STILTS

This article appears in Volume V25, Page 923 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: STE-SUS

STILTS , poles provided at a certain distance above the ground with steps or stirrups for the feet, for the purpose of walking on them. As a means of amusement stilts have been used by all peoples in all ages, as well as by the inhabitants of marshy or flooded districts. The city of Namur in Belgium, which formerly suffered from the overflowing of the rivers Sambre and Meuse, has been celebrated for its

stilt

STILT

-walkers for many centuries. Not only the towns-people but also the soldiers used stilts, and

stilt

STILT

-fights were indulged in, in which parties of a hundred or more attacked each other, the object being to overset as many of the enemy as possible. The

governor

GOVERNOR (from the Fr. gouverneur, from gouverner, O. Fr. governer, Lat. gubernare, to steer a ship, to direct, guide)

of Namur having promised the archduke Albert (about 1600) a company of soldiers that should neither ride nor walk, sent a detachment on stilts, which so pleased the archduke that he conferred upon the city perpetual exemption from the beer-tax, no small privilege at that time.
The

home

of stilt-walking at the present day is the department of Landes in Gascony, where, owing to the impermeability of the subsoil, all low-lying districts are converted into marshes, compelling the shepherds, farmers and marketmen to spend the greater part of their lives on stilts. These are strapped to the leg below the knee, the foot resting in a stirrup about five feet from the ground. Their wearers, who are called - tchangues (

long

LONG, GEORGE (1800-1879)
LONG, JOHN DAVIS (1838– )

-legs) in the Gascon dialect, also carry

long

LONG, GEORGE (1800-1879)
LONG, JOHN DAVIS (1838– )

staves, which are often provided with a narrow piece of board, used as a seat in case of fatigue. In the last

quarter

QUARTER (through Fr. from Lat. quartarius, fourth part)

of the 19th century stilt-races, for women as well as men, became very popular in. the Landes

district

DISTRICT

, and still form an important feature of every provincial festivity. One winner of the annual championship races accomplished 490 kilometres (more than 304 m.) in 103 hours, 36 minutes. Silvain Dornon, a baker of the Landes, walked on stilts from Paris to Moscow in 58 days in the

spring

SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

of 1891. The rapids of the Niagara have been waded on stilts. In many of the Pacific islands, particularly the Marquesas, stilts are used during the

rainy

RAINY, ROBERT (1826-1906)

season. Stilts used by children are very long, the upper half being held under the arms; they are not strapped to the leg. Stilts play an important part in the Italian masquerades, and are used for mounting the gigantic figures in the grotesque processions of

Lisle

LISLE, ALICE (c. 1614-1685)

, Dunkirk;

Louvain

LOUVAIN (Flem. Leuven)

and other cities.

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