACKS. TARTAR SONGS. PEKING AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. CHINESE SHOEING. SHOEING BULLOCKS. NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS AND PARFLECHE. At what period Eastern nations first began to apply an iron defence to their horses' feet, and attach it by nails, it is impossible to fix with certainty. An anonymous writer in the United Service Magazine for 1 849, quotes the form of the most ancient Asiatic horse-shoe as being exemplified in the brand-mark of a renowned breed of Circassian or Abassian horses, known by the name of Shalokh. ' The shape is perfectly circular, and instead of being fastened on by means of nails driven through the corneous por- tion of the hoof, it is secured by three fig. 68 ^ clamps (fig. 68), that appear to have been closed on the outside, or on the ascending surface. Of BRAND-MARK OF CIRCASSIAN HORSES. 211 fig, 69 the antiquity of this form of shoe there is no possibility of judging, because the exact counterpart of it existed already at the period when the Ionian Greeks had established fixed symbols as types of their cities and communities. It occurs on the coins of Lycia, and is known to numis- matists by the name of Triquetra (fig. 69). If there be any difference, it is in a row of points on the Lycian type, as if the shoe had been perforated with holes for small nails (fig. 70) ; and v.'hat makes the selection of this object for a symbol of the region in question the more remarkable is, that, in remote antiquity, it was there Celtic breeders are reported to have first com- menced their trade in mules. The horse- shoes of early historians, since they do not mention farriers, appear to have been of this Lycian form, or were not fastened with nails driven through the horny hoof It is difficult to escape an admission that horse-shoes of this kind are as old as the Ionian establishments in Asia Minor, unless by denying that neither the Circassian brand- mark nor the Triquetra of Lycia represent them ; a conclusion which at least is totally at variance with the denomination of the mark by which the Kabardian breed is known, time out of mind. . . . The round shoe of the old Arabian method is evi- dentiy a modification of the Circassian or Lycian, the out- side clamps being omitted, and nail-holes substituted. . . . That the Arabs of the Hegira (a.d. 622), or within a generation later, shod their horses, is plain, if we believe the received opinion that the iron-work on the summit of fig. 70 14 212 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSESHOEING. the standard of Hosein, at Ardbeil, was made from a horse-shoe belonging to Abbas, uncle of Mohammed, by order of his daughter Fatima. "It was brought," says the legend, " from Arabia by Scheik Sed Reddeen, son of the holy Scheik Sofi, who was son of another holy vil- lager, after the manner of the Moslem ! " If the inten- tion had been to advance a mere falsehood, it is to be wondered that Fatima, or the Prophet himself, should not have furnished a sacred shoe of one of the celebrated mares, from which sprung so many of the first breeds of Arabia, according to the assertions of devout Moslems. A horse-shoe most likely it was,' adds this writer, ' but how an uncle of Mohammed should possess horses when the Bein Koreish, as a tribe, were without, and the Pro- phet himself in the beginning of his career had only three, is quite another question.' It appears very unlikely that such an article as that shown in the Circassian brand-mark could ever have been employed as a shoe, or fixed to the hoof by the three clamps indicated above ; but to show that the Lycian triquetra could not be intended to represent a horse-shoe, I have copied in figures 68, 69, 70, and 71, this and similar impressions of coins. Figure 69 is the plain triquetra, from the original in the British Museum, and resembling Col. Smith's (who is, I believe, the author of the article just quoted from) Circassian shoe, in having no dots or points ; 70 is the triquetra that the writer refers to ; the original is in the Bibliotheque at Paris, but a draw- ing of it is given in Sir Charles Fellows' work on the Coins of Lycia." It will be seen that the points could not ' Coins of Ancient Lycia before the Reign of Alexander. London, LYCIAN TRIQUETRA. 213 correspond to holes for small nails, wherewith to attach a shoe to a hoof, as they extend along the clamp which Col. Smith says was employed to grasp the front of the hoof. Fellows also gives a copy (No. 30) of a four- limbed figure belonging to this class (fig. 71), the original being in the British Museum, and which could never be meant to represent a shoe. Sir Charles Fellows does not attempt to explain the origin or import of the trique- tra, and it would certainly require a lively imagination to associate it in any way with horse-shoes. On the contrary, a very frequent device on the ancient coins of Pamphylia is three human legs, arranged like the hooks on the triquetra, and the same as borne by the currency of the Isle of Man. Figure 72 is a copy of an ancient coin in the British Museum, which has neither prongs nor men's legs, but cocks' heads ! Surely there is nothing here to offer the remotest conjecture as to the origin of Eastern shoeing ! Col. Smith asserts that ' there are indeed ancient Tartar horse-shoes of a circular form, apparently with only three nails or fasteners to the outside of the hoof;'' but we may be pardoned for doubting the correctness of this statement. That shoeing was known among the Arabs as early as the days of Moham.med, appears certain. In the chapter 1855. Fig. 2j. I am greatly indebted to Mr A. T. Murray of the British Museum, for tracings and impressions of these interesting and rare coins. ' The Natural History of Horses, p. 130. 2 14 HORSE-SHOES AXD HORSE-SHOEING. of the Koran entitled 'Iron,' it is written: 'We for- merly sent our apostles with evident miracles and argu- ments ; and we sent down with them the scriptures, and the balance, that men might observe justice; and we sent them down iron, wherein is mighty strength for war, and various advantages unto mankind, that^ God may know who assisted him and his apostles in secret.' Sale explains the sentence, ' And we sent them down iron,' as follows: ' that is, he taught them how to dig the same from mines. Al Zamakhshari adds, that Adam is said to have brought down with him from paradise five things made of iron, viz. an anvil, a j^air of tongs, two hammers (a greater and a lesser), and a needle.' In the chapter on ' Horses ' we are also led to infer that shoeing was known. ' By the war-horses which run swiftly to the battle, with a panting noise; and by those which strike Jire, by dashing their houfs against the stones ; and by those which make a sudden incursion on the enemy early in the morning,' etc.'' Unshod hoofs, one would be inclined to think, could not strike fire against the stones, Heusinger^ quotes the names of several authorities who were of opinion that the art of shoeing was carried to Constantinople by the Germans. Certain it is, as has been already noticed, that the 'Tactita' of the emperor Leo VI., written at Constantinople in the ninth century, is the first writing in which modern shoes and nails are mentioned. The Byzantine emperors had a guard of honour composed of Saxons from a very early period of the empire. ' Sale. Koran, vol. ii. p. 36^5. ' Ibid. p. 440. 3 Op. cit., vol. i. p. 9. ARAB TRADITIONS AND CUSTOMS. 21^ Under the Emperor Michael of Constantinople (1038) the horses of the Greek cavalry were shod. The Sicilian horses also at that period had their hoofs pro- tected in this manner. The Arabs themselves say their first farriers came to them from towns on the sea-board : such as Fez, Tunis, Masarca, Tlemcen, and Constantine, since when their knowledge and their calling have been perpetuated in certain families from generation to generation. The practice of shoeing among these people is curious, and would almost indicate an independent origin, as well as a high antiquity. Contrary to the accepted opinion, says General Daumas,' the Arabs of the Sahara are in the custom of shoeing their horses, whether on the two fore- feet, or on all four, according to the nature of the ground they occupy. Those who shoe them on all four feet are the inhabitants of the stony districts, and these constitute the majority. It is the universal practice to take the shoes off in the spring, when the animals are turned out to grass ; the Arabs asserting that care must be taken not to check the renewal of the blood which takes place at that season of the year. The horse-shoes are kept ready made, and always com- mand a sure sale, the Arabs being in the habit of laying in their supply for the whole year, consisting of four sets for the fore-feet, and four for the hind-feet. The nails are likewise made by the farriers. When a horseman goes to a farrier, taking his shoes with him, the latter is paid by his privileges, and when the horse is shod, its master gets on its back, merely saying : ' Allah, have mercy on ' Les Chevaux du Sahara. Pans, 1862. 2i6 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. thy fathers!' He then goes his way, and tlie farrier re- turns to his work. But if the horseman does not bring his shoes with him, lie gives two boudjous to the farrier for the complete set, and his thanks are couched in the simplest formula of Arab courtesy. ' Allah give thee strength ! ' he says, as he takes his departure. In the Sahara, in Syria, and throughout Arabia, the shoes are fitted in a cold state. In the foot of the horse, say the horsemen of these regions, there are hollow in- terstices, such as the frog, the heel, etc., which it is always dangerous to heat, if only by the approach of the hot iron. This aversion, founded on the destructive action of an extreme degree of heat on the delicate parts of the foot, is so strong among them, that in bivouacs, when the Arabs of the Sahara saw the French shoeing their horses, and fitting the red-hot shoes to the hoofs, they exclaimed, ' Look at those Christians pouring oil upon fire !' In a word, they cannot understand why — especially in long marches, when exercise makes the feet more vascular, any one should wish to increase this natural heat by the action of hot iron. The shoes are very light, but made of well-hammered iron. In the fore-shoes, only three nails are driven in each side, through round holes which are close together. The toes remain free, as the Arabs say nails in that part of the foot would interfere with its elasticity, and would cause in the horse, when he sets the hoof on the ground, precisely the same sensation a man experiences from wearing a tight shoe. Many accidents, they assert, thence ensue. The hoofs are neither pared nor shortened, adds Daumas, and the horn is allowed to grow freely, the very stony ground SYRIAN, ALGERIAN, AND MOORISH SHOES. 217 and incessant work sufficing to wear it off naturally as it tries to get beyond the iron. The necessity for paring the feet is only perceived when horses have been for a long time fastened in front of the tent without doing any work, or have remained long in the Tell. In such a case, the Arabs simply make use of the sharp-pointed knives which they are never without. This method has the further advantage, that if a horse casts a shoe he can still proceed on his journey, as the sole remains firm and hard. ' With you,' they say, ' and with your practice of paring the foot, if the horse casts a shoe you must pull up, or see him bleeding, halting, and suffering.' In Syria, however, the hoofs are shortened, and the wall pared level with the sole. The shoes are somewhat circular, or pear-shaped, and riveted, welded, lapped over, or left open at the heels. The annexed figures repre- sent a Syrian shoe and nail (fig. 73) ; shoes and nails worn in the provinces of Constantine, Oran (fig. 74), fig- 73 ;%• 74 and Algeria (fig. 75) ; also a shoe from Morocco, found in a Moorish farrier's tent after the battle of Isly (fig. 2i8 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. 76). The African shoes, it will be observed, are somewhat fig- 75 fig. 76 square at the toe and approaching the little V in shape. The central opening is somewhat triangular, and in the Moorish shoe the heels are welded and bent up towards the frog. As the horse can only suffer in the part that is most sensitive, they think, and not in the part that is hard, it is, of course, the frog that should be shielded from accident. The shoes should therefore cover the frogs. But this practice, and the undue curvature they give to the heels of the metal plate, is productive of great injury to the parts they were intended to protect ; pebbles and gravel insinuate themselves between the shoe and the frog, and seriously damage the latter ; while the point of the shoe, pressing unduly on the heels, produces such pain that the poor horse is often compelled to walk on his toes. The sole pressure exercised by the shoe is decidedly bene- ficial, and explains in a great measure the almost total absence of contracted hoofs and various lamenesses which are the bane of our horses. They give to the nail-heads the form of a grasshopper's head, the only shape, they allege, that allows the nails to be worn down to the last INSTINCT OF ARAB HORSES. 219 without breaking. They approve of our method of driving the nails into the hoofs and clenching them on the outside, which prevents a horse cutting himself; but their scarcity of iron obliges them to content themselves with hammering the nail-points close to the face of the hoof, sometimes in a curled fashion, like the Celtic nails, so as to preserve them in a state fit for use a second time, by making a new head. If a horse over-reaches himself, they cut away his heels and place light shoes on his fore- feet, but heavier ones on his hind-feet. They are careful not to leave one foot shod and the other unshod. During a journey, if a horse chances to cast one of his fore-shoes, and his rider has not a fresh supply with him, he takes off both the hind-shoes and puts one of them on the fore-foot ; and if the animal is shod only on his fore- feet, the rider will take the shoe off the other foot, rather than leave him in such a condition. Should a horse, after a long journey such as the horsemen of the desert not unfrequently make, require to be shod, it is no un- common thing to place a morsel of felt between the shoe and the foot. The necessity, caused partly by the nature of the ground, and partly by the length of their excursions, of shoeing the horses of the Sahara, has show^n the ex- pediency of accustoming the colt to let himself be shod without resistance. They therefore give him kouskous- sou, cakes, dates, &c., while he allows them to lift his foot and knock upon it. They then caress his neck and cheeks, and speak to him in a low tone ; and thus, after a while, he lifts his feet whenever they are touched. The little difficulty experienced at a later period, thanks to this 220 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. early training, has probably given rise to the Arab hyper- bole : ' So wonderful is the instinct of the thoroughbred horse that, if he casts a shoe, he draws attention to it himself by showing his foot.' This exaggeration at least proves how docile these horses are to be shod, and further explains how every horseman in the desert ought to have the knowledge and the means of shoeing his own horse while on a journey. With them it is a point of the highest importance. It is not enough to be very skilful in horsemanship, or to train a horse in the most perfect manner, to acquire the reputation of a thorough horse- man ; in addition to all this, he must likewise be able to put on a shoe if necessary. Thus, on setting out for a distant expedition, every horseman carries with him in his djebira shoes, nails, a hammer, pincers, some strips of leather to repair his harness, and a needle. Should his horse cast a shoe, he alights, unfastens his camel-rope, passes one end round the kerbouss of the saddle, and the other round the pastern, and ties the two ends together at such a length as will make the horse present his foot. The animal stirs not an inch, and his rider shoes him without assistance. If it be a hind-shoe that has been thrown, he rests the foot upon his knee, and dispenses with aid from his neighbours. To avoid making a mis- take, he passes his awl into the nail-holes, in order to assure himself beforehand of the exact direction the nails should take. If, by chance, the horse is restive, he ob- tains for the hind-feet the help of a comrade, who pinches the nose or ears of the animal. For the fore-feet, he merely turns his hind-quarters towards a thick prickly shrub, or extemporizes another mode of punishment with a nose-bag filled with earth. Such cases, however, are rare. JRylB METHOD OF SHOEING. 221 The Saharenes declare that the French shoes are much too heavy, and in long and rapid excursions must be dreadfully fatiguing to the articulations, and cause much mischief to the fetlock joints. 'Look at our horses,' say they, ' how they throw up the earth and sand behind them ! How nimble they are ! How lightly they lift their feet ! How they extend or contract their muscles ! They would be as awkward and as clumsy as yours did we not give them shoes light enough not to burden their feet, and the materials of which, as they grow thinner, commingle with the hoof, and with it form one solid body.' When to these remarks General Daumas has answered, that he did not discover any of the incon- veniences pointed out in the European mode of shoe- ing, the Arabs have replied : ' How should you do so ? Cover, as we do, in a single day, the distance you take five or six days to accomplish, and then you will see. Grand marches you make, you Christians, with your horses ! As far as from my nose to my ear ! ' Petrus Bellonius Cenomanus,' more than two hundred years ago, says that the shoes used by the Turks for their horses were in his day scarcely one-half the weight of the European shoes — one of the latter having material enough to make two of the former. The Turks were accustomed to buy the large and small shoes ready made, as at present, but the holes were not made in them. They were fitted to the feet, and the holes formed when required for use. The smith sat like a tailor with his legs doubled under him ; and bending over the anvil, with a well-tempered punch and hammer the shoe was perforated, and another sharp square punch was twisted round in them to widen ' Aldrovandus. De Quadrnpedibus, p. 50. 222 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. them to the proper size. The shoes had no calkins, as the horses did not require them either when at rest or when going at full speed, because of the nails with which they were fastened on, and which had large oblong heads, in shape like the hea?-t of a pigeon. He also mentions that when horses were lightly worked, ' it was thought a good custom to shoe them only for half the year; so that, during war, the hoofs may stand wear a long time without shoeing.' Though all the Arabs are cognizant of shoeing, and the advantages to be derived from it, yet, as we have seen, among the most valuable properties of a horse, they cer- tainly attach very much importance to hard, strong, and sound hoofs. Abd-El-Kader explicitly mentions, that the best Arab horses for traversing stony ground without being shod, are those of the Hassasna tribe in the Yakoubia. Horses are not shod in Muscat,' and never- theless perform long journeys. It may well be considered very strange that none of the celebrated Arab hippiatrists of the early or middle ages, and whose treatises are yet extant, speak of the farrier's art. My researches have been fruitless in this respect. Abou-Bekr, the author of Naceri, a popular Arab work on the horse, and which is supposed to have been written in the 14th century, never mentions it save as an orthopodic resource. Hizam, an ancient veterinary writer, recommends castration for horses whose hoofs are naturally thin and undeveloped, on the supposition that the horn is always thicker and stronger in emasculated animals. It is curious to observe, that the circular shoe is yet ' Stocqiieler. Fifteen Months' Pilgrimage, vol. i. p. 7. PORTUGAL, SPAIN, AND TRANSYLVANIA. 223 worn in some of the countries which were invaded by the Moors or Turks in the middle ages. The Portuguese, according to Goodwin ' and Rev/ still employ it. It is the same flat plate of iron, with a sharp ridge round the outer edge, like the Syrian, Persian, Barbary, and Turkish shoes, but in substance it is thicker. It is flat on both sides ; the nail-holes are of an oblong square shape, very large, and extend far into the shoe, which is nearly round, covering the bottom of the foot, except a small hole in the centre. The heel, however, unlike the others, is turned down to the ground, for greater security in travel- ling. The principle of nailing is the same as in the French shoeing, and being flat on both sides, is superior to both, in the opinion of Mr Goodwin (fig. 77). Spain preserves the upturned heels, the plane surfaces, and the cir- cular, sharp, projecting rim of the Oriental shoe. This may be accepted as a proof that the Moors shod their horses while occupying Spain ; but as another proof that shoeing was prac- tised in the nth century, in the time of the Cid, we has^e the story of King Alphonso escaping from the captivity imposed upon him by Ali Maymon, the Moorish King of Toledo, and a certain Count Pedro Anserez, or Peransures, advising him to have his horse's shoes nailed on in reverse — heels to toe, and so mislead his pursuers. Alphonso effected his escape, though it is not mentioned whether this cunning ' New System of Shoeing Horses, p. 167. " Traite de Marechalerie Veterinaire, p. 469. Lyons, 18^52. fig- 77 224 HORSESHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. device, which in after-ages was resorted to, had any influence in promoting it/ Since the invasion of the Turks, their mode of shoeing has prevailed more or less in Transylvania, though the shoe somevv^iat resembles that of the Moors, but with more cover. The heels are brought together like the letter V, and welded so as to form a wide patch projecting behind. The holes, three on each side, are circular. ' Wherever the Mus- sulman has exercised his authority for any length of time,' says Defays,^ ' some traces of his shoeing remain.' The Iberian peninsula has been successively invaded by the Romans, who introduced among the Lusitanians a branch of the wide-spread Celts ; by the Germanic tribes — Alans, Suevi, Goths, and Vandals; and finally, by the Saracens, who were expelled after the decisive vic- tory of Ourique. As a consequence of these invasions, it appears that at the present day we have traces of the characteristic shoeing existing which was practised by each of the foreign races. The circular shoe, more or less modified in shape, prevails over a large extent of the continents of Africa and Asia, but we are left in grave doubts as to the origin of this particular form of hoof-armature. It displays a certain amount of originality, yet not sufficient, one would be inclined to think, to warrant the opinion that it was an independent invention. The form is but of secondary importance : garnishing the foot with a metallic plate, and attaching it by means of nails driven through ' Chronica de Famoso Cavallcro Cid Ruy Diaz Campeador, cap. 42. Burgos, 1593. ^ Annales de Med. Vet., p. 260. Bruxelles, 1867. JOHN BELL AND TARTAR TOMBS. 225 the horny envelope, is the chief consideration. The paucity of written evidence in regard to the introduction or origin of this art among Eastern peoples, leaves us no room to hope for a satisfactory investigation of the sub- ject. Many nations in Asia, though aware of its exist- ence, yet never require its aid ; while others resort to various contrivances instead. Yet among those who shoe their steeds, the practice appears to have been adopted at a comparatively recent period. In the vicinity of Tomsk, on the upper Obi, far towards the high land of Central Asia, there are scattered a great number of tumuli, which for centuries had occa- sionally furnished rich spoils to the Calmuck Tartars, the present tenants of the soil. I find that the veracious old Scotchman, John Bell of Antermony, who travelled over-land from St Petersburg to Peking, in 17 19, with a Russian embassy, mentions these mounds in the cradle land of our race. 'About eight or ten days' journey from Tomsky, in this plain, are found many tombs and burying-places of ancient heroes, who in all pro- bability fell in battle. These tombs are easily dis- tinguished by the mounds of earth and stones raised upon them. When, or by whom, these battles were fought, so far to the northward, is uncertain. I was informed by the Tartars in the Baraba, that Tamer- lane, or Timyr-Ack-Sack, as they call him, had many engagements in that country with the Kalmucks ; whom he in vain endeavoured to conquer. Many persons go from Tomsky, and other parts, every summer, to these graves ; which they dig up, and find, among the ashes of the dead, considerable quantities of gold, silver, brass, and 15 226 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. some precious stones ; but particularly liilts of swords and armour. They also find ornaments of saddles and bridles, and other trappings for horses ; and even the bones of horses, and sometimes those of elephants. Whence it appears, that when any general or person of distinction was interred, all his arms, his favourite horse, and servant, were buried with him in the same grave ; this custom prevails to this day among the Kalmucks and other Tartars, and seems to be of great antiquity. It appears from the number of graves, that many thousands must have fallen on these plains ; for the people have continued to dig for such treasure many years, and still find it un- exhausted. T have seen several pieces of armour, and other curiosities, that were dug out of these tombs ; par- ticularly an armed man on horseback, cast in brass, of no mean design or workmanship ; also figures of deer, cast in pure gold, which w^txt split througli the middle, and had some small holes in them, as intended for ornaments to a quiver, or the furniture of a horse. While we were at Tomsky, one of these grave-diggers told me, that once they lighted on an arched vault ; where they found the remains of a man, with his bow, arrows, lance, and other arms, lying together on a silver table. On touching the body it fell to dust. The value of the table and arms was very considerable.'' The Russian government at length sent officers to ex- amine those tombs that had not yet been rifled ; and, among others, they discovered one of three stone vaults, contain- ing the skeleton of a man with costly arms by his side, resting on a plate of pure gold several pounds in weight ; ' Travels from St Pelersburg in Russia to Diverse Parts of Asia, vol. i. p. i8i. London, 1764. MARCO POLO. 227 and another of a woman similarly laid on a gold plate, having bracelets and jewels of great value on the arms ; while the third held the remains of a war-horse richly caparisoned, with horse-shoes on the feet, and metal stir- rups for the rider. This tumulus, no doubt, contained the remains of some mighty Khan, though not of great antiquity, since the stirrups attached to the horse s saddle prove a comparatively late date. The shoes, by the form they displayed, may have been of European work- manship, and the whole deposit of the time of the great Tartar invasion of Russia and Poland, between 1237 and 1 241.' When the Tartars were visited by mediaeval travellers, they were already in what has been called the iron stage of civilization. Marco Polo, who was one of these visitors, when travelling in Badakshan, in the 13th century, remarks that the country was an extremely cold one, but that it produced a good breed of horses, which ran with great speed over the wild tracts without being shod with iron.^ This notice would almost lead to the belief, that the people among whom he had been previously travelling had resorted to this defence, and it is also an evi- dence that he was acquainted with the practice in Europe. Beauplan, travelling among the Tartars of the Ukraine and the Crimea in the 17th century, says that 'when the ground is hardened by frost or snow, the Tartars fasten [cousent) under the feet of their horses bits of old horn, with the intention of preventing their slipping and preserving their hoofs from wear.' ^ ' United Service Magazine, 1849. "" Narrative of the Travels of Marco Polo, p. 234. London, 1849. 2 Voyage au Midi de la Russie, 1680. ' Lorsque la terre est durcie I K * 228 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. Pallas writes of the Cossacks of Ja'ik (Orembourg), that their horses are not shod, because the dry soil in- duces them to have very fine and very hard hoofs.' Wood, who travelled in Turkestan six centuries later, informs us that the Uzbeks shod their horses on the fore-feet, ' and the shoes are in shape a perfect cir- cle.' ^ In one of the oldest Astrakan Tartar songs, composed towards the end of the 14th century, entitled 'Adiga,' and written in the Nogay-Tartar dialect, the extravagant fashion of shoeing is alluded to. A Mongol Khan was jealous of Adiga, a Tartar chief, who was in consequence compelled to fly to the desert. He was brought back, how- ever, and offered a numerous stud of mares, that he might drink kumiss, and have the meadows of Karaday for the pasture of his hunting-horses, where they would be made fat as 'lions' thighs.' The Mongol, full of wrath because he would not accept this splendid offer, ordered many horses to be killed and a great quantity of mead to be brewed, in order to feast all the tribes whom he wished to assemble in conference before going to war with Adiga's people. None of his nobles could advise him ; but they referred him to a sage named Sobra, who lived some dis- tance off, and who could give advice. ' If so,' said the Mongol, ' then bid the horse be put to my golden chariot {hus). Let the horses be shod with golden shoes and silver par la gelee ou par la neige, les Tartares consent sous les pieds de leurs chevaux des morceaux de vieille corne, alin de les empecher de glisser et d'empecher I'usure des pieds.' ' Voyages, vol. ii. p. 107. ' On ne les ferre pas, parce que le sol sec leur procure un sabot tres-beau et tres-dur.' ' Journey to the Source of the Oxus. TARTAR SONGS. 229 7iails ; and, having covered them with golden trappings, let them go and fetch Sobra.' ' That horses were shod in this part of the world with plates like those now in use in Europe, in the i6th cen- tury, we find testified in another Tartar song on the cap- ture of Kazan by the Russians in 1552. Alluding to the famous war-horse of a prince, it relates that ' under the feet of Argamack the horse-shoes look like new moons. Its tail and mane are painted with hennah ; on its back hang silk trappings ; on its neck, in a talisman, round like a ring, is a prayer.' ^ It is a remarkable circumstance, that in the neigh- bourhood of Peking, and from thence throughout Eastern Tartary, as far as I have travelled, shoes resembling in shape those of this country are in general wear. I could learn nothing of the antiquity of the custom in this re- mote part of the world ; but the shoes are extremely primitive, and very like those we have been describing as Celtic. In journeying toward the eastern termination of the Great Wall, 'you cannot help bestowing a passing- glance at the operations of the Tiug-chang-ta, as the shoer of hoofs is denominated, for you may require his assistance frequently during your travel to secure your pony's clanking shoes, or to adjust a new pair ; and you are certain to find him busy in the most crowded thorough- fare, or in the most stirring corner of the market-place. He is not, generally, a very bold man in his calling, nor has he much patience with skittish or unmanageable solipeds ; for he too often makes it his practice to secure the unruly or vicious brute in the old-fashioned " trevises," ' Chodzko. The Popular Poetry of Persia. " Ibidem. 230 HORSE-SHOES JXD HORSE-SHOEING. or stocks — exact counterparts of those employed by country farriers in Britain and the Continent half a cen- tury ago — where it is firmly bound and wedged in by ropes and bars, and a twitch — an instrument of punish- ment still tolerated in other lands — twisted to agony round the under-lip of the subdued beast, until its extremities have been iron-clad. The more docile and submissive animal is less harshly dealt with, for it is allowed to stand untied, with one of its feet flexed on a low three-legged stool, while the workman shaves off' great slices of super- fluous horn from the thick soles, with an instrument which >"-:i--"^^"'"^' fig. 78 difl'ers in no particular that wc can see from the now obsolete " buttress " of England, or the present houtoir of France (fig. 78). Perhaps a fidgety draught animal does PEKING AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. 231 not quite relish the idea of parting from its worn-out shoes ; and the squeamish shoer, to avoid sundry uncomfortable contusions on his shins, stands some distance off, and hammers at the end of a long thin-pointed poker, inserted between the useless plate of iron and the hoof, to twist it off. Whether aware of it or not, like the French, the Chinese seem to prefer the foot in process of shoeing being held up by an assistant, instead of courageously grasping it as our farriers do. The Tartar ponies being light-paced and small, and the roads not very stony, the shoe is light, thin, narrow, and quite ductile. It is, in fact, nothing more than a slight rim of tough iron, pierced by four nail-holes, with a separate groove for the reception of each nail-head ; and the heels are drawn so thin, that when the shoe is nailed on the foot they are bent inwards to catch each angle of the inflection of the hoof, and in this way support the nails (fig. 79). Altogether, it is far more like one of our own horse- shoes than those of the Afghans, the Arabian or Barbary, or the Persian and Turkish curiosities, and certainly very far superior to the straw sandal ev^erywhere used in J aj)an to protect fig. 79 the horses' feet. There is little care and a great deal of dexterity exhibited in nailing on one of these iron plates. The excellent strong feet of the ponies afford every facil- ity for a rough-and-ready job. The overgrown horn is shaved away to a level surface ; a single blow makes the shoe narrower or wider without heating : it is applied to the solid crust, and one by one the unbending nails are sent through the whole thickness of the insensitive part of the 232 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. hoof with a few sharp taps, the tips of the nails being only simply twisted and hammered close to the face of the hoof; and the Wayland smith has earned his groat. At odd intervals one comes upon a group of these tinkers arm- ing the hot, painful, road-worn toes of prostrate struggling bullocks with a nearly semicircular plate of metal on the outer margin of the hoof ; and so smartly, that the bellow- ing creatures have hardly been thrown on the ground and secured than they are up again, proof against the hard, sun-baked roads.' ' Perhaps we are not making a very wide ethnological jump, if we pass from this part of the Old World to the Rocky Mountains of the New Continent, and note the customs among the equestrian, though not horse-loving, tribes of Indians in that wild region. The horse has had but little influence in civilizing the many clans who have become horsemen since that animal was introduced by the early Spaniards, and they have done as little in attempting to prevent its degeneracy in their hands. Iron shoes are never worn on the hoofs, but when tra- velling over rock ground, and the unfortunate animals become footsore, a substitute for the metal is found in what is termed ' parfleche.' This is the untanned, sun- dried hide of the buffalo or elk, in which the pounded flesh or ' pemmican ' made from these beasts is wrapped up and preserved, and on which these people largely subsist. The thick, hairy skin, I am informed, makes an excellent temporary covering for the foot, forming, when tied round the pastern, a convenient hoof-buskin, like that made from camel's hide in the Soudan. ' See my ' Travels on Horseback in Mantchu Tartary,' p. 399. ^33 CHAPTER Vr. BRITAIN, ITS EARLY POPULATION. THEIR MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. EaUESTRIANS. C^SAr's INVASION. GREAT NUMBERS OF HORSES. WORKING IN IRON. CHARIOTS. RARITY OF ANCIENT HORSE-SHOES. BRITISH BARROWS. SILBURY HILL AND ITS ANTIQUITIES. THE GREAT KING. OLD HORSE-SHOES. CLARk's SPECIMENS. BECK- HAMPTON RELICS. SPRINGHEAD AND ITS REMAINS. YORK SPECI- MENS. COLNEY, LONDON, AND GLOUCESTER. EXCELLENT ILLUS- TRATIONS. COTSWOLD HILLS. ROMAN VILLA AT CHEDWORTH. CIRENCESTER. PEVENSEY CASTLE. HOD HILL AND ITS STORY, SPURS. HOOF-PICK. URICONIUM AND CONDERUM. LIVERPOOL EXAMPLES. REPULSE OF THE BRITONS. LAWS OF HOWEL THE GOOD. DIVISION OF WALES. TRINAL SYSTEM. WELSH KINg's COURT. THE JUDGE OF THE COURT AND GROOM OF THE REIN. DUTIES, PRIVILEGES, AND PROTECTION OF THE SMITH. THE THREE ARTS. VALUE OF THE HORSe's FOOT. LIST AND VALUA- TION OF smiths' tools. TRIADS. SONS OF THE BOND. THE smith's SEAT AT COURT. SIR WALTER SCOTT AND THE ' NORMAN HORSE-SHOE.' KING ARTHUr's STONE. TRADITIONS OF HOOF- PRINTS. RENAUD AND THE BLACK ROCKS OF ARDENNES. THE CHEVALIER MASON. SCYTHE-STONE PITS OF DEVONSHIRE. STRANGE IMPRINT. THE SEAT OF A ZOOPHYTE. THE ANGLO- SAXONS. THEIR HORSE-SHOES. EftlTESTRIAN HABITS. MONKS AND MARES. SPORTING PRIESTS. ANGLO-SAXON LAWS. VALUE OF HORSES. SAXON CAVALRY. HAROLD AND THE DANES AND NORMANS. SAXON WEAPONS. GRAVES. FAIRFORD, CAENBY, BRIGHTON DOWNS, GILLINGHAM, BERKSHIRE. BATTLE FLATS. ANGLO-SAXON ILLUMINATIONS. MATTHEW OF PARIS. SHOEING FRONT FEET. FROST. SHOEING IN SCOTLAND. NORMAN INVA- SION. A NOBLE SAXON FARRIER. BAYEUX TAPESTRY. SHOEING 234 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. WITH THE NORMANS. ARMORIAL BEARINGS. SIMON ST LIZ. EARL FERRERS AND OKEHAM. CURIOUS CUSTOM. DEATH OF WILLIAM THE CONftUEROR. Britain probably received its earliest population from Gallia Celtica some centuries before the Christian era, and these Belgian or Cimbri were what we now term the an- cient Britons. The island, however, was in all probability populated before the arrival of these wanderers, though we know little of its history until the advent of the Romans. At Caesar's invasion it was well populated, and the interior was inhabited by people who believed themselves to be autochtho)ies. The southern and eastern coasts were more particularly occupied by the emigrants from Belgic Gaul, who had crossed the channel and the northern sea, attract- ed by the prospect of plunder. After having obtained a footing they became agiiculturists. They possessed the same manners as the Gauls, though their social con- dition was less advanced ; the Celts in Gaul having attained a comparatively high degree of civilization. They were also more fierce than their kindred on the other side of the channel, and were altogether, perhaps, in a jiiore degraded condition than those tribes we have been con- sidering. Their religion was the same as that of the Gauls, and Tacitus tells us that they had the same wor- ship and the same superstitions.' Druidism found a con- genial home in Britain when banished from the con- tinent, though it had existed in this country, in all likelihood, from the landing of the nomads ; and with its mysto'rious and dismal rites, it no doubt claimed the same ' Agricola, ii. BRITAIN, ITS EARLY POPULATION. 235 amount of metallurgic skill that it secretly practised at Alesia and elsewhere. Fierce and undaunted in battle, the ancient Britons were also a horse-loving people, and largely employed horses in peace, as well as in war. They appear to have been passionately fond of horses, as the fragments of their poetry that have reached us abundantly testify : and it would almost appear that all their fighting men were mounted on spirited steeds.' Whether ridden by their fearless masters, or harnessed to the multitudes of chariots so conspicuous in their armies, the little hardy British steeds appear to have been well trained, Caesar's first impression of them was anything but favourable to the expected success of the Roman arms. When attempting to land upon our coast, he thus describes them : ' The barbarians (as was then the fashion to designate our valiant woad-stained forefathers), upon perceiving the design of the Romans, sent forward their cavalry and charioteers {essedarii), a class of warriors of whom it is their prac- tice to make great use in their battles ; and following with the rest of their forces, endeavoured to prevent our men landing. In this was the greatest difficulty, for the following reasons, namely, because our ships, on account of their great size, could be stationed only in deep water ; and our soldiers, in places unknown to them, with their hands embarrassed, oppressed with a large and heavy weight of armour, had at the same time to leap from ' For proof of this, see that most interesting collection of traditional poetry translated from the Welsh by Mr Skene, entitled ' The Fonr Ancient Books of Wales.' Edinburgh, 1 868. The poem designated the ' Triads of the Horses ' is very remarkable. 236 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. the ships, stand amid the waves, and encounter the enemy ; whereas they, eitlier on dry ground, or advancing a little way into the water, free in all their limbs, in places thoroughly known to them, could confidently throw their weapons, and spur on their horses, which were accustomed to this kind of service. Dismayed by these circumstances, and altogether untrained in this mode of battle, our men did not all exert the same vigour and eagerness which they had been wont to exert in engage- ments on dry ground But the enemy, who were acquainted with all the shallows, when from the shore they saw any coming from a ship one by one, spurred on their horses, and attacked them while embarrassed ; many surrounded a few, others threw their weapons upon our collected forces on their exposed flank ! ' ^ Their cavalry and chariots often awed the valorous Romans, and frequently defeated them. They used the ' Essedum,' or war-chariot, much as the Greeks did in the heroic ages ; but this chariot was more ponderous than that of the Greeks, and opened before instead of behind. The wheels were armed with scythes, and the pole was wide and strong, so that the warrior was able, whenever he liked, to run along its top, and even to raise himself upon the yoke, then retreat with the greatest speed into the body of the car, which was driven with extraordinary swiftness and skill. Contrary to the custom with the Greeks, the drivers ranked above their fighting companions. These chariots were much esteemed by the Britons, and were made pur- posely as noisy as possible, so that by creaking and clang- ing of wheels they might strike dismay. ' Bell. Gall., lib. iv. cap. 34 — 26. CMSARS INVASION. 237 * Their mode of fighting with their chariots is this : firstly, they drive about in all directions, and throw their weapons, and generally break the ranks of the enemy with the very dread of their horses and the noise of their wheels ; and when they have worked themselves in between the troops of horse, leap from their chariots and engage on foot. The charioteers in the mean time withdraw some little distance from the battle, and so place themselves with the chariots that, if their masters are overpowered by the number of the enemy, they may have a ready retreat to their own troops. Thus they display in battle the speed of horse, together with the firmness of infantry ; and by daily practice and exercise attain to such expertness that they are accustomed, even on a declining and steep place, to check their horses at full speed, and manage and turn them in an instant and run along the pole, and stand on the yoke, and thence betake themselves with the greatest celerity to their chariots again.'' Thus they filled the middle of the field of battle with their tumult and wheel- ing and careering. The Britons appear to have been the only people in Europe who fought from chariots, a cir- cumstance which affords theearly British historian, Geoffrey of Monmouth, an argum.ent to prove that they were of Trojan origin. The immense number of horses they possessed may be judged from the fact, that Cassivelaunus, the British chief who was invested with the supreme command of the forces of the island, in order to oppose Caesar, after dismissing all his other troops, yet retained no fewer than 4000 war chariots about him. And their cavalry was * Ccesar. Op. cit., lib. iv. cap. ^2- 238 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. not to be despised. ' The mode of fighting on horse- back threatened equal danger to those who gave way, or those who pursued. They never engaged in close order, but in small parties, and with great intervals, and had detachments placed in different parts, and then the one relieved the other, and the vigorous and fresh succeeded the wearisome.' ' The horses and charioteers of the enemy contended vigorously in a skirmish with our cavalry on the march ; yet so that our men were conquerors in all parts, and drove them to their woods and hills.'' Nothing but the superior organization of the Romans, and the ability of their generals, prevented their being defeated by this equestrian people. That the Celts in Britain were well acquainted with iron, and placed a high value on it, we learn from He- rodian. He says : ' They know not the use of clothing, but encircle their loins and necks with iron ; deeming this an ornament and an evidence of opulence, in like manner as other barbarians esteem gold. But they puncture their skins with pictured forms of every sort of animals; on which account they wear no clothing, lest they shoidd hide the figures on their bodies. They are a most warlike and sanguinary race, carrying only a small shield and a spear, and a sword girded to their naked bodies. Of a breast-plate or helmet they know not the use, esteeming them an impediment to their progress through the marshes.' A very old Welsh poem, ' Gorchan Cynfelin,' says, in regard to Druid sacrifices : ' When I was devoted to ' Cccsar. Op. cir. lib. v. cap. 15, 16. JFORKING IN IRON. 239 the sacrificial flames, they ransomed me with gold, iron, and steel! The Britons made swords and other weapons of iron ; their chariot-wheels were shod with iron, and these wheels are, perhaps, the most characteristic memorials of this ancient race. Their remains have been discovered not only in France, but in many English barrows, with iron snaffies for horses' bridles. York Museum contains a good specimen of both. The impressions upon the coins of Cunobelin and others testify that they were pro- ficients in the construction of carriages and wheels. Arch^ological researches, so far as they refer to the subject of horse-shoes, have been much less successful in this country than m France. From what we have just noticed of the dexterity of these Celtic horsemen and charioteers, and of the manner in which they used the horse, it is scarcely possible to believe that the hoofs of that animal could have been unshod. The daily practice of their warlike manoeuvres, particularly in our climate, must have entailed an amount of strain and wear upon the feet which they could not have withstood, unless pro- tected in some substantial manner ; and as the art of shoe- ing with iron plates and nails was, as there appears to be abundance of archaeological evidence to prove, practised by the same race in Gaul at this period, it can hardly be doubted that such was also the case in Britain. The discoveries of iron shoes, however, have here been com- paratively few^ and far between, though for what reason it would be difficult to say ; but perhaps the little attention given to such an apparently trifling matter may be the cause. 240 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. Sufficient evidence has been collected, however, to prove that shoes were in use at a very early age, and if not before the Roman invasion, at least during the Roman occupation of Britain ; and that now about to be offered will, it is anticipated, effectually dispose of the assertion made by Dr Pegge, Sir F. Meyrick, Bracy Clark, Youatt, and many other writers, that the art of shoeing was first introduced into England by the Normans. It may also tend to correct the equally erroneous opinion enunciated by some of these and other authorities, to the effect that the Goths and Vandals who overthrew the Roman empire were the first to make this practice of arming the hoofs known to the western world. The Goths and Vandals at any rate did not reach Britain, and although the proofs that shoeing was known before their arrival in Italy and Gaul are strong enough, the testimony is still more decisive as to the employment of iron hoof-plates in this country at an earlier period than that invasion. Neither have any Tartar hordes ever crossed the sea to deposit the shoes of their steeds in our soil, as on the continent of Europe. Some good specimens of the pattern we have referred to as being Celtic and Gallo-Celtic, have been found in situations and under circumstances which lead us to the conclusion that they also belong to that epoch, and were manufactured by kindred hands. Sir Richard C. Hoare found the halves of two horse- shoes in a British barrow,' but as they are not described ' History of Ancient Wiltshire, London, 1812 — 21. Fosbroke is the authority for this statement. I have carefully looked through Hoare's splendid work, but can find no mention of these articles ; SILBURY HILL. 241 or figured, so far as I am aware, nothing can be said as to their characteristics. This authority was of opinion, however, that few, if any, interments in barrows took place after the Roman invasion in Britain; so that these articles must have been in use before or soon after that event. He also discovered an urn in a barrow, with an ornament on the rim in relief like the shape of a horse- shoe.' The able veterinary surgeon, Bracy Clark, in 1832, described what he termed ' two ancient horse-shoes,' found near Silbury Hill, Wiltshire. This hill, which is situated on the road from London to Bath, is nothing more than a mound of large size, and is believed to be of great antiquity ; by some it has even been supposed to be the appendage of a Druidical temple, it being placed exactly due south, and possessing other characters of a similar kind. It is to be much regretted that no me- thodical and careful examination has yet been made of this tumulus, for at various times objects of great age and antiquarian value have been obtained from it. An opening was made in it in 1723, when a human skeleton, the antlers of a deer, a knife with a horn handle, and a horse's iron bit were found. Stukely thought the hill was the grave of a great king, and that these were his remains. 'In the month of March, 1723, Mr Holford ordered some trees to be planted on this hill, in the middle of the area at the top, which is 60 cubits (103 feet 9 inches) in diameter. The workmen dug up the body neither is any notice of them to be found in his Guide to the Wiltshire Barrows. ■ Ibid., p. 121. 16 242 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. of the great king there buried in the centre, very little below the surface ; the bones were extremely rotten, so that they crumbled them in pieces with their fingers. The soil was altogether chalk, dug from the side of the hill below, of which the whole barrow is made. Six weeks after, I came to rescue a curiosity which they took up there, an iron chain, as they called it, which I bought of John Fowler, one of the workmen : it was the bridle buried with the monarch, being only a solid body of rust. I immersed it in a limner's drying cloth, and dried it carefully, keeping it ever since very dry. It is now as fair and entire as when the workmen took it up. There were deer's horns, an iron knife with a bone handle, too, all excessively rotten, taken up along with it.' ' Bracy Clark described the bit in his 'Treatise on Bits.' Hoare asserts that the majority of the Wiltshire bar- rows, of which this Silbury Hill was undoubtedly one, were the sepulchral memorials of the Celtic and first colonists of Britain ; and some may be ascribed to the subsequent colony of Belgac who invaded the island. Roberts^ plainly indicates that this immense cairn must have been erected before the arrival of the Romans ; for the Roman road which traverses this county, and which passes in a tolerably direct line, when it reaches the mound turns out of its course to avoid it, and in doing so cuts through a large barrow in its vicinity, part of which is yet standing between the avenue and the hill. It was in the vicinity of this mound that these shoes were met with. ' Goiigh. Camden's Britannia. ^ Pop. Antiquities of Wales. OLD HORSE-SHOES. 243 fig. 80 The person who presented them to Mr Clark, says of the first shoe (fig. 80) that it was found upon the down on the opposite side of the road, at the distance of nearly half-a- mile from the place where the other shoe was found, under a heap of flints. These flints, it is probable, were taken at some former period from the above spot, and were deposited upon the down, probably for mending the roads ; for, from the perfect accordance and similarity of both these shoes, in their peculiar make and fashion, says Bracy Clark, and from other circumstances, there can be no reasonable doubt of their having been constructed at the same period, and in all probability belonged to the same animal, the one being a hind, and the other a fore shoe, and of nearly the same size. They had also perfectly similar nails. Being looked upon by the labourers who removed the flints as mere old iron, they were passed unnoticed by them, as they sometimes found in these localities Roman and other coins of some value. Of the second shoe (fig. 81), he says it was found ' by the levelling of a bank, in Silbury Hill mead, for the purpose of watering it. The soil removed on this occasion was principally chalk, to the depth of a foot or 16 * fig. 81 244 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. two.' No mention is made of bones of horses, or other articles, being found with it, but the skeleton of a man was found at some little distance. Mr Clark, who was somewhat of an enthusiast in the matter of shoes and shoeing, and appears to have lost no opportunity of examining old specimens, though he pre- viously believed that this art was only introduced into Britain by the Normans, confesses these Silbury shoes to have been the oldest he ever saw or heard of, and appears to have been rather puzzled by them. In all likeli- hood, as he remarks, the animal to which they belonged had been buried with them, since the nails were present in them, as in many of the Gallic specimens, with the clenches quite perfect and in their flexed state, which would not have been possible had the shoe been torn off while the horse was alive. This veterinarian acknowledges the shoes as truly exhibiting an early period in the history of the art. ^ Their mould or general form is neither broad nor heavy, as in the oldest French shoes we have ever seen, but they are rather what would be called a light shoe. In their upper surface (foot surface), flat, a little concaved, however, inwards, and at the inflections per- fectly flat. The under surface of the shoe is rounded a little and convex, or rising in the middle, having in each of the quarters three immense deep oval or oblong stamp- holes or countersinks, as mechanics would call them, not very near to the outer rim of the shoe, and perforated through in the middle of these cavities, with three large, almost square, perforations ; the size of these, which time and oxydation may perhaps have a little enlarged, gave abundant opportunity for the early artisan to direct his CLARK'S SPECIMENS. 245 nail as much obliquely outwards as he wished, which a more confined aperture, or greater thickness of metal, would not have allowed him so readily to do. Now these stamp-pits must have been done with a very rough, clumsy tool, for the rim or outer margin of the shoe has been terribly disturbed by it, and thrown out into bulges of a surprising size, disfiguring the shoe very much, and also endangering the horse's legs. The heels of the shoes are provided with very prominent calkins, made by doubling or turning over the iron, and lapping and welding it ; finding, no doubt, the great advantages which attended this plan. The wearing line of the shoe at the toe in No. i (fig. 80) was considerably worn away, but in No. 2 (fig. 81) hardly so much. These shoes, generally speaking, are thickest forwards, and go declining in thickness till reach- ing the calkins. Their insides are thicker than the outside. The nail-heads are very remarkable for their size, and pro- jecting high from the shoes ; and that part of the head next the aperture in the shoe is formed with a very abrupt broad shoulder, and nearly straight, but a little inclining, however, towards the shank. The sides of the head of the nail are nearly straight and perpendicular, forming an obtuse angle to the former line ; upwards it passes by another converging line towards the summit, or top of the nail, which is made flat, and is of the length of about a quarter of an inch, for receiving the blows of the ham- mer ; the head itself stands beyond the shoe, and if em- braced by the finger is flat, and shows a thickness of only about, or perhaps less than, the eighth of an inch. The shank of the nail is short, compared with modern nails, and is square, tapering all the way to the point, but is 246 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. made rather flatter and broader on one side, viz., tliat side which corresponds to the flatness of the head.' The nails were not pointed, as now-a-days ; and appear to have been driven only a short distance in the hoof, and the end that had passed through was bent round and lay close to the side of the foot for safety. The sharp point was not wrung off", as is now the custom, but passing along the face of the hoof, was turned round like a carpenter's nail, and probably buried slightly in the crust, to give it a hold. ' The excellent preservation in which these shoes are found can only be accounted for by their having been for a long time defended, perhaps, by the hoofs to which they were attached, and secondarily, from their being de- posited among flints and chalk, the most indestructible and undecomposable materials of all the earthy sub- stances.' These relics are certainly extremely crude attempts in workmanship, and betray a very primitive period — the very infancy of the art, — more so, indeed, than any specimens that have yet been met with. Some time after they were discovered, the late Dean of Hereford obtained a horse-shoe similar in form, which had been found with others, and a skeleton, a short distance north-west of Sil- bury Hill. This was figured in the Transactions of the Salisbury Institute. Two specimens of similar construction, and which were found at Beckhampton, are now in the Museum at Cirencester, Gloucestershire. One of them (fig. 82) is much more primitive-looking than the other, and is of smaller size, agreeing very closely in this respect with those tlescribed and figured by Bracy Clark. The rolled- BECKlLlMrrOX RELICS. 