# Coachman

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Driver of a horse-drawn passenger vehicle

For other uses, see [Coachman (disambiguation)](/source/Coachman_(disambiguation)).

Coachman, Boston MA 1902

Russian coachman, before 1917 — his belt indicates his master's wealth

A **coachman** is a person who drives a [coach](/source/Coach_(carriage)) or carriage, or similar [horse-drawn vehicle](/source/Horse-drawn_vehicle). A coachman has also been called a **coachee**, **coachy,** **whip**, or **hackman**.

The coachman's first concern is to remain in full control of the horses (or other similar animals such as mules) and another employee, traditionally a [footman](/source/Footman), would accompany the coach to handle any circumstances beyond the coachman's control.

Swedish livery for footmen

## Duties

"Coachman" is correctly applied to the driver of any type of coach or carriage having an independent seat for the driver. If it is a public transport vehicle the owners might arrange things differently and a coachman may do no more than drive the vehicle. A private coachman reports directly to his employer or the employer's agent or factor and, being in command of the stables, the most important building after the house, is responsible for caring for and providing all the master's horses and carriages and related employees. Where necessary the coachman may delegate the driving of household vehicles but it is a primary duty to personally drive the employer. In a [great house](/source/Great_house), this would have been a specialty, but in more modest households, the "coachman" would have doubled as the stablehand or [groom](/source/Groom_(horses)). Even a head chauffeur with under-chauffeurs and mechanics held a much lesser position needing such a small staff and little capital.

Coachman, footman and landau carriage Coachman, footman on foot. The coach carries a splendid hammercloth Ilya Baykov [ru], personal coachman of Alexander I of Russia

In early coaches he sat on a built-in compartment called a *boot*, bracing his feet on a footrest called a *footboard*. He was often pictured wearing a *box coat* or *box jacket*, a heavy [overcoat](/source/Overcoat) with or without shoulder capes, double-breasted, with fitted waist and wide lapels; its name derives from its use by coachmen riding on the box seat, exposed to all kinds of weather. An ornamented, often fringed cloth called a *hammercloth* might have hung over the coachman's seat, especially of a ceremonial coach. He could be seen taking refreshments at a type of [public house](/source/Public_house) called a *watering house*, which also provided water for horses.

The role of the coachman, who sat on the vehicle, was contrasted with that of the [postillion](/source/Postillion) mounted directly on one of the drawing horses. On the grandest ceremonial occasions the coachman might escort a number of his postillions with his own horse.

### Bynames

A coachman was sometimes called a *[jarvey](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/jarvey)* or *jarvie*, especially in [Ireland](/source/Ireland); Jarvey was a nickname for Jarvis. In the first of his [Sherlock Holmes](/source/Sherlock_Holmes) stories, *[A Study in Scarlet](/source/A_Study_in_Scarlet)*, [Arthur Conan Doyle](/source/Arthur_Conan_Doyle) refers to the driver of a small cab in London as a jarvey. A coachman who drove dangerously fast or recklessly might invoke biblical or mythological allusions: Some referred to him as a **jehu**, recalling King [Jehu](/source/Jehu) of [Israel](/source/History_of_ancient_Israel_and_Judah), who was noted for his furious attacks in a [chariot](/source/Chariot) (2 [Kings](/source/Books_of_Kings) 9:20) before he died about 816 BC. Others dubbed him a **Phaeton**, harking back to the Greek [Phaëton](/source/Phaethon), son of [Helios](/source/Helios) who, attempting to drive the chariot of the sun, managed to set the earth on fire.

The driver of a [wagon](/source/Wagon) or [cart](/source/Cart) drawn by a [draught animal](/source/Working_animal) was known as [teamster](/source/Teamster) or [carter](/source/Cart).

## Hungarian folklore

The English word *coach*, the Spanish and Portuguese *coche*, the German *Kutsche*, the Slovak *koč* and the Czech *kočár* all probably derive from the [Hungarian](/source/Hungarian_language) word "kocsi", literally meaning "of Kocs".[1] [Kocs](/source/Kocs) (pronounced "kotch") was a Hungarian post town, and the coach itself may have been developed in Hungary. Hungarian villages still hold Coachman of the Year competitions (similar to those held in Zakopane in Poland).[2]

The coachman soon became a prominent figure in Hungarian folklore. As the Clever Coachman (tudós kocsis),[3] he turns up unexpectedly in the hero's life, either knowing his name or naming him by his true name. Many of [Steven Brust](/source/Steven_Brust)'s novels play with this image of the coachman.

A Russian coachman ("yamshik", [Russian](/source/Russian_language): ямщик) leaning on a whip-handle. A painting by [Vasily Tropinin](/source/Vasily_Tropinin), circa 1820.

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [coach](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/coach). CollinsDictionary.com. Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 11th Edition. Retrieved November 04, 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Festival of Highland Folklore in Zakopane is the most important cultural event organized in Zakopane every summer, since 1965"](https://discoverzakopane.com/folklore-festival.html). *discoverZakopane.com - Folklore Festival in Zakopane*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Legends of Belief"](http://mek.oszk.hu/02700/02790/html/161.html).

## External links

Media related to [Coachmen](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Coachmen) at Wikimedia Commons

- [Gentlemen Coachmen, by Anne Woodley.](https://web.archive.org/web/20121104210459/http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~awoodley/carriage/gentlemen.html)

- [George Borrow's, "The Stage-Coachmen Of England: A Bully Served Out".](http://www.blupete.com/Literature/Essays/Best/BorrowStagecoach.htm) Compiled by Blupete (Peter Landry).

- [The stables - Coachmen 1662-1837 | British History Online.](http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43923&strquery=coachman)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Coachman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coachman) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coachman?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.