[Sca-cooks] carts, wains and wagons
Stefan li Rous
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
Wed Jun 3 22:58:24 PDT 2009
/* Feeder a, /ix., 248. Robert Hunt, Sergeant-Carter, to provide carts
and
wains for the King's use, May, 1415. /\M-, /31o, 312.
Johnnae
Wait! I thought carts and wains were the same thing. As in, wains are
carts, carts are wains. What's the difference?
--
Ian of Oertha
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Carts have a single axle with two wheels and a wain has two axles with
four wheels. One of the big differences is that with a wain/wagon you
don't have to worry about balancing the load fore and aft, which you
have to with a two wheeled cart. One of the reasons I built a dog
wagon and not a dog cart.
Okay, Wikipedia has this to say on wains:
"A wain is a type of horse-drawn, load-carrying vehicle, used for
agricultural purposes rather than transporting people, for example a
haywain. It normally has four wheels but the term has now acquired
slightly poetical connotations so is not always used with technical
correctness. However, a two-wheeled 'haywain' would be a hay cart, as
opposed to a carriage. "Wain" is also an archaic term for chariot.
Builders of wains were known as wainwrights, just as the builders of
carts were known as cartwrights. These trades no longer exist, but the
terms survive as the surnames of descendants of those practising these
crafts."
Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous Barony of Bryn Gwlad Kingdom of Ansteorra
Mark S. Harris Austin, Texas StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at: http://www.florilegium.org ****
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