247 over calkins are particularly conspicuous. The other (fig. 83) is of larger size and more circular in shape, and shows fig. 82 fig. 83 a nail-heatl worn down to the surface of the shoe. Beck- hampton, we must remember, is near the Druidical circle or temple of Abury, the western avenue of that structure extending towards this village ; and that the stupendous mound of Silbury is within the plan of Abury, and may have been a component part of the temple. It is some- what remarkable that this portion of Wiltshire, so famous tor its ancient British monuments, should furnish such a number of these primitive horse-shoes. Three-fourths of a shoe, in excellent preservation, and evidently of the same period, was found at Springhead, near Gravcsend, Kent, some years ago, and is now in the possession of Mr Sylvester of that place. It was found imbedded in compact chalk, and, from its appearance, has been scarcely worn ; it had broken through at one of the nail-holes soon after being fastened on tiie hoof. From the situation of this relic, and the acc()mj)anying remains, there can scarcely be a doubt as to its belonging to the Roman, or even pre-Roman, period. Its length 248 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING, is 45 inches; width, 3! inches; breadth at toe, |ths of an inch ; and at heel, i inch. The plate is thin ; at the toe, where it is strongest, it is scarcely ^th inch. The iron is of excellent quality ; and the calkin, which is formed by doubling over the end of the branch, projects about 4:th inch above the ground surface of the shoe (fig. 84). The nail-holes, three of which are yet intact, have been three on each side, and of the usual form, A small lump of rust indicates the remains of a nail-head filling up the middle hole of one branch. The border of the shoe, particularly the ex- ternal one, is markedly un- dulating, owing to the large size of the cavity made to contain a portion of the nail- head. This cavity is fths of an inch long, and |ths wide; and the hole for the reception of the nail-shank is nearly circular, and has a diameter of ith inch : cer- tainly the nails must have been very thick for the small hoofs shoes of this kind would fit. The weight of this excellent specimen is 3 ounces 7 drachms; so that the entire shoe may be calculated to have weighed about 5 ounces. There are no retaining clips, and the ground and hoof surfaces are flat and rough, as if carelessly and scantily hammered. Springhead, where this antique scrap was found, stands near the Roman Watling Street ; and from the soil in its vicinity, which is chalky, great numbers of coins — many fibukr, some fictilia, etc. — ■ belonging to various periods in the early history of our fig. 84 YORK SPECIMENS. 149 country, but particularly the Roman, have been picked up during a number of years. The coins are chiefly brasses, some of them very old. Only one gold coin has been discovered— that of the Roman Emperor Valentine. The three specimens next exhibited (figs, 85, 86, 87) fig. 85 fig. 86 fig. 87 are from the York Museum, and were found a few years ago under a cobble-road, near the bridge which crosses the foss of that city, at a depth of eight feet below the surface, A number of these shoes were discovered in this situation ; and it has been conjectured by some one 2 'to HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. ^) that very long ago there may have been a ford at this place, and that these articles were then lost in the clay by horses in crossing. They are evidently Celtic, or Romano-Celtic, if we compare them with those from the graves in Gaul. Of the three represented, figure 86 is apparently the oldest ; next, figure 85 ; and lastly, figure 87. All have been worn; all have the irregularly un- dulating border, the peculiar groove, nail-holes, and cal- kins, and the characteristic nail-heads. Figure 85 is a comparatively large shoe, and figure 87 a small one. They are very thin, and do not exceed \xh. of an inch in thickness. The nails in 85 and 86 have the points turned in a similar manner to those of Silbury Hill ; and figure 87 alone appears to have been wrenched off while the horse that wore it was alive. The stalks or bodies of the nails are shorter and more square than we now use them, and the heads are of the semicircular T pattern. The calkins stand about ^th of an inch higher than the shoe.' It may be observed, that in the same museum are the remains of a chariot, and the bones of a man, horse, and pig, which were collected in a barrow not far from York ; but I cannot ascertain that any shoes were found. With specimens of Romano-Celtic shoes— that is, of shoes of this pattern found associated with Roman remains — we are more liberally furnished ; for it must be confessed that those which we might at a hazard term ' pre-Roman ' are extremely scarce. At Colney, in Norfolk, were discovered Roman urns, ' I am indebted to A. J. Owles, Esq., Enaiskilling Dragoons, for photographs of these tine specimens. COLNEY AND LONDON. ^5^ iron spear-heads, and ' a horse-shoe of unusual sliape ' — round and broad in front, narrowing very much back- wards, and having its extreme ends brought almost close behind, and rather pointed inwards, with the nail-holes still perfect.' ' No drawing accompanies this description. In making a deep excavation at Lothbury, London, in 1 847, at a depth of 16 feet below the surface, the workmen came upon a number of Roman reUquicr, consisting of iron keys, Samien and other pottery, and various other articles, amongst which was an iron horse-shoe (fig. 88). It is of the usual fashion of that epoch, is only three inches six-eighths long, three inches five-eighths wide, and about three-quarters of an inch at the broadest part of the toe. It narrows very much towards the heels, and there are but faint traces of calkins. The one branch is a little longer ^' than the other, and altogether the specimen is thin and light. The peculiar shape of this horse-shoe, the depth at which it was discovered, and its being mingled with undoubted Roman remains, proves that it must be of high antiquity, pointing to the Roman-British period as the age of its fabrication.^ Another shoe of the same character was found in Moorfields, in the line of the old London Wall, some ' Archseologie, vol. xiv. p. 4. Journal of the Archaeological Association, vol. vi. 252 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. years ago. It is about 4^. inches long, has the six oval cavities, and calkins rolled-over and welded (fig. 89). In the British Museum there is also a specimen, pro- cured while making a sewer in 1833, in Fenchurch Street, London. Fragments of Ro- man pottery, boars' teetJi, and other articles, were found with fig. 89 it. It is thin and light, has the nail-holes of the characteristic number and shape ; narrows a little towards the heels, where there are calkins, and shows marks of wear. It measures four and three- eighths inches long, and four inches wide. It is narrower across the toe than several of the others examined, and resembles somewhat the third York specimen (fig. 90). In August, 1854, there was discovered at Gloucester, at the depth of some nine or ten feet from the surface, and mingled with numerous fragments of Roman Jictilin, the outer half of a strong iron horse-shoe, with one of the large flat-headed nails already described remaining in one of the three holes. It is exactly similar, in size and make, to the last- mentioned shoe. Another shoe precisely like it, but of rather larger dimensions, was met with beneath a Roman road at Inne- fig. go GLOUCESTER. 2^3 ravon, Linlithgowshire, Scotland, when the old pavement was being removed to prepare the ground for macadam- izing. This shoe is in the possession of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.' Gloucestershire, indeed, has long been famous for the Roman and other ancient remains discovered in it from time to time. The town of Gloucester boasts of a high antiquity, it being the Caer Glowe or Glev of the Celts, the termination -um being afterwards added, euplionice gratia, to form the Glevum, the name by which the Romans designated this large colonial city ; subsequently it was the Gleow-ceaster of the Saxons. Its importance to the ancient Britons and Romans may have been owing not only to its situation on the banks of the Severn, but also to its proximity to the great iron district of the Forest of Dean. It is not to be wondered at, then, that some of the finest specimens of farriery I have been able to inspect should be discovered in this county. Some years ago, when laying down sewers in the town of Gloucester, many relics of antiquity were disinterred in the excavations. In Northgate Street, at a depth of eight or ten feet below the present level, which is also the usual depth at which all other Roman remains, such as tesselated pavements and the like, are found, and some seven or eight inches below the pitched Roman road {via strata), were found a number of horse-shoes and other articles of the Roman period. Two of the shoes I have had the opportunity of inspecting, and they correspond in every particular with those already described as belonging to ' Journal of the Archaeological Association, vol. xiv. 254 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. this period. One of them (fig. 91) is the most perfect specimen I ever saw, and is so little affected by its long sojourn un- derground, that but for the fact of its having been found with fibulae, a lamp {lucerna), and other characteristic memorials of the Ro- man aera, together with its peculiar form, one would be perfectly justified in asserting it had quite recently ^' ^' come from the anvil of the blacksmith. It has never been worn, a circumstance to which its high preservation is partly due ; the edges are perfectly clean and sharp, and every stage in its manufacture can be readily traced, as there is not the smallest speck of rust upon it. The iron of which it is composed is of the very purest description, and so white and ductile, that it was at first conjectured to be silver. This, however, has been ascertained to be owing to the presence of a somewhat large proportion of nickel,' which has most largely contributed to the ex- emption from oxidation. I am informed that iron of this character, with much nickel in it, is found on the surface of the ground in Wilts. The outside of the shoe ' An analytical chemist who examined it, informed me that it was the rarer metal titanium. COTSJFOLD HILLS. 255 is black, as all iron work is when just from the hammer. The specimen weighs only 4^ ounces, and is 4J inches long, and 3! inches wide. The calkins are rolled-over in the usual way ; the immense oval depressions for the nail- heads are stamped nearly through the substance of the shoe, and have been made by a blunt tool when the iron was very hot. There is nothing to indicate that the shoe had ever been placed on the bick or beak-horn of an anvil to give it its shape. The round holes pierced for the passage of the nails appear to have been punched through when the iron was in a cold state, as the round holes in the horse-shoes are made at the present day in Syria, Turkey, and the East generally. These apertures are only six in number, and there is no indication of attempts at raising a toe-clip. Both surfaces of the shoe are plane, and the workmanship is not of a very high order, but appears to have been executed in a hurried manner. The other shoe I examined had been found a short distance from it. It is very perfect, though slightly worn (it had been on the left fore foot), is precisely similar in figure, size, and other particulars, and is made of excellent iron. Accompanying these two shoes was a most in- teresting specimen ' found on the surface of the ground, on a high hill, one of the Cotswolds, which has been recently ploughed up by permission of the owner, who on that occasion discovered this shoe. The hill is in the parish of Haresfield, and is known as Broadborough Green, or Ringhill ; and the spot where it was found is ' I am deeply indebted to J. D. T. Niblett, Esq., M.A., F.S.A., of Tuffley, near Gloucester, for an inspection, and the particulars connected with the discovery of these three specimens. 256 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. by the side of the ancient trackway, leading through the British to the Roman camp, the remains of which are still discernible. Being so near the surface of the soil, which is there very thin, and overlying the rock, the iron is very much corroded, but the form of the shoe, which is identical with the other two, is perfect. It is narrower, longer, and heavier than the two specimens just described, and the three nail-heads of one side are yet in the shoe. They project nearly as high as the calkins, and are of the shape always observed with these shoes. Its small size, and staple-like form, caused it to be desig- nated a ' mule shoe.' • A very interesting discovery of a Roman villa has been recently made at Chedworth, a place on the great Foss Road, sixteen miles from Gloucester. With a very fine tesselated pavement, have been found a great number of articles, such as a silver spoon ; two silver coins, on the obverse of which are the words ' Imperator Caesar Antoninus Augustus ;' a coin of Heliogabalus, and another of Valens ; bronze fibulae ; rings ; implements ; bone hair-pins ; bronze coins of Constantia, Constantinus, Urbs Roma, &c. ; nails, armlets, twisted chains with swivels ; styles, and steelyards with lead weights ; iron implements, knives, chisels, spear-heads, crooks to suspend a kettle, and three pigs of iron. The presence of the latter articles would tend to show that they had been manufactured on the spot. There were also various kinds of pottery; bones of the horse, ox, sheep, and pig, and antlers of a large herd of deer, as well as two fragments of human skulls. There are proofs that the villa has been destroyed by fire, and 275 coins, mostly Roman, fix the date ; no ROMAN VILLA AT CHEDJFORTH. 257 Saxon coins have been discovered, and Mr Roach Smith informs me that the relics are entirely Roman, It would appear, from various evidences, that the villa had been built or repaired after the time of Constantine the Great, and an inscription 'Prasatia' leads to the surmise that it belonged to the husband of Boadicea. But the most important feature in this discovery is connected with our present subject : the recovery of one whole shoe and several fragments, which are said to have been with the other remains. But not one of these shows the outline we have hitherto been studying, and which has, with a few exceptions, so far as I have been able to learn, been characteristic of the shoes found with Roman or supposed pre-Roman objects. On the con- trary, all exhibit what we would consider evidences of more recent manufacture. We no longer have the un- dulating border, the long and wide oval depressions, the narrow cover, the rolled calkins, and the large semicircular nail-heads. The nails and nail-holes are very like those now in use ; the latter are stamped close to the margin of the shoe, the nails have been driven through the hoof, and the points twisted off and clinched in the usual way. The workmanship is entirely different to that we have been considering, and is much more advanced. One perfect specimen (fig. 92) measures 3! inches long and 4 inches wide, an imperfect one (fig. 93) 4.^ inches long and the same in width, while another half-shoe (fig. 94) is 4| inches long, and must have been equally wide. The breadth of it is extraordinary, measuring no less than if inch, and the shoe when complete must have nearly covered the whole of the horse's sole ; it shows four nail- 17 258 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. holes, two of which are occupied by the reniains of nails. The only peculiarity I can discern between this and the shoes of a much later age, is the curious attempt at a calkin, which is here formed by the iron having been drawn to a point and bent forward on the ground face of the shoe. This specimen is extremely clumsy and heavy, and quite unlike the light, and we might almost say elegant, shoe hitherto found. Figures 95 and 96 are similar to 92. It is impossible to account for the presence of these unusual specimens with Roman remains. Mr Roach CIRENCESTER AND PETENSEY. 259 Smith informs me that the discovery of the villa was, of course, accidental, and the excavations were not carefully- conducted by any one likely to note the position of the articles found. If such be the fact, there is a probability that these shoes may have belonged to a much later date than the other relics discovered, and which they in all likelihood overlaid. It is necessary to mention, however, that at Cirences- ter (the Roman Corinium, the Corimon of Ptolemy, and the Duro-Cornovium of the Antonine itinerary) various important Roman remains have been found, such as altars, querns, coins of all dates, from Claudius (a.d. 42) to Valentinian (a.d. 424), Samian and common pottery, bronze fibulas, articles of bone, ivory, and glass, and great numbers of iron nails. Many of the latter have the peculiar head of the Roman horse-shoe nail, and others have the modern head fitted for the stamped and fullered shoe. In the museum of this town are several shoes, two or three of which closely resemble those found at Ched- worth, but none of the undulating-border type. These are said to have been found with the Roman remains, but there appears to hang some doubts as to the truth of this.' The ruins of Pevensey Castle, in Sussex, furnishes us with another example of the early type. This castle, one of the most remarkable in the country, has been garrisoned and fortified by the Romans, Saxons, and Normans — the ' In the Catalogue of the Museum, it is stated that ' some of the iron objects are not Roman, but mediaeval, and to one or two a slill more recent date must be assigned.' 26o HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. ruins of each occupier telling such a tale of ' mutability ' as one spot has seldom told ; but, as is nearly always the case, the Roman has left his mark indelibly fixed on those walls and towers that at one time stood proudly above the low shore, when the sea almost washed their base. The Roman Castrum has an area of seven acres, but the irregular form of the walls would indicate that here was a British stronghold before the arrival of the Romans, The shoe found within these ruins, and which is now in the museum of Lewes Castle, Sussex, is larger than the speci- mens we have yet examined, being 4| mches long and 4^ wide. It does not appear to have been much worn, and yet its thickness does not exceed ~ of an inch ; it has no calkins, and both surfaces are flat. The border is un- dulating, and the nail-cavities and holes are like those of the Gloucester shoes. The workmanship is good, and the nail-holes, six in number, well placed (fig. 97). A horse-shoe has been dis- covered within the interest- ing Roman encampment on Hod Hill, Dorsetshire. This camp appears to have been a Celtic fastness made subserv- ient to the Roman system of fig. 97 "" castrametation, and was made a great military post by the Romans. In it weapons, implements, and personal ornaments have been found in considerable numbers, all manifesting an extraordinary predominance of iron over bronze. One of the iron manu- factories or smelting-places was discovered near this camp, and from evidences attending the discovery, it was estab- HOD HILL AND ITS STORY. 261 lished probably as early as the reign of Claudius. From the coins found in this camp, and which range from an- cient British, through Augustus, Agrippa, Tiberius, Ger- manicus, Nero and Drusus, Caligula and Claudius, up to Trajan, as well as from other testimony, Mr R. Smith is led to assert, that not the ' slightest evidence has been afforded of the tenure of the camp at any period after the Roman occupation of Britain.'' In iron, there have been discovered numerous varieties of spear-heads, arrow-heads, swords, the cheek-piece of a helmet, knives, agricultural implements in great variety, bridle-bits, chains, and keys. To the courtesy of Mr Durden, of Blandford, who possesses this, and very many of the other Roman anti- quities found in the castra, I am indebted for an in- spection of the interesting shoe (fig. 98). That gentleman writes to me as follows : 'It was found within the Roman castra on Hod Hill, about three miles from Blandford, associated with many do- mestic articles of Roman manufacture. The coins hitherto found there belong to the first century, and it is presumed the shoe be- longs to the same period.' Less primitive-looking than some of our other specimens, especially those from Spring- head and Silbury Hill, it yet belongs to the same type. Its width is 3 j inches, length 4j-inches, and its breadth is a '■ Collectanea Aiitiqua, vol. vi. p. 10. 262 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. little more than that of the Springhead example. Though much oxidized, it yet retains the undulated border, and it is perforated by seven nail-holes of very large size, with the oblong socket to lodge the nail-head. Three of the holes are on each side, and one in the centre of the toe has doubtless been intended to act like the modern toe-clip, and prevent the shoe from being driven back. This fea- ture in these antique shoes is very rare, indeed this is the only instance in which I have been able to trace it. The aperture for the shank of the nail, instead of being nearly circular, as in the Springhead shoe, is quadrilateral, and of immense size, in proportion to the shoe (§ths long, by TTiths wide). One of the nails yet remains in the shoe, but the head is much worn ; though sufficient is left to prove that it was of the flattened, high, and wide T pat- tern. The shank is almost square like a carpenter's nail, and fills the hole ; and at a distance of only ^ inch from the foot surface of the shoe it bends suddenly forward as if to form a clench on the outside of the hoof. The excess- ive thickness of the nail, and the very short hold it had of the hoof, are easily accounted for. The shoe has evi- dently been for the near (left) fore foot, and the inner branch towards the heel is narrower than the outer one; it shows faint traces of a calkin, but the outer heel has a well- defined calkin formed by doubling over the extremity, as in the other specimens of this period, though this has been more clumsily done than in some of those we have noticed. The foot-surface is slightly concave from the outer to the inner rim. In the large collection of undoubted Roman remains brought to light in this castra, are three spurs of antique SPURS AND HOOF-PICK. 263 shape, two of iron (figs. 99, 100), and one of bronze (fig. 1 01). 'Had they been found unaccompanied by objects fig. 100 fig. lOI so exclusively Roman,' remarks Mr Roach Smith, 'they would, and with reason, have been called Norman or late Saxon.' These spurs are remarkable for their short neck or ' prick,' which is even less than the Anglo-Saxon specimens, and much more so than those of a later date. C. Caylus ' figures an ancient bronze spur with apertures at the ends of the branches to fasten it on, like those represented in this bronze relic from Hod Hill. At ShefFord, in Bedfordshire, what was called a hoof- pick was encountered with Roman relics : ' Of Roman relics no place in Bedfordshire has furnished the quantity or quality equal to ShefFord. About four dozen Samian cups, dishes, and paterce of various shapes and patterns have been there discovered, and at Stanford Bury, in its im- mediate vicinity. Avast variety of other reliquiae were found with these ; some splendid articles in glass, a beautiful radi- ated amber-coloured vase, quite perfect; a splendid blue jug, or simpulum, of elegant form, and the sacred knife that accompanies the simpulum on the reverses of coins of Antoninus and other emperors, as emblems of the impe- ' Recueil, vol. iii. plate 9. 254 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. rial and pontifical dignity. A few yards from hence was dug up the bones of a horse, and the ashes of his rider, together with an iron implement, evidently formed to pick the horse's hoofs, and fasten his shoes. With these were found a small silver musical instrument, a denarius of Septimus Geta, representing him at the age of nine or ten years ; another also of Geta was found near, apparently two or three years older ; these coins were of fine work- manship and in beautiful condition." We may be allowed to entertain doubts as to the article named being a hoof-pick ; such an instrument would scarcely be necessary, if at all, with such narrow shoes, which had no concavity between them and the sole, as at a later period. At Uriconium or Viroconium, now Wroxeter, in Shropshire, and which was one of the largest and most im- portant Roman towns before its destruction in the middle of the fifth eentury, a fragment of a small horse-shoe has been gathered, but it is so oxidized and imperfect that none of its details can be made out. It is now in the Shrewsbury Museum. A horse-shoe, supposed to be Roman, has been found at the ancient Conderum, Northumberlandshire. There is a drawing given of it in the Archaeologia ^liana (vol. vi. p. 3), but no particulars as to its discovery or its dimensions. It resembles somewhat, if one can judge from the figure, those in the Cirencester Museum and at Chedworth, the cover of the shoe being wide, the borders even, and the foot-surface concave. In the Rolfe collection of the Liverpool Museum is a ' Gentleman's Magazine, p. 518, 1848. REPULSE OF THE BRITONS. 265 shoe four inches long and the same in width, which evidently belongs to the era of undulating borders, small calkins, and nail-holes with deep sockets (fig.- 102). Un- fortunately there is no his- tory attached to it. This is all the evidence, so far as I can discover, which we may bring for- ward in favour of shoeing being in vogue in Celtic, or pre-Roman, and Roman times in this country. The wide extent over which the ^^ '°^ remains of hoof-armature has been traced, the relics, in the majority of cases, accompanying them, and the singular uniformity in size and character of most of the specimens, can scarcely leave a doubt as to the fact of shoeing being known at that early stage in our national history. The ancient Britons were, to a large extent, driven out of England by the Anglo-Saxons, and either fled to the continent of Europe, where they gave their name to Brittany, or retired to Wales (a.d. 447) — the Britannia Secunda of the Romans — where, amid their inaccessible mountains, they defied their treacherous invaders, and for many centuries retained their peculiar customs and laws. The fact of the former may be inferred from the traces of the Cromlech, the sacrificing-stone, and the Druid-circle ; while from the latter, part of which may have existed long ages before, but were revised by Howel Dha, or the Good, on the banks of the Tav, in a.d. 911, we have written evidence to prove that this handicraft 266 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. was not only known and practised, but that they who followed it were privileged individuals, holding somewhat high rank at Court, and treated as if their art was one of great value. That remarkable method of division or enumeration of the ancient Celtic nations, the trinal system, had divided Wales, between the years 843 and 876, into three dynasties, — North, South, and Powysland ; and it is in the code of laws applicable to each of these, that we discover the link in the chain of evidence required to bring our history into harmony with the relics just described. These laws altogether show a very advanced agrarian condition, and much beyond that of any other nation at this period. In the ' Dull O Gwynedd,' or Venedotian Code of North Wales, it is ordained that the judge of the court ' is to have from the chief groom his horse, complete from the Jirst nail to the last, and saddled, and brought to him when he rides.' Amongst the other privileges and duties of the groom of the rein, ' he is to have his land free, his horse in attendance, and his clothing like the rest ; his woollen clothing from the king, and his linen clothing from the queen.' He is ' to have the king's rain- caps in which he shall ride ; his old bridles, his old hose, his spurs, his brass-mounted saddles, and all his horse equipage. He is to officiate in the absence of the chief groom. He is to hold the king's stirrup when he mounts and when he alights, and lead his horse to the stable, and bring it to him on the following day. He is always to walk near the king, that he may serve him when necessary. He is to shoe the kings horse His protection is, from the time the smith of the Court WELSH KING'S COURT. 267 shall begin to make four horse-shoes, with their comple- ment of nails, icntii he places them under the feet of the kings horse, to convey away an offender.' The duties of the smith were : — ' He is to make all the necessaries of the palace gratuitously, except three things : these are, the suspending irons of the rim of a caldron, the blade of a coulter, the socket of a fuel-axe, and head of a spear ; for each of these three things he is to be paid the value of his labour. He is to do what is wanted by the officers of the palace gratuitously ; they are to present him with clothes for each piece of work. He is entitled to the "ceinion."' His seat in the palace is on the end of the bench, near the priest of the household. His protection is, from the time he shall begin his work in the morning until he shall finish at night.' There were three arts which the son of a taeog (or villain) was not allowed to learn 'without the permission of his lord ; and if he should learn them, he must not exercise them, except a scholar, after he has taken holy orders : these are scholarship, smithcrcft, and bardism.' To show the value put upon the extremity of a horse's limb, it is enacted that ' the worth of a horse's foot is his full worth.' ^ ' Four horse-shoes {Pecleyr pedhol),W\\\\ their com- plement of nails, are two pence in value ;' a small sum, if the Welsh money bore a like value to that then current among the Anglo-Saxons, five of their pence making one shilling. ' The ceinion was the first liquor that came into the hall. ^ Book iii. chap. 4. We are reminded by this of the saying of Jeremiah Bridges, ' No Foot no Horse ; ' or, as our French friends have it, ' Pas de Pied, pas de Cheval.' 268 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. Then follows a list and valuation of the appliances of a Celtic smith : — 'The tools of a smith, six-score pence : The large anvil, three-score pence : The brick-orne anvil, twelve pence : The bellows, eight pence : The smith's pincers, four pence : The smith's sledge, four pence : A paring-knife (for the hoofs ?— Cammec-pedeyr Keynnyanc), four pence : A bore (or punch — Kethraul), four pence : A groover (Knysyll), four pence : A vice, four pence : A hoof-rasp (Carnllyf ), four pence.' This enumeration is curious, as we observe in the list several of the articles found in the Druidical mound at Alesia, in Gaul. The Dimetian, or ' South Wales Code,' is in some respects similar to that of the Venedotian. ' The pro- tection of the groom of the rein is, whilst the smith of the Court makes four shoes 7vith their complement ofjiails, and whilst he shall shoe the kings steed! "^ The protection of the groom of the rein to the queen was the same. The smith of the Court was to have the heads of the oxen and cows slaughtered in the palace, and food for himself and servant from the palace ; as well as the feet of all the cattle,"" and other privileges. The worth of his tools was also six-score pence. ' Book i. chap. 7. ' The ancient Welsh used the legs of cow-hides for shoes. In the Venedotian Code^ it is specified that the king's apparitor is to have ' the WELSH TRIADS. 269 'Three arts which a taeog is not to teach to his son without the permission of his lord : scholarship, smithcraft, and bardism : for if the lord be passive until the tonsure be performed on the scholar ; or until the smith enter his smithy ; or until a bard be graduated in song, — he cannot afterwards enslave them,' proving that the smith was a freeman. The trinal, or tripartite, system was sometimes curiously applied : — ' There are three fires, kindled by a person on his own land, which are not cognizable in law : the fire of heath-burning, from the middle of March to the middle of April; the fire of a hamlet kiln; and the fire of a hamlet smithy, that shall be nine paces from the hamlet, and having either a covering of broom or of sod thereon.' In these laws we find the smith and his craft, horse- shoes, and horses, remarkably mixed up in those triads that seem to be so strangely related to the symbolism of the ancient world: — the mystic number 3, the pyramid, triangle, the basis of the mysterious ogive ; the number that was considered holy at the first dawn of civilization, that is found wherever variety is develo]:)ed, and that meets us everywhere. The Welsh laws afford us a striking- instance of the influence of this wonderful numeral. ' Three things for which, if found on a road, no one is bound to answer (or be responsible for taking possession of) : a horse-shoe (pedol), a needle, and a penny.' ' There are three one-footed animals : a horse, a hawk, and a legs of the oxen and kine obtained by his information^ to make boots to the height of his ankles.' ' Book ii. chap. 8. 270 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. greyhound : whosoever shall break the leg of any one of them, let him pay his whole worth.' In the Gwentian Code, applicable to the district in- habited by the Silures, it is written: 'The protection of the groom of the rein is, to conduct the person ivJiile the smitli of the Court makes four shoes, with their sets of nails, and shall shoe the kings steecU ' The groom of the rein has the king's daily saddle, his panel, his bridle, his spurs, his hose, and his rain-cap when discarded ; also his old horseshoes {hen pedolen), and his shoeing-irons {heijrn pedoli)! ' In the triads of the ' Cyrethian ' we find : ' Three free sons of the bond : a clerk, a bard, and a smith. Three bond sons of the free : the sons of tlie above.' Of the king's hall it is ordered : ' The servants are appor- tioned in three parts, one third to the queen The smith igof) of the Court is to sit in a chair before the judge (near a column), which column the silentiary is to strike, on the side furthest from the king, when com- manding silence.' In the ' Leges Wallice,' of about the same date, there is also another paragraph relating to our subject : ' Refugium gwastrant awyn (equisonis) est, con- ducere hominem tanto tempore quanto faber curie faciet HIP" ferra cum clauis, et cum eo ferret dextrarium regis.' ^ Oxen alone were used for the plough : ' Neither horses, mares, or cows, are to be put to the plough ; and if they should be put, and abortion should ensue to either mares or cattle, or the horses be injured, it is not to be compensated.' ^ ' Book i. chap. 6. " Book i. chap. vii. ^ Venedotian Code. Book iii. chap. 24. SIR WALTER SCOTT AND NORMAN HORSE-SHOE. 271 These extracts from the ancient laws of Wales which may have been — and we have every reason to believe were — in existence centuries before the reign of Howel the Good, show in the most unmistakable manner that farriery was practised and held in high estimation by the primitive people of Britain, that the Court farrier was a sacred sort of personage, bn whose shoulders the mystic mantle of the Druid iron-workers had fallen, and whose handicraft was not to be practised by every one. It is very strange that, in relation to this subject, these laws of Wales have never before been examined. Sir Walter Scott appears to have sanctioned the popular opinion, afterwards maintained by Sir F. Meyrick, Bracy Clark, and other notabilities, that these ancient Britons, the Welsh, did not shoe their horses. In one of his miscellaneous poems, the ' Norman Horse-Shoe,' com- posed in 1 806, he relates an engagement on the banks of the Rymny, between the Norman Lords-Marchers of Monmouthshire, Clare, Earl of Striguil and Pembroke, and Neville, Baron of Chepstow, and the Welshmen of Glamorgan. The piece is prefaced by the announce- ment, that the Welsh, inhabiting a mountainous country, and possessing only an inferior breed of horses, were usually unable to resist the shock of the Anglo-Norman cavalry. On this occasion they were successful, not- withstanding that the horses of the latter were shod: — ' Red glows the forge in Striguil's bounds. And hammers din, and anvil sounds. And armourers, with iron toil. Barb many a steed for battle's broil. Foul fall the hand which bends the steel Around the courser's thundering heel. 272 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. That e'er shall dint a sable wound On fair Glamorgan's velvet ground ! Old Chepstow's brides may curse the toil. That arm'd stout Clare for Cambrian broil ; Their orphans long the art may rue. For Neville's war-horse forged the shoe. No more the stamp of armed steed Shall dint Glamorgan's velvet mead ; Nor trace be there, in early spring, Save of the Fairies' emerald ring.' After the evidence we have adduced, there is no reason to suppose that Glamorgan's veh^et mead was not as likely to be dinted by the shoe-print of the Welsh horses after, as doubtless it had been long centuries before, this -sanguinary skirmish ; or that Neville's horse's hoofs were any better prepared for marching and fighting than that of the British chief who defeated him. Besides all this, there are certain traditions afloat be- longing to an early period, concerning hoof-prints and marks of horse-shoes on stones, which, if incorrect, so far as an examination of these impressions proves them to be, yet point to the prevalence of shoeing at a very remote age. For instance, there is an old tradition that, in the west of England, not far from the Devil's Coit, St Colomb, and standing on the edge of the Gossmoor, there is a large stone, upon which are deeply-impressed marks, which a little fancy may convert into the imprints of four horse- shoes. This is ' King Arthur's Stone,' and these marks were made, so says tradition, by the horse upon which the ancient British king rode when he resided at Castle Denis, and hunted on these moors.' ' Romances of the West of England. First Series, p. 204. TRADITIONS OF HOOF-PRINTS. 27,3 Sir Walter Scott, in tiie 'Bridal of Triermain,' ' de- scribes an adventure of the same King, where he is tempted to drink from a goblet by Guendolen ; but when he— ' Lifted the cup, in act to drink, A drop escaped the goblet's brink — Intense as liquid fire from hell. Upon the charger's neck it fell. Screaming with agony and fright He bolted twenty feet upright — The peasant still can show the dint Where his hoofs lighted on the flint.' It is remarkable to find this tradition of hoof-prints in existence beyond England, and to note that it refers to nearly as early a date. On the black rocks of the Dame de Meuse, in the Ardennes, Belgium, is still shown the in- effaceable imprint left there by the horse on which Renaud was mounted. This valiant knight was the supposed con- temporary of Charlemagne ; his astounding deeds of prowess almost rival those of our own Arthur, and towards the termination of his career he becam^e a chevalier mason, carrying on his back all the enormous blocks of stone re- quired to build the ' Sainte Eglise ' at Cologne. My curiosity was considerably excited, when, in the course of recent researches, I found that a correspondent to ' Notes and Queries,' had sent the following letter to that valuable periodical, in January, 1864: 'Can any of your readers inform me when horses were first shod with iron ? I have just had brought to me a stone about five inches over, on which is plainly impressed the mark of a pony's or mule's shoe. It was found near the scythe- ' Canto ii. 10. 18 274 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. stone pits, on the Blackdown Hills, between Honiton and Cullompton.' With some difficulty, I at length discovered the gen- tleman into whose hands this geological specimen had fallen, Mr Matthews, of Bradninch, near Cullompton, Devonshire, and on my applying to him for an inspection of it, he most kindly and promptly sent it to me. The resemblance of the impression to the form of a horse-shoe was undoubtedly most striking (fig. 103), and in fig- 103 size it exactly corresponded to one of the Roman Glouces- ter shoes then in my possession. There were no bulgings, however, on the outer margin ; and yet it was so remark- ably like the shoe, and like the impression it would make on sand or clay, that any one at the first glance, and who was not a geologist, would have had no hesitation in affirming it to be due to that cause. But an examination of the stone effectually demolished such an opinion. It belonged to a kind called in technical language ' chert,' a ^ THE SEAT OF A ZOOPHYTE. ^16 sand-Stone that underlies the chalk formation, and occurs in the lower green sand ; and the imprint had been formed long ages before horses or Druid blacksmiths had worn or made hoof-plates on the more recent and superficial strata of our present earth. Sir C. Lyell has given an opinion with regard to this curiosity. He says, ' Most of the horse-shoe impressions, of which I have seen a great many in the older stratified rocks of Scotland, have been thought to imply the former presence of medusae, but this is a mere conjecture, derived from finding similar impressions made on the sands on which such gelatinous bodies rest. They have nothing to do with the footprints of horses.' Professor Tennant, of the Strand, London, most ob- ligingly undertook to explain the nature of the horse-shoe imprint, and the mode of its formation. It was only necessary for him to fit into it a petrified zoophyte, whose base, like the bottom of a champagne bottle, had perhaps made scores of these ' Man Friday ' tracks, to settle the question. One of these creatures had settled itself upon the soft sand, when there was nobody present to note the circumstance ; the almost circular indent made by its cup- like basis had escaped obliteration, the sand became rock, — fine, close, and hard enough to sharpen a scythe-blade, and to render the Devonshire scythe-stone pits famous ; and long after subsequent races of creatures had passed away — even the Druids and aboriginal horses, the whilom resting-place of this half-animal, half-vegetable, had been rev^ealed, and a chip knocked off one of its sides. So much for the traditions of hoof-prints. i8* 276 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. After the departure of the Romans from Britain, and the invasion of the Saxons, Angles, and Jutes, we find history for a long period nothing but a tissue of traditions. We may believe that the Saxons occasionally, if not con- stantly, shod their horses ; but whether in the same fashioned shoe that the ancient Britons and Gauls used, is a matter for doubt. Mr Syer Cuming ' says he has seen a shoe very like in form that which Chifflet describes as found in Childeric's tomb, and which was said to have been discovered with Saxon weapons in Kent. It was of small size, very thin, and much oxidized. Elsewhere, at a later period, he remarks : 'The question regarding the employ- ment of horse-shoes by the Teutonic tribes of Britain has received some slight elucidation. I feel confident that the Anglo-Saxons shod their steeds, and that they called the metal shoe calc-rond, i.e. rim-shoe; though Bosworth says the name signifies a round hoof; and my confidence is supported by the fact of the discovery of some horse- shoes in a Saxon burial-place in Berkshire. Mr T. Wills permits me to lay before you a horse-shoe, which there seems good reason to regard as of Saxon origin ; it is about three inches and seven-eighths long, exceedingly thin, agreeing in this respect with the previously-mentioned horse-shoe found with Saxon remains in Kent, and the iron of which it is composed is of that peculiar ropy kind, so characteristic of the Anglo-Saxon era. It is sharp at the extremities, has no calkins, and the six large, square nail-holes are cut clean through the substance, and not counter-sunk to receive the nail-heads. This curious specimen was recovered from the northern side of the ' Journal of the Archaeological Association, vol. vi. THE ANGLO-SAXONS. 277 Thames, about midway between Dowgate and Blackfriars Bridge.' ' We may be allowed to entertain some doubts as to the meaning of the Anglo-Saxon term ' calc-rond,' espe- cially as a}3plied to a ' rim-shoe ' for horses. The Saxon for shoe is ' sceo ' or ' pcoh ; ' and the verb to shoe ' fcec- zan ; ' while the smith is written as in German, fmis. It would appear certain that, as with the invasion of Gaul by the Franks, another form of shoe gradually came into use in England on the arrival of the Saxons. We have but little to lead us to believe that this German race cared much for the horse, or employed it to any ex- tent at first. In this respect they resembled the Frank?. In process of time, however, they became expert horse- men, and placed much value upon the noble beast ; in this they again followed the example of the Franks — a change that might be attributed, in both instances, to their having come into contact with another race — the Celtic, — to whom the horse had for ages been an all-im- portant adjunct of existence. This is rendered apparent from the fact, that those of the Britons who cared to remain among the invaders, were intrusted with the studs of the Anglo-Saxon kings. In the laws of Ina, writ- ten towards the termination of the seventh or commence- ment of the eighth century, the ' hors-wealh ' stands in high estimation. This functionary was a Welshman, or rather an ancient Briton, who had the charge of the king's stud, his knowledge of horses apparently justifying his being selected to attend to them, as the British inhabitants excelled in the care and management of these creatures, ' Op. cit. vol. xiv. 278 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. and were therefore preferred as keepers of the royal stables. The ' hors-weard,' or watchers of the lord's horses, are also specially mentioned in the laws of ^thelbirht and Ina (sixth and seventh centuries). The Anglo-Saxon laws, it must be remembered, are far behind those of the Britons, and leave us fewer details concerning the domestic life of the people. We will see hereafter that the smith and his craft occupied a somewhat important position with this people, though perhaps less than with the Britons. So late as the time of Bede (seventh century) we find it stated that the English only began to use saddle-horses (631), when prelates and others rode on horseback, who till that time were wont to go on foot. But if, he adds, upon any urgent occasion they were obliged to ride, they used mares only. FosbrcToke thinks this notice refers to the heathen Anglo-Saxon priests, who were disgraced by being compelled to ride on mares. It is true that in several parts of the world it is reckoned an indignity to use a mare for this purpose — in South America, for exam- ple. And in Java it appears to be looked upon as a punishment, for Crawfurd ' mentions that, in the i6th century, a rebel chief was subdued by the Prince of Mataram, and the conqueror, without offering him any further injury, directed a lame mare to be brought, on which, barebacked, and with a miserable bridle, he mounted his discomfited rival, and in this plight dismissed him to his chief, to tell the story of his disgrace. ' It is necessary to explain,' adds Mr Crawfurd, ' that in Java it is considered a disgrace to ride a mare ; none but the meanest of the people using mares for the saddle.' ' Indian Archipelago, vol. ii. p. 324. SPORTING PRIESTS. 279 The indignity of being compelled to ride mares did not continue very long with the English monks, who soon became owners of the best-conditioned horses in the land, and were as devoted slaves to hunting, and other amusements of a similar character, as any beyond the monastery doors. When the archdeacon of Richmond arrived at Bridlington, Yorkshire (in 12 16), to be in- ducted to the priory, he was accompanied by ninety-seven horses, twenty-one dogs, and three hacks. In 1256, Walter de Suffield, bishop of Norwich, bequeathed by will his pack of hounds to the king ; whilst the abbot of Tavistock, who had also a pack, was commanded by his bishop, in 1348, to break it up. William de Clowne, abbot of Leicester, who died in 1377, had so good a stud, and was so skilful in hare-hunting, that the king, his son Edward, and several noblemen, paid him an annual pen- sion that they might hunt with him. WyclifFe, who lived at this time, in his ' Trialogue,' inveighs against the priests for their 'fair horses, and jolly gay saddles and bridles ringing by the way.' And Chaucer does as much in his admirable delineation of the monk of his day :— ' A monk there was, a fair for the mastery ; An out-rider that loved venerie (hunting) ; A manly man to be an abbot able. Full many a dainty horse had he in stable. Therefore he was a prickasour (hard rider) a right : Greyhounds he had as swift as foul (birds) of flight : Of pricking (hard riding), and of hunting for the hare Was all his lust ; for no cost would he care.' On the Continent, in 11 80, the third council of Lateran prohibited this amusement while bishops were 28o HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. journeying from one abbey to another, and restricted them to a train of forty or fifty horses !' But the Anglo-Saxons, even so early as the time of Bede,^ in their youth or ' childhood,' appear to have ex- celled in horse-racing. Hunting on horseback was a favourite pastime, and we are told how long the chases were, and how rugged the paths. ^ An ealdorman's'' heriot or claim to that title was the fact of his possessing four horses saddled and four not saddled, with arms and money ; while the king's thegn or baron must own a moiety of that number, and the middling thegn or knight, one- fourth .^ Horses must have been numerous and looked upon as an important acquisition, even by the Danish invaders ; for in the reign of Ethelred (866) these people made one of their incursions into England in numbers never before equalled, and were allowed by that monarch to locate themselves for the winter in East Anglia. So bold were they in their strength, that they levied demands upon the king ; and among the many items he was compelled to furnish was a supply of horses, which mounted the great- est part of their army.^ Horses also appear to have been very acceptable gifts. For, 926, we read that Hugues, the son of King ' Vell.y. Hist, de France, vol. iii. p. 236. ^ Hist. Eccles., lib. v. cap. 6, 3 Life of St Dunstan. Cotton MSS. Cleop. B. 13. '• The ' ealdorman,' or ' aldormanus,' was, among the Anglo-Saxons, originally a dignitary of the highest rank, hereditarily and officially, and nearly synonymous with that of King. 5 Leges Anglo-Saxonicae. * Asser. De Rebus Gestis ^Ifredi, p. ij. Edit. Oxford, 1772. SAXON CAFALRY. 281 Robert of France, presented Athelstan of England with three hundred fine coursers and their trappings, besides other valuables.' Athelstan enacted that 'no man shall send any horses over sea, but such as be presents.''' In the reign of this monarch it is probable that horses were used for ploughing; for in one of his laws (16) it is ordained that ' every man have to the plough two well- horsed men.' From these laws we also learn, that a horse was valued at half a pound, ' if it be so good ; and if it be inferior, let it be paid for by the worth of its appearance, and not by that which the man values it at who owns it, unless he have evidence that it be as good as he says.' About this period, too, tournaments began to be popular among the Anglo-Saxons. In 934, Henry the First of Germany published his institutions concerning them, and certain classes and persons were forbidden to engage in them under penalty of losing their horses.^ Even previous to this period, Nithard mentions that some French gentlemen fought in play on horseback.'* It has often been asserted that the Anglo-Saxons had no cavalry in the days of Harold, and that their defeat at the battle of Hastings was chiefly due to the absence of that arm from their force. This would appear, however, to be incorrect. At the decisive battle between that un- fortunate monarch and the Danish invader, Hardrada, at Stamford Bridge, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, only a ^ MSS. Cleop. B. 5. • ' Nemo equum aliquem ultra mare mittat nisi eum donare velit.' — Legis Atheist. 3 Goldastus. Constitutioncs Imperialis, vol. ii. p. 41. * Turner. Hist. Anglo-Saxons, vol. iii. p. 130. 282 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. few days before the appearance of the Normans and the battle of Hastings, the Anglo-Saxons were so strong in cavalry that the Danes, who were chiefly infantry, had to dispose themselves in a particular order of battle in order to repel the fierce attacks of these horsemen/ After the defeat of the Danes, Harold hurried back to London to meet the Normans, but through disgust at his behaviour, and perhaps owing to the long distance and the fatigue they had already undergone, his northern army appears to have been almost, if not entirely, dispersed. But even at the battle of Hastings, though the footmen formed the chief part of his army, there was a force of cavalry ; this, however, was purposely dismounted and in- corporated with the other portion, owing to the position of the Anglo-Saxons on hilly ground. The weapons of our Anglo-Saxon ancestors were purely Teutonic, and so far as the examples furnished by their graves afford evidence, it would appear they bor- rowed nothing from the Romans. In battle they fought as Saxons ; and it was only when they came into contact, socially, with the people who had preceded them, that they felt the superiority of the Romans in the arts of peace.^ They carried their manners and customs with them into England, as well as their peculiar arms and equipment, and with these also, perhaps, their own form of horse- shoe. Certain it is, that from the time of their achieving their supremacy in England, the characteristic bulging- bordered shoe of the earlier ages appears rapidly to have gone out of fashion. A specimen of the new kind of ' See Siiorre's Sagas. ' Wright. The Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon, p. 415. SAXON GRAVES. 28,3 shoe, which was found in Fleet Ditch, in 1847, '^'^^^ make this change manifest (fig. 104). This may have been of a later date than some of the other Saxon shoes, but it was in all probability in use before the Norman conquest. It was very small, thin, and without calkins. Mr Syer Cuming, alluding to this shoe and the alteration in its shape, lays some stress on the form as- %. 104 sumed by the inner margin, which in the Celtic pattern, he says, is the figure of a Norman arch, and this Saxon shoe that of an arch of the 15 th century. The very ancient specimen in the British Museum, however, which was found with Roman remains, is narrow across the toe, and the third York Museum example is the same. In one of the Fairford graves opened by Mr Wylie,' and which apparently belonged to the Saxon period, a small, thin plate of iron Mike a miniature horse-shoe was found.' In the drawing given, however, there are no traces of nail-holes. At Caenby, near Lincoln, Mr Jarvis ^ reports, that in a tumulus opened by some workmen, there was found a skeleton, a sword-blade, horse-furniture, and a horse-shoe. This was supposed to have been a Saxon grave. No drawing or description is given of this shoe. Some years ago, a Saxon tomb was opened on Brighton Downs, and with some characteristic remains ' Fairford Graves. Oxford, 1852. Akerman. Remains of Pagan Saxondom. 284 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. was found a horse-shoe, which fell into the hands of the late Mr Faussett. After that gentleman's death, his col- lection of antiquities passed to Mr Mayer, of Liverpool, who presented them to the Free Public Museum of that town. Unfortunately, of the dozen specimens of horse- shoes in that building there appears to be but litde, if any, history to be obtained ; nearly all the specimens be- long to the Rolfe collection, and but one to that named the Faussett, and this, I presume, is that from the grave at Brighton. Mr Mayer appears, from the state- ment given to me by the sub-curator of the museum, to think it might be Roman, but the shoe is not of the usual Roman type. It has apparently eight nail-holes, is 5^ inches long and 4.^ wide, and the breadth of the branch is about ij inch (fig. 105). It may be added, that in the Rolfe collection there are two or three specimens of apparently the same age, and several of a later period. But these lose their value through having lost the history of their discovery. Two remarkably curious specimens of a similar kind to that from Fleet Ditch were discovered in 1854, at Horred Hill, parish of Gillingham, Kent, deeply imbedded in brick clay. In appearance they look even more primi- tive than that example, and one (fig. 106) would appear to have been made during the transition from the Roman to fig. 105 GILLINGHAM SPECIMENS. 28^ the Saxon shape. It is of the same size as the Hod Hill shoe, but has more breadth of iron. Tlie border is not undulated, and the nail- holes, though large, are square ; there is no socket for the nail-head. One side, which has no calkin, has four nail-holes ; and the other side, which has a calkin formed exactly like '^s- '°^ the Roman and Gaulish specimens by doubling over the extremity of the branch, has only three. The iron appears to be remarkably good and fibrous, and much resembles that of the Saxon weapons made of that metal. The other shoe (fig. 107) is almost identically the same so far as re- gards size, but it is ap- parently of miore recent date than the other, though still very primitive. It has two calkins raised at the extremities of the branches, and these, though very low and thin, are formed as in modern times. Wide at the toe and sides, it is very nar- row and light towards the heels, has four square nail-holes on one side, and three on the other. Both specimens are very light, slightly concave to the foot, and convex to the ground surface, and would fit a horse about thirteen or 107 386 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. fourteen hands high. From circumstances connected with their discovery, they were surmised to be at least a thousand years old. Some years ago there were found in a graveyard in Berkshire (already alluded to by Mr Cuming) three horse-shoes accompanied by purely Saxon remains. Drawings of these and their ac- companying relics are now in the possession of Mr C. Roach Smith, and to him I am indebted for per- mission to copy the former. It will be seen that one of the shoes (fig. fig. io8 " 1 08), the smallest (4 inches in length and width), is of the primitive type, and still retains a nail; while the other two (figs. 109, iio) are com- fig. 109 lifi. no paratively large and heavy, one with calkins, the other without ; both have the even border, and but little to distinguish them from mediaeval horse-shoes. The occur- rence of these two varieties in the same place, along with unmistakable Saxon relics, testifies that they were both in use at this period, and reminds us of the Prankish speci- BATTLE FLATS. 