Chapter XXIII: Part 23

The shoes of the Roman cattle must have been very ill fastened, as they were so readily lost in stiff clay[1387]; and it appears that they were not used during a whole journey, but were put on either in miry places, or at times when pomp or the safety of the cattle required it; for we are informed by Suetonius, that the coachman of Vespasian once stopped on the road to put on the shoes of his mules[1388].

The reason why mention of these shoes on horses occurs so seldom, undoubtedly is, because, at the time when the before-quoted authors wrote, mules and asses were more employed than horses, as has been already remarked by Scheffer and others. Artemidorus speaks of a shod horse, and makes use of the same expression employed in regard to other cattle[1389]. Winkelmann has described a cut stone in the collection of Baron Stosch[1390], on which is represented the figure of a man holding up one foot of a horse, while another, kneeling, is employed in fastening on a shoe. These are all the proofs of horses being shod among the ancients with which I am acquainted. That they were never shod in war, or at any rate, that these socks were not sufficient to defend the hoof from injury, seems evident from the testimony of various authors. When Mithridates was besieging Cyzicus, he was obliged to send his cavalry to Bithynia, because the hoofs of the horses were entirely spoiled and worn out[1391]. In the Latin translation it is added that this was occasioned by the horses not having shoes; but there are no such words in the original, which seems rather to afford a strong proof that in the army of Mithridates there was nothing of the kind. The case seems to have been the same in the army of Alexander; for we are told by Diodorus Siculus, that with uninterrupted marching the hoofs of his horses were totally broken and destroyed[1392]. An instance of the like kind is to be found in Cinnamus, where the cavalry were obliged to be left behind, as they had suffered considerably in the hoofs; an evil, says the historian, to which horses are often liable[1393].

From what has been said I think I may venture to draw this conclusion, that the ancient Greek and Roman cavalry had not always, or in common, a covering for the hoofs of their horses, and that they were not acquainted with shoes like those used at present, which are nailed on. In the remains of ancient sculpture, among the ruins of Persepolis[1394], on Trajan’s pillar, those of Antoninus, Marcus Aurelius, and many others, no representation of them is to be found; and one can never suppose that the artists designedly omitted them, as they have imitated with the utmost minuteness the shoes of the soldiers, and the nails which fasten on the iron that surrounds the wheels of carriages. The objection that the artists have not represented the shoes then in use, and that for the same reason they might have omitted shoes such as ours though common, is of no weight; for the former were used only very seldom; they were not given to every horse, and when they were drawn over the hoof and made fast, they had an awkward appearance, which would not have been the case with iron shoes like those of the moderns. A basso-relievo, it is true, may still be seen in the Mattei palace at Rome, on which is represented a hunting-match of Gallienus, and where one of the horses has a real iron shoe on one of his feet. From this circumstance Fabretti[1395] infers that the use of horse-shoes is of the same antiquity as that piece of sculpture; but Winkelmann has remarked, that this foot is not ancient, and that it has been added by a modern artist[1396].

I will readily allow that proofs drawn from an object not being mentioned in the writings of the ancients are of no great importance, and that they may be even very often false. I am however of opinion, whatever may be said to the contrary, that Polybius, Xenophon in his book on riding and horsemanship, Julius Pollux in his Dictionary where he mentions fully everything that relates to horse-furniture and riding-equipage, and the authors who treat on husbandry and the veterinary art, could not possibly have omitted to take notice of horse-shoes, had they been known at those periods when they wrote. Can we suppose that writers would be silent respecting the shoeing of horses, had it been practised, when they speak so circumstantially of the breeding and rearing of these animals, and prescribe remedies for the diseases and accidents to which they are liable? On account of the danger which arises from horses being badly shod, the treatment of all those disorders to which they are incident has been committed to farriers; and is it in the least probable that this part of their employment should have been entirely forgotten by Vegetius and the rest of the ancients, who studied the nature and maladies of cattle? They indeed speak seldom, and not very expressly, of the ancient shoes put on horses; but this is not to be wondered at, as they had little occasion to mention them, because they gave rise to no particular infirmity. Where they could be of utility, they have recommended them, which plainly shows that the use of them was not then common. Gesner remarks very properly, that Lycinus, in Lucian, who was unacquainted with riding, when enumerating the many dangers to which he might be exposed by mounting on horseback, speaks only of being trod under the feet of the cavalry, without making any mention of the injury to be apprehended from iron shoes. To be sensible, however, of the full force of this argument, one must read the whole passage[1397]. Many of the ancient historians also, when they speak of armies, give an account of all those persons who were most necessary in them, and of the duties which they performed; but farriers are not even mentioned. When it was necessary for the horses to have shoes, each rider put them upon his own; no persons in particular were requisite for that service; but had shoes, such as those of the moderns, been then in use, the assistance of farriers would have been indispensable.

As our horse-shoes were unknown to the ancients, they employed the utmost care to procure horses with strong hoofs[1398], and for the same reason they tried every method possible to harden the hoofs and to render them more durable. Precepts for this purpose may be found in Xenophon[1399], Vegetius[1400], and other authors. It indeed appears wonderful to us, that the use of iron shoes should have remained so long unknown; but it was certainly a bold attempt to nail a piece of iron, for the first time, under the foot of a horse; and I firmly believe that there are many persons at present, who, had they never seen such a thing, would doubt the possibility of it if they heard it mentioned. Horse-shoes, however, are not absolutely necessary; horses in many countries are scarce, and in some they are not shod even at present. This is still the case in Ethiopia, in Japan, and in Tartary[1401]. In Japan, shoes, such as those of the ancients, are used. Iron shoes are less necessary in places where the ground is soft and free from stones; and it appears to me very probable, that the practice of shoeing became more common as the paving of streets was increased. There were paved highways indeed at a very early period, but they were a long time scarce, and were to be found only in opulent countries. But when roads covered with gravel were almost everywhere constructed, the hoofs of the horses would have soon been destroyed without iron shoes, and the preservatives before employed would have been of very little service.

