Gig (carriage)

A gig is a light, two-wheeled open carriage with large wheels, a forward facing seat, and shafts for a single horse. The gig's body is constructed above the shafts, and it is entered from step-irons hanging from the shaft in front of the wheels. Gigs are enclosed at the back, and have luggage space under the cross-seat. Early gigs were crude and unsprung; later gigs were elegant for town driving and were constructed with springs. The term "gig" is short for "whirligig".:85–6:132–3:78

The Oxford English Dictionary gives the date of first known reference to a horse-drawn gig as 1791, and they were ubiquitous by the early 1800s.

Gigs were typically named after their designers, builders, or their shape.:133 There are several types of gig, including::90–91

  • Dennett gig: Early 1800's resembling the Stanhope gig but with three springs, one crosswise and two horizontal:63
  • Skeleton gig: Very light; no luggage space.:148
  • Spider gig: Very high gig, French version had high outward curving dash and curved shafts.:72,82
  • Stanhope: typically having a high seat and closed back; designed and built by Fitzroy Stanhope around 1814.:153
  • Stick-back gig: designed with the seat back made of sticks or ribs.:155
  • Suicide gig: Very high gig popular in Ireland. Dangerous to drive or mount.:86
  • Tilbury or Seven-spring gig: designed by Fitzroy Stanhope, but named after builder Tilbury. Heavier than the Stanhope because it had seven springs and two braces. Popular where roads were rough.:161:274
  • Whiskey or whisky: lightweight, often constructed with canework. Named for whisking over the road.:173:133

Gigs travelling at night would normally carry two oil lamps with thick glass, known as gig-lamps. This caused the formerly common slang word "giglamps" for "spectacles".

Nineteenth century literature frequently recounted "romantic tales of spills and hairbreadth [e]scapes" from these vehicles, but is equally fulsome on the fearful thrill experienced in driving them.

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