287 mens found in Belgium. Mr Roach Smith informs me that no particular account of the find reached him. We have evidence that, in the time of Harold, horses must have been generally shod for service in the field. Dart,' in Piis History of York, says that at Battle Flats, six miles east of that city, the scene of the conflict between Harold and the Danes under Tostig (a.d. 1066), 'the farmers in ploughing frequently turn up a very small sort of horse-shoes, which would only fit an ass or the least breed of northern horses ; ' and Camden,^ in speaking of the ancient village of Aldby, remarks : ' Aldby may have been a Roman before it was a Saxon villa. Stanford bridge has the name of Battle Bridge in writings after the Conquest, such as the instrument containing Oswis' trans- lation, but it now keeps its antient name, and has no memorial of the battle except a piece of ground on the left hand of the bridge called Battle Flats, in plowing which of late years they find pieces of swords, and a sort of small horse-shoes that could only fit an ass or the smallest breed of northern horses, but are proofs of the antiquity of shoeing in England.' It is much to be regretted that no description can be found of these articles. In the Anglo-Saxon manuscripts of an early date, we have additional proof that horses wore shoes. In the ac- companying illustration (fig. Ill, next page) of a riding Saint, copied from an illuminated manuscript (Tiberius C. 6. fol. 1 1.) in the Harleian collection of the British Mu- seum, and belonging, it is surmised, to the nth century, ' Eboracum, p. 84. " Britannia, vol. iii. p. 69. 288 HORSE-SHOES JND HORSE-SHOEING. the horse is shod in the most unequivocal manner, each hoof exhibiting three nails. fig. Ill In another (Plut. 2278), representing a group of Anglo-Saxon equestrians, all the horses are represented as shod, the shoes having calkins, and retained on the hoofs apparently by four nails on each side. In the Cottonian collection is another manuscript (Nero C. 4), with a series of illustrations of the life of our Saviour, in which is a royal cavalcade, whose horses' feet are all protected with shoes ; and also a picture of the flight into Egypt (fol. 7), where the mule or ass has its hoofs yet more distinctly armed. In the same volume is an MATTHEJr OF PARIS. 289 Anglo-Saxon calendar, and for the month of May there is shown a nobleman hawking on horse-back, the feet of the steed being carefully shod, like those of a hawking equestrian of the 14th century, whose portrait willbe re- ferred to shortly. Matthew of Paris speaks of horses both shod and un- shod, and is angry with an archbishop who demanded shoes for unshod horses.' In the ' Chronicon Monasterii de Abingdon,' a docu- ment probably of the loth or nth century, under the head of rents due to the hostillar is the following entry : ' Hi sunt redditus quos habet hostilarius, ad Jerramenia equorum, ad usum monachorum, pauperum, peregrin- orum, emenda.'^ In the 'Speculum Saxonica' (lib. ii. art. 12), it is mentioned that shoes were only applied to the fore-feet. ' Four handsfull of corn shall be given to each horse during the day and night, and the horses shall be shod on the fore-feet (in anteriorilms pedibus equi suffer rentur)^. In the 'Jus Feudale Saxon.' (cap. 34, pt. 15) it is ordained, ' Their horses ought only to be shod on the fore-feet, and not on the hind-feet. '^ It would seem that the Anglo-Saxons experienced the same inconvenience from frost that we now do, for we read that in 832, the year began with excessive rains, and a frost succeeded, which was so sudden and intense, that the iced roads were nearly impassable by horses.'* Horses were shod in Scotland, in all probability, at as early a period as in England, though perhaps not regularly. ' Fosl-roke. Op. cit. "" De Consuetudinibus Abbendoniae. ^ Du Cange. Glossarium. "* Annales Ruberi, p. ';6. 19 290 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. The first written evidence I can find that bears upon this point, is in the laws of Malcolm II. (a.d. 1003 — 1033), which were framed and in force for forty or fifty years before the Norman invasion of England. In one of these laws it is ordained, that when a man was condemned to death, the Crown took possession of his ' hrohen^ unshod horses, and not more than 20 sheep, goats, and pigs,' ' etc. More than four centuries later, this statute appears to have been extant ; for in the new law of James III. (1487, Parliament 13, cap. 1 13), it was limited only to those horses intended for servile work {operas seniles destinantur-) ; for ifthey were unbroken {indomitos) or intractable ; or broken and shod, or, in fine, capable of carrying saddles, and being ridden upon, they were not to belong to the Crown/ The Norman invasion and conquest of England (1066) appears to have given rise to the supposition in many quarters, that the art of shoeing was introduced into this country by William the Conqueror. This is quite a mistake, as we have sufficiently shown. Horses had been shod for many centuries in Britain before the arrival of the Normans ; and though this practice may not have been, for various reasons, a general one, yet its benefits were sufficiently manifest to make it appreciated, and resorted to in particular circumstances. Another proof, if any more were needed, that the Saxons employed this defence for their horses' feet, would be found in the fact, that Wel- ' Leges Malcomi Secundi, cap, 3. De Feodo Institiarii, Clericorum, etc. 4. ' Item, de homine condemnato ad mortem. Coram Justitiaro, coronator habebit eqiios domitos non ferratos ; oves infra viginti, capras, et porcos, infra decern,' etc. ^ Skeene. Regiam Majestatem Scotiy()n, p. 241, 1857. 20 * 3o8 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. fig. ii8 The instrument found at Chateau Beauregard, Hautes- Pyrenees, and now in the ^Cluny Museum, "belongs to the lirst class (figs. 1 1 8, 119), and is shown here in profile, as well as upper face. One of those discovered at Vieil- Evreux is also figured (fig. 120), and agrees with fig. 1 1 5 found at Dalheim. Of a more peculiar shape, but yet evidently intended for the same purpose, are two of the number recovered at Remen- necourt, and delineat- fig. 119 ed by M. de Widrange, an antiquarian of Bar-le-Duc (figs. 121, 122). Figure 121 is remarkable for its pos- sessing no rings or ears, or anything by which it could be attached to the hoof, supposing it to have been in- M. DEFAYS' SPECIMEN. 3^9 tended for such a purpose; and figure 122 is not much better adapted for a sandal. fig- 123 fig. 121 fig- "2 Professor Defays gives a drawing of an- other of this division, with an eye and ring posteriorly, two side clips without hooks, and the sole pierced by two round holes (fig- 123)- Figures of the second type are as numerous, if not more so, than those of the first ; and they have also been found with them, and with nailed shoes, in various excavations on Roman and Frankish sites. The Museum of sg ^^^ 310 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. fig- 125 Cluny, France,- ex- hibits one as a hip- posandal, and is here shown in profile and upper surface (figs. 124. 125) ; and a simi- lar one, found at Scrupt in 1846, is also delin- eated (fig. 126). This, M. de Widrange as- sured the Abbe Cochet, had been reported by the workman who fig. 126 found it, as yet attached to the limb of the animal by means of straps that had been first passed round the pastern, then through the eyelet in front, and buckled underneath the hook behind. The Abbe, however, receives this inform- ation with suspicion, and I think in this he is justified/ ' ' Je le declare franchementj j'ai quelque peine a, accepter cette as- sertion, toute positive qu'elle parait. La raison principale, c'est que M. de Widranges n'a pas vu lui-meme le fait qu'il racoate ; qu'il le tient MULE AND OX SANDALS. 311 Figure 127 is a drawing of another of this class exhibited fig. 127 in the Museum of Besanqon, which differs yet more in shape, though, unlike the last, it has only a single clip on each side. M. Megnin,' who does not appear to have noticed the existence of the class to be next described, evidently believes the two kinds to have been employed as chaussiires for domestic animals. ' It is certain, indeed, that these shoes could only have been worn by very slow- paced pack animals, such as mules and oxen, and that the name given to them by the Abbe Cochet, hippo-sandals, is not suitable ; it ought to be mulo-sandals or bu-sandals. This last designation was originated by M. Delacroix,^ d'ouvriers toujours disposes a en imposer ou a se faire illusion a eux- memes, et enfin, parce que notre experience nous a montre conibien il est difficile que le pied du cheval se soit suffisamment conserve pour etre aussi bien restitue, meme par rhomme le plus competent. Quoi- que M. de Widranges soit un fort honnete et tres-consciencieux arch- eologue, je lui demanderai la permission de citer, sous sa seule re- sponsabilite, les faits qui precedent, faits dont I'importance est d'autant plus grand que jusqu'ici, en France, ils sont seuls de leur genre.' — Le Tomleau de Chi/cleric, p. 1 54. ' La Marechalerie Fran9aise, p. 40. Paris, 1867. Memoires de la Soc. d'Emulation du Doubs, 1864. 312 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. who has found iron solece which exactly fitted the foot of an ox, and even one that covered only one claw (figs. 128, 129) ; but it is none the less certain that some of the sokce could be applied to the feet of mules.' Specimens of the third model are not apparently so numer- ous. In addition to the one represented as found at Dalheim, an example is given of a still more peculiar arti- cle of this class found fig. 129 at Abbaye Wood, Can- ton St Saens, France, in 1 861 ; the Abbe Cochet designates it a ' hippo-sandal.'' It is remarkable for the two stud-like processes fixed to its lower surface, and for the slight inclination to- wards the front of its united branches, one of which has been partially de- stroyed by oxida- tion (fig. 130). Another good specimen of the 130 ' La Seine Inferieure, Hist, et Archaeol. Paris, 1864. I ENGLISH SPECIMENS. 3^3 third class is from an excavation in London, and is de- scribed by C. Roach Smith. ' It differs but little from the one found in the Roman camp at Dalheim, and is six inches in length (fig, 131). The British Mu- seum contains six of these mysterious in- struments, one of them more curious than any yet discovered. It has only one real lateral fig. 131 clip, the usual two being quite in front, where they are clumsily united to form a projecting hook. The sole is very narrow, and much oxidized on the ground sur- face, and the ordinary hook-like termination at the end is present (fig. 132). The others be- long to the three classes ; one of the first has the side clips long and thin, and looking as if the hooks had been worn ^^- '3^ or rusted off, and the sole had been repaired by welding on a thin and narrow strip of iron in shape somewhat like a horse-shoe. The actual sole is six inches long, but the total length is six and three-quarters inches. The width across at the clips is four and three-quarters inches. The others are somewhat different in length and ' Catalogue of the Museum of Loudon Antiquities, p. J J, 1854. Collectanea Antiqua, vol. iii. p. 128. 314 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. width. One from the Bridge of Reignac, belonging to the second class, and presented by M. Picot to Sir J. Lubbock, by whom it was given to the museum, mea- sures six inches long, three and a half wide, and the height of the front hook is two and three-quarters inches. It is inscribed ' Fer de Cheval.' Two of the specimens exhibited have the flat strips of iron forming the clips welded on to the sole, which in one of them is only two and three-eighths inches wide. To compensate for this want of breadth, these project a little from each side before being turned upwards at an acute angle. The ground-surface, as already mentioned, is notched or furrowed in various directions. The workmanship of all of them is very rough and primitive, but the welding appears to be solid, and the iron of excellent quality. They are compara- tively light, the sole plate being generally the heaviest and strongest part. Springhead, near Gravesend, Kent, so prolific in antiquities belonging to the British, Roman, and sub- sequent periods, furnishes us with two specimens of the first and second models. These, through the obliging kindness of Mr Sylvester, I have been allowed to inspect very carefully. Figure 133 has the oval or pear-shaped sole with the wide opening in the middle. One of the side clips has been oxidized completely through, and the other has been temporarily repaired ; it is narrow, and the height is three and seven-eighths inches. The point of the hook inclines inwards. The sole is worn and oxidized to a thin edge in front, and is thicker behind towards the hook. The specimen is little more than an aggregation of rusty flakes ; its length, not includ- SPRINGHEAD SPECIMENS. 315 ing the hook at tlie extremity, is five and a half inches, and hg- 133 the width across the sole between the clips is four and a half inches ; behind this part it contracts very consider- ably, and in bending slightly upwards expands a little. Figure 134 is altogether a larger instrument. Its fig- 134 length within the front and back hooks is six and a half 3i6 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. inches ; the width between the side clips is four and a half inches, though the sole before and behind these is much narrower. This specimen is also much corroded, and the terminal hooks at the extremity of the side clips, if they ever were present, have disappeared. The face of the front hook is worn, as if it had been rubbed on the ground, or against some hard substance. The sole has transverse and longitudinal grooves. One side, as shown in this copy from a photograph, is much more v/orn than the other. The side clips are wide and have a slight twist inwards towards the front. One identical in shape with this was found in London, and is represented in the 'Archaeological Journal' (vol. xi. p. 416). Another has been found at Langton, Wiltshire, and two discovered at Camerton are now in the museum of the Bristol Philo- sophical Institution. Another example of the third type, resembling, in all its essential features, those found at Dalheim ; Abbaye Wood, France ; and in London, was picked up in the neighbourhood of Zazenhausen, near Stuttgart, among the roots of an old tree which was being removed. This was in a place where it appears the Romans had been really settled, for the remains of Roman baths, as well as a number of arms and such-like articles of un- doubted Roman origin, have been gathered there. It consists of a ground plate (fig. 135), corre- sponding, as Grosz ' informs us, with the form of a horse's ' Op. cit. p. 13. STLTTGART. 31? sole ; into it is riveted three studs, or we might term them calks, about half-an-inch high, the foremost of which is placed in the middle of the toe of the plate, and the other two are placed on each side behind. From both sides of the back part springs a clasp or band as is usual in this type, about an inch broad, which inclines forwards and upwards, uniting in the middle, about two inches above the ground plate, to form a round eyelet or ring, through which Grosz supposed a thong was drawn. There is a hook for the same purpose at the rear of the plate, this veterinarian observes ; though whether the article served as a so-called pathological shoe for diseased hoofs, as a temporary expedient when horses had lost a shoe, or whether destined for hoofs which were too much worn to be shod, he could not decide. After an inspection of so many of these articles, which are apparently Roman, or belonging to the Roman period, the question arises, are they justly designated horse, mule, or bullock sandals ? or have the Romans, or the people in whose territory they were found, ever employed them as a defence for the feet of tlieir horses ? We have noticed that at one time they were supposed to be supports for lamps ; ' also lychnuchi pensiles, or hang- ing lamp-holders ; the specimen found at Langton, Wilt- shire, Sir S. Meyrick supposed to be a spur ; then they were imagined to be ancient stirrups,^ and now they are almost universally designated ' horse-sandals.' Professor Defays even contrives to adjust one to an animafs foot, though it must be rather uncomfortable about the heel ; ' Gr'waud de la l^ncelle. Arts et Metiers des Anciens. ' Cochet. Le Tombeau de Childeric, p. 164, note. 3i8 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. and v^eterinary surgeon Bieler asserts they were in ordin- ary use ; while others declare they were only employed as temporary shoes, to be applied when the hoofs were too much worn or the feet diseased. Baron Ziegesar, of Berg, after reading the report of M. Namur regarding the Dal- heim discoveries, wrote to the President of the Archaeolo- gical Society of Luxembourg, informing him that, in his opinion, the sabots, or hippo-sandals, were intended to be put on the horses' feet at night during a halt, and that they were never used for marching.' It is, indeed, diffi- cult to understand why defences should be required when the animals were at rest, and the hoofs not exposed to attrition, and why they should be left off at the very time they were likely to be needed. If difficult to be retained on the hoofs during the day, they would not be less so at night when the horses would be lying down and getting up frequently, and the uncouth projections behind, before, and on each side of the feet, would be certain to entangle the animals wearing them, and either cause these clumsy contrivances to be torn off, or expose the horses and their riders to serious accidents. Mr Roach Smith, at first incredulous as to this appli- cation of these articles, appears to have become convinced of its correctness by discovering that in Holland horses yet wear sandals. * At the present day in Holland it is usual to bind long flat iron shoes to the horses' feet. They are fastened with a strap of leather, and are somewhat in the form of an ordinary horse-shoe, but much longer and wider ; and, did we not know they are commonly used, ' Pub. de la Soc. Arch, de Luxembourg, vol. xii. p. 163. HORSE-SANDALS IN HOLLAND. 319 would seem almost as unsuitable as the iron shoes under consideration. Singular as the shape of these iron im- plements certainly is, we shall probably not be wrong in explaining them as veritable iron horse-shoes, such as Catullus refers to ; and it is worthy of notice that at Springhead, where some were dug up at the same time and place, horse-shoes of the modern fashion were also found, as well as other objects in iron.' ' To what extent they may be worn by the Dutch horses I do not know ; but from the shape of them, which that gentleman has kindly permitted me to copy from an interesting but unpublished work^ (fig. 136), it will be seen that they are very different to the Roman productions, and not at all intended for every-day wear. They are only used, I pre- sume, for travelling on deep snow, or on marshy land where there is danger of sinking, and never on firm ground. I have seen similar snow or bog shoes used on horses in the High- lands of Scotland in remov- ing peat. In this respect, as well as in their form, they re- semble the snow shoes of the North-American hunters and ^^- '^^ the Scandinavians. The so-called hippo-sandals could ' C. R. Smith. Illustrations of Roman London, p. 146. ' Letters from Holland. 320 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. never serve such a purpose, as they would no more pre- serve the animal wearing them from sinking than the shoe of the present day. Other authorities have not only decided that these antique contrivances were fastened on the feet of solipeds during the time of the Romans, but that they were in use until a comparatively recent age. Baron de Bon- stetten remarks : ' The employment of horse-shoes of this form (modern) was only introduced by the Romans at a late period ; those we see at Rome and in the " Museo Borbonico" at Naples are a kind of shoes {soldiers) which were attached by straps to the horse s feet, as the " in- duere " of Pliny attests.' ' And the Abbe Cochet writes : ' I also know that when a very distinguished Belgian archaeologist, M. Hagemans, the author of "The Cabinet d' Amateur," was at Milan in 1858, he saw in the collec- tion of the Chevalier Ubaldo an iron hippo-sandal in magnificent preservation, and which did not appear to him to be very old. Prince Biondelli, a learned Milanese archiEologist, who accompanied him, assured him that this horse sabol ought to belong to the loth or nth century. The Italian antiquary was also of opinion that the employ- ment of shoes without nails was in vogue up to a late period of the middle ages.' ^ With all due deference to the deservedly high re- putation of the many authorities who have inspected and pronounced these iron utensils ' sandals,' after carefully examining and measuring them, and perusing the evidence brought forward to support that opinion, I cannot but con- clude that the general opinion is an erroneous one, and for ' Rccueil crAiHiquilic's Suisses, p. 30. ' Op. cit. p. 163. JRE THEY FOOT DEFENCES? .321 the following reasons : i. These objects have not, so far as I am aware, been found in any country at a period which we might designate ' pre-Roman ' — that is, in any region where the Romans have not been, nor before their invasion of the regions in which these articles have been discovered. 2,. They have been found most frequently, I think, in places where the simple ordinary nail-shoe has been met with, and either with it, or so situated as to show they be- longed to, and were in use at, the same period. 3. The evidence now collected would appear to indicate that shoeing with narrow plates and nails was largely practised in several countries, even before the arrival of the Romans; and also that in all probability the Romans themselves shod their horses in the ordinary manner at the same time that these strange-looking fabrications were in use for some purpose or other. The advantages of shoeing by means of nails must have been very striking to the Romans when they first became acquainted with it ; so much so, that we should indeed think them extremely stupid if they did not avail themselves of it, and still had re- course to this unlikely contrivance. Cognizant of the art of defending the hoof by a thin narrow plate of iron, pierced with six holes, and which could be made in a few minutes, and firmly secured to the hoofs in as brief a space of time, it cannot for a moment be conceded that they would either allow their horses to travel unshod until they were foot-sore, and then apply this complicated sandal, with a sole much harder than the ground, to the bruised surface ; or work their horses continually with shoes which must have tasked the abilities of their blacksmiths to fabricate in less than an hour, and have required more than three 21 322 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. or four times the quantity of iron that the Gallic or British shoe did. Though not an equestrian nation, we must give the Romans credit for common sense. As for their working their horses all day without any foot-cover, and applying these at night when they were not required, the idea is perfectly absurd. This is admitting that these articles were really intended to be attached to horses' feet ; and that, though nail-shoeing was well known, and its efficacy and simplicity were recognized, the Romans, or the people among whom they were living, persisted in expending four times the weight of iron, twenty times the amount of labour, and a dozen times the quantity of charcoal. But I cannot believe that these ' hippo-sandals ' were ever made for sucli a purpose. Extremely few horses, if any, could travel with those of the first class on roads, in ascending or descending steep places, nor yet move at any speed. The projecting fastening behind, and the inside clip, as well as the insecurity and situation of the attach- ment, and the weight of the iron, all forbid this supposition. For the second and third classes, I need only say that horses could neither travel nor yet stand in them. With far more reason might we expect two or three ranks of soldiers to walk, run, and manoeuvre in close order with Canadian snow-shoes on their feet, than to see a horse walk, trot, and gallop with these so-called sandals. The majority of the second class could not be put on the hoofs, to begin with ; and none of the third class could, by any possibility, serve such a purpose. A glance at the shape of these will show this to be the fact. Besides, not one of those I have examined, though many ARGUMENTS ADVERSE TO THE SUPPOSITION. 323 appear to have been subjected to wear in other respects, show any marks of hoof wear ; that is, still granting that they could be fastened to the extremity of the limb. It is well known that a horse's shoes, after being a short time subjected to use on hard ground, become rounded over at the toe, where the greatest amount of wear occurs ; also that the foot-surface, even with the shoe firmly nailed to the wall, becomes worn and channeled where any play or friction takes place. This is well seen in an old horse- shoe. No such evidences appear on the best-preserved of these so-called sandals. On the contrary, the upper surface of the sole is entirely free from traces of friction of any kind, and the under or ground- surface is usually most worn towards the middle, the extremities being sharp rather than rounded over. There is not the faintest trace of their having been worn at all by horses. No nation ever offered any contrivance so unsuited to the object to be attained as these so-called hippo-sandals, if we suppose them to have been intended for horses' feet. There is nothing at all reasonable in the supposition ; and in this opinion I find I am supported by MM. Delacroix and Q-uiquerez, antiquarians who have had abundant op- portunities of studying this matter, and have availed themselves of thema. M. Quiquerez writes : 'The many excavations made by us in the Roman villas, camps, and castles of the Bernese Jura have never afforded us any of these calcece forrece, or hippo-sandals, with which people would like to shoe the feet of Roman horses. But we have seen plenty of these articles, without being able to comprehend how a horse, starting at a gallop on an uneven road, could, for an instant even, carry 21* 324 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. such a chaussure. Always, however, out of respect for the opinion of others, we have never cast a doubt on the use of the socks for the Roman horses, because their em- ployment for this purpose may have been one of those unfortunate essays of their military chiefs. Elsewhere in Switzerland, so few of these strap-shoes {feis a courroies) have been found, that it appears probable such a mode of shoeing, if it did exist, was for but a brief period. On the contrary, it is our conviction that long before the arrival of the Romans among the Gauls, the Sequanias, Helvetiae, and Rouraks, in the vicinity of the Jura moun- tains, shod their horses as we now do. The almost total absence of calces Jerrecp in our districts confirms this opinion ; which is, it is true, in disaccord with that of some archaeologists, who only introduce nail-shoeing in the Roman armies towards the loth century of our era, and as an importation by the nations of the North.' ' And M. Delacroix, when describing the shoes found in Besanqon, makes a similar protest against these articles being designated hippo-sandals. ' Modern science, in the face of ancient authors mentioning horse-shoes, thinks it ought to consider as such the objects whose use is as yet unknown, which are found in ancient roadways, and to which it has been imagined to give the n3.me of hippo- sandals. The figure of some hippo-sandals might, justly or unjustly, have authorized such an explanation of their use ; the collection of a tolerably large number of these articles, however, dispels the illusion. There are in the Archaeological Museum of Bcsanqon hippo-sandals pro- vided with long hooks before and behind, and even on ' Mem. de la Soc. d'Emulation dii Doubs, p. 132, 1863. M. DELACROIX'S OPINION. 325 the sides. A horse furnished with such a chaussure could not walk four steps without mutilating himself and falling. What is more, we have hippo-sandals the two flanks of which are united above, and which could never make a shoe for a horse, even if the animal were standing still. When we see the same ground containing hippo-sandals and nailed shoes, it must be evident that the first were not destined for the feet of horses. It has been said that at least they might be employed for horses' feet in a bad condition ; but besides the impossibility of using many of them for any such purpose, and which is obvious enough, we have discovered in our excavations a shoe intended for a diseased foot, one of the branches of which has been enlarged to an extraordinary degree, so as to cover one-half of the sole.' Veterinary surgeon Duplessis, of the French artillery, likewise announces his disapproval of the name and the use given to these contrivances. Referring to the opinions of the Abbe Cochet and M. Megnin, he says: 'These gentlemen justly deny the possibility of these strangely formed bits of irons ever having been placed under horses' feet. I am of their opinion, for everything is opposed to such an admission. The lightness and freedom required for rapid paces would prevent their employment in this way, as well as the impossibility of fixing on a round flat foot a heavy ill-balanced machine like this. The example afforded by all the human foot-covers would show them (the Romans) that it was at least indispensable that it should resemble in shape the plantar surface of the foot.' ' ' Journal de Med. Vet. Militaire, vol. iv. p. 163. 326 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSESHOEING. M. Delacroix/ since the publication of his opinion adverse to these instruments being horse-sandals, has sud- denly come to the conclusion that they are ox-sandals. ' The number of these articles in the Besanqon Museum has actually increased to thirty. They affect various shapes, but yet retain a single and common feature — that of an iron plate worn beneath by friction. This character was so striking, that, among others, one of our able con- ■ freres who superintends the archaeological museum of the town, was looking out every day for some proof as to the use of these hippo-sandals. One of these objects was at last brought to him, having two wings bent over towards each other (fig. 128), in an acute arch, and exactly repre- senting the foot of an ox to which it had been moulded by the hammer and wear. There could be no doubt about it; M. Vuilleret had in his hands a shoe adapted for the bovine species ; he had solved the problem. I carried this article to the farriers' shops in the suburbs, where oxen are usually shod, although after a different fashion. " This," said a workman at the first glance, " is a bullock's shoe." "This object," the farmers present generally assented, " could not be worn by an ox at work or at pasture ; it would confine their movements too much. But if a convoy of oxen or cows was sent along the roads, it might be of the greatest utility ; for there is always in a travelling drove animals whose feet are wounded, and for whom it is necessary to have recourse to temporary shoeing." This last explanation put us on the alert in comprehending the diversity in shape of the specimens in the museum ; and M. Vuilleret was not 'Mem. de la Soc. d'Eniulation du Doubs, p. 143, 1864. BU-SANDALS. 327 long in showing us shoes made for the single claw of the ox (fig. 129), and yet belonging to this class of pretended htppo-sandals whose name it behoves us to rectify it should be bu-sandal.' It appears to have been forgotten that a bisulcus or cloven-footed animal cannot travel easily with its digits restrained by a solid plate with two iron bands compressing them on each side. And we may ask if the experiment was tried of making oxen walk for a mile or two with any of these Besanqon specimens ? None of those I have examined would fit the foot of an ox, and there is no reason to suppose that they were ever used for that purpose by the Romans. I have already noted that tips of iron, conjectured to have armed the feet of cattle, w^ere recently found at Pompeii. Until I have inspected these articles, or seen drawings of them, I cannot decide as to their having been so employed, though I think it improbable, as Cato the Censor (b.c. 160) speaks of the application of liquid pitch to the under surface of the hoofs of oxen to preserve them from wear, as is now done in the East with the feet of elephants and camels : ' Boves ne pedes subterant, priusquam in viam quoquam ages, pice liquidam cornua infima unguito.' ' It will then, I think, be admitted that these strange- looking iron plates are not horse, mule, or ox sandals, and that they could not be employed as such. The form and situation of the clips and hooks alone forbid such a sup- position, and the Romans would indeed deserve to be classed among the most clumsy of all contrivers if they ever attempted to put such a garniture on their horses', mules', or oxen's feet, even supposing they were ignorant ' De Re Rustica, cap. 72. 328 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. of nail-shoeing, which at the time these were made it ap- pears they were not. If not supports for lamps, ancient stirrups, sandals for sound or diseased feet-, or iron socks for wearing at night while the horses were resting, what then are they ? The first one I saw in the British Museum — belonging to the second class — suggested its probable use. Was it not a skid or drag {sabot or enrayeur) to put under the wheel of a carriage to moderate its descent on steep places ? This appeared to me a very likely supposition. It is well known that the Romans employed such instruments for their vehicles, and they are often mentioned in their real, as well as in a figurative, sense, by the designation of 'sufflamen.' For instance, Juvenal, in the ist century, in his eighth satire (148), writes: Ipse rotam astringit multo sufflamine Consul. And in his sixteenth satire (50) he also alludes to it: Nee res atteritur longo sufflamine lilis. Seneca, also in the ist century, speaks of the 'rota suf- flaminanda ;' and Prudentius in the fourth century (Psych. 417), notices it : Tardat sufflamine currum. Gruter, in his collection of Ancient Inscriptions (1803) gives the following reference to it : ' Fontium aquarumque coelestium ex montibus delabentium torrenti sufiiamen his muris fossaque opposuit, et ad plana perduxit.' Ainsworth, in his Latin Dictionary, explains the mean- ing of the designation : Sufflamen. SufBo, machinae genus, quo in descendu vel procursu nimio tota solet sufflari, i. e., retineri. And another classical dictionary explains it as SKIDS FOR JFHEELS. 329 'lignum illud, quo per radios rotarum trajecto ; vel fer- reum instriimentum in modiim solece formatum, quo subter notas unius canthum supposito, currus in declivibus locis nimio impetu ruentes cohibentur : illud Itali stanga, hoc Scarpa vocant. There can be no doubt, then, as to the Romans possessing such an instrument to facilitate the travelling of their carriages ; but I do not remember any mention being made as to their discovery anywhere ; and in all likelihood we have them here. I am aware that in a sepulchral bas-relief found at Langres, representing, among other objects, a cart drawn by three horses, two chains are seen attached to the body of the carriage, and in front of the hind wheel, one with a ring, the other with a hook at the end to lock round the felloe between two of the spokes, and make a fetter for the wheel. So says Mr Rich ; but this kind of contrivance would, one is inclined to think, be of as limited application in the Romano-Gallic days as now. It is a most expensive way of staying the velocity of a carriage. The shape of the supposed sandals presents but little difference from that of the skid or wheel-shoe ot now-a-days, except, perhaps, in length. The drawing of one of those attached to the waggons of the Military Train will make this manifest (fig. 137). fig- 137 330 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. The resemblance to some of the ' sandals ' of the first and second classes is very striking, particularly those figured by Professor Defays ; that by M. Namur, found at Dal- heim (fig. 114); that in the Cluny Museum ; the one found at Serupt in 1 846, and the specimen in the Besan- qon Museum. Some allowance must be made for the very large diameter of the modern wheels, which neces- sitates a longer shoe (though the London carriages offer a great many varieties as to form and length in these articles), but the sole of the one here represented measures about three inches across between the clips — the width of several of the sandals. The Roman wheels of small diameter and coarse workmanship would vary much in the thickness of the felloes and width of the hoops, which will readily account for the irregular width of many of these so-called sandals, and also, perhaps, for their differ- ence in shape. The increased thickness of sole in the modern 'sufflamen' is rendered necessary by the much greater weight of the waggons and the loads they are in- tended to carry ; but the abundance of material, and the facility with which our Vulcans can forge large masses of iron, makes this of litde consequence, compared with the difficulties the blacksmiths of eighteen centuries ago had to contend with. It will be observed that this wheel- sandal has an eyelet at each end, like the horse-sandal of the second and third classes, for the attachment of a chain which fastens it to the body of the vehicle. One of them is higher than the other, and is the one to which the chain is usually attached ; its elevation is intended to throw the stress of wear on the middle of the sole, exactly as it is in the solece ferrecF. The two clips on each side ANALOGY BETWEEN HORSE AND WHEEL SANDALS. 331 are intended to give greater security to the lodgment of the wheel, though, for that matter, with a smaller wheel, one central clip on each side, as in the first-class sandal, would suffice, especially if the sole diminished in width, as it does in that, towards the hook, which would wedge the wheel in more tightly. The longitudinal aperture at the upper end of each of the posterior clips is intended for the ad- mission of a leather strap, which, passing across the wheel as it lies in the skid, prevents its jumping out when traversing broken ground. The hooks on each side of the first and second class sandals reveal a similar intention, and the union of the lateral clips in the third class may be also attributed to an attempt at simplicity in this direction. The analogy between the Roman sandal found at Dalheim (fig. 114) and this modern specimen is very marked ; so much so, indeed, that their being intended for the sam.e purpose can scarcely be doubted ; one thing is certain, that no horse could journey a yard with the Military-Train specimen ; and we have yet to learn that the horses of Gaul, Germany, or Britain, during the Ro- man period, could travel in any other fashion than the horses of our own days. I have tried the two articles found at Springhead on several horses, but out of the number of many-sized hoofs experimented on, I could not find one to fit either of the hippo-sandals. The re- semblance of the larger specimen to a skid struck several casual observers, who were not at all aware of their history or the functions imputed to them. Among others, I may mention Col. Tilley, of the Royal Engineers, who ex- claimed, the first glance he got of it in my hand, ' Hilloa ! what have you got there ? An old skid ? ' 0,3^ HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. I only make the suggestion that these articles may have been employed for this purpose, from finding myself unable to believe that they were worn by domesticated animals ; the third type is certainly opposed to my opinion, but then it may not have been put to the same use as the others. 323 CHAPTER VIII. PROBABLE DATE OF THE INVENTION OF SHOEING. EMPLOYMENT OF METALS BY EARLY PEOPLES. THE ' IRON AGE.' ANCIENT IRON MINES. ANTiaUITY OF IRON WEAPONS. VALUE OF LEGENDS. WAY- LAND SMITH AND HIS CRAFT. TRADITIONS. CROMLECHS. WAYLAND smith's cave. the armourer and farrier OF THE CELTS AND GAULS. WAYLAND's RENOWN. MORTE d'aRTHUR. SMITHS, THEIR POSITION AND TRADITIONS. DRUID SMITHS. ST COLUMBUS AND CELTIC PRIESTS. SMITH-CRAFT AMONG THE ANGLO-SAXONS. DOMES-DAY BOOK. MONKISH SMITH. ST DUNSTAN AND THE EVIL ONE. ST ELOY AND HIGHWORTH CHURCH. ZURICH. ABYSSINIA. ARABIA. PERSIA. JAVA. ACADIE. MYSTERIES OF SAMOTHRACE AND DRUIDISM. FIRST OF NOVEMBER. REASONS FOR ROMAN IGNORANCE OF SHOEING. THE CALEDONIAN WALL. * HORSE-SHOE ' MEDAL. CHANGE IN DESIGNATION OF THE FARRIER. EARLY MARESCHALS AND THEIR RANK. AGE OF CHIVALRY. APPRENTICESHIP OF A CHEVALIER. ARCHBISHOP HUGHES OF BESAN90N. RIGHTS OF THE MARECHAL. NORMANS IN FRANCE. ORIGIN OF MARSHALL AND FARRIER. FLETA. THE LONDON MARESCALLIS. SEAL OF RALPH. THE MARSHALL FARRIER. SUPER- STITIONS CONCERNING HORSE-SHOES IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES. GERMAN LEGENDS. MOONWORT. From the preceding inquiry, we are led to conclude that the Celts, or Gallo-Celts, were the people who most anciently employed nailed iron-shoes for their horses' feet ; but we are yet left to determine the probable date of this invention — an investigation surrounded with many difficulties. 334 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. It is recognized, however, by means of the proofs furnished by archaeological and philological researches, that the different races of mankind which have succeeded one another in Europe have exhibited a constant pro- gression, not only in physical development, but also in intelligence and in the aptitude to practise various in- dustries and arts. The remains found in many regions exhibit this gradual advancement, until, from a state which appears that of savagedom, we arrive at a period when domestic animals are kept, and a knowledge of metallurgy is obvious. It is only, however, when we come to the epoch of the early migrations of the Aryan or Indo-Germanic races, that we find substantial traces of the employment of metals. The most important of these migrations, that of the Cimbri, who, with the Gauls, founded the Celtic race some eighteen hundred years before our era, and introduced Druidism into Gaul, when it reached Europe knew no other metals than gold, copper, tin, and the combination of the last two — brass. A study of Sanscrit, the mother-tongue of all these Aryan peoples, shows this to have been the case. The working in iron, or the 'IronAge,' even with some civilized peoples, did not occur until a comparatively recent time. Lucretius admits that gold and brass were known before iron : Sed prius aeris erat quam ferri cognitus usus. As no other migration of any importance occurred until that of the hordes who destroyed the Roman empire, and as we have seen that iron was worked by the Gauls long before the Christian era, it is between the period when the Gallo-Cimbri arrived, and the conquest of Gaul by EMPLOYMENT OF METALS BY PRIMITirE PEOPLE. 33S Julius Caesar, that the utilization of iron may be placed. Archaeologists are tolerably unanimous in fixing what has been designated the ' Stone Period,' at from five to seven thousand years ; the 'Age of Bronze ' at from three to four thousand years; and the 'Iron Age' at one thousand years before our era. This last period, though to many its commencement is shrouded in darkness, has been pretty accurately determined by Swiss geologists, who have based their calculations on the annual deposi- tions produced by the torrent of Teniere, near Ville- neuve, on the Lake of Geneva, and which cover the most ancient human habitations containing iron that have yet been explored.' These calculations have been further supported by the very interesting discovery made at Halstatt, in Austria, where more than nine hundred graves of the people who in old times laboured in the salt-mines there, were found. These contained, besides large clay vases, glass ornaments, cinctures, metal slings, swords, knives, lance-heads, and hatchets in bronze, similar to the objects met with in the pre-Roman, Helvetic, and Bisontine tombs. The same forms were reproduced in iron ; so that it may be said this metal was abundant with these people. Taking into account the complete absence of lead and silver among these articles, — metals which were largely employed during the reign of Philip of Macedonia, four hundred years before the Christian era, — M. Fournet estimates that the people who rest in the tombs of Halstatt lived at the commencement of the iron age, very likely between b.c. iooo and 500. Its duration is marked by well-known historical events, and ' Fournet. Le Mineur. 0,0^6 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSESHOEING. it only ends with the gradual spread of Christian civil- ization. Numerous traces of iron-mining in these distant ages yet exist in the Swiss and Jura Alps, Burgundy, and the Pyrenees. In the latter mountains, the refuse of these mines yet remain as when formed. The so-called cras- siers, or ancient depots of iron scoriae, are found in the vicinity of Digoin ; they abound near Perigueux, at Royan (Drome), Pont-Gibaud (Auvergne), between Hyeres and Toulon, and on Mount Cenis, at 1800 metres elevation. There were then forests where to-day there are glaciers. On the rich strata of Thortes and Beauregard (Cote d'Or), M. Guillebot de Merville noted the existence of seventy or eighty fragments of scoriae of Gallo-Roman iron, the age of which is perfectly characterized by the peculiar tiles and the debris of every kind accompanying them.' The remains of the Celtic furnaces M. Quiquerez discovered in the Jura are identical with, though much smaller than, the Catalan furnaces now at work in Ariege, Carinthia, and Dalecarlia. In Carinthia, this is the primitive mode, according to Malot, by which the iron is extracted from the ore : As soon as a sufficient quantity of live coal has been accumu- lated in the pit, portions of very pure mineral are spread over it, then a layer of coal, then mineral, layer after layer, until it is judged that the ore is sufficiently re- duced, when the fire is extinguished, and some scraps of iron are found among the cinders. In Dalecarlia, the method is the same, only the pit is larger and encircled by a circular stone wall.^ ' Foiinu't. Op. cit. ■' Gmt'lin. Metallurgie du Fer. ANTIQUITY OF IRON WEAPONS. 2,?>1 The Celts in Britain must also, long before the arrival of Caesar, have smelted quantities of iron, wherewith to make their arms and utensils. Instead of money, they even used pieces of brass or iron reduced to certain weights,' Traces of ancient iron-works are numerous in many parts of Britain ; and, from appearances, this metal was smelted as above. Roman remains occur very frequently among the slag or cinders ; but it is not unlikely the primitive inhabitants worked these mines before the arrival of the Romans. Brennus and his Gaulish army at the capture of Rome, and the Helvetians at the conquest of Switzerland, w^ere armed with iron swords, while the Romans yet wielded weapons of bronze. The Cimbri, defeated by Marius two hundred years before the birth of our Saviour, were covered with steel cuirasses. ' The arms of the Helvetians who took possession of Switzerland,' says M. Fournet, 'were identical with those worn by Brennus's soldiers during the occupation of Rome. They had long iron sabres, without point, and with very large handles ; their lances had blades twenty inches long.' ' The Cimbric cavaliers who came from the Pont-Euxine to invade Gaul, about the time of the arrival of the Phoceans, wore steel cuirasses when they were defeated by Marius.' ' The iron of Norica, as well as that of Celtiberia, was in great esteem with the Romans for swords.' ' Caesar. Bell. Gall. lib. v. cap. lo. ' Utuntur aut sere aut tallis ferreis ad certum pondus examinatis pro iiummo.' 22 338 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. ' If, then,' says M. Megnin/ ' we place the invention of horse-shoeing about the fifth or sixth century before our era — that is, at the period when Druidism was most flourishing — we only follow the indications furnished by the Celtic roads, and we remain within very probable limits. The Druids, taught the structure of the horse's foot by the numerous sacrifices they made of this animal, accustomed to the manipulation of metals, and their in- telligence continually cultivated by study, were marvel- lously disposed to be the inventors of shoeing by nails. When we also look at the rational form they gave to their work — how wisely they placed the nail-holes, and how skilfully they made the nail-heads to form so many catches to assist travelling in rocky and mountainous regions — one cannot but be astonished at the perfection which the sacred smiths had attained in defending and assisting nature two thousand years ago.' ' The Druids,' writes Galtruch,^ ' encouraged the study of anatomy; but they carried it on to such an excess, and so much beyond all reason and humanity, that one of them, called Herophilus, is said to have read lectures on the bodies of more than 700 living men, to show therein the secrets and wonders of the human fabric' The discoveries in the tombs of Alesia and in the vicinity of Besanqon, furnish us with such undoubted testimony to the antiquity of shoeing, that a high authority in France, who had assisted in these researches, declared, 'after these evidences I have no fear in asserting that from the time of the conquest of Gaul by the Romans, ' Op. cit. p. 31. ' Poetical History. VALUE OF LEGENDS. 339 many Celtic peoples, at any rate all the Gauls, knew the art of horse-shoeing.' ' Legends are generally good evidence, says Mr Wright,^ of the great antiquity of the monuments to which they relate ; and there is a curious legend connected with this art, which lends additional force to the facts already enumerated, and is besides so general over a large part of Europe, and is of so great an age, that it looks as if it had belonged to the days of Druidism, and the in- fancy of horse-shoeing. This is the legend of Wayland Smith. The Vulcanian art was, we are told, so admired by the Greeks, that Xanthus, the smith, caused it to be inscribed upon his statue, that he was born of iron (o-j^Tjpoc^Dr]^, ferrogenitus) ; ^ and over their forges they had a prophy- lactic against envy, in the form of a phallus hung round with bells.-* The anvil, hammer, and tongs, and Vulcan's cap wreathed with laurel, is not unfrequently met with on classical monuments, as the annexed illustration from Montfauqon will show (fig. 138). But the northern nations always associated something mys- terious with the functions and character of their Vulcan, whether in the fabrica- tion of arms or in shoeing their horses : reminding one of the secret arts of the Druids and their weird-like haunts. What ^^- '^^ makes the remembrance more vivid is, that the abode of this cunning, but awesome, personage, was always sup- ' Moniteur Universel, 1862. ^ The Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon. 3 Pollux, vii. 24. "^ 'QarrKavia. ibid. vii. 24, x. 31. 340 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. posed to be in a cav^e, cairn, or cromlech, such as that on the promontory of Alesia. The early Saxons believed that a cromlech in Berk- shire was a workshop of the mythic smith ; the monument at Ashbury, in the Vale of White Horse, was called ' Weland's Smiththan,' or smithy, which in time became corrupted to Wayland Smith's cave. The great defeat given by Alfred to the Danish invaders, is said, by Mr Gough, to have taken place near Ashdown, in Berkshire. The burial-place of Baereg, the Danish chief, wdio was slain in this fight, is distinguished by a parcel of stones, less than a mile from the hill, set on edge, enclosing a piece of ground somevN^hat raised. On the east side of the southern extremity, stand three squarish flat stones, of about four or five feet over either way, supporting a fourth, and now called by the vulgar, Wayland Smith, from an idle tradition about an invisible smith replacing lost horse-shoes there. ' ' The popular belief still clings to this wild legend,' adds Sir Walter Scott, ' which, con- nected as it is with the site of a Danish (?) sepulchre, may have arisen from some legend concerning the northern Duergars, who resided in the rocks, and were cunning workers in steel and iron. It was believed that Wayland Smith's fee was sixpence, and that, unlike other workmen, he was offended if more was offered. This monument must be very ancient, for it has been kindly pointed out to me that it is referred to in an ancient Saxon charter, as a landmark.' ^ With regard to placing a piece of money on the ' Camden. Britannia, vol. i. p. 221. Edit. Gough. ' Scoii. Kenilworth. Note B. CROMLECHS. 341 stone, we find it is still a practice among the peasantry at Colombiers, in France, for young girls who want hus- bands, to climb upon the cromlech called the Pierre-levee, place there a piece of money, and then jump down. At Guerande, with the same object, they deposit in the crevices of a Celtic monument bits of rose-coloured wool tied with tinsel.' ' Cromlech,' however, really means Druid's altar. The Celtic mythology, amongst others, had Esus or Crom^ who was the creator of the world, and was represented by a circle of stones, an emblem of the infinite. From this name was derived ' Cromlech ' or Crom-lekh.^ Mr Davies thinks that the spaces under the cromlechs were used as the places where aspirants to the office of Druid were imprisoned during, or previous to, their initiation into the mysteries of this religion. 'This opinion,' says Mr Roberts,^ ' seems to be confirmed by the name of a cell near the Ridgeway and the White Horse, in Ufiington parish. It is called Wayknd Smith, a corruption, I presume, of a Welsh name " Gwely," or " Wely-anesmwyth," that is, the uneasy bed. I know of no more probable origin of the name, and this explanation bears with it a signification of no small moment, as to the use to which it was probably applied. In Cardiganshire (Wales) there is a kind of cist-vaen called " Gwely Taliesin," which no doubt was intended for a similar purpose.' Mallet,'^ we know, asserts that the tradition relating to ' Wright. The Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon. "^ H. Martin. Hist, de France, vol. iii. p. 58. 3 Popular Antiquities of Wales, p. 45. ■* Northern Antiquities. Note. 342 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. this mysterious blacksmith is of Northern origin. In Scandinavian mythology, the Volundar-Koi^a recounts the tragic adventures of Volundr, who was the Daedalus of the North, and one of its mythical heroes. The same high authority shows that the root of the word, which is Anglo-Saxon, is IVeakmd, TVelond, or fVeland, in German If^ielant, and is the VeUnt of the Vilkina-Saga, is derived from the Norse Vel^ skill, art, craft, or cunning, and the old German IVielan, Anglo-Saxon IVelan, to fabricate, the participle of which would be JVielant and IVeland. The word, therefore, according to Mr Mallet, denotes a skilful artificer, in which sense it is still employed by the people of Iceland, who say ' Hann er volundr a jcirn,' ' He is a famous smith or workman in iron ; ' and a labyrinth with them is a Wayland house. ' It is in the Icelandic Sagas,' remarks Depping and Michel,' ' that Veland is the subject of long romantic fictions, and the story regarding him forms one of the oldest fragments of this poetical literature. It has been attempted to trace the romance to a historical period,- — to the reign of King Nidung, who appears to have lived in Sweden in the 6th century of our era, and who is reported to have been the protector of the smith. But there is nothing historical in this, and if on the one hand such has been claimed for it, on the other hand it is as likely to belong to Scandinavian mythology.' We must not forget that the Teutonic word ' Welsh,' ' Wilisc,' or ' Waelisc,' was the term for stranger or foreigner, and that France was called by the old andT^ mediaeval Germans ' Das Welsche lant ; ' while the ' Le Forgeron Veland. Paris, 1833 THE MORTE D' ARTHUR. 343 designation 'Wiilsch' was applied in its primitive sense by the Saxons to the Britons. 'Wilisc' is often met with in the Anglo-Saxon laws, and denotes the Welsh. Might not the Druid blacksmith be designated by the ancient Germans, as the foreign or strange-land smith — Welsch-lant-Schmid ? The slight change in the pro- nunciation might readily occur in a short period. It may be mentioned, however, that Langley Mortier^ concludes that the name ' Gallia ' was derived from TFal, happy, and Land, country : ' Walland ' being the designa- tion given to their territory by the Gauls. This mysterious smith, it would appear, was no other than the traditionary armourer and farrier of the Celts and Gauls, as well as of the German and Northern nations. ' The sacred blacksmith, such as Wayland,' remarks M. Castan, ' not only fashioned the weapons, but he also shod the horses of the heroes.' ' At Winchester, or Silchester, we are told in the ' Morte d' Arthur,' was a large stone, and ' in the myddes therof was lyk an anvyld of steel a ffote of hyght, and therein stake a fayre sword,' which only the heir to the sovereignty of Britain could draw; a feat performed by Arthur.3 This romance-invested prince was King of the Silures, an ancient British tribe inhabiting the modern counties of Hereford, Radnor, Brecknock, and Glamor- gan, and fought most heroically against the Saxons, Scots, and Picts, after the departure of the Romans. The ' Etymologies Gauloises. ^ Les Tombelles Celtiques d'AIaise. 3 With the Mongols, the anvil of Genghis Khan is still preserved on Mount Darkan. It is made of a particular metal called ' Bouryn,' says the tradition, which has the properties of iron and copper, being at once hard and flexible. — Tinikou'ski. Op. cit., vol. i. p. 173. .344 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. sword found with the anvil of steel, he afterwards wielded with terrible effect against his enemies ; it was named ' caledvwlch ' (the hard cleft), or ' caliburn ' (well-tem- pered or massive).' This weapon was no doubt fabricated by Weland. In the metres composed by King Alfred on the ' Con- solations of Boethius,' the learned monarch asks. Who then can tell, wise Weland's (pelan^e3) bones Where now they rest so long ? Beneath what heap of earth and stones Their prison is made strong ? A direct testimony to the great age of this tradition. And in the Anglo-Saxon poem on Beowulf, that chief, before going to battle, requests that there should be sent to Higelac, My garments of battle. The best that my bosom bears. The richest of my clothes. The remains of the Hred-lan, The work of Weland. In some fragments of an old Anglo-Saxon manuscript, published by Professor Stephens, we find this ancient worker in metals and shoer of horses mentioned in a com- plimentary manner as a maker of sharp swords. ' The Wieland (pelan^) work will fail no man, who kenneth to wield biting Mimming.' This, we may be sure, was an- other of his celebrated blades. In a French poem, conjectured to be of the 7th century, Weyland is supposed to be mentioned for the first time, when it is said that the cuirass made by Veland could not defend the hero Randolph from death. ' The Chronicle of Tysilio. WAY LAND SMITH S RENOWN. 