However strong I consider these proofs, which show that the ancients did not give their horses shoes such as ours, I think it my duty to mention and examine those grounds from which men of learning and ingenuity have affirmed the contrary. Vossius lays great stress, in particular, upon a passage of Xenophon, who, as he thinks, recommends the preservation of the hoofs by means of iron. Gesner, however, has explained the words used by that author so clearly as to leave no doubt that Vossius judged too rashly. Xenophon[1402] only gives directions to harden the hoofs of a horse, and to make them stronger and more durable; which is to be done, he says, by causing him to walk and to stamp with his feet in a place covered with stones. He describes the stones proper for this purpose; and that they may be retained in their position, he advises that they should be bound down with cramps of iron. The word which Vossius refers to the hoofs, alludes without doubt to the stones which were to be kept together by the above means. Xenophon, in another work, repeats the same advice[1403], and says that experience will soon show how much the hoofs will be strengthened by this operation.

Vossius considers also as an argument in his favour the expressions used by Homer and other poets when they speak of iron-footed and brazen-footed horses, loud-sounding hoofs, &c., and is of opinion that such epithets could be applied only to horses that had iron shoes. But if we recollect that hard and strong hoofs were among the properties of a good horse, we shall find that these expressions are perfectly intelligible without calling in the assistance of modern horse-shoes. Xenophon employs the like comparisons free from poetical ornament, and explains them in a manner sufficiently clear. The hoofs, says he, must be so hard, that when the horse strikes the ground, they may resound like a cymbal. Eustathius, the scholiast of Aristophanes, and Hesychius, have also explained these expressions as alluding to the hardness and solidity of the hoofs. Of the same kind is the _equus sonipes_ of the Roman poet[1404]; and the stags and oxen with metal feet[1405], mentioned in fabulous history, which undoubtedly were not shod. Epithets of the like nature were applied by the poets to persons who had a strong voice[1406].

Le Beau quotes a passage of Tryphiodorus, which on the first view seems to allude to a real horse-shoe. This author, where he speaks of the construction of the Trojan horse, says that the artist did not forget the metal or iron on the hoofs[1407]. But supposing it true that the author here meant real shoes, this would be no proof of their being known at the time of the Trojan war, and we could only be authorised to allow them the same antiquity as the period when the poet wrote. That however is not known. According to the most probable conjectures, it was between the reign of Severus and that of Anastasius, or between the beginning of the third and the sixth century. Besides, the whole account may be understood as alluding to the ancient shoes. At any rate, it ought to be explained in this manner till it be proved by undisputed authorities that shoes, such as those of the moderns, were used in the time of the above poet.

Vossius asserts that he had in his possession a Greek manuscript on the veterinary art, in which there were some figures, where the nails under the feet of the horses could be plainly distinguished. But we are ignorant whether the manuscript or the figures still exist, nor is the antiquity of either of them known. It is probable that shoes were given to the horses by a modern transcriber, in the same manner as another put a pen into the hand of Aristotle.

In my opinion we must expect to meet with the first certain information respecting horse-shoes in much later writers than those in which it has been hitherto sought for, and supposed to have been discovered. Were it properly ascertained that the piece of iron found in the grave of Childeric was really a part of a horse-shoe, I should consider it as affording the first information on this subject, and should place the use of modern horse-shoes in the eighth century. But I do not think that the certainty of its being so is established in a manner so complete as has hitherto been believed. Those who affirm that this piece of iron had exactly the shape of a modern horse-shoe, judged only from an engraving, and did not perceive that the figure was enlarged[1408]. The piece of iron itself, which seemed to have four holes on each side, was so consumed with rust, that it broke while an attempt was made to clear them; and undoubtedly it could not be so perfect as the engraving.

The account given by Pancirollus induced me to hope that I should find in Nicetas undoubted evidence of horse-shoes being used about the beginning of the thirteenth century; but that writer has deceived both himself and his readers, by confining himself to the translation. After the death of Henry Baldwin, the Latins threw down a beautiful equestrian statue of brass, which some believed to be that of Joshua. When the feet of the horse were carried away, an image was found under one of them which represented a Bulgarian, and not a Latin as had been before supposed. Such is the account of Nicetas; but Pancirollus misrepresents it entirely; for he says that the image was found under a piece of iron torn off from one of the feet of the horse, and which he considers therefore as a horse-shoe. The image, however, appears to have represented a vanquished enemy, and to have been placed in an abject posture under the feet of the statue (a piece of flattery which artists still employ), and to have been so situated that it could not be distinctly seen till the whole statue was broken to pieces. Hence perhaps arose the vengeance of the Latins against the statue, because that small figure was by some supposed to represent one of their nation[1409].

