THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
4 
 
 
 Q T3 . 
 
 
 m H 
 
HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 ATHOL MAUDSLAY. 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 LONDON: CHAPMAN AND HALL 
 
 LIMITED. 
 
 1888. 
 
 [All rights reserved.} 
 
CHARLES DICKENS AND EVANS, 
 CRYSTAL PALACE PRESS. 
 
H 3-f/ 
 
 THE FOUR-IN-HAND AND COACHING CLUBS, 
 
 COUNTRY GENTLEMEN, MEMBERS OF HIGHWAY BOARDS, 
 
 ROAD SURVEYORS, COACHMEN, 
 
 AND ALL PERSONS WHO USE AND ARE INTERESTED IN THE CONDITION OF THE 
 QUEEN'S HIGH AND BYWAYS, 
 
 AND TO THOSE WHO REGARD THE WELL-BEING AND PROPER TREATMENT OF HORSES 
 AS A MATTER OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE AND GRAVE NECESSITY, 
 
 AND WHO ARE INFLUENCED, NOT ONLY BY MOTIVES OF HUMANITY, BUT ALSO BY 
 ECONOMICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL CONSIDERATIONS, 
 
 SINCE TO ILL-TREAT MEANS TO INJURE, 
 AND TO INJURE MEANS TO CAUSE A DEPRECIATION IN VALUE. 
 
 in permitting man to snbjn^ntt anb subordinate imb animals to Ins nzt, 
 
 EVIDENTLY TRUSTED THAT, 
 
 BY REASON OF HIS SUPERIOR INTELLIGENCE, 
 HE WOULD TREAT THEM WITH WISDOM AND HUMANITY. 
 
 M363710 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 SHOULD it be argued that the condition of the highways 
 is a matter of interest only to a very small portion of the 
 community, I can give a very conclusive and unequivocal 
 reply to such a statement ; let those who feel no interest in 
 the condition of the highways cease to make use of them. If 
 we require any proof of the influence their use exercises over 
 the comfort and convenience of our lives, let us imagine a 
 time when we are deprived of their use; let us imagine 
 a snow-storm of such terrific violence and intensity, and 
 lasting so long, that every road both of town and country is 
 blockaded and rendered impassable for a month or more. 
 What then would be the result of such a state of things ? 
 Would not every man, woman, and child throughout the 
 kingdom feel then the vital importance of this means of 
 communication of which they were deprived ? 
 
 Most English people know what a London fog is, and are 
 aware that it either puts a stop to traffic in the streets, or 
 renders moving on wheels a matter of extreme difficulty, if 
 not danger. The fog also penetrates into our houses, and 
 renders all those occupations and professions to which the 
 light of day is essential, utterly impossible. Painters, en- 
 gravers, photographers, and numerous people of other trades 
 and professions, are all forced to cease their labours and 
 remain idle, because a darkness as of night a darkness such 
 as might even have alarmed Pharaoh has spread itself like a 
 
viii PREFACE. 
 
 mantle over our modern Babylon. Beyond the utmost fringe 
 of that mantle, the land may be bathed in bright winter sun- 
 shine, distant objects may appear unusually distinguishable, 
 but over the metropolis of the world as some too patriotic 
 Englishmen have designated London there is that over- 
 whelming and invulnerable darkness, which bears not the 
 slightest resemblance to the definition of a fog given by 
 lexicographers, since by them it is described as a dense 
 watery vapour exhaled from the earth. To attribute a 
 London fog to such a cause is a great mistake, since it is 
 undoubtedly owing to the existence of smoke held in sus- 
 pension, which neither falls nor rises, since there is not 
 sufficient movement in the atmosphere to waft it away. If 
 the difficulty of progression in the streets and on the roads 
 of the metropolis during a London fog paralyses traffic to 
 such an extent, how much more terrible would be the total 
 suspension of road traffic altogether ! 
 
 Every one knows what it is when a road is taken up in 
 town or country, and wheeled vehicles have to make a 
 lengthened detour ; but this experience and that of a London 
 fog give us but a faint idea of what we should suffer if the 
 roads were reduced to the condition they were in two or three 
 centuries ago; but without imagining any such dire catas- 
 trophe as this, if fog can so materially interfere with the 
 traffic of the town, how much more would a snow-storm, not 
 confined to the town, but prevailing in all directions through- 
 out the country. As I have before said, persons who have 
 made light of the advantages arising from a perfect condition 
 of the highways and a perfect system of road communication 
 would then become fully sensible of their value. When roads 
 are blockaded and rendered impassable, it is as though we 
 were deprived of something which in a human being might 
 be compared to one of our senses, such as hearing, smelling, 
 tasting, or seeing; immediately that a thing so essential to 
 our happiness, health, and comfort is denied to us, our ima- 
 gination raises it to such a pinnacle of usefulness that, in our 
 estimation, it becomes far more valuable than all the other 
 
PREFACE. ix 
 
 senses which remain to us, showing that we never appreciate 
 fully the blessings we enjoy until we are deprived of them. 
 
 Although long journeys are no longer performed on high- 
 roads, except when on a driving tour, yet we make short 
 journeys on the road, either on foot, horseback, or on wheels, 
 almost every day of our lives; the roads, in fact, we have 
 always with us, beside us, and before us almost any one 
 living in a town has only to take half-a-dozen steps from his 
 front door, and he stands in the centre of a public roadway 
 but the rail we use only occasionally. Into some persons 1 
 lives the rail> even in these days of excessive travelling, enters 
 but very little; a journey in a train is one to be recorded; 
 the number of railway journeys performed during the year 
 can be reckoned upon the fingers of one's outstretched hand, 
 but the little journeys made to and fro upon the road are too 
 numerous for recollection. 
 
 The chapter on Past and Present speaks of the progress 
 of civilisation during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; 
 but the condition of the roads is perhaps one of the truest 
 indications that exist of the progress that has been made by 
 a country in the arts of civilisation. 
 
 A traveller gives us in his book of travels his experiences 
 of being cast ashore on the coast of what he supposed was 
 either a barbarous or uninhabited country ; but after having 
 walked for eleven hours without coming across a single indica- 
 tion of human occupation or habitation, or even the print of 
 a human foot, to his delight he saw a man's dead body 
 hanging from a gibbet. " My pleasure/' he says, " at this 
 cheering prospect was inexpressible, for it convinced me that 
 I was in a civilised country." 
 
 This man dangling from a gibbet was to this traveller a 
 convincing proof of the civilisation of the country. It must 
 have been a most gratifying spectacle; at the same time I 
 venture to suppose that a good macadamised road would 
 have raised his drooping spirits to a still further height, since 
 roads in most cases lead somewhere ; and the better a road 
 is, the greater prospect there is that the place to which it 
 
x PREFACE. 
 
 leads will furnish one's necessities and offer adequate accom- 
 modation and shelter for one's person. 
 
 I venture to make one or two remarks upon driving, 
 although in this volume I do not propose to enter into 
 matters relating to the art of driving that is, in an instructive 
 sense. 
 
 In the course of a walk in any crowded thoroughfare in 
 the fashionable part of London, it will be observed that out 
 of fifty or more professional drivers that pass you by, there 
 are not more than a dozen that know how to drive 
 properly. In making this observation, I refer especially to 
 coachmen in livery. I believe that a great many masters and 
 mistresses are imposed upon ; provided the man's character 
 is good, and that he says he can drive, the new master or 
 mistress appears perfectly satisfied. Whether he can drive or 
 no, is a matter upon which they are frequently not qualified 
 to express an opinion ; provided that in the course of their 
 drive they do not come into collision with anything, but return 
 home safe and uninjured, they are perfectly contented. It 
 matters not to them that their horses wear a gag bearing-rein, 
 which is inflicting upon them severe suffering ; that the 
 cruppers are too tight; that the reins are buckled to the 
 lower bar of a severe bit, when the horses would go better 
 were they on the cheek; that the pole-chains are badly 
 adjusted, and that their coachman looks more as though he 
 were fly-fishing than simply driving a pair of quiet, tractable, 
 and inoffensive horses. 
 
 Most of the coachmen in livery appear as though they 
 wanted an extra hand, three instead of two one for the 
 whip, two for the reins since when they whip their horses, it 
 is with both hands still clinging to the reins, and not with the 
 left hand holding the reins, and the right hand occupied with 
 the whip. I have never understood yet, what makes them 
 stick their elbows out at right angles from their sides, why 
 their reins are divided wide apart, and when they pull their 
 horses up, why they raise their hands to their chins, or even 
 higher, all the while leaning back as though they were 
 
PREFACE. xi 
 
 endeavouring to lie down ; if their horses were to stumble, 
 how could they possibly save them from falling, since they 
 have not got them properly in hand ? You cannot persuade 
 these gentry to keep their hands low, their elbows down to 
 their sides, their reins firmly grasped in the left hand, whilst 
 the right hand, that holds the whip, is ready to help the left 
 hand by drawing the reins through it in order to shorten 
 them, or to assist in guiding the horses. No, they must 
 behave like mountebanks^ separating their reins, and then 
 when they wish to pull up, suddenly bringing up their hands 
 in close proximity to their noses, or when desiring to touch 
 up their horses with the whip, doing so with the right hand 
 holding both the whip and the reins at the same moment, 
 thereby giving a painful jerk to the horses' mouths, in addition 
 to the cut of the lash. A pair of horses can be guided with 
 one hand only, and with one hand be pulled up and made to 
 turn round ; of course this is a difficult matter, but as I have 
 done it myself several times, I know it to be perfectly 
 feasible. 
 
 Some people will never submit to be taught. It is 
 not because they are not conscious of their deficiency, 
 but because they are too narrow-minded to admit that 
 they are deficient in the knowledge you are willing to 
 impart. They cherish a feeling of false pride, which 
 envelops their minds as in a mantle. I am not now 
 speaking of servants, but of all people who ride and drive 
 badly. I know doctors in the country who drive every 
 day of their lives, and all day from morning to night, and yet 
 they are shocking bad coachmen, with hands and arms all 
 over the place. 
 
 I think that all the great men who have raised themselves to 
 eminence from small beginnings must have been men whom it 
 was exceedingly difficult to offend by giving them advice. Their 
 minds must have been continually yearning for additional know- 
 ledge, and if the advice they received did not coincide with 
 their opinion, or struck them as being worthless, I feel certain 
 they received it in good part notwithstanding. That they 
 
xii PREFACE. 
 
 winnowed the grain from the chaff and rejected all that was 
 useless, goes without saying ; at the same time they were in 
 no way offended. Such men must have had marvellously 
 receptive minds. Minds possessed of this quality are always 
 gathering, always receiving impressions from the day of 
 their birth to that of their death \ but some minds are not 
 receptive. To the owners of such, much that takes place 
 in the world is no more than a dumb show. Only such 
 things as awaken their interest have any appreciable effect, 
 and even then the interest they manifest does not appear 
 strong enough to make them study to any advantage. 
 
 Riders and drivers who do both things indifferently are 
 frequently unapproachable in the matter of advice. Provided 
 that they start on a ride or drive, and return without having 
 met with a serious accident, they appear perfectly satisfied 
 with themselves. As for advice, and the minds that receive 
 and reject it, in thinking of such things I am reminded of 
 the Scripture parable, " A sower went out to sow his seed, 
 and some fell upon good ground/' The good and bad 
 ground spoken of in this parable may be compared to the 
 receptive condition of the human brain, which qualifies it for 
 receiving or rejecting impressions, whilst the seeds of the 
 sower may be compared to the advice or teaching which it is 
 hoped will take root therein. 
 
 Most people are aware that to drive with comfort and 
 safety, one must conform to the rules of the road, and 
 this is more especially the case in crowded thoroughfares. 
 It is merely owing to the fact that persons are willing to 
 conform to these rules and abide by them, that the enormous 
 traffic in the streets of London and other large towns is 
 conducted with comfort and safety; the slightest attempt 
 to set them at defiance would, I feel certain, result in an 
 accident. 
 
 In France the rules of the road are exactly the reverse to 
 ours, and to any one who drives in Paris for the first time, this 
 becomes evident ; as to an Englishman who has been all his 
 life accustomed to what we consider the right and wrong side 
 
PREFACE. xiii 
 
 of the road, the Continental rule of the road is most perplex- 
 ing, since all one's former habits have to be reversed. In 
 England, 
 
 The law of the road is a paradox quite : 
 
 In riding or driving along, 
 If you go to the left you are sure to go right, 
 
 If you go to the right you go wrong. 
 
 \ 
 
 But on the Continent it is difficult to say where you would 
 go ; if you followed these directions, you would most certainly 
 come to grief. 
 
 I have spoken of civilisation. I would even go so far as to 
 say that in a land which is admitted to be civilised there are 
 degrees of civilisation some parts are more civilised than 
 others ; in like manner, some persons are more civilised than 
 others. Not every part of, or every person in a civilised 
 country can be taken as an example of the extent of its 
 civilisation. In rural districts there is certainly a less amount 
 of civilisation than in cities and towns, and the primitive 
 or neglected condition of the roads is a strong indication that 
 the arts of civilisation are not cultivated in that particular 
 spot with the same energy and spirit as they are elsewhere. 
 
 If they can afford to do so, persons of an influential posi- 
 tion in the country should endeavour, as far as they are able, 
 to improve the condition of the district in which they live, 
 that it may not be said to lack civilisation, although, perhaps, 
 that word might not be used to describe its condition. In 
 fact, they should endeavour to improve it in such a manner 
 that it may compare favourably with other districts having the 
 same natural advantages or disadvantages, rather than permit 
 it to assume a neglected appearance, which gives strangers 
 the impression that it has not shaken itself free from the 
 fetters of a primitive and unenlightened age. 
 
 Large landowners are generally in a position to do this ; 
 it is only their inclination that is wanting. In fact, every 
 one having a particle of influence can combine with his 
 neighbours in urging those who have the care of public 
 
xiv PREFACE. 
 
 works to maintain them in a proper and suitable condition; 
 whilst every one individually can, in a manner, contribute to 
 the welfare of the district in which they reside. 
 
 But it is the highways and byways of which I would 
 more especially speak, as it is they that come within the 
 province of this work, and it is they that offer the first 
 indication, to persons visiting rural districts, of the condition 
 of the neighbourhood. 
 
 The contents of this volume were suggested in a great 
 measure by the state of the roads around my own country- 
 house in Hampshire. I first agitated the question of 
 improved road maintenance in the Hampshire Chronicle 
 (published at Winchester), during two severe and trying 
 winters ; and, encouraged by the interest with which the 
 subject appeared to be generally regarded, I decided to 
 go more deeply into the matter and commit to writing 
 the result of my frequent observations, with a view to 
 publishing a book on the maintenance of High and Byways. 
 
 As regards knowledge of various kinds of roads, I 
 drive a great deal and have done so all my life. The 
 autumn before last I drove from this house 260 miles in 
 nine days. A few years ago I drove from here through 
 Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, and Berkshire ; some time 
 since I drove from London to Wales, vi& Oxford and 
 Gloucester; and before that I drove from London through 
 the Midland Counties. I have driven from London to 
 Brighton in the day with my own horses, changing half- 
 way, and driven coaches in different parts of England; so 
 I may be said to have some experience of English 
 roads. 
 
 My favourite carnage of late years for fast travelling 
 and the performance of long distances has been a 
 curricle, for reasons I will afterwards explain; sufficient 
 to say, that there is no weight on the horses' backs, the 
 load is perfectly balanced, no carriage for two horses can 
 be lighter or easier to ride in. The special curricle to 
 which I refer is my own design; it was a long time 
 
PREFACE. xv 
 
 before I succeeded in perfecting it. I had a four-horse 
 curricle some little time back, but have now only a small 
 curricle for two horses standing about fifteen hands. 
 
 Having driven very many miles upon country roads 
 in various parts of England, besides taking long walks in 
 Switzerland, Italy, and other parts of the Continent, I 
 have had many opportunities of gaining information 
 respecting roads. 
 
 In offering some explanation for venturing to write 
 upon draught, traction, shoeing and the care of horses, 
 I claim to be heard with some deference, being a coach 
 and horse man of many years' standing, and having made 
 a careful study of these subjects. I have nearly all my life 
 possessed a horse of some kind, frequently considerable 
 numbers. The long driving tours which I have undertaken, 
 have given me an opportunity of observing the amount 
 of work a horse can do on a variety of roads, passing 
 through districts each possessed of a different soil, and over 
 roads each differing slightly in its mode of construction. 
 
 When driving, I generally notice anything wrong with 
 the vehicles I meet on my way or in the manner in which 
 the horses are attached thereto. 
 
 I am writing now from my house in Hampshire, where, 
 as my own architect and builder, I have erected stabling 
 for several horses,* and to and from this stable have come 
 and gone many young horses all varying in disposition, 
 character, and quality ; consequently I have had, especially 
 during the last six years, plenty of opportunities of deter- 
 mining the best mode of treatment calculated to conduce 
 to their comfort and well-being, I was on the point of 
 saying happiness, since all efforts of kindly - disposed 
 persons who seek to ameliorate the condition of animals 
 must have the result, if steadily persevered in, of con- 
 
 * I trust that I may be excused for mentioning this, but I do so 
 in order to prove that my remarks on the building of stables are the 
 result of actual experience acquired after considerable expenditure of 
 time, money, and patience. 
 
xv i PREFACE. 
 
 tributing to their happiness. As I am confident that 
 some people would ridicule this idea, I will endeavour to 
 describe the various sensations which I imagine must be 
 experienced by a horse in the full possession of health. 
 From the time he is led out of his stable to go a journey 
 or follow the hounds, until he returns home again, what 
 is called freshness is the result of pleasurable sensations, 
 superabundant vitality, a desire to give free vent to 
 high spirits, a longing for unrestrained exercise of his 
 muscular powers, just as boys, liberated from school after 
 long hours of application to their studies, give expression 
 in various ways to the pleasure with which they regard 
 their release. 
 
 After a time a horse settles down ; he has then reached 
 the point at which his expressions of delight are modified 
 by the labour he is called upon to perform, although 
 this labour does not as yet materially interfere with the 
 sensation of pleasure he experiences. After a time he feels 
 some little fatigue, this at once quenches his spirit; he 
 then enters upon a period where all exertion has ceased 
 to be regarded by him with pleasure, and this causes him 
 to relax his efforts and reduce his speed, which the 
 driver's whip frequently urges him to maintain. In this 
 condition he returns to the stable from which he started ; 
 but if, in the charge of a careful and conscientious groom, 
 he be well fed, well groomed, and well cared for, his 
 happiness may possibly return, although he is too fatigued 
 to allow it to be apparent by any outward and manifest 
 exhibition of feeling on his part. I have no doubt that 
 what I have remarked is the case. A dog who bounds 
 around his master barking and wagging his tail on being 
 let loose from his kennel must surely experience some 
 feeling of happiness, and so I have no doubt does a horse 
 when he is what we denominate " fresh." 
 
 The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals 
 have done a great deal of good work when mercifully 
 interfering to protect animals from ill-usage, and, with all 
 
PREFACE. xvil 
 
 my heart, I wish them success ; and yet they too frequently 
 declare things to be cruel about which there is a question, 
 whilst serious instances of cruelty and severe suffering 
 appear either to escape their observation or meet with no 
 rebuke or interference from them whatever. It is amongst 
 the lower classes, who are uninfluenced by education ajid 
 wise training in childhood, that cruelty is most prevalent 
 and most to be combated. 
 
 To treat a horse cruelly is most intolerable ; and any one 
 having the care of a horse would, were he to consider 
 the matter, undoubtedly be conscious that to injure and 
 ill-treat a beast from whom he expects so much, and 
 upon whom he is so dependent, is false economy; since he 
 is, in fact, injuring himself as he depreciates the value of 
 his own property. And even if the horse does not belong 
 to him whilst he is making use of it, it is undoubtedly to 
 his advantage to obtain the best results he can during its 
 hours of labour. 
 
 In speaking of shoeing and my experience thereof, I 
 would preface the remarks that I make in the chapter 
 which appears in this work treating exclusively on that 
 subject,* by saying that under no circumstances,, except in 
 the treatment of disease, do I ever allow a smith to pare 
 the sole, cut the frog, rasp the hoof, or otherwise tamper 
 with my horses' feet. As regards writing on such subjects, 
 I am convinced that too constant reference to authorities 
 is apt to retard the originality of one's own ideas. Any one 
 writing about things with which they are thoroughly well 
 acquainted, and knowledge of which they have gained at 
 the fountain head of all knowledge, which is " Fact," 
 when desiring to expatiate on such subjects need not 
 altogether submit to the restraint imposed by other 
 people's opinions when they are qualified to express one 
 for themselves. By taking a line of their own the subject 
 is more likely to be treated with originality. 
 
 * I refer to a further volume on the subject of Highways and Horses 
 under contemplation, \vhich may possibly follow this one. 
 
xviii PREFACE. 
 
 The other day I sent up to town for a work I saw 
 advertised on Climate, Weather, and Disease, published 
 recently by Churchill, the medical publisher. I thought, of 
 course, to receive a book giving the latest ideas on the 
 subject, since the title gave me no reason to suppose 
 otherwise; imagine then my surprise when I received 
 from my booksellers a work treating upon the climate of 
 Greece, as observed by Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, 
 who was born B.C. 460, just 2347 years ago. This, then, 
 was the result of my desire for nineteenth-century opinions 
 on the great subject of climate as affecting disease. This 
 and other matters lead me to suppose that beneath the 
 sun there is nothing new ; and of this I am still further 
 convinced, when reminded that we may seek of the Romans 
 instruction in the science of road-making. I am persuaded, 
 since this is the case, that no one can be certain of treating 
 a subject with positive originality or even of giving 
 utterance to an entirely original thought. What appears to 
 people living at the present day as an invention of the 
 very latest date may be only an old practice revived 
 something which existed centuries ago but was never 
 completed or sufficiently established in people's favour to 
 secure recognition ; numberless, no doubt, are the things 
 which we now regard as resulting from an advanced 
 education, and the infinite information we possess, with which, 
 if the truth were known, the ancients were well acquainted, 
 as regards road-making : this is especially the case, since 
 we might even at this period not be ashamed to follow in 
 their footsteps or benefit by their wisdom. 
 
 Any one who reads Xenophon's treatise on the horse 
 cannot fail to be surprised at his remarks on this subject, 
 since his advice upon grooming and the general care and 
 treatment of the horse might well be, with a few exceptions, 
 written at the present day; and the works of other Greek 
 and Roman authors frequently convey this impression, 
 particularly those of Horace and the younger Pliny. 
 
 The Greeks were not very famous for their roads, and the 
 
PREFACE. xix 
 
 Romans, who were, say very little about them. In fact, if we 
 are to believe Xenophon, some of the Greek roads were in 
 anything but a perfect state, since he says, when describing 
 how a horse should be treated by his master, that "the 
 ground outside the stable may be put into excellent con- 
 dition, and serve to strengthen the horse's feet if a person 
 throws down in it here and there four or five loads of round 
 stones, large enough to fill the two hands, and about a pound 
 in weight, surrounding them with an iron rim, so that they 
 may not be scattered ; for, as the horse stands on these, he 
 will be in much the same condition as if he were to travel part 
 of every day on a stony road." 
 
 If Xenophon means that all the Greek roads were in this 
 condition, one cannot award to the Greeks the same meed of 
 praise that one does to the Romans ; it moreover must be 
 remembered that horses in Xenophon's time were not shod 
 as we shoe our horses, but only with a light sandal which 
 must have worn out very quickly if they were made to travel 
 over roads the surfaces of which were strewn with the large 
 stones that Xenophon describes. The earliest mention of a 
 horse-shoe, according to Berenger, is that of Childeric, who 
 lived A.D. 481, of which the figure is preserved in Mont- 
 faucon's Antiquities, and which resembles the shoes in use 
 among us. But for any horse, whether shod or not, to travel 
 over such roads for any great distance would have been 
 utterly impossible, except he \vere perfectly sound ; in fact, 
 none but sound horses could have travelled on such roads, 
 and these roads were eminently qualified to make a sound 
 horse unsound, however perfectly his foot might have been 
 protected. 
 
 Considering that Xenophon lived 2,338 years ago, it is not 
 surprising that the treatment of highways and horses should 
 have been somewhat primitive. Although it was not very long 
 after the period in which Xenophon lived that the Romans 
 constructed roads far more nearly resembling our modern 
 highways, and if we are to judge from the enormous time 
 they have lasted, it is very evident that they were made in a 
 
xx PREFACE. 
 
 manner far superior to our roads, since, after fifteen centuries, 
 they still exist. 
 
 It will be seen that I particularly mention Roman roads, 
 because they were the first important roads that were ever 
 constructed on a solid and substantial basis, and because 
 their great antiquity evokes in my mind an interest which I 
 am powerless to subdue. All history is interesting; but that 
 which records events and describes matters relating to times 
 of the remotest antiquity must be possessed of the greatest 
 interest, and to study the history and literature of those far 
 distant days is, in my opinion, as absorbing an occupation as 
 reading any sensational novel ; but I believe that history and 
 fiction can both fail to impress, if the person who peruses 
 such narrations is of an unimaginative mind. This is observable 
 when visiting places of historic interest in company with 
 others; some people undoubtedly have the gift of imagina- 
 tion so strongly developed that they can conjure up before 
 their mental vision people and things that have long since 
 passed away, whilst others utterly fail to do so, in fact, are 
 singularly deficient in the power of realisation or conception. 
 It is the possession of this imaginative faculty that makes a 
 visit to places of historical interest appear so fascinating ; 
 without this gift of imagination such visits can afford but 
 little pleasure, satisfaction, or instruction, and yet the 
 antiquity of all great national works executed by the 
 Romans and other ancient people cannot fail to interest and 
 impress most educated persons. In fact, any one who is 
 capable of realising the immensity of the time which has 
 elapsed since these works were constructed, must feel in- 
 terested in what relates to them. 
 
 In every country subjected to Roman rule, one frequently 
 sees the remains of forts, roads, bridges, and aqueducts or 
 buildings of some kind that are attributed to the Romans; 
 but there is no doubt that the first great military Roman 
 road was due to the Censor, Appius Claudius Ccecus, and it 
 remains a striking memorial to this man to the present day, 
 noble in conception, and audacious in execution. The spade 
 
PREFACE. xxi 
 
 and trowel were at the period of Roman ascendency as 
 much the weapons of conquest and subjection as the 
 spear and sword. It is well to remember that, besides 
 being a nation of warriors, the Romans were a nation of 
 masons and bricklayers. In fact, it is more than probable 
 that every Roman soldier was an adept in the use of the 
 spade and the trowel, otherwise their invading legions must 
 always have been accompanied by an army of civilians, and 
 this we know was not the case ; hence forts, bridges, roads, 
 and aqueducts must have been constructed by the Roman 
 soldiery when not upon the war-path, and not by civilian 
 artisans. Were our line regiments when on foreign service 
 ordered to lay down their arms and assume the habiliments of 
 peace, laying foundations, rearing walls of solid masonry, and 
 constructing paved roads in such a manner as to make such 
 roads impervious to the destructive influence of time, however 
 willing they might be to do so, I should be inclined to doubt 
 their ability to perform such tasks. As I have shown, the 
 Greeks constructed roads, but were not so successful in this 
 respect as the Romans ; it remained for the Romans at a 
 later period to establish their claim to be considered the 
 greatest of all road makers past or present. 
 
 As for the ancient Greeks, they always appear to me to 
 have been a less solid people than the Romans or Italians ; 
 and yet the Italians of the present day do not impress me 
 with the idea that they possess the sterling qualities of the 
 Saxon race in Central and Western Europe. Nevertheless, 
 these people, whom an Englishman might possibly regard as 
 deficient in manliness, in the days of Rome's pomp and 
 splendour proved how vigorous was their manhood by the 
 stupendous works they executed, and by the extent, variety, 
 and completeness of their conquests. Their national works 
 surpass those of the Saxon people in extent and greatness of 
 conception. On the other hand, the Greeks were possessed 
 of qualities utterly different to those of the Romans ; their 
 intelligence was undoubtedly of a more delicate and refined 
 order, as was proved by their literature, and by the buildings 
 
xxii PREFACE. 
 
 they erected, which were famed for their exquisite finish and 
 their architectural and constructive beauty; the one people 
 were, in fact, a nation possessed of superlative artistic 
 faculties, whilst the other was a nation of warriors and 
 builders. Although the Romans have also left behind them 
 much that was architecturally beautiful, yet what they did 
 in the way of public works, although, as a rule, great, 
 stupendous, massive, and overwhelming, was yet frequently 
 deficient in architectural beauty. 
 
