One-horse shay

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The 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^[1] of the French chaise, and is also known as a whisky as its owners tended to whisk about doing errands. The body is chairlike 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. Alternative spellings are one-hoss shay and "one horse shay".

Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. memorialized the shay in his light poem "The Deacon's Masterpiece or The Wonderful One-Horse Shay". The fictional deacon constructs his shay from the stoutest materials so that each part is just as durable as every component. In Holmes' logical twist, the shay endures for a hundred years then decomposes in an instant as all the pieces wear out at exactly the same moment.

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