As it appeared to me that the words used by ancient authors to express shoes[1410] occurred less frequently in the writers of later periods, I conjectured that modern horse-shoes, in order that they should be distinguished from the ancient shoes, might have received a particular new name, under which I had never found them mentioned. In the course of my researches, therefore, I thought of the Greek word _selinaia_, the meaning of which I had before attempted to explain; and I am now fully convinced that it signifies horse-shoes, such as those used at present, as has been already remarked by others. As far as I know, that word occurs, for the first time, in the ninth century, in the works of the Emperor Leo[1411]: and this antiquity of horse-shoes is in some measure confirmed by their being mentioned in the writings of Italian, English, and French authors of the same century. When Boniface marquis of Tuscany, one of the richest princes of his time, went to meet Beatrix, his bride, mother of the well-known Matilda, about the year 1038, his whole train was so magnificently decorated, that his horses were not shod with iron but with silver. The nails even were of the same metal; and when any of them dropped out they belonged to those who found them. The marquis appears to have imitated Nero; but this anecdote may be only a fiction. It is related by a contemporary writer; but, unfortunately, his account is in verse; and the author, perhaps sensible of his inability to make his subject sufficiently interesting by poetical ornaments, availed himself of the license claimed by poets to relate something singular and uncommon[1412]. However this may be, it is certain that the shoes of the horses must have been fastened on with nails, otherwise the author could not have mentioned them.

Daniel, the historian, seems to give us to understand that in the ninth century horses were not shod always, but only in the time of frost, and on other particular occasions[1413]. The practice of shoeing appears to have been introduced into England by William the Conqueror. We are informed that this sovereign gave the city of Northampton as a fief to a certain person, in consideration of his paying a stated sum yearly for the shoeing of horses[1414]; and it is believed that Henry de Ferres or de Ferrers, who came over with William, and whose descendants still bear in their arms six horse-shoes, received that surname because he was entrusted with the inspection of the farriers[1415]. I shall here observe, that horse-shoes have been found, with other riding-furniture, in the graves of some of the old Germans and Vandals in the northern countries; but the antiquity of them cannot be ascertained[1416].

FOOTNOTES

[1376] The principal works with which I am acquainted that contain information respecting the antiquity of horse-shoes, are the following: Pancirollus De Rebus Deperditis, ii. tit. 16, p. 274.--J. Vossius in Catulli Opera. Ultrajecti, 1691, 4to, p. 48.--Lexicon Militare, auctore Carolo de Aquino. Romæ, 1724, fol. ii. p. 307.--Gesner in his Index to Auctores Rei Rusticæ, art. Soleæ ferreæ.--Montfaucon, Antiquité Expliquée, iv. liv. 3. p. 79.--Le Beau, in Mémoires de l’Académie des Inscriptions. vol. xxxix. p. 538.--Archæologia, London, 1775, 4to, iii. p. 35 and 39.

[1377] Histor. Anim. ii. 6, p. 165, edit. Scaligeri. They appear not to have been used at all times, but only when the hoofs began to be injured.

[1378] Hist. Nat. lib. xi. cap. 43.

[1379] A few observations respecting _spartum_ maybe of service to those who wish to carry their researches further. The ancients, and particularly the Greeks, understood by that appellation several species of plants which could be used and manufactured like flax or hemp, and which appear to have been often mentioned under that general name. The Greeks however understood commonly by _spartum_ a shrub, the slender branches of which were woven into baskets of various kinds, and which produced young shoots that could be prepared and manufactured in the same manner as hemp; and this plant, as has already been remarked by the old botanists, is the _Spartium junceum_, or Spanish broom, which grows wild on dry land, that produces nothing else, in the Levant and in the southern parts of Europe. This broom is that described and recommended in Comment. Instituti Bonnoniensis, vi. p. 118, and vi. p. 349. The French translator of the papers here alluded to is much mistaken when he thinks, in Journal Economique, 1785, Novembre, that the author speaks of the common broom (_Spartium scoparium_) that grows on our heaths. M. Broussonet, in Mémoires d’Agriculture, par la Société de Paris, 1785, p. 127, has also recommended the cultivation of the _Spart. junceum_, under the name of _genêt d’Espagne_, and enumerated the many uses to which it may be applied. The people in Lower Languedoc, especially in the neighbourhood of Lodeve, make of it table-cloths, shirts and other articles of dress. The offal or rind serves as firing. This _spartum_ of the Greeks, or _Spartium junceum_ of the botanists, is the species called by Pliny, book xxxix. chap. 9, _genista_, and which he improperly considers as the Spanish and African _spartum_. The latter is certainly the _Stipa_ (_Macrochloa_) _tenacissima_, which grows in Spain and Africa, called there at present _sparto_ or _esparto_, and which is still prepared and employed as described by Pliny, b. xix. c. 2. Baskets, mattresses, ship-cables, and other strong ropes were made of it; and when this grass had been prepared like hemp, it was used for various fine works. Even at present the Spaniards make of it a kind of shoes called _alpergates_, with which they carry on a great trade to the Indies, where they are very useful on the hot, rocky and sandy soil. [Moritz Willkomm, in his Botanical Notices from Spain (Annals of Natural History for March 1845), notices among the most valuable vegetable productions of Spain, “the celebrated Esparto (_Macrochloa tenacissima_), which, growing on many of the hills situated near the sea, forms an important article of trade in South Spain, since this tough grass is used partly for the plaiting of coverings for rooms and balconies, and for making various sorts of baskets, especially panniers for mules, chairs, and the peculiar sandals which are worn all over the kingdom; and partly worked into ropes, which are in great request, and are manufactured in great quantity at Marseilles.”] Whether the ancients made shoes for their cattle of the _Spartium junceum_ or the _Stipa tenacissima_, I will not venture to determine. It is probable that the former was used by the Greeks, and the latter by the Romans; and it is highly worthy of being here remarked, that in modern times a kind of socks for horses were made of a species of _spartum_, as we learn from J. Leonis Africæ Descriptio, lib. iii. p. 120. The same author however says expressly, p. 96, that common shoes of iron were also used.