 Had these two nations prospered at the same time, fore- 
 gathered, and been consolidated under one government, each 
 might have benefited by the prevailing taste of the other. 
 Some of the Romans did, however, evince a strong inclina- 
 tion to follow the example of the Greeks, as is evident, by the 
 construction of their domestic buildings, particularly in 
 Pompeii ; but the sterner citizens of Rome regarded it as a 
 matter for reproach when any Roman imitated the example 
 of fastidious Greece, and affected Grecian tastes and habits. 
 Appius Claudius, the constructor of the Appian Way, was 
 chosen Censor in 312 B.C. After holding his office for 
 eighteen months it was expected that he would relinquish 
 it as ordered by the ^milian law, but this he was unwilling to 
 do as he was engaged in some great national works ; these 
 works still remain famous as the Appian Way and the 
 Appian Aqueduct. The Via Appia, or Appian Way or 
 road, is well known even to many who have not visited 
 Rome, by the amusing description given by Horace of his 
 journey upon it. It led from Rome to Capua, passing 
 through the Pontine Marshes to Tarracina, and then skirted 
 the seaward side of the Volscian Hills, by the pass of 
 Lautulse, and went on past Fundi, Formiae, and Sinuessa to 
 Capua. There had been a track before in this direction, but 
 Appius improved it and made it fit for military purposes. 
 It was at first only 120 miles long, afterwards it led to 
 Naples and the southern extremity of Italy. 
 
 Horace, on the journey he describes, took fourteen days 
 to travel 378 Roman miles; that he might have travelled 
 
PREFACE. xxiii 
 
 faster had he chosen to do so is proved by other journeys 
 that were undertaken by the Romans. Caesar posted 100 
 miles a day, Tiberius travelled 200 miles in twenty-four 
 hours, and Statius speaks of a man leaving Rome in the 
 morning and being at Baiae, 127 miles, before night. In fact, 
 Horace says himself : 
 
 Have but the will, be sure you'll find the way. 
 What shall stop him who starts at break of day 
 From sleeping Rome, and on the Lucrine sails 
 Before the sunshine into twilight pales ? 
 
 The Roman emperors at a later period were induced to 
 establish throughout their extensive dominions a regular 
 service of posts. Houses were erected at a distance of only 
 five or six miles ; each of them was constantly provided with 
 forty horses, and by the help of these relays it was easy to 
 travel a hundred miles in a day along the Roman roads. 
 
 Although the Appian Way was never destroyed, it was 
 covered up, until the reign of Pius IX., beyond the tomb of 
 Caecilia Metella, and between the third and eleventh mile, 
 Murray says that it was almost confounded with the sur- 
 rounding Campagna, and was only marked out by the long 
 line of ruined sepulchres which form such picturesque objects 
 in that solitary waste. The work of restoration and excava- 
 tion was commenced in 1850 and completed in 1853, and yet 
 the whole cost of reopening the Appian Way did not exceed 
 ^"3000 ; this included the removal of several feet of earth and 
 rubbish that had accumulated during very many centuries. 
 A wall was also built on either side of it to protect the 
 monuments. 
 
 Some doubts have been thrown upon the antiquity of the 
 top covering or surface of the road, which Murray tells us is 
 formed of polygonal blocks of lava, probably from Vesuvius, 
 and by some it is supposed that the causeway over which 
 Horace, Virgil, Augustus, and Germanicus travelled on their 
 way to Brundusium, will one day be discovered beneath these 
 blocks of lava, which some suppose to be the work of people 
 living in the Middle Ages. However this may be, we must 
 
xxiv PREFACE. 
 
 remember that the road Appius Claudius, the Censor, con- 
 structed, B.C. 312, was not even then the original road. 
 
 It must have been by this road that the Romans travelled 
 to and from Pompeii. I have frequently ridden and driven 
 over it when staying in Rome; in fact, if I remember right, 
 the meets of the Roman fox-hounds used often to be held 
 upon this road, the antiquity of which is most astonishing, 
 when we consider that even dating it from the time of Appius 
 Claudius, it is 2,200 years old. It seems, therefore, a sacrilege 
 to indulge in such a modern sport as fox-hunting upon 
 ground which, being classical, should be esteemed as sacred ; 
 but hunting was forbidden on a very different pretext, since 
 Mr. Murray's Guide Book to Rome, published in 1862, says 
 that, " hunting in the Campagna was prohibited in conse- 
 quence of a deputation from certain ladies of the Roman 
 aristocracy to his Holiness the Pope, asking him to forbid 
 the sport, for fear their sons and husbands might break their 
 necks." If such was the case, it proves beyond doubt that 
 the character of the Roman people has sadly degenerated of 
 late years. Where now is the courage and self-sacrifice of 
 the Roman mother ? Such timidity is enough to make the 
 heroes and heroines of ancient Rome, after carefully collecting 
 their ashes and piecing them together, rise from their graves 
 to expostulate with these timid and weak-minded matrons 
 who have thus brought into contempt the character of the 
 Roman citizen. I am told that the jerry builder has now 
 established himself in Rome, and that he is erecting his 
 buildings even in the vicinity of the splendid old palaces, 
 building on the economical and short lasting principle that 
 would even in brick and mortar loving England be con- 
 demned as unfit for human habitation. This is another 
 proof of Rome's degeneration, although in these later days it 
 has become the seat of the constitutional government of 
 United Italy. 
 
 In writing on these subjects I am not forgetful of the fact 
 that very many coachmen of birth and education have 
 no inclination for study of any kind ; that, although ex- 
 
PREFACE. xxv 
 
 cellent whips and fully comprehending how horses and 
 carnages should be turned out, yet to what happy chance 
 the various carnages with which they are acquainted owe 
 their origin, or how the roads over which they drive 
 have become established, is a matter of utter indifference 
 to them ; consequently the history of roads which I feel 
 compelled to write at the commencement of this volume 
 in order to trace matters connected with driving up to the 
 present time, I fear will, to many of my readers, appear 
 dry and uninteresting : even if this be the case, I feel I 
 cannot omit what is so essential to a comprehensive work 
 upon the subject of Highways and Horses. 
 
 Although the advent of the locomotive has diverted the 
 traffic from the road to the rail, no one can be certain 
 that some of it will not return when the application of 
 electricity as a motive power has made still further progress : 
 as regards my own belief, I anticipate a very great future 
 for electric motive power in its application to carriages 
 on common roads. At the same time I should regret 
 any innovation that resulted in a depreciation of the quality 
 of horses, or that in any way discouraged the breeding of 
 horses. England has already suffered sufficiently in this 
 respect ; and it is a sad thing at the large sales of 
 thoroughbred stock, that have from time to time taken 
 place, to see so many good mares and sires purchased 
 by foreigners and transported to a distant country. 
 
 LlTTLEBOURNE, WINCHESTER, 1 688. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE HISTORY AND ORIGIN OF ROADS ..... 
 
 The good old times Consequences of the establishment of roads 
 Origin of byways or cross-roads Peruvian, Greek, Cartha- 
 ginian, and Roman roads The Roman Empire Roman roads 
 in Britain Alpine roads The Mont Cenis Tunnel The 
 Grotto Pausilipo The Pyrenees American roads Depopu- 
 lation of English country districts Concentration of wealth in 
 London Stagnant state of affairs in rural districts Continental 
 roads English roads Further history of roads in the reigns 
 of Queens Mary and Elizabeth Difficulty of transporting goods 
 Pepys' Diary Stage waggons and the first coaches 
 Shocking state of English roads Scotch and Irish roads 
 Telford's roads The Holyhead road The turnpikes John 
 Metcalf, the blind road-maker Telford and the Scotch roads 
 MacAdam London streets Dirt and dust. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 MAIL AND STAGE COACHES 70 
 
 Last days of road travelling Aspect of the roads Long distance 
 day coaches Road versus rail Of the clock The time 
 journeys occupy Horses a necessity Fast coaches Guards' 
 time-bills Too late Farming turnpikes Snowstorm of 1854 
 Great snowstorm of 1836 The clerk of the weather 
 Sleighing Driving in a fog Old coaching inns Mail guards 
 Inn yards and stables The yard of tin Improvement in 
 coaches The last coaches Preservation of leather Coach 
 inspectors Highwaymen Skids and breaks Horsing the 
 mails Mail coachmen A coach attacked by a lioness Coach 
 
xxv iii CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 proprietors Rail and road Coach-horses Immature The 
 Telegraph Coaching pictures In the City State of high- 
 waysA Transatlantic opinion Coaching misadventures- 
 High-roads passing through tunnels Colonel Paterson's Road- 
 bookOther road-books Cost of coach-horses Lord William 
 Lennox Death from exposure Coaches racing Convicted 
 of manslaughter A careless coachman An English coach on 
 a French road Locomotives. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 IRISH MAIL AND STAGE-CARS . .... 164 
 
 Irish troubles A clever novelist Larry Flood A sprig of shil- 
 lelagh As safe as in church These roads before they were 
 ma de A rustic cicerone A wild Irishman Irish impudence 
 Bianconi Leaving home to seek a fortune A spirit of mischief 
 His first car Car-drivers Electioneering The Bians 
 Irish fisheries Immunity from violence Bianconi's popularity 
 Mayor of Clonmel. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HACKNEY-COACHES, CABS, AND STAGE-CARRIAGES . . 
 
 Hobson's choice Origin of Hackney-carriages Hackney-coaches 
 in Paris The first cab-stands Cabs Police supervision Acts 
 relating to hackney-carriages Abstract of Acts Mrs. Prodgers 
 A smart hansom S. and T. Station broughams Amateur 
 cabmen Growlers Stage-carriages First omnibuses Acts 
 relating to the same Omnibus companies Tramways and 
 tram-cars. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 POSTAL TRANSMISSION POST-CHAISES AND POST-BOYS . . 2iy 
 
 Early letter-carriers and postal systems The first English Post 
 Further postal organisation The Penny Post Post-chaises 
 and post-boys Postillions Post-horses Post-houses, post- 
 masters, and post-boys Two good Conservatives Rules of 
 posting-yard. 
 
CONTENTS. xxix 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 ROAD LOCOMOTIVES 231 
 
 Colonel Maceroni's steam carriages Mr. Gurney spends ,100,000 
 Sir Isaac Newton's steam carriage Reactionary propulsion 
 Trevithick : s and Griffith's steam carriage Thirty-two to thirty- 
 five miles an hour The "Era" runs eighteen miles an hour 
 Steam carriages in and about London Report of committee of 
 the House of Commons Eighty-four miles in nine hours and 
 twenty minutes Opposition to steam carriages Restrictive 
 acts relating to road locomotives Discouragement to road 
 locomotion Electric carriages. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT EIGHTEENTH AND NINETEENTH CENTURIES 246 
 One hundred years ago 111 omens Three-bottle men Watchmen 
 and Bow Street runners Signboards Village stocks May- 
 poles Beating the bounds Dick Turpin " Stand, and de- 
 liver!" Collecting The ducking-stool The majesty of the 
 law The last century Encouraging virtue by exposing vice 
 Military patrols An empty boast An exchange of property 
 " I merely borrow " Turpin's death A sharp archbishop 
 "Remove that dangerous weapon" Tyburn tree Men of the 
 time Wars of the last century Abolition of slavery Yoho ! 
 Washington Irving and an English coach Virgil on driving. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 AMATEUR COACHING . . . . . . . .308 
 
 Coach-building and harness-making trades The Guildford coach 
 Coaches versus covert-hacks A harmless pursuit Do foxes 
 like being hunted ? Heavy coaches Light coaches Holland 
 & Holland A coach-builder's opinion Grooms' hands All 
 should take their share of work Amateur coachmen Mad 
 Mytton The Four-in-hand Club Mr. Morritt, of Rokeby 
 The Coaching Club A professional opinion Randolph 
 Caldecott Time-bills Winter coaches The "Defiance" 
 coach The Brighton coach A sale of coach-horses The 
 Dorking and Box Hill coach The "Old Times" The " Non- 
 pareil" The "New Times" The "Defiance" The "Wonder" 
 The Brighton coach Coaching a luxury. 
 
xxx CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 COACH-BUILDING 35$ 
 
 That one-hoss shay Scale-drawing Owner's superintendence 
 Dimensions of four-horse coach Broken poles and axles 
 Timber employed in coach-building Wheels Varnish versus 
 paint Manipulation of timber Wheels Collinge's patent axle 
 The aequirotal carriage The mail axle The carriage as 
 distinct from the body Iron-work Sons of Vulcan Carriage- 
 springs Painting and varnishing Lining carriages Improve- 
 ments in carriage-building C springs The English drag The 
 sobriety of French workmen Scientific training American 
 wheels The interchangeable system The Paris and Dublin ex- 
 hibitions Cruppers and breechings Labour-saving machinery 
 Indiarubber tires Standard sizes The millionth part of an 
 inch Standard gauges Improvements in carriage-building 
 Coach-building periodicals Driving by night Carriage-lamps 
 Height of coaches C springs Brought up to a trade Coach- 
 builders Coach - houses Spoke - brushes Prevention better 
 than cure Burning of the Exeter coach. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 HARNESS 437 
 
 Oak-bark tanning Oil your leather Reins Horse beats horse- 
 Patent leather Much harness unnecessary Comfortable har- 
 ness Don't use bearing-reins A natural balance "Sit on his 
 'ead" Look to your reins and bridles Care of harness 
 Harness should fit well Harness-makers. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 COACH-HORNS AND WHIPS . . . . . . .453 
 
 Variety of horns How to blow Way for the coach The rule of 
 the road Coach-horn calls A heavy lash and a long stick 
 Whip and coach-horn makers. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 CHIT-CHAT ........ 46? 
 
 A private omnibus A miniature drag The price of horses Fifty 
 years ago The world on wheels Thompson's cyclometer 
 The Wealemefna Nature knows best. 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 To face page 
 
 The Briinig Pass .... ...... 13 
 
 The Gallery St. Joseph, Simplon Road 15 
 
 The Schollinen Ravine, St. Gothard Road 19 
 
 A Tunnel on the St. Gothard Road 23 
 
 A Swiss Mail Coach or Post 25 
 
 The Winchester and Southampton Stage Coach . . . 71 
 
 George Stephenson's Locomotive, " the Rocket " .... 75 
 
 The Great Snowstorm of 1836 The Louth Mail in difficulties . 87 
 
 The Liverpool Mail in a Snow- 
 
 drift ; Chaise left by Post-boy 91 
 
 The Devonport Mail on Salisbury 
 
 Plain 93 
 
 The Birmingham Mail abandoned 95 
 
 Bianconi Car Arriving at the end of a Stage .... 165 
 
 Arriving at Commins Hotel, Waterford . . .183 
 
 ,, ,, Springing them 185 
 
 Preparing for a Start at Clonmel . . . .189 
 
xxxii ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 To face pag^ 
 
 Hackney Carriages and Street Traffic 191 
 
 The latest thing in Hansom Cabs 205 
 
 A Station Brougham 207 
 
 Road Steam Carnages 237 
 
 Coaching in Hyde Park 309 
 
 A light Morgan Coach, and Four-horse Harness as it should be 315 
 
 The Duke of Beaufort 333 
 
 The White Horse Cellars, Piccadilly ..'... 337 
 
 A Professional Coachman . 353 
 
 Bentley Priory ... 355 
 
 A Four-horse Coach by Messrs. Shanks . . 365 
 
 Coach Lamps ..... 425 
 
 A Harness Room .... 437 
 
 Coach and Post Horns . 457 
 
 A Private Omnibus 463 
 
 A Miniature Drag 465 
 
 
HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE HISTORY AND ORIGIN OF ROADS. 
 
 " The good of ancient times let others state, 
 I think it lucky I was born so late." 
 
 COLLEY GIBBER. 
 
 The good old times Consequences cf the establishment of roads 
 Origin of byways or cross-roads Peruvian, Greek, Cartha- 
 ginian, and Roman roads The Roman Empire Roman 
 roads in Britain Alpine roads The Mont Cenis Tunnel 
 The Grotto Pausilipo The Pyrenees American roads 
 Depopulation of English country districts Concentration of 
 wealth in London Stagnant state of affairs in rural districts 
 Continental roads English roads Further history of roads in 
 the reigns of Queens Mary and Elizabeth Difficulty of 
 transporting goods Pepys' Diary Stage waggons and the 
 first coaches Shocking state of English roads Scotch and 
 Irish roads Telford's roads The Holyhead road The 
 turnpikes John Metcalf, the blind road-maker Telford 
 and the Scotch roads MacAdam London streets Dirt 
 and dust. 
 
 THESE two lines of Gibber's are true and wise indica- 
 tions of the general feeling that animates the present 
 dwellers in civilised countries. Nevertheless, there were 
 advantages enjoyed by people in past times of which 
 
2 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 the present generation are deprived ; but having been 
 born in the present century, and benefiting as we do 
 by the labours carried on through, and discoveries 
 made in past times, none but lunatics would regret 
 the fact that they first saw the light of day in the 
 nineteenth century, consequently most persons will 
 undoubtedly be of the same opinion as Mr. Gibber, 
 and will think it lucky they were born so late. 
 
 What were the good old times of which so much 
 has been said ? Was it when the streets of London 
 and other towns were of a night in almost complete 
 darkness ; when the roadways were impassable ; when 
 both countryand town were ill protected against robbery 
 and outrage ; when a journey which now occupies only 
 a couple of hours took an entire day or night ; when 
 valuable property and possibly life was sacrificed 
 on the way ? In my opinion those who live latest in 
 the world's history are most to be envied, for as time 
 progresses, so will the journey through life be rendered 
 the more enjoyable, if, as I imagine, the comfort of the 
 traveller is dependent on the period at which he sets 
 forth on his travels. 
 
 Roads have at all times been the agents by which 
 society has been consolidated ; they are to a certain 
 extent the avenues of political, social, and commercial 
 intercourse. Successive invasions, and final conquest 
 and occupation, render commerce practicable, pro- 
 mote civilisation, and create history ; but it is roads 
 that provide inlets and outlets for manufactured 
 articles, that facilitate travelling, and break down 
 local prejudices. 
 
 The existence of highways dates from a very 
 early period. The same thing cannot be said with 
 regard to byways ; there is little doubt that by-roads, 
 
ORIGIN OF BYWAYS OR CROSS-ROADS. 3 
 
 some of which are now of considerable importance, 
 in fact leading thoroughfares, were once upon a time 
 mere cart-tracks, after which, as the land became 
 cultivated on either side of them, they were probably 
 fenced in. In course of time they became green lanes ; 
 and afterwards when houses, farmsteads, or cottages 
 were built beside or near them, they passed through 
 a still further state of transition : stones of some 
 description were laid down, and they were by gradual 
 process converted into established roadways. Possibly 
 later on they fell under the jurisdiction of Highway 
 Boards, and became subjected to parochial main- 
 tenance. Leading, as they frequently did, from one 
 important highway to another, they were indispen- 
 sable to the inhabitants of the districts through which 
 they passed, and it is on these roads that you frequently 
 observe every fault which a road can possibly possess, 
 for this reason : no skill of any kind, but mere chance, 
 led to their formation. Probably the first man who 
 drove his cart and horse over some rough moorland 
 or across low-lying ground, using his discretion in 
 avoiding whatever obstacle came in his path, was the 
 first pioneer of what afterwards became very probably 
 an important road, since where one goes another is 
 almost certain to follow ; and so the mere track be- 
 comes in process of time an important thoroughfare, 
 which eventually, owing to its erratic windings and its 
 eccentric way of overcoming gradients, excites in the 
 minds of all intelligent persons who use it, the utmost 
 derision, vexation, and scorn. 
 
 But with high-roads it is quite a different matter ; 
 but as regards the high-roads and by-roads of Great 
 Britain at the present day, they are like veins and arteries 
 which intersect its entire system in the same manner 
 
 B 2 
 
4 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 as do the veins and arteries of the human body, 
 London being the heart, whereas the other big towns 
 throughout England, Scotland, and Wales may be said 
 to represent the less important blood-vessels. But in 
 speaking of highways, we must remember that they 
 did not owe their existence to mere chance, like 
 byways ; they were formed by competent road con- 
 structors, who were probably the most able men of 
 their time in this particular branch of industry to 
 penetrate the kingdom in all directions and connect 
 towns of importance. 
 
 In early days there is no doubt that all attempt 
 at locomotion on wheels away from the main roads 
 was an impossibility. But to speak of the commercial 
 importance of good roads, they are of importance to 
 commerce in so much as they tend to civilise a 
 country. Roads are always the first things thought 
 of in new countries and by early settlers, and the 
 construction of roads always follows upon an invasion 
 and occupation of a foreign country. 
 
 To cite an instance of skilful road construction in 
 past times, the Peruvians were great road-makers. 
 There is a magnificent road from Quitto to Cusco 
 in Peru, extending into Chili over the grand Plateau, 
 and passing over pathless sierras, through solid rocks, 
 and over bridges suspended almost in mid-air. There 
 are roads in Peru extending from fifteen hundred to 
 two thousand miles. The road from Quitto to Cusco 
 is twenty feet wide, made of freestone, with bituminous 
 cement on the top. I merely mention these roads as 
 showing the skill possessed by the ancient inhabitants 
 of these regions, and the ability with which they 
 overcame the extraordinary difficulties presented by 
 Nature. 
 
GREEK ROADS. 5 
 
 Under the heading of Roads in the French 
 Encyclopaedia are the following interesting facts: 
 
 "The policy of road maintenance does not begin 
 to show itself as worthy of consideration until the 
 prosperous times of Greece. The Senate of Athens 
 watched over them. They were by the Lacedae- 
 monians, Thebans, and other states, confided to the 
 care of their most eminent men. It does not, however, 
 appear that this display of wisdom produced any con- 
 siderable effect in Greece. It was reserved for a 
 commercial people to benefit by facility in travelling 
 and transporting goods ; hence it is that the invention 
 of paved roads is attributed to the Carthaginians. 
 
 "The Romans did not neglect the example of the 
 Carthaginians, and this particular industry is most 
 creditable to the Romans. The first road they made 
 was the Via Appia,* the second the Via Aurelia, the 
 third the Via Flaminia. 
 
 " The public and the senate held the roads in such 
 estimation, and took so great an interest in them, that 
 under Julius Caesar the principal cities of Italy all 
 communicated with Rome by paved roads. The 
 Roman roads from that period began to be extended 
 into the provinces. 
 
 " During one of the last great wars in which the 
 Romans were engaged, they made a road with rect- 
 angular broken stones (' de cailloux tailles en quarre '), 
 from Spain through Gaul to the Alps. 
 
 " Domitius CEnoberbus paved the Via Domitia, 
 which led to Savoy, Dauphiny, and Provence. The 
 Romans made in Germania another paved road. 
 Augustus, when emperor, paid more attention to the 
 great roads than he had done during his consulate. 
 * The Appian Way. 
 
6 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 He conducted roads into the Alps ; his stupendous 
 plan was to continue them to the eastern and western 
 extremities of Europe. He gave orders for making 
 an infinite number in Spain ; he enlarged and extended 
 the Via Medina to Gades. At the same time, and 
 through the same mountains, there were opened two 
 roads to Lyons : one of them traversed the Tarentaise, 
 and the other was made in the Alphenin. When 
 Agrippa succeeded, he seconded Augustus ably in this 
 respect. It was at Lyons he began the extension of 
 roads throughout Gaul. 
 
 " There are four of them particularly remarkable 
 for their length, and the obstructive nature of the 
 country through which they passed. One traversed the 
 mountains of Auvergne, and penetrated to the bottom 
 of Aquitaine. Another was extended to the Rhine 
 at the mouth of the Meuse, and followed the course 
 of the river to the German Ocean ; the third crossed 
 Burgundy, Champagne, and Picardy, and ended at 
 Boulogne-sur-Mer ; the fourth extended along the 
 Rhone, entered the bottom of Languedoc, and termi- 
 nated at Marseilles. From these principal roads there 
 were an infinity of branch roads, namely to Treves, 
 Strasbourg, Belgrade, etc. 
 
 "There were also great roads from the eastern 
 provinces of Europe to Constantinople, and into 
 Croatia, Hungary, Macedonia, and to the mouth of 
 the Danube at Torres. 
 
 " In Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, Britain, Asia, and 
 Africa the roads to a certain extent communicated with 
 the roads of Europe by the nearest ports. The industry 
 of the Roman road-makers will ever remain unsur- 
 passed, when we consider the extent of their highways 
 and the difficulties they encountered, the forests they 
 
ROMAN ROADS. 7 
 
 cleared, the mountains they severed, the hills they 
 lowered, the valleys they filled up, the marshes they 
 drained, and the bridges which they built." 
 
 Tredgold, in his book on railways, says that " the 
 Roman roads ran nearly in direct lines ; natural 
 obstructions were removed or overcome by the efforts 
 of labour, science, or art, whether they consisted of 
 marshes, lakes, rivers, or mountains. In flat districts, 
 the middle part of the road was raised and embanked. 
 In mountainous districts, the roads were alternately 
 cut through mountains or raised above the valleys, 
 so as to preserve either a level line or a uniform 
 inclination. They founded the road on piles where 
 the ground was not solid, and raised it by embank- 
 ments and strong side walls, or by arches and piers, 
 where it was necessary to gain sufficient elevation. 
 The paved part of the great military roads was 
 sixteen Roman feet wide, with two raised paths of two 
 feet wide on either side." 
 
 Bergier says, in his " Histoire des Grands Chemins 
 de 1'Empire Romain," that "the funds for making 
 roads were so well secured and so considerable, that 
 the Romans were not satisfied to make them con- 
 venient and durable, but they also embellished them." 
 
 They had columns placed from mile to mile to 
 mark the distance of one place from another ; blocks 
 of stone for foot travellers to rest upon, and to assist 
 horsemen to mount their horses ; and also temples, 
 triumphal arches, and even mausoleums and military 
 stations. Such was the solid construction of the 
 Roman highways, that their firmness has not entirely 
 yielded to the effect of fifteen centuries of traffic. 
 They united the subjects of the most distant provinces 
 by an easy and familiar intercourse ; but their primary 
 
8 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 object was to facilitate the marches of their legions of 
 soldiers. 
 
 It is difficult to judge of the enormous extent of the 
 Roman Empire. The only empire in any way to be 
 compared to it was that established by the great 
 Napoleon, whose conquest constituted him for a 
 time a despotic ruler over the greater part of 
 Europe ; or Charlemagne, whose invasions brought 
 the greater part of Europe under his sway. According 
 to historians, the Roman territory measured six 
 hundred leagues from north to south, upwards of a 
 thousand from .east to west, and extended over a 
 surface of eighty thousand square leagues, and this 
 area embraced the richest and most fertile countries in 
 Europe. On the north, the Empire was bounded by the 
 wall of the Caledonians or Picts, the Rhine, the Danube, 
 and the Black Sea ; the Picts' wall, which bisected 
 Scotland in its narrowest point, left the Romans in 
 possession of the Lowlands of Scotland, and the whole 
 of England. The Rhine and the Danube separated 
 Roman Europe from the less civilised nations on the 
 other side of these two great rivers. On the east 
 the Empire was bounded by the mountains of Armenia, 
 by a part of the Euphrates, and by the desert of Arabia. 
 
 What seems so remarkable, is, that there should 
 have been a sufficiently large army of Romans to 
 subjugate the vast number of inhabitants occupying 
 these regions ; it is a convincing proof of the power 
 that may be exercised over uncivilised people by a 
 well-disciplined, armed force, bearing with them (into 
 the countries which they invade) the elements of peace 
 and civilisation, as well as the destructive and awe- 
 inspiring horrors of war. 
 
