Four-in-hand knot
The four-in-hand knot is a method of tying a necktie. Also known as a simple knot or schoolboy knot, due to its simplicity and style. Some reports state that carriage drivers tied their reins with a four-in-hand knot, while others claim that the carriage drivers wore their scarves in the manner of a four-in-hand, but the most likely etymology is that members of the Four-in-Hand Club in London began to wear the neckwear, making it fashionable. The knot produced by this method is on the narrow side, slightly asymmetric, and appropriate for most, but not all occasions. For United States Army uniforms, and United States Navy uniforms that include a necktie, the four-in-hand knot is one of three prescribed options for tying the necktie, the other two being the half-Windsor and Windsor.
Tying
The four-in-hand knot is tied by placing the tie around the neck and crossing the broad end of the tie in front of the narrow end. The broad end is folded behind the narrow end and brought forward on the opposite side, passed across the front horizontally, folded behind the narrow end again, brought over the top of the knot from behind, tucked behind the horizontal pass, and the knot pulled snug. The knot is slid up the narrow end of the tie until snug against the collar.
Four-in-hand (carriage)
A four-in-hand is a carriage drawn by a team of four horses having the reins rigged in such a way that it can be driven by a single driver. The stagecoach and the tally-ho are usually four-in-hand coaches.
Before the four-in-hand rigging was developed, two drivers were needed to handle four horses. However, with a four-in-hand, the solo driver could handle all four horses by holding all the reins in one hand, thus the name.
The four-in-hand knot used to tie neckwear may have developed from a knot used in the rigging of the reins.
Today Four-in-hand driving is the top discipline of combined driving in sports. One of its major events is the FEI World Cup Driving series.
Four-in-Hand in Art
The Fairman Rogers Four-in-Hand (1879–80) by Thomas Eakins, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
The Fairman Rogers Four-in-Hand (1879–80) by Thomas Eakins, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
Alphonse de Toulouse-Lautrec Driving His Four-in-Hand (1880) by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Musee du Petit Palais, France.
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