[1380] Columella, vi. 12, 3: “Spartea munitur pes.” vi. 15, 1: “Spartea calceata ungula curatur.” Vegetius, i. 26, 3: “Spartea calceare curabis.” See also ii. 45, 3. Galen De Alim. Facult. i. 9: Σπαρτὸς ἐξ οὗ πλέκουσι ὑποδήματα ὑποζυγίοις. Is there not some reason therefore to conclude that this practice was followed not merely in regard to cattle only that were diseased?

[1381] Sueton. Vita Neronis, cap. 30.

[1382] Plin. lib. xxxiii. cap. 11.--Scheffer, De Re Vehiculari, proves that we are here to understand she-mules.

[1383] Dio Cassius, lxii. 28, and lxxiii. Commodus caused the hoofs of a horse to be gilt.

[1384] Commentar. in Epictetum, lib. iii.

[1385] Xenophon De Cyri Min. Expedit. p. 228.

[1386] B. F. Hermann, Beytrage zur Physik. Œkonomie der Russischen Länder. Berlin, 1786, 8vo, part i. p. 250. The same account respecting the dogs of Kamtschatka is given in Cook’s last Voyage.

[1387] Catullus, viii. 23. By which passage it appears that the shoe was of iron, iron wire, or plate-iron.

[1388] Sueton. Vita. Vespasian seems to have suspected that his driver had been bribed to stop by the way, and that he had done so on pretence of shoeing his horses. Had the mules been shod, and had the driver only had to rectify something that related to the shoe, as our coachmen have when a nail is lost, or any other little accident has happened, Suetonius would not have said _mulas_, but _mulam_. The driver therefore stopped for the first time on the journey to put on the shoes of his cattle, as has been remarked by Gesner.

[1389] Artemidori Oneirocritica. Lutetiæ, 1603, 4to, lib. iv. cap. 32.

[1390] Déscription des Pierres Gravées du Baron de Stosch, 1760, p. 169.

[1391] Appian. De Bello Mithridat. edit. Tollii, p. 371.

[1392] Diodor. Sicul. lib. xvii. 94, edit. Wesselingii, p. 233. Vegetius, i. 56, 28, mentions a salve, “quo ungulæ nutriantur, et medicaminis beneficio subcrescat quod itineris _attriverat_ injuria.”

[1393] Joh. Cinnamus De Rebus Gestis Imperat. edit. Tollii, 1652, 4to, lib. iv. p. 194. Vegetius, ii. 58, recommends rest for horses after a long journey, on account of their hoofs.

[1394] No traces of them are to be found in the figures given by Chardin, and by Niebuhr in the second volume of his Travels. The latter mentions this circumstance in particular, and says, p. 157, “It appears that the ancient Persians had no stirrups and no proper saddle.”

[1395] De Columna Trajani, c. 7.

[1396] Pierres Gravées de Stosch, p. 169.

[1397] Navigium seu Vota. “Nunquam equum ullum ascendi ante hunc diem. Proinde metuo, tubicine classicum intonante, decidens ego in tumultu a tot ungulis conculcer, aut etiam equus ferocior existens, arrepto freno in medios hostes efferat me, aut denique oporteat me alligari ephippio, si manere super illud debeam, frenumque tenere.”--Had stirrups been then in use, he would have been exposed also to the danger of being dragged along by the heels. When I extracted the above passage, I had no edition of Lucian at hand, but that of Basle, 1563, 12mo. It may be found there, vol. ii. p. 840.

[1398] The prophet Isaiah, chap. v. ver. 28, to make the enemy appear more terrible, says, “The hoofs of their horses shall be counted like flint;” and Jeremiah, chap. xlvii. v. 3, speaks of the noise made by the horses stamping with their hoofs. See Bochart. Hierozoic. i. p. 160.

[1399] De Re Equestri, cap. iv. p. m. 599.

[1400] Lib. i. cap. 56, 28, 30; also lib. ii. cap. 57, 58.

[1401] J. Ludolphi Hist. Æthiop. i. cap. 10, and his Commentarium, p. 146.--Thevenot, vol. ii. p. 113.--Voyage de Le Blanc, part ii. p. 75, 81.--Lettres Edifiantes, vol. iv. p. 143.--Tavernier, vol. i. c. 5.--Hist. Gen. des Voyages, vol. iii. p. 182.--Kæmpfer, Histoire du Japan, Amst. 1732, 3 vols. 12mo, ii. p. 297. The passage of the last author, where he mentions the articles necessary for a journey in Japan, is worthy of notice: “Shoes for the servants and for the horses. Those of the latter are made of straw, and are fastened with ropes of the same to the feet of the horses, instead of iron shoes, such as ours in Europe, which are not used in this country. As the roads are slippery and full of stones, these shoes are soon worn out, so that it is often necessary to change them. For this purpose those who have the care of the horses always carry with them a sufficient quantity, which they affix to the portmanteaus. They may however be found in all the villages, and poor children who beg on the road even offer them for sale, so that it may be said there are more farriers in this country than in any other; though, to speak properly, there are none at all.”

Almost the same account is given by Dr. Thunberg, a later traveller in Japan. “Small shoes or socks of straw,” says he, “are used for horses instead of iron shoes. They are fastened round the ankle with straw ropes, hinder stones from injuring the feet, and prevent the animal from stumbling. These shoes are not strong; but they cost little, and can be found every where throughout the country.” Shoes of the same kind, the author informs us, are worn by the inhabitants.--TRANS.

[1402] De Re Equestri, p. 599.

[1403] Hipparch, p. m. 611.

[1404] Virg. Æneid. lib. iv. 135. lib. xi. 600, 638.

[1405] Virg. Æneid. lib. vi. 803. Ovid. Heroid. ep. xii. 93, and Metamorph. lib. vii. 105. Apollonius, lib. iii. 228.