 It was into the East that the Roman Empire 
 
THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 9 
 
 reached furthest, even as far as Mesopotamia, whilst 
 everywhere about Europe, so far as the Empire 
 extended, were roads such as would do credit to 
 modern engineering skill. 
 
 The aggregate of the Roman legions amounted to 
 375,000 men ; in fact, the entire military establishment 
 of the Roman Empire never exceeded 400,000 men. 
 
 The Emperor Diocletian divided the Empire into 
 four pretorian prefectures ; these prefectures were Gaul, 
 Illyricum, Italy, and the East. Each prefect had 
 under his orders a vicar. The Prefect of Gaul, which 
 included Britain, resided at Treves. The Illyrian 
 prefect resided at Sirmium, not far from Belgrade 
 and from the Danube, or at Thessalonica. The 
 prefecture of Italy included, besides the province 
 from which these conquerors of the world had 
 emanated, the whole of Africa from Egypt to Morocco. 
 Rome and Milan were alternately the residence of 
 the prefect of Italy, but Carthage was the capital 
 of the whole province. It equalled Rome in popula- 
 tion as well as in magnificence. A writer says the 
 imagination is confounded by the enumeration of the 
 provinces of Rome, and by the comparison of them 
 with any existing empire. Our astonishment is 
 heightened when we call to mind the vast and splendid 
 cities by which each one of them was adorned ; cities 
 several of which equalled, if they did not surpass, 
 our largest capitals in population and opulence ; 
 cities such as Antioch, Alexandria, and Carthage. 
 The ruins of some are yet standing, and surpass all 
 modern cities in magnificence. The legions of Rome 
 were distributed over the length and breadth of the 
 Empire ; the pacific provinces of Egypt, Africa, and 
 Spain had but one legion ; but the city of Rome, on 
 
io HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 the tranquillity of which the safety of the Emperor 
 and Empire depended, was kept in awe by a body 
 of 20,000 soldiers distinguished from the remainder 
 of the army by the Emperor's especial favour and 
 higher pay. They were called the Pretorian Guard. 
 But, as this is not a history of Rome, I must return to 
 the subject of roads. 
 
 Widely as the Empire extended, Mr. Gibbon in 
 his " Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," 
 after enumerating all the cities in the different parts 
 of the Empire, says : " All these cities were connected 
 with each other and with the capital by the public 
 highways, which, issuing from the Forum of Rome> 
 traversed Italy, pervaded the provinces, and were 
 terminated only by the frontiers of the Empire. If we 
 carefully trace the distance from the wall of Antoninus 
 (in Britain) to Rome, and from thence to Jerusalem, 
 it will be found that the great chain of communication 
 from the north-west to the south-east part of the 
 Empire w^as drawn out to a length of 4080 Roman 
 miles, or 3740 English miles. The public roads were 
 accurately divided by milestones, and ran in a direct 
 line from one city to another, with very little respect 
 for the obstacles either of nature or private property ; 
 mountains were passed, and bold arches thrown over 
 the broadest and most rapid streams. The road in 
 low-lying districts was raised into a terrace or embank- 
 ment, which commanded the adjacent country, and 
 consisted of several strata of sand, gravel, and cement, 
 and was paved with large stones, which, in some places 
 near the capital, were of granite." 
 
 The following are Mr. Pickerton's observations on 
 the Roman roads : 
 
 "One of the grand causes of the civilisation intro- 
 
ROMAN ROADS IN BRITAIN. n 
 
 duced by that ruling people (the Romans) into the 
 conquered States, were the highways, which form, 
 indeed, the first germs of national industry, and with- 
 out which neither commerce nor society can make any 
 considerable progress." 
 
 Conscious of this truth, the Romans seem to 
 have paid considerable attention to the construction 
 of roads in the distant provinces ; and those of 
 England, which may still be traced in various 
 ramifications, present a lasting monument of the 
 justice of their conceptions, the extent of their views, 
 and the utility of their power. A grand trunk, as 
 it may be called, passed from the south to the north, 
 and another to the west, with branches in almost 
 every direction that general convenience and expedi- 
 tion could require. 
 
 Mr. Eustace says, in his " Classical Tour : " " Thus 
 the civilised world owes to the Romans the first 
 establishment and example of a commodious inter- 
 course ; one of the greatest aids of commerce and 
 means of improvement that society can enjoy." 
 
 Mr. Smiles, in his life of Sir Hugh Myddelton, 
 speaks of a Roman causeway which was discovered 
 in the Fen districts.* He says that it was about sixty 
 feet broad and laid with gravel about three feet thick. 
 A cutting made across it at Eldernell shows the 
 permanent manner in which the Romans did their 
 work. It was laid upon the moor, the lowest layer 
 being of oak branches, then a considerable thickness 
 of Northamptonshire rough flagstone, then alternate 
 layers of gravel with small layers of clay, which 
 together have formed a cement that nothing but the 
 vigorous application of the pick can remove. 
 
 * In Lincolnshire. 
 
12 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 But in speaking of ancient highways, Englishmen, 
 in consequence of the Roman occupation of Britain, 
 should be most interested in those constructed by the 
 Romans during their stay in this country. Doing 
 everything well, they were remarkably skilful in the 
 construction of their roads ; in Italy there are fourteen 
 thousand miles of Roman roads. The Romans, when 
 they made a road, excavated all the loose earth until a 
 solid foundation was reached ; if this was not obtain- 
 able, they filled in with hard or solid substances, 
 frequently driving piles into the ground beneath the 
 foundation of the road, then filling in with rubble, 
 cement, broken stone, bricks and pottery, on the top 
 of which blocks of stone were laid, interlocked like a 
 stone-paved street ; the width of these roads was never 
 very great, being thirteen to fifteen, and sometimes as 
 narrow as eight to eleven feet wide. There were 
 raised footpaths on either side, which clearly indicates 
 the desire for comfort and convenience, which at all 
 times prevailed amongst the Romans, even when living 
 as exiles in a foreign land. 
 
 The roads constructed by the Romans during 
 their occupation of England were Watling Street, 
 Ermine Street, Foss-way, Ikonild Street. Watling 
 Street began at Richborough in Kent, passed through 
 London in a N.W. direction, and extended as far as 
 Chester ; Ermine Street commenced at London, and 
 passing through Lincoln was carried through Carlisle 
 and thence into Scotland ; the Foss-way branched 
 off in a S.W, direction from Ermine Street to Bath, 
 and Ikonild Street extended from Norwich in a S.W. 
 direction to Dorsetshire. From each of these roads 
 branches extended. 
 
 There is a Roman road from Winchester to Salis- 
 

 i i 
 
 ^ *?# 
 
ALPINE ROADS. 13 
 
 bury, called the old Sarum Road ; leaving Winchester, 
 it passes Teg Down, Crab Wood, Horsebridge Mill, 
 and so on through Bossington. 
 
 It always seems to me a great pity that such 
 famous roads as the Romans made should not be 
 maintained and used at the present day, particularly 
 as they appear to traverse the country in the directions 
 most desirable, and connect many of our large towns. 
 
 In speaking of other roads than those of Great 
 Britain, I would mention those that the great Napoleon 
 constructed across the Alps. The engineers employed 
 upon these roads were all French and Italian, and 
 their works are triumphs of engineering ; and what 
 makes them still more remarkable is that they were 
 made in very great haste to meet the exigencies of 
 war. The roads are quite as marvellous as those I 
 mentioned in Peru ; they ascend the steepest mountains 
 climb along the face of precipices, and cross bridges 
 over almost unfathomable gorges. The engineers who 
 constructed them at the order of Napoleon appear to 
 have surmounted difficulties calculated to intimidate 
 the most determined hearts. 
 
 In mentioning these roads I speak from experience, 
 being well acquainted with all the great roads over 
 the Alps from Switzerland into Italy. 
 
 Previous to the year 1800, until Napoleon made 
 his Alpine roads, the only means of conveying 
 goods was on the backs of men, horses, or mules ; even 
 now, upon all the less frequented passes the entire 
 traffic is carried on by the use of pack-saddles, or 
 goods roughly slung over the backs of ponies, mules, 
 or donkeys. The ponies used in the Bernese 
 Oberland are clever and sure-footed, but they are 
 not so good as the mules of Chamouni and other parts 
 
U HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 of Savoy. All Swiss riding-saddles have a flap or pillion 
 attached, on which goods can be carried not exceeding 
 in weight 30 Ibs. The Swiss law does not allow this 
 weight to be exceeded, unless the animal be led and 
 not ridden, when in place of the rider a large quantity 
 of luggage or goods may be thus conveyed. 
 
 A pass does not in every case mean a road by 
 which vehicles can pass ; many of the so-called passes 
 are foot or bridle-paths. A pass signifies a way by 
 which travellers can go. A pass is a depression in a 
 range of mountains facilitating a passage across them 
 either on foot or horseback. There is no doubt that 
 such ways being so frequently used become worn 
 into legible tracks, and that various insignificant efforts 
 are made by the inhabitants of these regions to 
 facilitate the passage over them and provide shelter 
 on the way ; but they are not roadways, and it 
 remains for a powerful Government or a sovereign 
 ruler such as Napoleon to authorise or command 
 their conversion into a wide roadway, supplemented 
 by numerous bridges and protected by avalanche 
 galleries. 
 
 Many persons who are not acquainted with 
 Switzerland may wonder what an avalanche gallery 
 is. This I will endeavour to explain, and when I have 
 done so, I think they will admit that there are perils 
 attending the construction, maintenance, and even the 
 travelling on a Swiss mountain road, which are never 
 dreamed of by those accustomed to our level and 
 unromantic highways. 
 
 When during the spring and summer the snow is 
 melting in the high Alps, it is apt to glide away from 
 the place it has occupied during the winter. As it 
 moves onward and downward other drifts are loosened 
 
ALPINE ROADS. 15 
 
 and displaced, and so little by little it increases on its 
 course until it is one vast moving sea of ice and snow, 
 sufficient to demolish anything that offers to obstruct 
 its progress, no matter what it be. Forests of trees 
 are uprooted and swept away like grass beneath a 
 scythe. Mountain huts are demolished, and even 
 entire villages have been known to fall a prey to the 
 relentless avalanche. It is to protect the great moun- 
 tain roads from this influx of ice and snow, and to 
 prevent the road being blocked, that galleries are 
 made. The avalanche in its descent then passes over 
 the gallery, whilst at the very same moment con- 
 veyances can pass through it in perfect safety. A 
 pistol-shot or the cracking of a whip is sufficient 
 in the still, rarefied atmosphere of the mountains 
 to occasion the fall of an avalanche. In fact, when the 
 mass of ice and snow, owing to the heat of the sun, is 
 already loosened from its bed, it does not require a 
 serious concussion to send it flying down towards the 
 valley. 
 
 I have frequently watched avalanches fall in 
 various parts of Switzerland. At first a very slight 
 rumbling sound is heard, like distant thunder, which 
 increases in power as the avalance descends ; but I 
 have often seen them falling fast, one after the 
 other, and their course, after they have disappeared, 
 has been clearly marked out by the line of their 
 destructive passage. Grindelwald is one of the best 
 places I know to witness avalanches ; also the 
 Triimleten Valley which separates the Jungfrau 
 from the Wengern Alp. Even close to the Jungfrau 
 Hotel a view may be obtained of the descending 
 avalanche without incurring any risk. 
 
 Thus the fall of avalanches alone provides the 
 
1 6 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 road-makers with perpetual diversion and employ- 
 ment during the early spring months. There is one 
 thing to be said of mountain roads, that in most 
 places their inclination assists the act of drainage, 
 but even on the highest mountain passes, occasionally 
 the road is level for a considerable distance when 
 passing through elevated valleys, 
 
 The principal roads over the Alps are as follows : 
 
 The Mont Cenis, 6825 ft. 
 
 The Simplon, 6636 ft. 
 
 The St. Gothard, 6808 ft. 
 
 The St. Bernard, 8200 ft. 
 
 It will be seen that the St. Bernard is the highest, 
 and it was in consequence of this fact that Napoleon 
 decided to make other roads more suited to the 
 passage of his artillery which, being at a less altitude, 
 were less likely to be blocked by snow and ice. 
 
 The celebrated passage of the Alps was com- 
 menced by Napoleon, May i6th, 1800, and occupied 
 four days. The St. Bernard had been reported by 
 Marescot, chief of Napoleon's engineers, as scarcely 
 possible for artillery. " As you admit that it is possible, 
 let us start, then," was the energetic reply of Napoleon. 
 
 The part of the road which most tried the troops 
 was that from St. Pierre to the summit. The artillery 
 carriages were taken to pieces and packed on mules, 
 the ammunition was also transported ; whilst the 
 guns themselves, placed in the trunks of trees 
 hollowed out, were dragged up the mountain by main 
 force, the soldiers receiving 1200 francs for each 
 cannon so conveyed. At the hospice each soldier par- 
 took of the hospitality of the monks. Since then 
 there is a new road. The old road must have been 
 very bad, otherwise the guns might have remained 
 
ALPINE ROADS. 17 
 
 on their carriages and been hauled up the pass by 
 a number of mules and horses. Every one is familiar 
 with the pictures that have been painted from time 
 to time of Napoleon crossing the Alps, engravings 
 from which are frequently to be seen. 
 
 It must be remembered that these roads are 
 rendered impassable during the winter months, owing 
 to the depth of snow on their surface. In some cases 
 this difficulty is overcome by resorting to the use of 
 sledges. I remember passing over the Simplon, from 
 Italy into Switzerland, about twenty years ago ; the 
 road was not really open, even the mails had only 
 just ventured to cross. I was travelling with a young 
 fellow about my own age, when we determined to 
 make the attempt, notwithstanding the remonstrances 
 of the aborigines. When we approached the summit 
 we had to enter a sledge, which was so repeatedly 
 capsized that we determined to walk, as the snow on 
 the surface of the track was fairly hard. We had 
 three horses to our sledge, one of which I recollect 
 we lost ; this was the leader. He got engulfed in 
 a drift into which he had inconsiderately plunged. 
 The glare and the heat was very considerable, 
 although the snow was nearly thirty feet above the 
 road, the telegraph posts just peeping out of the snow, 
 which clearly indicated to what depth they were buried. 
 
 I remember to this day that the avalanche galleries 
 through which we passed presented a very lovely 
 appearance, as on either side of them the tunnel was 
 continued through ice and snow, the rays of the sun 
 without being reflected on the walls of ice within, 
 producing the most marvellous prismatic effects. 
 When we arrived on the Swiss side of the mountain, 
 astonishment was expressed that we had not rolled 
 
1 8 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 down into the valley, or shot over one of the many 
 precipices which we had passed ; and certainly our 
 escape was marvellous, seeing how many times we had 
 been capsized close to the very edge of the snowy 
 track, beyond which was nothing but a sheer descent 
 of hundreds of feet. 
 
 It must be remembered that the Simplon road is 
 not even a very high pass, being only 6636 feet 
 above sea-level. It was commenced on the Italian 
 side in 1800, and on the French side in 1801. The 
 road was decided upon by Napoleon immediately after 
 the battle of Marengo, whilst the recollection of his 
 own difficult passage of the Great St Bernard was 
 fresh in his memory. 
 
 The Simplon Pass was considered at the time a 
 stupendous result of engineering skill, but the gigantic 
 works of recent times have equalled and surpassed it. 
 The finest point of the Simplon road is the Gorge of 
 Gondo. The surveys of this road were made by 
 M. Cerd ; it took six years to complete these surveys ; 
 more than 30,000 men were employed in the con- 
 struction of the Simplon road at one time. There are 
 611 bridges, great and small, in addition to the far 
 more costly works, such as terraces of masonry miles 
 in length ; ten avalanche galleries, either quarried or 
 built ; and twenty houses of refuge, to shelter travellers 
 and lodge the road-makers engaged in maintaining 
 the road. Its breadth is never less than twenty-five 
 feet, and the slope nowhere exceeds one foot in thirteen, 
 although it has to ascend to a height of 6636 feet. 
 Its cost averaged ^5000 a mile;* in England the 
 average cost of constructing a turnpike road is ^1000 
 a mile. 
 
 * The entire road cost eighteen million francs. 
 
ALPINE ROADS. 19 
 
 The object of Napoleon in its formation is well 
 explained, when on two different occasions he asked 
 the engineer sent to him to report progress, " Le 
 canon quand pourra-t-il passer au Simplon ? " showing 
 that his thoughts were all bent upon war, and not 
 upon the encouragement of commercial enterprise, or 
 the establishment of peace. 
 
 The Pass of the St. Gothard, 6808 feet, is a most 
 excellent road, and renowned for the grandeur of its 
 scenery ; even in winter travellers can sometimes cross 
 it in sledges. The traffic when the road is open far 
 exceeds that of any other Alpine pass at so great an 
 altitude ; the principal traffic is from North Switzerland 
 and Germany into Italy. 
 
 The Devil's Bridge is in the midst of the Schollinen 
 ravine, which is a rocky ravine running two and a half 
 miles between gigantic granite cliffs. The Schollinen 
 is the grandest feature of the St. Gothard road, not 
 surpassed throughout Switzerland, and the Devil's 
 Bridge is in the midst of this terrific ravine ; there is not 
 an inch of ground upon which a human foot can rest 
 except what has been hewn out of a solid wall of rock, 
 and yet here is a wide, well- constructed, well-main- 
 tained road and a bridge, perfectly proportioned and 
 constructed. Murray says that this point of the road 
 must have been a cut de sac until the torrent was 
 bridged and the rock excavated. The old bridge was 
 abandoned for the new, which rises to a higher level. 
 The old bridge was twice the scene of extraordinary 
 conflicts during two campaigns, within six weeks of 
 one another. 
 
 On August 1 4th, 1799, the French, under Lecourbe 
 and Loisen, surprised the Austrians, who held the 
 valley of the Reuss, and drove them across the bridge, 
 
 c 2 
 
20 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 and eventually caused them to vacate the valley alto- 
 gether. The old bridge was eventually blown up on 
 September 24th. The Russians, under Suwarrow, 
 crossed the St. Gothard, and drove the French before 
 them. Consequently it will be seen, that not only 
 does the bridge form a striking feature of this re- 
 markable road, but it was also the scene of two events 
 in the history of French warfare. 
 
 One of the avalanche galleries at the end of the 
 Schollinen ravine is 180 feet long; it is called the 
 Winerloch tunnel. Before this was bored no wheeled 
 traffic could pass this mountain; travellers had to creep 
 round the rocky projecting face of the cliff on wooden 
 planks suspended by chains from the face of the 
 precipice. The descent of the road over the St. 
 Gothard into Italy is contrived by twenty-eight 
 zigzags. 
 
 The Pass of the Great St. Bernard is 8200 feet. 
 This pass is remarkable for its hospice, monks, and 
 dogs, although there are dogs nearly, if not quite 
 as good, to be found on the other passes. At St. 
 Pierre, a wretched village one hour up from the 
 French side, is a military column to the younger 
 Constantine, dated the eleventh century, showing 
 that the Romans were familiar with these passes. 
 Napoleon made his celebrated passage over the Great 
 St. Bernard in 1800, and experienced great difficulty in 
 transporting his artillery, as I have already explained. 
 
 The hospice stands at an elevation of 8200 feet; in 
 fact, it is at the summit of the pass. As many as 
 2000 travellers cross this mountain in the months 
 of February and March. In 1844, 19,000 travellers 
 crossed over this mountain. 
 
 The Mont Cenis Pass is 6825 feet; this, too, was 
 
ALPINE ROADS. 21 
 
 an important pass, but recently a tunnel has been 
 made through the mountain, and also through the St. 
 Gothard, a work which even surpasses the roads 
 constructed over their summits at the order of 
 Napoleon. Had the little Corsican lived at the present 
 day, he would have had no reason to complain 
 because there was a want of facility in transporting 
 troops or weighty artillery. Before the existence of 
 the tunnel, sledges used to be employed in winter to 
 cross the snow-covered pass; fourteen men were often 
 required, and twelve mules, to conduct the diligence 
 across this mountain in safety. 
 
 A great many of the so-called passes are only 
 bridle-paths and not carriage-roads ; some of them are 
 not even bridle-paths, being too precipitous for any- 
 thing but pedestrians. There is no doubt that a great 
 many of these might be converted into carriage-roads, 
 but since they lead to and from no important places, it 
 would be a useless expense to convert them ; in fact, 
 the Mont Cenis, St. Bernard, St. Gothard, and 
 Simplon, the four greatest passes, are becoming dis- 
 used owing to the construction of the tunnels, and 
 now that tunnelling through mountain ranges has met 
 with such success, there is no saying to what extent it 
 may not be carried. Why tunnels should not be 
 provided for ordinary traffic as well as for the passage 
 of the locomotive, it is difficult to say ; of course 
 the illumination and ventilation of such long tunnels 
 is not only expensive, but is a matter of great 
 difficulty. 
 
 In speaking of these tunnels I may be departing 
 somewhat from the subject of roads, but as there is 
 no reason why common roads should not penetrate 
 through tunnels, thereby avoiding severe declivities, 
 
22 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 I think I may be excused for speaking of the two 
 great Alpine tunnels beneath the Mont Cenis and 
 St. Gothard. 
 
 In the Times newspaper, December 24th, 1870, 
 the following appears respecting the Mont Cenis 
 tunnel*: "The total length from Bardonneche to Mcdani 
 is rather more than seven miles and a half. At first 
 the progress was very slow, and at the beginning of 
 1863 there , remained fully six miles of tunnelling to 
 be accomplished. At that time it was not supposed 
 that the tunnel would be completed before 1875, but 
 by the introduction of boring machines wrought by 
 compressed air, rapid progress has since been made, 
 more especially during the past four years. From 
 Modani, on the French side, to the middle, there is 
 a rise of one foot in forty-five and a half, and from 
 the middle to Bardonneche on the Italian side, it falls 
 one foot in 2000. The Grand Vallon, under which 
 the tunnel passes, is 11,000 feet high." 
 
 The Mont Cenis lies between Savoy and Piedmont. 
 In the Times newspaper, September I3th, 1871, it is 
 stated that the first train, with the engineer Grattoni 
 and some friends, passed through the northern outlet 
 in forty minutes. The maximum temperature in- 
 side the carriages was 25 Centigrade. Two hours 
 later the train returned to the Italian side, the 
 journey occupying fifty-five minutes ; the tunnel was 
 then found entirely free of the steam discharged during 
 the previous journey. The formal opening of the 
 tunnel took place on the i8th of September, when a 
 banquet was held to celebrate this great achievement 
 of engineering skill, and a statue of Poleocapa, Minister 
 
 The opening of this tunnel for passenger traffic was not 
 authorised by the Sardinian Legislature until 1871. 
 
THE MONT CENIS TUNNEL. 23 
 
 of Public Works for Sardinia, was unveiled by the 
 King at Turin. 
 
 I am told that when the borings were being made, 
 so exact were the gradients one with another, that 
 just before the two tunnels met half-way, the French 
 workmen could hear distinctly the men at work on 
 the Italian side, and vice versa; and that when the 
 intervening rock was broken through, either blasted 
 or removed with picks, the floors of the two tunnels 
 did not vary but a few inches in their level. 
 
 As regards the Times saying that the steam had 
 disappeared from the tunnel on the return journey, I 
 suppose the smoke is meant, as the steam would 
 naturally become condensed after a few minutes, even 
 in an atmosphere of 25 Centigrade. Although the act 
 of condensation might be delayed a little, it could not 
 be prolonged indefinitely. In this case the return 
 journey is said to have been made after a lapse of 
 two hours, and the journey itself occupied fifty-five 
 minutes, so that there \vere nearly three hours between 
 the time the train passed and returned, and it would 
 indeed have been a singular thing had the steam 
 remained in a state of vapour for such a length of 
 time. It is the smoke and not the steam which 
 makes the Metropolitan District Railway (commonly 
 called the Underground) so unpleasant and unwholesome. 
 
 There are many tunnels through which common 
 roads pass, but I cannot this moment recollect 
 their names. The Grotto Pausilipo, near Naples, is 
 a tunnel through which the high-road from Naples 
 to Pozzuoli passes. With this tunnel I am well 
 acquainted, having frequently ridden through it on 
 horseback ; it is cut out of the solid rock, its length 
 is two-thirds of a mile, and it is sixty feet in height 
 
24 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 and wide in proportion. This tunnel is of great but 
 unknown antiquity. Seneca, in his Fifty-seventh 
 Epistle, complains of its length, darkness, and dust ; it 
 is now well lighted both by night and day with lamps 
 on either side, and is also fairly well paved ; it was 
 enlarged in the year 1557. Seneca speaks of it as 
 follows : " Nihil illo carcere longius, nihil illis faucibus 
 obscurius etiam si locus haber et lucem pulvis aufer erret." 
 
 Canals frequently pass through tunnels, but canal 
 traffic has almost been superseded by the railway, 
 proving that the enormous expense and labour in- 
 curred by the Duke of Bridgwater and others in the 
 construction of canals evinced considerable want of 
 foresight ; as although in the midland counties rail 
 and canal traverse the country side by side, many 
 canals through which a large traffic once passed are 
 now disused and abandoned ; but into this condition 
 common roads can never fall, no matter what other 
 routes be provided by which passengers and goods 
 can be transported. 
 
 It is to Maunder that I am indebted for the 
 following particulars : 
 
 "The Pass of Mont Cervin exceeds 11,000 feet 
 in height, and surpasses in altitude any other pass 
 in Europe; it is not, however, practicable for carriages, 
 in fact it is only a bridle-path. The road over Mont 
 Stelvio, near the head of the valley of the Adige, 
 which leads from the Austrian province of the Tyrol 
 into Lombardy, exceeds 9000 feet, and is the 
 highest carriage-road in Europe. All those portions 
 of the Alps which exceed eight or nine thousand 
 feet in altitude fall within the limits of perpetual 
 snow, which everywhere covers the higher parts of 
 the mountain system. The height of the snow-line 
 

 
THE PYRENEES. 25 
 
 of course varies in different localities, as well as with 
 the seasons of the year. It is uniformly higher on 
 the southern or Italian face of the Alps than on the 
 northern or Swiss side, and it naturally descends 
 lower during the winter than during the summer 
 season, but at a greater height than 9000 feet the 
 snow never melts.* The accumulating mass which 
 successive winters form in the elevated regions is 
 impelled downward by its gravity into the lower 
 valleys, where it forms the well-known glaciers." 
 
 To quit the Alps and speak of other mountain 
 ranges, I am reminded that the passes through the 
 Balkans, though of no great altitude, consist of deep 
 and narrow defiles, yet none of these mountains reach 
 the height of perpetual snow. 
 
 The roads across the Pyrenees consist of deep 
 and narrow defiles, with high walls of rock on either 
 hand. The southern face of the Pyrenees is more 
 rugged and precipitous than its northern slope, so 
 that the ascent on the side of Spain is generally 
 more difficult and laborious than from the French 
 side of the mountain. 
 
 The inclination of the northern declivity of the 
 Pyrenees is from 3 to 8 ; that of the southern de- 
 clivity of the highest Alpine mountains is only 3^. 
 Notwithstanding this circumstance, it is necessary to 
 mount at times much steeper inclinations. Even a 
 slope of between 7 and 8 is very considerable ; in 
 fact, it is almost the maximum for vehicles. In 
 France the regulations are that the road shall never 
 exceed an inclination of 4 46". An inclination of 15 
 can hardly be overcome by animals encumbered with 
 
 * In central Europe. In warmer regions, and those nearer the 
 equator, the snow-line is of course at a greater altitude. 
 
26 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 a load, whilst man himself cannot climb a slope of 35 
 unless he ascend by steps. 
 
