Stilts

Stilts, poles with steps or supports at a sufficient distance from the lower end to allow a man standing on the steps to walk clear of the ground and with longer strides. Useful in all marshy lands, they were in old days specially serviceable in the French Landes (q.v.), where the shepherds practically spent the whole day on stilts. Elsewhere they serve for crossing streams (as the upper Tweed and Clyde), for a (somewhat dangerous) pastime for boys, and for displays of acrobatic skill. At Namur one of the diversions of the carnival was a tournament between bodies of men mounted on stilts.