[1406] Iliad. lib. v. 785. Stentor is there called χαλκεόφωνος. Iliad. lib. xviii. 222, Achilles is said to have had a brazen voice. Virg. Georg. lib. ii. 44: ferrea vox.

[1407] Tryphiod. by Merrick, Ox. 1739, v. 86, p. 14.

[1408] The first figure may be found in Anastasis Childerici, Francorum regis, sive Thesaurus sepulchralis Tornaci Nerviorum effossus; auctore J. J. Chifletio. Antverpiæ, 1655, 4to, p. 224. Montfaucon, in Monarchie Françoise, i. p. 16, has given also an engraving of it. Childeric died in the year 481. In 1653 his grave was discovered at Tournay, and a gold ring with the royal image and name found in it afforded the strongest proof that it was really the burying-place of that monarch. In the year 1665, these antiquities were removed to the king’s library at Paris.

[1409] The whole account may be found at the end of the Annals, in the Paris edition by Fabrotti, 1647, fol. p. 414.

[1410] The words ὑποδήματα and _soleæ_.

[1411] Leonis Tactica, v. 4. p. 51.--In the passage where he names every thing belonging to the equipage of a horseman, he says, πέδικλα σελιναῖα σιδηρὰ μετὰ καρφίων αὐτῶν. I shall here first remark, that after πέδικλα there ought to be a comma, for by that word is meant the ropes with which saddled horses were fastened. Du Cange says πεδικλοῦν signifies _to bind_. See likewise Scheffer’s Annotations on Mauricii Ars Militaris, p. 395. The translator also has improperly said, “Pedicla, id est calceos lunatos ferreos cum ipsis carphiis.” Κάρφια means _nails_, as Du Cange has proved by several instances, and here _horse-shoe nails_. The word may be found for the second time in the tenth century, in the Tactica of the Emperor Constantine, where the whole passage, however, is taken from Leo without the least variation; so that we may suppose Constantine understood it in the same sense as Leo. It is used, for the third time, by the same emperor, twice in his book on the Ceremonial of his own court. In p. 265, where he speaks of the horses (τὰ ἱππάρια) which were to be procured for the imperial stable; these, he says, were to be provided with every thing necessary, and to have also σελιναῖα. In page 267 it is said further, that a certain number of pounds of iron should be given out from the imperial stores to make σελιναῖα, and other horse-furniture. The same word is used a fourth time by Eustathius, who wrote in the twelfth century, in his commentary on Homer, Χαλκὸν δὲ νῦν λέγει τὰ σελιναῖα ὑπὸ τοῖς ποσὶ τῶν ἵππων, οἷς διακόπτονται εἰς πλέον τὰ πατούμενα. See Iliad. lib. xi. 152. Though I do not believe that Homer had the least idea of horse-shoes, I am fully convinced that Eustathius alludes to them by that word. This commentator has explained very properly various passages of the like kind in Homer; but he seems here, as was the case sometimes with his poet himself, to have been asleep or slumbering.

When one considers that the σελιναῖα, or σεληναῖα, belonged to horse-furniture; that they were made of iron; that, as Eustathius says, they were placed under the hoofs of the horses; that the word seems to show its derivation from the moon-like form of shoes, such as those used at present; and lastly, that nails were necessary to these σελιναῖα; I think we may venture to conclude, without any fear of erring, that this word was employed to signify horse-shoes of the same kind as ours, and that they were known, if not earlier, at least in the ninth century.

[1412] This life of Matilda may be found in Leibnitii Scriptores Brunsvicenses, vol. i. p. 629; but the fullest and most correct edition is in Muratori Rerum Italicarum Scriptores. Mediolani 1724, fol. vol. v. p. 353.

[1413] Histoire de France, vol. i. p. 566. The author here speaks of the cavalry of Louis le Débonnaire.

[1414] Dugd. Bar. i. 58. ex Chron. Bromtoni, p. 974, 975, Blount’s Tenures, p. 50.

[1415] Brook’s Discovery of Errors in the Catalogue of the Nobility, p. 198.

[1416] Beckmann in Beschreibung der Mark Brandenburg, Berlin, 1751, 2 vols. fol. i. p. 401, mentions an old shoe found in a grave, the holdfasts of which did not project downwards but upwards. Arnkul in his Heidnischen Alterthümern speaks also of a horse-shoe found near Kiel.

FLOATING OF WOOD.

The conveying of wood in floats is an excellent invention; as countries destitute of that necessary article can be supplied by water carriage, not only with timber for building and other useful purposes, but also with fire-wood. The former is either pushed into the water in single trunks, and suffered to be carried along by the stream, or a number of planks are ranged close to each other in regular order, bound together in that manner, and steered down the current as boats are, by people accustomed to such employment. The first method is that most commonly used for fire-wood. Above floats of the second kind a load of spars, deals, laths, pipe-staves, and other timber, is generally placed; and with these, floaters will trust themselves on broad and rapid rivers, whereas fire-wood is fit to be transported only on rivulets or small streams; and sometimes canals are constructed on purpose[1417]. However simple the invention of floating fire-wood may be, I consider the other method as the oldest; and I confess that I do not remember to have found in ancient authors any information respecting the former. Fire-wood was, indeed, not so scarce formerly in the neighbourhood of large cities as it is at present. Men established themselves where it was abundant; and they used it freely, without thinking on the wants of posterity, till its being exhausted rendered it necessary for them to import it from distant places. It is probable that the most ancient mode of constructing vessels for the purpose of navigation gave rise to the first idea of conveying timber for building in the like manner; as the earliest ships or boats were nothing else than rafts, or a collection of beams and planks bound together, over which were placed deals. By the Greeks they were called _schediai_, and by the Latins _rates_; and it is known from the testimony of many writers, that the ancients ventured out to sea with them on piratical expeditions as well as to carry on commerce; and that after the invention of ships they were still retained for the transportation of soldiers and of heavy burthens[1418].