 Having mentioned the principal passable Euro- 
 pean mountain ranges with which Englishmen 
 are most familiar, I am reminded that America 
 possesses a range of mountains over which there is 
 a great and rapidly increasing traffic. The Rocky 
 Mountains are the most elevated portion of the 
 northern half of the Western Hemisphere. They 
 form, as it were, the backbone of the North American 
 continent, through which they stretch from north to 
 south for 3000 miles below the parallel of 30. The 
 passes over the Rocky Mountains are not narrow 
 defiles, like those that traverse the mountains of the 
 Old World, but consist of broad arid plains. Between 
 the thirty-third and forty-second parallels there is no 
 route across the mountains capable of being easily 
 traversed ; but to north of 42 there are many 
 practicable passes. The two principal of these, which 
 lie within the territory of the United States, are dis- 
 tinguished as the North and South Passes. Both of 
 these are at an altitude of 7000 feet above the sea. 
 Within the British territory that is, the north of the 
 forty-ninth parallel the passes over the mountains are 
 of considerably less elevation. The Union Pacific 
 Railway now passes over the Rocky Mountains, and 
 one cannot but feel astonished at the engineering skill 
 which has carried a railway successfully at such an 
 elevation. Rising from the eastern plains, the scenery 
 is very grand until the coast is reached. Ascending 
 from Truckee, for fifteen miles the line passes through 
 long lines of snow - sheds, until Summit Station 
 (7042 feet) is reached. From the summit to Colfax, 
 on the western side, which comprises a distance of 
 
AMERICAN ROADS. 27 
 
 fifty-one miles, the descent is 2500 feet, and a further 
 descent in seventy-five miles is 6000 feet, From here 
 to Sacramento, 104 miles, the line is carried along the 
 edge of precipices, and in places along ledges ex- 
 cavated in the sides of mountains. One of the most 
 imposing of these passages is Cape Horn, 1722 miles 
 from the eastern point of departure. 
 
 Over these mountains the Californian stages used 
 to run. American writers have made us acquainted 
 with the wild and adventurous style of coaching in the 
 Western States, and the words " canons" and "grades" 
 seem quite familiar to us on this side of the Atlantic, 
 owing to the numerous writings of Bret Harte, Mark 
 Twain, and others. The teams are not always con- 
 fined to four horses, but sometimes consist of six 
 or eight ; the whip is quite unlike any English 
 coachman's four-horse whip, but more like the whip 
 used in ranches by stock-drivers ; and the harness 
 bears no resemblance to that used by the English 
 Four-in-hand Club. 
 
 Charles Dickens, in his " American Notes," gives 
 an amusing description of a drive in an American 
 coach, when in Virginia. He says : 
 
 " Soon after nine o'clock we come to Potomac 
 Creek, where we are to land, and then comes the 
 oddest part of the journey. Seven stage-coaches are 
 preparing to carry us on, some of them are ready, 
 some of them are not ready. Some of the drivers are 
 black, some white. There are four horses to each 
 coach, and all the horses, harnessed or unharnessed, 
 are there. The passengers are getting out of the 
 -steamboat into the coaches, the luggage is being 
 transferred in noisy wheelbarrows, the horses are 
 frightened and impatient to start ; the black drivers 
 
28 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 are chattering to them like so many monkeys ; the 
 white ones whooping like so many drovers, for the 
 main thing to be done in all kinds of hostlering here is 
 to make as much noise as possible. The coaches are 
 something like French coaches, but nothing like so 
 good. In lieu of springs they are hung on bands of 
 the strongest leather. There is little choice or 
 difference between them ; they may be likened to 
 the car portion of the swings at an English fair, 
 roofed, put upon axle-trees and wheels, and curtained 
 with painted canvas. They are covered with mud 
 from the roof to the wheel-tire, and have never been 
 cleaned since they were first built. 
 
 " The tickets we received on board the steamboat 
 are marked No. i, so we belong to coach No. i. I 
 throw my coat on the box and hoist my wife and her 
 maid inside. It has only one step ; that being about a 
 yard from the ground is usually approached by a chair, 
 when there is no chair ladies trust to Providence. 
 The coach holds nine inside, having a seat across from 
 door to door, where we in England put our legs ; so 
 that there is only one feat more difficult in the per- 
 formance than getting in, that is getting out again. 
 There is only one outside passenger, and he sits upon 
 the box ; as I am that one, I climb up. And whilst they 
 are strapping the luggage on the roof, and heaping it 
 into a kind of tray behind, I have a good opportunity 
 of looking at the driver. 
 
 "He is a negro very black indeed. He is dressed 
 in a coarse pepper-and-salt suit, excessively patched 
 and darned, especially at the knees, gray stockings, 
 enormous black high-low shoes, and very short trousers. 
 He has two odd gloves, one parti-coloured worsted, 
 and one of leather. He has a very short whip, broken 
 
AMERICAN ROADS. 29 
 
 in the middle, and bandaged up with string. And yet 
 he wears a low-crowned, broad-brimmed black hat, 
 faintly shadowing forth a kind of insane imitation of an 
 English coachman! 
 
 " But somebody in authority cries 'Go ahead!' as 
 I am taking these observations. The mail takes the 
 lead in a four-horse waggon, and all the coaches follow 
 in procession, headed by No. i. 
 
 " By the way, whenever an Englishman would cry 
 1 All right ! ' an American cries ' Go ahead ! ' which 
 is somewhat expressive of the national character of 
 the two countries. 
 
 " The first half-mile of the road is over bridges 
 made of loose planks laid across two parallel poles, 
 which tilt up as the wheels roll over them. The river 
 has a clayey bottom, and is full of holes, so that half 
 a horse is constantly disappearing unexpectedly, and 
 cannot be found again for some time. But we get 
 past even this, and come to the road itself, which is 
 a series of alternate swamps and gravel-pits. A 
 tremendous place is close before us, the black driver 
 rolls his eyes, screws his mouth up very round, and 
 looks straight between the two leaders, as if he were 
 saying, ' We have done this often before, but now I 
 think we shall have a smash.' He takes a rein in 
 each hand, jerks and pulls at both, and dances on the 
 splash-board with both feet (keeping his seat, of course) 
 like the late lamented Ducrow on his two fiery 
 coursers. We come to the spot, sink down in the 
 mire to the coach windows, tilt on one side at an angle 
 of 45, and stick there. The insides scream dismally, 
 the coach stops, the horses flounder, all the other 
 six coaches stop, and their four-and-twenty horses 
 flounder likewise, but merely for company and in 
 
3 o HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 sympathy with ours. Then the following dialogue 
 occurs : 
 
 " Black driver (to the horses) : ' Hi ! ' 
 
 " Nothing happens, insides scream again. 
 
 " Black driver (to the horses) : * Ho ! ' 
 
 " Horses plunge and splash the black driver. 
 
 " Gentleman inside (looking out) : ' What on earth!' 
 (Gentleman receives a variety of splashes, and draws 
 his head in again without finishing his question or 
 waiting for an answer.) 
 
 " Black driver (still to the horses) : ' Jiddy ! jiddy !' 
 (Horses pull violently, drag the coach out of the hole, 
 and draw it up a bank, so steep that the black driver's 
 legs fly up into the air, and he goes back amongst the 
 luggage on the roof; but he immediately recovers 
 himself, and cries, still to the horses) : ' Pill ! ' 
 
 " No effect ; on the contrary, the coach begins to 
 roll back on No. 2, which rolls back upon No. 3, which 
 rolls back upon No. 4 and so on until No. 7 is heard 
 to curse and swear nearly a quarter of a mile behind. 
 
 " Black driver (louder than before) : ' Pill ! ' 
 
 " Horses make another struggle to get up the 
 bank, and again the coach rolls backward. 
 
 " Black driver (louder than before) : < Pe-e-ill ! ' 
 
 " Horses make a desperate struggle. 
 
 " Black driver (recovering his spirits) : ' Hi ! 
 jiddy ! jiddy ! pill ! ' 
 
 " Horses make another effort. 
 
 "Black driver (with great vigour): 'Alley loo! 
 hi ! jiddy ! jiddy ! pill ! alley loo ! ' 
 
 " Horses almost do it. 
 
 " Black driver (with his eyes starting out of his 
 head) : ' See dere ! see dere ! hi ! fiddy ! pill ! ally 
 loo ! se e e e ! ! ' 
 
AMERICAN ROADS. 31 
 
 " They run up the bank ancL'go down on the other 
 side at a fearful pace. It is impossible to stop them, 
 and at the bottom there is a deep hole full of water. 
 The coach rolls frightfully ; the insides scream ; the 
 mud and water fly about us. The black driver dances 
 like a madman. Suddenly we are all right by some 
 extraordinary chance, and stop to breathe. 
 
 " A black friend of the black driver is sitting on a 
 fence, the black driver recognises him by twirling his 
 head round and round like a harlequin, rolling his eyes, 
 shrugging his shoulders, and grinning from ear to ear. 
 He stops short and turns to me and says : ' We shall 
 get you through, Sa, like a fiddle, and hope we please 
 you when we get you through, Sa. Old woman at 
 home, Sa,' chuckling very much. ' Outside gentleman, 
 Sa, he often remember old woman at home, Sa/ to 
 which I replied, ' Aye, aye, we'll take care of the old 
 woman at home. Don't be afraid/ 
 
 "And so we do the ten miles or thereabouts in two 
 hours and a half, breaking no bones, though bruising a 
 great many, and in short, getting through the distance 
 Mike a fiddle.'" 
 
 Since everything from the pen of Charles Dickens 
 is so greatly prized by most people, I may be excused 
 for making this digression in order to give his 
 experiences of a Virginia coach, its driver, and the 
 road over which it passed. There are one or tw r o things 
 in what Dickens says that make one suppose he was 
 not very well acquainted with matters relating to 
 driving. The negro driver was driving four horses, 
 yet he takes a rein in each hand he must then have 
 had four hands ; he also dances a jig on the splash- 
 board, which was evidently the foot-board ; nevertheless 
 the description of the whole affair is amusing and 
 
32 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 instructive, as it gives us an insight into the condition 
 of public conveyances and roads in the Southern 
 States of America ; and it is evident that roads as 
 bad as this must have very strongly resembled 
 the old English roads whose history I intend tracing 
 up to the present day. The thing most re- 
 markable about this Virginian road is, that under 
 the circumstances the negro coachman should have 
 driven his coach ten miles in two hours and 
 a half; on such a road as Dickens has described 
 such speed is marvellous. Dickens gives in his 
 " American Notes " another description of a coach 
 ride, but under improved circumstances. He says : 
 
 " We remained and rested one day at Cincinnati, 
 and then resumed our journey to Sandusky ; our 
 place of destination was in the first instance at 
 Columbus. It is distant about a hundred and twenty 
 miles from Cincinnati, but there is a macadamised 
 road (rare blessing) the whole way, and the rate of 
 travelling upon it is six miles an hour. 
 
 " We start at eight o'clock in the morning in a 
 great coach, whose huge red cheeks are so ruddy 
 and plethoric that it appears to be troubled with 
 a tendency of blood to the head ; dropsical it certainly 
 is, for it holds a dozen passengers inside, but wonderful 
 to add, it is very clean and bright, being nearly new, 
 and rattles gaily through the streets of Cincinnati. 
 
 " Our way lies through a beautiful country richly 
 cultivated, and luxuriant in the promise of an abundant 
 harvest, and, save for certain differences, one might be 
 travelling in Kent. 
 
 " We often stop to water the horses at a roadside 
 inn, which is always dull and silent. The coachman 
 
AMERICAN ROADS. 33 
 
 dismounts and fills his bucket, and holds it to his 
 horses' heads. There is scarcely ever any one to help 
 him, there are seldom any loungers standing round, 
 and never any stable folks with jokes to crack. 
 Sometimes when we have changed our team there is a 
 difficulty in starting again, arising out of the prevalent 
 mode of breaking a young horse, which is to catch 
 him, harness him against his will, and put him in a 
 stage-coach without further notice ; but we get on 
 somehow or other, after a great many kicks and 
 violent struggles, and jog on as before. 
 
 "The frequent change of coachman works no change 
 in the coachman's character, he is always dirty, sullen, 
 and taciturn. If he be capable of smartness of any 
 kind, moral or physical, he has a faculty of concealing 
 it which is truly marvellous. He never speaks to you 
 as you sit beside him on the box, and if you speak to 
 him, he answers (if at all) in monosyllables. He 
 points out nothing on the road, and seldom looks at 
 anything, being to all appearances thoroughly weary 
 of it and of existence generally. 
 
 "As to doing the honours of his coach, his business, 
 as I have said, is with the horses ; the coach follows 
 because it is attached to them and goes on wheels, 
 not because you are in it. Sometimes towards the 
 end of a long stage he suddenly breaks out into a 
 discordant fragment of an election song, but his face 
 never sings along with him, it is only his voice, and 
 not often that. He always chews, and always spits, 
 and never encumbers himself with a pocket-handker- 
 chief. The consequences to the box passenger 
 especially when the wind blows towards him are not 
 agreeable. Whenever the coach stops and you can 
 
34 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 hear the voices of the inside passengers, or whenever 
 any bystander addresses them or any one among them, 
 or they address each other, you will hear one phrase 
 repeated over and over again to the most extraordinary 
 extent. It is an ordinary and unpromising phrase 
 enough, but neither more nor less than 'Yes, sir.' 
 But it is adapted to every variety of circumstance, 
 and fills up every pause in the conversation. Thus 
 the time is one o'clock. The scene a place where we 
 are to stay to dine on this journey. The coach drives 
 up to the door of an inn. The day is warm, and 
 there are several idlers lingering about the tavern, 
 and waiting for the public dinner. Amongst them is 
 a stout gentleman in a brown hat swinging himself to 
 and fro in a rocking chair on the pavement. 
 
 " As the coach stops, a gentleman in a straw hat 
 looks out of the window. 
 
 " Straw Hat (to stout gentleman in rocking chair). 
 I reckon that's Judge Jefferson, ain't it ? 
 
 "Brown Hat (still swinging, speaking very slowly 
 and without any emotion whatever). Yes, sir. 
 
 " Straw Hat. Warm weather, Judge. 
 
 " Brown Hat. Yes, sir. 
 
 "Straw Hat. There was a snap of cold last 
 week. 
 
 " Brown Hat. Yes, sir. 
 
 " Straw Hat. Yes, sir. 
 
 " A pause, they look at each other very seriously. 
 
 " Straw Hat. I calculate you'll have got through 
 that case of the corporation, Judge, by this time, now. 
 
 " Brown Hat. Yes, sir. 
 
 " Straw Hat. How did the verdict go, sir ? 
 
 " Broivn Hat. For the defendant, sir. 
 
 " Straw Hat (interrogatively). Yes, sir ? 
 
AMERICAN ROADS. 35 
 
 " Brown Hat (affirmatively). Yes, sir ! 
 
 " Both (musingly as each gazes down the street). 
 Yes, sir. 
 
 " Another pause ; they look at each other again, 
 still more seriously than before. 
 
 " Brown Hat, This coach is rather behind time 
 to-day, I guess. 
 
 "Straw Hat (doubtingly). Yes, sir. 
 
 "Brown Hat (looking at his watch). Yes, sir. 
 Nigh upon two hours. 
 
 ''Straw Hat (raising his eyebrows in very great 
 surprise). Yes, sir ? 
 
 "Brown Hat (decisively as he puts up his watch). 
 Yes, sir. 
 
 " Alltheother inside Passengers (among themselves). 
 Yes, sir. 
 
 " Coachman (in a very surly tone). No, it ain't. 
 
 c; The conversational powers of the company had 
 by this time been pretty heavily taxed. Then we 
 all alight and have dinner, and resume our journey, 
 which continues through the same kind of country 
 until evening, when we come to the town where we 
 are to stop for tea and supper ; and having delivered 
 the mail-bags at the post office, ride through the 
 usual wide streets, lined with the usual stores and 
 houses (the drapers always having hung up at their 
 door a piece of red cloth by way of a sign), to the 
 hotel where this meal is prepared. There being 
 many boarders here, we sit down, a large party, and 
 a very melancholy one as usual. But there is a 
 buxom hostess at the head of the table, and opposite 
 a simple Welsh schoolmaster with wife and child, 
 who came here on speculation of greater promise than 
 performance, to teach the classics ; and they are 
 
 D 2 
 
36 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 sufficient subjects of interest until the meal is over 
 and we resume our journey. 
 
 "It was well for us that we were in this humour ; 
 for the road we went over that day was certainly 
 enough to have shaken tempers that were not resolutely 
 at set fair down to some inches below stormy. At 
 one time we were all flung together in a heap at the 
 bottom of the coach ; at another we were crushing 
 our heads against the roof. Now one side was deep 
 in the mire, and we were holding on to the other ; now 
 the coach was laying on to the tails of the two wheelers, 
 and now it was rearing up in the air in a frantic state 
 with all four horses standing on the top of an un- 
 surmountable eminence, looking coolly back at us, 
 as they would say, 'unharness us, it can't be done.' 
 The drivers on these roads certainly get over the 
 ground in a manner that is quite miraculous so twist 
 the teams about in forcing a passage, corkscrew fashion, 
 through the swamps and bogs, that it is quite a common 
 circumstance, on looking out of the window, to see the 
 coachman, with the end of a pair of reins in his hands, 
 apparently driving nothing and playing at horses, and 
 the leaders staring at one unexpectedly from the back 
 of the coach as if they had some idea of getting up 
 behind. A great portion of the way was over what is 
 called a corduroy road, which is made by throwing 
 the trunks of trees into a marsh and leaving them to 
 settle there. The very slightest of the jolts with 
 which the ponderous carriage fell from log to log was 
 enough, it seemed, to dislocate all the bones in the 
 human body. It would have been impossible to 
 experience a similar set of sensations in any other 
 circumstances, unless perhaps in attempting to get up 
 
AMERICAN ROADS. 37 
 
 to the top of St. Paul's in an omnibus. Never, never 
 once that day was that coach in any position, attitude, 
 and kind of motion to which we are accustomed in 
 coaches. Never did it make the smallest approach to 
 one's experience of the proceedings of any kind of 
 vehicle that goes on wheels." 
 
 This completes our greatest English novelist's or 
 rather humorous novelist's description of American 
 coaching. One can scarcely dignify it with the term 
 " description," since it deals with so much that taxes 
 our faith. What coach could possibly remain right 
 side up that experienced such extraordinary con- 
 tortions ? and what harness ever yet made allowed 
 of horses vanishing from sight or following behind the 
 coach to which they were harnessed, presumably with 
 the intention of mounting up behind ? And, after all 
 this long description, do we realise the true condition 
 of these roads and their mode of construction, or can 
 we be supposed to understand the description of 
 vehicle in which Dickens made these singular 
 journeys ? 
 
 " The next day," he continues, " there being no 
 stage-coach upon the road we wished to take, I 
 hired 'an extra,' at a reasonable charge, to carry 
 us to Tiffin, a small town from whence there is 
 a railway to Sandusky. This was an ordinary 
 four-horse stage-coach, such as I have described, 
 changing horses and drivers as the stage-coach 
 would, but was exclusively our own for the 
 journey. To ensure our having our horses at the 
 proper stations, and being incommoded by no 
 strangers, the proprietors sent an agent on the box 
 who was to accompany us the whole way through ; 
 
38 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 and thus attended, and bearing with us besides a 
 hamper full of savoury cold meats, and fruit and wine, 
 we started off again in high spirits at half-past six 
 o'clock next morning, very much delighted to be by 
 ourselves, and disposed to enjoy even the roughest 
 journey." 
 
 In the heavily-timbered districts of Canada and 
 the United States corduroy roads are very common ; 
 but they are more intended for waggons than for 
 coach and passenger traffic. They consist of straight 
 logs of timber, either round or split ; but they scarcely 
 deserve the name of roads, and are more often called 
 tracks. They are, nevertheless, vastly superior to a 
 soft marsh or swamp. They are called corduroy roads 
 through their ribbed character. The logs are all cut to 
 the required width of the road, which is fifteen or 
 sixteen feet. It is customary to level up between the 
 logs with pieces of the same length split to a triangular 
 cross-section. These are inserted, with the edges 
 downwards, in the open joints so as to bring their top 
 surfaces even with the upper sides of the large logs, or 
 as nearly so as practicable. Upon the bed thus pre- 
 pared a layer of brushwood is laid. With a few 
 inches of soil or turf to keep it in place, this completes 
 the road. 
 
 Dickens evidently travelled on a road to which 
 sufficient attention had not been given, either in 
 construction or maintenance, to judge by the description 
 of his sufferings. 
 
 But to return to our subject. In England 
 there is one circumstance which may affect the 
 condition and importance of common roads, that 
 is the agricultural depression throughout the British 
 Isles. This, of course, influences greatly the land- 
 
DEPOPULATION OF ENGLISH COUNTRY DISTRICTS. 39 
 
 owners who contribute so largely to the rates ; besides 
 which, it is an undisputed fact that the poorer in- 
 habitants of rural districts are year by year either 
 emigrating to the Colonies or flocking to the great 
 centres of labour and industry in search of work. 
 I believe that not only amongst the poor, but also 
 with the rich, there is a general inclination toward 
 residence in towns. The country is becoming year 
 by year regarded more as a playground or place 
 of relaxation and leisure to the workers in commercial 
 centres, and this is of course owing to the speed 
 and facility of railway travelling. In the old days, 
 before the advent of the locomotive, a residence in 
 the country was a fixed one, there being no possible 
 means of running to and from London as there is 
 at the present time ; consequently those who lived 
 in the country had their interest centred in the country, 
 with little possibility of escaping from it except they 
 undertook a long and tedious journey. I have no 
 doubt that in those days there was more neighbourly 
 feeling existing amongst country communities, and 
 greater efforts were doubtless made to provide amuse- 
 ment and occupation ; besides which, sport must have 
 been far better in those days than now. Country 
 folks are in some measure envied for three months 
 in the year, and pitied for the remaining nine months. 
 In fact, some Londoners seem to regard those who 
 reside in the country with a feeling of positive 
 condolence and sympathy, except it be that they 
 inherit a fine family property, or seek the country 
 for a time only in pursuit of sport ; but a residence, 
 unaccompanied by a predominating and comprehensible 
 attraction, appears to them to be a condition 
 calling for their pity and commiseration ; and it is 
 
40 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 to a certain extent the spread of this feeling that 
 urges heads of families to take up their residence 
 in town, whereby the country districts are made 
 to suffer, as year by year more money is spent in 
 London and abroad, and less amidst the agri- 
 cultural population of Great Britain, and the treasuries 
 of the various parishes suffers in consequence. 
 In fact, it is only necessary to take one street or square, 
 in a fashionable part of London, to understand how, 
 if all the residents therein lived in one of the smaller 
 English counties, they would more than equal the 
 wealth and influence to be found there. In Belgravia 
 and Mayfair rank would probably be added to wealth, 
 and probably there would be a greater amount of wealth 
 and rank in a London street or square than in the 
 whole of an English county, as very frequently three 
 or four peers and half-a-dozen fairly large landowners 
 represent the entire wealth of a county. When passing 
 through square after square and street after street in 
 London, and noticing the evidences of wealth that are 
 everywhere manifested, and noticing how in every 
 direction London is extending, not only in consequence 
 of the erection of small dwellings suited to the middle 
 and poorer classes, but also by streets and squares 
 of mansions that require a large income to maintain, 
 and more than equal in size many well-known country 
 houses, one cannot but feel that the wealth of England 
 is becoming diverted from the rural districts and is 
 gradually becoming absorbed by the metropolis and its 
 immediate suburbs. There are exceptions to this rule ; 
 but they are every day becoming less frequent. 
 
 The time when rural parishes reap most benefit by 
 the wealth of some one of their inhabitants is when 
 
STAGNANT STATE OF AFFAIRS IN RURAL DISTRICTS. 41 
 
 some wealthy manufacturer or man who has made 
 a large fortune in trade, builds a big house and 
 establishes himself in their midst, which circumstance 
 naturally creates a demand for labour hitherto un- 
 known, and a proportionate amount of money is 
 frequently expended in contributing to the highway 
 and other rates. 
 
 This at times has a marked influence on the 
 condition of the roads and other things tending to 
 the comfort and convenience of the old and long- 
 established country-life residents, who, notwithstanding 
 that they sometimes occupy important positions, are so 
 Conservative in their principles and so sluggish in their 
 dispositions, that they are quite content that things 
 should remain as they ever have been within their 
 recollection. But a man who has spent all his life in 
 mental or physical activity, when suddenly transported 
 to a region where the dolce far niente system is in vogue, 
 feels compelled for the sake of his own peace of mind to 
 stir up his neighbours into some semblance of activity 
 and industry ; frequently, I admit, he does harm, but 
 as often he does good. If he is wealthy he contributes 
 to the restoration of the church; he becomes a guardian 
 for the parish ; he advocates improved dwellings for 
 the labouring classes ; and last, but not least, he 
 persuades an unwilling and indolent Highway Board 
 to improve the condition of the high-roads and all 
 appertaining thereto. And in doing this he performs 
 what is an herculean feat, since the parochial magnates 
 who are supposed to exercise control over the highways 
 are not only ignorant of the business they are called 
 upon to perform, but their opinions are so fixed and 
 unalterable that no ordinary amount of persuasion 
 
42 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 will influence their judgment, or induce them to 
 take an enlightened and intelligent view of the 
 situation. 
 
 Among modern nations, France is one of the most 
 distinguished for her early attention to establishing 
 numerous roads. The following account of her roads 
 is taken from Peuchet's " Statistical Account of 
 France ": 
 
 " The origin of our principal roads is generally 
 attributed to Philip Augustus ; it was under his reign, 
 and by his orders, that the city of Paris began to be 
 paved. 
 
 " Sully took great interest in the improvement of 
 the roads. He first introduced the practice of planting 
 trees on the sides of them, and established regular 
 funds for their repair. Colbert neglected nothing to 
 advance the extension of roads throughout France ; 
 and M. Desmartis, who succeeded him, caused the 
 road from Paris to Orleans to be made. He was the 
 founder of the Corps of Engineers, appointed to 
 superintend the works belonging to the roads. Under 
 the administration of the Duke de Noailles, the roads 
 were improved and carried through the provinces. 
 
 "In 1726, the Department of the Ponts et Chausse"es 
 fell into great disorder, and was in want of sufficient 
 funds; but the Director-General, the brother of the 
 celebrated Cardinal Dubois, recommenced the repairs 
 of them, and continued them with great regularity. 
 
 " Under the administration of M. de Trudaine, 
 in 1787, a number of new roads were made. He 
 established the Iicole des Ponts et Chaussees, under 
 M. Perronet, as Chief Engineer, and at his death he 
 left to this school his manuscripts and library. This 
 school is under the Minister of the Home Department; 
 
CONTINENTAL ROADS. 43 
 
 the scholars are fifty in number. These are selected 
 from the Polytechnic School, and receive an allowance 
 of seventy-five francs a month. 
 
 " The roads of France were divided at this time 
 into four classes, according to their importance and 
 the breadth that is given to them. The first class 
 comprised the great roads which traverse the whole of 
 France, from Paris to the principal cities and the 
 ports ; the second class, the roads between the 
 provinces and principal cities ; the third class, the 
 roads between the principal towns in the same 
 province and the neighbouring provinces ; and the 
 fourth class, the roads between small towns and 
 villages. 
 
 " By an Order of Council of the 6th of February, 
 1776, the breadth of the first class was fixed at 
 forty-two feet (French) between the fences ; of the 
 second at thirty-six feet ; of the third at thirty feet ; 
 and of the fourth at twenty-four feet. 
 
 "The roads have since been divided into three 
 classes, not according to their breadth but their 
 direction." (Peuchet, p. 458.) All the principal roads 
 of France are under the management of Government. 
 The Department of the Ponts et Chaussees has the 
 care of them. In the year 1836, the sum of ,896,000 
 was granted by the Chambers for maintaining them. 
 
 " Sir Henry Parnell, in his treatise on roads, 
 published in 1838, remarks that, in Spain, the Caminos 
 Reales, or King's Highways, are not numerous, nor 
 are they kept in good repair. Taking Madrid as a 
 point of departure there are two good roads to 
 Burgos ; one passing through Valladolid, and the other 
 through Aranda de Duero. From Burgos, the road is 
 continued by Vittoria and Irun to France, Both 
 
44 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 these roads are in tolerable repair. From Valladolid a 
 good road has been made by Valentia and Regnosa 
 to Santander. There are two good roads to Bilboa ; 
 one by Miranda, the other by Vittoria. 
 
