Handbarrow
{{Short description|Type of human-powered transport}}
The handbarrow, also spelled hand-barrow and hand barrow, is a type of human-powered transport. It was originally a flat, rectangular frame used to carry loads such as salt cod, cheese and guano.{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/1Ys7RzYCT2qek8ywmK_lkw |title=Hand Barrow - La cheviéthe à bras |publisher=British Museum / BBC}}{{cite web |url=https://app.pch.gc.ca/application/artefacts_hum/detailler_detail.app;jsessionid=7BB8732885A8DEE677B2BA41DD48BAE7?d=AEFN677&w=&t=1&i=false&n=0&p=a&o=&f=&k=&pID=1&r=10&s=1&in=Battle+Harbour+National+Historic+Site&colId=&v=none&l=l&lang=en |title=Hand Barrow |publisher=Artefacts Canada}} It has handles on both ends, so two people are needed to use it.{{cite web |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/barrow |title=barrow (n.1) |publisher=Online Etymology Dictionary}}{{cite news |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2002-09-28-0209280385-story.html |title=For years, bearing burdens |last=Amelia |first=William |date=September 28, 2002 |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun}} In Dutch cheese markets, official porters (kaasdragers) still use traditional barrows, albeit with straps, to transport cheese. A special handbarrow was built to move the Stone of Destiny around Westminster Abbey.{{cite web |url=https://www.historicenvironment.scot/about-us/news/20-facts-revealed-about-the-stone-of-destiny/ |title=20 facts revealed about the Stone of Destiny |date=November 29, 2016 |publisher=Historic Environment Scotland}} Modern usage has expanded the definition to include the wheelbarrow or any wheeled cart or box propelled by hand.
File:Alkmaar, cheese market-1.jpg
Scholars such as Lynn Townsend White Jr., Albert Leighton and Andrea Matthies suggest it may have inspired the invention of the wheelbarrow.{{cite journal |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3106255 |title=The Origins of the Wheelbarrow |last=Lewis |first=M. J. T. |journal=Technology and Culture |year=1994 |volume=35 |number=3 |pages=453–475 |doi=10.2307/3106255|jstor=3106255 |url-access=subscription }} The addition of a wheel meant it only required one person. (Leonardo da Vinci is sometimes credited as the inventor, but a crude form of the wheelbarrow was in use in England in the early 14th century, predating da Vinci by a century.)
The Middle English word barwe means handbarrow, litter or stretcher,{{cite web |url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/middle-english-dictionary/dictionary/MED3717 |title=Middle English Compendium: barwe n. |publisher=University of Michigan}} the last two being similar in construction to the handbarrow, only with the "cargo" being a person.