39° ch. xvii 



CHAPTER XVII 



THE WHIP AND ITS USE 



While coachmen differ somewhat in their ideas 

 as to the weight, stiffness, &c, of a whip, there are 

 certain dimensions and characteristics which may be 

 considered as standard, and from which the devia- 

 tions are, after all, very slight. 



The whip best adapted to four-in-hand driving 

 has come down to us from the palmy days of Eng- 

 lish coaching, when thousands were made for, and 

 used by the most accomplished coachmen. 



It has a straight stick, crop, or cross, with the 

 thong attached by what is called the quill (from its 

 being made of goose quills), which, being in form a 

 prolongation of the stick, is stiff at its root, gradually 

 merging into the thong proper ; the quill and the 

 first part of the thong forming a bow or portion of 

 a circle (see Fig. 159). 



This quill is characteristic of the English whip, 

 the whip of other countries having a stiff stick to 

 which the thong is attached by a loop. The stick, 

 or crop, is made of an elastic wood : holly, yew, 

 blackthorn, lancewood, or white hickory. 



Holly is by far the most generally used, and is 

 obtained from second growth shoots, six or seven 

 years old. The sticks are carefully selected, the 