 " To the northward there is a Camino Reale, 
 through Gallicia to Corunna and Ferroe, but in such 
 want of repair as to be almost impassable in numerous 
 places for loaded carriages ; attempts are, however, 
 now making to improve it. In Catalonia the roads 
 are comparatively numerous and good. The roacl 
 from Saragosa to Barcelona has lately been put in 
 repair, and a diligence was established upon it in the 
 beginning of the year 1831. 
 
 " The other roads which are traced upon maps of 
 Spain may be divided into three classes. 
 
 " Firstly, roads which have originally been made 
 and covered with road metal ; secondly, roads across 
 the plains and through the valleys formed by the 
 tracks of the country carts, and which have only in a 
 few places been artificially constructed ; and, thirdly, 
 the mule roads, or paths worn by the feet of the mules 
 travelling over the mountains during a long series 
 of years. 
 
 " The revenue applicable to the construction and 
 repair of the roads is derived, firstly, from toll-gates, 
 and, secondly, from local taxes. Upon all the 
 practicable roads tolls are established at intervals of 
 ten or twelve English miles. (See Foreign Quarterly 
 Review.} 
 
 " About ,90,000 is the average annual expendi- 
 ture upon the roads in Spain. In the most populous 
 districts of the German and Russian dominions there 
 are to be found paved roads similar to those in France. 
 The roads in Holland are generally carried in un- 
 
CONTINENTAL ROADS. 45 
 
 deviating straight lines along that low and flat country, 
 between a double row of trees, with a ditch on 
 either side. The Dutch take great pains in preparing 
 a firm foundation for their roads, which are there 
 built with bricks called clinkers, laid in lime, their 
 longest direction being across the road. The Swedes 
 have long had the character of being excellent road 
 engineers. Good rock is very generally met \vith in 
 Sweden, and they spare no pains in breaking it into 
 small pieces. Their roads are spacious and smooth. 
 Where the country has been opened in Russia the 
 roads are formed on scientific principles ; but there are 
 few of them. In the United States of America the 
 roads have been much improved. The principal roads 
 are similar to those in England, so far as regards 
 construction and maintenance. Italy still preserves its 
 celebrity for internal communication. 
 
 "Before the peace of 1814, there was but one 
 great road throughout Prussia, namely, that between 
 Berlin and Magdeburgh, a distance of thirty leagues ; 
 the rest were in those days scarcely passable, and were 
 in a most disgraceful condition. There are now a 
 number of great roads connecting Berlin with various 
 parts of the kingdom, maintained in excellent order, 
 mostly at the expense of the Government, and a few 
 at the expense of local authorities and land owners. 
 In the towns and villages through which these roads 
 pass, the pavement is generally in a very bad state, 
 the expense being incurred by the municipal authori- 
 ties, who are very independent, and not easily induced 
 to repair them." The above remarks are taken from 
 the Foreign Quarterly Review. 
 
 But to return to the subject of English roads ; they 
 were made a matter for legislation in England as 
 
4 6 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 early as 1346. Edward III. authorised a toll to be 
 levied for the repair of the road leading from St. Giles 
 in the Fields to the village of Charing, and from the 
 same quarter to Temple Bar, down Drury Lane. 
 The roads further west were so bad, that when the 
 King went to Parliament, faggots were thrown down 
 over which the royal cavalcade passed. 
 
 Even as late as the reign of Elizabeth and James I., 
 travelling was continued with difficulty. The great 
 west road out of London was in an intolerable state, 
 and at Knightsbridge coaches and waggons very 
 frequently stuck hard and fast in the mud. Further 
 from London the roads were mere rough tracks, 
 consequently the general mode of travelling was on 
 horseback or on foot, poor people walked and rich 
 people rode ; judges and barristers rode circuit. For 
 a long time after this nothing but waggons were used 
 on the highways. 
 
 The great main road through Wales to Holyhead 
 was in such a condition that, in 1685, the Earl of 
 Clarendon, who was then Viceroy of Ireland, was five 
 hours in travelling fourteen miles from St. Asaph to 
 Con way ; between Con way and Bangor he was forced 
 to walk and the Countess was carried in a litter ; his 
 carriage was brought after him somehow by the help 
 of some farm labourers. Carriages were frequently 
 taken to pieces at Conway and carried by the Welsh 
 peasantry to the Menai Straits. Roads were before 
 made a matter for legislation in England in the time 
 of Queen Mary, when a law was enacted that in every 
 parish there should be two road surveyors, and the 
 inhabitants of all such parishes should provide labourers 
 and tools for four days of each year to work on the 
 roads under the direction of these surveyors. This law 
 
ROADS IN THE REIGNS OF MARY AND ELIZABETH. 47 
 
 continued in operation until the reign of Charles II., 
 when, owing to the increased traffic particularly about 
 London, the enactment of some new law was necessary, 
 and so from this time tolls were imposed on all persons 
 making use of the highway ; but, though the law 
 relating to tolls was in existence, it did not come into 
 positive effect until 1767, when it included all the great 
 highways throughout the kingdom, whilst Mary's Act, 
 as to the supply of labour, applied only to the cross or 
 by-roads. 
 
 Macaulay writes that the death of Queen Elizabeth 
 was not known in remote parts of Devonshire until 
 the greater number of Englishmen had left off their 
 mourning for her. 
 
 The little attention that was paid in former times 
 to the roads of England, is made evident by a 
 proclamation of Charles I., issued in 1629, confirming 
 one of his father's, issued in the twentieth year of his 
 reign, for the preservation of the roads of England, 
 which commands : " That no carrier or other person 
 whatsoever shall travel with any wain, cart, or carriage 
 with more than two wheels, nor above the weight of 
 twenty hundred, nor shall draw any wain, cart, or 
 carriage with more than five horses at once. ' 
 
 The following description of roads is taken from 
 MacCulloch's " Dictionary of Commerce : " 
 
 "It is not easy for those accustomed to travel 
 along the smooth and level roads by which every part 
 of the country is now intersected, to form an accurate 
 idea of the difficulties the traveller had to encounter a 
 century ago. Roads were then hardly formed, and in 
 summer not unfrequently consisted of the bottom of 
 rivulets. Down to the middle of the last century, 
 goods were carried on horseback. The men who 
 
48 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 owned these pack-horses were called carriers, hence 
 the origin of the name carrier, to carry. This more 
 especially referred to those men who owned carts, 
 which were employed when the load a horse could 
 bear on his pack was not sufficient to compensate them 
 for the trouble and expense of a lengthened journey. A 
 carrier going from Selkirk to Edinburgh, a distance of 
 thirty-eight miles, required two weeks to accomplish 
 the distance both ways. 
 
 " In 1678, an agreement was made to run a coach 
 between Edinburgh and Glasgow, a distance of forty- 
 one miles, which was to be drawn by six horses, and to 
 perform the journey there and back again in six days." 
 
 In the good old times, the difficulties attending 
 commercial enterprise and social intercourse arose 
 in a great measure from the want of good roads ; it 
 prevented the interchange of news and the sale or 
 purchase of agricultural or household commodities, 
 and even when the population immensely increased, 
 the progress made in road construction and main- 
 tenance was very slow. Goods had to be carried 
 on pack-horses throughout most parts of England ; 
 the price of grain and other agricultural produce 
 was thus affected, as in some districts they suffered 
 from a scarcity, whilst in other places they had 
 more than they required, and had no means of 
 disposing of them. I read the other day that this 
 inconvenience, when no longer felt in England, was 
 still experienced to such an extent in Spain, where 
 the people are naturally of a sluggish disposition, 
 that those living on the sea-coast until lately actually 
 preferred to get their supplies from the Baltic rather 
 than from the interior of their own country. 
 
 Shakespeare speaks of pack - horses when, in 
 
PEPYS* DIARY. 49 
 
 Richard III., he makes Glo'ster say to Queen 
 Margaret : 
 
 Ere you were Queen, ay, or your husband King, 
 
 I was a pack-horse in his great affairs. 
 
 Pack-horses are made use of to this day in all moun- 
 tainous countries, and in all countries that are unpro- 
 vided with roads suitable for the passage of wheeled 
 vehicles. 
 
 In many parts of Poland and Hungary, distant 
 from commercial centres or water communication, the 
 value of the crops was, until lately, seriously diminished 
 by the condition of the roads. 
 
 It would be very wearisome were I to make 
 reference to the various Acts which have been passed 
 by Parliament relating to roads, particularly as writers 
 contradict one another. 
 
 Pepys, in his diary (written in the reign of 
 Charles II.), speaks frequently of journeys under- 
 taken by himself and others. On the 26th of August, 
 1663, he says : 
 
 " To Whitehall, where the court full of waggons and 
 horses, the King and Court going this day out toward 
 Bath." Then, again, he speaks of a journey he under- 
 took, with his wife and maid-servant, to Oxford, 
 Salisbury, Bath, and Bristol, riding some part of the 
 way, and driving when possible. When riding, it is 
 evident that the women rode pillion that is, behind 
 the men. He also speaks of Lady Castlemaine, when 
 in town, calling her coach at a quarter of an hour's 
 notice, and going off to Richmond. On the 25th of 
 January, 1665, he says: "With our coach of four 
 horses to Windsor, and so to Cranborne." Now, 
 Cranborne is in Dorsetshire, and is distant ninety-three 
 miles from London. On the 26th he journeys to 
 
50 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 Windsor, and stays at an inn called " The Garter," 
 and then returns to London. At another time 
 Mr. Pepys says : " Up early and to Petersfield, and 
 thence got a countryman to guide us to Havant, and 
 then on to Portsmouth, where there was my Lord 
 Ormond and Manchester, and much London company; 
 and then over to Gosport, and so rode to Southampton, 
 and the next day back to Portsmouth, and so on to 
 Petersfield, and from there to London." 
 
 The way this old gentleman journeys about does 
 not incline us to think that the roads were as bad, or 
 the country as dangerous and inaccessible, as has been 
 represented by modern writers. Evelyn, too, in his 
 diary, speaks of making numerous journeys, and 
 mentions no difficulty in doing so. 
 
 Evelyn's diary is written in far better English than 
 Pepys', and he expresses himself much more clearly 
 and better. Pepys' diary always gives one the im- 
 pression of a person who lived a great while ago, and 
 who, even for the time in which he lived, was rather 
 behind his contemporaries and equals in point of 
 culture and education ; whereas Evelyn's diary might 
 almost have been written at the present day, and was 
 evidently the work of a man of great refinement and 
 careful education. It is an unfortunate thing that 
 there are no such diaries written at other times, or, if 
 written, not preserved. There is no saying what the 
 value may not be, in times to come, of a good diary, 
 written by a person of education and intelligence. 
 Those who are best qualified to perform such a task 
 are frequently too lazy to put it into practice. 
 
 For some time only waggons were in use on the 
 roads, and it was in these cumbersome vehicles that 
 passengers were compelled to travel. 
 
 The first proper stage-coach was the Coventry 
 
SHOCKING STATE OF ENGLISH ROADS. 51 
 
 coach, as early as 1659, but stage-coaches were run 
 from London to Dover by way of the old Roman road, 
 Watling Street. Coaches were then advertised to start, 
 "God willing," and " about such and such an hour, 
 as may seem good to the majority of the passengers." 
 
 Consequently, travelling in those days was a very 
 deliberate matter. In the year 1700 it took a week to 
 go from London to York, two days to go from 
 London to Salisbury and Oxford, and five days to 
 reach Exeter ; and it took two days to reach Tun- 
 bridge Wells, which is now only an hour from Charing 
 Cross. 
 
 In past times the state of the roads deprived our 
 own poor in some of the midland counties of England 
 of most of the conveniences of life, especially fuel, as 
 when the extended cultivation had destroyed the 
 forests it was only those who were in close proximity 
 to collieries or peat moors who had anything to burn. 
 
 Even a century and a half ago 1737 travelling 
 in carriages except on main roads or near big towns, was 
 almost impossible in winter ; and when wealthy persons 
 travelled from one part of the country to another, they 
 had to have additional horses attached , to their 
 carriages to pull them through the mud, and some- 
 times men with spades and pickaxes to clear and 
 prepare the road or dig them out. 
 
 Post-carriages, even on the high-roads, never used 
 to travel at a greater speed than five miles an hour, 
 until mail-coaches were advertised to run at the rate 
 of seven miles, which in those days was considered a 
 marvellous performance. Even at this rate, it took a 
 little over four days to go from London to York. 
 
 Even the roads about London were in a terrible 
 state, and it was not until mail-coaches were better 
 horsed and better built and a spirit of competition was 
 
 E 2 
 
52 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 aroused, that the high-roads really began to approach 
 their present condition. 
 
 As late as the middle of the last century, it took a 
 day and a half for the stage-coach to travel from 
 Edinburgh to Glasgow. 
 
 Mr. Chambers says, in his paper called the Estimate: 
 " Turnpikes, which were first introduced after the 
 Restoration of Charles II., were erected slowly in 
 opposition to the people. The Act which made it felony 
 at the commencement of George the Second's reign to 
 pull down a toll-gate was continued as a perpetual law. 
 Yet the great roads of England remained in their 
 abominable condition even as late as 1752 or 1754, 
 when a traveller seldom saw a turnpike after leaving 
 London or its vicinity, and yet 452 Turnpike Acts were 
 passed between 1760 and 1774; and since then, from 
 
 1785 to 1792, 302 Acts were passed ; 
 
 1792 to 1800, 341 
 
 1800 to 1809, 4 J 9 
 
 Every year since 1809, turnpike roads increased 
 until they covered 23,000 miles in England alone ; now 
 the roads are being freed, and the various parishes 
 through which they pass are forced to maintain them. 
 With regard to the route taken by turnpike roads before 
 being properly constructed, they in many instances 
 followed the direction taken by the earliest inhabitants 
 of the country ; these foot-paths became in time bridle- 
 paths, and at last these tracks became so fixed and 
 unalterable owing to long custom, and were consequently 
 so improved, as to become highways suitable for 
 wheeled vehicles." 
 
 Sir Henry Parnell complains that there was no 
 work published on roads in his time, but this defect has 
 been since remedied, as there are now several books 
 treating on the subject. 
 
SCOTCH AND IRISH ROADS. 53 
 
 Parnell was an Honorary Member of the Institution 
 of Civil Engineers. Mogg refers to him in his edition 
 of Colonel Paterson's road-book, and I believe Parnell 
 was in some way connected with that department of 
 the Government which dealt with turnpike roads. He 
 was Member of Parliament for Queen's County, Ireland, 
 and afterwards for Dundee, in Scotland; by his exertions 
 he carried the Holyhead Road Bill through Parliament, 
 and was appointed one of the commissioners. Sir 
 Henry Parnell was afterwards created Lord Congleton, 
 and died 1842. 
 
 Lord Daer, eldest son of the Earl of Selkirk, about 
 the year 1 790 introduced into Scotland the practice of 
 laying out roads with a spirit-level. The road from 
 Dumfries to Castle Douglas was laid out by him so as 
 to have no greater inclination than i in 40, although 
 passing through a very hilly country. Mr. Abercomby, 
 too, a gentleman by birth, pursued as a profession the 
 business of road-making. He laid out the road between 
 Kinross and Perth, and by following the valleys 
 obtained excellent levels ; he also laid out the road 
 from Perth to Dunkeld. On all occasions he made it his 
 rule never to ascend a single foot unless absolutely 
 unavoidable, and this he accomplished by following 
 the valleys and cutting through high banks, and filling 
 up hollows. Mr. Abercomby made all his road surfaces 
 with stone broken very small. The practice had 
 long existed in Scotland, and is recommended by old 
 French writers on road construction long before the 
 existence of MacAdam. 
 
 In Ireland the abolition of the statute labour in 
 1763, and placing the business of road-making under 
 the jurisdiction of the grand juries, immediately led 
 to improvement ; the general result was the establish- 
 ment of excellent roads throughout Ireland, which 
 
54 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 are maintained to the present day, notwithstanding 
 the great poverty that exists amongst its inhabitants. 
 
 Arthur Young, in his " Tour in Ireland," says: 
 " For a country so far behind England in other 
 respects to be so far before us in the matter of 
 roads, cannot fail to impress the English traveller." 
 He goes on to say, " that no matter where he 
 determined to go during his tour, everywhere he 
 found perfect roads." 
 
 Telford, the engineer, as I have elsewhere observed, 
 made 920 miles of roads and 1117 bridges in the 
 Highlands of Scotland. In Scotland that was a 
 matter of some difficulty, as the labour did not consist 
 merely in making the roads, but protecting them after 
 they were made from swollen torrents, and providing 
 proper drainage to enable them to be easily freed of 
 water that encroached upon their surface. 
 
 In the districts between Glasgow and Carlisle, up- 
 wards of 150 miles of Lowland roads were made by 
 Telford. But it was in 1815 that he especially distin- 
 guished himself, by making the great Holyhead road, 
 thus making an important line of communication 
 between London and Dublin. He made a foundation 
 of rough stone pavement, upon which he laid the road 
 surface. 
 
 Telford, in speaking of this road himself, says : " I 
 was directed to make a survey of it in 1810, it having 
 been satisfactorily proved to successive committees 
 of the House of Commons, that the inhabitants of the 
 country through which the road passed did not possess 
 sufficient funds for effecting any essential improve- 
 ments ; an Act of Parliament was therefore passed, 
 empowering commissioners therein named to expend 
 the sum of ,20,000 in making such alterations as 
 might be deemed expedient." 
 
TELFORUS ROADS. 55 
 
 This certainly was not a very large sum for the 
 road, if, as has been proved, ^"1000 per mile is the 
 cost of constructing a turnpike road, but Telford goes 
 on to say that "under the power of this Act the com- 
 missioners commenced operations in the autumn of 
 1815, and further grants were made from time to time." 
 
 As the road when finished was most excellent, it 
 was essential that it should be kept in good order and 
 repair ; consequently, over separate districts, assistant 
 surveyors were appointed, care being taken to select 
 them from practical workmen of long experience. 
 Under these inspectors a working foreman was placed 
 on every four or five miles of road, with a sufficient 
 number of labourers in his charge. These men were 
 employed by task and piece work in quarrying rock, 
 gathering stones in the fields, getting gravel, breaking 
 stones, scraping the road, loading material into carts, 
 and all works that were reducible to measure, or could 
 be estimated by the piece. The duties of the general 
 surveyor and clerk on the Holyhead road were to go 
 along the road every four weeks, the surveyor to 
 examine the practical operations, and settle accounts 
 with each sub-inspector, and give the clerk a certificate 
 showing the money due ; the clerk to collect the tolls 
 at the toll-houses, and to pay every one what he 
 ascertained from the surveyor was properly owing, and 
 lodge the balance of his receipts with the treasurers, 
 who lived at Shrewsbury. 
 
 I here introduce a return of the expenses of 
 constructing the Holyhead road, which I found lying 
 loose amongst some papers connected with road- 
 making, formerly in the possession of the general 
 surveyor of the Isle of Wight roads. These papers 
 give some idea of the cost of a great high-road ; they are 
 dated 1839, one year after the publication of Sir Henry 
 
56 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 Parnell's " Treatise on Roads." Sir Henry Parnell, as I 
 have before remarked, rendered very great services to 
 his country by his advocacy of good roads. His treatise 
 on roads is one of the best ever written. 
 
 In a journey between London and Edinburgh in 
 the year 1763 a fortnight was occupied, besides which, 
 no regular coach started except once a month. Of 
 course the roads were beset with highwaymen. In 
 those days the people in one part of Great Britain 
 knew very little about those occupying another part ; 
 the South of England to North countrymen was like 
 a foreign country, and vice versa, so also were the East 
 and West ; the people were frequently "unacquainted 
 with anything beyond their own parish, the only news 
 which reached them was communicated to them by 
 travellers and pedlars ; a letter received at the big- 
 house or at the parsonage had its news retailed 
 throughout the village and the surrounding neighbour- 
 hood. 
 
 Fairs were in past times naturally held to be of 
 very great importance, owing to the imperfect com- 
 munication. Amongst the very first was Winchester. 
 The merchants of London used to travel to these fairs, 
 bringing with them all manner of valuable goods. 
 The great fair at Winchester attracted merchants from 
 all parts of Europe; it took place on St. Giles' Hill, 
 and it was divided into streets of booths, named after 
 the merchants of the various countries, where they 
 exposed their goods. 
 
 Wey Hill Fair, near Andover, was another great 
 fair, and this is still continued, though not so important 
 as formerly. 
 
 On the 2nd of September, 1789, George IV,, then 
 Prince of Wales, was leaving Wentworth, where he 
 
HOLYHEAD ROAD. 
 
 A RETURN 
 
 OF THE EXPENSE INCURRED IN CUTTING THROUGH HILLS, 
 AND SIMILAR IMPROVEMENTS ON THE HOLYHEAD LINE 
 OF ROAD. 
 
 [To face page 56. 
 

 
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THE TURNPIKES. 57 
 
 had been staying with Lord Fitzwilliam, when his 
 coach capsized in a narrow part of the road ; it rolled 
 down a bank, turned over three or four times, and 
 landed in a field, where it was smashed to pieces ; it is 
 said that the Prince escaped unhurt. This, like the 
 circumstance of a railway director being injured in 
 a railway accident, did more than anything else to 
 improve the condition of the roads. 
 
 When the turnpike system was first established, it 
 met with violent opposition; bodies of armed men used 
 to meet and burn down the toll-houses, take the gates 
 off their hinges, and blow up the gate-posts with gun- 
 powder. The greatest resistance was experienced in 
 Yorkshire ; soldiers were assembled to protect the 
 turnpikes, but when one was left unprotected it was 
 immediately destroyed. Petitions were presented to 
 Parliament against the extension of the turnpike system, 
 but without avail. From 1760 to 1774, 452 Acts were 
 passed for making and maintaining highways. 
 
 As regards turnpikes, they are an intolerable 
 nuisance to any one who journeys on the high-road ; 
 at the same time there is a certain amount of rough 
 justice in the imposition of turnpike tolls, since those 
 who use the roads should assuredly pay for them, 
 and it is rather hard to ask those who only walk along 
 a country road, and never ride or drive, to contribute 
 to their maintenance. 
 
 One of the most remarkable road-makers who ever 
 lived was the blind man, John Metcalf. He was born 
 at Knaresborough, a market-town in the West Riding 
 of Yorkshire. The town is beautifully situated on the 
 north-east side of the River Nidd, the waters of which 
 are made to turn the wheels in connection with linen 
 factories. About a mile down the river are the 
 
53 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 ruins of a priory, founded by Richard, brother of 
 Henry III., and here there is a cavern known as 
 St. Robert's Cave, where Eugene Aram now so well 
 known, owing to Lord Lytton's famous novel com- 
 mitted the murder in 1 745, of which he was, fifteen 
 years afterwards, convicted. 
 
 Metcalf lost his sight when only six years of age 
 from an attack of small-pox. He was in later years 
 a great horseman, and used even to follow the hounds; 
 he knew his way all over the country within many 
 miles of his home. He is said to have constantly 
 ridden races, and was also an excellent horse-dealer. 
 He used to gain a knowledge of the shape of the 
 horses he purchased by his extremely delicate and 
 susceptible touch ; he would also judge of their sound- 
 ness by ear, as when they were trotted or walked 
 past him, he very quickly detected any inequality in 
 their tread. Both of these means of judging of a 
 horse's soundness are to be commended even to 
 persons having the use of both eyes, since when the 
 eye cannot detect,, the touch or hearing may frequently 
 do so. Metcalf was a proficient in many games which 
 one would suppose would require the use of both 
 eyes. Besides, he was a good violinist ; in fact, he 
 performed feats that required skill, courage, and activity, 
 which would have intimidated many men who were 
 possessed of perfect eyesight. Perhaps one of the 
 most remarkable of his qualities was his wonderful 
 ability for finding his way on strange roads, and 
 actually taking a survey of the country when about 
 to construct a new road ; and yet he never encountered 
 any molestation, and was never robbed or ill-treated in 
 the course of his travels. 
 
 To give some idea of the rate at which coaches 
 
JOHN METCALF. 59 
 
 travelled in those days, about 1740, it js only necessary 
 to say that Metcalf once paid a visit to a Colonel 
 Liddell at Ravensworth Castle. He met this gentle- 
 man in London when about to start for H arrogate, 
 in Yorkshire. The Colonel offered him a seat in his 
 coach ; Metcalf thanked him, but declined the offer, 
 observing that he could walk as far in a day as the 
 Colonel could drive in his carriage ; and he did not 
 say so without reason, since he walked two hundred 
 miles over an unknown road in less time than it took 
 the Colonel's coach drawn by four post-horses ; 
 he arrived at H arrogate before the carriage, and 
 that without hurrying himself by the way. The story 
 is even told of a man with a wooden leg who, when 
 asked by a stage-coachman in those days whether he 
 should give him a lift, replied, fi No, thank you, I am 
 in a hurry/' and stumped on far ahead of the coach, 
 which arrived at its destination long after the lame 
 man had had his supper and gone to bed. 
 
 Shortly after the battle of Preston Pans, October, 
 1745, Metcalf enlisted as a soldier with the Duke 
 of Cumberland's army. After the defeat of the 
 Pretender, the regiment to which he belonged was 
 disbanded ; Metcalf then became a carrier between 
 York and Knaresborough, at which latter place he 
 was born. His stage-waggon was the first that plied 
 on that road ; he made the journey twice a week in 
 summer, and once in winter. 
 
 Besides the various accomplishments I have named, 
 he used to measure timber in bulk, and hay and straw 
 in stacks, and ascertain their cubical contents by a 
 process of his own. Metcalf afterwards became one 
 of the greatest road and bridge constructors of the 
 .age. 
 
60 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 It was in 1765, when an Act was passed to provide 
 a turnpike road between Harrogate and Borough- 
 bridge, that Metcalf then sold his carrier's waggon, 
 and started as a road-maker. When executing a 
 portion of this road, he sent in his tender for the 
 erection of a bridge at Boroughbridge ; it was 
 accepted, and he completed the work within the 
 stipulated time, and in a satisfactory manner. 
 
 In another of his contracts he constructed a road 
 over a bog in almost the same manner as George 
 Stephenson made his railroad over Chatmoss. He was 
 always a great adept at making roads over marshes. 
 When his contract for making the road from H udders- 
 field to Manchester was accepted, he found, to his 
 dismay, that he was expected to traverse some marshy 
 ground ; and when he remonstrated, alleging the 
 additional expense, he was told that he should not 
 be a loser. Happily, owing to his great intelligence, 
 he managed to overcome the difficulties which he 
 encountered. 
 
 He was advised that he had better dig the bog 
 out until he came to a solid bottom. Had he done 
 this he would have had to dig a trench 9 feet deep 
 by 42 feet wide, but this he naturally declined to do ; 
 he cut a deep trench on either side of the intended 
 road, and threw the excavated stuff inward on to the 
 basis of the road, so as to raise it to a convex form, 
 and he filled the trench on either side with heather, 
 and covered the road-track itself with bundles laid 
 transversely, and over this he laid gravel ; in fact, the 
 road, in a way, was made to float upon the surface 
 of the bog. 
 
 It is evident that Stephenson did not originate the 
 idea of a floating road, since it is to Metcalf that we 
 
JOHN METCALF. 61 
 
 owe the original idea. Both Metcalf s and Stephenson' s 
 plans coincided in so much that they isolated their 
 road partly from the surface of the bog and yet made 
 it float thereon simply by means of a sufficient ex- 
 tension of bearing surface, in the same way that snow- 
 shoes sustain a man's weight, or a raft floats on water, 
 which it would have a better chance of doing on a bog 
 since its consistency is greater; in fact, a gentleman 
 living in the neighbourhood of Chatmoss, over which 
 Stephenson formed his railway, having brought some 
 of the moss land into cultivation, used to provide his 
 horses with flat wooden soles or pattens to enable them 
 to walk over the bog. In the same way Stephenson 
 floated his road capable of sustaining a locomotive 
 and an accompanying train. 
 