34,5 Gautier de Vascastein, in the legend ' De Prima Ex- peditione Attilae regis Hunorum, in Gallias,' is said to have carried arms fabricated by Veland. A chronicle of the 12th century relates that Count William of Angouleme received the cognomen of ' Taille- fer,' in consequence of his sword, which had been made by ' Walander,' having cut in two a warrior covered with armour.' The name of the sword was ' durissima.' This Count William was the renowned minstrel Taillefer, who struck the first blow at the battle of Hastings, and who is described by his countryman Wace, in the following cen- tury, as having dashed on horseback into the ranks of the Saxons to meet a glorious death, while singing of De Karlemaigne et de Rollant, E d' Oliver, et des Vassals, C'y morureiit en Roncesvals. It is related of Geoffroy Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, 'Adultimum allatus est ei, ensis thesauro regio ab anti- quo ibidem signatus, in quo fabricando fabrorum super- latum Galanus multa opera et studio desudavit,''' In an English romance of the 14th century, it is said, in reference to a sword, ' Of all swerdes it is king, and Weland it wrought,' Godefroy of Strasbourg, in his poem of 'Tristan and Isolde,' speaks of the smith as ' Vilint; In Scandinavia, the strange personage is well known, and the legends concerning him differ but little from ' Adhemar. Chronic MS. "^ Hist. Gaufredi Ducis Norman. Recueil des Hist, de France. See also C. Depping. De la Tradition Populaire sur FArmurier ou Forgeron Veland. Mem. de la Soc. des Antiquaires de France. 346 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. those of other countries.' His fame as a remarkably competent shoer of horses is not less than his reputation as a forger of swords. In England, as we have already seeUj the popular notion gave him credit for secrecy and despatch in arming the hoofs of animals belonging to less courageous owners who ventured near his mystic abode. The pedantic Erasmus Holiday, in ' Kenilworth,' sums up his proficiency in this respect, when alluding to the strange apprenticeship Wayland served to Doctor Do- boobie, whom it was supposed the Evil One had flown away with. The Jaberjerrarius is thus spoken of: 'This knave, whether from the inspiration of the devil, or from early education, shoes horses better than e'er a man be- twixt us and Iceland ; and so he gives up his practice on the bipeds, the two-legged and unfledged species called mankind, and betakes him entirely to shoeing of horses.' In certain provinces of France at the present day, when a horse travels freely, they say, ' This horse goes as if he had been shod by " Vaillant."'^ As a proof that the smith with the Gauls, as with the Germans, shod the horses, while he fashioned and tempered the arms of the warriors, it has been observed, that not only do the shoes, weapons, and armour of an early period bear evident traces of fabrication by the same hands, but that they also carry a veritable maker's name struck upon each alike.3 Gay, in his ' Trivia,' refers to the weird occupation of this traditionary artisan, — this symbolical personification ' Saga Bibliotek, vol. ii. Kjobenham, 1816. ' De Sourdeval. Journal de Haras, 1862. ^ Megnin. Op. cit. TRADITIONS. 347 of the mystery attending the working of metals, particu- larly of iron, in primeval times : ' Far in the lane a lonely hut he found, No tenant ventured on the unwholesome ground ; Here smokes his forge, he bares his sinewy arm. And early strokes the sounding anvil warm 3 Around his shop the steely sparkles flew. As for the steed he shaped the bending shoe.' In Germany the same traditions are found, and have been handed down from the remotest times. The brothers Grimm have collected some of these from oral tradition ; the following was found in the neighbour- hood of Munster. ' In the Detterberg, about three hours from Munster, in old times, lived a wild man named Grinken Schmidt (Grinken the smith), who lived under- ground in a deep cave, which is now covered with weeds and briars ; but the spot may yet be seen. He had his forge in this pit, and his workmanship was so solid and so extremely perfect that it lasted for ever. No man could open his locks without the keys. There is now on the church-door of Nienberg, a lock made by him, that the thieves and housebreakers have never been able to force. When there was a wedding about to be celebrated, it was customary for the country people to go to Grinken and borrow a spit ; but in return for the loan, they had always to give him a beefsteak. One day a peasant appeared before his cave, and said, "Grinken Schmidt, give me a spit." " You shall not have a spit if you do not give me a steak," says Grinken. " Then you will not have a steak ; so keep your spit," replied the peasant. Grinken, as furious as possible, thereupon said, " Take care that I do not take one from you by force." The peasant left the 348 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. mountain, and returned home. He then saw, on enter- ing his stable, that his best horse had a gash in its thigh : this provided the stake for Grinken Schmidt.'' It is curious to note the different notions entertained with regard to the sons of Vulcan — the proteges of Saint Eloy. In some countries they are looked upon with strange dread ; while in others, their handicraft confers on them dignity and special privileges. In Norway, handi- craftsmen were known at a very remote period, and were divided into classes ; the smith was the most reputable in- dividual, and associated or was on an equality with the freemen. Among the Gauls and the Welsh we have seen they held high office ; but it is questionable if, at first, they did so to the same degree among the Anglo-Saxons. The Druids felt the decline of their influence, and ex- perienced the persecutions of the Teutonic invaders ; their rites had to be carried on in the greatest secrecy and fear, and their business was transacted in a hidden manner, while their utmost caution was required to elude observation. King Lear's idea of shoeing a troop of horse withfelf^ may have been derived from the extreme circumspection the Druidical priests, towards the de- crease of their power, were compelled to adopt ; and the spread of Christianity, so burdened with gross super- stitions, no doubt invested the traces of these rites with everything of a repulsive and extraordinary nature. Hence, perhaps, the tradition of Wayland Smith. Even at a later day, blacksmiths, who, from the im- ' Deutsche Mythologie. * ' It were a delicate stratagem, to shoe A troop of horse with feh.' Act iv., scene 6. ALCESTER AND ITS FATE. 349 portance of their occupation, were very numerous in some parts of England, were not exempt from Christian (?) priestly malediction. The ancient town of Alauna (now Alcester), in Warwickshire, was at an early period famed for its smiths and its forges. Saint Egwin, Capgrave tells us,' reported that the inhabitants of this town were an arrogant and luxurious race, and were chiefly workers in iron. The founder of Evesham preached to them, to save them from eternal perdition ; but the grimy blacksmiths were either too busy to listen, or cared but little to hear the miracle-working saint. So that, as he imagined, when he attempted to speak, in contempt of his doctrine, they thumped with their hammers upon the anvils, and made a great noise. Then this good man, full of love and mercy for his species, addressed a prayer to Heaven that the workers in iron might be destroyed : — ' Contra artem fabrilem castri illius dominum imprecatus est.' And the town was immediately destroyed: ' Et ecce subito re^di- ficato usque in hodierum diem in constructione novarum domorum in fundamentis antiqua aedificia reperiuntur. Nunquam enim postea in loco illo aliquis artem fabrilem recte exercuit, nee aliquis eam exercere volens ibi vigere potuit.' But Saint Egwin appears to have been an exception to the priests of his age ; for many of them were skilled workers in metals, and even shoers of hoofs ; and they would have been far more likely to give the anvil-ringing burn-the-winds of Alcester, a hint for some new feat in metallurgy, than dooming them and their glowing forges to destruction. ' Nova Legenda Anglise. The Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon, p. 139. 3^o HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. In Ireland, so long the stronghold of everything Celtic, the monks appear to have been clever workmen, and to have excelled in smithery. In Andamannus ' Life of St Columba, a holy man who lived in the 6th century, there is mention made of one Columbus, a nottdfaber ferrarius, who dwelt in the centre of Ireland {inediterranea scotice). The notice of him is contained in a chapter ' Concerning an Apparition of Angels which a man of God had seen bearing to Heaven a certain soul, by name Columbus, a " fabri ferrarii," who was known by the cognomen of Coilriginus.' St Columba, who had fixed his abode in the island of lona, hearing of the death of his colleague, gathered his priests around him and said : ' Columbus Coilriginus the smith {faber ferrarius) hath not laboured in vain, for he hath reached eternal happiness and life by the work of his hands {propria manum laboralione), and now his soul is being borne by angels to the celestial country. For whatever he acquired by the practice of his trade he spent in works of charity.' ' From the mention of this monk's occupation and the immortality he derived from it, we may suppose him to be the Colum Zoba (Colum the Smith) commemorated in the calendars on June 7th. We also find that St Patrick (4th century) had three smiths, who duly appear in the same Irish calendar. ^ St Dega, Bishop of Iniscaindega (now Iniskeen, Monaghan), derived his name of Dayg [hoc enim, nomen Scotica lingua magnam Jiammam sonat) from his employment in making ' plurima de ferro et asre de auro at que argento utensilia ' Vita Sancti Columbse. Auctore Andamnano. Lib. iii. cap. 9. Dublin, 1857. * O' Donovan. Annals of the Four Masters. SMITH-CRAFT WITH THE ANGLO-SAXONS. 3ji ad usum ecclesiag.' ' His day in the calendar is the i8th of August. Smithcraft was no doubt as important an occupation among the Anglo-Saxons as among the Gauls or Celts. Under the designation of ' isern-smithas,' — the Gothic or old German appellation introduced into England by the Anglo-Saxons, the grimy workman is frequently men- tioned in their records, and he appears, in time, to have been held in nearly as high honour as his congener at the ancient British court. Verstegan, referring to those who derived their surnames from their occupations, speaks of the origin of Smith : — - * From whence came Smith, all be he knight or squire. But from the smith that forgeth at the fire ? ' Aldhelm^ is eloquent in describing the 'convenience of the anvil, the rigid hardness of the beating hammer, and the tenacity of the glowing tongs ;' and remarks that ' the gem-bearing belts and diadems of kings, and the various instruments of glory, were made from the tools of iron.' In Elfric's colloquy, the smith says, in alluding to the multiplicity of objects he could make : ' Whence the share to the ploughman, or the goad, but for my art ? Whence to the fisherman an angle, or to the shoe- wyrhta (shoemaker) an awl, or to the sempstress a needle, but for my art ? ' And to this the other replies : ' Those in thy smithery only give iron fire-sparks, the noise of beating hammers, and blowing bellows.' ^ ' Act. SS. August, vol. iii. p. 659. ^ Aldhelm. De Laud. Virg. 298. s MSS. Til:)erias, A. 3. 3S^ HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. We have selected two representations of the Anglo- Saxon Vulcan from ancient manuscripts in the Cottonian library. The first (fig. 139) represents this worthy working at an anvil, which, it is proper to note, has no beak or horn. The hammer he wields is not unlike those in use at the present day. In the compartment adjoining him, but fig. 139 fig. 140 which is not shown here, was a harper, a combination that reminds us of the Welsh king's court, or the mul- tiple functions assumed by some of the Anglo-Saxon priests, who were musicians, blacksmiths, goldsmiths, and other handicraftsmen combined. The second figure (fig. 140) shows the ' isern-smithas ' at work in a less ostentatious manner, and at a hearth like those of our own time. His apron is of the most meagre dimensions, and his naked legs must often have been tickled by the burning sparks. His hammer is curious, and may have been used in battering the heads of enemies as well as bars of iron ; for, according to Fabricius, ' the ancient Saxons had their shields- suspended by chains, their horsemen used long iron sledge-hammers, and their armour was heavy.' Behind THE ANGLO-SAXON FARRIER. ^^^ the iron plate that screens the fire is seen the gigantic aide, who appears to be engaged in blowing the bellows. He, too, is gaunt and unprotected about the lower limbs, though his brawny arms and hairy chest bespeak a man eminently fitted to perform the more physical portion of the labour. On the hearth, and partly concealed by the blazing fire, lies a piece of iron-work which looks not un- like the calkin of a horse-shoe. These are the earliest representations of the Anglo- Saxon farrier I can find, and they are certainly curious. In the royal household of the king's palace, we dis- cover a number of officers similar in rank and functions to those we have already indicated as attending the Court of British sovereigns or chiefs : these are the ' hors thegn,' or master of the horse, the ' ambiht-smith,' and the ' hors wealh.' The latter has been already noticed. The rank of the Court smith may be inferred from what is men- tioned in the laws of the Anglo-Saxon king, Athelbirht (6th century) : ' If the king's ambiht-smith slay a man, let him pay a half leod-geld (or wer-gekl, compensation- money).' This was one-half the amount paid by ordinary individuals, and shows that this iron-worker was one of the privileged ' ministeriales ' of the Crown. In the laws of King Ine (7th and 8th centuries), we observe that the smith was still an important individual, and also attached himself to a lower class than the great nobles and kings. ' If a gesithcund-man (a somewhat similar rank to the leudes of the Franks and Visigoths) go away, then may he have his reeve (steward) with him, and his " smith," and his child's fosterer.' In the Saxon Chronicle, the song on King Edgar's 23 354 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. death designates the Anglo-Saxons as ' the ilkistrious smiths of war!' The Dooms-day Book, though com- posed in the reign of the first Norman king of England, may be said, for our present purpose, to be Saxon : it often alludes to workers in iron. For instance, we find that in the City of Hereford there were six smiths, who paid one penny each for his forge, and who made one hundred and twenty pieces of iron from the king s ore. To each of them threepence was paid as a custom, and they were freed from all other services. It would appear that the iron-mines of England were well worked in Saxon times. Iron-ore was obtained in several counties, and there were furnaces for smelting. The mines of Glou- cestershire, in particular, are alluded to by Giraldus Cam- brensis as producing an abundance of this valuable metal ; and there is every reason for supposing that these mines were wrought by the Saxons, as they had been by their predecessors, the Romans.' The Anglo-Saxon monks were, as already hinted, like the Druid priests, skilful workers in iron, and the Venerable Bede describes one of these people as well skilled in smithcraft. Speaking of Easterwin, Abbot of Were- mouth, he says : ' This abbot, being a strong man, and of a humble disposition, used to assist his monks in their rural labours, sometimes guiding the plough by its stilt or handle, sometimes winnowing corn, and sometimes forging instruments of husbandry with a hammer upon the anvil.' ^ King Edgar even enacted that the clergy should ' Pictorial History of England, Bookii. chap. 6. ' Hist. Abbat. Weremath., p. 296. ^ SMITH MONK. 35.^ pursue this and other crafts : ' We command that every priest, to increase knowledge, diligently learn some handi- craft.' ' The famed St Dunstan, the most proficient man of his age, and who lived in the loth century, among his other accomplishments, was a cunning worker in metals, and particularly iron. Glastonbury Abbey, where Arthur, the last of the British kings, had been buried, was, on the admission of the future abbot, principally filled by Celts or Scots from Ireland, who were at that time the most learned men. This abbey was famous throughout all the land for the ability of its monks, and a British population dwelt in the surrounding country. The usual austerities of a monastic life did not suffice for Dunstan in his earlier years, but, like a Druid, he gave himself up to a solitary existence, practising his skill in secret. He built a kind of Wayland Smith's cave by the side of the sacred edifice, in which he enclosed himself. This cell or hole was only 5 feet in length and ih in width, and it barely rose 4 feet above the ground. The earth was excavated just enough to enable him to stand upright, though he could never lie down. His biographer (Osberne) was so puzzled with this strange re- treat that he knew not what to call it. Cells were commonly dug in an eminence or raised from the earth, but this was the earth itself excavated. Its only wall was its door, which covered the whole, and in this was a small aperture to admit light and air. In this sepulchre he abode, denying himself rest as well as needful food, fasting to the point of starva- tion, and constantly working at his forge when not engaged ' JFUkbis. Ibid. p. 83. ^S(^ HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. in prayer. The hammer was always sounding, except when silenced by his orisons ; and here he imagined himself assailed by the Evil One. On a certain night all the neighbourhood was alarmed by the most terrific howlings, which seemed to issue from his den. In the morning the people flocked to him to inquire the cause. He told them that the devil had intruded his head into his window to tempt him while he was heating his iron-work ; that he had seized him by the nose with his red-hot tongs ; and that the noise was Satan's roaring at the pain ! ' The simple people are stated to have venerated the recluse for his amazing exploits with the enemy of man- kind ; and indeed he appears to have been as expert in fabricating tales as horse-shoes or other iron-work. That priests of the highest rank on the continent at a very early period shod horses, tradition abundantly testifies. Saint Eloy or Eloi, who lived in France in the 7th cen- tury, during the reign of Clotaire II., is frequently spoken of as a goldsmith ;^ but in medi£Eval delineations he is most commonly represented shoeing solipeds. We have alluded to him elsewhere as a rather popular saint among horse- men during the Middle Ages. He has been the patron of the horse-shoer in nearly every country in Europe, and ' S. Turner, F. Pa/grave. Hist. Anglo-Saxons. This fable con- cerning the attacks of his Satanic Majesty on the crafty Dunstan, is paralleled by that sustained by St : Benedict in the 6th century. That worthy was ten>pted by the devil, who appears to have been particularly addicted to trifle with the feelings of the mediaeval saints, in the form of a mulomediciis: 'ei antiquus hostis in mulomedici specie obviam factus est, cornu (to give the horses medicine) et tripedicam (an in- strument to bind horses' feet) ferens,' etc. — Vita St Benedicti, Mura- tori. Scrip. Rer. Ital., vol. iv. p. 223. * MicheleL Histoire de France, vol. i. p. 243, 1852. ST ELOY AND HIGHWORTH CHURCH. 357 was the protector of animals not only in England, France, Italj, and Burgundy, but even in Germany we find that St Job and St Eloy were invoked in the incantations against the maladies of horses. One of the most curious representations of the patron saint of the farriers is that given in the frontispiece to this work. The original was a distemper painting, dis- covered on the north side of the eastern pier, between the nave and north transept of St Michael's church, Highworth, Wiltshire, during very recent restorations. This painting was unfortunately destroyed during the alterations, but not before a drawing of it was obtained. A copy of this, for which I am indebted to the Rev. Mr Bowden, the rector of the church, shows a chapel-like building, wdth forge apparently outside. To the left is the blazing fire, with the bellows behind, and hung round with shoes which have clumsy calkins, and only four nail-holes each ; while near it is perhaps a trough con- taining a lot of tongs, St Eloy, in his full array of church vestments, stands behind a peculiar anvil holding a shoeing hammer in his right hand, on the back of which is a curious mark, wdiile the other has evidently grasped the leg of a horse, whose hoof rests on the anvil, and to this the Saint attaches the shoe. At the foot is seen the Evil One, who never appears to have been absent from the company of these holy men. The painting might be ascnoed to the 13th or 14th century, and had sustained rough treatment at some time ; parts of it having been rubbed ofi\ A marble tablet, dated a.d. 1650, had been fastened over the centre of it. 3^8 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. In the Library of Zurich, Switzerland, there is a painting belonging to the 14th or 15th century, repre- senting St Antony of Padua and St Sebastian, with a farrier between them shoeing a vicious horse, one foot of which rests in his hand, perhaps in consequence of some magical spell induced by a witch who is present, and whose nose the farrier pinches in an enormous pair of tongs, as a punishment for her witchcraft. Travelling from the Anglo-Saxon period to other lands and recent times, we come to Abyssinia, where the trade of blacksmith is hereditary, and considered as more or less disgraceful, from the fact that blacksmiths are, with very rare exceptions, believed to be all sorcerers, and are opprobriously called ' Bouda.' They are supposed to have the power of turning themselves into hycEnas, and sometimes into other animals ; as being, in fact, either tormented by or allied with evil spirits, like the Middle- Age saints. ' I remember a story of some little girls, who, having been out in the forest to gather sticks, came running back breathless with fright ; and being asked what was the cause, they answered that a blacksmith had met them, and entering into conversation with him, they at length began to joke him about whether, as had been asserted, he could really turn himself into a hycrna. The man, they declared, made no reply, but taking some ashes, which he had with him tied up in the corner of his cloth, sprinkled them over his shoulders, and, to their horror and alarm, they began almost immediately to perceive that the metamorphosis was actually taking place, and that the blacksmith's skin was assuming the hair and ABYSSINIA AND ARABIA. 359 colour of the hyeena, while his limbs and head took the shape of that animal. When the change was complete he grinned and laughed at them, and then retired into the neighbouring thickets. They had remained, as it were, rooted to the place from sheer fright, but the mo- ment the hideous creature withdrew, they made the best of their way home. ." . . . Few people will venture to offend a blacksmith, fearing the effects of his resentment.'' Burton says : ' It has been observed that the black- smith has ever been looked upon with awe by barbarians, on the "same principle that made Vulcan a deity. In Abyssinia all artisans are Budah, sorcerers, especially the blacksmith, and he is a social outcast as among the Somal ; even in El Hejaz, a land, unlike Yemen, opposed to distinctions amongst Moslem.s, the Khalawigah, who work in metal, are considered vile. Throughout the rest of El Islam the blacksmith is respected as treading in the path of David, the father of the craft.' ^ Barth writes : ' All over the Tawarek country, the " enhad " (smith) is much respected, and the confraternity is most numerous. An "enhad" is generally the prime minister of every little chief. The Arabs in Timbuktu call these blacksmiths " mallem," which may give an idea of their high rank and respected character.' ^ With the Arabs, farriers are held in great esteem, and enjoy extensive and invaluable privileges, in consequence of the benefits 'their art confers on the indispensable complernent of the Arab — his horse. The smith lives ' Mansfield Parky ns. Life in Abyssinia, vol. ii. p. 144. ' First Footsteps in East Africa, p. 33. 3 Travels in Africa. 36o HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. in a tent set apart from the tribe, called the ' master's douar ;' he pays no contributions, and when grain is bought, he gets a share without payment; neither is he called upon to offer shelter to any one ; so that he is exempted from what in many cases is imposed upon all — hospitality. The constant toil demanded by his calling, the unavoidable accidents to which he is liable through the urgent wants of his brethren night and day, and the sleepless nights he has to undergo, entitle him to certain gifts called ' master's dues.' On their return from the purchase of grain, every tent makes him an allowance of wheat and barley, and a quantity of butter. In the spring he gets the fleece of a ewe ; and if a camel is killed for eating, he gets the part between the withers and tail. When dividing plunder, no matter whether or not he has taken part in the expedition, he gets his share, usually a sheep or a camel, and this is called the horseman's ewe. The most important privilege accorded to him, howev^er, and which shows more than anything else the high esteem in which his art is held, is the gift of life on the field of battle. If a farrier is on horseback, with arms in his hands, he is as liable to be killed as any other horseman ; but if he dismounts, kneels down, and imitates with the two corners of his burnous the movements of his bellows, he will be spared. This is only, however, when he has led an in- oflfensive life, and followed his art. 'A "lange" (one share of the plunder) is given to the farrier of the tribe, for he contributes his skill and labour to the success of the enterprise. To kill a farrier is deemed infamous. It is a deed that will recoil upon the guilty tribe, who will PERSIA AND JAVA. 361 be pursued by a curse ever after.' So afraid are the Arabs of losing their farrier, that if he happens to grow rich, a quarrel is fastened upon him, and a portion of his wealth taken away to prevent his leaving the district. A farrier whose tribe has been plundered, seeks out the robbers, and on the simple proof of his trade, recovers his tent, tools, utensils, and horse-shoes.' In Persia the traditions belonging to the craft are many and curious. One of these relates to Baduspan, who, very many centuries ago, possessed himself of the sovereignty of Ruyan and Rostemdar, a district of that country, and who was a descendant of that blacksmith so famous in the history of the East — Kawe by name. This valiant worker in iron overthrew the tyrant Sohak, and hoisted his leather apron for a flag ; which distinguishing badge, adorned with pearls and jewels, glittered till the end of that monarchy, as the national standard. After conquering the tyrant, Feridun, the legitimate heir to the throne, was duly proclaimed king by the mag- nanimous smith, Kawe. Feridun's mother had taken refuge in the forests soon after his birth, and had fed the child with the milk of a buflalo cow, the head of which, sculptured on that monarch's mace, has become no less celebrated among the national insignia than the leather apron. ^ In Java, and throughout the Eastern Archipelago, the workers in iron hold very high rank, and in ancient times were not unfrequently kings or princes. In other countries, it has often been the boast of monarchs and * E. Daumas. Les Chevaux du Sahara. ' C. Von Hammer. Histoire des Assassins, p. 230. Paris, 1833. 362 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. great chiefs that they could handle the tools of the smith. Longfellow declares that — ' Since the birth of time, throughout all ages and nations. Has the craft of the smith been held in repute by the people.' In speaking of Basil the blacksmith, ' Who was a mighty man in the village, and honoured of all men ; ' he intimates that even in the New World the traditional attrib utes of the grimy occupation had found a congenial home. There is something very pleasant in reading of the home-like scenes in ' Evangeline,' where, in the far-off Acadie, the children of the A'illage, hurrying away to Basil's forge, ' Stood with wondering eyes to behold him Take in his leathern lap the hoof of the horse as a plaything. Nailing the shoe in its place ; while near him the tire of the cart- wheel Lay like a fiery snake, coiled round in a circle of cinders. Oft on autumnal eves, when without in the gathering darkness Bursting with light seemed the smithy, through every cranny and crevice. Warm by the forge within they watched the labouring bellows. And as its panting ceased, and the sparks expired in the ashes, Merrily laughed, and said they were nuns going into the chapel.' There appears to be every reason to believe that the mysteries of Druidism, and those secret metallurgical rites anciently practised in the East, and known as the ' Samothracian Mysteries,' were very closely allied. From a comparison of the texts of Strabo, Diodorus of Sicily, Herodotus, Clement of Alexandria, and others, who speak of the Dactyli, Cabiri, Curetes, Corybantes, and Tel- chines, as people who came from the far East to Phrygia and Crete, where they introduced the working of bronze MYSTERIES OF SAMOTHRACE AND DRUIDISM. 363 and iron, and worshipped in Rhea and on Mounts Ida in Phrygia and Crete, but chiefly in Samothracia, M. Ros- signol draws the following conclusions: 'In the collection of facts which spring from the same source, are woven together by regular deductions, and all tend to the same end, it is impossible to mistake the existence of a religious doctrine founded on the discovery and the first employ- ment of metals, as that of Eleusis was on the introduction of the culture of wheat. Therefore we do not hesitate to believe, that by this comparison we have thrown light on the mysteries of metallurgy, hidden under the name of the Mysteries of Samothracia.'' And Martin writes : ' The ancients have not mistaken the close relationship of these mysteries (of Druidism) with those of Samothracia, where the same symbol is found nearly entire. Gwyon is the Gijon of the Phoeni- cians, the Pelasgic Casmil ; Koridwen is the grand god- dess of the Cabiric rites of Thrace and Phrygia (Rhea). A very positive indication is to be found in the names of the Cabires — those cosmical genii from Western Asia, which exist scarcely changed in Irish poetry. The Gaels no doubt carried these symbols with them from the West.'^ Strabo lends his authority to this assertion in an unequivocal manner : ' In one of the sacred islands near the coast of Britain, are celebrated mysteries similar to those of Samothrace and Eleusis ; these are the mysteries of Koridwen, to the observance of which the Druidesses appear to be more particularly devoted.' ^ In the mysteries of Samothrace, the sacred order of the ' Des Origines Religieuses de la Metallurgie. =■ Hist, de France. ^ Strabo. Lib. iv. p. 190. 3^4 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. Cabiri were the artificers, and reserved to themselves the mo- nopoly of working in metals ; they made the arms, armour, and all other metallic articles, in great secrecy, as did the ovates among the Druids. The chief workmen of the Druids guarded the centre fire to which so much myste- rious importance was attached/ But, it may be asked, if the Gauls and the Germans, long before the Romans came in contact with them, shod their horses with iron plates nailed to the hoofs, why was a practice of so much utility, and indeed of necessity, not adopted by the Romans, and mentioned in their writings, when they became acquainted with these races ? This, like so many others, is a difficult question to answer. Unless we admit that the solece ferrece were the nail-shoes of the Teutons and Gauls, or that the glantce ferrece only once found in the Roman writings were attached by nails to the hoofs, we have nothing whatever in the way of written evidence, as before stated, to show that this de- vice was resorted to by the Romany. The custom was, in all likelihood, prevalent in Gaul, Switzerland, Ger- many, and perhaps also in Britain, when invaded by the imperial armies, and it would appear that in time the Romans did resort to it. If we admit that the solece ' Megnin. Op. cit., p. 9. ' La nuit du i^' Novembre, les traditions Irlandaises rapportent que les druides se rassemblaient autoiir du " pere- feu " garde par un pon life -forger on et Feteignaient. A ce signal, de proche en proche s'eteignaient tous les feux de Tile 5 partout regnait un silence de mort j la nature entiere semblait plongee dans une nuit primitive. Tout a coup le feu jaillissait de nouveau de la montagne sainte, et des cris d'allegresse eclataient de toutes parts ; la flamme empruntee au "pere-feu" courait, de foyer en foyer, d'un bout a I'autre de File et ranimait partout la vie.' Martin. Op. cit., vol. i. THE CALEDONIAN WALL. z^$ ferrecB were not like the modern shoes, then it might be surmised that with people professing Druidism — a re- ligion represented by a caste who had a monopoly of working in iron, the requisite knowledge being only acquired after initiation, and which it was worse than sacrilege to divulge — would not be likely to yield their most sacred secrets to their conquerors, and put them on an equality with themselves. We know that the Romans were, for centuries, in contact with the Gauls, and yet had only weapons of bronze ; and that while their plough was of the most primitive description, even in the time of Virgil, the Gauls had an implement approaching per- fection ; and so with other objects in metallurgy. The Romans were, in several respects, slow to adopt or improve ; and prejudice, especially towards the arts of a conquered and a barbarous people, may have operated strongly with regard to shoeing. After a time they appear to have practised it, but to a limited extent ; and only (to judge from the evidence at present before us) in those countries where it was already in use on their arrival did they attempt it. But why was it not mentioned by their historians or hippiatrists ? When we find these writers anxiously describing the evils resulting to the hoofs from travelling, it might be expected that so simple, and yet so bold, a means of preventing them would have obtained notice. This omission, however, need not cause us so much surprise when we learn that sometimes great under- takings were overlooked, forgotten, or left unrecorded by the Roman historians. The Caledonian Wall, for ex- ample, was a most important work, entailing a vast amount of labour, and built by the Romans themselves, yet only 366 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. one of their writers makes the faintest allusion to its erection/ As already observed, the climate of the North, where hoofs are soft, roads rugged, and moisture prevails, may have had much to do with the invention of shoeing among the Celts, and compelled the Romans to resort to it when they left their sunny southern climate, where hoofs are hard, and their wonderful paved strata. If the relics found in the battle-field of Alesia belong to the final struggle between Julius Cassar and the Gauls, then the Romans must have been cognizant of this means of defending horses' feet at a comparatively early period. Beger^ has figured a curious bronze medal (fig. 141), which fig. 141 he classes among those of Julius Caesar, though he heads them ' Numismatalncerta;' and this uncertainty deprives it of much of the great interest it might possess with re- gard to the subject of our treatise. On the obverse of this medal appear two snakes with their tails entwined, and in the middle of the circle they form are two objects resembling one of the German shoes found by Linden- ' Jf^ihon. Prehistoric Annals of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 39. i! Nuniismata Ronianorum, vol. ii. p. 1^97. HORSE-SHOE MEDAL. 367 Schmidt at Gaufelfingen. These may be horse-shoes ; they have each eight holes, disposed three on each side and two at the toe ; and the extremities have an appear- ance as if there were calkins, though the engraver has unfortunately forgotten to copy them accurately ; but altogether their form and the disposition of the holes is peculiar, and certainly not like the shoes of the earlier periods. On the reverse of the medal is a laurel-tree, with the letters I O on each side of the trunk, and the legend TRIVMP (triumph). Nothing is known as to the history of this curious relic, or where it was discovered ; but as it was in the collection of the Elector of Branden- burg, it may be of Germano-Roman origin, in which case we may then conclude that the objects resembling shoes are really intended to represent them, and may be compared with the specimen from the Gaufelfingen tumulus. It may be added, however, that Beger' seems to have been much baffled by the medal, and could come to no conclusion as to its import. ' Quid autem serpentes caudis connexio ? quid calces equorum ? nisi cum Patino bellum prudentia gestum intelligas, non explicavero.' Eckhel, in his ' Doctrina Nummorum Veterum,' asserts that he has also seen this money, on which is impressed the ' two shoes placed between two serpents with interlaced tails.' He observed it in several collections, and thought it an evident allusion to the success of a race-horse in the circus. One or two of these coins were in the museum of the late M. Blacas. M. Nickard, who appears determined not to admit that horses were shod with the ancients, has been as much ' Thesaur. Elect. Brandenburg, vol. iii. p. 597. 368 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. troubled with these specimens as other numismatists and archaeologists, and is inclined to think that what we have designated horse-shoes are intended to represent fetters [entraves) for slaves, supporting this opinion by several references to the practice of manacling these unfortunate creatures. He does not, however, attempt to describe the fetters, or account for the presence of holes in these supposed examples. As I have just said, I am willing to believe that they are horse-shoes, and that Eckhel is not far from the truth in ascribing the origin of the coin to victories in the hip- podrome. As tending to confirm this opinion, it is worthy of note that quite recently, in a German work on farriery,' a tail-piece to one of the chapters shows a serpent en- circling a well-arranged and characteristic group of objects (fig. 142), consisting of a horse-shoe (modern German pattern), nails, hammer, pincers, buffer, rasp, and ' boutoir ' or ' hufmesser.' It must not be forgotten that the serpent is the emblem of the metempsychosis and eter- nal renovation of Oriental myth- ^s'42 ology, and held a prominent place among the superstitions of the Druids. The egg of that creature was looked upon by them as a most potent talisman, and Pliny ^ describes how these articles were ' Lehr- unci Handbuch der Hufbeschlagskunst. Von J. T. Grosz. 3rd edition. Stuttgart, 1861. ' Hist. Naluralis. Lib. xxix. cap. 44. CHANGE OF DESIGNATION. 369 procured. The Druids wore them round their necks richly set, and sold them at a very high price. They appear, nevertheless, to have been nothing more than the shells of echini or ' sea-eggs.' At a very early date we discover another evidence of the high antiquity of shoeing among the Celtic and cog- nate races, in the frequent occurrence of a name to de- signate those who had charge of horses, and who had to attend to their shoeing. In French, German, and early British writers, instead of iTnrlarqog and mulomedicus, em- ployed in classical times to denote the veterinary surgeon, there is used the designation 'mariscalcus,' 'manescalcus,' 'marescallus,' ' mareschallus,' and finally ' mareschal ;' all, as Verstegan asserts, derived from the German word ' march ' — horse. ' In the ancient Teutonicke,' he says, '■mare had sometime the signification that horse now hath, and so served for the appelation of that whole kind, to wit, both male and female, and gelding, and so all went in general by the name of horse. Scale, in our ancient language, signifieth a kind of servant, as the name of scalco (though a Teutonicke denomination) in Italy yet doth. Marscalc (or marschal) was with our ancestors, as with the ancient Germans, curator equorum, one who had charge of horses. The French, who (as we in Eng- land) very honourably esteeme of this name of office, doe give unto some nobleman that bare it the title of Grand Mareschal de France. And yet notwithstanding they doe no otherwise terme the smith that cureth and shueth horses than by the name of mareschal.' ' Lobineau ^ says ' Restitution of Decayed Intelligence in Titles of Honour. 1635. ^ Hist, de Bretagne. 24 370 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. it is formed from the Breton word signifying ' horse ; ' but as the Britons, expelled from this country in the 5th century, took refuge there, giving it their name, and as the Bas-Bretons yet speak a dialect of the Celtic, this only lends additional proof as to the origin of the term. Pau- sanias, in his ' Phocians,' intimates that the term march is ancient Gaulish. The first part of the word ^ mareschal ' is evidently Celtic, and the second, schal, Teutonic ; the designation being therefore composed of a Celtic and Teutonic root, it does not appear to date earlier than the fixation of the Francs on the soil of Gaul, and their renunciation of vagabond habits, and in this way characterizes the amal- gamation of the two people. The history of the first mareschal mentioned in the early chronicles, supports this opinion. This individual, whose name was Leudaste, was a Gaulish slave belonging to the island of Re, who at a later period of his life became a great dignitary. Markowefe, the wife of Haribert (a.d. $$6), confided the charge of her best horses to him ; and among the domes- tics of the royal household he was enrolled by the title of ' Mariskalk.' ' Encouraged by his success, he did not remain satisfied with this title, which gave him the highest rank among the Jiscalin serfs, but aspired to have the entire control of the royal stud, and to gain the position of comes stahuli, or constable, a dignity the barbarous kings, with many other things, had introduced at the imperial court. At the death of the queen, he so cultivated the growing esteem of King Haribert, as to distance all competitors and gain his object. After enjoying for a year or two 3 Greg. Turon. Hist. France, vol. ii. p. 261. EARLY MARESCHALS AND THEIR RANK. ,371 the superior rank he held in the domesticity of the palace, this fortunate son of a serf vine-grower in the island of Re, who had run away several times to escape slavery, and had one of his ears cut off in consequence, was made Count of Tours, one of the most considerable cities in the kingdom ruled by Haribert/ The compound word, then, was originally used, it appears, to signify a groom or horse attendant ; ^ after- wards, as the importance of the office increased, it was applied to a man who had charge of twelve horses, as exemplified in the following extract from an ancient Ger- man law: 3 'Si mariscalus, qui super xn caballos est, occiditur.' Subsequently, and particularly in the time of the Merovingians, the individual who had under his charge all the ' mareskalks ' was designated by the title of ' Comes Marestalli ' or ' Stabulorum ;''* probably in imitation of the ' contostaulos ' of the Byzantine empire.^ The posi- ' Megnin. Op. Cit., pp. 30, 6^. ' See Leges Salic. JFalter. Corp. Jur. German., vol. i. p. 22. ' Anton. Geschichte der Deutschen Landwirthschaff, vol. ii. p. 298. * A. Thierry. Recits de Tenis Merovingiens, vol. ii. p. 198. s The fondness for display in the matter of horses and stables mani- fested by the Byzantine Emperors, and which was quickly imitated by the Goths and Franks, gave a great impulse to veterinary science. In the reign of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, the Master of the Horse was one of the first dignitaries of the court, and was styled xojiriQ tov GTaftuv. ' Magnus contostaulos comes stabuli, Gallis connetable, nomen conflatum ex contos seu conto comes, et staulos stabulum, rrruvKoQ seu (jTavKof ex latino stabulum detortum. Habebant quoque veteres Franci comitem stabuh, ut videre est in epist. 3. Hincmari, c. 16, quem vul- gus corrupte appellabat constabulum, ut est apud Regionem, 1. 2, et apud Tyrium passim legere est constabularis.' — Codini. 372 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. tion, however, was as yet one of no great honour ; for we find that the wehr-geld, or ' blood-money,' of the mareschal in the Salic, German, and Burgundian laws, was only forty sous-d'or, a lower price than that fixed for a Roman tributary, which was sixty sous. The murderer of a Prankish noble had to pay six hundred sous, and for a common Frank two hundred. A Roman or Gallo-Roman's life was valued at one hundred sous. The sous-d'or was equal to about fifteen francs present money. With the more universal adoption of nail-shoeing, the horse was rapidly becoming a very important animal in civilization at the commencement of the middle ages, and by far the most essential portion of a chevalier's property. The ' comes marestalli' was, therefore, as we might expect, a very distinguished personage, and held high rank. We have already seen that with the Celts in Wales, the groom of the rein occupied a dignified position as well as the smith ; and the mareschal in France was no less in favour, as we have had occasion to notice ; for after the time of Charlemagne, he had not only the care of all the horses of kings or princes, but was appointed to superior commands in the army, ranking finally as one of the most exalted personages at Court. There was nothing degrading in a nobleman shoeing horses during the era of chivalry ; and the mareschal, in the loth and i ith centuries, was on a footing of equality with the chamberlain, falconer, and other officers who formed the establishment of the chevalier or prince. In the suite of a great noble there was an ccuyer de corps, the highest in rank ; then an eciiijer de chamhre, or chamber- lain ; an ccuyer de tcihle, or carver; an ecuyer dccurie, or ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. ri?> marechal ; an ccuyer of song; and one falconer, etc. The cciujer of a poor chevalier had to perform the duties of four or five ; for it was not enough to understand birds, dogs, and horses — to know how to handle a lance, battle- axe, and sword — to get over a fence or a ditch — to climb well in an assault — to speak with politeness to ladies and princes — to dress and undress his master — to wait upon him at table— to parry the blows aimed at him in a mtlee — but, in addition, he should know something of medicine, and be capable of dressing wounds. He should also be able to shoe a horse, and repair with the hammer broken armour, or with the needle mend a hole in a mantle. These varied acquirements were all necessary to make up the accomplished ecuyer (or squire), who might after- wards aspire to the honours of chivalry, and flatter himself to be worthy of them.' The Cartulary of Besancjon furnishes some curious details relative to the establishment kept up by Arch- bishop Hughes I., in the loth century: 'The grand officers of the Archbishop, all of whom possessed fortified hotels in the town, were nine in number. These were the chamberlain {earner arius), the master of the house- hold {senechal, or dopifer), the butler {Jmicerna), the pantler {panetarius), the marechal (inarescalus), the forester {forestariiis), the purse-bearer {rnonetarius), the " vicomte " {incomes), the mayor {major or villicus). . . . The marechal held the superintendence of the Arch- bishop's stables and the command of his men-at-arms {marechaussee). Those innkeepers who desired to be established in the street La Lue, could only do so after ' A. Callet. Dictionnaire Eucyclopedique. Art. Ecuyer. 374 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. paying him the tribute of a cask of wine ; and all the workers in metal who sought to open shops in Besanqon had to pay him a tax of as much as hve sous. When the Archbishops of Besanqon, or their assistant-bishops, entered the town for the first time, the marechal escorted them, and afterwards claimed the horses or mules they had ridden, as also the cup with which they had made their first repast. When it happened that the emperor came, the same right was exercised, but onlij on the con- dition that the marechal had previously garnished with his oiun hands the hoofs of the monarches steed with four silver shoes / ' ' The Normans, on their arrival in France, were, like the Saxons and the Franks, far behind the Celts and Gauls in equitation or their management of the horse. On their reaching Neustria, Wace, the troubadour of the 12th century, sings : N'etoient mie chevaliers N'ils ne saroient chevalchier Tot a pie portoient lor armes. And Hollo, the ^Walker,' as the chroniclers tell us, never rode.^ Yet they soon conformed to the customs of the people among whom they settled, and in a hundred and fifty years after disembarking from their ships, they had established the finest studs of horses in France. So that we need not be surprised that the Norman princes should also have instituted the office of ' March-shall,' to super- ' Mem. Soc. d' Emulation. Besaii9on, p. 379, 1859. " E. Hoiicl. Hist, du Cheval. Sniir/snu. Heimskrino:la. The Saga in this work says he received the sobriquet in consequence of his enormous size ; no horse could be found to carry him, so he vi'as com- pelled to walk. ORIGIN OF MARSHALL AND FARRIER. 375 intend their extensive stables in various parts of Nor- mandy, but particularly at Rouen and Caen. This office sometimes became hereditary, and frequently gave a title of nobility to families — among these may be mentioned the ' Marechal de Venoix.' To the fief of Venoix, near Caen, was attached the duty of managing the stables of the Duke of Normandy, and everything relating to them : as the gathering of the forage from the fine prairies of Caen, Venoix, and Louvigny, for the use of the Duke's horses. Through holding this office, the owner of the fief was designated ' Marechal de Venoix,' or ' Marechal of the Prairie.' ' Among the noble families of France who derived their origin from this Norman source, we find Laferriere and Ferriere ; and these yet bear on their scutcheon eight horse- shoes.^ The King of France, as also the nobles, his vassals, had among his officers a marechal, who, under the ' conne- table,' officiated as master of the horse, superintendent of the shoers, and as veterinary surgeon. Father Anselmo,^ speaking of the duties of the constable, gives an example : ' The king pays to the cavaliers the value of the horses they have lost in war, and for all those killed or disabled on service ; the constable ought to value, through his marechal, the war-horses belonging to him and his com- panions and all the people of his hotel, and such price as the marechal may fix, the king should allow.' The first French marechal to the king who com- menced to elevate the dignity of his office in a military ' E. HoueL Op. cit., p. 178. Megnin, p. 75. "^ Le Nobiliaire de Normandie. 3 Histoire de la Maison Royale de France. ,3/6 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. point of view, was Alberic Clement, lord of Metz, in Ga- tinais. He accompanied King Philip Augustus to the Holy Land, and distinguished himself at the siege of Acre, where he was killed at an assault conducted by William the Breton and Rigord, in 1191. He had on many occasions led the advanced guard into battle,' and it was he who inaugurated the brilliant series of French marshals. His son, though very young, was, in recog- nition of the father's services, made marechal, and in 1225 commenced his duties, which, though military in their character, were yet made to include the manage- ment of the king's horses, and everything pertaining to them.^ It is not, however, until the 15th century that we find the marechal separating himself from horses and stables, and occupying a position second only to that of the sovereign. In relation to shoeing, the designation, elsewhere than in France, is of very frequent occurrence. In the reign of James II., King of Aragon (13th century), in appointing a marechal, it is ordained : ' Which Marescallus shall be near our person when we journey, furnished with nails and shoes, and other necessaries.' ^ In the Hist. Dalphini, for the year 1340, in defining the duties of this person, it is stated : ' Also the said Marescallus, every morning and late at night, is to see that the horses are properly groomed, . . and also to ascertain that they are well shod.' ' Guillaume le Breton. Vie de Philippe Auguste : Fit subito tetra castris irruptio nocte Quippe marescallus festinum'duxerat agmen. " Pere Anselme. Hist, de la Maison Royale de France. Paris, 1730. ' Leges Jacobi ii. Reg. Majoric. vol. iii. FLETA. 311 It is also found in the Charta Buzelinum (p. 528) for the year 1034; in the ' Statutis Ordinis de Sempringham ' (p. 743) ; in ' Institu. Cap. Gener. Cisteric (cap. ^t^) ; and in Foris Bigorre (art. 40).' After the arrival of the Normans in England, and who in all probability brought it with them, the designation or title is a common one ; the marechal or smith being often typified by hammers, tongs, anvils, and horse-shoes, and marshall or marescallus became a common name. For instance, in the 'Annales Cambrice,' for the nth century, it is recorded, ' Willielmus Marescallus factus est comes Penbrochire.' We also notice that Walter Marshall, seventh Earl of Pembroke, who died in the Keep of Gooderich Castle, in 1246, had for his seal a horse-shoe, and a nail within its branches. This seal is of interest to us in not only show- ing the origin of the name, but as affording a good idea of the shoes and nails in use at this period (fig. 143). In the curious work entitled ' Fleta,' written in the reign of Edward I., the ' Marescalcia' and 'Marescallo' are specially alluded to. For example, in speaking of the * Hospitio Regis,' it is written : Item eleemosynar ' janitorem, ^^- '^3 servientem ad custod' summar', et carectarum deputatum, et clericum de Marescalcia cum Marescallo, ferratore eqiiorum, qui quidem clericus de expensis foeni et avenae, literas ferrure equorum et harnes' pro equis, et carectis, ac de vadiis servientum, scutiferorum, clericorum, et garcionem respondebit cujus interest scire de hiis qui ' Du Cange. Glossarium ad Scriptores Mediae et Inlime Latinitatis. 378 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. de novo erunt admisi ad vad' Reg. quam de extravaganti- bus/ etc. And again, ' Marescalli autem de supervenien- tibus debent inferiori Marescallo testimonium perhibere.'' The functions of this dignitary are thus defined : ' Officium autem Marescalli est praebendam contra praepositum talli- are, et numerum equorum Senescallo hospitii in compoto diei qualibet nocte computare, at ipse in rotulo suo nume- rum equorum possit inverere, specifiando nomina super- venientium de eorum adventu, et mora. i. Item furfur a praeposito per talliam recipere, cum vide necesse habue- rit, et inde Sen compotum reddere, ut fiat de furfure, sicat de avena. 3. Item contra praepositum dt Jerris et clavis ab eo receptis talliam recipere, tarn de viumero ferrorum, quam de eorum custibus, et ubi ea allocaverit Sen' de- monstrare ; nee sine sua licentia alienos equos vide licehit ferrare. Item foenum et literam equis deliberare.'^ In London, during the reign of Edward I., we not only find the designation of ' Mareschal ' in every-day use, but also a regulation defining the prices to be charged by him for his labour and materials ; from which we learn, that for putting on a common shoe with six nails, \\d. was to be paid; with eight nails, id.\ and for re- moving the same, \d. For putting a shoe on a courser, i\d.\ on a war-horse, o^d.-^ and for removing a shoe on either, id. This is notified in the Norman French of the ' Liber Albus ' of the London Guildhall, and is headed as follows : ' De Marescallis, Fabris, et Armuraris. ' Q.e Mareschals preignent pur fer de chival, de vi clowes, i denier obole ; de viii clowes, ii deniers ; et pur ' Fleta, Lib. ii. cap. 14, p. 4. = Ibid. cap. 74. THE SEAL OF RALPH. 379 remover dicel, obole; et pur fer de courser, ii deniers obole ; et pur fer de destrer, iii deniers ; et pur removere un diceux, i denier.' From Letter-Book G, dated from a.d. 1353 to a.d. 1375, and preserved in the Records of the City of London, we make the following extract : ' Item, qe Mareschal preignent pur ferure des chivalx, cest assavoir, pur fer de viii clowes, ii deniers ; et de meyns, i denier obole ; et pur remover, obole.' That the designation was general wherever the Nor- mans had established themselves in England, is proved by the accompanying drawing (fig. 144) from the brass matrix of a curious seal now in the possession of Mrs Wooler, of Darlington, and which was found at Piers- bridge, near that town. A farrier displays a horse-shoe, heavy and clumsy, and pierced with six almost square holes, as well as a shoe- %■ 144 ing hammer and two nails, as a badge of his craft, the legend around them being S. Radul, Marcchal d' TEvechie d' Dureme — which signifies that it was the seal of Ralph, farrier to the bishopric of Durham. The word mareschal remained in vogue in England long after the Norman French had ceased to be the popu- lar or Court language, though it generally gave place to 'far- rier,' ' ferrier,' or ' ferrator,' a designation which had also 38o HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. been in use for very many centuries, and was derived, no doubt, from the ' faber ferrarius,' who not only worked generally in iron, but also shod the horses. In old French records it is not uncommon to find Jerrie?- and martsclial employed to designate the shoer. In the list of the slain at the battle of Bannockburn, fought between the English and Scottish armies on 25th June, 13 1 8, in which the first was defeated and the national independence of Scotland established, we find on the English side, among the knights and knight bannerets, the name of William Le Mareschal, and among the prisoners in the hands of the Scots, the knight Anselm de Mareschal and Thomas de Ferrers.' These individuals, however, may not have been in any way connected, but by name, with the shoers of horses. It is curious, notwithstanding, to find the two designa- tions combined so late as the i6th century, and applied to the healer of equine maladies. For instance, in an account of Q-ueen Elizabeth's expenses from 1559 to 1569, there is an entry for ' Curinge and Dressinge of the Queen's Horses ; ' and among other sums disbursed by ' John Tamworthe, Esquire, one of Her Majesties grooms,' and which were to be refunded to him, it is written : ' Also he is allowed for money paide to Martin Hollyman, Marshall Ferrer, and others, for curinge and dressinge of the Q-ueen's Majesties coursers, horses, and geldings, at divers tymes, within the tyme of this accompt, as in the said book doth appere, ^6^ lo.y. 4*:/.'^ ' Trivet's Annals. Hall's edit. vol. ii. p. 14. Oxford, 17 12. ' J. Nichols. The Progresses and Public Processions of Queen Elizabeth, vol. i.p. 269. London, 1823. THE FERRATOR. 381 The designation of ' Farrier ' or ' Ferrator ' is vxry ancient, and may have been in general use before the introduction of the Norman one. For instance, in the reign of Alexander II. of Scotland, at the commencement of the 13th century, a family named Ferrier lived in Tranent, in Haddingtonshire, whose seal of arms was appended to an alienation of some lands in that locality to the family of Seton, and on this seal was a shield charged with three horse-shoes.' It is somewhat surprising to find the mareschal as an officer of importance in the household of the ancient Celtic, or rather Hebridean, chiefs in the Western Isles of Scotland. Every family had two of these functionaries, who, in their language, were called ' Marischal Tach,' both of whom had an hereditary right to their office in writing, and each had a town and land for his service. Some of these rights Martin has seen fairly written on good parchment.