The above conjecture is confirmed by the oldest information to be found in history respecting the conveyance by water of timber for building. Solomon entered into a contract with Hiram, king of Tyre, by which the latter was to cause cedars for the use of the temple to be cut down on the western side of Mount Lebanon above Tripoli, and to be floated to Jaffa. The words at least employed by the Hebrew historian, which occur nowhere else, are understood as alluding to the conveyance of timber in floats; and this explanation is considered by Michaelis as probable. At present no streams run from Lebanon to Jerusalem; and the Jordan, the only river in Palestine that could bear floats, is at a great distance from the cedar forest. The wood, therefore, must have been brought along the coast by sea to Jaffa[1419]. In this manner is the account understood by Josephus; but although he assures us that he gives the letters of both the kings as they were at that time preserved in the Jewish and Tyrian annals, it is certain that they are spurious, and that he took the whole relation from the sacred books of the Jews which are still extant, as he himself tells us in the beginning of his work[1420].

An old tradition prevailed that the city Camarina, on the southern coast of Sicily, was built of the clay or mud which the river Hipparis carried along with it, and deposited in a lake of the same name. This account seems to be confirmed by a passage in Pindar, which Aristarchus quotes in explaining it[1421]; and, according to Bochart, some proof is afforded also by the name Camarina, as _chamar_ or _chomar_ signifies sealing-clay[1422]. In this tradition there is nothing improbable. In the like manner the Egyptians drew up mud from the lake Mœris[1423]; and thus do the Dutch at present fish up in bag-nets the fine mud or slime which chokes up their rivers, such as the Issel, and which they employ for various uses. This explanation, however, has not been adopted by the old commentators of Pindar. Didymus[1424] and others assert that the poet alludes to wood for building the city being conveyed in floats on the river Hipparis. But whatever opinion may be formed of these elucidations of the scholiasts, we have reason to conclude that the inhabitants of Camarina were much better acquainted with the floating of wood than with drawing up slime by means of bag-nets.

The Romans transported by water both timber for building and fire-wood. When they became acquainted, during their wars against the Germans, with the benefit of the common larch, they caused large quantities of it to be carried on the Po to Ravenna from the Alps, particularly the Rhætian, and to be conveyed also to Rome for their most important buildings. Vitruvius says[1425] that this timber was so heavy, that, when alone, the water could not support it, and that it was necessary to carry it on ships or on rafts. Could it have been brought to Rome conveniently, says he, it might have been used with great advantage in building. It appears, however, that this was sometimes done; for we are told that Tiberius caused the Naumachiarian bridge, constructed by Augustus, and afterwards burnt, to be rebuilt of larch planks procured from Rhætia. Among these was a trunk one hundred and twenty feet in length, which excited the admiration of all Rome[1426].

That the Romans procured fire-wood from Africa, particularly for the use of the public baths, is proved by the privileges granted on that account to the masters of ships or rafts by the emperor Valentinian[1427]. Those who have read the writings of the Latin authors with attention must have remarked other testimonies; but I have found no mention in the ancients of floating timber in single planks, or of canals dug for that purpose; at least as far as I can remember. In the Latin language also there are scarcely two words that allude to what concerns the floating of timber; whereas the German contains more of that kind, perhaps, than are to be found in any other; and I am thence induced to conjecture that the Germans were the first who formed establishments for this mode of conveyance on a large scale.

The earliest information respecting the floating of wood in Saxony appears to be as old as the year 1258[1428], when the margrave Henry the Illustrious remitted by charter to the monastery of Porta, the duty collected at Camburg from the wood transported on the river Saale for the use of the monastery[1429]. It is, however, uncertain whether wood really conveyed in floats, or transported in boats and lighters, be here meant. Much clearer information concerning wood floated on the Saale is contained in a letter, expedited in the year 1410 by the two brothers Frederic and William, landgraves of Thuringia, and margraves of Misnia, in which, on account of the scarcity of wood that prevailed in their territories, they so much lessened the toll usually paid on the Saale as far as Weissenfels, that a Rhenish florin only was demanded for floats brought on that river to Jena, and two Rhenish stivers for those carried to Weissenfels; but the proprietors of the floats were bound to be answerable for any injury occasioned to the bridge[1430]. In the year 1431, Hans Munzer, an opulent citizen of Freyberg, with the assistance of the then burgomasters, put a float of wood upon the river Mulda, which runs past the city, in order that it might be conveyed thither for the use of the inhabitants and of the mines; which seems to be a proof that the floating of timber was at that period undertaken by private persons, on their own risk and at their own expenses. In 1486 the floating of wood on the Mulda by the people of Zwikaw, was opposed by the neighbouring nobility; but the rights of the city were protected by the electors. When the town of Aschersleben built its church in the year 1495, the timber used for the work was transported on the Elbe from Dresden to Acken, and thence on the Achse to the place of its destination. This is the oldest account known of floating timber on the Elbe. In the year 1521, duke George caused a large canal to be cut at the village of Plauen, which was supplied with water from the Weiseritz, and carried as far as Dresden. It appears that in 1564 there was a float-master, who was obliged to give security to the amount of four hundred florins; so that the business of floating must at that time have been of considerable importance. Floating of wood was undertaken at Annaberg in 1564, by George Oeder, one of the members of the council, and established at the expense of 4000 florins. Of the antiquity of floating in other German states I know nothing more than what is to be gathered from public ordinances respecting this object and forests; by which we learn that in the sixteenth century it was practised in Brandenburg, on the Elbe, Spree, and Havel; in Bavaria, and in the duchy of Brunswick[1431].

