horses & carriages
Posted by P.Bingham on January 17, 1998 at 00:17:51:
In response to Questiong on riding horseback vs. carriages, written by Lynn on January 16, 1998 at 21:38:29
Dear Lyn,
It would depend on the gentleman's whim, his financial circumstances, his plans and his destiny.
Men certainly did travel alone sometimes, they would not necessarily bring a servant with them. If they needed to get to a location fast and the roads were not good this might encourage him to take a horse (or vice-verse for that matter). Many carriages, such as the pheaton, were intended for the gentleman to drive. He may or may not wish to have a footman. If he was just arriving to town and needed to leave his card about town to alert his friends, then perhaps he would bring a footman. The footman would run the cards up and the gentleman would never have to leave his carriage. In many instances he would have no need for a footman, such as attending some function where the host had a staff that would tend to his needs and his horses' needs, etc.
When Darcy left Pemberley he probably needed to take the footmen with him to London and perhaps that is why he decided to take the carriage (perhaps it was a London Carriage as opposed to one they would keep stored at Pemberly and it would have been needed in London. Also, when people left thier country estates and were off to London for the Season, they would take all the servants with them (usually by waggon and other carriages). If you remember, Pemberley was almost empty but for the housekeeper. There would have been a skeleton staff left with the housekeeper as each home had a separate housekeeper but the staff would travel from house to house with the family.
Also, it might be a long way to London... Horseback can be very uncomfortable and by the Regency roads were much improved and travel times reflected that. Why should Darcy bruise his bottom when he could have a more comfortable carriage ride, assuming his carriage was a more modern one.
I apologize if all this sounds garbled...
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