^ For the year 1240, the Ferrator is mentioned as being, it would appear, on an equal footing with the cook : ' Besides these there were two offices of the same kind, namely, the office of cook and that of " Ferratoris ; " the liberty of exercising these lies with the citizens and the clergy.' 3 And in the Miracles of St Ambrosius it occurs : ' D. Gescae uxor Fei Ferratoris de populo S. Martini. ''^ 'Fabros' is sometimes substituted for 'ferrator,' as, for example, in a charter of Henry V. of England (1413),^ ' The Scottish Nation, vol. ii. Edinburgh, 1868. "^ Martin. Western Isles. ^ Hist. Dalphin. vol. i. p. 142. ■* Chronic. Senoniense, lib. iii. Martin, p. 205. 5 Ryviers Foedera, vol. ix. p. 250. .382 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. where it is said : ' Thou knowest that we have assigned thee as many horse-shoes and nails as may be necessary for the shoeing of the horses of our stables in our present travelling, with Fahros et fernim, and all other necessaries required for the office of shoeing {ferrurce)' In con- nection with the various designations for the farrier in use during the Middle Ages, we also find a diversity of names for the horse-shoes, not the least frequent of these being 'ferratura.' So early as 11 84, in Charta Lucii III/ it is enacted : ' Pro se et duobus scuteriis et tribus equi- taturis fenum et avenam habeat, et candelas, et Ferraturas equorum de curia ipsa percipiat.' In another charter for the year 1252, it also occurs, 'Una Ferratura equi.' The general name, however, wasyerrwrn or ferrus. In the 'Regestum ConstabularicE Burdegal' (fol. 106) the former is expressed : ' Dixit se teneri facere D. Regi Sex Ferra nova equi cum suis clavis in mutatione Domini;' and the latter in the Acta St Raynerii Pisani (vol. iii.. Junii, p. 432), 'Ferrati enim equi qui illuc equitabant, sine aliquo ferro in pedibus regrediebantur, et qui suos Ferros reservabant, optimos habere pedes perhibebantur.' This affords us some evidence as to the insecure manner in which the shoes were attached to the foot at this period, as well as the v/ise conclusion arrived at, that those hoofs which longest retained their armour were generally the best. With regard to the word ' marechal,' it is still the only designation for the farrier in France ; but to distinguish between the shoer of horses and the highest dignitary in the land — though both originally were one — ' Miraeus, vol. iii. Diploni. Eelgic. p. 1189. SUPERSTITIONS OF VARIOUS COUNTRIES. 383 b the word ferrant is added to the title of the former {Marechal ferrant). Some strange superstitions are allied with horse-shoes and horse-shoeing, but chiefly with the shoes. It is im- possible to fix the age of many of these curious fancies, but they appear to belong to the remotest antiquity — to be coeval, indeed, with the early mysteries, and to have held their ground long after these had disappeared, de- scending from one age to another, until they have even reached our own day. Finding a horse-shoe, and nailing it to a door or other place in order to keep away witches or ill-luck, is one of those frailties of the human mind not alone confined to the West, but ranging over a large extent of the earth's surface. Burnes,' in travelling through Central Asia, remarks : ' Passing a gate of the city, I observed it studded with horse-shoes, which are as superstitious emblems in this country as in remote Scotland. A farrier had no cus- tomers : a saint to whom he applied recommended his nailing a pair of horse-shoes to a gate of the city. He afterwards prospered, and the farriers of Peshawur have since propitiated the same saint by a similar expedient, in which they place implicit reliance.' Aubrey^ tells us that in his time 'it is very com- mon to nail horse-shoes over the thresholds of doors, which is to hinder the power of witches that enter into the house. Most houses of the West-end of London ' Travels into Bokhara, vol. ii. p. 87. • Miscellanies 3 on Apparitions, Magic, Charms, &c. London, p. 148, 1696, 384 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSESHOEING. have the horse-shoe on the threshold. It should be a horse-shoe that one finds,' He adds : ' In the Bermudas they used to put an iron into the fire when a witch comes in. Mars is enemy to Saturn.' ' Under the porch of Stainfield church, in Suffolk, I saw,' he mentions, ' a tile with a horse-shoe upon it, placed there for this purpose, though one would imagine that holy-water would alone have been sufficient. I am told there are many similar instances.' Ramsey" speaks of nailing shoes on the witches' doors and thresholds to keep them in ; and Mr Francis Douce, in his manuscript notes, says : ' The practice of nailing horse-shoes resembles that of driving nails into the walls of cottages among the Romans, which they believed to be an antidote against the plague : for this purpose L. Manlius (a.u.c. 390) was namxed Dictator, — to drive the nail.' We have already noticed the singular custom for many centuries prevailing at Oakham, in Rutlandshire. In Monmouth-street, London, Brand,^ in 1797, saw many shoes nailed to the thresholds of doors ; and Henry Ellis, in 1 8 13, counted no less than seventeen in that street fixed against the door-steps. The fair, but frail, ladies of Amsterdam, in 1687, be- lieved that a horse-shoe which had either been found or stolen, and placed on the chimney-hearth, would bring good luck to their houses.^ There is a curious and somewhat remarkable old Ger- man saying in reference to a damsel who has met with a ' Elminthologia, p. 76. = Popular Antiquities. 3 Putanisme d' Amsterdam, HORSE-SHOES AND WITCHES. 385 misfortune — ' Ein Madchen class ein Hufeisen verloren hat.' The origin of this strange application of the word is unknown ; but the mishaj) may have been compared to a horse stumbling and losing its shoe.' In Germany horse-shoes are stuck up in all the ' Schmiedeherbergen,' or ' Gasthausern ' (smiths' j)ub- lic-houses), and are called the 'arms of the guild' {TjUuJI- gilde). Holiday, in his comedy of the ' Marriage of the Arts,' among other good wishes introduced, gives one to the effect ' that the horse-shoe may never be pulled from your threshold.' To nail a horse-shoe, which has been cast on the road, over the door of any house, barn, or stable, is an effectual means of preventing the entrance of witches in Cornwall and the West of England to this day.^ I have recently met with instances of this custom in Kent. Butler,^ in his unrivalled ' Pludibras,' says of his con- jurer that he could ' Chase evil spirits away by dint Of cickle, horseshoe, hollow flint.' Misson 4 mentions the popularity of this custom in England, and its being intended as a defence from witches : ' Ayant souvent remarque un fer de cheval clone au seuils des portes (chez les gens de petite etoffe), j'ai demande a plusieurs ce que cela vouloit dire ? On m'a rcpondu diverses choses diffcrentes, mais la plus generale reponse a etc, que ces fers se mettoient pour empecher les sorciers ' Notes and Queries, vol. v. p. 391. ' Romances of the West of England. Second Series, p. 240. ' Canto iii. pt. 2, line 291. ■• Travels in England, p. 192. 25 385 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. cVentrer. lis rient en disant cela, mais ils ne le disent pourtant pas tout-a-fait en riant ; car ils croyent qu il y a la-dedans, on du moins qu il pent y avoir quelque vertu secrete : et s'ils n'avoient pas cette opinion, ils ne s'amuse- roient pas a clouer ce fer a leur porte.' And Guy, in his fable of the Old Woman and her Cats, makes her complain that ' crow'ds of boys Worry me with eternal noise ; Straws laid across my path retard, The horse-shoes nail'd (each threshold guard).' It was considered a lucky omen to find a horse-shoe on the road ; for one obtained in this way was far more potent against the ill-natured old ladies than one procured otherwise. Scott ' alludes to the virtues of the hoof- armour in this respect, when he causes Summertrees to rail Crosbie with, ' Your wife's a witch, man ; you should nail a horse-shoe on your chamber-door.' Only a few years ago, when the wealthy banker, Coutts, went to reside at Holly Lodge, two old horse-shoes were fixed on the upper step of the marble flight of stairs. Specimens will be shown of two horse-shoes — one of the 13th, the other of the 1 6th, century — which had been fastened to the church door of Saint-Saturnin, in France. It used to be the custom in Devonshire and Cornwall, to nail to the great west doors of churches these old articles to keep off the malicious witches, one of whose special amusements it was ' To untie the winds and make them fight Against the churches.' * Red Gauntlet, chap. v. GERMAN LEGENDS. 387 Church doors appear to have been rather favourite depots for horse-shoes. On that of the church at Halcombe, Devonshire, were formerly four shoes, said to be those taken from a horse ridden some distance into the sea by one of the Carews, for a wager. The odd custom even appears to have extended itself from the church to the precincts of the grave ; for Lin- denschmidt found horse-shoes in the tombs of Gaufel- fingen, and could not account for their presence there. At Schwarzenstein, about half-a-league from Rasten- burg, Prussia, two large horse-shoes, says tradition, were to be seen hanging to the church walls, and this is their antiquated history : ' Not far from the church dwelt a tavern-keeper, who, in selling beer to the people, did not give them just measure. The devil came upon him un- awares one night, and, before mine host could give the alarm, he was carried off to the village forge. His Satanic Majesty with difficulty wakened up the smith, and said to him, " Master, shoe my horse ! " The astonished Vul- can, who was justly suspected of being in partnership with the publican in his fraudulent transactions, knew not what to do ; but as soon as he drew near the beer-seller whispered in his ear, " Partner, don't be in a hurry, but work slowly." The smith, who had taken him for a horse, was greatly terrified when he heard the familiar voice, and the fright caused him to tremble in every limb ; consequently the operation of shoeing was greatly retarded, and in the interval the cock crew. The devil was then obliged to take to flight ; but the inn-keeper was very ill, and did not recover for a long time after.' If the devil were to shoe all the inn-keepers who give short measure, 2K * 388 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. runs the moral of the tradition, iron would soon be beyond price ! ' There was to be seen at Ellrich, in Germany, in days long gone by, four horse-shoes, of immense size, nailed to the door of the old church. They astonished every- body; and since the church was destroyed, they have been carefully preserved in the curate's dwelling. In very ancient times, Count Ernest rode one Sunday morning from Klettenberg to Ellrich, in order to contend, glass in hand, with the most intrepid tippler, for a chain of gold. He met a great number of rivals, and defeated them all ; and having put the chain round his neck, he was returning, as conqueror, through this little town to Klet- tenberg. As he crossed the principal thoroughfare, he heard the vespers chanted in the church of Saint Nicholas : drunk as he was, he made up his mind to enter the sacred building. So he rode in, through and over the people, up to the very altar ; but scarcely had his horse put its feet on the steps to clear them, than all at once its four shoes were torn off, and it fell with its rider, both stiff dead on the floor. The shoes have been preserved for ages as a memorial of this event.^ Even the loss of shoes from the hoofs appears to have given rise in the middle ages to as great an amount of superstition, as the virtues ascribed to their discovery. So late as the i6th century we find the accomplished diplo- matist, brave soldier, and skilled poet, Du Bartas, blaming the humble little plant, moon-wort {Botrycliium lunaria), for drawing the iron coverings from the horses' feet. ' Prcptoriits. Weltbeschreib. vol. ii. Grimm. Deutsche Mytlio- logie. " Otmar and Grimm. Deutsche Mythologie. MOONIVORT, 389 ' And horse that, feeding on the grassy hills. Tread upon moon-wort with their hollow heelesj Though lately shod, at night goe bare-foot home. Their master musing where their shooes become. O moon-wort ! tell us where thou hid'st the smith. Hammer, and pincers, thou unshoo'st them with ? Alas ! what lock or iron engine is't That can thy subtile secret strength resist, Sith the best farrier cannot set a shoo So sure, but thou (so shortly) canst undoo ?' Longfellow speaks ' Of the marvellous powers of four-leaved clover and horse-shoes ' as a sujDerstition among the primitive settlers in Acadie, now Nova Scotia. And we have quoted M. Megnin's opinion that the apex of the ensign of a Roman cohort, figured on Trajan's column, was surmounted by a hoof- iron. If this be really a horse-shoe, it not only demon- strates that the custom of shoeing was known to the Romans, but that the strange virtues superstitiously attached to that object had already been credited by them ; as it would also appear to have been by the Arabs in Mahomet's time. 3 go CHAPTER IX. SHOEING IN ENGLAND AFTER THE NORMAN CONftUEST, EUSTATHIUS. REVIVAL OF VETERINARY SCIENCE. JORDANUS RUFFUS. PETRUS DE CRESCENTIUS. LAURENTIUS RUSIUS. SHOD OXEN. SHOEING FORGES. COUNTING THE HORSE-SHOES AND HOB-NAILS. LIBER ftUO- TIDIANUS. THE DEXTRARIUS AND HOBBY. HAWKING. STRATAGEM OF REVERSING SHOES. ROBERT BRUCE AND DUKE CHRISTOPHER OF WURTEMBERG. VALUE OF SHOES AND NAILS FOR HORSES IN ENGLAND IN THE I3TH AND I4TH CENTURIES. COAL. THE RE- VOLT OF THE DUKE OF LANCASTER. TUTBURY CASTLE AND THE RIVER DOVE. CURIOUS DISCOVERY OF TREASURE AND HORSE- SHOES. FROISSART. WARS OF KINGS EDWARD II. AND III. GLOU- CESTER CORPORATION SEAL. STATUS OF THE FARRIER. DIFFERENT BREEDS OF HORSES. GROOVED IMPORTED SHOES. THE DAYS OF CHIVALRY. FAMILY COATS OF ARMS. LOMBARDY AND FLEM- ISH HORSES. THE CHATELAINE OF WARRENNE. HAMERICOURT. FARRIERY IN SCOTLAND. AN UNJUST LAW. STATUTES OF EDWARD VI. HENRY VIII. AND SHOEING WITH FELT, CURIOUS CUSTOMS AND EXTRAVAGANCE. GOLD AND SILVER SHOES. FARRIERS. CjESAR FIASCHI. DIVERSITY OF SHOES. GERMAN WRITERS. CARLO RUINI. After the Norman invasion of England, the shoeing of horses, and indeed everything relating to that noble animal, received much attention. Instead of being an obscure art, and apparently but rarely resorted to among the Anglo-Saxons, the Norman knights brought with them from the continent their marechals of high rank, and their esteem for chivalry, which, without horses, could scarcely have existed. The advantages arising from the SHOEING JFTER THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 391 employment of horsemen had been amply demonstrated to them at the battle of Hastings, where their victory was mainly due to the well-equipped cavalry force they carried from Normandy. We have seen that in France shoeing was extensively practised at this time, and was, indeed, an inevitable necessity, from the custom introduced of cum- bering men and horses with heavy weapons, and encasing them in massive armour. At Hastings, even the steeds were rendered proof against the attacks of the Anglo- Saxons by an impenetrable covering. Roger de Hoven- den, writing of this period, says, ' Cepit Rex Anglias 100 milites, et septies viginti equos coopertos ferro, et servientes equites, et pedites multo.'' So that in England the practice of shoeing horses with iron shoes attached to the hoofs by nails, was, after the settlement of the Normans, completely established and general. The form of shoe introduced by them was, perhaps, more artistic than that of the earlier periods, and the same as that in use in France ; being usually furnished with calkins, heavy, larger in size than those found before their arrival, and having three, or more rarely four, nail- holes on each side. These nail-holes were nearly square, and wider at the top or ground-surface than the bottom or foot-face. The heads of the nails were also square, to fit the holes, and projected more or less from the surface of the shoe. The points of the nails, when driven through the hoof, were cut off, and only enough of the nail left to double over and form a clench or clinch.^ Examples of ' Annal. p. 444. " This term would appear to be neither of Greek, Latin, nor French origin, but derived from the Anglo-Saxon Glh-lcnched, twisted, gradually 392 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. these shoes are to be found in the seals of Walter Mar- shall, and Ralph of Durham, already figured. Some years ago, at the formation of the London, Chatham, and Dover railway, in a cutting near Meopham, Kent, a shoe of this description (fig. 145) was disinterred. It is very heavy, large, and shaped as if for the foot of a mule. The nail-head yet remaining has been somewhat worn, yet enough is left to exhibit its peculiar square shape. The shoe appears to have been pulled oflT, as it is much twist- ed. The toe looks as if it had been slightly bent or ' curved' up, like the present French fig. 145 shoe, and there are four nails on each side. The calkins are solid, thick, and high, and altogether it is a clumsy shoe ; measuring, as it does, 4J inches across the quarters, 5| inches long, and i^ inch wide in cover; and though much oxidized, weighing 18J ounces ! Another specimen is here shown from the excavations at Besanqon, and which is supposed by M, Meg- nin to belong to the middle ages ' (fig. 146). And a curious example of the shod horse, in which the nail- heads and calkins are very con- becoming glcnccd, clciiccd, and clenched. The word has been in use from a very remote period in the history of this craft in Britain. ' Hist. Ferrure, p. 26. EUSTATHIUS. 393 spicuous, is now also copied from a French manuscript of the Apocalypse, written in the 13th century. The prominence given to the armature on the horse's hoofs shows how important it was deemed (fig. 147). Another fig- 147 delineation will be found in a rare pamphlet printed in 1485, entitled ' Jacobi publici Florentini. Oratoris Insti- tution In nearly all the manuscripts of this period, in which horses figure, their hoofs are represented as shod. We wall give some additional examples of these presently. Writers more frequently mention shoeing. Eusta- thius, who wrote a commentary on Homer, in the 12th century, is the first to mention the Greek horses of an- tiquity as shod, a statement we conclude to be erroneous, but which shows that Eustathius was well acquainted with the art. With the revival of learning, what may be de- signated veterinary medicine was again attracting atten- 394 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. tion, and the writers who previously treated of this branch of science, and were altogether silent regarding shoeing, now speak of it and its requirements. Foremost among these was the Calabrian, Jordanus RufFus, Master of the Horse [Comes Mare.stalli) to the great Frederick, who lived in the 13th century. This hippiatrist appears to have held high rank at Frederick's Court, for in one manuscript he signs his testament, ' Ego Jordanus, magnus justitiarius Ruffus de Calabria impe- rialis Marescallus major interfui his et subscribi feci.' In the Harleian Codex of the British Museum is a manu- script in the Sicilian language, beginning, ' Izi cominza la libra di manischalchia compostu da lu Maestro Giordano Russo di Galicia, mariscalo del imperatore Federica.' Another codex is in the Damiani library at Venice, a Latin translation of which begins, ' Incipit liber manescal- chiae. Nui Messeri Jordan Russu de Calabria volimo insignari achelli chi avinu a nutricari cavalli secundu chi avimu imparatu nela manestalla de lu imperaturi Federicu chi avimu provatu e avimu complita qusta opira nelu nomu di deu, e di Santu Aloi.' The patron saint of farriers was thus, it appears, invoked to countenance his labours. The only good edition to which I have had access, is that published at Bologna in 1561, with the tide, ' II dottisimo libro non piu Stampato delle Malscalzie del Cavallo, del Signor Giordano Rusto, Calaurese.' The work is curious, but by no means despicable ; and his brief remarks on shoeing are sensible enough. After mentioning that it is useful to wash out the horse's mouth and rub it with powdered salt, particularly if the animal does not drink JORDANUS RUFFUS. 395 willingly ; he recommends that the hoofs be shod with shoes of a convenient weight, round, and adapted to the shape of the feet. The shoe to be light, and narrow towards the extremity of the branches, as in proportion to the narrowness of the shoe at the heels woidd the horse's hoofs become hard and strong. The thicker the shoes of the young horse, so the more liability was there to the hoofs becoming weak and soft ; and so long as horses continued to be shod in their youth, so would the hoofs become large and hard.' Veterinary medicine at this stage in the revival of the arts and sciences was almost, if not entirely, Italian, and the best and most original writers on it were natives of Italy. After RufFus, the principal author on the diseases and management of the domestic animals at this period is Petrus de Crescentiis, of Bologna, a philosopher, lawyer, physician, and traveller.^ His work, written when he was seventy years of age (1307), had an immense success, treating, as it did, of every branch of agriculture ; and ' 'Ancora e utile al cavallo lavarghi spesso la bocca con umo buono, et fregargliela con il sal pesto : et facedo cosi, il cavallo bevera piu volontieri, et fiicciasi ferrat con ferri di peso convenevoli, et che sieno rotondi, tanto che s'adatti a I'unghia di piedi. II ferro deve esser leg- gieri, et stretto nella sua estremita ; imperoche quanto sono piu stretti di dietro, le unghie del cavallo, tanto sono piu dure, e forti. Et sappi, che quanto piu spesso si ferra il caval giovane, tanto piu fa divenir I'unghia debbile e molle 5 et pero per il continuo suo andar ferrato nella giovanezza, le sue unghie diveramo dure, et grandi.' ^ I have not been able to refer to the first Latin edition — ' Opus Ruralium Commodorum,' printed in 147 ij but of the ten editions afterwards published, I have selected for reference that of nearly a cen- tury later — ' De Omnibus Agriculturae partibus, etc., per longo rerum usu exercitatum Optimum et Philosophum Petrum Crescentiensem, principem rei publicae Bononiensis,' etc, Basileae, 1548. 39^ HORSESHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. though with respect to the maladies of the lower animals, he borrows largely from the Latin Scriptores Rei Rusticae, and Jordanus RufFus, yet he appears to have been an enlightened observer, and much less superstitious than the majority of medical men at that time. He describes several disorders the foot of the horse is liable to, and points out the difference between the hoofs of horses reared and employed in mountainous districts, and those bred in low-lying plains. When giving directions as to the management of the horse, he recommends that the shoes be round, light, and narrow, so that they might adhere firmly to the circumference of the feet. Thin shoes, he adds, render the horse agile, and to pare and lighten the hoofs makes them large and strong. When, however, new shoes are applied, and fastened on with either new or old nails, it is necessary the horse should rest, lest harm ensue.' Perhaps among the most noted of the 14th-century hippiatrists, stands Laurentius Rusius (Ruzzius, Russo, ' The first and second sentences of this recommendation are from the edition I have mentioned: 'Ferrari debet equus ferris sibi conve- nientibus rotundis admodum ungulse lenibus, et unguhs in circuitu strictis, et bene adherentibus, nam levitas ferri reddit equum agilem ad levandum pedes, et ipsius strictura ungulas majores et fortiores facit.' — Lib. ix. cap. 5. Aldrovandus, who may have had access to a more complete edition, quotes this somewhat ditferently, and adds to the last sentence given above — * Crescentiensis monet ut soleae sint leves, rotundae, et strictae, ita ut ungulis in circuitu bene adhaereant. Nam levitas (inquit) ferri reddit ecjuum agilem ad levandum pedes et strictura ejus ungulas ma- jores et fortiores facit. Cum autem novae soleae inducunlur, aut veteris novis clavis firmatae aliquanti per equum quiescere paliemur, ne post recentem molestiam alia noxei objiciatur.' — Op. cit., p. 50. LJURENTIUS RUSIUS. 397 Riisius, Ruzo, de Ruccis, Ruse, Rugino, Rosso, and Riso — for by all of these names is he designated in the. many editions of his writings), a veterinary surgeon of Rome (as he styles himself), and a friend of Cardinal Napoleon de Ursinis, who lived in the 13th and 14th centuries. His observations on the maladies of the lower animals, though similar to those of Ruffus, are, for the time in which they were written, remarkably exact, and on shoeing, though brief, they are yet reasonable. ' It is necessary to shoe horses with good and proper shoes, shaped like the hoofs ; the more the extremities of the shoe — the heels, are narrow and light, the more easily will the horse lift his feet ; and the narrower the shoe is, so much more will the horn grow. It is also advantageous to know, that the oftener we shoe a young horse, so rapidly does the horn become thin and weak ; and, on the contrary, to accustom it to travel without shoes while it is young, is to make the hoofs larger and stronger.' ' In other chapters, the diseases of the foot, many of them arising from shoeing, are carefully described. In the nth century, I think we have the first written intimation that oxen were shod for travelling. Guibert de Nogent, a contemporary of Peter the Hermit, and who has so well and so eloquently described the almost morbid excitement attending the preaching of that worthy in favour of the Crusades and the rescue of Jerusalem, gives as an illustration, that of ' the rustic, 2v/io shod his oxen like horses, and placed his whole family on a cart ; where it was amusing to hear the children, on the ap- ' La Mareschallerie de Laurens Ruse. Paris, 1563. Translated from the Latin edition published at Spire in i486. 398 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. proach to any large town or castle, inquiring if that were Jerusalem.' ' This allusion is curious, inasmuch as it informs us that oxen were sJiod., and, as if something very remarkable, like horses. It is well known that oxen cannot travel far with the continuous oval-shaped horse-shoe; the arma- ture for the foot must be in two portions, one for the outer margin of each claw. Guibert, however, may only have referred to the manner of nailing on an iron plate on cloven hoofs, as very unusual. It is not until the 13th century that we find any positive record of special buildings for shoeing, and also for treating horses medically. In 1202 there are two entries for shoeing in a booth : ' Pro Travillis et pro circulis et pro vectura duorum ferratorum Ix. s.' ' Pro merreno ad tres Travallos ferratorum et uno ferrati et pro duvis xliii. s.' ^ In a charter for about the year 1302, a place of this kind is also notified as a ' Travaillium.' ' In which street was placed a certain travaillium (workshop, from the French travail), for the use of the smith to shoe horses in, which was and had been called a travaillium, and was placed and allowed to be retained there by our command. '^ And in England, in 1235, during the reign of Henry III., ' Novigent. Opera, Lib. ii. cap. 6. " Du Cange. D. Brussel, vol. ii. De Usu Feud., pp. 142, 155. ^ Ibid. Tabul. Carnot. Trabs also adduces Borellus' testimony for the year 1267, as follows : ' Inquesta facta . . . ad sciendum utruni .... spectat ad dom. Regem. Travail a equorum et stalla terrae delixa, quae sustinentur super columnas solo adherentes, quae cheminis et viis praestant impedimentum, propter hoc tollere. Probata est haec con- suetudo, videlicet quod potest tollere stalla aut scalla et Travalla terrae noviter defixa, praestantia viis impedimentum.' f COUNTING THE HORSE-SHOES AND HOB-NAILS. 399 Walter le Bruin or Brun, a farrier or marechal, had a piece of land granted him in the Strand, in the parish of St Clement's Danes, London, whereon to erect a forge, on condition that he should render at the Exchequer, annually, for the same, a quit-rent of six horse-shoes, with the nails (62) thereunto belonging. This strange pay- ment was made twice during the reign of Edward I., and, curiously enough, was continued so late as 1827 (and may be even now), at the swearing-in of the annually elected Sheriff of London and Middlesex, on the 30th September, to the representative of the Sovereign, for the said piece of ground, though it has long been city pro- perty. This was the origin of the odd custom of count- ing the horse-shoes and hob-nails.' ' From the daily expense book of the 28th year of Edward L^ (1299 — 1300), we learn that the pay of the smith was fourpence a day, and that horse-shoes were charged at ten shillings per hundred, and nails twenty- pence a thousand. Iron sold at fivepence per stone. In it also notice that the functions of the armourer and smith were divided, special workmen representing each of these crafts. In the same record we find an entry for divers instruments of farriery to shoe horses, which appear to have been sent to that monarch in the Holy Land : ' Diversa utensilia ferrator equorum qui missa fuerunt Regi in terra Sancta ut dicebatur.' The draught-horse {equus ad tractandum or carrec- tarum) was as yet a somewhat rare animal, the state of ' Madox. Hist. Exchequer. Allen. History of London, vol. i. p. 76. * Liber Quotidianus Contrarotulatoris Garderobe, London, 1787. 400 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. the roads seldom allowing the passage of wheeled carriages. The Court travelled on horseback, the ladies even being obliged to resort to this kind of conveyance. The ' equus dextrarius,' or war-horse, was in high favour, and kept only for state occasions or for battle ; while the ' equus discopertus,' or hobelar, was used for quick travelling. The light cavalry soldiers, who rode these small horses or hobbies, were called hobelars. This convenient-sized creature was also that generally ridden in hawking and other sports of a like character, as it was hardier and more conveniently managed. All appear to have been regularly shod ; and in the illuminated manuscripts of this period, the greatest pains is taken to represent the shoes and nails. This will be seen by referring to the annexed engraving (fig. 148), copied from the Louterell Psalter, perhaps one of the finest manu- scripts in existence, and now in the pos- session of the Weld family, Lulworth Cas- tle, Dorsetshire. It is supposed to belong to the 14th century, and is a most valuable document for reference with regard to the do- mestic history of that fig ,48 period in England.' The subject is a gentleman hawking, and mounted on ' A number of the illustrations, with descriptive notes, has been published in the Vetusta Monumenta, vol. vi. RETERSING SHOES. 401 one of these hobbies. The artist has exerted himself to show not only the shoes and nails, but in some of his illustrations he has even made manifest the latter in their passage through the hoof. The calkins and nail- heads are certainly very massive and clumsy-looking, though there can be no doubt they would afford a power- ful hold of the ground. The presence of calkins had, besides, another advantage for those who were inclined to resort to a stratagem like that already described when speaking of Spain. When Robert Bruce returned to London with King Edward in 1302 (some accounts say 1305), his associate, Cumyn, treacherously betrayed him; but a secret friend gave him due notice of his danger by a present of a purse and a pair of spurs. This hint the Scottish champion was shrewd enough to understand, and made his escape, as Hollingshed ' tells us, by ' causing a smith to shoo three horses for him, contrarilie with the calking^ forward, that it should not be perceived which waie he had taken by the track of the horsses, for that the ground at that time was covered with snowe, he (Robert Bruce) departed out of London about midnight.' Lest we forget to remember at the proper moment, it may be here stated, that a similar ruse was adopted by Duke Christopher of Wiirtemburg in 1530. When that nobleman fortunately freed himself by flight from the power of the Emperor Charles V., he reversed the position of his horse's shoes, and thus made his pursuers believe he was going in a contrary direction. ' Historic of Scotland. Year 1302. " The word calkin or calking would appear to be derived from the Latin calyx, the heel, or calcare, to tread. 26 402 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. Iron horse-shoes were at this period, according to Mr Rogers, ' sold by the hundred, and nails by the thousand, as at present. In 1265, we find the former articles selling at Dover 225 for 5,?. ^\d. per hundred, and nails at is. 3d a thousand; whereas at Odiham, in Hampshire, 84 were purchased for 5.?. 6Jr/., and 1000 nails at IS. id. These prices vary considerably, but in in- creasing proportion up to 1398, when we find 26 fore- shoes sell at Oxford for 16s. 8d., and 22 hind-shoes at 12^. 6d.; while nails at the same place, in 1390, were 2s. 6d. per hundred. In the accounts and annals of farms and estates during the 13th and 14th centuries, it is shown that the chief expenditure incurred in the keep of horses was the cost of shoeing. In the earlier part of this period, shoes were occasionally made, it appears, out of the iron pur- chased by the chief bailiff, and fashioned by the village smith. But shoes were nearly alv/ays bought ready-made, and in considerable quantities. They must, indeed, have been very slight, and little more than tips ; the necessity for strong shoes, in the absence of hard or well-metalled roads, not being so urgent as now-a-days. It is possible, also, that the hoofs of horses have in our time become less solid, in consequence of the continual paring and mutilation which the modern system of shoeing involves. If we compare the price of iron by the hundred with the cost of shoes, says Mr Rogers, and remember also that the charge of working iron was generally almost equal to that of the material, we shall find that the media3val horse-shoe ' History of Agriculture and Prices in the 13th and 14th Centuries. Vol. ii. p. 328. PRICES OF SHOES AND NAILS. 40,3 could not have possibly weighed more than half, and prob- ably very often not more than the third of a pound. Traces are to be found of heavier shoes. Thus several of the entries in bailiffs' accounts, from 1265 to 1276 (unless we conclude that wrought iron was always dearer in the eastern counties, owing to the general enhancement of wages in a region then so favoured by manufacturing activ- ity), seem to indicate stouter and heav^ier shoes than are ordinarily found. So marked is this difterence on some oc- casions, that Mr Rogers was obliged to omit certain entries at very high prices from his calculations of the annual aver- age, lest he should give a false impression as to the value of this ordinary manufacture in certain years. Thus, while particular shoes are returned from Ospringe in 1286, 1287, and 1288, at 3.V. ^d. the hundred, — a rate which is very frequent in the 13th century, — others are quoted at 5.?., 5.?. 6d., and 8.^. 6d., and are specially designated as ' great shoes.' These may have been like the specimen figured on page 392 ante. Similarly, the entries for the last year in which evidence is afforded, are shoes supplied for the saddle-horses of Merton College, and the price, it must be admitted, is very high. The Hornchurch return for the year 1396 is also excessive; but the purchase is made for the farm stud, and represents probably only that dearness which is found, even in those early days, in the vicinity of London. On the occasions when the kind of shoes are distinguished, a difference is generally made between the price of cart-horse and affer, or stott, shoes. The latter, Mr Rogers observes, were a breed of ponies used for the rougher kinds of husbandry, or for such work as that in which endurance and hardihood were more 26* 404 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. needed than strength. Sometimes, however, as in 1297, cart-horse shoes were less than stott shoes. It is probable, too, that the strength of the shoe varied with the soil and the work. Thus at Gamlingay, in 1343, the shoes of the cart-horse were dearer than those needed for ploughing horses. The theory given above, that the shoes were light, is supported by the fact that at Farley, in the year 1320, ox-shoes are quoted at little less price than horse-shoes. The range of prices for shoes, indicated by Mr Rogers's researches, is equally suggestive with that of any other commodities. In the first ninety years shoes are dearest in 13 1 1 — 1320, though the price is not materially enhanced. Afterwards they fall again, and would have fallen still more markedly, were it not for the immediate results of the Great Plague occurring at that period. This visitation produces its effects at one place only in the year 1348— this being Boxley. where the price is at once nearly four times that at which purchases were made in 1339 and 1340; but afterwards the effect is univ^ersal. Shoes customarily worth only a halfpenny before, are instantly and permanently a penny, and the price never falls again. For when we consider how steadily the need increased for these articles, how universal was the smith's labour, and how the relative value of the commodity was governed by causes over which the interference of the legislature could exercise only a very partial control — if, indeed, it could effect any real control at all — we should be prepared to anticipate the result which actually ensued, that the price was doubled. Even here, however, we may trace the same phenomenon, adds Mr Rogers, which has so often occurred. Prices are higher in the decade 13 71 — CHANGE IN CONDITION OF THE ARTISAN. 405 1380, and are lower afterwards. 'Were there sufficient evidence for the last ten years, the facts which I have been able to collect would, I am confident, have been varied in the averages, and the quotations in all likelihood would have to be put on the ten years at 8.?. ; instead of being, as I am constrained to return them, at the great price of 13^. 6^cl. The causes to which the deficient information of the later part of the period must be ascribed, are : the change which takes place in the method of agriculture, and the change which the course of events had induced upon the condition of the smith. The reader will anticipate that the former cause consists in the fact, that the system of bailiff farming was gradually re- linquished after the event of the plague. But accounts are not kept in so careful a manner. The dearth of hands had produced its effects on the inferior clergy, the scribes and accountants of the middle ages. Items which used to be carefully distinguished are lumped in one general sum — credited, for instance, to the bailiff, as the year's charge for shoeing. Services which used to be cheap and effectual, had now become dear and negligent ; and such symptoms were apparent in the economy of agricul- ture, as designated that a radical alteration in the method of tenure was impending. And there are also indications that oxen, according to Walter de Henley's advice, were superseding horses in farm-work. The other cause is the change which comes over the condition of the artisan. Hitherto it was very seldom that such persons dealt in finished goods. As a rule, they were hired to do work on materials purchased by their employer ; and in some occupations, as in the building trades, this purchase of 4o5 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. materials continues for centuries after the time before us. Thus, although at a very early time horse-shoes were bought by the hundred at fairs and market-towns, they were also fashioned out of the bar-iron bought annually by the bailiff for the use of the farm. This revolution in the relations of employer and artisan was effected, of course, not only by the fact that the latter obtained better terms for his labour, but because he had become possessed of capital, was able to lay by a portion of his gains, and could therefore work for a future market.' ' Any person,' says the Professor, ' who studies, even superficially, a farm account at the beginning, and another at the end of the i4tli century, must obtain indications of the change which has taken place in the habits and in the condition of the labouring classes. So, out of the gains which were thus amassed, temptations to spend coming but little in the way of the mediaeval labourer, those estates were pur- chased on which the yeomanry of the 15th century lived in comfort.' 'Equally characteristic is the history of the price of horse-shoe nails. These articles were purchased at the same times and places with the shoes. Knowing what horse-shoe nails must have been, we can readily judge from the price at which they were purchased, what was the size of other nails. These nails, bought by the thousand, were made, it is probable, with broad heads, the grooved shoe being, considering the price of iron and the lightness of the plate, an invention of later times. But the nail must have been of length sufficient to pass through so much of the hoof as would serve to keep it tightly on. PRICE OF HORSE-SHOE NAILS. 407 and it must have been of such temper as to insure its toughness and endurance. To judge by the price, the horse-shoe nail must have contained two-thirds more iron than the lath-nail, and about half as much as the broad nail. The price of these nails rises and falls evenly with that of horse-shoes. During the first ninety years, they are dearest in the years 13 11-20, and though the price declines slightly after this time, it does not revert to the cheap rates of the thirteenth century. After the plague, the rise is instant and permanent, the rate being doubled, and remaining high, the dearest time being, as before, the decade 137 1 — 1380. Evidence for the last ten years is wanting, but judging by the exactness with which the price of these articles follows that of horse-shoes, we might certainly affirm that if the latter stood at. from 8.?. ^d. to 8.?. the hundred, the former would be about 2.y. 6d. the thousand. The general rise on the average of the last forty years is not, indeed, quite so large as that of horse- shoes, though it is upwards of 100 per cent.; but it will be remembered that the rate of horse-shoes for the last ten years is excessive, and the evidence insufiicient.' The annexed illustration, from the Louterell Psalter, represents a waggon-team ascending a terribly steep hill, the horses' feet being shown as well armed with shoes and large-headed nails (fig. 149, next page). This drawing is of great interest in many respects, but particularly as dis- playing the mode of harnessing and driving draught horses at this period, as well as the construction of the waggons. In the reign of Richard II. (1377-99), from a bailiff's account of a manor in Surrey, it appears that the fore- THE ' STOTT: 409 feet of oxen used in ploughing, and heifers or stutts in harrowing, were shod at threepence each.' It is necessary here to remark, that Richardson^ derives the word 'stott' from the Anglo-Saxon stod-ho?'s, and as applied to oxen from the Swedish stut, Danish ,sfu(l, a steer. The word has given rise to some discussion, it having been used for a very long time in Scotland as a designation for a steer, heifer, or bullock, and the notice in the above is thought by the antiquarian who quotes it, to mean heifer. Of this, however, there may be con- siderable doubt ; as the term has been constantly applied in England to under-sized strong horses or cobs. In the 'Vision of Piers Plowman' (1362?) it occurs in this sense : Grace of his goodnesse, gaf Peers foure stottes. And Chaucer, in his ' Canterbury Pilgrims,' says : This Reeve sat upon a right good slot, That was all pomelee (dappled) gray, and highte Scot. Signifying, I think, that the word came from beyond the Tweed. Sir David Lyndsay also applies it to a horse. On a part of the border of the so-called Bayeux tapestry, re- presenting the landing of William the Conqueror and the battle of Hastings, a piece of needlework by some ascribed to Saxon embroiderers, there is a representation of a man driving a horse attached to a harrow — one of the earliest instances we have of horses being used in field- labour ; but which was a common enough custom in the time of Richard II. ' Archaeologia, p. 284. London, 181 7. "" Dictionary of the English Language. London, 1837. 410 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. Stow, for 1273, informs us that coal was not allowed to be burned in or near London, being ' prejudicial to human health,' and that smiths were even prohibited from its use, and obliged to burn wood. This may have materially influenced the cost of iron-work at this period. Chaucer, in the ' Canon Yeoman's ' tale, frequently speaks of coals being used by the alchemist. A great degree of interest attaches to the next two drawings of shoes belonging to this period, from the fact that the actual specimens are closely related to an incident which somewhat prominently marks the otherwise event- ful reign of Edward II., and are melancholy souvenirs of the downfall of a brave English nobleman. We have already noticed the grants of land bestowed on Henry de Ferrarius by William the Conqueror, and mentioned that among these was Tutbury, an estate situated on the Staffordshire side of the river Dove, which there forms the boundary between that county and Derby- shire. Standing on a commanding eminence of gypsum rock, which may have been selected as a stronghold by the ancient Britons and Romans, and on which there cer- tainly stood a fortification during the Anglo-Saxon Hept- archy, but which was afterwards destroyed by the Danes, the castle of Tutbury was rebuilt on a much larger scale than before, by the Norman — farrier we had almost called him, and was a place of some importance in those days of family fortresses. In 1269, this place, with his other possessions, was forfeited by Robert de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, and given by Edward I. to his brother Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, CIVIL JFAR IN THE REIGN OF EDIFJRD II. 411 who dying in 1297, left it to his son Thomas, the second Earl of Lancaster, when the castle was still more beautified and improved, and made a general residence. In a short time, however, this nobleman embroiled himself with his nephew, Edward II., the next sovereign ; for, becoming dis- gusted with the manner in which that monarch allowed himself to be swayed by his successive favourites, Gaveston and the two Spensers, and pitying the people who were the victims of his rapacity, as well as instigated by his own private wrongs, he, at the head of a number of barons, first remonstrated with his king, and afterwards took up arms in open rebellion. The consequence was a civil war, which for some time was carried on vigorously by both sides. The king had advanced into the heart of the king- dom while the earl was in the north, and before the latter could intercept it, the royal army had penetrated nearly to Burton in Staffordshire. Here, by great exertion, the earl had been able to arrive before Edward, and occupied the town, situated on the western bank of the river Trent, which is here very deep. Lancaster determined to make a stand at this place, as it was the key to his castle of Tutbury ; the long, -narrow, and crooked bridge across the river being easy of defence, and so long as success- fully held, preventing any approach, except in a round- about way, to the important stronghold. Though deserted by the barons who had at first re- belled with him and had joined his standard, the earl might, nevertheless, have offered good fight, but, unluckily for him, a countryman had shown the king's army a ford about five miles above Burton ; so while one portion 412 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. menaced the town, another crossed the river and threat- ened the castle. The earl's position was now untenable, and he was obliged to fly to his apparently impregnable fortress. Tutbiiry is only about five miles from Burton, so that Lancaster soon reached his home, though scarcely had he got across the drawbridge before the royal forces were at the gate. It was soon discovered that to attempt defence was impossible, and to come out on the Stafford- shire side quite impracticable; while the river Dove, at that time greatly flooded and scarcely fordable, and over which there was no bridge, appeared to cut him [completely off from Derbyshire, through which he might have passed to his castle of Pontefract, in Yorkshire. Thus hemmed in, nothing was left but surrender or hazardous flight across the Dove. The latter alternative was adopted ; and after leaving his baggage and military chest in charge of his treasurer Leicester, with directions to convey them in safety, and as quickly as possible, to Pontefract, he and his followers made the attempt, and, in spite of the high floods, suc- ceeded in gaining the opposite bank in safety. Such, however, was not the fortune of Leicester's charge — the military chest, which contained all the money the earl had been amassing to pay his retainers and dis- charge the current expenses of the disastrous war he had undertaken. This servant, following his master at night, did all he could to convey the treasure safely from the castle, but in the confusion of getting down the steep hill and across the swollen river in the dark, with a fugitive panic-stricken guard and terrified waggoners, the chest TUTBURY CASTLE AND THE RIFER DOVE. 413 and its contents were lost in the Dove, and the unlucky treasurer, compelled to fly before daylight discovered him, never after had an opportunity of returning to attempt their recovery. The earl himself, deserted by those on whom he depended, was soon after betrayed into the hands of his enemies, who conducted him to Pontefract, where, after suffering the greatest indignities, as is generally the case with fallen greatness, his head was struck off", towards the end of March or beginning of April, 1322. The subsequent troubles appear to have caused the loss of this treasure to be forgotten, and probably of the few who witnessed its immersion in the Dove none ever returned to Tutbury ; so that the poor earl's money, which perhaps might have saved him his head, had he chanced to possess it before his capture, was destined to remain in the bed of the river undisturbed, except by the rushing waters, for more than five hundred years, and would in all likelihood have continued so, but for a curious chance. This happened in June, 1831. In the long interval that had elapsed, the Dove had been spanned by two bridges ; corn and cotton mills were erected on its banks near this spot ; and the stream had been troubled with all manner of weirs and dams, cuts and alterations, but without revealing the secret it contained. On the ist of June, in that year, however, the proprietors of the cotton mills having commenced the operation of deepening the river, with the object of giving a greater fall of water to the wheel, the workmen found among the gravel, about three-score yards below the present bridge, a few small 414 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. pieces of silver coin, of a description they had never seen before. Sir Oswald Mosley, Bart./ in referring to the history of this Earl of Lancaster, gives the following account of the finding of these coins : ' Mr Webb, the proprietor of the cotton mills at Tutbury, being desirous to obtain a greater fall for what is commonly termed the tail-water of the wheel which works the machinery of his mill, prolonged an embankment between the mill-stream and the river much farther below the bridge than it formerly extended ; and as a part of his plan, it became requisite to remove a con- siderable quantity of gravel out of the bed of the river, from the end of his water-course as far up as the new bridge. While they v/ere engaged in this operation, on Wednesday, the ist of June, 1831, the workmen found several small pieces of silver coin about sixty yards below the bridge ; as they proceeded up the river, they continued to find more ; these were discovered lying about half-a- yard below the surface of the gravel, apparently as if they had been washed down from a higher source. On the following Tuesday the men left their work in the ex- pectation of finding more coin, and they were not dis- appointed, for several thousands were obtained that day ; as they advanced up the river they became more suc- cessful ; and the next day, Wednesday, June the 8th, they discovered the grand deposit of coins from whence the others had been washed, about thirty yards below the present bridge, and from four to five feet beneath the surface of the gravel. The coins were here so abundant, that one hundred and fifty were turned up in a single ' History of the Town and Houses of Tutbury. DISCOVERY OF TREASURE AND HORSE-SHOES. 415 shovelful of gravel, and nearly five thousand of them were collected by two of the individuals thus employed on that day ; they were sold to the bystanders at six, seven, eight, or eight shillings and sixpence per hundred ; but the next day a less quantity was procured, and the prices of them advanced accordingly. The bulk of the coins were found in a space of about three yards square, near the Derbyshire bank of the river. Upwards of three hundred individuals might have been seen engaged in this search at one time, and the idle and inquisitive were attracted from all quarters to the spot. Quarrels and disturbances naturally enough ensued, and the interference of the neighbouring magistrates became necessary. 'At length the officers of the Crown asserted the king's right to all coin which might subsequently be found in the bed of the river, since the soil thereof belonged to his Majesty in right of his duchy of Lancaster.' The consequence was, that all persons were prohibited from collecting coin except those appointed by the Chan- cellor of the duchy, who, on behalf of the Crown, instituted a search on the 28th of June that lasted until the ist of July. In this brief period more than 1500 additional coins were found, and then the excavation from which they were principally extracted was filled up and levelled over. The total number of coins thus found is supposed to have been, upon the most moderate computation, no less than 100,000. Often those who found one of these pieces had much difficulty in detaching it from the gravel in which it had become imbedded. Having been for so long a period lying amid the soil which once formed the bed of the 4i6 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. stream, and on which the water had gradually deposited stratum upon stratum of sand and pebbles, the mass had become a hard substance, scarcely yielding in solidity to stone itself, in which coin after coin appeared to form some of the original component parts. Pieces of iron from the waggon or chest had also, in the process of oxidation, become pulpy, and still firmer bound and in- creased the strange conglomerate. The earl's chest appears to hav^e contained some curious and varied specimens of the currency then in use. Besides a number of sterlings of the Empire, Brabant, Lorraine, and Hainault, and the Scotch coins of Alexander II., John Baliol, and Robert Bruce, there was found a com- plete English series of those of the first Edward (fig. 150), who, at various times, had his money struck at several towns in England, Scotland, and Ireland. There were also specimens of all the pre- latical coins of Edward I., Edward II., as well as many of Henry III., — both of his first and second coinage, — and a few of the most early of Edward II. On the whole, a finer museum of English, Scotch, and Irish coins was never be- fore, under any circumstances, thrown open to the inspec- tion of the antiquary and historian. Yet it seems very sur- prising that the English coins found should, with only one exception, have been of the same small size and value. This exception was a very beautiful coin of silver, about the size of half-a-crown, and of the reign of Edward I. Nor is it less surprising that the chest should have contained no jewellery or other valuable articles, one ring alone fig- 150 THE ' DOFE' SPECIMENS. 417 being found in the river, which was probably lost by some one of the earl's officers in fording. It was rudely chased, and bore within the circle the motto ' Spreta vivant.' ' Fortunately for our subject, a mass of this ; ferro - argentine con- glomerate was pur- chased from the finder, and is now in the pos- session of Llewellynn Jewitt, Esq., of Win- ster Hall, near Mat- lock, Derbyshire. In this is most wonder- fig- 151 g. 152 fully imbedded several horse-shoes of the shape here de- lineated, and which have been most kindly drawn and engraved for me by that gentleman, as although they were the most perfect specimens, they were yet too friable to travel safely for my inspection (fig. 151, 152). ' Penny Magazine. No. 166, p. 430. 41 8 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. In all probability, on the eventful night on which the treasure was lost, the waggon and horses conveying it were also left to perish in the Dove. From the examination I have been able to make of the other shoes, it appears that the horses were small. One specimen would, when perfect, have been about 4^ inches wide, and ^}y long. It had a small raised (not rolled-over) calkin on one side ; only three nail-holes were visible on each branch, and the shoe altogether was very narrow and light, as if it had been worn by a saddle- horse. The iron appeared to be fibrous and of excellent quality. Another half-shoe was a trifle smaller, had three holes on each side, and the calkin was formed by doubling over the end of the thin branch, as in the Chedworth and Gillingham specimens. Completely encased in a compact slab of rusty-coloured conglomerate, a portion of which has been removed, is one more example that may have been a little larger, though it is still a small shoe, and would fit a horse between 14 and 15 hands high; while a fragment of another, though about the same dimensions, had a little more cover or breadth, and probably was worn by one of the waggon-horses. None of these show any traces of toe-clips ; all have the even border of the present shoe, and their holes are the ordinary quadrilateral apertures with which we are now familiar; they have not been fullered or widely stamped for the nail-heads. Both surfaces appear to have been plane ; and altogether the shoes are not of a bad type, but one that, if the hoofs were not mutilated by paring, could do a horse but little harm. In the interesting chronicles of Froissart, we find many FROISSART. 