As the city of Paris had consumed all the wood in its neighbourhood, and as the price of that article became enormous on account of the distance of forests and the expense of transporting it, John Rouvel, a citizen and merchant, in the year 1549, fell upon the plan of conducting wood bound together along rivers which were not navigable for large vessels. With this view, he made choice of the forests in the woody district of Morvant, which belonged to the government of Nivernois; and as several small streams and rivulets had their sources there, he endeavoured to convey into them as much water as possible[1432]. That great undertaking, at first laughed at, was completed by his successor René Arnoul, in 1566. The wood was thrown into the water in single trunks, and suffered to be driven in that manner by the current to Crevant, a small town on the river Yonne; where each timber-merchant drew out his own, which he had previously marked, and, after it was dry, formed it into floats that were transported from the Yonne to the Seine, and thence to the capital. By this method large quantities of timber are conveyed thither at present from Nivernois and Burgundy, and some also from Franche-Comté. The French extol highly a beneficial establishment formed by one Sauterau, in Morvant, at his own expense, by which the transportation of timber was rendered much more speedy, and for which a small sum was allowed him from the proprietors of all the wood floated on the Yonne.

The success of this attempt soon gave rise to others. John Tournouer and Nicholas Gobelin, two timber-merchants, undertook to convey floats in the like manner on the Marne; and canals were afterwards constructed in several places for the purpose of forming a communication between different rivers. The French writers consider the transportation of large floats, _trains de bois_, like those formed at present, from the before-mentioned districts, and also from Bourbonnois, Champagne, Lorraine, Montergis, and other parts of the kingdom, as a great invention; but I am firmly of opinion that this method was known and employed in Germany at a much earlier period[1433].

[Victor Hugo gives the following animated account of floating rafts. The traveller who ascends the river sees it, so to speak, coming to him, and then the sight is full of charms. At each instant he meets something which passes him; at one time, a vessel crowded with peasants, especially if it be Sunday; at another, a steam-boat; then a long, two-masted vessel, laden with merchandize, its pilot attentive and serious, its sailors busy, with women seated near the door of the cabin; here, a heavy-looking boat, dragging two or three after it; there, a little horse drawing a huge bark, as an ant drags a dead beetle. Suddenly there is a winding in the river; and formerly, on turning, an immense raft, a floating house, presented itself, the oars splashing on both sides. On the ponderous machine were cattle of all kinds, some bleating, and others bellowing, when they perceived the heifers peaceably grazing on the banks. The master came and went, looked at this, then at that, while the sailors busily performed their respective duties. A whole village seemed to live on this float,--on this prodigious construction of fir.]

The floating of wood seems, like many other useful establishments, to have been invented or first undertaken by private persons at their own risk and expense, with the consent of governments, or at least without any opposition from them; but, as soon as it was brought to be useful and profitable, to have been considered among regalia. Hence, therefore, soon arose the float-regal, which, indeed, on account of the free use granted of rivers, the many regulations requisite, and its connexion with the forest-regal, can be sufficiently justified. But when and where originated the term _jus grutiæ_, under which this regal is known by jurists?

The few authors who have turned their thoughts to this question have not been able, as far as I know, to answer it with certainty, nor even with probability. They have only repeated, without making any researches themselves, what Stypmann[1434] has said on the subject; and the latter refers to a passage of Hadrian Junius, which I shall here more particularly notice. Junius, speaking of the oldest families in the Netherlands, says that the family of Wassenaer had formerly a certain supremacy over the rivers in Rhineland, so that no one, without their permission, could keep swans on them, and that the brewers paid for the use of the water a certain tax called the _gruyt-geld_, from which arose the _jus grutæ_. The origin of this word he did not know; but he conjectured that it was derived either from _gruta_, which signifies duckweed (_Lemna_), a plant that grows in the water and covers its surface during the summer, or from _grut_, an ingredient used in making beer[1435]. It is certain that in the tenth, eleventh, and thirteenth centuries _gruta_, _grutt_, or _gruit_, signified a tax which brewers were obliged to pay[1436]; but the origin of the word has been sufficiently explained neither by Junius nor any other writer. I nowhere find that it was used in ancient times for a float-duty; and this meaning Junius himself has not so much as once mentioned.

The word _gruit_ occurs under a quite different sense in a letter of investiture of the year 1593, by which the elector of Cologne gave as a fief to the countess of Moers, the _gruit_ within the town of Berg, with all its rents, revenues, and appurtenances. “No other person was allowed to put _grudt_ or any plant in beer, or to draw beer brought from other countries. On the other hand, the countess was to make good _grutt_, and to cause it to be sold at the price usual in the neighbouring parts; she was bound also to supply the elector gratis with what beer was necessary for family consumption; and if more was required than usual, on extraordinary occasions, she was to ask and receive money. If any one in the town did not deliver good _gruidt_, and should prove that he could not deliver better, as the fault was occasioned by the _gruitte_, the loss that might arise should fall upon the countess.” The word _grut_ or _gruitt_ seems to occur here under a double meaning; as an ingredient in the beer, and as the beer itself which was made from it. Of this difficulty I have in vain endeavoured to find an explanation. _Grut_, perhaps, may signify malt. In Dutch and other kindred languages _grut_ means the small refuse which is separated from anything; and to which _grusch_ bran, and _grütze_ groats, have an affinity. May not ground malt be understood by it? I have thought likewise of a kind of herb-beer, which was much esteemed in the sixteenth century; and that _grut_ might signify a mixture of herbs used for making that beer. It is probable that this word was confined within the boundaries of the Netherlands; and thence only, perhaps, is an explanation of it to be expected.

