Hackney carriage
The Town Police Clauses Act 1847 defines ‘hackney carriage’ as a wheeled carriage
used in standing or plying for hire in any street. Originally hackney carriages were
horse-drawn. Nowadays they are usually taxis licensed under the 1847 Act or other
similar Act.
An enduring misconception about hackney carriages is that the driver must keep a
bale of hay in the boot to feed the (nowadays) non-existent horse. This
misconception probably comes about because of section 51 of the London Hackney
Carriage Act 1831 which made it an offence, punishable by a 20 shilling fine, for the
owner or driver of a hackney carriage (or any one else) to4
“feed the horses of or belonging to any hackney carriage in any street, road or
common passage, save only with corn out of a bag, or with hay which he shall
hold or deliver with his hands”.
This offence was repealed by the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1976. As a result any
taxi driver who travels around accompanied by a bale of hay does so purely for his
own amusement and not in compliance with any legal requirement.
ref:
http://www.lawcom.gov.uk/docs/legal_oddities.pdf