4iy interesting details about shoeing. Describing the first attempted invasion of Scotland by Edward II., he gives us an instance of the importance this art was assuming, and what an amount of inconvenience might be apprehended when circumstances prevented its being attended to. When the army of that king had marched as far as New- castle-on-Tyne, the cavalry were in a miserable plight, and apparently ineffective. ' It never seased to rayne all the hoole weeke, whereby theyre saddels, pannels, and counter-syngles were all rottyn and broke, and most part of their horses hurt on their backs : nor they had not wherewith to sfioo them that were unshodde.' When the troops reached Durham, however, they were obliged to rest there for two days, ' and the oste rounde about, for they coulde not all lodge within the cite, and tlieyre horses were newe shoode, and set out on theyre march to York.' ' In these chronicles, embracing as they do, the latter part of the reign of Edward II., and terminating with the coronation of Henry IV., there is repeated mention of shoeing, and particularly in the wars which England was then waging on the Continent. In the great army Edward III. carried into France in 1359, — the greatest, according to Froissart, that had ever left England, we find a completeness in equipment and material which is somewhat astonishing when we look at the present con- dition of our army and consider its fitness for a continental war, particularly in the matter of land transport. Our warrior king appears to have omitted nothing that could render success impossible. On arriving at Calais, he ' Chronicles, edit. 1812. Vol. i. p. 21. 420 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. ' took the field with the largest army and best-appointed train of baggage-waggons that had ever quitted England. It was said there were upwards of 6000 carts and wag- gons, which had all been brought with him.' ' Describing the order of march, Froissart goes on to say that ' in the rear of the king's battalion was the immense baggage- train, which occupied two leagues in length : it consisted of upwards of 5000 carriages, with a sufficiency of horses to carry the provisions for the army, and those utensils never before accustomed to he carried afoer an army — such as hand-mills to grind their corn, ovens to bake their bread, and a variety of other necessary articles There were also in this army of the King of England, 500 pioneers with spades and pickaxes, to level the roads and cut down trees and hedges, for the more easily pass- ing of the carriages I must inform you that the King of England and his rich lords were followed by carts laden with tents, pavilions, mills, and ybroe^, to grind their corn and make shoes for their horses, and everything of that sort which might be wanting.' ^ This appears to have been the first occasion on which field forges for shoeing horses accompanied an army, as well as ovens to bake the soldiers' bread. The introducer of these, as well as of artillery, appears to have even made an approach towards the employment of pontoons not very unlike, so far as material is concerned, those which are now being brought into use in the Royal Engineers'; for we read ' Chronicles of England, France, Spain, and the Adjoining Countries. Edit. I. Johnes. Vol. ii. p. 469. London, 1808. ' Ibid. Vol. ii. pp. 2, 3, 29. GLOUCESTER CORPORATION SEAL. 421 that ' there were on these carts many vessels and small boats, made surprisingly well of boiled leather.' ' By a statute of 1350 (2, c. 4, 25 Edward III.), it appears that the farrier was yet designated in the Norman French, then fashionable in legal and court language, the ' Ferrour des Chivaux ; ' and with a number of other craftsmen, such as saddlers, spur-makers, armourers, &c., was regularly sworn-in before the justices to do and use his craft in a proper manner, and to confine himself to it." Gloucester has been alluded to on several occasions not only as a repository of antique horse-shoes, but also as a town celebrated for its iron trade from time immemorial — a circumstance due to its proximity to the mineral dis- tricts of the Forest of Dean.^ The business of nail-making ' Ibid. p. 29. ' Statutes of the Realm, vol. i. p. 312. 3 The Rev. S. Lysons, Honorary Canon of Gloucester Cathedral, has most kindly furnished me with the following particulars relative to Glou- cester, its iron-trade, and its arms. ' Gloucester was celebrated for its smiths, being so near the mines of the Forest of Dean, which were worked both by the Romans and the Britons ; coins of the former and tools of the latter having been found in them. The Via Falrorum of Roman Gloucester still retains the name of Long Smith Street. The chief employment of the town of Gloucester, before the reign of William the Conqueror, was making and forging of iron ; and in the times of King Richard II. and Henry IV. it was famous for its iron manufacture. The ore was brought from Robin Wood's Hill, about two miles from the city, where it is said to have been found in great abundance. This town had anciently its proper signature. On an old seal of the time of King Edward III., which is still used for recogniz- ances, on each side of the effigy is a horse-shoe ; one horse-nail near it, and three below it, two and one 5 with the like number above it placed in the same order. It is said that King Richard III., when he made this a Mayor town, gave it his sword and cap of maintenance. The arms of the town was then " a sword erect, with a cap of mainten- 43 2 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. appears to have been carried on in it for a long time prior to the Norman conquest ; and local tradition has it that the royal farrier, a rather important personage in his way, resided in that city. However this may be, it is certain that horse-shoes and nails must have been looked upon as important articles in the reign of King Edward III., and have held a prominent place in the crafts of the town, as the corporation seal of that epoch — for an impression of which I am indebted to Mr Fryer, town- clerk of Gloucester — exhibits the royal effigy reared upon a lion couchant, and sur- rounded by a number of these emblems of farriery. The annexed drawing (fig. 153) represents this curious memento of days passed away. It is the exact size of the ance on the point, on each side a horse-shoe, and three nails at kngth on the base." ' In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the city used a seal which had in the middle a sword in bend, the pommel in base, between six horse- shoes and ten horse-nails. Christopher Barber, Garter Principal King- at-Arms in 1538, granted to the city the following arms: Vert, a pale or, a sword azure besanted the hilt and pommel gules j upon the point a cap of maintenance purple, lined ermine; upon the field two hone- shoes argent pierced sable, between six horse-nails in triangle. On a chief party per pale or and purple, a boar's head coupee argent; in his mouth a quince apple gules between two roses. These elaborate arms have disappeared, and horse-shoes and nails are no longer a part of the armorial bearings of the city.' 153 DIFFERENT BREEDS OF HORSES. 423 seal, which bears the inscription, S. Edwardi : Reg : Angl : Ad : Recogn : Debitor : Apud : Gloucester : Connected with this period, it may be noted that a few years ago a large number of shoes were collected on the farm of West Nisbet, Berwickshire, which is supposed to be the site of the battle of Nisbet Muir, fought in 1355, between the English and Scots. No description has been given of these relics, save that they were of an uncom- monly small size ; ' and I have been unable to trace their whereabouts, though in all probability they were consigned to the metallurgical operations of the village blacksmith, and converted into defences for the hoofs of the larger and more peaceably designed steeds of the 19th century. As has been repeatedly noticed, the shoes worn by horses appear to have varied greatly in size after the Nor- man conquest; a circumstance due, no doubt, to the in- troduction of larger breeds from the continent at different times. What these breeds of horses were it is difficult to say in some instances. From the size of the shoes previous to the conquest, we infer that the horses were small — from 12 to 14 hands high. The Normans had extensive breeding studs in Normandy, and no doubt improved their horses by crossing them with the Barb and Spanish races, and these would also be the breeds imported to England. For some time previous to his invasion, Wil- liam had been buying the best horses of Spain, Gascony, and Auvergne,^ and these, we may take for granted, ac- companied him. The size of their hoofs would not, how- ever, be much larger than those of the breeds already in ' Trans. Socy. Scottish Antiquaries, vol. iii. " Guill. Pictav., apud Scrip. Franc, xi. 181. 424 HORSESHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. use in this country. During the reign of Henry II. (a.d. 1 154) armour became very heavy both on horse and man, and the lance had grown so ponderous that it could only be used couched ; ' great horses ' were therefore required. These were probably the largest and strongest of the imported, but light races. In the 13th century, horses of greater size and power were eagerly purchased on the continent, where attention had been recently paid to rearing this kind of animal, and sent to England. They were rare, however, and a pair from Lombardy, in 121 7, cost the enormous sum of .5^3 8 13.V. ^d. In the rich pastures of the river Po, a race of ponderous destriers or destrierus had been formed, which, if they at all re- sembled those figured by the early sculptors on the monuments and statues of Condotieri, were nearly equal to our largest breed of dray-horses.' But these importa- tions were so few in number, from the scarcity of the horses and their great expense, that they could make but little impression on the size of the common races in Eng- land, and consequently would not alter, to any very ap- preciable degree, the dimensions of the shoes. King John imported 100 chosen stallions from Flanders, and these were probably of large bulk and stature for those days ; while King Edward II. purchased 30 Lombardy war- horses and 12 heavy draught-horses. Up to this period, I think we have only the small and medium-sized shoe, with, or but seldom without, calkins ; and the rectangu- lar, countersunk nail-holes, but destitute of a toe-clip to catch the hoof in front and prevent the shoe driving backwards. In the reign of the last-named monarch, who ' Smith. Naturalist's Library, p. 140. SAINT SEFERIN SPECIMEN. 425 was particularly partial to ambling horses, and intro- duced that unnatural pace, in order to teach them, the fore-legs were trammeled or fastened together with bands of yarn, or even with iron fetters ' made by the farriers, whereby the unfortunate creatures were compelled to move in that shuffling oblique manner so much ad- mired. Sometimes, to expedite the process, the hind-feet were shod with shoes having a long sharp point at the toe, which struck the back of the fore-leg, and thus forced the animal to make a greater effort to move the manacled limb out of the way. These variations in the form of the shoe are not unfrequently met with in this country and on the continent, at this and a subsequent period. The most remarkable example we have met with is one shown by Lafosse,^ Jun., as attached to the door of a chapel at Saint Severin, in France. It belongs to the time of Philip the Fair (13th and 14th centuries), and was supposed to have been placed there by some farrier, as a specimen of his work- manship. Its shape is ex- tremely curious, and it appears to have been intended to fol- low the whole natural outline of the hoof — frog as well as wall (fig. 154). ~ ''-''' It is not until a period bordering on the 14th or ' An iron fetter and chain wliich must, I think, have been used for this purpose, was discovered, with horse-shoes, at Springhead, near Gravesend, and is now in the possession of Mr Sylvester at that place. ^ Cours d'Hippiatrique. Paris, 1798. Megnin. Op. cit. p. 62. 426 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. 15th century, or perhaps much later, that we find evi- dences of the employment of the grooved or fullered shoe in England ; and then we can only infer that it was im- ported from Germany and the Low Countries, This is somewhat remarkable, if we consider that this kind of plate is very ancient on the continent, M. Quiquerez tracing it back to the 5th century, and the Emperor Napoleon allot- ting it even to the era of the conquest of the Gauls by Julius Caesar. We may entertain some doubt of the latter being correct however, as M. Megnin has examined these Alesia specimens, and found many, if not all, with the un- dulating border. Shoes, we have seen from Mr Rogers's History, were largely bought in England ready made, and by the hundred, and many of these may have been im- ported. In Mercer's History of Dunfermline, it is stated that in the 15th century, Flemish horse-shoes were in demand in Scotland : ' Flanders was the great mart in those times, and from Bruges chiefly, the Scots imported even horse-shoes, harness, saddles, bridles, cart-wheels,' &c. All those found with the groove round their margin, so far as I can learn, have been of comparatively large size. One here represented (fig. 155) was found at Spring- head, near Gravesend (England). Its measurement indicates that it would fit a tolerably well-bred horse about 15^ hands high, or a coarse-bred one of a less height. Its length is 5 inches, width 4| inches ; the breadth is variable ; fig 155 ^^ at the toe and one of the quarters it is i^ inch, and at the heels as much as i^ inch. The G ROOFED SHOES. 427 groove is very near the outer circumference of the shoe, and contains four nail-holes on each side ; these are ob- long and small, and a portion of a nail yet remaining is not unlike our present nail. There is no toe or other clip, and the outer circumference of the shoe is thinner than the inner, in such a way that the ground surface is slightly con- vex, and that towards the foot, particularly at the heels, is concave. There are no calkins, and the shoe altogether is coarse and heavy. Though much worn and oxidized, it yet weighs nearly 12 ounces. Another specimen, found in excavating for a sewer in Walworth road, London (fig. 156), in 1825, is very simi- lar in shape and character. It was discovered at a depth of I o feet, and from the fashion of a buckle procured with it, is assigned by Mr Syer Cum- ino; ' to the first half of the 1 7th century ; though I am inclined to give it an earlier date. It is of large size, with a wide surface grooved or fullered very near the margin, and apparently had eight nail-holes. The heels were furn- ished with thin calkins, and near one of them occurs the letters HI. A shoe of the same kind was dug from a depth of 12 or 14 feet, in making a sewer in Kennington Lane, London. From their scarcity, they do not appear to have been in very great repute, and are found along with the square-holed shoe. The period of Edward III. and his gallant son, the ' Journal of the Archaeoloo-ical Association, vol. vi. fig- 156 428 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. Black Prince, was the most glorious, perhaps, in the annals of chivalry. Then, gentlemen scorned the idea of fighting otherwise than on horseback, and the universal motto of the knighthood of Europe was ' Tout Famor, tout a I'honor ; ' then the squire, during his final period of probation, groomed, trained, and shod his own horses ; practised leaping, running, and mounting on horseback, clad in all his armour, and resolutely attacked the quintain ; and the most menial offices were raised to an honourable degree by the dignity of the person who per- formed them. But of all the services rendered by the squire to the knight, the most important were naturally those which were connected directly or indirectly with the grand object of the lives of both, war. ' When the knight mounted his horse, the squires of his body held his stirrup ; and other squires carried the various pieces of his armour, such as the brassards, the gauntlets, the helmet, and the buckler, on the road behind him. With regard to the cuirass, or hauberk, the knight was no less careful of its preservation than the Greek and Roman soldiers were of their bucklers. Other squires bore the pennon, the lance, and the sword. When only on a journey, the knight rode a short-tailed, ambling-paced horse— a palfrey or a courser ; and the war-horses were led by the squires, who by always leading them in their right hand, obtained for them the name of " dextriers." The war-horse was delivered to the knight on the appear- ance of an enemy, or when he was about entering the field of battle : this was what they called " mounting the great horse." ' When travelling, the squire carried his master's hel- LOMBJRDY AND FLEMISH HORSES. 429 met resting upon the pommel of his saddle ; and when preparing for light, this helmet and all the other parts of his arms, offensive and defensive, were given him by the different squires, who had them in their keeping ; all evincing equal eagerness in assisting him to arm. By this means they were taught the art of arming themselves on a future day, and with the despatch and caution necessary for the protection of their persons. It de- manded much skill and ability to place together and fasten the joints of the cuirass, and the other pieces of armour ; to fit and lace the helmet upon the head with correctness ; and to nail and rivet carefully the visor or ventail.' The burgesses and yeomen, who were not by the rules of chivalry permitted to enter the lists as com- batants at jousts and tournaments, nor to appear mounted, used in England to tilt on foot against a large wooden shield on which a horse-shoe was painted.^ In a manu- script in the Bodleian Library (No. 264, and dated 1344), there are delineations of both the fixed and movable quintain, upon each of which is a large horse-shoe re- markable for its equal breadth, the ends of the branches being turned out and somewhat upwards, and from their being pierced with nail-holes throughout their entire length. This is indeed the form of shoe which, in heraldry, according to Guillim, is borne by the families of Borlace, Cripps, Crispe^, Ferrers, Randall, and Shoys- well.3 The very heavy armour worn by man and horse at ' L. de Sainte-Palaye. Mem. sur rAncienne Chevalerie. Paris, 1826. " Strutt. Sports and Pastimes, p. 117. ' Sifer Ci/Di'ing. Op. cit. 4,3o HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. this period, and even up to the i6th century, necessitated the employment of horses more like our lumbering draught breed than chargers, and these were first obtained from Lombardy. Their excellence is described by Chaucer in the ' Squire's Tale ' : * Great was the press that swarmed to and fro, To gazen on this horse that standeth so ; For it so high was, and so broad and long. So well proportioned for to be strong. Right as it were a steed of Lombardy : — Therewith so hoarsely and so quick of eye As it a gentle Polish courser were ; For certes from his tail unto his ear Nature nor Art could him not amend In no degree, as all the people ween'd.' But the Flemish horse, the probable progenitor of our heaviest breeds, was at an early period in high repute as a war-horse, and adapted to carry the enormous loads imposed upon him, when pace was not so much an object as strength to bear weiglit and withstand the shock of an encounter with couched lances. These horses were often- times severely tested before final acceptance as fit for the fray ; and strong large shoes, with projecting calkins and nail-heads, were not only an indispensable necessity for ordinary duty, but for the more important contests in the field, where a good grip of the turf by the horse's feet was as requisite as a firm seat on its back. This is well illustrated in the case of the redoubtable Chatelain of Waremme, who, in 1325, was the leader of the Awans, a powerful faction in Belgium. He was a man of such gigantic bulk, that, when he was encased in his armour, it required the assistance of two strong esquires to lift him into the saddle. His friends, on the morning of a great HEMRICOURT. 431 battle with an opposing faction— the Waroux — expressed to him their fear that he was too heavily armed, but De Waremme replied, ' Have no fear, for I swear to you, by God and St George, that since it has required two men to seat me on my good steed Moreal, it shall take at least four to make me get off again.' And this was no idle vaunt, as the events of the day proved. Another gigantic warrior who fought for the Awans was the Sire de Hemricourt. The strength of limb and massiveness of frame of this man were such that, except his stirrup-leathers broke, it was impossible to unhorse him ; and in confirmation of his prowess, the following story is told : Being engaged as one of fifty knights chosen to fight on the side of the King of Sicily, against an equal party for the King of Arragon, a war-horse was sent to him by the king to ride on the day of battle. But Hem.ricourt, like the champion of Israel in the choice of his weapons, would not trust his steed till he had tried him. He therefore mounted, and, accompanied by some friends and attendants, rode out into the country, and, coming to a large lime-tree, he got off his horse, and made his squires fasten his girths as he directed. He then mounted again, and having had his legs tightly tied to the girths, he seized a thick branch of the tree with his right hand, and drove his spurs into his courser's flanks ; but in spite of all its efforts, the horse was unable to get away. Hemricourt, therefore, sent back the ani-^ mal to the king, saying that it wanted both strength and courage, and was dull to the spur. The king then sent him another, which he submitted to the same test, and the struggle between man and horse w^as long and violent. 432 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. At length, owing to the girths and the poitrail breaking, the steed got away, leaving the knight and his saddle suspended from the tree. This horse the Sire de Hemri- court kept, though an ignominious fate awaited it. When the knight and his associates came to the place appointed for the combat, the Arragonese did not appear, and the King of Sicily, taking advantage of the circumstance, meanly required that the horses should be returned. When the messenger came to De Hemricourt, ' What,' cried he, ' has the king, your master, only lent me this carrion to defend his honour at the risk of my life — I who am no subject of his ? Is it thus he shows his gratitude ? By the eyes of God, he shall have his present back again, but in such a state that no knight shall ever mount him again with honour!' So saying, he had the horse brought out of the stable, and, with his own hands cutting off the mane and tail, desired the groom to lead him away.' 'In those times of war,' writes the old author, Hameri- court,^ ' and even ten years after the peace was made, knights and squires of honour rode great horses {crastriers) or coursers {corseirs) of the greatest value they could procure, and they had very high tourneying saddles without foresaltiers. They were covered with caparisons wrought in embroidery with their armorial blasons. They were armed with breast-plates with good armour of thin iron pieces, and upon the plate they had rich wardcoats bearing their blasons. Each had a helmet upon his ' Miroir des Nobles de la Hesbaye. The Valley of the Meuse, by Dudley Costello. ^ De Bellis Leodunsibus, cap. 41. THE ' GREAT HORSE.' 433 bacinet witli a handsome crest ; and several lords, knights, and others had beneath the drapery of their caparisons ringed mail for their horses.' And in a manuscript work entitled the ' Guerre des Awans et des Warons,' recording the party wars among the people of Liege at this time, the horse-shoe is described as ' large fer a cheval ot, a talons moult crochus.' The 'great horse,' the arms and armour, and the large shoes with high calkins, are well depicted in the German knight painted by Lucas Cranach in the 15th century (fig. 157). I 434 HORSE-SHOES JND HORSE-SHOEING. In Scotland, it might be inferred that horses for riding purposes were generally shod, though those for draught were not ordinarily so, if we may judge from an act passed in 1487. An Act of Parliament was passed in 1 48 1, which made the smith who pricked a horse's foot while shoeing it liable to furnish another until the cripple was cured, or if it died, to pay its value.' This, in many respects unjust, law was procured by the Duke of Albany and his brother, the Earl of Mar. It is difficult, if not impossible, to discover how much the unfortunate farrier was likely to lose if the animal he had accidentally lamed happened to die, as the value of horses appears to have fluctuated considerably in Scotland for three cen- turies. In 1283, for instance, a burgess's steed was valued at one pound; in 1329, a courier's horse was supposed to be worth five shillings; and in 1424, a colt, or horses more than three years old, thirteen shillings and four- pence. Though horses were always extremely numerous in the Scottish armies, yet they were seldom, if ever, used for agricultural purposes ; ploughing being generally per- formed by oxen. For a long period, much attention had been paid to breeding good horses. So early as the 13th century, we find Roger Avenel, Lord of Eskdale, possessing a stud in that valley. Patrick, Earl of Dunbar, in preparation for his departure to the Holy Land (a.d. 1247), sold to the Monks of Melrose his stud of brood mares in Lauderdale, for the considerable sum of one hundred marks sterling. ' Skee?i. Parliament 148 1, cap. 79. HORSES IN SCOTLAND. 435 Alexander III. had several establishments for rearing horses, to be used in hunting as well as in war.' I cannot find any record of the price of shoes in Scotland at this period. It is merely mentioned that in 1488, a dozen horse-shoes, two plough-irons, and the iron mountings of two ploughs which had been stolen, were valued at twenty shillings.'' And in the Thane of Caw- dor's Western Journey in 1591, there is an entry in his journal of expenses to the effect, that at Glasgow, one of the items in the host's bill was ' giffin to the smyth for your broun geldin s schoun xiij s iiij d.^ The English statutes of the reign of Edward VI. (1547-52) give us an approximate idea of the size of the horses commonly in use in England and Scotland. The stallions allowed to be imported into England for breed- ing purposes were to be fourteen hands high, and the mares fifteen hands. So important did Henry VIII., the father of Edward VI., consider the possession of large and good horses, that he devised a law by which it was intended that none but these should be kept in the country, fixing a standard of value for that purpose, and regulating that the lowest stallion should be fifteen hands high, and the mares thirteen hands ; and before they had arrived at their full growth, no stallion at two years old, under fourteen hands and a half, was permitted to run on any forest, moor, or ' C. Innes. Sketches of Early Scotch History, p. 131. Edinburgh, 1862. * Acts of the Lords of the Council in Civil Causes, p. 106. ^ C. Innes. Sketches of Early Scotch Domestic History. Edi''>- burgh, 1 86 1. 28* 436 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. common where there were mares. At Michaelmas tide, the neighbouring magistrates were ordered to 'drive' all forests and commons, and not only destroy such stallions, but all the ' unlikely tits,' whether mares, geldings, or foals, which they might deem not calculated to produce a valu- able breed. He moreover ordained, that in every deer- park, in proportion to its size, a certain number of mares, at least thirteen hands high, should be kept ; and that all his prelates and nobles, and ' all those whose wives wore velvet bonnets,' should keep stallions for the saddle, at least fifteen hands high. The ' delicate stratagem ' of shoeing a troop of horses with felt on particular occasions, as hinted at by Shake- speare, was tolerably well realized at least half a century before the immortal bard had made any progress in establishing his fame, and from the following incident he may have derived the idea he afterwards introduced into ' King Lear.' In Lord Herbert's ' Life of Henry Vin.,'' it is stated that that monarch, while in France, 'having feasted the ladies royally for divers days, de- parted from Tourney to Lisle (October 13, 15 13), whither he was invited by the Lady Margaret, who caused there a juste to be held in an extraordinary manner ; the place being a large room raised high from the ground by many steps, and paved with black square stones like marble ; while the horses, to prevent sliding, were shod with felt or flocks (the Latin words are feltro sive tomento), after which the ladies danced all night.' It is supposed that in the Guildhall of London, on the occasion of the marriage of Katharine of Aragon (after- ' Kcnuet. History of England, vol. ii. p. 17. SHOEING IVITH FELT. 437 wards wife of Henry VIII.), and Arthur, Prince of Wales, the floor being of marble, and a tournament taking place on it, the horses were shod with felt.' For the reign of Henry VIII. we have an excellent representation of shod horses in what is known as the ' tournament roll,' or descriptive illustrations of the ' Solemn Justs held at Westminster,' on the 5th February, 15 10, in the ist year of that king, in honour of Queen Katharine. Every horse in the long procession has its feet armed in the most unmistakable manner.^ The one we select (fig. 158) exhibits this characteristic; and it will be fig. 158 observed that the shoes are yet very clumsy, and have the calkins and nail-heads very large, to afford a firm grasp of the ground. The nails appear to be four on each side of the shoe. ' Notes and Queries. 2nd Series, vol. ix. p. 394. " This procession has been engraved in the Vetusta Monumenta, vol. i. 438 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. From specimens I have examined belonging to this period, it might be conduded that the weight of the shoes continued gradually to increase, while the sizes and forms occur in greater variety. Heavy armour and the tilting- lance had not yet gone out of fashion, as the projecting nail-heads and calkins sufficiently indicate. Some curious specimens of shoes can be seen on the feet of the wooden horses in the armour-gallery of the Tower of London ; these, I understand, belong to Henry VIII.'s reign. It is somewhat astonishing that no toe-clips to prevent displacement of the shoes have yet appeared. The speci- men found at a depth of ten feet in the Walworth sewer works in 1825, along with the bones of a horse, was pro- bably made at this period. It has four nails on the outer branch, and apparently only three on the inner, which is much narrower towards the heel, as is often the case now-a-days. There are calkins on both branches, and the nail-head in the last inside hole projects nearly three- eighths of an inch from the surface of the shoe (fig. 159). With the total extinction of the French language in Britain, ■^^^^vi^^Sli the designation of ' Marechal' also disappeared, or was used but very rarely. The shoer of horses was only known by that of ' farrier,' a term that had, as we have seen, been employed fig- 159 for centuries, and which was derived, no doubt, from the Jerreiisfater of the Latins, or the Jabbro ferrario ovfer- raro of the Italians. In Queen Elizabeth's annual ex- penses — civil and military, we find that the Master of THE NAME ' FARRIER ' REFUSED. 439 the Horse had in his gift, among many others belong- ing to his office, that of a Serjeant-Farrier at is. id. per diem, and three Yeomen-Farriers at 6d. And numer- ous instances of the newly revived name are to be dis- covered in writings of this and later ages. Chapman, in his translation of the ' Iliad,' has it : So took she chamber with her son, the God of Ferrary. And Heywood, in the 'Troia Brittanica' (1609), writes: And thus resolv'd, to Lemnos she doth hie. Where Vulcan works in heavenly Ferrarie. The value of shoeing yet held a high place in eques- trianism and among equestrians, and much im.portance was attached to shoes, either as relics, or for purposes of display. We have already seen to what an extent this was carried at Okeham ; it was also in vogue elsewhere, and often gave rise to strange customs which continued to a late period. For instance, in the Preston Pilot for 1834, it is mentioned 'that a large assembly congregated for the purpose of witnessing the renewing of the horse- shoe at the Horse-shoe corner, Lancaster, when the old shoe was taken up and a new one put down, with 1834 engraved on it. Those who assembled to witness the ceremony were entertained with nut-brown ale, &c. ; after- wards they had a merry chairing, and then retired. In the evening they were again entertained with a good substantial supper. This custom is supposed to have originated at the time John O'Gaunt (third son of Edward I.) came into the town upon a noble charger, which lost its shoe at this place. The shoe was taken up and fixed in the mid- dle of the street, and has ever since been replaced with a 440 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. new one every seventh year, at the expense of the towns- men who reside near the place.' Examples of ostentatious extravagance in horse-shoes are numerous in the middle and succeeding ages. During the Roman period, we have already remarked that attempts at display in this particular direction were made by the wife of Nero and others, when golden or gilded solece were fastened on the feet of mules or horses. Gold and silver shoes and nails were fashionable, it appears, among the wealthy who were ostentatiously inclined, to so late a period as the 17th century. When Boniface, Marquis of Tuscany, one of the wealthiest princes of his time, went in 1083, to iTieet Beatrix, mother of the famous Matilda, marchioness of Tuscany, who married Godfrey of Lor- raine, his escort was so grandly equipped, that instead of iron, the horses had silver shoes and nails, and when any of these came off they were the property of those who picked them up. Qui dux cum peregret illo, Ornatos magnos secum tulit atque caballos. Sub pedibus quorum chalybem non pouere solum Jusserat, argentum sed ponere, sic quasi ferrum Esse repercussum clavum voluit quoque nullum, Ex hoc ut gento possent reperire quis esset. Cornipedes currunt, argentum dum resilit, tunc Colligitur passim, passim reperitur in agris, A populo terrae testans quod dives hie esset.' Bartholomeus Scriba, in his Annales Gennenses, for the year 1230, asserts that a certain man, named Ermemolinus, gave eight thousand bizantines to Genoa, as a mark of his affection and friendship ; and with this money the ' Donhnnc, Vita Mathilda, lib. i. cap. 10. EXTRAFAGANT DECORATION OF HORSES. 441 very best horse that could be procured was to be pur- chased, and presented from him to the community of that town, covered with the best gold, and shod with silver shoes {ferri pedatus clapponis argenteis) ; which horse or destrier (charger) was bought and led through the state of Genoa, as a remembrance of his noble act, robed in a cloth of gold, and wearing silver shoes {clap- ponis cu'genteis).''' Giovanni Villani, the Italian historian, who lived in the 14th century, in his writings speaks of horses adorned with bridles of gold and shoes of fine silver: ' Havendo ornato il suo cavallo di freno d'oro, e ferrato di fine argento.' ^ The ' Roman de Rose,' a French romance of the 12th century, speaks of gilt or golden shoes : Pour fere gens parler de foi. Fist tous les quatre fers dorer Ne vout mie dire Ferrer. William of Tyre, for the year a.d. i 130, in describing Boemond, a brother of Robert Guiscard, Count of Apulia, and who was assigned the principality of Antioch after the first Crusade, relates how ' he sent to a distinguished noble- man, through a friend of his, a white palfrey shod with silver shoes {argen/o Jerratu?n), and a beautiful bridle ornamented with silver.' ^ Johannis Bromton, describing the journey of Duke Robert to the East, states that at Rome he placed a valuable mantle on the statue of Constantine, putting to shame the Romans, who refused to bestow one even in many years. ' He rode, also, a certain mule whose shoes ' Muratori. Vol. vi. " Lib. iv. cap. 18. 3 Bellis Sacra Historia, p. 311. Easily i549- 442 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. were made of gold {auri Jecit Jerrari), and prohibited his servants from picking these up when they fell off.' ' In the iith century, the first Norwegian king, Oluf Kyrre, the Quiet (1066 — 1087), introduced many new and extravagant customs into his country. Mr de Capell Brooke, describing them, informs us that ' the former in- clination of the Norwegians to magnificence universally increased. Silken sails, golden shoes for their horses, cushions of down with silk hangings, silken hoods em- broidered with silver, gilded helmets, etc., were almost necessary to those who sought the Court.' ^ In the Saga of Sigurd Jorsalafar, the Pilgrim of Jeru- salem, or Crusader, who reigned in Norway in 1103, it is told that he had his horse shod with golden shoes when he rode into Constantinople, on his way to the Holy Land, and so managed that one of the shoes came off in the streets, but none of his men were allowed to regard it.^ We have elsewhere given other examples of this silly fashion at this epoch. Even so late as 16 16, we read that James Hayes, after- wards Lord Doncaster, an English ambassador, when he made his public entry into Paris acted in a similar ex- travagant manner. ' Six trumpeters and two marshals, in tawny velvet liveries, completely suited, laced all over with gold (richly and closely laid), led the way : the ambassador followed, with a great train of pages and foot- men in the same rich livery, encircling his horse. And some said (how truly I cannot assert) the ambassador's ' Abbatis Jornalensis. Edit. Twysden, p. 911, i6'52. " History of Norway from the Earliest Times, by G. L. Baden^ p. 172. ^ S. Sturleson. The Heimskringla. GOLD AND SILFER SHOES. 443 horse was shod with sih^er shoes, lightly tackt on ; and when he came to a place where persons or beauties of eminency were, his very horse prancing and curvetting in humble reverence threw his shoes away, which the greedy understanders scrambled for, and he was content to be gazed on and admired till a farrier, or rather the argentier, in one of his rich liveries, among his train of footmen, out of a tawny velvet bag took others and tackt them on, which lasted till he came to the next troup of grandees ; and thus, with much ado, he reached the Louvre.' ' At a still later period^ we find Duke Eberhard of Wlir- temberg causing his dead charger to be skinned and stuffed, and its hoofs shod with gold shoes, before being set up at Stuttgart. The creature had saved his master's life by swimming with him at the battle of Hochstadt, 13th August, 1704; but was accidently shot eight days after- wards, through the carelessness of one of the duke's followers. Von Tschudi " mentions that during the brilliant period of the Spanish domination in Peru, like signs of wealth and foolish display were in vogue among the conquerors. Incredible sums were frequently expended on carriages and mules ; and very often the tires of the caleza wheels and the shoes of the mules were of silver instead of iron. A Tartar song of the i4tli century causes a Mongol khan to say, ' Bid the horses be put to my golden chariot, and let them be shod with golden shoes and silver nails.' ^ Tlie liberality of the knights during the hey-day of ' IFilsons James I. p. 94. ^ Travels in Peru, p. 138. "* Chodzko. Popular Poetry of Persia. 444 HORSE-SHOES ylND HORSE-SHOEING. chivalry often rose to as fantastic heights as in this extrava- gant display of James Hayes. For instance, when Alex- ander III. of Scotland repaired to London, attended by a hundred knights, at the time of the coronation of Edward I., the whole party, as soon as they had alighted, let loose their steeds, all most richly caparisoned, to be scrambled for by the multitude. This was probably new to the Eng- lish chivalry, and no doubt startled them not a little : five, however, of the English nobles immediately followed the example set them. In the 1 6th century we have a complete treatise — the first, on shoeing, from the pen of Caesar Fiaschi,' a mas- terly production of its kind, and in which no less than 35 chapters are devoted to this subject. From the care with which they are written, the sound sense that pervades many of them, the faculty of observation, and the great number of shoes devised to meet certain wants, we con- clude that this artist was no ordinary workman, but an enthusiast in hippology — a man of talent, and a scholar. His masterly production forms the basis of nearly all the treatises subsequently written on horse-shoeing. The space at our disposal permits but a very limited notice of its con- tents. The first chapter, which serves as an introduction, makes known that ' there are found to-day very few good ' Traite de la Maniere de Bien Emboucher, Manier, et Ferrer les Clievauxj avec las figures de Mors de Bride, Tours et Manienients et Fers qui y sont propres. Dedie au Roi Henri II. Paris, 1564. This is the French translation of the Italian work. There were also pub- lished in Italy, in this century, the 'Trattato di Mascalcia ' of Filippo Sacro de Logliacozzo (Venice, 1553) ; and the 'Gloria del Cavallo ' of Caracciolo (1J67). In France, shortly after Fiaschi's work appeared, Claudio Corte published 'L'Ecuyer' (Lyons, 1573). TREATISE OF CJESAR FIASCHI. 445 farriers {mareschaux) : and yet among these there are some who more frequently think of profit and ease to themselves, than pay any regard to the wants and conveniences of the horses they shoe. So that if the horseman, because of his ignorance, is obliged to submit to the opinion of his mar^.schal, it will very often happen that he will see his horses lamed (enclouez) or badly shod, or otherwise incon- venienced : things due, as we witness every day, to the carelessness, ignorance, or malice of the farriers. Seeing, then, that the hoofs are the parts which support the whole of the body, and consequently bear all its weight, it is all the more necessary that the cavalier should be careful in having them well shod, and, besides, well at- tended to.' Chapter II. contains advice as to the colour of the horn, — pour cognoistre la bonte el malice dicelle. ' The black horn is the best.' Chapter III. treats of the differences between the fore and hind feet, and also between the heels and toes of the feet. The heels of the fore-feet are the most sensi- tive, and need great care because they bear nearly the whole weight and strain. So that in shoeing horses, the nails must not come near them ; and for the same reasons care must be taken not to drive the nails near the toes of the hind-feet, which are also the most sensitive parts. To do all in our power to protect them, the shoes applied must neither be too much curved nor yet too flat, but selected with care and good judgment. Chapter IV. explains the manner in which the fore and hind feet should be armed. Chapter V. speaks of the calkins [crampons), frost- 446 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. nails {clous a glace), catches (crestes), points {barbettes), and rings {annelets), sometimes added to the fore-shoes. ' The calkins are useless on the fore-shoes, and they are even hurtful to the jie?J\s (tendons) of the limb, and cause the whole body to suffer pain. When we travel {cherancJie) in mountainous or stony countries, it is far better to use a Turkish shoe, which protects the heels like a shield. The shoe to which is attached false nails ' {clous bastards), not so high (in the head) as frost-nails, does not slip ; the calkined shoe is apt to wound the horse when ridden ; the calkin a t Aragonaise is less dangerous All other accessories, such as frost-nails, crests, barbettes, and anne- lets, ought not to be applied until after due deliberation, for they are often more hurtful than useful.' Chapter VII. is devoted to the way in which the heels and the frog {cartilage) should be pared, and the hoof otherwise managed. ' The heel, with the cartilage or tendron, named in Italian the "fetton" (frog), particularly in the fore-feet, should be moderately pared or opened {ouvert), according to the character of the hoofs ; if these are not good, care should be taken not to weaken them too much by too great opening Besides, the cavalier should have removed from the toes of his horse's feet as much horn as may be necessary to give them a proper shape, which may easily be discovered by putting the foot to the ground.' Chapter IX. relates to the form which the fore-shoes should have. Usually, the fore-shoe should not project beyond the toe of the hoof, except this part has been ' It would appear that nail-heads alone were rivetted into the shoes in places to prevent slipping. CMSAR FIASCHVS TREATISE. 447 broken and worn ; but it is advantageous that it should project a little beyond the foot from the quarters back, so as to preserve the horn there ; and behind the foot it should not be short, but exact and equal to the extremity of the heel, for if it surpass the heel the horse will likely forge (click or strike) with the hind feet ; and if too short, if the heels are weak and tender, the animal may suffer pain and injury. In the next chapter, the same observa- tions are made with regard to the hind-feet. In the eleventh chapter we have the mode of adjusting the shoe to the hoof. ' The shoe should be so fitted that the foot may suffer in no way through the carelessness of the farrier — that is to say, the hot shoe should only be applied to the hoof for as long a period as may be necessary to fit it well.' The nails are described in the following chapter, '^The nails ought to be large, moderately long, and neither flattened, hammered, or otherwise hardened. With ordinary horses eight or nine is the usual num- ber ; and with coursers or " Prisons," ten, and sometimes more. I do not wish to deny that with some hoofs six or seven nails are sufficient, but there are few of these. When the number is odd, the majority of the nails should go to the outside of the foot, which is the least sensitive.' Chapter XIII. speaks of the hordure or pancette, sometimes added to the shoe, and which was nothing but a very wide sole. The other chapters up to the twenty- second, are devoted to the characters of various kinds of hoofs, and how to arm them. This chapter mentions the shoes necessary for young horses which, having been 448 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. reared in marshy lands, have the frogs diseased. 'Employ the half-shoe {Jer a lunette) ; the heels and neighbouring parts will become hard, and the shoulders and arms will be brought better into play. Light work, but not on bad roads. Only apply these shoes for some months.' The remaining chapters are devoted to various kinds of shoes, suitable to different varieties of hoofs, or horses whose manner of going was de- fective ; as well as the method of shoeing vi- cious horses. The figures of shoes he gives are 20 in number. No. i. Fore- shoe without calkin (fig. 160). 2. Shoe with the calkin a f Aragonaise on one side, and the other side thickened (fig. 161). 3. Lunette shoe, or 'tip' (fig. 162). 4. Three- quarter shoe (fig. 163). 5 . Bevelled shoe, with the Aragonaise calkin on one branch, and the other thick at the heel (fig. 164). 6. Shoe with sciettes, or projecting toothed bor- der, and thickened towards each heel, to prevent slip- ping (fig. 165). 7. Thick-sided shoe, thin towards the VARIETIES OF SHOES. 449 inner border, and seated like the English shoe (fig. i66). 8. Shoe with buttons, or raised catches, on the inner branch, and thick- ened on the heel of the same side (fig. 167). 9. A shoe which has the inside heel and quarter much thicker and nar- rower than usual (fig. 168). 10. A shoe with crests or points towards the ground surface on the toe and quarter, and hir- hettes at the heels (fig. 169). 1 1. A shoe with the calkins doubled over, and provided with rings (fig. 170). I '2. The foot surface of a shoe with the heels turning up towards the foot (fig. 171). 13. Shoe with two calkins (fig. 172). 14. A bar shoe (fig. 173). 15. A jointed shoe, to suit any sized foot (fig. 174). 16. A jointed shoe without nails, and secured by the lateral border and the heel-screw (fig. 175). 17. A hind-shoe with calkins (fig. 176). 18. A shoe with one of the branches greatly thickened at the heel (fig. 177). 19. A hind-shoe with a crest or toe- piece (fig. 178). 20. A hind-shoe with the toe elongated 29 450 , HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. and curled upwards, probably for a foot the back tendons of which were contracted, and caused the horse to walk on the point of the toe (fig. 179). In Germany, the first veterinary treatises published in which shoeing is mentioned are those by Albrecht, ' des Kaiser Friederich huifschmid ; ' ' Horwart von Hohen- burg f and Seuter.^ There does not appear to be any- thing novel on the subject in these works, beyond what we have already epitomized from the Italian writers. In 1598 appeared the excellent treatise of Carlo Ruini, a Senator of Bologna, on the anatomy and diseases of the horse ;"* in which the maladies and defects of the feet were specially considered, and in a manner truly wonderful, for that time. Indeed, his instructions for the relief or cure of many foot maladies by shoeing are repeated in modern days. PVom his descriptions, we learn that the cruel and unscientific fashion of ope72mo-/;/ie/zee/5, as it is termed, and paring the soles until the horn was quite thin, as well as shoeing with high calkins, was producing those eflfects with which we are so familiar now-a-days. His treatment of contracted heels consisted chiefly in applying lunette, or thin-heeled shoes, to allow the posterior parts of the hoofs to come in contact with the ground ; and also to employ- ing shoes with clips at the inner angles of the heels to grasp the inflection of horn, named the ' bars,' so as to press them outwards — a mode of expansion still very common on the ' Das Kleine Rossarzneibiichlein. Benedig, 1542. " Von der Hochberlimpten, Adeligen und Ritterlichen Kunst der Reyterey. Tegernsee, 1577- 3 Buech von der Rossarzney, etc. Angsburg, i j88. * Deir Anatomia e dell' Iniirmita dell Cavallo. Bologna, 1598. HEAVY SHOES. 451 continent, and for which several patents have been secured during this century. The fashion of arming the hoofs with heavy shoes and great calkins, appears to have prevailed generally for several centuries ; a specimen from the church door of Saint-Saturnin, where it had been attached by some farrier anxious to exhibit his skill, may serve to give us an idea of what was considered a proper model. It bears the date 1573 (fig. 180)/ fig. 180 Me urn in. O Op. cit. p. 62. 29 * 45^ CHAPTER X. HORSE-SHOEING IN THE i6tH AND I7TH CENTURIES. INFLUENCE OF THE ITALIAN HIPPIATRISTS. DIFFERENT FORMS OF SHOES IN ENGLAND. ESCAPE OF CHARLES II. AN OBSERVANT FARRIER. THE farriers' COMPANY. THE EDINBURGH HAMMERMEn's COR- PORATION. MARSTON MOOR SHOE. THOMAS BLUNDEVIL. ITALIAN TECHNICAL TERMS. BLUNDEVIl's ART OF SHOEING. THE * BUT- TER.' ITS DERIVATION. MANNER OF MAKING AND PUTTING ON SHOES. UNPROFITABLE DEVICES. THE GERMAN AND ITALIAN ANTI-SLIPPING SHOES. SHOES WITHOUT NAILS. JOINTED SHOES. EVERY GENTLEMAN COITLD SHOE HIS HORSE IN GERMANY. THE * PLANCHE ' SHOE. INJURIOUS RESULTS OF BLUNDEVIl's TEACH- ING. BARET AND MARKHAM. SNAPE. FRANCE. THE MARECHAUX FERRANTS. SOLLEYSEL. ROYAL FARRIERS. HOMe's TRANSLATION OF SOLLEYSEL. SHOEING IN FRANCE. For the remainder of this history, we will confine our attention to England and France, alone ; countries which have vied with each other in researches into the functions of the horse's foot, and the best mode of protecting it by shoeing. During the 17th century, there appears to have been an increasing desire to enhance the services of this noble animal, and, thanks to the influence of the Italian hip- piatrists, the men who now began to study the horse in health and disease were capable of greatly adding to the small amount of knowledge previously possessed on the VARIATION IN FORM OF ENGLISH SHOES. 453 subject of shoeing ; although it is probable their efforts to improve it met with little success. In England, the form of the shoes in ordinary use would seem to have varied to a notable degree in different parts of the country, and on one occasion this variety gave rise to a remarkable incident connected with the Civil War that broke out about the middle of the century. When Charles II. was making his escape from England in the win- ter of 1649, and got as far as Lynne, he put up at an inn in a village where his attempts at getting away, and his being somewhere in the locality, were well known. ' The passengers who had lodged in the inn that night, had, as soon as they were up, sent for a smith to visit their horses, it being a hard frost. The smith, when he had done what he was sent for, according to the custom of that people, examined the feet of the other two horses (the king s) to find more work. When he had observed them, he told the host of the house, "that one of those horses had traveled far ; and that he was sure that his four shooes had been made in four several counties." Which (says Lord Clarendon), whether his skill was able to discover or no, was very true. The smith going to the sermon (it was Sunday), told this story to some of his neighbours ; and so it came to the ears of the preacher, when his sermon was done.' ' This preacher was a most enthusiastic puritan, and having strongly suspected Charles to be in the neighbourhood, at once gave the alarm ; the king, however, contrived to make a very narrow escape. Whether it was in grateful recognition of the acute- ness manifested by this son of Saint Eloy, or a necessity ' Hist, of the Rebellion, vol. iii. p. 330. Oxford, 1702. 454 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. imposed by the important development this art had assumed, certain it is, that some years after the king's return from exile to England, and the restoration of the monarchy, the Company of Farriers was incorporated (1763) by the style of 'the Master Wardens, Assistants, and Commonalty of the Company of Farriers, London.' This local corporation was, and is now, a livery company, and governed by a master, three wardens, and twenty-four assistants. In 1736, it had, besides these, thirty-nine on the livery. The arms of the corporation are : Ar. three horse- shoes. Sa. pierced of the field. Crest. An arm em- bowed, issuing from clouds on the sinister side, all proper, holding in the hand a hammer az. handled, and ducally crowned or. Supporters. Two horses Ar. Motto, ' Fi et VirtiLte^. In Scodand, the artificers had, from an early period, formed a corporation at Edinburgh, designated the Ham- mermen's Corporation. This was one of the chief guilds or public bodies, and included every handicraft ; though at first it appears that that of the iron, or black-smith, greatly predominated. The earliest entry, which occurs in 1582, though the corporation had been embodied for some considerable time before this date, gives us to under- stand that among the 'essays' or specimens of skill and proficiency required to obtain admission, that of the smith was ' ane door cruick (hook) and door-band, ane spaide iron (a spade), ane schoile iron (a shovel), and horse-shoe and six nails thereto.' Many distinguished men were presented with the free- dom of this Corporation of Hammermen. An entry for THE FARRIERS' COMPANY. 455 March 21st, 1657, shows that Mr Charles Smith, advocate, was admitted a blacksmith ; and was pleased to produce, by way of essay, ' the portrait of an horse s leg, shoed with a silver shoe fixed with three nails, with a silver staple at the other end thereof; which was found to be a rjualified and well-wrought essay.' ' If I remember aright, the crest of the corporation was an uncovered arm grasping a hammer, and the motto, ' By hammer in hand all arts do stand.' A horse-shoe in my possession, dug up from the battle-field of Marston Moor (near York), and which belonged, without doubt, to some horse engaged in that slaughter (July 2, 1644), is of a good outline. Though extremely oxidized, we can yet see that it measured a little more than 4|- inches in length and breadth — the width being about one inch and three-eighths, and the thickness about one quarter inch. The foot surface appears to have been concave throughout, and without any seating for the hoof; while the ground surface is convex to such an extent that the inner circumference is much lower than the outer. I can only trace three oblong nail-holes on each side ; but whether the shoe has been grooved around these or not, it is impossible to say. The most notable work on veterinary medicine pub- lished in England in the i6th century, was that of Thomas Blundevil." This, though not the first, is yet ' Transactions of the Socy. of Antiquaries of Scotland, vol. i. p. 170. ^ The Four Chiefest Offices belonging to Horsemanship. The Order of Curing Horse Diseases, etc. The True Arte of Pariug and Shooying all maner of houes, together with the shapes and fygures of dyuers shooes, very necessarye for dyuers horses. By Thomas Blun- devil, of Newton-Flotman, in Norffolke. London, 1565. 4^6 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. entitled to be considered the foundation, or real com- mencement of veterinary science in Britain. As pre- viously explained, this science, like many others, owed its resuscitation to Italy. After the fall of the Byzantine empire, learning once more sought refuge in that favoured land ; and the writings of the Greek and Roman hippia- trists, transferred to this genial soil from their Eastern nursery and repository, were not long in bringing forth good fruit, as evidenced in the writings of Rusius, Ruini, Fiaschi, and many others. The veterinary science of France, England, and other countries, took its origin from this source. And Blundevil acknowledges this in the frequent quotations he gives from the Italian writers, and the references he makes to their opinions. Indeed, the technical expressions he employs are nearly all Italian, only some few of them being French. The English lan- guage could not furnish them ; and more particularly is this observed in the section or treatise devoted to ' paring and shooying all maner of houes.' He mentions the various breeds of horses he was acquainted with, and their good and bad qualities, par- ticularly with a view to their being profitably reared in England ; these were the horses of ' Turkey and Barbary ; Sardinia and Corsica, courser of Naples, jennet of Spayne, Hungarian, highe Almayne ; Flanders horse ; Frizeland horse, and Iryshe hobbye,' In that portion of his work which is more intimately connected with the subject now under consideration, he writes: 'The art of shoeing con- sisteth in these points, that is to say, in paring the hoof well, in making the shoe of good stuff, in well fashioning the webb thereof, a well piercing the same, in fitting the THOMAS B LUND EVIL ON SHOEING. 