A Treatise on Carriages, 1796
In the mid-eighteenth century, the term sulky was generally applies to a one passenger carriage. Apparently, the perceived aloofness of the rider “came the application of the adjective sulky to the vehicle”. It was modeled after a post-chaise or chariot, but for only one person. (Carriage Terminology: A Historical Dictionary, 2014).
The sulky may have also been referred to as a whiskey, and according to one brilliant classification system from 1860 that was republished in the 1970s, the sulky was used for “trotting (and) business”. Sulkies would later be turned into racing carriages.
I can just imagine the very aloof rakehell, a bit of a mincey piece, dragging his sulky out for promenade on Rotten Row. Or maybe a scandalous widow who wants to show off her skills as a whip.
