Ménage à trois

The last few days, at odd intervals, I have been rereading an early Maigret story 'La Charretier de la "Providence"'. An important element of this story is a péniche, a large relative of our narrow boat. At the back of the boat you had the quarters for the owner and his wife. In the middle of the boat you had the stable for the two horses which pulled the barge, a stable which also served as the quarters for the horseman, the man who led the horses during the day and looked after them at night. The rest of the boat carried cargo, often heavy, the sort of thing that was expensive to carry by road, at least at the time. A kind of boat which was going out of use by the time Simenon came along in the 1920's.

The life of the horseman was hard, involving rising at maybe 0300 to get his horses ready. Then leading the horses maybe 30 or 40 kilometres a day. Then rubbing the horses down and feeding them. Then feeding and watering himself. Then sleep. But not so hard that the leading part at least was sometimes done by a child, presumably the child of the owner and his wife. With the day being broken up by taking a shot of white (wine) at every lock, that is to say every 5 kilometres or so. Maybe taking on a bottle of red in the evening to sleep on.

Typically, the locks would be the only signs of life. Otherwise, the canals would be out in the more or less deserted country.

So question one, what sort of person gravitated to the work of the horseman? Derelicts from the first world war, the colonies, the mental health or penal systems? Work which required getting on with animals, but long, tedious days for not much money. Perhaps the odd beano during the odd days of charging or discharging.

Question two, did not living in this closely confined ménage à trois create tensions? How often were such ménages rocked by crimes of violence or passion? Not to mentions accidents consequent on drink taken.

Reference 1: http://psmv3.blogspot.com/2016/05/railway-lore.html.

Reference 2: La Charretier de la "Providence" - Simenon - 1930. Volume I of the collected works.