 Metcalf, when surveying for his roads, always 
 carried a very long hooked staff, and went quite 
 unattended. He also constructed or altered the roads 
 over the Peak, in Derbyshire. 
 
 The last road that Metcalf constructed was that 
 between Haslingden and Accrington, with a branch 
 road to Bury. Owing to numerous canals being made 
 at the time, there was plenty of employment, and wages 
 were high, so that, although Metcalf finished the work 
 satisfactorily and received ,3,500 for doing so, yet 
 he found that he had lost exactly ^40 after his two 
 years of labour and anxiety. Thus did his connection 
 with road-making cease, in 1792, when he was seventy- 
 five years of age, after which he retired to his farm at 
 Spofforth, near Weatherby. 
 
 The advantages of internal communication through- 
 out a country by means of roads can not be sufficiently 
 prized. The pack-horse has been superseded by the 
 waggon, the waggon by the coach, and the coach 
 
62 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 by the locomotive, and yet without the roads, which 
 afford communication into the interior of the country 
 from the various railway stations en route, the railway 
 itself would not be of such advantage to us as it is. 
 
 Of late years the total length of the highways 
 throughout England and Wales has been estimated 
 to be 25,000 miles, whilst the principal byways 
 have been estimated to be 100,000 miles. The 
 average cost of maintaining cross-roads in 1880 was 
 12 93. a mile, and the cost of maintaining the 
 main coaching roads was ^35 us. 
 
 When the great main roads were improved owing 
 to the establishment of fast coaches, the cross-roads 
 followed suit, possibly owing to the force of example. 
 As the roads became better, and coaches ran faster, 
 travellers became impatient of delays, and consequently 
 needless stoppages were not permitted by the pro- 
 prietors, and they who wished to catch the coach 
 on the main road had to hurry up a bit, having 
 no time to waste on the cross-road, as the coach 
 would wait for no one. 
 
 It was in the palmy days of coaching, before 
 the advent of George Stephenson and his locomotive, 
 that the great main roads of England were at their 
 best. Mr. Smiles in his Life of Telford the engineer, 
 speaks of the roads in Scotland. He says, that 
 " fields lay uncultivated, mines unexplored, and all 
 branches of industry languished, in the midst of an 
 idle, miserable, and haggard population." The only 
 roads of any importance were military roads, made 
 by soldiers after the rebellions of 1715 and 1745. 
 These roads were maintained at the public expense ; 
 they were little used, as they were laid out merely 
 for purposes of military occupation and did not traverse 
 
TELFORD AND THE SCOTCH ROADS. 63 
 
 districts where the roads were required. The- poverty 
 of the inhabitants rendered the attempt to construct 
 roads beyond their scanty means. In 1802, Mr. 
 Telford was called upon by the Government to make 
 a survey of Scotland and report as to measures that 
 were necessary for the formation of new roads and 
 the improvement, and preservation of existing ones. 
 The report was duly presented, printed, and approved. 
 In this report Mr. Telford pointed out that the 
 military roads were insufficient for the requirements 
 of the day. 
 
 The difficulties encountered by the Bar in travelling 
 the Northern Circuit are well described by Lord 
 Cockburn. "There was no bridge," he said, "over 
 the Tay at Dunkeld, or over the Spey at Forres 
 nothing but wretched ferries, let to poor cottagers, 
 whose wives or daughters used to take us across these 
 rivers. 
 
 " There was no mail-coach north of Aberdeen until 
 after the battle of Waterloo. North of Inverness 
 matters were still worse. There was no bridge over 
 the Banley or the Conan ; drovers coming south 
 swam the river with their cattle. There being no 
 roads, there was no use for carts. In the whole 
 county of Caithness there was not a farmer who 
 owned a wheel-cart ; burdens were usually carried on 
 the backs of ponies, but quite as often on the backs of 
 women. 
 
 " Telford altered all this. Being commissioned by 
 the Government to construct various roads throughout 
 Scotland, besides bridges over rivers which were 
 hitherto impassable, in the course of eighteen years he 
 made 920 miles of roads, and made 1200 bridges, 
 partly at the expense of the localities immediately 
 
64 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 benefited, and partly at the expense of the nation. 
 The consequence of this was that stage-coaches com- 
 menced running northwards from Perth to Inverness 
 in 1806, were regularly established in 1811, and in the 
 year 1820 no fewer than forty coaches arrived at the 
 latter town in the course of a week, and the same 
 number departed from it ; the use of carts became 
 practicable, sloth and idleness disappeared before 
 energy, activity, and industry all owing to the 
 existence of good roads." 
 
 Mr. Codrington, in his work on the maintenance 
 of macadamised roads, published 1879, says that, "by 
 the latest Parliamentary return, ,4,000,000 is spent 
 annually on the roads of England and Wales, of which 
 sum nearly all of it is spent on macadamised roads. 
 This is exclusive of the metropolis, where ,280,000 is 
 said to be annually spent on macadamised roads." 
 
 Telford and MacAdam appear to be the only two 
 men who greatly distinguished themselves as road 
 engineers. Telford undoubtedly stands pre-eminent. 
 MacAdam's doctrines were condemned by the partisans 
 of Telford's system as contrary to the first principles 
 of science ; and Mr. Codrington says that many of his 
 statemets were marked by a good deal of exaggera- 
 tion. Mr. MacAdam's claim to the gratitude of those 
 who make use of high-roads consists in the fact of his 
 having been the first to direct public attention to the 
 condition of the highways throughout England, and 
 not so much in his having evinced any very great 
 ability in their construction. 
 
 A Mr. Edgeworth, an Irish proprietor, wrote a 
 treatise on roads, the second edition being published 
 in 1817. He promulgated the system of broken road- 
 covering some time before the appearance of MacAdam. 
 
MACADAM. 65 
 
 He differed from MacAdam only in one particular ; he 
 advised that the interstices should be filled up with 
 sharp sand or small gravel. 
 
 There is one thing which greatly increased the 
 reputation of MacAdam. In the year 1830 his system 
 was adopted in France. M. Dumas, Engineer-in- 
 Chief of the Fonts et Chaussees, writing in 1843, 
 declares that his roads, owing to the adoption of the 
 macadamised system, had reached, in his opinion, the 
 maximum of beauty, which must be accepted as the 
 opinion of an enthusiast. 
 
 Mr. MacAdam was not educated as an engineer, 
 although in his early days he was one of the trustees 
 of a road in Ayrshire. Afterwards he was employed 
 as Government agent for victualling the navy in the 
 western parts of England. He continued the study of 
 road-making, keeping in view the essential conditions 
 of a smooth surface. Flints and gravel used to be 
 thrown unbroken upon the roads, and so round that 
 they had no points of contact, and so never consoli- 
 dated. When a heavy vehicle passed over them their 
 loose structure offered no resistance. The roads were 
 thus constantly in need of repair. 
 
 In 1815 MacAdam for the first time devoted himself 
 to road-making as a profession. He was appointed 
 Surveyor-General of the Bristol roads. In carrying out 
 his improvements in roads, he spent several thousand 
 pounds out of his own pocket. In 1825, having 
 proved his expenditure before a committee of the House 
 of Commons, the amount was restored to him together 
 with an honorary tribute of ,2,000. Mr. MacAdam 
 died poor, but, as he declared, an honest man. 
 
 The Westminster Review, vol. iv., page 354, has 
 an article referring to MacAdam. It remarks that he 
 
66 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 was the inventor of no system ; that the custom of 
 breaking stones small was practised in Sweden and 
 Switzerland long before the existence of MacAdam ; 
 and it goes on to say that if MacAdam's name had 
 not been admissible as a verb, it would have never 
 been so generally known. Thus we say a macadamised 
 road, or to macadamise a road ; one could not well 
 say, to Brown or Smith a road, or a Smithed or 
 Browned road. MacAdam certainly called attention to 
 the condition of the roads, and persuaded the Turnpike 
 Trustees to keep them in proper repair. 
 
 And yet, where there is much traffic, as in towns, 
 macadamised roads get worn into innumerable holes, 
 causing the greatest discomfort to persons driving over 
 them I refer to the granite-made roads, as with those 
 made of a softer stone this discomfort is not felt. It 
 was on this account that a road was being taken up at 
 Tunbridge Wells while I was staying there, which is 
 mentioned in the chapter on Road Construction and 
 Maintenance. 
 
 The road on the Thames Embankment, between 
 Northumberland Avenue and St. Stephen's Club, was 
 a striking instance of this peculiarity. The whole road- 
 way was one mass of depressions, causing the wheels 
 C>f one's carriage to fly about in all directions ; this 
 could of course be remedied by picking up the road- 
 way and laying it afresh ; but it is no doubt in 
 consequence of the hardness and unyielding nature 
 of the granite that this happens. The granite is so 
 hard that it does not crumble away at the edges and 
 accommodate itself to its surroundings ; in some places 
 jt sinks under heavy traffic, owing to no great resist- 
 ance being offered to its consolidation, in other places 
 it refuses to settle down, and consequently there is 
 
THE LONDON STREETS. 67 
 
 a considerable variation in the level of the road. I 
 have often thought if softer stone were mixed with 
 the granite, whether this might not produce the 
 desired effect. 
 
 For the streets of a town there is no doubt that 
 wood-paving is superior to macadam ; it is pleasanter 
 to drive over, it is easier to scavenge, the passage of 
 vehicles occasions but little noise, and it is only the 
 question of cost that should prevent its general 
 adoption. A great part of London is now paved 
 with wood, and whatever science can suggest or 
 wealth procure, London should have, since is she not 
 one of the greatest cities in the world, if not the 
 greatest ? And yet the London pavements are dis- 
 graceful, and her streets are abominably scavenged. 
 
 In wet winter weather, even in the neighbourhood 
 of Charing Cross, you may see the paving or flag- 
 stones sunk one below the other, creating great pools 
 of water like stagnant lakes, into which the un- 
 suspecting traveller flounders. In Trafalgar Square, 
 on the asphalte pavement around the fountains, there 
 are huge ponds sufficiently deep and wide to drown 
 a litter of puppies ; and then the streets, they swim 
 in mud that rises over one's insteps. 
 
 And in dry summer weather, in every gutter there 
 is the refuse of the preceding day, dirty paper, straw, 
 and a thousand and one abominations which should 
 have been conveyed away by the scavenger's cart. 
 Then in hot, dusty weather, a water-cart is rarely 
 seen, the streets smell, the dust covers one, and gets 
 into one's eyes, and up one's nose, and penetrates 
 even into one's house, and general complaints are 
 uttered as to the dirt of London, when, if matters 
 were only managed properly, Londoners might rejoice 
 
 F 2 
 
68 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 in a condition of perpetual cleanliness at all times and 
 seasons of the year. 
 
 Thus I have brought my history down from the 
 time of the Carthaginians and Lacedaemonians to the 
 Londoners of the nineteenth century. What we have 
 lost in ignorance and barbarism, we have gained in 
 a highly-cultivated system of perpetual dirt in wet 
 weather, and dust in dry weather. Who is it benefits 
 by this condition of things ? No one except the boot- 
 maker and the laundress. Dust rising from the street 
 injures the interior of our houses, and all that is 
 within, whereas mud is destructive to one's carriages, 
 clothes, and boots. If the depreciation in property 
 from these two causes were carefully computed, it 
 would more than suffice to keep an enormous staff 
 of workmen engaged night and day upon the main- 
 tenance and cleansing of the streets of the metropolis. 
 
 An improvement in this respect would benefit all 
 classes of the community ; considering the heavy rates 
 paid by Londoners, it is only natural to suppose that 
 the roads and pavements would meet, at the hands of 
 the various parishes in which they are situated, with 
 proper care and attention. If every one contributed just 
 sufficient to keep the pavement and half the street that 
 was immediately before their own dwelling clean, well 
 scavenged, and well maintained, that would be quite 
 sufficient. There is no reason why the streets of 
 London should not be at all times in perfect condition, 
 in the winter free from snow or mud, and in the summer 
 free of dust, the drains well scavenged, the gutters 
 constantly flushed, and the roads watered ; were this 
 done, in place of the heat, dust, and impure odours, the 
 London streets might be as clean and fresh as any 
 country road after an April shower. 
 
DIRT AND DUST. 69 
 
 I firmly believe that all that is required to render 
 the buildings fresh and clean, is to wash them. If on 
 the occasion of the Queen's Jubilee, every house- 
 holder in London had set-to to paint and wash his 
 house, London would have assumed an appearance 
 that would have not only gladdened the hearts of all 
 lovers of cleanliness and cheerfulness, but would have 
 provided such an extraordinary and unaccustomed 
 spectacle, as would never have been forgotten during 
 the lifetime of those who beheld this singular 
 transformation. 
 

 CHAPTER II. 
 
 MAIL AND STAGE-COACHES. 
 " All the world's a stage." 
 
 SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 Last days of road travelling Present and past aspect of English roads 
 Long-distance day-coaches Road versus rail Of the clock 
 The time journeys occupied Horses a necessity Fast coaches 
 Guards' time-bills Too late Farming turnpikes Snow-storm 
 of 1854 Great snow-storm of 1836 The clerk of the weather 
 Sleighing and sleighs Driving in a fog Old coaching inns 
 Mail guards Inn yards and stables The yard of tin Improve- 
 ment in coaches The last coaches The preservation of leather 
 Coach inspectors Highwaymen Skids and breaks Horsing 
 .the mails Mail coachmen A coach attacked by a lioness 
 Coach proprietors Rail and road Coach-horses Immature 
 The Telegraph Scarlet coats In the City State of English 
 highways A Transatlantic opinion Coaching misadventures 
 High-roads passing through tunnels Colonel Paterson's road- 
 book Other road-books Cost of coach-horses Lord William 
 Lennox Death from exposure Coaches racing Convicted of 
 manslaughter A careless coachman An English coach on a 
 French road The locomotive. 
 
 As I have endeavoured to explain, the progress made 
 in the construction of high-roads was very slow, 
 but when in the last days of coaching all had been 
 done that could be done to render them perfect, 
 suddenly they were abandoned, and the stream of 
 traffic was turned towards the railway ; then the 
 roads appear to have gone gradually back, not to 
 their original state that would have been too sad, 
 and would have been impossible at the present time 
 but they vastly differed from the roads over which 
 the mail and stage-coaches had been running. Con- 
 sequently first came a period of slow but sure improve- 
 

LAST DAYS OF ROAD TRAVELLING. 71 
 
 ment, a period in the history of roads when engineers 
 of the highest skill, intelligence, and experience, were 
 employed by Government in the construction of the 
 highways ; then, when, owing to the introduction of 
 railways, the high-roads were no longer the great 
 avenues of traffic and internal communication through- 
 out the kingdom, they fell into a species of disrepute ; 
 the infinite care which had been lavished on them 
 was no longer deemed necessary, and they became 
 as we now see them, left in the charge of Highway 
 Boards inexperienced in their management, and to 
 surveyors utterly without knowledge of road construc- 
 tion and maintenance, or too indolent to learn. 
 
 A very great and remarkable change therefore 
 has taken place in country roads since the palmy 
 days of coaching. Roads, fifty years ago, were 
 avenues by which all travellers and merchandise 
 were conveyed from one part of the kingdom to 
 another, either by coach or waggon, except they 
 were very wealthy persons, in which case they travelled 
 in their own carriages, and were supplied with fresh 
 horses at the various inns at which they stopped on 
 their way ; but this \vas an extravagant way of 
 travelling, very much the same as taking a special 
 train. The great high-roads just before the advent 
 of the locomotive were kept to perfection. Large 
 gangs of road-menders worked at - intervals along 
 their whole length, and they were wider than they 
 are now ; the space we so frequently see covered with 
 grass alongside the road was formerly a portion of 
 the roadway. 
 
 The great main roads in the later days of 
 coaching, just before the stage-coach was super- 
 seded by the locomotive, must have presented 
 
72 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 a very different appearance to what they do now 
 in their neglected and abandoned condition. In 
 those days a person could not pass a distance of 
 four or five miles along one of these great main roads 
 without meeting mail and stage-coaches, postchaises 
 with their four horses, gentlemen's travelling carriages, 
 bound on a journey, in addition to other vehicles 
 w r hich even now one meets on a high-road, and which 
 the advent of the rail has not rendered obsolete 
 or swept away. What is now frequently termed a 
 lonely country road was in those days a scene of 
 energetic life and activity. The railroad has since then 
 absorbed this continuous stream of vitality, and the 
 roads have, comparatively speaking, owing to the 
 cessation of traffic thereon, fallen into disuse. 
 
 In the course of a drive now over some miles of an 
 important main road, in place of the mail and stage- 
 coach, the post and travelling carriage, we see agri- 
 cultural waggons, coal, stone, and brick carts, brewers' 
 drays, an occasional carriage, a few dog-carts driven 
 by gentlemen or farmers, and a sprinkling of village 
 carts ; but the glory of the great main roads has de- 
 parted never to return. 
 
 It must have been a pleasant sight in the course 
 of a walk or drive along a country road to see the 
 coaches passing to and fro, every coachman having 
 to draw aside at -the approach of the mail as it dashed 
 by with its team of horses, urged to their utmost speed, 
 whilst the coach itself was quite sufficient to attract 
 attention, bearing as it did the Royal Arms, whilst the 
 coachman and guard in their scarlet and gold liveries 
 contributed to its singularity and smart appearance. 
 
 In those days coaches travelled what was then 
 considered very fast, but long before the advent of 
 
LONG-DISTANCE DAY-COACHES. 73 
 
 coaches every stage waggon on the road, if it exceeded 
 a pace at which previous waggons had journeyed, was 
 described as fast, and frequently as flying. In the 
 later coaching days twenty minutes only was allowed 
 for passenger's dinner ; this was the time permitted 
 on the " Telegraph," the fast coach from London 
 to Manchester, and other coaches mentioned else- 
 where. 
 
 The generality of coaches did not travel more than 
 nine and a half miles an hour by day and about eight 
 and a half by night, some exceeded this pace, and just 
 before coaches ceased running the speed was very 
 considerably increased. Long-distance day-coaches 
 were established when the "Wonder" ran to Shrews- 
 bury, 158 miles, in one day. The longest distance 
 previously performed by a day-coach was 100 and 125 
 miles, from London to Bristol. Shortly after this the 
 Exeter day-coach, called the " Telegraph," was placed 
 on the road, the distance run in the day being 165 
 miles, * and the Manchester day-coach, the "Telegraph," 
 also ran 186 miles during the day. But the time 
 coaches took to perform their journeys was dependent 
 very much upon the condition of the roads. Of course 
 in bad weather the roads were sometimes rendered 
 impassable by reason of floods in low-lying districts, 
 and in winter by heavy snow-storms ; under such 
 conditions the best roads may be rendered impassable. 
 There was a very celebrated coach, called the "Beaufort 
 Hunt," which ran from London to Bath ; it used to 
 maintain the extraordinary speed of eleven miles an 
 hour except where it encountered steep hills. 
 
 The "Quicksilver," a Brighton coach, performed 
 the distance from London to Brighton in four hours 
 
 * See page 76. 
 
74 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 and a half. Mr. Harris, in his old coaching days, says 
 that "this coach was horsed by a man named Israel 
 Alexander and started from the 'Three Tuns,' in 
 Aldgate, close to Mrs. Nelson's." This coach went 
 down to Brighton on the opening day of Parliament 
 with a copy of the King's Speech in three hours and 
 forty minutes ; this was at the rate of fifteen miles an 
 hour, a very great speed for a coach to maintain 
 throughout an entire journey, although nothing 
 compared with the speed of an express train. The 
 only present mode of travelling as regards speed that 
 can be compared to coaching is the rate at which 
 steamboats travel. On one or two occasions the 
 White Star vessels, and other ocean steamers, have 
 averaged fifteen knots across the Atlantic ; but there 
 is no limit to the speed of a locomotive. Stephenson's 
 " Rocket," when on its trial attached to a train only, 
 went twelve and a half miles an hour, but 
 afterwards by itself it steamed at the rate of 
 twenty-nine miles. This was looked upon at that 
 time as a remarkable feat, but it afterwards attained 
 a speed of sixty miles. The locomotives drawing 
 express trains travel generally at about forty- 
 five miles an hour ; but this speed is equal frequently 
 to sixty-five miles an hour, or nearly 100 feet in a 
 second, that is if the locomotive were not attached to 
 a train. Provided that the line is clear, that the rails 
 are in good condition, and that no stoppages are to be 
 made, there is no saying at what speed a locomotive 
 might not travel, either by itself, or with one or two 
 carnages attached. Much has been said and written 
 about Pneumatic Railways ; and, although several trials 
 have been made of the Pneumatic Railway, no one as 
 yet has been able to overcome the friction or provide 
 
The above engraving represents GEORGE STEPHENSON'S LOCOMOTIVE, the 
 " ROCKET," which gained the prize of ^"500 awarded by the directors of 
 the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company, having, on its trial, which 
 took place on the 8th of October, 1829, run at the speed of 29 miles per hour 
 with a load of 13 tons attached. When afterwards running without any load 
 attached to it, it accomplished the then extraordinary speed of 35 miles an 
 hour. Although it was not the first locomotive that had been made, yet it 
 was the first of any importance, and it has proved the forerunner of the 
 railway system throughout the world. 
 
 {To face f age 75. 
 
ROAD VERSUS RAIL. 75 
 
 a means of preventing the escape of air, so detrimental 
 to their success. Before further trials are made it 
 would be well to see if trains could not run at a higher 
 speed than they do now without running off the line. 
 But I will speak of this in another chapter. 
 
 To return to the speed of coaches. As I have 
 said, the Brighton " Quicksilver," on one occasion, 
 ran to Brighton in three hours and forty minutes ; 
 everything, of course, was ready on the road for 
 expediting the journey in every possible way. At 
 the present time, on the South-Eastern line, some of 
 the trains are so slow, that the coach to Tunbridge 
 Wells took very little longer than the train ; and in 
 many parts of England, on various lines, the trains 
 are frequently so slow that a w r ell-horsed and well- 
 driven coach could travel nearly as fast. 
 
 The time allowed for the mail-coach from London 
 to Edinburgh was forty-two hours and twenty-three 
 minutes ; the time for the return journey from 
 Edinburgh to London was forty-five hours and 
 thirty-nine minutes. The distance, according to 
 Paterson, is about 380 miles ; but it varies according 
 to the route taken, the most direct being by Catterick 
 and Jedburgh, which is 367 miles, whereas by Cold- 
 .stream it is 380 miles, and by Berwick 391 miles, and 
 lastly, by the A. B.C. time-table, from the Great 
 Northern terminus at King's Cross via York, it is 
 397 miles, and from St. Pancras via the Midland 
 Railway by Carlisle, 404 miles. The Great Northern 
 takes ten hours, and the Midland also takes about 
 ten hours in performing the journey, consequently 
 by coach it took about four times as long as by 
 rail. 
 
 The Exeter coach, the "Telegraph," of which I 
 
76 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 have spoken elsewhere,* when horsed by Mrs. Nelson 
 and Mr. Sherman, took seventeen hours in going from 
 London to Exeter, a distance by road of 165 miles 
 by the time-bill, according to Paterson it is 172 miles, 
 by rail from Waterloo it is 17 1% miles, and from 
 Paddington 193^. The coach used to leave the 
 " Bull Inn," Aldgate, at half-past four in the morning, 
 and quitted Piccadilly at half-past five. 
 
 It must be remembered that the King or Queen's 
 highway was the only route by which, in those days, 
 one could travel, except it were to journey by river 
 or sea. The railroad is now connected inseparably 
 in our minds with all idea of travel, and our almost 
 daily acquaintance with the iron road has caused all 
 questions respecting distance to be associated in our 
 thoughts with the time trains take to perform the 
 journey; consequently, the intention of going any 
 distance is regarded by us, to carry it into effect, 
 as necessitating the occupation of a certain period of 
 time. This appears the more remarkable, when we 
 consider the various ways in which the hour or the 
 passage of time has been mentioned at various periods 
 of history. 
 
 Our forefathers used to speak of four or five 
 a.m. or p.m., as four or five of the clock, and 
 according to the hour mentioned, a number of quaint 
 phrases were used to denominate the time. Our 
 "o'clock" is evidently a corruption of their mode 
 of speaking when saying of the clock. 
 
 But nothing is a greater evidence of the improve- 
 ment we have undergone as regards the utilisation 
 of time, than the way in which the time of departure 
 or arrival of trains is mentioned in our railway time- 
 
 * See page 73. 
 
THE TIME JOURNEYS OCCUPIED. 77 
 
 tables, that is by putting the minutes after the hour, 
 and speaking of time in like manner, as 6.45, 8.32, 
 12.14; m f act > watches are now made on this 
 principle. 
 
 The time taken by the coaches, compared with the 
 rail, was so great that, as a rule, the time occupied by 
 all railway journeys of any importance, undertaken on 
 good lines, must be multiplied by four or five in order 
 to ascertain what time would be required by a coach 
 to perform the same journey. Thus, to Brighton by 
 rail would occupy one hour by fast train, whereas by 
 coach it would take four or five hours in the ordinary 
 course thirteen miles an hour if the coach took four 
 hours, and a fraction over ten miles an hour if it took 
 five hours, the distance being fifty-two miles. These 
 two speeds per hour are very high, seeing that although 
 some coaches greatly exceeded this speed, yet the 
 average performance of coaches throughout the United 
 Kingdom, taking slow and fast alike, appears to have 
 been about eight and a half miles an hour. It must 
 be remembered that the horses were changed every 
 few miles ; but when on a journey with a private 
 coach or carnage, and there is no change, every coach- 
 man should remember that it is not distance so much 
 as speed that exhausts horses. On a driving tour, 
 when there is no change, the distance should never 
 exceed twenty miles a day, and even that is too much 
 on a bad road or in a hilly country. 
 
 The idea of a journey at the present day is a short 
 drive or a walk to a railway station, where we take 
 our ticket and seat ourselves in a comfortable railway 
 carriage, from which we probably do not stir until 
 we have almost reached our destination ; and although 
 a coach-drive on a fine day is very delightful for a 
 
78 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 distance under fifty miles, there is in it neither th~ 
 speed nor the repose incidental to a railway journey 
 in a good train on a good line, in a properly-coupled 
 and easily-hung carnage. 
 
 In the coaching days, horses must have been 
 regarded as of far greater importance than they are 
 now, as in every journey undertaken by travellers, 
 they were dependent for their safety and for the 
 speed at which they were conveyed, on this most 
 willing and obedient servant of mankind. When we 
 consider the enormous strength possessed by a horse, 
 it is marvellous that he should ever become sub- 
 servient to our will, and that at the bidding of man 
 he should labour so conscientiously in his service. 
 Many people, although not owning horses of their 
 own, are daily being served by them indirectly. In 
 fact, such is the case with all persons who use public 
 conveyances drawn by horses, yet not half the people 
 who do so bestow a thought on the willing beast 
 who patiently labours in their service. 
 
 A few years ago, I saw a heavily-laden omnibus, 
 the horses of which could not drag it up the hill at the 
 lower end of Regent Street, close by Waterloo Place ; 
 and yet it was not for the will to do so, as they 
 struggled with all their might, thrusting their shoulders 
 into their collars sufficiently to break the traces, 
 whilst the coachman was lashing them without mercy ; 
 the omnibus was full within and without, yet not a 
 soul descended from their seats to relieve the poor 
 brutes. I cannot believe that if any of those per- 
 sons had known anything about horses, they would 
 have sat still as they did ; in fact, when urged to get 
 down and so give the horses a chance, the reply was : 
 " We have paid our fares, they should get better horses 
 
FAST COACHES. 79 
 
 or some more horses ; we don't see why we should 
 move." Such is the disposition of either ignorant or 
 unfeeling persons who make use of public conveyances ; 
 and, in my opinion, it should be left to the discretion of 
 a driver or conductor, in such a case, to return the 
 passengers their fares, rather than urge the horses to 
 perform what is beyond their powers. 
 