I am, however, still unable to comprehend how the float-duty obtained the name of _jus grutiæ_; and in our kindred languages I can find no derivation of it. The German word _flosz_, from _fliessen_, to flow or glide; _flusz_, a river, occurs in them all. The Dutch say _vlot_, _vlothout_; the Swedes, _en flott_, _flotta_, to float; _flot-wed_, float-wood; and the English, _a float_, _to float_, &c.

FOOTNOTES

[1417] Those who are desirous of particular information respecting everything that concerns the floating of wood may read Bergius, Polizey- und Camera-magazin, vol. iii. p. 156; Krunitz, Encylopedie, vol. xiv. p. 286; and the Forstmagazin, vol. viii. p. 1. To form an idea of the many laborious, expensive, and ingenious establishments and undertakings which are often necessary in this business, one may peruse Mémoire sur les Travaux qui ont Rapport à l’Exploitation de la Mâture dans les Pyrénées. Par M. Leroy. Londres et Paris, 1776, 4to. So early as the time of cardinal Richelieu the French began to bring from the Pyrenees timber for masts to their navy; but as the expense was very great, the attempt was abandoned, till it was resumed in the year 1758 by a private company, who entered into a contract with the minister for supplying the dock-yards with masts. After 1765 government took that business into their own hands; but it was attended with very great difficulties.

[1418] Plinius, lib. vi. cap. 56.--Strabo, lib. xvi. where he calls these rafts σχεδίαι.--Festus, p. 432.--Scheffer, De Militia Navali Veterum, lib. i. cap. 3.--Pitisci Lexicon Antiq. Rom. art. Rates.

[1419] “My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea: and I will convey them by sea in floats unto the place that thou shalt appoint me.”--1 Kings, chap. v. ver. 9. “And we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as thou shalt need: and we will bring it to thee in floats by sea to Joppa; and thou shalt carry it up to Jerusalem.”--2 Chronicles, chap. ii. v. 16. Pocock thinks that the wood was cut down near Tyre. The accounts given by travellers of Mount Lebanon, and the small remains of the ancient forests of cedar, have been collected by Busching in his Geography.

The following is the account given of these cedars by the abbé Binos, who visited them in the year 1778. “Here,” says he, “I first discovered the celebrated cedars, which grow in an oval plain, about an Italian mile in circumference. The largest stand at a considerable distance from each other, as if afraid that their branches might be entangled, or to afford room for their tender shoots to spring up, and to elevate themselves also in the course of time. These trees raise their proud summits to the height of sixty, eighty, and a hundred feet. Three or four, when young, grow up sometimes together, and form at length, by uniting their sap, a tree of a monstrous thickness. The trunk then assumes generally a square form. The thickest which I saw might be about thirty feet round; and this size was occasioned by several having been united when young. Six others, which were entirely insulated, and free from shoots, were much taller, and seemed to have been indebted for their height to the undivided effects of their sap.” These cedars, formerly so numerous, are now almost entirely destroyed. In the year 1575, Rauwolff found twenty-four that stood round about in a circle, and two others, the branches whereof are quite decayed with age; Bellon, in 1550, counted twenty-eight old trees; Fremenet, in 1630, counted twenty-two; La Roque, in 1688, twenty; Maundrell, in 1696, sixteen; Dr. Pococke, in 1738, fifteen; and Schulze, in 1755, counted twenty, besides some young ones; Burckhardt, in 1810, eleven or twelve; Dr. Richardson, in 1818, eight; Mr. Robinson, in 1830, seven; Lord Lindsay, in 1836, seven. Mr. Buckingham, in 1816, differs greatly from the other authorities, computing the whole number of trees at two hundred, of which he describes twenty as being very large.--TRANS.

[1420] Antiquit. lib. viii. These letters have been printed by Fabricius in Codex Pseudepigraphus Veteris Testamenti, i. p. 1026.

[1421] Olymp. v. 29. Gesner, in explaining Pindar, translated φάος or φῶς by the word _help_, which Hebraism occurs in the New Testament, and also in Homer. The stream therefore assisted the inhabitants while under a great inconvenience.

[1422] Chanaan, i. 29, p. 605.

[1423] Herodot. lib. iii.

[1424] See Pindar, ed. Welsted, 1697, fol. p. 53 and 56, a, 37.

[1425] Vitruv. lib. ii. 9, p. 77.

[1426] Plin. lib. xvi. cap. 39, p. 33 and 34.

[1427] Codex Theodos. lib. xiii. tit. 5, 10. Lex xiii. p. 78. Compare Symmachi Epist. lib. x. ep. 58. As far as I know, such ordinances occur also in the Code of Justinian.

[1428] See Sammlung vermischter Nachrichten zur Sächsischen Geschichte, by G. J. Grundig and J. F. Klotzsch, vol. vi. 221.

[1429] Pertuchii Chronic. Portense, p. 54.

[1430] Rudolphi Gotha Diplomatica, pars i. p. 279.

[1431] See the Forest Laws in Fritschii Corp. Juris Ven. Forest.

[1432] Wood was conveyed in boats upon the Yonne so early as the year 1527. See Coquille in Histoire du Nivernois.

[1433] Traité de la Police, par De la Mare, iii. p. 839.--Savary, Dictionnaire de Commerce, art. Bois flotté and Train.

[1434] De Jure Maritimo, p. i. c. 10. n. 100.