457 shoe unto the horse's foot, in making nails of good stuff, and well fashioning the same, and finally in well driving of the said nails, and clenching of the same. But as neither paring nor shoeing is no absolute thing of itself, but hath respect unto the foot or hoof (for the shoe is to be fitted to the foot, and not the foot to the shoe), and that there be diverse kinds of hoofs both good and bad, re- quiring great diversity as well of paring as shoeing, it is meet, therefore, that we first talk of the diversity of hoofs, and then show you how they ought to be pared and shod.' After describing the hoofs in a very quaint manner, and showing us, unwittingly, how much disease and de- fective form prevailed, and which arose, no doubt, from bad shoeing, paring the hoofs is next commented upon, when he talks about the ' butter.' This is the ungainly weapon or instrument long wielded with such fatal effect on horses' feet in England, and still in use on the continent. It appears to have been introduced into this country and P\ance from Germany, the authors of the ' Origines de la langue Franqaise ' deriving it from dozeii or botzen, to push, in Old German. In France, from an early period, it has been named boiUoir, from whence Blundevil, who is the first to import it into our language, terms it ' butter.' Up to a recent date it was in use in England, and was known as ' butress.' Contemporaneously with its men- tion in the writings of the old farriers, do we find serious diseases of the feet noticed, and particularly contraction of the hoofs at the heels. While Blundevil is advising that the heels of the fore feet should be gently pared, he recommends that ' the 458 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. toes be pared so thin almost as the edge of a knife' In paring, too, he mentions that ' the French ferrers hath a proverb which saith, " Dewant dariar, dariar deviant," which means spare the fore foot behind, and the hinder foot be- fore, as well in paring as in piercing the shoes (i. e. making the nail-holes). ' Make your shoe of spriise or Spanish iron, with a broad web, fitting it to the foot, and let the sponges (heels) be thicker and more substantial than any other part of the shoe ; yea, and also somewhat broad, so as the quarters on both sides may dishord, that is to say, appear without the hoof a straw's breadth to guard the coffin, which is the strength of the hoof, and only beareth the shoe. . . . And as touchmg the nails, make them also of the same iron, the heads whereof would be square, and not fully so broad beneath as above, but answerable to the piercing- holes, so as the head of the nails may enter in and fill the same, appearing above the shoe no more than the breadth of the back of a knife ; so shall they stand sure without shogging, and endure longer, and to that end the stamp that first maketh the holes, and the " preschell" that pierceth them, and also the necks of the nails, would be of one square fashion and bigness : that is to say, great above and small beneath, which our common smiths do little regard, for when they pierce a shoe, they make the hole as wide on the inside as on the outside. ... A good nail should have no shouldering at all, but be made with a plain and square neck, so as it may justly fit and fill the piercing-hole of the shoe. . . . The shanks of the nails should be somewhat fiat, and the points sharp, without hollowness or flaw^ and stitFer towards the head above, THOMAS BLUN DEVIL ON SHOEING. 459 than beneath. And when you drive, drive at the first with soft strokes, and with a light hammer, until the nail be somewhat entered. . . . The shoe standing straight and just, drive in all the nails to the number of eight, four on each side, so as the points of the nails may seem to stand on the outside of the hoof, even and just one by another, as it were in a circular line, and not out of order like the teeth of a saw, whereof one is bent one way and one another way. That done, cut them off and clinch them so as the clinches may be hidden in the hoof, which by cutting the hoof with the point of a knife, a little be- neath the appearing of the nail, you may easily do. That done with a rape (rasp) pare the hoof round, so as the edge of the shoe may be seen round about.' He always recommends free paring, and for rough and brittle hoofs 'plenty of rasping on the outside to make them smooth, and the shoe put on with nine nails — four inside and five out.' For the contracted or hoof-bound foot, he recom- mends parking the sole thin and opening the heels well, and putting on a shoe like a half moon. Concerning shoes with calkins, he quotes Caesar Fiaschi as opposed to their use, and as approving of the Turkish mode of shoeing for mountain travelling. ' Not- withstanding, some never think their horses to be well shod, unless all the shoes be made with calkins, either single or double.' Of the shoes with rings, shown in Fiaschi's work, he says they were first invented to make a horse lift his feet high, but that they caused a horse pain on hard roads, especially those horses which had not sound feet. Blun- 46o HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. devil calls them ' unprofitable devices,' and recom- mends that the shoes with sponges (from the French Sponge, the heel portion of the shoe thickened) only be used ; if it is necessary to teach a horse to lift his feet, he should be shod heavily while at the school, and afterwards with light shoes. ' In Germany and " higbe Almany," the " smythes " do make the shoes with a swelling welt round about the shoe, which being as high as the heads of the nails, or higher, saves the nails from wear.' These shoes Blunde- vil praises for lasting, having used them in these coun- tries on very stony ground, and he mentions that Fiaschi also lauds them ; though he advises that the ivealt be in- dented, having sharp pointed teeth like a saw, and that the sponges behind be as thick as the welt ; and that the welt be of a tough hard temper, for fear of wearing too fast. ' With these kind of shoes they use in Italy to shoe such Barbary horses, jennets, and Turks, as are appointed to run for the best game at some public triumph, or any other private wager. ' Some that use to pass the mountains where smiths are not readily to be found, to shoe a horse if need be, do carry about with them certain shoes made with vyces, wherewith they make the shoe fast to the horse's foot without help of hammer or nails. Notwithstanding, such shoes are more for the show than for any good use or commodity. For though it save the horse's foot from stones, yet it so pincheth his hoof, as he goeth with pain, and perhaps doth his hoof more hurt than the stones would do.' He advises the jointed shoe to be applied in such THOMAS BLUNDEVIL ON SHOEING. 461 cases, ' but this shoe must be set on with nails, and there- fore it is needful that the rider learn to drive a nail if need be, whereof he must have always store about him, to- gether with hammer, pynsons, and " butter," handsomely made, and fit for carrying ; without these the horsemen of Almany never travel, neither is there any gentleman that loveth his horse but can use these instruments for that purpose as well as any smith.' He gives various drawings of shoes, chiefly borrowed from Fiaschi, and heavy and clumsy. The ' Planche ' shoe for weak heels is only a more formidable model of the modern bar shoe (fig. 181). The drawing he also gives of a nail is that of our present square-headed nail. All the shoes have the square hole and no fullering. This is not men- tioned anywhere ; so that I may be in error in assigning it so early a date in England. Sensible as are many of Blunde- ^^' '^' vil's remarks, yet we cannot avoid concluding that he was greatly in error in recommending paring and rasping, particularly to such a ruinous extent. The terrible in- jury inflicted on horses by this unwise and barbarous practice, in addition to very faulty shoes, has hung like a curse upon these creatures up to the present day. Blunde vil has in this respect been largely followed. Michael Baret,' in his treatise on horsemanship, pub- lished 50 years later, speaking of teaching aliorse to pace ' An Hipponomie, or the Vineyard of Horsemanship, pp. 97, 112. London, 161 8. 462 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. or amble, mentions ' tramels, heavy shoes, pasternes of lead, and shoes of advantage ' being used on the hind limbs, ' to keep the hinder parts of the horse down, and to cause his hinder feete strike further forward within his fore parts.' The 'shoe of advantage' was the most dan- gerous ; as the projections or plates at the toe struck the tendons of the fore-legs and seriously injured them. For the coursers, the day before racing, the hoofs were to be shod, ' but let them be such shooes as shall be best agree- ing to the race ; which if it bee a soft moore or swarth, let them be but thinne plates, or halfe shooes (like a halfe moone), but if it bee hard and gravelly, let them be whole shooes, but yet so light as is possible.' Markham's principal work on farriery and horseman- ship ' contains little beyond what Blundevil had stated in the previous century ; but in a smaller treatise ^ we have some examples given of the condition of horses' feet, and the attention they received. For ' foundering, frettizing, or any imperfection in the feet or hoofes of an horse,' he gives the following directions for the treatment of the unfortunate creature's extremities : ' First pare thin, open the heels, and take good store of blood from the toes, then tack on a shooe, somewhat hollow,' The sole was then to be filled up with all kinds of fantastic com- pounds. In a later edition of this treatise (1647) ^^^ omits the 'good store of blood:' 'First pare thinne, open the heels wide, and shooe large, strong, and hol- low.' The agon^' the poor horses must have suffered on a ' Masterpiece. London, 1638. ' The Faitliful Farrier. London, 16.39. MARKHAM. SNAPE. FRANCE. ^60, journey, from the outrageous treatment their feet were subjected to, as well as from the terrible basin-shaped clumsy shoes, is fully evidenced by the numerous re- cipes this admirable horseman gives for ' stoppings ' to be applied while travelling. We have also directions ' how to helpe the surbating or sorenesse in the feete.' These are, as might be expected, on a par with the general manage- ment of the hapless organs. ' When you find your horse to be surbated, presently clap into each of his fore-feet two new-layd eggs, and crush them therein, then upon the toppe of them lay good store of cow-dung ; thus stop him (or, rather, the horse's feet), and in foure houres he will recover.' It is not until we arrive at the 1 8th century, that any- thing worthy of notice occurs relative to this subject, in England. It may be mentioned, however, that the 17th century produced the first treatise on the Anatomy of the Horse, by Snape (London, 1683), farrier to his Majesty King Charles II., a very estimable work, and one which did good service in drawing attention to the value of anatomy, particularly with regard to the horse's foot. In France, in the 15th century, the community of marechaux comprised the marechaux fer rants and the marechaux grossiers. The latter were only carriage- smiths, and had nothing to do with horses. The maitrises, or ' trade freedoms ' were, however, abolished in February, 1776, and the farriers stood upon their own proper de- signation. In the following August, the trade companies were again formed, and the marechcmx ferrants were classed with the eperomiiers or spur and bit makers ; an 464 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. improvement, as the two occupations were closely allied with the conservation and utility of the horse.' In the 1 7th century, many publications on veterinary medicine and farriery were published, among which may be mentioned those of Francini,^ Dumesnil,^ Beaugrand,'^ Espinay,^ Prome,^ Beaumont,^ and Delcampe.^ But the most distinguished treatise of the century was perhaps that of Solleysel.^ This had an immense suc- cess, was translated into every cultivated language in Europe, and became the oracle of the veterinary surgeons and horsemen of those days. Although this hippiatrist is largely indebted to the writings of Caesar Fiaschi ; and though anatomy and physiology enter but little into his writings, yet there is a good deal of originality in the matter of shoeing, evidencing a tendency to place that art upon a scientific basis ; but the high estimation in which it had been previously held was apparently on the wane. Solleysel, while attaching to its practice great im- portance, being persuaded that every squire, gentleman, or other person having good and fine horses ' ne doit ignorer Tordre et la methode qu'il faut tenir pour les bien ferrer, afin que s'il ne peut avoir un bon marechal, il puisse ordonner de quelle maniere ils doivent etre ferr^s * Amlert, Esquisses Historiq. sur I'Armee Franyaises, p. 68. Saumiir, 1837. * Hippiatrique, Paris, 1607. ^ L'Art de la Marechalerie. Paris, 1628. ■* Le Marechal Expert. Lyons, 1633. \ Le Grand Marechalerie. Paris, 1642. ' Le Grand Marechal Fran9aise. Paris, 1662. ' Le Nouveau Parfait Marechal. Paris, 1660. ^ Art de Monter a Cheval. Paris, 1663. ' Le Parfait Marechal. Paris, 1664. SOLLEYSEL. 465 pour le bien etre ; ' yet adds, that, in his time, kings and people of quality could shoe horses : ' On a vu, de notre temps, des rois sqavoir forger un fer ; et il est peu de personnes de qualite qui ne sachent brocher des clous, pour s'en servir dans la n^cessite.' And he now com- plains that the little progress that had been made in a knowledge of this branch of veterinary science ' has maintained it in a state of debasement which even affects the other branches ; ' farriery, when he wrote, was ' un metier, ou une certaine routine, que ces ouvriers ap- prenaient chez des maitres d^pourvus de tous principes de leur art.' In a brief historical notice like the present, an analysis of this treatise will not be expected ; and we can only give some abridged notices from the translation made by Sir William Hope, and published in London, in 1706.' Speaking of a journey, he says : ' Many horses as soon as unbridled, instead of eating, lay themselves down to rest, because of the great pain they have in their feet, so that a man is apt to think them sick ; but if he look to their eyes, he will see they are lively and good ; and if he offer meat to them as they are lying, they will eat it very willingly ; yet if he handle their feet he will find them extremely hot, which will discover to him that it is in that part they suffer. You must therefore observe if their shoes do not rest upon their soles.' And again : ' When you are arrived from a journey, immediately draw the two heel-nails of the fore-feet, and if it be a large shoe, then four. And two or three days after you may blood him in the neck, and feed him for ten or twelve ' The Compleat Horseman, or Perfect Farrier. London, 1706. 30 4^6 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. days with wet bran only, without giving him any oats, keeping him well littered. The reason why you are to draw the heel-nails is, because the feet swell, and if they were not thus eased, the shoes would press and straiten them too much. It is also good to stop them with cow- dung, but do not take off the shoes, nor pare the feet, because the humours are drawn down by it.' There are also frequent allusions to foundering (in- flammation of the feet), the changes in the hoofs induced by this disease ; as well as to the occurrence of treads, over- reaches, coronary abscesses, &c. With regard to the practice of shoeing at this time, there are the following directions and explanations : ' There are two methods of shoeing. The first is, to shoe for the advantage of the foot, and, according to its nature and shape, to fit such shoes to it as may make it better than it is ; and if it be good, may preserve and keep it from becoming bad. The second method is, that which disguiseth the foot, and maketh it appear good when really it is not ; which method, although in time it wholly ruins the foot, yet horse-coursers, who have no other design but to sell and put off their horses, do not much trouble themselves about it ; for provided their horses' feet but appear good, and they get them sold, it is all they desire. I shall treat of the first only, wherein are four rules to be observed in shoeing all sorts of feet whatsoever. The first is. Toe before, and quarter behind, or as we commonly say, before behind, behind before. By toe before is meant, that you may give the nails a good hold upon the toes of the fore- feet, because there the horn is very thick, which it is not in the quarters of the fore-feet, for there the horn is thin. SOLLEYSEL'S DIRECTIONS. 467 and you would hazard the pricking your horse. Quarter behind is that a horse hath the quarters of his hind feet strong, that is to say, the horn thick, and so capable of suffering a good gripe by the nails ; but at the toes of the hind feet you will immediately meet with the quick, because the horn is but thin in that part ; and therefore smiths should put no nails at all just in the toes of the hind feet, but only in their quarters. ' The second rule is, Never to open a horse's heels. People call it opening of the heels, when the smith in paring the foot, cutteth the heel low and close almost to the frush (frog), and taketh it down within a finger's breadth of the coronet, or top of the hoof, so that he separates the quarters at the heel, and by that means weakens and takes away the substance of the foot, making it to close and become narrow at the heels. Now this, which they call opening, would be more properly called closing of the heels ; for the roundness and circumference of the foot being cut, by doing that which they call opening of the heels, which is to cut them wholly away, they are no longer supported by anything ; so that if there be any weakness in the foot, it will of necessity make it slirink and straiten in the quarters, which will quite spoil the foot. ' The third rule is to make use of as thin and small nails as possible ; because the nails that are thick and gross make a large hole, not only when they are driving, but also when they are riveting ; for, being stiff, they split the horn and take it away with them. Neither can a tender foot be shod with such big nails without hazard of prick- ing, especially if there be but little horn to take hold of 30* 468 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. But smiths, to prevent this, pierce their shoes too near the edge, which will in time ruin the foot. 'The fourth rule is to mahe the lightest shoes you can, according to the size of your horse, because heavy shoes spoil the back-sinews and weary the horse ; and if he happens to overreach, the shoes being heavy are more easily pulled off.' ' Those who think it frugality to shoe with thick and heavy shoes, and seldom, are deceived, for they lose more by it than they gain, for thereby they not only spoil the back-sinews but lose more shoes than if they had been light.' Excessive paring with the ' butteris ' seems to have been in vogue then as at a later day, for in recommending a certain method of shoeing he remarks : ' Do not pare your horses' feet almost to the quick, as some people do, who think thereby to prevent the so frequent shoeing of their horses. But if you know that your horses' hoofs are smooth and tough, you may with the more confidence pare his soles reasonably near.' This old hippiatrist, in fact, gives a few excellent direc- tions for the management of the horse's feet, and evidently far beyond the usual practice of his age; though mixed with many which are bad. He condemns heavy and high cal- kins, and admits that horses are much better without them altogether. Though the rasp was in use, he does not ad- vise its being put to the outer surface of the wall, and only speaks of paring the frog when the heels are flat or low, and that part of the foot is likely to come in contact with the ground. For tjie cure of these flat feet, too, he recom- mends the barbarous operation of barring (ligaturing) the pastern veins, ' so that you may put a stop to the super- SOLLEYSEL'S DIRECTIONS. 469 fluous humour which falleth down upon the lower part of the foot, and causeth the sole to grow round and high ; and also the coffin-bone, or little foot, which is the bone in the middle of the coffin, to push itself down, which, through time, maketh the foot become round at the sole.' Flanders at that period appears to have furnished large numbers of horses, whose special characteristics were hairy legs, and wide flat-soled feet ; for this author, when de- scribing the best way to remedy this defective form of hoof by a shoe resting on the sole, instead of the customary vaulted armature, adds : ' The surest way is to rectify such bad feet in the beginning, and especially in the time when horses alter or change their horn, which is the first six months after they come from Flanders.' His advice to keep the sole strong by refraining from paring it, to make the shoe fit the foot instead of the foot the shoe, and to take a short thick hold of the wall with the nails, is excellent. His remarks on pathological shoe- ing, too, show much judgment and experience of this important subject. The nails were to be thin and supple ; large nails were destructive to the hoofs. For contracted hoofs, he recommends the employment of Jers a pan- toiifles., which he says were invented by M. de la Brone, squire to Henry III. These were merely shoes with the inner border of each heel turned downwards at a more or less acute angle, so as to cause the heels of the hoof to glide forcibly outwards when the horse's weight was im- posed on them. Lunette shoes were also employed by him for horses of the manege who had their hoofs con- tracted. To the people who argued that horses were better 470 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. without shoes, Solleysel mentions that those of the Ger- man peasantry are not shod ; though he asserts it would be much to their advantage if they were, as the limbs and feet were in nearly every case he saw more or less de- formed. M. Bernard recently confirms this observation, by stating that in Lorraine, Alsace, and Bavaria, he saw very many agricultural horses unshod, and that deformities of the hoofs were common.' ' Journal de Med. ret. Mi/ it aire, vol. iv. p. iii. 47 J CHAPTER XL THE ESTABLISHMENT OF VETERINARY SCHOOLS IN FRANCE. TREATISES ON SHOEING. CLUMSY SPECIMENS OF SHOES. LAFOSSE, SEN., THE GREATEST AUTHORITY ON MODERN FARRIERY. THE EVILS OF SHOEING. DESTRUCTIVE PARING. IMPROVED SHOEING. THE SHORT SHOE AND THE INCRUSTED SHOE. OPPOSITION OF THE PARISIAN FARRIERS. LAFOSSE, JUNIOR. BOURGELAT, THE FOUNDER OF THE VETERINARY SCHOOLS IN FRANCE. THE ADJUSTED SHOE. BURNING THE HOOFS Vl'HEN FITTING THE SHOES. JEREMIAH BRIDGES. THE INFLUENCE OF LOCALITY ON THE HOOFS. THE 'screw' SHOE. NUMEROUS DISEASES OF THE FOOT. OSMER. COMPLAINT AGAINST FARRIERS. ENGLISH SHOEING. CONTRACTED HOOFS. NAVICULAR DISEASE. THE EVILS OF PARING. THE SEATED SHOE. JUST REMARKS. THE USE OF THE RASP. THE FLAT SHOE. EXPANSION OF THE HORSe's FOOT. CLARK's TREA- TISE. PREJUDICE AGAINST IMPROVEMENTS. THE EARL OF PEM- BROKE. UNSHOD HORSES. MANAGEMENT OF THE HOOFS. DE- FECTIVE SHOES. Clark's shoe. In the i8th century, when veterinary schools were established in France, treatises on shoeing were abund- antly multiplied. With ' L'Ecole de Cavalerie ' of La Gueriniere (1733), 'La Parfaite Connaissance des Che- vaux' of Saunier (1734), ' Le Nouveau Parfait Marechal' of Garsault (1755), and others, appears the ' Nouvelle Pratique de Ferrer les Chevaux de Selle et de Carosse' (Paris, 1756) of Lafosse ' (Marechal des Petites Ecuries ' This excellent essay was translated into English by Braken (who 472 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. du Roi). This veterinarian, a man of great observation, and an enlightened practitioner, may be said to have been the most advanced of that school which, for two cen- turies, had been endeavouring to improve the vicious courses adopted by the farriers in their treatment of horses' feet. The principal of these practices were in- judicious removal of the horn, and the great weight and length of the shoes. We have seen that the Italian writer, Fiaschi, had already protested against the use of calkins, which were becoming of greater size as time advanced. An example of this, from the church-door of Saint-Saturnin, has been already given. During the reign of Louis XIV., this absurd fashion appears to have been at its height. No thought seems to have been bestowed on the injurious influence such shoeing might have on the form or quality of the hoofs, on the true or false disposition of the limbs, nor yet on the horse's natural movements. Chargers and ordinary riding-horses wore strangely-shaped masses of iron, which, for weight and clumsiness, could scarcely, one would think, be carried by a strong waggon-horse of our own times. This unreasonable and most pernicious custom, which makes us wonder how it was possible that anything like quick progression could be accomplished without serious damage to the limbs of horses and riders, is shown in the paintings of Lebrun, court-painter to the Grand Monarque, which may be seen in the galleries of the Louvre, and in which Alexander and other heroes of antiquity are represented on horses whose feet are cum- had performed a like service for Lafosse's earlier work, ' Traite des Ob- servations et des Decouvertes sur les Chevaux '). It has been repub- lished in the Bibliotheque Velerinaire, Paris, 1849. LAFOSSE. 473 bered with tremendous ' crampons.' In the Gobelins' tapestry, manufactured under that artist's direction, these massive projections are also depicted. A shoe of this description, copied from one worn by a saddle-horse, on a piece of Gobelins at Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh, and made in 1684, will perhaps give some idea of their pro- portions (fig. 182). In the reign of Louis XV., however, the large calkins were generally abolished by the far- riers, though the shoes were yet as long, if not longer, than be- fore, and towards the heels were made heavy and thick. Against this absurd fashion Lafosse uses every argument. Informing us that in Prussia, the fore-feet only were shod ; in Germany, the fore and hind — each shoe hav- ing three calkins ; in France, only calkins on the hind-feet ; while in England the shoes were wide, thin, and with thickened heels, so that the frogs could not reach the ground, though without calkins before or behind ; he says that all strangers visiting France carried in their train a farrier to shoe their horses in their own fashion, think- ing it preferable, and that French noblemen did the same. Not that the mode of shoeing of any country was pre- ferable to another — for native and foreign horses were alike badly shod — but because it was less an affair of reasoning than fancy and habit. 'The practice of shoeing horses appears to me to be good, useful, and even necessary on paved roads ; but it is fig. 182 474 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. on the form and manner of applying shoes that not only depends the preservation of the feet, but also the safety of the limbs and the harmony of movement. We always find ourselves more active and nimble when we wear easy shoes ; but a wide, long, and thick shoe will do for horses what clogs do for us — render them heavy, clumsy, and unsteady.' After giving a brief notice of the anatomy of the foot, the necessity for the farrier to understand this, and also the fact that the horse, in a natural condition, ought to have the whole extent of its foot placed upon the super- lices of the ground it covers, he refers to the defects of the shoeing then in vogue, and as aptly as if he had lived in our own day : ' As it is not possible to employ unshod horses on paved roads or hard ground without running the risk of destroying some of the parts just mentioned, we have been compelled to shoe them ; but the actual method is so injurious that, so far from preserving their feet, it con- curs to their destruction in occasioning a number of accidents, as I will demonstrate. ' I. Long shoes, thick at the heels, never remain firmly attached to the feet in consequence of their weight, and break the clinches of the nails. ' 2. They require proportionately large nails to retain them, and these split the horn, or frequently their thick stalks press against the sensitive laminae and sole, and cause the horse to go lame. '3. Horses are liable to pull off these long shoes when the hind-foot treads upon the heel of the fore-shoe, either in walking, while standing by putting the one foot upon the other, between two paving-stones in the pavement, be- LJFOSSES EVILS OF SHOEING. 475 tween the bars of gates, in the draw-bridges of fortifica- tions, or in heavy ground. '4. They move heavily, as the weight of their shoes fatigues them. ' 5. Long shoes with massive heels raise the frogs from the ground, and prevent the horse walking on those parts. Then, if the horse has a humour in the frog, it becomes a ficthrush, or crapaud (canker), because the humour lodges there. In shoeing with short shoes, the horse goes on his frog, the humour is dissipated more easily, particularly in the fore-feet, as the animal places more weight upon them than the hind ones. ' 6. Long shoes, thick at the heels, when put upon feet which have low heels, bruise and bend them inwards, and lame the horse, although the heel be sprung, and when the foot is raised we can see daylight between the shoe and the hoof; when it is on the ground, the heel descends to the shoes, because the hoof is flexible. ' 7. Shoes long and strong at the heels, when the foot is pared, the frog being removed a long distance from the ground, cause many accidents — such as the rupture or straining of the flexor tendon, and compression of the vascular sole, a circumstance not known until I pointed it out. ' 8. Long shoes cause horses to slip and fall, because they act like a patten on the slippery pavement, as well in summer as in winter. ' 9. Long shoes are also injurious when horses lie like a cow, in consequence of the heels wounding the elbows. '10. Calkins should not be used on paved roads; they are only useful on ice or slippery ground {terre grasse). 476 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. ' 11. The calkins on the inside heels are liable to wound the coronets when the horse happens to cross his feet. ' 12. A horse shod with them is soon fatigued and never goes easy. '13. The horse which has only a calkin on the out- side does not stand fair, and the calkin confines the move- ment of the coronary articulation, the foot being twisted to one side. '14. If a horse has his feet pared and loses a shoe, he cannot travel without breaking and bruising the wall, and damaging the horny sole, because the horn is too thin to protect it. '15. If the shoes are long, and the heels of the hoof pared out hollow, stones and pebbles lodge between the shoe and the sole, and make the horse lame. ' 16. Flat feet become convex by hollowing the shoes to relieve the heels and the frog, because the more the shoes are arched from the sole, the more the wall of the hoofs is squeezed and rolled inwards, particularly towards the inner quarter, which is the weakest ; the sole of the foot becomes convex, and the horse is nearly always unfit for service. '17. If the wall of the hoof is thin and the shoes are arched, the quarters are so pressed upon that the horse is lame. * 18. Pared hoofs are exposed to considerable injury from wounds by nails, stones, glass, etc. ' 19. The pared sole readily picks up earth or sand, which forms a kind of cement between it and the shoe, and produces lameness. LA FOSSE'S EVILS OF SHOEING. 477 ' 20. The reason why it is dangerous to pare the feet of horses, is because when the sole is pared, and the horse stands in a dry place, the horn becomes desiccated by the air which enters it, and removes its moisture and its sup- pleness, and often causes the animal to be lame. ' 2 1 . A habit to be abolished is that in which the farrier, to save trouble, burns the sole with a hot iron, so as to pare it more easily. The result often is to heat the sen- sitive sole and cripple the horse. * 22. It often happens that, to make the foot pleasant to look at, the horn of the sole is removed to the quick, and the flesh springs out from it ; this granulation is called a cherry, and sometimes it makes the horse unserviceable for a considerable period. '23. It is the pared foot which is most affected with what is termed contracted or weak inside quarter, and which also lames the horse. '24.- It also happens that one or both quarters con- tract, and sometimes even the whole hoof; then, in con- sequence of its smallness, all the internal parts are confined in their movements ; this lames the horse, and is due to paring. '25. There also occurs another accident: when the quarter becomes contracted, the hoof splits in its lateral aspect ; this accident is termed a sandcrack {seims,), and the horse is lame. ' 26. The fashion of paring the hoofs, and especially the heels, within which are the bars, causes contraction, and this renders the horse lame. ' 27. It is an abuse to rasp the hoofs of horses ; this alters the hoof and forms sandcracks. 478 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. '28. If a horse which has pared hoofs happens to lose his shoes and walks without them, the horn is quickly used and the feet damaged. ' 29. Another defect is in the manner of making large nail-holes in the shoes, etc. '30. The majority of farriers, in order to pare the sole well, cut it until it bleeds, and to stop the haemorrhage, they burn the place with a hot iron, and the horse returns lame to his stable.' We see, then, that the curse of paring and heav^y shoes was causing great evils in the days of Lafosse, as much as in our own. After enumerating all the vices and defects of shoeing, as it was then practised, he pro- ceeds to lay the foundation for a rational method ; and his remarks to this end are particularly happy. In a state of nature, he observes, all the inferior parts of the foot concur to sustain the weight of the body ; then we ob- serve that the heels and the frogs — the parts said to be most exposed, are never damaged by wear ; that the wall or crust is alone worn in going on hard ground, and that it is only this part which must be protected, leaving the other parts free and unfettered in their natural movements. These are the true and simple principles of good farriery he lays down, and they are as appropriate and explicit to- day as they were then. ' To prevent horses slipping on the dry glistening pavement {pave sec et plombe), it is necessary to shoe them with a crescent-shaped shoe — that is, a shoe which only occupies the circumference of the toe, and whose heels gradually thin away to the middle of the quarters ; so that the frog and heels of the hoof bear on the ground, and the weight be sustained behind and LA FOSSE'S RULES FOR SHOEING. 479 before, but particularly in the latter, because the weight of the body falls heaviest there. The shorter the shoe is the less the horse slips, and the frog has the same in- fluence in preventing this that an old hat placed under our own shoes would have in protecting us from slipping on ice. 'It is necessary, nevertheless, that hoofs which have weak walls should be a little longer shod, so that the gradually thinning branches reach to the heels, though not resting upon them. For horses which have thin convex soles ipieds combles), these long shoes should be also used, and the toes should be more covered to prevent the sole touch- ing the ground ; at the same time, the shoe must be so fitted that it does not press upon the sole, and the heels and frog rest upon the ground ; this is the only true method of preserving the foot and restoring it.' ' A horse which has its heels weak and sensitive ought to be shod as short as possible, and with thin branches {Sponges), so that the frog comes in contact with the ground ; because the heels, having nothing beneath them, are benefitted and relieved (fig. 183). illilliii MiiiMiiP^ ' Crescent shoes are all the more needful for a horse which has weak incurvated quarters, as they not only relieve them, but also restore them to their natural condition. Horses which have contusions at the heels {hleimes, corns) should also be shod in this manner, and for cracks {seimes, sand- tlg. loj 48o HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. cracks) at the quarter it is also advantageous. The sole or frog should Jiever be pared ; the wall alone should be cut down, if it is too long. When a horse cuts himself with the opposite foot the inner branch of the shoe ought to be shorter and thinner than the outer. In order that the shoe wear a long time, I have used a nail of my invention, the head of which is in the form of a cone, and the aperture in the shoe of the same shape, and exactly filled by the nail. However much the shoe may be worn it is always retained in its place. This kind of nail (fig. 183) possesses three other advantages : one, that it is less liable to be broken at the neck because it exactly fits the stamped hole ; the other, that it is smaller, and, in consequence, not likely to press on the sensitive part of the foot ; and, lastly, that it does less damage to the horn. ' By this new mode of shoeing all the defects and accidents attendant upon the old method are evaded.' Elsewhere he speaks of another kind of shoeing, which is not without interest. The chapter referring to this is headed : ' Half-circle shoes for the safety of the rider, for use on dry and slippery roads, either in summer or winter, in ascending mountains, or in descending them at a gallop, without slipping in any way.' This method of shoeing was contrived as follows: 'The semi-circle (fig. 184, next page) ought to be from two to three lines in width and one and a half in thickness, so as to admit of the holes being made in them with a punch ; these holes should be counter-pierced on the same side on which they are stamped, so that the nail-head be com- pletely buried in their cavities. Ten holes at least are re- quired, but they should be small in proportion, as they are THE SHORT AND INC RUSTED SHOE. 481 only needed to sustain the wall; the shoe should also be flexible. As is customary, the excess of crust should be removed, observing, however, to leave a little more than usual in order to imbed the semi-circle in it ; then to apply this, a groove is made in the middle of the ^^- '^* wall of the foot to the depth of the shoe, so that it may lie therein, and the outer edge of the crust project beyond it all round, to facilitate its being worn on the road. The two ends of the shoe ought to be incrusted in the heels, as this is productive of two mutual advantages : one, that the wall should preserve the thin shoe from too rapid wear, and the other, that the shoe prevents the hoof from breaking, or too much attrition (fig. 185). This mode of shoeing is advantageous for saddle-horses ; it would be also good for draught-horses, did the shoes stand wear long enough. I have seen many horses go with these shoes for three weeks; of course, the less work they did the longer the shoes would last. I may mention, however, that there is a more convenient mode of shoeing draught-horses ; this is with a shoe that is bedded (enclave) in the whole thickness of the wall, ob- serving to leave it projecting in its entire contour. This shoe may be termed /e croi.smnt enclave (the imbedded 31 fig. 185 482 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. crescent) ; it should be stamped very fine {maigi-e). It must be remarked that these two kinds of shoes are only lit for horses with strong hoofs.' His recommendations for shoeing good hoofs to travel on all kinds of ground are as follows : ' The shoes must not be too long or project beyond the heels, but only reach the bars ; neither must the hoofs, behind or before, be pared. The wall or crust alone should be diminished in proportion as it may be too long ; this should be done evenly, and neither the sole nor frog must be cut; the latter should be allowed to project, if possible, above the shoe, so that it may come into contact with the ground. The shoe ought to be about the same strength throughout, or a little thicker and wider in the outer branch of the fore foot, and thin at the heels of the hind one. Be careful to stamp the nail-holes on the same line, not in a zigzag manner ; the holes should not be too coarse, as there is then danger of pricking the horse, or binding the hoof with the stalk of the nail. The shoe should be stamped coarser outside than inside, because it may be necessary to leave it wider outside. Do not bend the shoes in adjusting them, nor arch them ; they ought to be nearly flat ; though they might be slightly curved, so as to preserve the wall of the hoof. They should also follow the outline of the hoof, a little more to the outside than the inside. When fitting, the shoe should not be kept too long a time on the hoof, for fear of heating it. With this shoeing we may travel on slippery ground or grass land, in using for each shoe two nails with long heads, which will prevent the horse from slipping. Also during frost, on paved roads, or ice or snow, use these nails, as LJFOSSE ON DEFECTirE SHOEING. 483 they prevent slipping ; the roads being hard, three nails are required — two in the outer branch, and one in the inner.' Reverting to the defective shoeing of his time, he endeavours to demonstrate, that by removing the horn of the frog and points of the heels from the ground, the animal's footing on paved roads is much less secure. ' The draught-horse first places his weight on the toe, then on the two sides of the hoof, and afterwards the heels are lowered to meet the heel of the shoe. The saddle-horse rests more lightly on the toe. The cannon (or shank bone) presses on the pastern-bone, this on the coro- nary, and this again on the coffin and navicular bones. From this disposition, we should note two important points which throw light on the defects of the present method, and indicate how to remedy them ; one is, that the strain of the weight is neither fixed on the toe nor heel, but between the two ; the other, that the more the frog is removed from the ground or from any point of support, the more the pressure of the coronary on the navicular bone fatigues the tendon on which it rests, in consequence of the excessive extension it experiences at each step the horse takes. The frog ought therefore to rest on the ground, as much for the facility as for the surety of the horse's movements ; as the larger the frog is, so the less do the heels meet the ground ; and the more the heels are relieved, the greater ease does the horse experience in progression. The only way to insure this is to shoe him according to the method I have indicated, as this causes him to walk on his frog, which is the natural prop or basis {point crappui) for the flexor tendon.' The vs'hole aim of Lafosse's teaching appears to have 31 * 484 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. been wisely devoted to the importance of allowing the posterior parts of the foot to rest on the ground without the intervention of the shoe. 'It is useful and even necessary to put short shoes on all flat feet, particularly on those which have the form of an oyster-shell. Every flat foot has low heels ; but nature, to remedy this defect, bestows a large frog to preserve these parts. We ought not, then, to pare the soles, much less cut them out to- wards the heels ; neither should the hoofs be too much rasped ; all these practices are so many abuses which bring about the destruction of the horses' feet. The first abuse — hollowing out the heels, is to destroy the horn which forms the bars and prevents the heels and quarters from contracting; the second abuse — rasping the foot, is to destroy the strength of the hoof, and consequently to cause its horn to become dry and the horny laminae be- neath to grow weak ; from this often arises an internal inflammation, which renders the foot painful and makes the horse go lame.' It ought to be always remembered, that the more a horse's foot is pared, so the more do we expose it to accidents ; it is depriving it, in the first place, of a defence that nature has given it against the hard and pointed sub- stances it encounters ; and, in the second place, and which is of the utmost advantage for both horse and rider, in not paring the sole, and only using as much of a shoe as is necessary to protect the horn, the animal will be no longer liable to slip on bad roads in winter or summer, when they are vulgarly called pIombe\ as will be shown. ' I. Causing a horse to walk on the frog and partly on the heel, the former is found to be rasped by the EVILS OF PJRING THE HOOFS. 48.5 friction it experiences on the earth and paved road, and is pressed by the weight of the body into the little cavities and interstices it meets. '2. By its flexibility, it takes the imprint and the contour, so to speak, of the ground it comes into contact with ; so that the foot rests on a greater number of parts, which, mutually assisting each other, multiply the points of support, and thereby give the animal more adherence to the surface on which he moves. We may even say that he acquires a kind of feeling in this part, through its correspondence with the fleshy sole, and from this to the tendon — a feeling that I will not compare with that we experience when we walk with naked feet, but which is yet suflicient to warn him of the counterpoise he ought to give to his body to maintain its equilibrium, and so pre- serve him from falling, twisting, or stumbling, ' The object of shoeing, by him who first resorted to it, would only be as a preservative and a defence, as much for the wall as for the sole. But he would not add the condition of paring either the one or the other, I do not say to our excess, but in any way whatever, because this would be contrary to his principle, and would destroy his work. 'This precaution (paring) can only be recommended in cases where the horn is rugged, and the shoe does not rest on it everywhere equally, thus opposing its solidity. In such a case it is right, but otherwise it is a contradiction and an absurdity. I have often questioned those amateur horsemen who were particularly careful to have their horses' feet pared, but none of them could demonstrate either its necessity or propriety. . . . The horny sole receives its 486 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. nourishment from the vascular sole ; its softness and pliancy are due to its thickness, and its nourishment is diminished, while it becomes harder, in direct proportion to the thinness we give it ; we even see horses whose soles are pared, habitually lame. The air, when the sole is in this state of thinness, penetrates and dries it to such a degree, that if care is not taken to keep it damp when the animal is in a dry place, it contracts and presses on the vascular sole ; so that, if some time after we wish to pare the sole again, it is not possible to do so, because it is so hard and dry that the boutoir will not touch it, and the horse goes lame. . . . What risk does a horse not incur who has nearly been deprived of his soles through this paring ! If he encounters stones, broken glass, or nails, these easily penetrate to the sensitive sole, and cripple him for a long time, if not for ever. ' When a horse loses a shoe — a circumstance fre- quently occurring, and if the hoof is pared, the animal can- not walk a hundred steps without going lame ; because in this state the lower surface of the foot being hollowed, the horse's weight falls on the crust, and this having no support from the horny sole, is quickly broken and worn away ; and if he meets hard substances on the road, he all the more speedily becomes lame. It is not so when the sole is allowed to retain its whole strength. The shoe comes off, but the sole and frog rest on the ground, assist the crust in bearing the greater part of the weight of the body, and the animal, though unshod, is able to pursue his journey safe and sound. ' It is a fact that every horse, except those which have the feet diseased and soles convex, and to which shoes are ADVANTAGES OF NOT PARING. 487 necessary to preserve the soles, may travel without shoes ; and without going for an example to the Arabs, Tartars, etc., we will find it among our own horses, which, in the country, work every day without requiring shoes ; but as soon as our wisdom and skill is brought to bear in hollow- ing out the foot to the quick and making a fine, equal, and symmetrical frog— doing it well and properly, as we say in France, shoes become indispensably neces- sary, ' I therefore ask all amateur horsemen to insure their horses as much as they can against this pretended perfec- tion. It may be asked, what will become of the horny sole if it is never pared, and it may be feared that by its growth the foot will become overgrown. Not at all ; for in proportion to its growth it dries, becomes flaky, and falls off in layers. 'The compressions so dangerous, which cause inflam- mation, would no more be dreaded if we left the horn of the sole, the bars, and the frog entire. By their pliability, thickness, flexibility, texture, and the situation they oc- cupy, they appear to be solely destined by nature to serve as a defence to the vascular sole, as the frog particularly acts as a cushion to the tendo achillis — all being disposed to obviate shock on paved roads, or injury from a stone, splinter, etc. ' It is necessary to be convinced of another fact : this is, that it is rare that a horse goes at his ease, and is not promptly fatigued, if the frog does not touch the ground. As it is the only point of support, if you raise it from the ground by paring it, there arises an inordinate extension of the tendon, caused by the pushing of the coronary 488 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. against the navicular bone, as has been mentioned above, and which, being repeated at every step the animal takes, fatigues it, and induces inflammation. From thence often arises the distention of the sheaths of tendons {molettes — vulgo, " windgalls "), engorgements and swelling of the tendons, etc., that are observed after long or rapid journeys. These accidents arise less from the length of the journey, as has been currently believed, than from the false practice of paring the sole. ' I am astonished that this method of shoeing has not been employed long ago, and I have much trouble in persuading myself that I am the inventor. I am more inclined to believe that it is only a copy of that which has been practised by the first artist who thought about shoeing horses. ' If my suspicions are correct, the oblivion into which it has fallen proves nothing against its perfection, because the good as well as the bad are alike liable to be forgotten. The multitude, more credulous than enlightened, are easily persuaded ; hence the long thick shoes, those with calkins, then with thick heels, and afterwards the thin. There is every reason to believe that if the poor animals for whom all this has been done could be allowed to speak as they must think, nothing of the kind would have taken place, and they would have preferred their ancient arma- ture, which, having only been designed to preserve the crust, had certainly none of the inconveniences of that employed now-a-days.' Lafosse's experience of this admirable mode of pro- tecting, while preserving, the foot, was derived from a trial of its advantages on more than 1800 horses; and his LA FOSSES EXPERIFNCE. 489 success was most astonishing, though no more than might, on reflection, be anticipated. 'These short shoes, thin at the heels, have caused the horses to walk on their frogs, which are their points of support, and those which were lame at the heels are sound again ; those also whose inside quarters were contracted, bent over, and split (sandcrack), have been cured. It has been the same with horses whose quarters and heels have been contracted [encastele) : these have been widened, and have assumed a proper shape. The same may be said of those whose soles were convex {conible), and which went lame with long shoes. My method has also preserved those horses which had a tendency to thrush {vulgo, " fie ") and canker of the frog {crapaud). ' If the horse be shod with calkins, there is a great space between the frog and the ground ; the weight of the body comes on the calkins ; the frog, which is in the air, cedes to the weight ; the tendon is elongated ; and if the horse makes a violent and sudden movement, the rupture of that organ is almost inevitable, because the frog cannot reach the ground to support it in the very place it ought to ; and if the tendon does not break, the horse is lame for a long time from the great extension of the fibres, some of which may have been ruptured If the horse be shod without heels to his shoes (epoiiges), the frog, which carries all the weight of the horse's body, yields at each step, and returns again to its original form. The tendon is never in a state of distraction ; its fibres are no longer susceptible of violent distension during a sudden move- ment. I will go so far as to assert, that rupture of the tendon will never occur on a flat pavement ; if it does, it 490 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. will be in the space between two paving-stones. Two things clearly follow from what I have said — that it may happen that the tendon achillis sustains all the different degrees of violence that can be imagined, from total rup- ture to the smallest abrasion of its fibres, which will cause the horse to go lame ; and it is on the frog alone that all these different degrees depend, as has been demonstrated more particularly in the history of fracture of the navicu- lar bone and the anatomy of the foot.' After enumerating all the objections urged against his rational method of shoeing, and replying to them, he concludes : ' My new shoeing, I repeat, has nothing to oppose it but prejudice; anatomy, which has made known to me the structure of the foot, has demonstrated all its advantages, and experience has fully confirmed them.' I regret extremely that our limits forbid my trans- lating at greater length from this splendid monograph ; but I hope that I have been able to some extent to show that Lafosse's ideas on shoeing were founded on sound anatomical and physiological principles, the result of close observation and experience. And yet they appear to have made but little progress in the face of the oppo- sition offered by ignorant grooms and farriers, who were incompetent to understand anything but the mere every- day routine of the rapidly degenerating art ; and the pre- judice of those amateur horsemen who, though the last perhaps to take upon trust statements relative to other matters, would yet believe everything told them by these horse attendants and shoers. The farriers of Paris, indeed, unanimously protested against the innovation two years BOURGELAT ON SHOEING. 491 after Lafosse had published his treatise, and their protest appears to have carried the mind of the crowd/ Bourgelat/ the illustrious founder of those French veteri- nary schools, which have done that country such honour and rendered her agriculture such great service, introduced another system of farriery, which has prevailed more or less in France until the present time. ' Shoeing,' says this professor, ' is a methodical action of the hand on the feet of animals, on which it is practicable and necessary. By it the foot of the horse, principally, ought to be main- tained in the condition in which it is found if its con- formation is good and regular, and its defects should be repaired by shoeing if it is found vicious and deformed. By shoeing, also, it is often possible to remedy the inevit- able consequences of disproportions between various parts of the body, or at least to modify their effects to obviate those which result from defectiveness in the direc- tion of the limbs to facilitate, to a certain degree, freedom and regularity in the execution of movements and to prevent those false positions of the limbs to which certain habits appear to dispose them.' The nails were to be regularly disposed between the toe and the heel, and the shoe bent up or adjusted in such a way ' Reponse a la Nouvelle Pratique de Ferrer du Sieur Lafosse. Par les Maitres Marechaux de Paris. Paris, 1758. " Essai Tlieorique et Pratique sur la Ferrure. Paris, 1771, 1804. There were also published in France about this period : — Ronden. Observations sur des Articles Concernant la Marecha- lerie. Paris, i']S9- Hhissant. Medecine des Chevaux. Paris, 1763. Weyrother. Le Parfait Ecuyer Militaire de Campagne. Paris, 1768. Druts. L'Anti-Marcchal. Liege, 1773. Chahert. Ferrure des Chevaux. Paris, 1782. 492 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. that, seen in profile, it looked like a cradle, and would appear to afford anything but a solid or easy footing. The total length of the ordinary fore-shoe was to be four times the length of the toe between the two first holes and the posterior or inner border. 'The distance of the ex- ternal border from the one and other branch, this measure being taken between the two last or heel-nails, should be three and a half times this length, one-half of which will give the proper width of the heels to their very ex- tremities. With regard to the adjusture, the toe should be curved up {en bateau) from the second nails from the heel to twice the thickness of the shoe, reckoning from the ground to the upper edge of the shoe at this part ; it is necessary also that from this situation the extremities should rise up towards the heels to one-half its real thick- ness, and from thence the convexity should be one and a half times its thickness ' (fig. 1 86). This mode of shoe- ing was adapted to the aplomb and the movements of the limbs, Bourgelat thought ; and his reasoning on this shows that at least he had carefully studied the mechan- ical problems of pro- gression. There was nothing in the way of novelty, however, in the curv- ature of the shoe; we have shown in figures ^6, i,"], and 66, that ancient specimens found in Belgium and Ger- BOURGELATS MAXIMS. 493 many were so adjusted, and to about the same degree. Some of Bourgelat's maxims on shoeing were very good, especially the second, in which he particularly insists on abstaining from opening up the heels. ' The second maxim in good shoeing is never to open the horse s heels ; this is the greatest abuse, and ruins the majority of feet.' ' Opening the heels ' is when the farrier, in paring the foot, cuts the heel close to the frog, carrying the opening to within a finger's breadth of the coronet, so as to separate the quarters from the heel, and by this means the foot is weakened, and made to contract. That which is called opening a heel is in reality contracting it, for the round- ness or circumference of the hoof being cut in this ' opening,' there is nothing left to sustain the heels ; there- fore it inevitably happens, if there is any weakness in the foot, that it contracts. If the farriers were careful of their reputation and mindful of their duty, they would make this maxim one of the principal points in their statutes.' Any one who has had much to do with horses, or visited a shoeing forge, will know that it is customary to adjust or try on the new shoe while it is in a hot state, so as to obtain for it a more solid and secure bearing on the hoof, and to fit it better. Before the 1 8th century, it is probable that the hoof-armature was usually adjusted in a cold state, a practice which has many disadvantages. Caesar Fiaschi seems to corroborate this, when he says of the shoeing of his day : ' Je ne vois d' autre remede, eu egard au peu de solidite de cette ferrure, que de savoir soi-meme brocher les clous ou de se faire suivre par un marechal.' He nevertheless speaks of fitting the shoe while it was hot. At any rate, it is not until 1736 that we find the first men- 494 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. tion of th.Qferrure a chaud, combined with burning the hoofs in order to rob them more easily of their horn. Lagueriniere' speaks of the farriers burning the horny sole, to make it the more easilij pared, and the dangers of this practice. ' On doit bien se donner garde de soufFrir qu'on brule les pieds aiix chevaux avec un fer chaud, comme font la plupart des marechaux, afin qu'ils soient plus aises a parer.' Then he speaks of the clips of the shoe only being made hot to fit it to the foot of carriage horses : ' Mais, comme pour les chevaux de carrosse on est oblige de mettre un pinqon a la pince du fer, dans cette occasion on ne peut se dispenser de faire chauffer ce pinqon, afin qu'il puisse s'enfoncer dans la corne ; mais tout le teste du fer doit etre froid.' And Lafosse, in 1756, as we have seen, speaks of the sole chaiiffee and the sole brulee ; so that in this interval the farriers had resorted to the expedient of heating all the sole, in order to make it more easily yield to the paring-knife, though it is recommended that the shoe should be fitted while in a hot state to the hoof. In Lagueriniere, we find the first mention of clips being used to aid in retaining the shoes. In all the ancient specimens I have examined, nothing of the kind is to be found ; though frequently the toe of the shoe is slightly curved upwards, perhaps to serve as a clip, and a nail is sometimes driven into the centre of the toe, as in the Hod Hill specimen, with the same object. Lafosse " the younger repeats, in a great measure, the recommendations of his father, and appears to have tested the merits of his method ; so that it is scarcely necessary to ' Traite sur I'Ecole de Cavalerie. Paris, 1733. " Cours d'Hippiatrique. 