tainly a step in advance of the sandal. In the valley of the Upper Oxus, towards Budukshan, the people shoe their horses with stag-horn. I heard of a singular practice,' says Burnes, among the people of these districts, who shoe their horses with the antlers of the mountain deer. They form the horn into a suitable shape, fix it on the hoof with horn pins, and never renew it till fairly worn out. It is said the custom is borrowed from the Kirghizzes.' Speaking of the Kirghiz, Wood writes: What flesh they consume is obtained by their matchlocks; and the number of horns that strew Pamir bear evidence to the havoc they make among the wild flocks of the mountain. These horns being of a remarkably large size, supply shoes for the horses' feet, and are also a good substitute for stirrup-irons. The shoes are nothing more than a semicircular piece of horn placed on the fore part of the hoof. When the horse is in constant work, it requires renewal at least once a week.'2 2 Travels into Bokhara, vol. iii. p. 180. Journey to the Source of the River Oxus, p. 340. CHAPTER III. OVERTHROW OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE BY THE BARBARIANS. THE 'DARK AGES.' THE EMPEROR LEO, AND HIS TACTICA.' FERREA THE EMPEROR CONSTANTINE, AND 'SELENAIA.' LUNATICA. ANCIENT CUSTOMS OF EUROPE. CHIFFLET's ARCHEOLOGY. АВВЕ СОСНЕТ. THEIR SUPERSTITIONS. THE GAULS AND BRITONS. RARITY OF HORSE-SHOES IN GRAVES. THE CELTS SHOD THEIR HORSES; THEIR HISTORY. THE GAULS AS A NATION: WARRIORS AND AGRICULTURISTS. THE DRUIDS. GALLIC NAMES. AN EQUESTRIAN NATION. HORSES, WAGGONS, AND ROADS. ALESIA AND ITS TOMBS. PRIMITIVE FARRIERY. THE DRUID'S WORKSHOP AND ALTAR. THE PONTIFF BLACKSMITH. THE GAULISH CAVALRY. DEFEAT OF VERCINGETORIX. NAPOLEON III. AND HIS 'VIE DE CÆSAR.' BESANÇON AND ITS RELICS. SMALL-SIZED HORSE SPECI SHOES. GALLO-ROMAN SHOES; THEIR PECULIARITIES. INVASION OF THE FRANKS, AND EFFEMINACY OF THE GAULISH NOBLES. THE FRANKS NOT AN EQUESTRIAN PEOPLE. LEVIES OF COWS INSTEAD OF HORSES. ABSENCE OF HORSE-SHOES FROM MEROVINGIAN GRAVES. THE CARLOVINGIAN DYNASTY. ADVANTAGES OF CAVALRY. CHARLEMAGNE AND REVIVAL OF EQUESTRIANISM. TRADITIONS. SHOEING IN FRANCE IN THE NINTH AND SUBSEQUENT CENTURIES. THE COMTE DE L'ETABLE, AND ECUYER. ORIGIN OF CHIVALRY AND ITS CONSTITUTION. DUTIES OF THE KNIGHTS. THE MARESCHAL. We have now reached a comparatively modern date in the history of the domestication of the horse, without discovering any incontrovertible evidence as to those who employed it having extended its usefulness by a durable. armature to its vulnerable hoofs. All the authorities worthy of acceptance have been examined, and their testimony, taken as a whole, would lead to the belief that plates of iron or other metal, securely attached to the feet by nails, were not in use during the period of time over which our inquiry has extended; these authorities have been historians, agricultural and veterinary writers, and sculptors, who would, we may be almost certain, have left us ample testimony in this respect, had they been cognizant of the art. But we appear to have evidence that a very temporary and clumsy defence was resorted to, and which was more or less firmly fixed to the extremity by thongs and bands, or straps and buckles. Unfortunately, further inquiry is rendered all but nugatory on account of the dearth of historical or other records by which one might be enabled to pursue an uninterrupted investigation towards the period when iron shoes were attached by iron nails to the feet of horses, and that such an artisan as the faber ferrarius was needed to garnish the hoofs with these now indispensable appendages. The third century saw the Roman Empire rapidly declining; successive hordes of barbarians issuing from what are designated 'the frozen loins of the north,' began to disturb the equilibrium of the western world, and to spread confusion and destruction everywhere. The Huns, originally of Tatar or Scythian origin, first made their presence felt in Europe about the middle of the 4th century, and about a hundred years later ravaged the continent far and near, under the leadership of their king, Attila, the Scourge of God.' With an immense army, the greater portion of which was cavalry, he invaded and laid under tribute the Roman empire, but not before devastating many of its provinces. After his death, this wandering people, who appear to have been largely composed of Kalmuck or Mongol Tatars, were without a leader, and, being broken up, formed themselves into a number of petty states, which continued to maintain their independence until the close of the eighth century, when they were subdued by Charlemagne. During these and subsequent centuries, well termed the 'Dark Ages,' learning was at a low ebb, because of the disturbed condition. of the civilized world, and the overthrow of kings and dynasties by the irruptions of these strange and less than semi-barbarous nations, who swept away or destroyed in their progress nearly everything valuable to future ages, leaving only the more salient and remarkable historical facts to be imperfectly described by a few monks or refugees. These were, for the most part, buried in cloisters or secluded spots, and had but few opportunities, even if they possessed the inclination or ability, to note the various changes which befell many of the arts, or chronicle those which appeared for the first time. So that it is not to be wondered at that the annalists of those days should be silent with regard to these foot defences, and that the first intimation of their existence should only be given at so late a date as the ninth century. The change of designation which was formerly employed to indicate the coverings for the feet, χαρβατιναι, εκβαται, soleæ, and ἱπποπεδης, was that which first led investigators to the conclusion that our present method of ་ shoeing was practised in the ninth century. From the ancient terms being much less frequently met with, it was surmised that the old-fashioned solea had gone out of use, and that the new armature, if it was adopted, must have a particular designation of another kind to distinguish it. In the Tactica' of the Eastern Emperor Leo VI. surnamed the Philosopher (A.D. 886-911), there is a list of everything necessary for the equipment of a cavalry soldier, and amongst other articles are included 'lunar or crescent-shaped iron shoes and their nails.”1 In the 'Tactica' of the Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus, son of the former, the same passage also occurs, and in a book by this monarch on court ceremonies,3 iron horse-shoes are mentioned on two occasions: first, when in speaking of the horses to be provided for the imperial stables, he directs that they are to be furnished with everything requisite, and to have reλnvaĩa-selenaia; and, secondly, where it is ordered that a certain weight of iron. is to be issued from the imperial magazines for the purpose of making these iron shoes, and other articles of horse necessaries. These are, so far as is known, the first instances that occur in history of horse-shoes, with their nails; and it is somewhat remarkable, that about this period they are also noticed in the writings of Italian, French, English, and Tactica Imperatoris Leonis, vol. v. cap. 4, p. 51. Leyden, 1612. * πέδικλα σεληναῖα σιδηρά μετὰ καρφίων-Ferra lunatico cum clavis eorum.' 2 'Calceos lunatos ferreos cum ipsis corphiis, id est, clavis.' Maffei, who translated an edition of this work, attributed it to Constantine, son of the Emperor Romanus Lecapenus. 3 De Ceremoniis Aula Byzantinæ. Leipzig, 1754 |