 It appears that the fastest coaches performing long 
 distances, were not put upon the road until a few years 
 before the decline of coaching ; these were mostly 
 stage-coaches, which were as fast as the mails, but 
 for punctuality the mails surpassed them ; the 
 Shrewsbury stage-coach, " The Wonder," was one of 
 the fastest coaches of the day.* Mr. Harris says it 
 took eleven hours and four minutes from London, 
 whilst the mail took eleven hours and eight minutes ; 
 yet in the time-bill it is mentioned as taking ten 
 hours one minute. When the day-coaches pulled 
 up at an inn to change horses, there were always 
 plenty of men to lend a hand in putting the fresh 
 team together, but with a night-coach the case was 
 different ; frequently the coachman, the guard, and 
 the horsekeeper had to do all the work themselves, 
 and when there was no guard then the coachman 
 and horsekeeper had to do it. A very fast coach out 
 of London was the Holy head, but the fastest in the 
 United Kingdom, excepting the " Beaufort Hunt" to 
 Bath,t was that which ran from Preston to Liverpool ; 
 this coach accomplished ten miles five furlongs per 
 hour, the entire distance being only thirty miles. A 
 writer on the subject says that the speed of mail- 
 coaches averaged eight miles seven furlongs an hour. 
 In the year 1836, the last year of William the 
 * See page 73*. t See page 73. 
 
So HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 Fourth's reign, and one year before the Queen 
 ascended the throne, there were only six mail- 
 coaches which travelled at a rate of ten miles an 
 hour, and upwards. These were the 
 
 Miles. Furlongs. 
 
 Birmingham and Sheffield 10 o 
 
 Pontefract and Leeds 10 o 
 
 London and Holy head 10 i 
 
 Gloucester and Carmarthen 10 2 
 
 Carlisle and Glasgow 10 4 
 
 Liverpool and Preston 10 5 
 
 As regards the number of horses employed on 
 all the fast coaches, mail or stage, one horse a mile 
 is what was always allowed. 
 
 The guards of the various coaches always had 
 to fill in their time-bill, to which they were forced 
 to sign their name. The General Post Office issued 
 time-bills to their guards and coachmen, upon which 
 was the following notice : 
 
 " The time of working each stage is to be 
 reckoned from the coach's arrival, and if any time 
 is to be recovered in the course of the stage, it is 
 the duty of the coachman to be as expeditious as 
 possible, and to report the horsekeepers if they are 
 not always ready when the coach arrives, and active in 
 getting it off. The guard is to give his best assist- 
 ance in changing, whenever his official duties do 
 not prevent him." 
 
 Similar rules were issued by all the large stage- 
 coach proprietors, who were not to be outdone by 
 the Postmaster-General in the matter of speed and 
 punctuality. Their guards carried time-pieces like 
 those of the mail guards, and Mr. Harris says that 
 at the foot of the Exeter " Telegraph " there was this 
 notice : 
 
GUARDS' TIME-BILLS. 81 
 
 " The guard is to fill up this bill precisely as the 
 coach is worked over each stage, and hand it to 
 the bookkeeper at each end of his journey, with all 
 delays accounted for, and his name signed to the 
 same." 
 
 Whilst at the foot of the Manchester "Tele- 
 graph" day-coach time-bill, there was the following 
 notice : 
 
 " Observe That a fine of one shilling per minute 
 will be incurred by each proprietor for every minute 
 of time lost over his stage or stages, to one-half 
 of which the coachman and guard will be held liable 
 equally between them should their employers see 
 sufficient cause for enforcing the same. Misdating 
 the time-bill, or neglecting to date at all (either with 
 pen, ink, or pencil) at any of the above places the 
 moment he arrives, will subject the guard to a fine 
 of five shillings for each default. The guard is also 
 to leave his time-bill in the office on his arrival at 
 the * Bull and Mouth,' or forfeit five shillings for each 
 omission." 
 
 This coach was horsed as far as St. Albans by 
 Mr. Sherman. 
 
 It is a pity that railway companies and the guards 
 and engine-drivers employed by them cannot be made 
 responsible in the same w T ay ; were this done, and 
 a fine imposed every time the train was late, passengers 
 would not be made to suffer in consequence of their 
 unpunctuality. In fact, it would be a good thing if the 
 Government could be induced to take over many of 
 the railways. 
 
 Mr. Harris gives some copies of time-bills as 
 shown on next page : 
 
82 
 
 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 Time Bill of the "Telegraph" Coach, from London to Manchester. 
 
 Down. Guard. 
 
 Leaves the "Bull and Mouth," 5 a.m. ; left the " Peacock," 5.15. 
 
 
 
 
 TIME 
 
 SHOULD 
 
 DID 
 
 
 PROPRIETORS. 
 
 PLACES. 
 
 MILES. 
 
 ALLOWED. 
 
 ARRIVE. 
 
 ARRIVE. 
 
 
 Sherman 
 
 St. Albans 
 
 i9# 
 
 H. M. 
 
 i 54 
 
 H. M. 
 
 7- 9 
 
 
 
 Liley 
 
 Redbourn 
 
 ^/2 22 
 
 7.31 
 
 
 
 Fossey 
 
 Hockliffe 
 
 12}^ 
 
 I 10 
 
 8.41 
 
 
 
 
 Northampton 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 (Breakfast) 
 
 
 2O 
 
 
 
 
 Shaw 
 
 Harboro' 
 
 47^ 
 
 4 3 
 
 J-3 1 
 
 
 
 
 Leicester 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 (Business) 
 
 
 o 5 
 
 
 
 
 Pettifer 
 
 Loughboro' 
 
 26 
 
 2 27 
 
 4- 3 
 
 
 
 
 Derby (Dinner) 
 
 
 20 
 
 
 
 
 Mason 
 
 Ashbourne 
 
 3 
 
 2 48 
 
 7.11 
 
 
 
 Wood 
 
 Waterhouses 
 
 1% 
 
 o 43 
 
 7-54 
 
 
 
 Linley 
 
 Bullock-Smithy 
 
 29^ 
 
 2 46 
 
 10.40 
 
 
 
 Weatherall 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 &Co. 
 
 Manchester 
 
 9 
 
 o 50 
 
 11.30 
 
 
 
 
 
 186 
 
 18 15 
 
 
 
 
 Guard (sign your name). Timepiece No. 
 
 Time-bill of the "Wonder" Coach from London to Shrewsbury. 
 Despatched from the " Bull and Mouth " at 6.30 morning. 
 Left the " Peacock" at Islington at 6.45 o'clock. 
 Down. Guard. 
 
 PROPRIETORS. 
 
 PLACES. 
 
 MILES. 
 
 TIME 
 ALLOWED. 
 
 SHOULD 
 
 ARRIVE. 
 
 DID 
 
 ARRIVE. 
 
 TIME 
 LOST. 
 
 Sherman 
 
 St. Albans 
 
 22^ 
 
 H. M. 
 
 2 3 
 
 H. M. 
 
 8.48 
 
 
 
 J. Liley 
 
 Redbourn 
 
 4^ 
 
 o 25 
 
 9- T 3 
 
 
 
 
 (Breakfast) 
 
 
 20 
 
 
 
 
 Goodyear 
 
 Dunstable 
 
 8^ 
 
 o 40 
 
 IO.2I 
 
 
 
 Sheppard 
 
 Daventry 
 
 29^ 
 
 2 54- 
 
 2.15 
 
 
 
 Collier * 
 
 Coventry 
 
 *9 
 
 1 47 
 
 4.2 
 
 
 
 
 (Business) 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 Vyse 
 
 Birmingham 
 
 *9 
 
 i 39 
 
 5-46 
 
 
 
 
 (Dinner) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Evans 
 
 Wolverhampton 
 
 14 
 
 1 J 5 
 
 7.36 
 
 
 
 
 (Business) 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 " 
 
 Summer House 
 
 6^ 
 
 35 
 
 8.16 
 
 
 
 J. Taylor 
 
 Shiffnall 
 
 6^ 
 
 35 
 
 8. 5 I 
 
 
 
 H. J. Taylor 
 
 Haygate 
 
 8 
 
 o 43 
 
 9-34 
 
 
 
 J. Taylor 
 
 Shrewsbury 
 
 10 
 
 o 56 
 
 10.30 
 
 
 
 
 
 153 
 
 T 5 45 
 
 
 
 
 Guard (sign your name). 
 
 Timepiece No. 
 
GUARDS TIME-BILLS. 83 
 
 The " Defiance " coach from London to Exeter 
 had a similar time-bill, with the exception that there 
 was a column for the enumeration of the passengers in 
 and out of town. This coach started at a quarter 
 past three in the afternoon, from the " Bull Inn," 
 Aldgate, and from Piccadilly at half- past four. It 
 stopped for tea at ten o'clock at night, and again for 
 breakfast in the early morning. Both for tea and 
 breakfast twenty minutes was allowed, both on the up 
 and down journey; the distance was 168^ miles, and 
 the time allowed nineteen hours. 
 
 The writer whom I have mentioned gives a list of 
 the mails out of London, and the time in which the 
 journeys were performed, and the amount paid to the 
 horseowners by the Postmaster-General for horsing 
 the coaches as follows : 
 
 NAME OF MAIL. 
 
 DISTANCE. 
 
 TIME, 
 INCLUDING 
 ALL 
 STOPPAGES. 
 
 RATE OF 
 TRAVELLING, 
 INCLUDING 
 STOPPAGES. 
 
 AMOUNT PER 
 DOUBLE MILE 
 PAID FOR 
 HORSING. 
 
 
 MILES. 
 
 H. M. 
 
 MILES PER 
 HOUR. 
 
 
 Bath .... 
 
 110-4 
 
 II O 
 
 IO 
 
 2d. 
 
 Birmingham & Banbury 
 
 119-2 
 
 II 56 
 
 97 
 
 2d. 
 
 Bristol .... 
 
 12 I '0 
 
 ii 45 
 
 TO'2 
 
 id. 
 
 Devonport . 
 
 217*5 
 
 23 44 
 
 9 -0 
 
 2d. 
 
 York . . 
 
 I97-0 
 
 20 54 
 
 9'3* 
 
 id. 
 
 Exeter .... 
 
 I76'2 
 
 18 59 
 
 9-2 
 
 2d. 
 
 Gloucester . 
 
 UI'3 
 
 11 55 
 
 9-2 
 
 2d. 
 
 Holyhead 
 
 25 9 -2 
 
 26 55 
 
 9'5 
 
 id. 
 
 Hull .... 
 
 I72-5 
 
 iS 12 
 
 9*3 
 
 2d. 
 
 Leeds .... 
 
 1967 
 
 21 2 
 
 9' 2 
 
 2d. 
 
 Liverpool 
 
 20I-3 
 
 20 50 
 
 9'3 
 
 id. 
 
 Manchester . 
 
 185-2 
 
 19 o 
 
 9-6 
 
 id. 
 
 Norwich (by Newmarket) 
 
 H7-3 
 
 13 I 
 
 9-0 
 
 5* 
 
 Stroud .... 
 
 104-7 
 
 12 9 
 
 87 
 
 & 
 
 Worcester 
 
 I 14*2 
 
 12 2O 
 
 9-1 
 
 &. 
 
 This was the Edinburgh mail. 
 
 G*2 
 
84 HIGH 'W 'AYS AND HORSES. 
 
 Mr. James Payn, in a volume of essays, speaks of 
 the punctuality of coaches in the following terms. In 
 a chapter which he entitles " Too Late," he says : " It 
 is recorded of the late Mr. Leigh Hunt that his pro- 
 crastination was so excessive that he could never trust 
 himself to rise in time to leave home and take the 
 coach, but was obliged to engage a bed overnight at 
 the inn from which it started. He was a punctual 
 man, however, compared to me. I could never make 
 certain of being a passenger unless I slept in the coach 
 itself. The nicety affected by these vehicles in the 
 matter of time (and particularly if they carried the 
 mail-bags) was simply ridiculous. 
 
 " They would not, I believe, have waited for King 
 George in person, although they carried his very arms 
 upon their sides. How often have I engaged post- 
 horses at a ruinous expense to overtake those im- 
 placable machines ! How often have I entered them 
 at the very moment of departure with my waistcoat 
 unbuttoned and my coat and top-boots in my hands ! 
 How often have I toiled after their revolving wheels, 
 making fruitless signals of distress, and with my cries 
 for succour drowned in the ' tooting ' of the relentless 
 horn ! " 
 
 In the days of coaching the farming of turnpike 
 tolls was a great source of revenue. A Mr. Levy 
 farmed tolls to the amount of ,500,000 a year, and 
 post-horse duties to the amount of ,300,000. The 
 post-horse duties were fees payable to Government by 
 horse proprietors when letting or jobbing post-horses 
 to travellers. These sums proved the enormous 
 amount of traffic that must have existed upon the roads 
 in those days. It must be remembered that these 
 figures do not represent the profit, but merely the net 
 
FARMING TURNPIKES. 85 
 
 value of the tolls and duties. The tolls were very 
 high, and the turnpikes were very numerous ; coaching 
 and posting constituted the principal source of- revenue 
 to the turnpike trustees. On the road between London 
 and St. Albans, a distance of only twenty-one miles, 
 there were five gates, on passing through which coaches 
 had to pay toll. It is said that on the Brighton road 
 there was one gate at which the tolls amounted to 
 ^2400 a year, and Mr. Levy, the great turnpike 
 farmer, estimated that stage-coaches alone paid the 
 toll-takers at this gate ^1600 per annum. The 
 Birmingham and London coach, running every day in 
 the year, is said to have paid ,1428 in turnpike tolls. 
 
 Some of the coaches in the old days did not carry- 
 guards ; this always appears to me a very dangerous 
 custom, as supposing there were no passengers, and 
 any accident occurred, the coachman, not being able to 
 leave his seat, must have been powerless to avert such 
 disaster. 
 
 The coaches that travelled without guards were 
 day- coaches, the principal of which were the Dover, 
 Southampton, Bristol, Weymouth, Yarmouth, and 
 Norwich. Apart from the objections I have men- 
 tioned to not carrying a guard, it is difficult to 
 understand who kept the time, looked after the 
 passengers' luggage, skidded the wheel when descend- 
 ing hills, and did the thousand and one things that 
 were requisite to the comfort and convenience of the 
 passengers. Some of the coaches which did carry 
 guards, were the Monmouth, Exeter, Hereford, 
 Taunton, Shrewsbury, and Manchester. 
 
 When there was no guard, the coachman had to do 
 everything himself, and hard work he must have had 
 to fulfil all his multitudinous duties. The mail guards 
 
86 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 had rather a harder time of it than the ordinary stage- 
 coach guards, as they were responsible for the safety 
 of the mails, and the speed and punctuality with which 
 they were forwarded to their destination. In heavy 
 snow-storms, or when the road was almost impassable, 
 the coachman had to push on at all hazards ; but when 
 his coach came to a standstill and could be moved 
 no further, it was then the guard who had to take 
 matters in his own hands, to remove the mails from 
 the coach, and, taking a couple of horses, fight his 
 way on at the peril of his life. 
 
 I do not know that anything gives one a better 
 idea of the discomfort and danger of road travelling, 
 in the depth of winter, than the tales that have been 
 handed down to us of how the roads were blocked 
 during heavy snow-storms. Even trains at the 
 present day sometimes find it impossible to make 
 their way through a snow-drift, but this is rarely the 
 case in this country ; in Canada and in Russia, snow- 
 ploughs are attached to the front of the locomotives ; 
 but, so far as Great Britain is concerned, we are 
 exempt from such disasters save in exceptional cases. 
 
 It is only in Scotland that a heavy snow-storm 
 can seriously hinder and obstruct a train. I learn 
 from the Times of the 3rd of January, 1854, that there 
 was at that time a severe snow-storm, accompanied 
 by intense cold, which prevailed throughout the whole 
 of England. In London the thermometer indicated 
 8 below zero. The North-Western line was blocked 
 up at the Tring Cutting, and a mail-train lay imbedded 
 there for five hours ; the Great Northern was blocked 
 up on both rails at Grantham, and traffic between 
 Peterborough and Newark became impossible both 
 by road or rail. 
 
GREAT SNOW-STORM OF 1836. 87 
 
 In consequence of the blocking up of the Thames 
 in almost all the navigable parts, coals rose to an 
 enormous price, and the metropolis was threatened 
 with total darkness, owing to the inability of the 
 gas companies to procure a supply. All this goes 
 to prove, that with the advent of railroads we had 
 not conquered the elements. 
 
 In the winter of 1836 there was a very severe 
 snow-storm, of which a West Country newspaper gives 
 a very interesting account, which appears in Mr. 
 Harris's book on coaching as follows : 
 
 " The heavy fall of snow experienced in and 
 around the metropolis during Christmas night appears 
 to have extended over every part of the kingdom. 
 On Sunday morning scarcely any of the mail-coaches 
 arrived in London before half-past eight o'clock, owing 
 to the heavy state of the roads ; but as on that day 
 they bring no bags, no great exertions were made for 
 keeping time. The guard of the Glasgow mail, which 
 arrived on Sunday morning, said that at one place the 
 mail was two hours getting over four miles of ground. 
 Never before, within recollection, were the London 
 mails stopped for a whole night at a few miles from 
 London, and never before has the intercourse between 
 the southern shires of England and the metropolis 
 been interrupted for two whole days. None of the 
 regular coaches due on Monday from any part of the 
 country had arrived during the night. The Dover, 
 Hastings, Brighton, Chester, Edinburgh, also the 
 Liverpool and Leeds evening mails, had not reached 
 London at twelve o'clock. The only mails that 
 arrived up to that hour were the Poole, Portsmouth, 
 and Ipswich, the latter of which did not reach the 
 Post Office until a quarter to twelve. Fourteen 
 
88 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 mail-coaches were abandoned on the various roads. 
 The Brighton mail (from London) reached Crawley, 
 but was compelled to return ; the Dover mail also 
 returned, not being able to proceed further than 
 Gravesend. The bags for places beyond Crawley 
 and Gravesend were left at those towns respectively. 
 The Hastings mail was also obliged to return. The 
 Brighton up mail of Sunday had travelled about 
 eight miles from that town when it fell into a drift 
 of snow, from which it was impossible to extricate 
 it without further assistance. The guard immediately 
 set off to obtain all necessary aid ; but, when 
 he returned, no trace whatever could be found 
 either of the coach, coachman, or passengers, three 
 in number, who were eventually rescued from their 
 perilous positions. After much difficulty the coach 
 was found, but could not be extricated from the 
 hollow into which it had got. The guard did not 
 reach town until seven o'clock on Tuesday night, 
 having been obliged to travel with the bags on 
 horseback, and in many instances to leave the main 
 road, and proceed across fields in order to avoid 
 the deep drifts of snow. The passengers, coachman, 
 and guard slept at Clayton, seven miles from Brighton. 
 The road below Handcross was quite impassable. 
 The non-arrival of the mail at Crawley induced the 
 post-master there to send a man in a gig to ascertain 
 the cause on Monday afternoon. No tidings being 
 heard of man, gig, or horse for several hours, another 
 man was despatched on horseback, and after a long 
 search he found horse and gig completely built up 
 in the snow. The man was in an exhausted state. 
 After considerable difficulty the horse and gig were 
 extricated, and the party returned to Crawley. The 
 
GREAT SNOW-STORM OF 1836. 89 
 
 man had learned no tidings of the mail, and refused 
 to go out again on any such exploring mission. 
 
 " Brighton, Monday. All this part of the country 
 is at the present moment buried in snow. A stable- 
 man was picked up in Black Lion Street last night 
 by the police, frozen to death ; another, an old man, 
 named Freeman, dropped dead in the street from 
 sheer cold. The e Times ' coach, which leaves London 
 at four o'clock and generally arrives here a little 
 after nine, did not get in till twenty minutes past 
 eleven, being for the last fifteen miles of the journey 
 clogged up by the snow. The Gloucester mail, which 
 ought to have been in by five o'clock yesterday 
 afternoon, was obliged to stop on the road, and the 
 guard and the coachman reached this town only at 
 one o'clock this morning, having brought the bags 
 in a cart along the beach ; they were, however, so 
 affected by the cold that the guard now lies, it is 
 feared, in a dying state. The mail started as usual 
 for London last night, but had not got three miles 
 before it was obliged to return. A King's messenger, 
 who had important despatches with him, attempted, 
 with the assistance of a guide, to travel on horseback, 
 but could not get on. The messenger is about to 
 start again in a post-chaise, and the mail-bags will 
 go with him, but no passengers. Not a coach besides 
 has left this town or come into it to-day. 
 
 "The Portsmouth 'Regulator' on Monday got 
 buried at Horndean Hill in a snowdrift, and so con- 
 tinued for three hours and twenty minutes, when, 
 by the assistance of numerous labourers and extra 
 horses, the coach was released. From Marlborough 
 Forest to Devizes the roads are dreadful, and the 
 hollows have from twelve to sixteen feet of snow, His 
 
90 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 Grace the Duke of Wellington arrived at Marlborough 
 on Monday evening in his travelling carriage-and- 
 four, with outriders. It was understood His Grace 
 was journeying to the mansion of the Duke of Beau- 
 fort to attend at the marriage ceremony to give away 
 the daughter of the late Duke of Beaufort to Mr. 
 Codrington, son of Sir Bethel. His Grace was anxious 
 to pass onward from Marlborough directly ; but, learn- 
 ing the roads were impassable, he stopped for the 
 night at the * Castle Inn' (kept by Thomas Cooper, 
 a well-known coach proprietor and post-master on the 
 Bath road), but now the site of Marlborough College. 
 The next morning his Grace started ; but the carriage 
 got fixed in a wheat-field between Marlborough and 
 Badminton. Fortunately, the surveyor of that line 
 of roads, Mr. Merrifield, was not far distant, being 
 in charge of a body of labourers ; and one of the 
 outriders coming to him, he readily offered to go to 
 the assistance of the Duke, whom he piloted across 
 the country till they came to a sound-bottomed road. 
 
 " The Bath and Bristol mails due on Tuesday morn- 
 ing, were abandoned eighty miles from London, and 
 the mail-bags were brought up in a post-chaise-and- 
 four by the two guards, who reached London at six 
 o'clock on Wednesday morning. For seventeen miles 
 of the distance they had come across fields. The 
 Manchester down mail reached St. Albans, and getting 
 off the road into a hollow was upset. The guard 
 returned to London in a post-chaise and four horses 
 with the bags and passengers. They reached the 
 1 Swan with Two Necks' about noon. 
 
 " About a mile from St. Albans, on the London 
 side, a chariot without horses was seen on Tuesday 
 nearly buried in snow. There were two ladies inside 
 

GREAT SNOW-STORM OF 1836. 91 
 
 who made an earnest appeal to the mail guard, whose 
 coach had got into a drift nearly at the same spot. 
 The ladies said the post-boy had left them to go to St. 
 Albans to get fresh cattle, and had been gone two hours. 
 The guard was unable to assist them, and his mail 
 extracted, he pursued his way for London, leaving the 
 chariot and ladies in the situation where they were first 
 seen. The Devonport mail arrived at half-past eleven 
 o'clock ; the guard, who had travelled with it from 
 Ilminster, a distance of 140 miles, states that journey 
 to have been a most trying one to both men and 
 cattle. The storm commenced when they reached 
 Wincanton, and never afterwards ceased. The wind 
 blew fresh, and the snow and sleet, in crossing Salisbury 
 Plain, was driving into their faces, so as almost to 
 blind them. Between Andover and Whitchurch, the 
 mail was stuck fast in a snow-drift, and the horses, 
 in attempting to get out, were nearly buried. The 
 coachman got down, and almost disappeared in the drift 
 upon which he alighted. Fortunately, at this juncture 
 a waggon with four horses came up, and by unyoking 
 these from the waggon and attaching them to the 
 mail, it was got out of the hollow in which it was sunk. 
 The Exeter mail by Yeovil, due on Monday evening, 
 arrived at one o'clock a.m. on Tuesday. The mail- 
 coach, seven miles from Louth, had got off the road 
 and went over into a gravel-pit. A horse was said 
 to be killed by the accident, and the guard severely 
 bruised. 
 
 " Last night, the mail which was proceeding to 
 London was regularly blocked up by the snow, and 
 300 men were immediately sent to make a passage 
 for it, principally military sappers and miners, and after 
 some hours they succeeded in reaching the mail, when 
 
92 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 the letter- bags were taken out, and forwarded to 
 London by express. 
 
 " Thursday. The few accounts received from the 
 provinces yesterday were of rather a gloomy descrip- 
 tion. The atmosphere still appears to be loaded with 
 snow, and a second heavy descent is feared. The 
 Dover mail, sent out on Wednesday night, only 
 reached Rochester and then turned back. 
 
 " Beyond, the country is deeply buried in snow, 
 and there has been no communication by horse or foot 
 downward since Sunday. By Chatham lines, the snow 
 is from thirty to forty feet deep. Application having, 
 on Tuesday, been made to the Commandant of the 
 forces stationed at Chatham, by the surveyor of roads, 
 for assistance, all the military were ordered out, and 
 about 600 men have ever since been employed in 
 clearing the roads. 
 
 " The snow has drifted to such an extent between 
 Leicester and Northampton as to occasion consider- 
 able difficulty and danger. In some parts of the road 
 passages have been cut (sufficiently wide for a coach 
 to pass), where the snow had drifted to the depths of 
 thirty, forty, and, in some places, fifty feet. At 
 Stroud, near Rochester, at the bottom of the hill, near 
 the milestone, a cottage was completely buried in snow, 
 and the inmates had to be dug out. 
 
 "Manchester. The principal roads which have 
 thus been rendered for a time nearly or wholly 
 impassable are the road to Sheffield, by Glossop and 
 the woodlands, which is choked up beyond Glossop in 
 the wild district of the woodlands ; the London road 
 in the south of Warwickshire ; also between Ash- 
 bourne and Derby (where one of the mails is said to 
 be stopped) ; and it is also said to be impassable a 
 
GREAT SNOW-STORM OF 1836. 93 
 
 short distance south of Leicester, where some coaches 
 are stated to be detained. Seventeen coaches (and it 
 is probable that the ' Estafette,' and eight fast coaches 
 running between this town and the metropolis, are of 
 the number) are stated to have stuck fast at or near 
 Dunchurch, which is about a stage south of Coventry. 
 
 " Bristol. A very heavy fall of snow, accompanied 
 by most violent gusts of wind, took place on Saturday 
 and Sunday last, which had the effect of obstructing 
 and rendering impassable the road betwixt this city 
 and London. On Maryborough Downs and in that 
 neighbourhood, the drift had accumulated to a depth of 
 fourteen feet in some places, and it became necessary 
 to remove it along four miles of the road. There has 
 been no fall equal to the present since 1806, when the 
 unfortunate Neville was frozen to death ; but the 
 atmosphere had not then been particularly cold." 
 
 The above account I found to be so badly ex- 
 pressed and so difficult to understand, that I have been 
 forced to add a word here and there to make the 
 meaning comprehensible. In the same way, I have 
 left out a few passages which are of no interest to the 
 present generation. 
 
 I trust I am not appropriating what does not 
 belong to me, since I have a virtuous horror of any- 
 thing like literary piracy ; but it would be impossible 
 to write a book on a subject of this kind that was 
 entirely the emanations of one's own mind. It is only 
 the writer of fiction that can lay claim to the proud 
 distinction of being purely original, and not dependent 
 on books of reference of any kind. As regards the 
 above account, it is copied from a Western provincial 
 journal published in the year 1836, and I give it 
 almost verbatim, particularly as a similar, though not 
 
94 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 quite such an accurate, account appeared in all the 
 newspapers of that day. 
 