3rd edition. Paris, 1772. LA FOSSE THE YOUNGER. 495 do more than refer to his half-circle shoeing, which was intended, like that of his parent, to prevent horses from slipping on the stones : ' Half-circle shoeing for Carriage Horses. As the preceding method of shoeing would not prevent the horse from slipping when he first places his foot on slippery ground, seeing that the toe comes down before the other parts, and that is entirely covered with iron, we use a half- circle shoe. This ought to be on the sides from the nail- holes more exact than the foot, and put on in such a manner that the whole of the crust projects beyond one- half of its thickness around its circumference. ' After reasonably shortening the foot with the corner of the boutoir, a groove is made within the wall adjoining the horny sole ; into this channel the hot shoe is fitted. It is afterwards attached with small nails, whose heads are to be half buried in the holes, and the sharp margin of the crust is to be rasped away, to prevent chipping of the horn. With this shoeing, the horse goes on the whole of the crust, either in ascending or descending. ' ^ third kind of half-circle shoeing Jor Saddle Horses. The half-circle or shoe ought to be from two to three lines in width, and one and a half in thickness. It ought to have 10 holes equally distributed and counter-pierced on the same side ; consequently, the nails should be very small. It is placed in the same manner as the preceding, from which it only differs in width and in having one hole more. A horse shod in this manner is lighter ; his move- ments are more elastic, firmer on a dry slippery pavement, and are more agreeable to the rider.' In England, a treatise on the anatomy and diseases of 496 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. the horse's foot, exhibiting some improvement in the anatomical details at least, was published by Jeremiah Bridges.' After enumerating the various parts of the foot and their characteristics, as they were known in his day, he proceeds to specify the best kinds of hoofs, and in doing so casually informs us, that the horses bred in Derbyshire, the mountainous parts of England and Wales, as well as in the Highlands of Scotland, have good feet ; while those reared on low marshy ground, such as the fens of Lincolnshire, have commonly flat and soft feet, arising from the moist soil, which relaxes their texture. 'The best method to keep the foot sound is good shoeing ; liberty, sometimes, in pasture ; or proper exer- cise. Standing long in stables contracts the feet.' 'The usefulness of a horse's shoes is too obvious to want many words to explain ; they are a guard to the foot.' Among the newer inventions yet spoken of, he enumerates the ' screw shoe.' 'The design of this shoe is to relieve and help nature, by extending the hoof and heels when drawn in or contracted, to remove the causes which obstruct a free and regular circulation, by restoring the parts affected to their proper size and position. This it performs by means of two ridges fixed on the inside of the shoe to- wards the back part ; these pressing gradually and equally on the inside of the hoof, the contracted horny parts are mastered, and give way to the operation of the screw, which opens the heels. This may be forwarded in des- perate cases, when the hoof is quite contracted, and the ' No Foot, No Horse ; an Essay on the Anatomy of the Foot of that Noble and Useful Animal — a Horse. By J. Bridges, Farrier and Anatomist. London, 1751. JEREMIAH BRIDGES. OSMER. 497 horse a cripple, by making five cuts or scissures on the outside of the hoof to the quick. In some cases, when the heels only are contracted, two are sufficient, but in many the shoe alone will answer the end. To remedy this disorder in the foot, proceeding from contracted hoofs and heels drawn in, where the complaint is slight, a shoe may be made for the horse to work in, with a feather (flange or clip) on the under side, as occasion may require, which gradually pressing on the inside of the heel, the weight of the horse as he treads forces the hoof outwards. If both heels be drawn or wired in, a feather must be made accordingly on each side.' We have here Carlo Ruini's shoe. This treatise, from the enumeration of the maladies contained in it, plainly shows what an amount of torture must have been suffered by the unfortunate horses of the last century. The fashion of excessive paring of the hoofs, heavy shoes, and faulty nailing, is strongly commented upon by Mr Bridges. The use of the ' but- teris' and 'drawing knives' for removing the hoof and ' making the foot fit to the shoe, instead of the shoe to the foot,' is particularly reprobated. In 1723, a set of new shoes cost two shillings.' A century after Blundevil, and nearly contemporary with Lafosse, whom he carefully studies and to some extent copies, comes W. Osmer.^ In several respects his work is much superior to that of Blundevil, and we have abundant evidence in it to prove that scientific shoeing, founded on a study of the anatomy and physiology of ' Notes and Queries, vol. ii. p. 186. " A Treatise on the Diseases and Lameness of Horses. 3rd edition. London, 1766. 32 4y8 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. the horse's foot, was making progress. Though Osmer's observations are mainly based on the teachings of Lafosse, yet he does not blindly follow that celebrity, but having carefully tested the mode of shoeing advocated in the ' Nouvelle Pratique,' points out its defects in a very fair and reasonable manner. He is the first writer on this subject who gives us a good idea of the way in which the art was practised in England ; and in doing this, he is par- ticularly severe with those artisans whom Hogarth, in his picture of the ' Enraged Musician,' has delineated as wearing a cross-belt of bright blue decorated with golden horse-shoes, the badge of the peripatetic farrier. ' If you pretend to have your horse shod according to your own mind, it is a general saying amongst these men that they do not want to be taught ; which is as much as to say, in other words, there is nothing known in their art, or ever will be, but what they already are acquainted with. . . . If you ask one of these artists his reason for acting in this or that particular manner, or should inquire of him the use of any part assigned to some particular end, he can give no answer, nor even pretends to have any knowledge thereof, but is guided by custom alone.' After remarking on the necessity for shoeing in some countries and not in others, and the probable simplicity of the earlier attempts to defend the hoofs, he says, ' in process of time, the fertility of invention, and the vanity of mankind, have produced variety of methods, almost all of which are productive of lameness ; and I am thoroughly convinced, from observation and experience, that 19 lame horses of every 20 in this kingdom, are lame of the artist, which is owing to the form of the shoe, his THE 'NAVICULAR DISEASE: 499 ignorance of the design of nature, and maltreatment of the foot, every part of which is made for some purpose or other — though he does not happen to know it. ... I suppose it will be universally assented to, that whatever method of shoeing approaches nearest to the law of nature, such is likely to be the most perfect method.' Agreeing perfectly with Lafosse as to the grave injury inflicted on the feet by paring the soles and frog, and opening the heels, he is careful in explaining the functions of these parts. ' The frog, together with the bars, occu- pying the hinder part of the foot, is designed by nature to distend and keep it open, which, when cut away, suffer the heels, the quarters, and the coronary ring to become contracted, whereby another lameness is produced, which shall be treated in its proper place.' This lameness is the ' navicular disease,' supposed to be first described by Mr Turner of London some thirty years ago. Osmer distinctly mentions it : 'I have seen many instances of sudden lameness brought on horses in hunt- ing and in racing, by a false step, which have continued lame their whole life-time ; and upon examination, I have found the ligaments of the nut-bone {os naviculare) ren- dered useless for want of timely assistance and knowledge of the cause ; from hence the cartilages of the same have been sometimes ossified, and the bones of the foot have been sometimes wasted, and sometimes enlarged, it being no uncommon thing to meet a horse whose feet are not fellows, the natural form of the injured foot being gener- ally altered hereby ; and nothing can contribute more to such an accident than the unequal pressure of the foot in our modern concave shoe.' Elsewhere he speaks of the 0.2 * ^oo HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. erosion of the cartilage of the navicular bone, and the symptoms indicative of this foot disease. And long before this period, contracted hoofs arising from undue paring by the marechal, and lameness resulting therefrom, were, as we have seen, often mentioned. But the unknown author of the ' Grand Marechal, Expert et Fran^ais,' published at Toulouse in 1701, not only gives us this information,, but actually describes the neurotomy operation for the relief of this lameness, the discovery of which in 1 8 16, by Professor Sewell, of London, has almost immortalized his name. Here is the modus operandi : ' Vous coucherez le cheval, ensuite lui ouvrirez la partie ou Ton barre la veine, et en tirerez le nerf avec la petite corne ; apres quoi vous le graisserez-avec du populleum, et il guerira.' Osmer continues his discourse on the treatment of the horse's hoof in shoeing. ' The spongy, skin-like substance (of the frog) is not to be cut away till it becomes ragged, because it is the expansion of the skin round the heel, its use being to unite more firmly the foot and its contents, and to keep the cellular part of the heel from growing rigid ; it also surrounds - the coronary ring, and may be* observed to peel and dry away as it descends on the hoof.' This skin-like substance is the coronary frogband Bracy Clark claims the credit of being the first to notice, in 1 809. After laying it down as a rule that the crust or wall should only be removed in a degree proportionate to the growth, he goes on to say : 'In all broad fleshy feet, the crust is thin, and should therefore suffer the least possible loss. On such feet the rasp alone is generally sufficient to make the bottom plain, and produce a sound founda- tion, ivithout the use of the desperate .buttress (the French OSMEirS DIRECTIONS FOR SHOEING. 501 boutoir,\hQ butter oiVAwndtvW). . . . The superficies of the foot round the outside now made plain and smooth, the shoe is to be made quite Jiat, of an equal thickness all round the outside, and open and most narrow back- - wards, at the extremities of the heels, for the generality of horses, — those whose frogs are diseased, either from natural or incidental causes, require the shoe to be wider backwards ; and to prevent this flat shoe from pressing on the sole of the horse, the outer part thereof is to be made thickest, and the inside gradually thinner. In such a shoe the frog is admitted to touch the ground, the ne- cessity of which has been already shown ; add to this, the horse stands more firmly on the ground, having the same points of support as in a natural state. Here now is a plain, easy method, agreeable to common sense and reason, conformable to the anatomical structure of the parts, "and therefore to the design of nature — a method so plain that one would think nobody could ever swerve from it, or commit any mistake in an art where nothing is required but to make smooth the surface of the foot, to know what loss of crust each kind of foot will bear with ad- vantage to itself, and to nail thereon a piece of iron, adapted to the natural tread of the horse; the design, good, or use of the iron, being only to defend the crust from breaking, the sole wanting no defence, if never^ pared. .... The modern artist uses little difference in the treat- ment of any kind of foot ; but with a strong arm and a sharp weapon carries all before him, and will take more from a weak-footed horse at one paring, than nature can furnish again in some months, whereby such are rendered lame. If a strong-footed horse, with narrow and con- 502 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. tracted heels, be brought before him, such meets with treatment yet more severe ; the bar is scooped out, the frog trimmed, and the sole drawn as thin as possible, even to the quick, under pretence of giving him ease ; because, he says, he is hot-footed, or foundered. By which treat- ment, the horse is rendered more lame than he was before.' This causes contraction of the hoof and compression of the parts within ; and, besides, a shoe was applied thin on the outer circumference and thick on the inner, which, being concave to the foot and convex to the ground, afforded but few points of support, removed the frog from pressure, and caused great mischief. I possess some speci- mens of this terrible instrument of last-century barbarism. It almost makes one shudder to think of the fearful agony the poor horses must have suffered, when compelled to wear and work with it. Osmer continues: 'Let the shoe on every horse stand wider at the points of the heels than the foot itself; other- wise, as the foot grows in length, the heel of the shoe in a short time gets within the heel of the horse ; which pres- sure often breaks the crust, produces a temporary lame- ness, perhaps a corn. Let every kind of foot be kept as short at the toe as possible (so as not to affect the quick), for by a long toe, the foot becomes thin and weak, the heels low, and the flexor tendons of the leg are strained ; the shortness of the toe helps also to widen the narrow heels. In all thin, weak-footed horses the rasp should be laid on the toe in such a manner as to render it as thick as may be ; by which means the whole foot becomes gradually thicker, higher, and stronger. In all feet whose texture is very strong, the rasp may be laid obliquely on OSMERS DIRECTIONS FOR SHOEING. 503 the fore part of the foot, towards the toe, and the toe itself thinned, whereby the compression on the parts is rendered somewhat less, by diminishing the strength of the hoof or crust. ' But this rasp is to be used with discretion, lest the crust being too thin, and not able to support the weight of the horse, a sandcrack ensue ; which frequently hap- pens from too free or unskilful use of this tool, and from the natural rigid texture of the coronet. The heel of the shoe, on all strong and narrow-heeled horses, should be made strait at the extreme points ; the form of the shoe in some measure helping to distend the heel of the horse. For the same reason, the shoe on no horse should be continued farther than the point of the heel. It has been already said that neither frog nor sole should ever be pared ; nevertheless, it must be understood that it is impossible to pare the crust without taking away some of the adjacent sole, and it is also requisite, in order to obtain a smooth and even surface, so far as the breadth of the shoe reaches, and no farther. The frog also will become ragged, and loose pieces will occasionally separate from the body thereof, perhaps in one foot, and not in the other. When this happens, it should be cut away with a knife, to pre- vent the gravel lodging therein. But if it be left to the artist to do, he will be sure to take away more of it at one time than will grow again in many weeks.' He advocates calkins, or ' corking ' the shoes, in winter only, when the ground is soft and slippery ; and then says of his recommendations : ' This method of treating the foot, and such a kind of shoe as has been described, I have used many years ; and, to the best of my remembrance. 504 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. have not had a horse lame since, except when pricked by the artist ; and it is a matter of the greatest astonisiiment to me, how any other form of a shoe could ever come into general use This flat shoe is not to be made with a smooth surface, after the French manner, but chan- nelled round, or iv/iat is called fullered, after the Knglish manner ;'' by which the horse is better prevented from sliding about, and the heads of the nails are less liable to be broken off'; both which inconveniences attend the shoe whose surface is smooth.' The best mode of preventing horses from ' cutting ' is next dealt with ; and in treating of the value of turning horses out to grass without shoes, we learn that Osmer was perfectly cognizant of the expansive properties of the horse's foot, about which so much discussion and dis- covery has been made in this century, though his views are rational and perfectly correct ; which is more than can be said for those of the majority of succeeding theorists. He admits the value of Lafosse's ' lunette ' or ' crescent ' shoes, in certain cases, chiefly in those where the hoofs are contracted : ' In such a shoe the heel of the horse rests in some measure upon the ground, receives some share of weight, and is, by means of such weight and pressure, kept open and expanded ; by which expansion of the heels the compression on the interior parts of narrow-footed horses is removed, and he that was before lame is, by degrees, as the foot spreads, rendered sound — if there be no disease in the interior parts of the foot. Again, where horses have ' Osmer is the first writer I can discover in England who speaks of this 'fullering' as English. The reader will remember it as Burgundian, or ratlier German, and prevalent in the fifth century. OSMERS REMARKS ON SHOEING. S05 feet inclined to the other extreme, whose heels are weak and low, if the shoe be set somewhat short at the points of the heel, such will, by degrees, improve and grow higher. Yet an English farrier can never be prevailed on to be- lieve that weak low heels will become stronger by leaving them exposed to hard objects. But it must be expected that horses with weak or diseased feet, who have been ac- customed to go in long, broad shoes, will at first go very lame in shoes which are either short or narrow. And many that are lame of the shoer with various disorders in their feet, would be cured by Lafosse's shoes, if the frog, sole, and bars were not pared out. But ivhen those things which are designed by the Divine artist as a natural de- fence to the interior part, are cut away by the superior wisdom of our earthly artists, why then, undoubtedly. La- fosse's shoes will not do, for the horse requires some artificial defence to supply the loss of the natural one. Now it is the weight, unequal pressure, form and action of the iron made use of to protect the foot when it is thus horribly abridged by our. artists, that is productive of almost all the evils incident to horses' feet.' These words of Mr Osmer are as true and applicable at the present day as they were more than a century ago. This writer also speaks of the drawing-knife — a weapon quite as, if not more, destructive fig. 1S7 fig. iS8 than the boutoir, both of which are here represented (figs. 187, 188). 5o6 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. Mr J. Clark's excellent treatise/ dedicated to the Earl of Pembroke, and published twenty years later, is also a pro- test against the destructive and cruel mode of managing horses' feet, and the vicious character of the shoes applied to them. The science of veterinary medicine was rapidly advancing ; its practitioners were, many of them, men of education and observation, and the gap between the shoer, — the man of routine, and the man of science, was gradu- ally widening ; so that farriery, properly so called, soon lagged behind ; and all the teaching of such men as Blun- devil, Osmer, Clark, and others, could not move it from its degraded state. Much of this was due, however, to the pernicious influence of ignorant grooms and others, who, trusted implicitly in this matter by their employers, prejudiced them against the introduction of improve- ments, the aim of which they had not sufficient intelligence to understand. ' However necessary it has been found to fix iron shoes upon the hoofs of horses, it is certainly con- trary to the original design of shoeing them, first to destroy their hoofs by paring, &c., and afterwards to put on the foot a broad strong shoe to protect what remains, or rather to supply the defect or want of that substance which has been taken away. Yet, however absurd this manner of treating the feet of horses may appear, it is well known that it has been carried to a very great length, and still continues to be thought absolutely necessary. The de- struction of their hoofs, and many other bad consequences arising from it, are every day but too apparent.' So says Mr Clark. The Earl of Pembroke, in his work on ' Observations on the Shoeing of Horses. By J. Clark, Farrier to His Majesty for Scotland. 3rd edition. Edinburgh, 1782. THE EARL OF PEMBROKE. ,507 Horsemanship, published some years previously, writes : ' Physic and a butteris, in well-informed hands, would not be fatal ; but in the manner we are now provided with farriers, they must be quite banished. Whoever at pre- sent lets his farrier, groom, or coachman, in consideration of his having swept dung out of the stables for a greater or less number of years, ever even mention anything more than water-gruel, a clyster, or a little bleeding, and that, too, very seldom ; or pretend to talk of the nature of feet, of the seat of lamenesses, sicknesses, or their cures, may be certain to find himself very shortly quite on foot, and fondly arms an absurd and inveterate enemy against his own interest. It is incredible what tricking knaves most stable-people are, and what daring attempts they will make to gain an ascendant over their masters, in order to have their own foolish projects complied with. In shoeing, for example, I have more than once known that, for the sake of establishing their own ridiculous and pernicious system, when their masters have differed from it, they have, on purpose, lamed horses, and imputed the fault to the shoes, after having in vain tried, by every sort of invention and lies, to discredit the use of them. How can the method of such people be commendable, whose arguments, as well as practice, are void of common sense ? If your horse's foot be bad and brittle, they advise you to cover it with a very heavy shoe ; the consequence of which proceeding is evident : for how should the foot, which before could scarce carry itself, be able afterwards to carry such an additional weight, which is stuck on, moreover, with a multitude of nails, the holes of which tear and weaken the hoof ? The only system all these simpletons seem to agree in, is to shoe 5o8 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. in general with excessive heavy and clumsy, ill-shaped shoes, and very many nails, to the total destruction of the foot. The cramps (French crampon, Anglice calkin) they annex tend to destroy the bullet (fetlock — Fr. boiilet),^n(\ the shoes, made in the shape of a walnut-shell, prevent the horse s walking upon the firm basis which God has given him for that end, and thereby oblige him to stumble and fall. They totally pare away, also, and lay bare the inside of the animal's foot with their detestable butteris, and afterwards put on very long shoes, whereby the foot is hindered from having any pressure at all upon the heels, which pressure might still perchance, notwithstanding their dreadful cutting, keep the heels properly open, and the foot in good order.' Mr Clark informs us that, in his day, horses in the North and West parts of Scotland, and in Wales, went always without shoes, and ' performed all manner of work without any detriment to their hoofs, which, from being accustomed to go bare, and rubbing or touching fre- quently against hard bodies, like the hands of a labouring man, they acquire a callousness and obduracy which greatly adds to their firmness.' In Prussia, too, it was only customary t@ shoe them on the fore-feet. ' In Ger- many they use thick, heavy, strong shoes, with three cramps or caukers, one on each heel and one on the toe of the shoe.' In describing the anatomy of the foot, he explains that ' in the middle of the frog is a longitudinal cleft or opening, hj which the heels have a small degree of con- traction and expansion at every tread ivhich the horse makes upon the ground;' and, speaking of the hoof, he CLARK'S TREATISE. 509 remarks tliat the sole and frog, by being exposed to wear, acquire great firmness and tenacity, which enables them to resist external injuries. 'But no apology whatever can vindicate that pernicious practice of cutting and paring their hoofs to that excess which is but too frequently done every time a horse is shoed, and, in order to repair the injury done to the foot, fix on it a strong, broad-brimmed shoe, from the very construction of which, together with the loss of its natural defence, horses, too frequently, are rendered totally useless.' ' In preparing the foot for the shoe, the frog, the sole, and the bars or binders, are pared so much that the blood frequently appears. The shoe by its form, being thick on the inside of the rim and thin upon the outside, must of consequence be made concave or hollow on that side which is placed immediately next the foot, in order to prevent its resting on the sole. The shoes are generally of an immoderate weight and length, and every means is used to prevent the frog from resting upon the ground by making the shoe-heels thick, broad, and strong, or raising cramps or caukers on them. From this form of the shoe, and from this method of treating the hoof, the frog is raised to a considerable height above the ground, the heels are deprived of that substance which was provided by nature to keep the crust extended at a proper wideness, and the foot is fixed as it were in a mould.' ' If we attend further to the convex surface of this shoe, and the convexity of the pavement upon which horses walk, it will then be evident that it is impossible for them to keep their feet from slipping, especially upon declivities of streets. It is also a common practice, espe- cially in this place, to turn up the heels of the shoes into 5IO HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. J what is called cramps or cankers, by which means the weight of the horse is confined to a very narrow surface — the inner round edge of the shoe-rim, and the points or caukers of each heel ; the consequence is, that it throws the weight of the body forward upon the toes, and is apt to make the horse slip and stumble.' The shoes in use appear to have been possessed of every bad quality, and must have inflicted fearful torture upon the unlucky ani- mals compelled to wear them, particularly after the out- rageous manner in which their hoofs were pared. ' Far- riers, in general, are too desirous to excel one another in making what is termed fine neat work ; and that is no other than paring the sole till it yields easily under the pressure of the thumb ; and to give the frog a fine shape, it is frequently pared till the blood appears, to prevent the effusion of which the actual cautery is sometimes applied. It is to be observed, that, when the sole is so much pared, it dries and hardens in proportion as it is thinned ; and the strong horny substance of the crust, overcoming the resistance from the sole, is thereby contracted. This will produce lameness, the real cause of which is overlooked or little attended to. Among the many disadvantages that attend the common shoes, one is, their being more liable to be pulled off, from their great weight, length, &c., especially in deep ground, in riding fast, or when the toe of the hinder foot strikes against the heel of the fore-shoe. To prevent this inconvenience, sixteen or eighteen nails are frequently made use of, which destroy and weaken the crust by their being placed too near one another ; and it is not uncommon, when a shoe nailed in this manner is pulled off, that the crust on the outside of the nails breaks CLARK ON DEFECTIVE SHOES. 511 away with it. If this should happen a few days after the foot has been so finely pared (which is not unusual), or upon a journey, and at a distance from any place where a shoe may be immediately procured, the horse instantly becomes lame, from the thinness of the sole and weakness of the crust, and is hardly able to support the weight of his own body, much less that of his rider.' This able writer gives two drawings of one of these terrible instruments of torture — the foot and ground sur- face of an ordinary shoe (figs. 189, 190). fig. 1S9 fig. 190 The shoe recommended to be worn by Mr Clark is that described by Osmer, though he says it was employed by him many years before that veterinarian's treatise was published. ' In shoeing a horse we should in this, as in every other case, study to follow nature ; and certainly that shoe which is made of such a form as to resemble as near as possible the natural tread and shape of the foot, must be preferable to any other In order that we may imitate the natural tread of the foot, the shoe must be made flat, if the height of the sole does not forbid it ; it must be of an equal thickness all around the outside of the rim (for a draught-horse about half an inch thick, and less in proportion for a saddle-horse); and on that 512 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. part of it which is to be placed immediately next the foot, a narrow rim or margin is to be formed, not exceeding the breadth of the crust upon which it is to rest, with the nail-holes placed exactly in the middle ; and, from this narrow rim, the shoe is to be made gradually thinner towards its inner edge (figs. 191, 192). The breadth of fig- IQI fig. 192 the shoe is to be regulated by the size of the foot and the work to which the horse is accustomed; but, in general, it should be made rather broad at the toe, and narrow towards the extremity of each heel, in order to let the frog rest with freedom upon the ground. The shoe being thus formed and shaped like the foot, the surface of the crust is to be made smooth, and the shoe fixed on with eight, or at most ten, nails, the heads of which should be sunk into the holes, so as to be equal with the surface of the shoe. The sole, frog, and bars should never be pared.' This, it will be at once perceived, is nothing more or less than the modern seated-shoe which Mr Clark recom- mends ; but he appears to have met the usual amount of opposition. ' So much are farriers, grooms, etc., pre- judiced in favour of the common method of shoeing and paring out the feet, that it is with difficulty they can even be prevailed upon to make a proper trial of it. They ADVANTAGES OF THE SEATED SHOE. 513 cannot be satisfied unless the frog be finely shaped, the sole pared, the bars cut out, in order to make the heels appear wide. This practice gives them a show of wide- ness for the time; yet that, together with the concave form of the shoe, forwards the contraction of the heels, which, when confirmed, renders the animal lame for life. In this flat form of shoe its thickest part is upon the out- side of the rim, where it is most exposed to be worn ; and being made gradually thinner towards its inner edge, it is therefore much lighter than the common concave shoe, yet it will last equally as long, and with more advantage to the hoof; and as the frog and heel is allowed to rest upon the ground, the foot enjoys the same points of sup])ort as in its natural state. It must therefore be much easier for the horse in his way of going, and be a means of making him surer-footed. It is likewise evident that from this shoe the hoof cannot acquire any bad form, when at the same time it receives every advantage that possibly could be expected from shoeing. In this respect it may very properly be said that we make the shoe to the foot, and not the foot to the shoe, as is but too much the case in the concave shoes, where the foot very much resembles that of a cat's fixed in a walnut-shell.' ' I would observe, upon the whole, that the less substance we take away from the natural defence of the foot, except on particular occasions which may require it, the less artificial defence will be necessary : the flatter we make the shoe we give the horse the more points of support, and imitate the natural tread of the foot ; therefore the nearer we fol- low these simple rules, the nearer we approach to perfec- tion in this art.' 33 514 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSESHOEING. To Osmer and Clark, therefore, belongs the merit of having introduced this great innovation in the shape of the shoe, and persistently pointed out the injury caused by excessive paring and unscientific shoeing. To Mr Clark is most certainly due the credit of having un- mistakably asserted that the foot of the horse expands and contracts in a lateral direction during progression. In nearly every treatise published on the horse's foot, or on shoeing, particularly on the continent, during the last 20 years, this notion has been erroneously ascribed to Bracy Clark, who is always referred to as its originator. 5^5 CHAPTER XII. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE LONDON VETERINARY SCHOOL. M. ST BEL. MOORCROFT. THE aUALITIES OF A GOOD SHOE. COLEMAN. ERRORS IN PHYSIOLOGY. CONCLUSIONS OF COLEMAN AS TO SHOEING. IMPRACTICABLE SHOEING. BRACY CLARK. EXAGGER- ATED NOTIONS AND RE-DISCOVERIES. FUTILE EXPERIMENTS. VARIOUS WRITERS. MR GOODWIn's METHOD. ITS RECOMMEND- ATIONS AND APPROPRIATENESS. ITS COMPOSITE CHARACTER. PREPARATION OF THE HOOF AND APPLICATION OF THE SHOE. ERRORS IN THIS METHOD. THE BAR AND JOINTED SHOE. DISCOURAGEMENT OF VETERINARY SCIENCE IN BRITAIN. THE UNILATERAL SHOE. YOUATT AND HIS TEACHING. MILES' METHOD OF SHOEING. ITS FALLACIOUSNESS. HOT-FITTING. HALLEN AND FITZWYGRAM's METHOD. ITS DISADVANTAGES. MAVOr's PATENT SHOE. Towards the termination of the i8th century, a veterinary school, which might be termed private, was commenced in London, and its first teacher, M. St Bel, published a small treatise on shoeing. This, however, appears to be nothing more than a commendation of Bourgelat's method. The shoe advised to be worn, nevertheless, was concave on the ground surface, to corre- spond to, or resemble, the concavity of the sole, and plane towards the hoof, something like the hunting-shoe of the present time. It was constantly used when the College was first established. More important was the little work 3,3* 5i6 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. by William Moorcroft/ assistant professor, and afterwards the daring explorer of Central Asia. After describing, like some of his later predecessors, the anatomy of the foot and the principles which ought to prevail in its de- fence, and pointing out that in proportion as a greater quantity of crust is brought to bear flat on the shoe the firmer the horse must stand ; and the less pressure that takes place between the sole and the shoe, the less chance will there be of his being lamed, he speaks of various shoes. As those intended for the fore-feet have always, and rightly, been looked upon as the most important, considering that they have to bear the principal portion of the weight, and that the fore-feet are by far the most frequently lamed, the defences for this region will only be noticed here. Moorcroft describes the narrow shoe, or plate — a flat shoe, the exact breadth of the crust, and of a moderate thickness : this was only serviceable for racing-horses and hunters. ' A flat shoe, of the exact breadth of the crust, and of a moderate thickness, would defend this part sufficiently as long as it lasted ; but as it would wear out in a few days, or ev^en in a few hours, when the friction happened to be violent, and as very frequent shoeing is expensive, as well as hurtful to the hoof itself, this kind of shoe is only fit for racing, or hunting on soft ground.'^ Then the shoe with a fiat upper surface, and broader than the crust, is figured. This he thinks ob- jectionable, as it would press on a portion of the sole and cause lameness ; so that, to avoid such a mishap, the sole is required to be pared or hollowed out, which ' Cursory Account of the Various Methods of Shoeing Horses. London, 1800. ' Op. cit., p. 6. MOORCROFVS METHOD. ci b' I Moorcroft thought very injurious. Next, the shoe in common use is noticed. This is the same as that so strongly commented upon by Osmer and Clark, with its upper surface sloping downwards from the outer to the inner edge. Its defects are indicated in a similar manner, and it is shown that a shoe ought to possess the following qualities : it ought to be so strong as to wear a reasonable time ; it ought to give to the crust all the support it can receive; it ought not to alter the natural shape of the foot ; and it ought not to press at all on the sole, or to injure any of the natural functions of the foot. The shoe best calculated to answer these purposes was that so strongly recommended by Osmer and Clark, and which Mr Moorcroft designated the ' seated shoe ; ' all the ex- periments he had instituted for a number of years led him to this conclusion. His directions as to paring the sole and frog are similar to those of Mr Clark ; though the nature and functions of the latter appear to have been imperfectly understood by him, as he complains of the frog becoming hard and losing its spongy texture when allowed to remain unpared and in contact with the ground. ' Eight nails for each shoe are found to be enough for saddle and light draught horses ; but for such as are employed in heavy draught, ten are required. A smaller number does not hold the shoe sufficiently fast ; and a greater number, by acting like so many wedges, weaken the hoof, and rather dispose the crust to break off than give additional security It may be laid down as a general rule, that the last nail should not be nearer to the heel than from two inches to an inch and a half.' 5i8 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. This new method of shoeing, so long advocated by Osmer and Clark, had gained but trifling success up to the time when Moorcroft wrote his treatise. That gentle- man, full of enthusiasm in the new-born profession, and sanguine as to the benefits to be derived from the seated- shoe, had the aid of machinery invoked to make this kind of armature more rapidly and less expensively than it could be manufactured by hand ; and this, together with his deservedly high reputation as a veterinarian, brought it into general use, and so firmly established it in public opinion, that it is still the common shoe. It has also made some progress on the continent, where it is known as the ' English Shoe.' In the opinion of Mr Moorcroft, this particular kind of defence was better adapted for ordinary wear than the semi-lunar or ' tip ' shoe of Lafosse, or even the thin-heeled shoe ; though he was a strong advocate for frog and heel pressure on the ground. About this period Professor Coleman, successor to M. St Bel, published his elaborate work' on the horse's foot and shoeing, which was dedicated to His Majesty George III. An analysis of this voluminous monograph cannot be attempted here ; suflSce it to say that, amid much error as to the physiology of the foot, and conse- quent incorrect deductions in the application of this to shoeing, there is yet much truth. Every allowance must be made in criticizing many of Coleman's notions with regard to shoeing. Though a most promising surgeon ' Observations on the Structure, Economy, and Diseases of the Foot of the Horse, and On the Principles and Practice of Shoeing. London, 1798, 1802. COLEMAN'S OPINIONS. 519 before joining the Veterinary College, his opportunities for studying comparative pathology, and especially the subject now under consideration, must have been rare. Medical men, it must be remembered, unless they study these matters as carefully as they have done those con- nected with their own profession, are apt to commit very grave mistakes, their special knowledge being, at times, more liable to mislead than to guide them. Coleman repeats the statement as to the evil influences of paring and bad shoeing ; and, owing to his exaggerated notions of the elasticity and expansive properties of the foot, adopted almost entirely Lafosse's ideas as to the manner in which it ought to be shod. These were, as we have noticed, frog and heel pressure. The conclusions at which he arrived were these : — ' I. That the natural form of the fore-feet of horses, before any art has been employed, approaches to a circle. ' 2. The internal cavity of the hoof, when circular, is completely filled by the sensible parts of the foot. '3. The hoof is composed of horny insensible fibres, that take the names of crust, sole, bars, and frog. ' 4. The crust is united with the last bone of the foot, by a number of laminated, elastic substances. ' 5. The uses of the laminas are, to support the weight of the animal, and, from their elasticity, to prevent con- cussion. ' 6. The horny sole is externally concave, internally convex, and united by its edge with the inferior part of the crust. ' 7. The uses of the horny sole are to act as a spriuo^. 520 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. by descending at the heels ;^ to preserve the sensible sole from pressure, and (with its concavity) to form a con- vexity towards the earth. ' 8. The external bars are nothing more than a con- tinuation of the crust, forming angles at the heels. ' 9. The internal bars are a continuation of the laminae of the crust, attached to the horny sole at the heels, within the hoof; and that these insensible laminae are intimately united with sensible laminated bars, connected with the sensible sole. ' 10. The use of the external bars is to preserve the heels expanded ; and the use of the internal horny bars, to prevent separation and dislocation of the horny sole from the sensible sole. '11. The external frog is convex, and of an insensible, horny, elastic nature. ' 12. The internal sensible frog is of the same form, very highly elastic, and united with two elastic cartilages. '13. Tlie frogs are not made to protect the tendon. ' 14. The use of the frog is to prevent the horse from slipping, by its convexity embracing the ground ; and from the elasticity of the sensible and horny frogs, they act as a spring to the animal, and keep expanded the heels. '15. The common practice of shoeing is, to cut the frog and totally remove the bars. ' 16. The removal of the bars and frog deprives these organs of their natural function. ' 17. The shoe commonly employed is thicker at the heel than the toe. * The italics are my own, and are merely intended to indicate in what respects Coleman probably or assuredly erred. OBJECT OF SHOEING. 521 ' 18. This shoe is convex externally, concave inter- nally, and four nails placed in each quarter of the crust. ' 19. The shoes, being nailed at the heels, confine the quarters of the crust, and produce contraction, ' 20. The frog, being raised from the ground by a thick-heeled shoe, becomes soft, and very susceptible of injury. '21. The shoe being thick at the heel only preserves the frog from pressure in the stable and on smooth sur- faces, while sharp and projecting stones are perpetually liable to strike the frog at every step. ' 22. The frog being soft becomes inflamed whenever it meets with pressure from hard bodies. '23. The concavity of the shoe within, tends to pre- vent the expansion of the quarters, and to bruise the heels of the sole. ' 24. The convexity without makes the horse very liable to slip. '25. Contracted hoofs, corns, and frequently thrushes and canker, are to be attributed to this practice. ' 26. The intention of shoeing is to preserve the hoof sound, and of the same form and structure as nature made it ; and as the common practice is altering its form, and producing disease, there can be no doubt but that the common practice of shoeing is imperfect, and requires alteration and improvement. ' 27. It is very practicable to preserve the hoof cir- cular and free from corns, contraction, thrushes, and canker. '28. To accomplish this very desirable object, it is necessary, in all cases, first to endeavour to remove a por- '12 2 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. J tion of the sole between the ivhole length of the bars cmd crust. ' 29. The sole should be made concave at the toe, with a drawing-knife, in all cases luhere the horn is sufficiently thick to admit of such removal. '30. The internal surface of the shoe may be flat whenever the whole of the sole is concave, and will admit of a picker between a flat shoe and the sole. '31. When the interior portion of the sole is thin, or fat, or convex, and cannot be made concave, the shoe at this part should be made concave. '32. As the crust, in flat feet, is always thin, the shoe at the toe should have a very S7iiall seat, only equal to the nails. '' ;^'^. As the sole at the quarters, even in flat or con- vex hoofs, luill very generally admit of removal, the quarters and heels of the shoes will be flat. ' 34. That while the quarters and heels of the shoe, on the upper surface, are flat, the concavity of the shoe at the toe has no kind of influence in contracting the heels. ^ 2>S- The external surface of the shoe should be regularly concave, to correspond to the form of the sole and crust, before the horse is shod. '' '^6. This external concavity of the shoe is well cal- culated to embrace the ground, and to prevent the horse from slipping. '37. The relative thickness of the shoe, at the toe and heel, should be particularly attended to. '38. The wear of the shoe, at the toe of the fore-feet, is generally three times greater than the consumption of iron at the heels. FORM OF SHOE. 6^3 '39. The heels of the shoe should be about one-third the substance of the toe. ' 40. This form of shoe is preferred to a high heel, as it allows the frog to perform its function, by embracing the ground, and acting as a spring, ' 41. The weight of the shoe being diminished at the heel, the labour of the muscles that bend and extend the leg is diminished. '42. Where no part of the crust can be removed from the tOe, and the horse has been in the habit of wear- ing high shoes, the heels should be made only one-tenth of an inch, every time of shoeing, thinner than the shoes removed. '43. If the frog be callous and sound, and the toe admits of being shortened, the iron may be diminished at the heels, in the same proportion as the toe is shortened. ' 44. The muscles and tendons will be exerted beyond their tone if the heels of the shoes are not gradually thinned as the horn grows, or as the toe of the crust can be removed. '45. Young horses, with perfect feet, should not have thin-heeled shoes at first, unless the crust at the toe can be removed in the same degree as the iron at the toe ex- ceeds the heels. '46. Where half an inch of horn can be taken from the toe of the crust, a shoe thin at the heel may be at once applied without any injury to the muscles and ten- dons. '47. Where the heels exceed two inches in depth, and the frogs are equally prominent, and the ground dry, a short shoe, thin at the heels, may be applied. 524 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. ' 48. The heels of this shoe should not reach the seat of corn, between the bars and crust. '49. That in warm climates, and in this country in summer, the wear of the horn exposed to the ground will not be greater than the growth from the coronet. ' 50. Where the heels are more than two inches high, and the ground wet, it is better to lower the heels by the butteris than to wear them down by friction with the ground. '51. It is not safe to employ the short shoe on wet ground, except in blood horses with very thick crusts, and then only with great attention to the consumption of horn. '52. The long thin-heeled shoe should rest on the solid junction of the bars with the crust. ^ ^'^. The nails should be carried all round the toe of the crust. '54. They should be kept as far as possible from the heels, and particularly in the inside quarter. '' S5' Where the crust is thin, the nail-holes of the new shoe should not be made opposite, but between the old nail-holes of the crust. '^ $6. The nail-hole should be made with a punch of a wedge-like form, so as to admit the whole head of the nail into the shoe. '57. The head of the nail should be conical, to cor- respond with the nail-hole. '58. The shoe and nails of a common-sized coach- horse may weigh about eighteen ounces. '59. The shoe and nails of a saddle-horse may weigh twelve ounces. THE BAR SHOE. 525 ' 60. The shoe should remain on the hoof about twenty-eight days ; but if it wears out before this period, the next shoe should be made thicker. '61. Horses employed in hunting, in frost, and in the shafts of carriages, require an artificial stop on the hind- foot, and in some situations on the fore-feet. '62. Whenever this shoe is employed, it should be turned up on the outside heel, and the horn of the same heel should be lowered. ' 6'7^. The horn on the inside heel should be preserved, and the heel of the shoe more or less thick, in proportion to the horn removed on the outside heel. ' 64. This shoe, when applied, is generally as high on the inside as on the outside heel. '65. A bar-shoe is very beneficial where the frog is hard and sound, and where the heels have been much re- moved to bring the frog in contact with pressure. '^66. The upper part of the bar should rest on the frog, and the part opposite the ground turned up in order to act as a stop. '67. When this shoe is applied the frog receives pres- sure, the heels will be expanded, and the muscles and tendons not more stretched than before the heels were lowered. ^68. This shoe may be applied for sandcracks, but no part of it should be supported by the crust opposite the crack. ' 69. Where, from bad shoeing, the bars are removed, and corns are produced, a bar-shoe may be employed to prevent pressure opposite to the seat of corn. ' 70. Where the sole is too thin at the heels to admit of 526 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. any removal luith a cb-aiving-hnife, the bar-shoe may be applied with advantage. ^71. In this case the heels of the shoe should be raised from the heels of the crust, and the bar rest on the frog. ' 72. The hoof being cut and the shoe applied, as directed, will preserve the hoof in its circular form.' Keeping the sole from pressure, and allowing the frog to bear the greater portion of the horse's weight, was the prevailing idea with Professor Coleman. The foot was distorted and mutilated to attain this object, and the most curious contrivances devised to confine the bearing solely to the toe of the foot and the frog. With regard to these principles of shoeing he was particularly dogmatic. ' There are only two principles to govern the practice of shoeing, which ybr all horses in all ages and in all countries must be invariably folloived and which are of much greater moment than the shape of the shoe itself. So long as nails and iron are employed to protect the hoof, the crust is the part that should receive the nails and the pressure of the shoe; and the sole of every horse employed for every purpose is a part that should not be in contact ivith the shoe. All other rules for the practice of shoeing are subordinate and conditional.' Artificial frogs were invented and patented to make due pressure on that part of the foot, and everything was done to cause the expansion of the heels ; and yet the sole was recklessly scooped away, while to foisten on a half-shoe, eight nails were employed (fig. 193). Though the method of shoeing with 'tips' and thin-heeled shoes had been recommended by Lafosse and others, these authorities are never once mentioned by AN ANTIQUATED INVENTION. .527 Coleman ; and at present, with those who have had better opportunities of making them- selves acquainted with the con- struction and functions of the foot^ it is recognized as a fact, that sole-pressure is almost as necessary to a healthy con- dition of the hoofs as fros:- pressure. Coleman was a stout opponent of the seated-shoe,- fig- 193 and offered the strongest arguments he could frame to make it unpopular. It may be observed, however, that he afterwards returned to the thick-heeled shoe, but added to it clips at the inner angles of the heels, intended to grasp and pull the bars outwards. This antiquated inven- tion was also patented,' and was subsequently re-invented by many anti-contractionists. It had no success with Coleman. ' This was the same kind of shoe as that proposed by Carlo Ruini, of Bologna, in 1598, for the same condition of the hoofs. After dilating the heels and strengthening the feet by allowing the horse to roam at large in a meadow, or unsoling the hoofs, that writer adds : ' Se gli mettera un ferro debole sottile, e stretto di verga; il quale sia tanto largo nelle cal- cagna, che il corno, o guscio del piedevi posi sopra 5 e habbi nella parte di dentro due oruchie eguali, ma d'ogni lato acconcie talmente, che pigliauo nella parte di dentro del corno, e guscio del piede, senza poza potere in modo alcuno offendere, e danneggiare il vivo, e I'osso del piede. Dipoi essendo per buon spatio di tempo stato a molle il piede neir acqua calda, e mollificato, si pigliera con le tenaglie il ferro nel calcagno e tirandolo per forza verso fuori, s'allarghera a bastanza in- sieme con li quarti e con le calgagno del piede.' — Anatomiaet Injirmita del Cavallo, p. 6^^. The same description of shoe, and one opening with a screw, is noticed by J. Bridges. 528 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. One of his pupils, Bracy Clark/ to some extent adopted his views, though in other respects he far out- stripped him in exaggerating certain functions of the foot, and devising means to aid those functions. With- out the slightest compunction, apparently, he claims the merit of having discovered the elastic properties of the foot, and re-discovers various parts. His weakness, or rather his mania, with regard to the horse's foot was lateral expansion, and descent of the sole in progression. This exaggerated idea so influenced his notions of shoe- ing, that he spent several years endeavouring to prove that shoes were unnecessary, and when at last forced to employ this defence, he invented several to be attached to the hoof without nails. The unyielding iron rim riveted to the lower margin of the foot by rigid nails was to him the only source of disease ; the shoe in common use, the un- skilful nailing, the destructive paring, were but little to blame ; the prevention of that heel 'movement tuhich resem- bled the ivaving of an osier branch in the ivind when a horse galloped, and ivhich contributed so much to the rapidity of movement, luas the sole cause. The nailless shoe, however, was too complicated, and to remain secure on the hoof had to be as immovably fixed as the nailed one; so a jointed shoe was invented, identical in every respect with that of Caesar Fiaschi, and so often spoken of by writers subsequent to that marechal. This shoe was useless, and could no more facilitate the lateral expansion and contraction, even had it existed to the degree Bracy Clark imagined, than the ordinary one. With the joint ' A Series of Original Experiments on the Foot of the Living Horse. London, 1809. 2nd Edit., 1829. BRACY CLARK. 529 only at the toe, where there was no motion, and tiie branches nailed as usual to the sides and heels, where this excessive play was supposed to be going on, it might have been foreseen that no good could result. The thin-heeled shoe, the bar shoe, and indeed every shoe, proved unsatis- factory to him, and the chief value of his experiments and labours rests on the demonstration of the changes brought about in hoofs by a vicious system of paring and shoeing them, which the highly-developed expansion theory caused Bracy Clark entirely to overlook. This author was of opinion that the sole and frog should not come into con- tact with the ground. It is scarcely necessary to say that the false doctrine of lateral expansion and sole descent propounded by Bracy Clark and Professor Coleman, has had a most serious and pernicious influence on farriery, not only in this country, but on the continent ; and has largely tended to the production and perpetuation of foot diseases that are tor- turing to the animal, and baffling to the veterinary surgeon. The theories published by Bracy Clark, with regard to the elasticity of the foot, were certainly ingenious, but not to any degree original ; though they were rashly specu- lative, and must have been based on the most slender instalment of proper experience and observation. This century has been very prolific in treatises on farriery, inventions, and modifications of horse-shoes and horse-shoeing. In England, among other writers, at its commencement, were White, Blaine, and Peall. These veterinarians appear to have been more or less in favour of Coleman's thin-heeled shoe, and sanctioned the well paring-out method of preparing the hoof. 34 530 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. The best work produced at this period was un- doubtedly that of Mr Goodwin, veterinary surgeon to King Georee IV/ It is Vx^ritten in a fair and scientific CD O spirit, and gives an excellent resume of the merits and demerits of the various systems of shoeing then in vogue. With regard to the different kinds of shoes in use, he dis- covers faults in the seated, jointed, thin-heeled, and com- mon shoe, which forbade his recommending them for general purposes. The French mode of shoeing, which was Bourgelat's, came nearest to his standard of supe- riority, yet he had two objections to this system m general: 'the convex form of the shoe on the ground side, and the concave form on the foot side. I object to the first, because the horse is by no means so safe or secure on his feet, more particularly when going over stones.' The second objection was that offered by the older writers to the common English bowl, or quoit-shaped, shoe. His new system appears to have been similar to that recommended by Professor St Bel, so far as the ground surface of the shoe was concerned. ' In the shoe I have adopted, I have reversed the form on each side (speaking of the French pattern), making it concave on the ground surface, and convex on the foot .s?