Sedan Chair  Contributed by Museum of Edinburgh  Sedan chairs
carried wealthy people around Edinburgh, particularly in the
City's Old Town, where the tightly packed houses made some of
the streets too narrow to allow a carriage to pass along them.
Sedan chairs permitted passengers to be carried from door to
door, and even from inside one building to another, avoiding the
need to walk along the filthy streets, where their expensive
clothes and footwear could get dirty.  Rich people sometimes had
their own elaborately decorated chairs, but plain black painted
chairs could be hired, a bit like hiring a taxi today.  A 1768
list of fares in Edinburgh suggested a fee of 6d (2.5 pence) for
a journey within the City, 1 shilling and 6d (7.5p) for a
journey half a mile outside the City, and 4 shillings (20p) for
a whole day's hire.  Sedan chairs were carried on long poles
placed through brackets at either side of the chair. The door
was at the front so the passenger could get in and out without
the poles being removed