A 'one-horse shay' is a light, covered, two-wheeled carriage for two persons, drawn by a single horse. It is the American adaptation, originating in Union, Maine, of the French 'chaise', and is also known as a 'cheer', or a 'whisky'
as its owners tended to whisk about doing errands. The body is chair-like in shape and has one seat for passengers positioned above the
axle, which is hung by leather braces from wooden springs connected to
the shafts. It was colloquially known as a 'one-hoss shay'.
Oliver Wendell Holmes’s poem “The Deacon’s Masterpiece,” a satire on Calvinism was about a 'wonderful one-hoss shay'.
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