 These accounts go to prove the peril and the 
 hardship of a winter's journey on a four-horse coach. 
 The impression made upon the minds of all English- 
 men by the erratic changes of our delightful climate 
 must be that the clerk of the weather is a person 
 imbued with no fixity of purpose. He appears like 
 some experimentalist who is always striving after the 
 unattainable, who, when his researches are so suc- 
 cessful as to justify him in settling into a condition 
 of well-earned repose, suddenly acts in a manner 
 entirely undeserving of the good opinion we are 
 beginning to form of him. Having made every 
 one comfortable and happy, he breaks out again into 
 all manner of wild excesses, like a man who, having 
 taken the pledge and actually remained sober for a 
 month, suddenly allows his virtue to forsake him, and 
 vice once more to obtain the mastery. One day he 
 sends us insufferable heat, and the next day we are 
 almost perishing with cold. He does nothing 
 uniformly, nothing methodically. When hot weather 
 does set in, as was the case during the month devoted 
 by Londoners to the Queen's Jubilee, very frequently a 
 drought ensues, the thermometer at the same time 
 registering a heat that is positively tropical. Then, in 
 winter he errs in the opposite direction, and the shores of 
 Great Britain are, at long intervals,. I admit, visited by 
 cold, the rigour and severity of which might compare 
 favourably with that which prevails on the Russian 
 steppes, or in the northern parts of our Canadian 
 dominions. 
 
 This being the case, the sports and pastimes in 
 which the youth of England loves to indulge are 
 
<r "S 
 
 I I 
 
 8 I 
 
 LU K 
 
 . 
 
 O ~ 
 
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 o: # 
 
 o ; 
 
SLEIGHING. 95 
 
 frequently surrounded by so many objections, on 
 account of the weather, that they are forced, much 
 against their will, to abandon each in their turn. 
 Except for the very cold winter months, coaching 
 is perhaps a pastime that can be indulged in with 
 more certainty than any other ; but cold, and con- 
 tinual rain may even render coaching anything but 
 pleasant. Of all the months in which to travel on 
 the road, the spring and autumn are decidedly the 
 best. There is one thing that strikes me as remark- 
 able, why, when the roads were closed against the 
 coaches, owing to heavy snow-storms, did they not take 
 them off their wheels and convert them into sleighs ? 
 This is done in Canada, Russia, and Germany, where 
 sleighs are in common use during the winter, also in 
 crossing the Alps, Pyrenees, and Rocky Mountains. 
 By converting a carriage into a sleigh when there is 
 deep snow on the ground, a perfectly useless machine, 
 and one to which progress is impossible, becomes 
 endowed with entirely new characteristics, since it 
 can pass in safety and with expedition where the 
 wheeled vehicle finds progress impossible. Had this 
 been done, coaches would never have had to be 
 abandoned as described, neither would there have 
 been any delay in their arriving at their destination. 
 Considering the amount of traffic there was on the 
 roads in those days, the snow covering the road would 
 never have become soft enough to be unfit for sleigh- 
 ing. A drift occasioned suddenly by a high wind 
 never extends far, and with the assistance of labourers 
 can easily be removed sufficiently to allow of the 
 passage of a coach. I admit that upon a road where 
 there is no considerable traffic, the snow may lie 
 so lightly as to be unfit for sleighing. At the present 
 
96 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 day all the best London coach-builders have some 
 knowledge of how a sleigh can be constructed. A 
 sleigh is after all nothing but two big skates, similar 
 to those worn when skating, attached to the under 
 part of a carriage and turned up both behind and 
 before. Without any serious injury to a carriage 
 it may easily be converted into a sleigh, even by 
 a village blacksmith in remote country villages, by 
 substituting two strong angles or T irons with the 
 flat part undermost. To the part of the iron which 
 rises vertically at right angles to the flattened por- 
 tion, strong stays may be riveted or bolted, the 
 other end of which may pass under the carriage and 
 be fastened thereto, in addition to which a stay might 
 pass from one sleigh-iron to the other, both before 
 and behind the under body of the carriage. 
 
 Mr. Harris very sensibly remarks, that "for teaching 
 a man to drive and making a coachman of him there 
 was nothing like night-work." This is certainly the 
 case, as on a dark night with a badly-lighted coach, 
 the attention of the coachman is kept far more alive 
 than in the daytime. I have driven hundreds of miles 
 myself of a night, and have the misfortune to be 
 what is called night-blind. This may appear rather 
 an anomalous term, since no one can see in the dark 
 like they can in the light, except they be cats ; yet 
 there are some people who see in the dark far 
 better than others, although their sight is not parti- 
 cularly good in the daylight. This is particularly 
 the case with seamen, as I have frequently observed 
 when at sea. I have often on dark nights tied a hand- 
 kerchief or a piece of paper to the leaders' traces 
 in order that I might see whether they are working 
 or no ; for by the mere feel of the reins it is im- 
 
DRIVING IX A FOG. 97 
 
 possible for anybody to know this unless he is blessed 
 with sight that will permit him to see almost as well 
 of a night as during the day. I have driven tandem 
 when it has been so dark and foggy that I have 
 not been able to see beyond my wheeler's head ; 
 although my leader was there I have not been able 
 to see him, and, under these circumstances, I have 
 felt like Marcus Curtius, the hero of one of the old 
 legends of Rome, who threw himself fully armed 
 into a chasm which had opened in the Forum, and 
 which the Augurs declared could only be closed 
 by casting into it the greatest treasure of the city. 
 I should qualify this statement by saying that the 
 descent into that unfathomable gulf must have appeared 
 to Marcus Curtius when in the act of plunging therein 
 a rather speculative proceeding ; in fact, it was quite 
 impossible for him to say on what kind of journey 
 he was embarking. Had it occurred at the present 
 time he would have been run in by a policeman for 
 attempting to commit suicide. I believe this hero 
 of romance at the moment he took this header was 
 on horseback, which was rather hard upon the horse, 
 who did not share his rider's fanaticism. 
 
 As with Marcus Curtius, so it is with coachmen 
 who drive a team in a dense fog on a dark night. It 
 is, to say the least of it, rather a speculative proceed- 
 ing, since they cannot always tell where they are 
 journeying. Mr. Harris says that an old coachman 
 once told him that, with a ccach and four horses, he 
 had driven over eight donkeys in the course of his 
 life, all lying out in the middle of the road. I re- 
 member driving once in Sussex with a tandem, when I 
 got off the road, and found myself journeying across a 
 common. I had no lamps, and not knowing how to 
 
 H 
 
98 HIGH W A YS AND HORSES. 
 
 get back again on to the beaten track, I gave my 
 horses their heads, and they sagaciously led me back 
 to the road without further mishaps. 
 
 Horses, like other animals, see always better of a 
 night than human beings. This is, perhaps, owing to 
 the fact that their eyesight is never injured by artificial 
 light ; that, when darkness sets in, long hours in the 
 stable (during which they are left without light) 
 accustom them to see when to us everything would 
 be enveloped in gloom. This being the case, coach- 
 men driving of a night should leave a great deal to 
 their horses, since they have a power of observation 
 which is denied to us. 
 
 But to speak of the old coaching inns, these are 
 easily recognisable by their construction. Most of 
 them are entered from the street by a big archway, 
 which divides one part of the house from the other ; 
 the part so isolated from the main building is generally 
 the coffee-room. The passengers usually alighted from 
 the coach or mounted thereon when under the cover 
 of the arch, after which the coach continued its way 
 into the stable-yard, which was behind the inn, or 
 upon the first stage of its outward journey. Many of 
 the old inns had a courtyard, round which ran a 
 balcony giving access to the principal rooms. Oak 
 was extensively used in their construction ; the rails 
 protecting the balconies and staircases were of oak, as 
 also were the mantelpieces and wainscoting of the 
 best rooms. One frequently sees oak wainscoting 
 painted in old inns. This seems a very great pity, as 
 nothing looks more charming in an old-fashioned room 
 than oak that has become darkened by time ; upon 
 observing which, one cannot but think how many 
 
OLD COACHING INNS. 99 
 
 strange scenes must have been witnessed within the 
 walls of such a room. 
 
 One of the oldest inns in London was the 
 "Tabard Inn" in Southwark. This is the inn where 
 Chaucer and his compatriots assembled before journey- 
 ing to Canterbury. Chaucer says of the landlord : 
 
 A bulky man he was with eyes set deep, 
 
 A fairer burgess is there none in Chepe ; 
 
 Bold of his speech and wise, well was he taught, 
 
 And of his manliness he lacked naught. 
 
 And also was he a right merry man. 
 
 Chaucer's pilgrimage occurred in 1383. Three 
 hundred years ago, this inn was in a ruinous con- 
 dition ; but it was afterwards, we are told by an old 
 writer, " newly repaired, and with convenient rooms 
 much increased for the receipt of many guests." It 
 was afterwards used by the earlier coaches and 
 waggons. 
 
 Dr. Johnson speaks of taking his comfort at an 
 inn, and it is difficult to understand why the word 
 ''hotel" should have been substituted for the good 
 old English word "inn." Mr. Harris says that he 
 espied the following, duly framed and hung up amongst 
 some coaching pictures hanging in the parlour of an 
 inn kept by an old coachman : 
 
 FRIENDLY ADVICE. 
 
 Call frequently. 
 Drink moderately. 
 Pay honourably. 
 
 Be good company. 
 Part friendly. 
 Go home quietly. 
 
 Let these lines be no man's sorrow, 
 Pay to-day, and trust to-morrow. 
 
 The coaches appeared to have been far more 
 
 H 2 
 
ioo HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 punctual than railways are at the present time. This 
 was owing in a great measure to their being matters 
 of private enterprise. Although the newspapers now- 
 adays are frequently full of complaints of the un- 
 punctuality of trains, such was never the case with 
 the coaches, notwithstanding the far greater difficulties 
 they had to contend with. If they ever chanced to 
 be late, it was no easy matter to increase the pre- 
 scribed pace, as it must be remembered that the law 
 forbad their galloping the entire team, or indeed driving 
 at any speed that was dangerous to life and limb. The 
 motto of mail and stage coachmen was, " Keep the 
 wheels moving," and this they endeavoured their best 
 to do, from the time when they sang out " All right, 
 let them go ! " and the horse-cloths were whisked 
 off the horses' quarters, until they pulled up for the 
 fresh change that was waiting for them by the road- 
 side. 
 
 The number of mail guards in England, Wales, 
 and Scotland was 268, over whom were eight or ten 
 inspectors. The guards received half-a-guinea a week 
 and their uniform, supplementing their salary by tips 
 received from the passengers. The mail guard sat in 
 solitary isolation throughout the night, the luggage 
 and mail-bags on the roof making conversation with 
 the passengers who sat in front an impossibility. To 
 a certain extent a mail guard was to be envied, as 
 he did not have wet umbrellas poked in his face or 
 trickling down his neck. If he took forty winks on 
 his perilous seat, which was remarkably unprotected, 
 the voice of the coachman would be heard calling out, 
 " Blow up for the change ! Blow for the gate ! " or 
 " Be ready with the skid ! " upon which the sleepy 
 guard would have to crawl down from his perch and 
 
INN YARDS AND STABLES. 101 
 
 adjust the skid ; or, taking his long horn out of the 
 basket, blow a blast on it that, beginning faintly, ended 
 loud enough to wake the most determined sleeper or 
 the most sluggish of stablemen, who, as the coach 
 approached, were found standing in the road with four 
 fresh horses ready and fit to go. Notwithstanding that 
 the days of coaching were the days when horses were 
 most extensively used, yet less attention was paid 
 to stable accommodation and fittings in those days than 
 is now universally the rule ; the manufacture of iron 
 goods had not made sufficient progress at that time to 
 be used extensively in the construction of stables. 
 Architects, too, had not thought it worth their while 
 to study stable architecture, or they thought it beneath 
 their dignity to do so, except it were the stables of 
 some great nobleman or a prince of the blood royal, 
 and even in these stables the improvements which now 
 exist were wanting and the sanitary arrangements 
 were very defective. They were ill-lighted, with low- 
 pitched roofs and narrow doorways. I am my- 
 self personally acquainted with hundreds of them ; 
 and there are two, with which I am perhaps better 
 acquainted than others, as they are but a short distance 
 from my house these are the "George Hotel" at 
 Winchester, and the " Dolphin " at Southampton both 
 no doubt were called inns fifty years ago ; but, like other 
 places of the kind, they have adopted the new word 
 ;c Hotel," which is of French derivation. When you 
 have described the stables of one of these old inns, 
 you have described them all, although some may be 
 more pleasantly situated than others. Bear in mind, I 
 do not refer to inn stables in hunting countries, as in 
 that case the existence of extensive stabling is not 
 due to the coaches, but to the demand for stabling to 
 
102 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 accommodate hunters. As regards the old coaching 
 stables, it is difficult to say of what the old drains were 
 constructed, since in those days there was no iron 
 employed in stable drainage, neither were there any 
 glazed drain-pipes, which, owing to the collar, can 
 almost be hermetically jointed, besides having bends 
 and junctions to suit various situations. As for the 
 pavement of these old stables, it is invariably rough 
 pitching, either of pebbles, flint, or Purbeck stone, 
 which is so constructed as to arrest surface drain- 
 age, rather than facilitate it. As to the mangers, 
 they were all of wood with old over-head hay-racks 
 and worm-eaten manger-troughs, which, once infected 
 with disease, conveyed it to every horse who fed from 
 the same manger. In place of all this we have now a 
 perfect system of drainage, hard Staffordshire vitrified 
 pavement upon which horses cannot slip, and which is 
 so made that it will not retain water on its surface. 
 We have iron manger-troughs, iron hay-racks, large 
 ventilating windows, and, what is more essential than 
 everything else, width between each stall division, 
 plenty of room behind the horses, and doors of a 
 proper width, through which horses can pass without 
 injury. And then the old yards were vilely paved, 
 and the buildings frequently have neither a claim to 
 architectural pretensions, nor even common sense, to 
 plead as an excuse for their erection. Speaking 
 of stables, as I have mentioned elsewhere, the largest 
 stables for coach and post-horses in the neighbourhood 
 of London, were at Hounslow and Barnet. 
 
 It has been remarked that if all the people who 
 now travel by rail were to travel by road, what are 
 now almost unfrequented portions of a highway, would 
 
INN YARDS AND STABLES. 103 
 
 be like the road through Clapham Common on the 
 Derby day, the traffic would be so enormous that 
 it would be almost impossible to drive along the 
 road with any comfort. Imagine to yourself the 
 passengers in a single excursion train turned out on to 
 a high-road and compelled to continue their journey in 
 vehicles drawn by the living and not by the iron horse, 
 and add to these the passengers by one parliamentary, 
 two ordinary trains, and one express, and you will 
 have some idea what the condition of a high-road 
 would be were the same number of persons to travel 
 upon it now as do upon the railway at the present day. 
 I do not think that it is so much owing to the increase 
 of travelling as to the increased population. After all, 
 coaches held very few people, and a post-chaise still 
 fewer. Were every one to travel now on the road as 
 they did then, the demand for horses would far exceed 
 the supply, and yet in these days of diminished road 
 travelling the number of horses employed by coaches 
 on the road appears to us very surprising. 
 
 The number of horses quartered at Hounslow, 
 which was the first stage on the great western road, 
 was enormous, consequently Hounslow is always 
 regarded with curiosity by persons interested in 
 coaching ; and, as for the inns, it is interesting to read 
 of them and of the coach proprietors of those days. 
 These queer old inns are gradually being improved 
 off the face of the earth, and are making way for 
 the modern hotel in the same manner as the old 
 coffee-houses gave place to the modern club, and 
 both, I think, are an improvement. 
 
 In Lord Lennox's book on coaching there is a 
 very clever parody on Goldsmith's "Deserted Village." 
 
104 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 The author's name is not mentioned. The village 
 in this case is Hounslow. 
 
 THE DESERTED VILLAGE. 
 " Quantum mutatus ab illo." 
 
 Hail, Hounslow ! primest town upon the road, 
 Where coaching once in all its glory showed ; 
 Where careful drivers might be always found 
 Ready when ostlers called to " Bring 'em round." 
 The member rattling up at slapping pace, 
 To ease his conscience, or secure a place ; 
 The maiden flying from a guardian's rage, 
 In Hymen's " Union," venturing a stage. 
 These knew no more of anxious fear or doubt, 
 When John the ostler cried, " The first turn out ! " 
 Once, Hounslow, there was many a gallant team, 
 The dragsman's pride, the keeper's fruitful theme. 
 How dashingly they swept up to the well-known door, 
 W'here rest awaited when their task was o'er ! 
 On, sleek of coat and deck'd with trappings gay, 
 Bounding they met the labour of the day. 
 Landlord and whip gazed on the thriving trade, 
 And dreamt of fortunes soon and surely made ; 
 For them alike both house and coach filled well, 
 " And all went merry as a marriage bell." 
 
 Once it was thus another age appears, 
 
 And Hounslow's smiles, alas ! are turn'd to tears ; 
 
 No more is heard the mellow winding horn 
 
 Waking the drowsy slumbers of the morn. 
 
 No spicy "change " now waits for the down mail, 
 
 For, woe is me ! the " Bristol's " on the " rail." 
 
 No longer now is heard the busy din 
 
 In the full yard that marks the prosperous inn ; 
 
 Unheard is now the watching ostler's call ; 
 
 The only " pair " is weary of the stall. 
 
 Silent the joke of " Boots," ne'er known to fail, 
 
 The keeper's whistle and the postboy's tale. 
 
 No waiter now bestirs him for the nonce, 
 
 To answer fifty summonses at once. 
 
 E'en Bessy's self, so long the bar's fair boast, 
 
 The cookmaid's envy, and the bagman's toast ; 
 
 Whose winning smile was so well known to fame, 
 
 That for a ray each traveller duly came ; 
 
 E'en she so hopeless, Hounslow, is thy case 
 
 Hath packed her traps and bolted from her place. 
 
INN YARDS AND STABLES. io : 
 
 A time there was, ere railroads came in force, 
 When every mile of ground maintained its horse ; 
 Coach after coach then rattled briskly by, 
 " Live and let live" was then the wholesome cry. 
 'Tis past ! and now succeeds the general doom 
 Of landlord, barmaid, waiters, ostler, groom ; 
 The coachman's glories have for ever set, 
 And " Boots " has got a place in the Gazette. 
 
 There were some wonderful old inns in London 
 in the coaching days which have been mentioned 
 elsewhere; they were the "Bull and Mouth," St. 
 Martin's -le- Grand, close to where now stands the 
 General Post Office, this belonged to Sherman, and 
 the " Belle Sauvage," Ludgate Hill, which belonged 
 to Robert Nelson. The "Bull Inn," Aldgate, belonged 
 to Mrs. Nelson, the mother of Robert; the "Swan 
 with Two Necks," Lad Lane, the " Spread Eagle," 
 Gracechurch Street, and the "White Horse," Fetter 
 Lane, belonged to Chaplin ; the " Cross Keys," Wood 
 Street, Cheapside, the "Golden Cross" at Charing 
 Cross, and the " George and Blue Boar," in Holborn, 
 were leased by Home. There were several others, 
 all of which were provided with extensive stabling, 
 although very few coach-houses were used, the coaches 
 generally standing in the open yard. All the mails 
 left London of a night at exactly the same hour, 
 this was eight o'clock, and they arrived at the General 
 Post Office at about the same time in the morning. 
 Mr. Harris in his well-illustrated and well-written 
 book, entitled, "Old Coaching Days," says that the 
 mails for the western part of England all stopped at 
 some West End booking-office to take up passengers 
 and luggage. The West End offices were the " Green 
 Man and Still," the "Gloucester Coffee House" in 
 Oxford Street, the "White Bear" in Piccadilly, the 
 
io5 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 (l Spread Eagle " and " Golden Cross " in Piccadilly- 
 Circus. Sherman's coaches nearly all took the northern 
 road except the Exeter and Worcester ; he had nine 
 coaches on the Birmingham road. There was another 
 coach proprietor called Mountain, whose inn was called 
 the "Saracen's Head," and was situated on Snow 
 Hill ; his coaches also took the northern road, whilst 
 Mrs. Nelson of the " Bull Inn," Aldgate, despatched 
 all her coaches towards the east. Chaplin's coaches, 
 from his three large establishments, went north, 
 south, east, and west. It is interesting to know that 
 Hatchett's, the place from which the "Amateur" road 
 coaches now start, was distinguished in the old days 
 for the number of stage-coaches and mails that 
 stopped there ; in fact, the " Quicksilver " mail and 
 the not less distinguished " Tantivy " started from 
 Hatchett's. 
 
 The busiest time in the day for these rendezvous 
 was from five in the morning till eight or nine ; during 
 the middle of the day the coaching inns w r ere tolerably 
 quiet, except for the day-coaches that ran short 
 distances, which arrived and departed at all hours. 
 
 The contrast between the coaches leaving London 
 and those which had just arrived after a long journey 
 was very striking. They were very much like ships ; 
 whereas those that have just left dock, bound on a 
 long voyage, are freshly painted, and of smart appear- 
 ance, the vessel that has just returned from a long 
 cruise, having experienced bad weather, is vastly 
 different in appearance ; she has frequently carried 
 something away, and there is a shabby look about 
 her, which is indicative of a rough passage and a long 
 absence from port. 
 
 On the night-coaches coming into town, they 
 
INN YARDS AND STABLES. 107 
 
 would be either covered with dust or mud, and the 
 passengers, if not asleep, frequently looked utterly 
 worn out ; whereas the passengers on the day-coaches 
 out of town, looked spick and span, the coaches were 
 bright and clean, the brass on the harness shone out 
 resplendent, and all spoke of new-born energy and 
 life. 
 
 All the great London coach proprietors had stables 
 clown the road ; Nelson had one at Hounslow, Chaplin 
 at Whetstone, and Home had one at Finchley, where 
 a coach called the "Bedford Times" used to make 
 the first change. Chaplin had a large stable on the 
 Brighton road, just beyond Croydon, and Mr. Harris 
 says, " That if you look sharp, just at the right time, 
 as the Brighton train whirls you by, you may see 
 it, but you will scarcely recognise it as a stable, as 
 the stables have all been converted into cottages, 
 which form a square enclosing what was formerly 
 the yard ; it stands about fifty yards from the road, 
 and has large lofts at one end in which all the hay 
 and straw was kept." 
 
 As I have said in another part of this book, the 
 roads w r ere formerly much wider than they are now ; 
 almost in every case where grass is to be seen along 
 side the road, that is, between the road and the fence, 
 this was formerly a portion of the road ; if this had 
 not been the case, the fence would have come up to 
 the edge of the road, and the wide grass space which 
 is so frequently seen, and which in hunting countries 
 is so pleasant to ride on when going to a meet or 
 on quitting the hounds, would have been thrown into 
 the fields alongside, and would have been owned by 
 whoever owned the land through \vhich the road 
 pursued its way. The space which we now see on 
 
io8 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 great high-roads, and which many people imagine 
 was always the same width and never wider, is, in 
 fact, that space which has been deemed sufficient to 
 meet the requirements of the present traffic, which 
 was once upon a time so great, that many high-roads 
 had double turnpike gates, and even then the men 
 had all their work cut out to take the tolls. 
 
 What was once the " Swan with Two Necks," in 
 Lad Lane, is now Messrs. Pickford's large establish- 
 ment. These great carriers, as most people know, 
 transmit goods by railway In the coaching days, the 
 stabling was under the offices ; the horses, when 
 required, used to emerge from underground. This is 
 the case with many private stables in London at the 
 present day, and what is still more remarkable, there 
 are many stables in the West End of London, built 
 during the last ten or fifteen years, in which horses go 
 up an inclined plane, so that there are several floors of 
 stabling with large balconies strongly protected with 
 high iron railings, on which the horses are washed. 
 Close to the " Swan with Two Necks," there was a 
 small shop at the corner of a very narrow street, but 
 the site of this humble establishment is now occupied 
 by lofty offices ; the business of the man who lived 
 there was to manufacture coach-horns and bugles. 
 Being near the General Post Office where all the mail 
 guards had to assemble every night, and being near 
 the " Bull and Mouth," and " Swan with Two Necks," 
 he did a very good business. Mr. Harris says : " The 
 variety of size and shape of the horns was remarkable. 
 The long tin horn was not extensively patronised, but 
 probably used by guards on cheap, slow coaches, who 
 did not care about looking smart ; then there was the 
 copper horn with a single twist with two sharp notes, 
 
THE YARD OF TL\. 109 
 
 which, when well blown, as some guards could blow, 
 was by no means unmelodious. There \vas also a 
 copper horn with two twists, and the long copper horn 
 varying in length from about three to four feet or 
 more, with a very narrow bore terminating in a bell 
 shape." 
 
 These long, straight horns are those that are 
 generally used nowadays. It is astonishing the number 
 of notes that can be obtained from them. I had a man 
 once in my service who could almost play a tune on 
 one of these horns, and the " Post-horn Galop," and 
 " God save the Queen," can be played fairly well by an 
 expert in their use. Mr. Carleton Blyth's guard, on the 
 Oxford and Cambridge coach " The Defiance," used to 
 enliven Piccadilly with this accomplishment, as the 
 coach made its progress on the first stage of its 
 outward journey. 
 
 Mr. Harris says : " In this little shop there was 
 every kind of horn, big horns and small horns, brass 
 key bugles and copper key bugles, large brass and 
 copper horns, bugle-shaped without keys ; in fact, 
 there seemed to be in this shop, horns to suit the taste 
 of any guard, even the most fastidious." 
 
 This writer, who evidently speaks from experience, 
 goes on to say that being desirous of possessing a horn 
 which he could carry with him when travelling, and 
 could use on a coach to which there was no guard 
 attached, decided to invest in the best he could obtain. 
 He says : " Accordingly I hied to the little shop 
 of my friend the horn-maker, got him to manufacture 
 one to order, and a beautiful little one he turned out 
 certainly ; it was a brass horn with two twists, oblong in 
 shape, the bell end flattened, so as to lie in your pocket 
 without sticking out. About five notes could be got 
 
no HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 out of this horn. As coaches died away, and I had 
 nothing for my horn to do, it became battered and 
 dented by my children, who nearly burst themselves 
 in vain endeavours to blow it, and was at last sur- 
 reptitiously smashed in by the nurse-maid, who did 
 not appreciate its good qualities." 
 
 Speaking of coach-horns, I have no doubt they are 
 better made at the present day than in the time about 
 which I am writing. The old-fashioned horns were 
 very easily indented, frequently bent, and otherwise 
 injured. Within the last few years they have been 
 strengthened by three ribs of brass running down 
 outside in the direction of their length, the horn itself 
 being made of copper. A horn has also been brought 
 out on the telescopic principle, which closes up when 
 not in use, and consequently fits into a very short case, 
 but when adjusted is of great length. 
 
 The best manufacturers of coach-horns at the 
 present day are H. Porter and Co., 30, Charing Cross, 
 S.W., and Kohler and Son, 116, Victoria Street, 
 Westminster, S.W. There are others, but it is with 
 these I am best acquainted. 
 
 To turn to another subject, I am reminded that the 
 guards in the old coaching days were great news- 
 mongers, and they were accordingly held in great 
 respect by all who were anxious to know what was 
 going on in the world at large. Owing to the haste 
 with which coaches travelled and the little time the 
 guard had to waste in gossip, what he said was 
 absolute and undeniable. There was no time for 
 question, for objection, or for argument, and the few 
 words which he addressed to the inquisitive group 
 surrounding the coach on its arrival, frequently fur- 
 nished a subject for conversation between both rich and 
 
LMPRO VEMENT IN CO A CHES. 1 1 1 
 
 poor for hours to come. In villages, what the guard 
 said was repeated in the squire's drawing-room, the 
 vicarage parlour, the village inn, and by the occupants 
 of many a humble cottage. Before the advent of 
 coaches it was the pedlars, the packmen, and the 
 waggoners who transmitted the news. So far as the 
 discussion of the guard's news was concerned, there is 
 little doubt that in the bar of a village inn, under the 
 influence of alcoholic liquids, many trifling incidents 
 were distorted into the most terrible and tragic events. 
 Speaking of coaches, there is little doubt but that 
 they have greatly improved since the regular coaching 
 days. They could not fail to do so, as coach-building 
 has made rapid strides of late years, and coaches have 
 naturally benefited by this fact. As time progresses, 
 every trade gradually improves, and the same thing 
 applies to the tradesmen employed by a coach-builder 
 in the construction of a coach. For instance, the 
 wheelwright, the smith, the painter, the liner, and 
 trimmer have all learnt something fresh since the days 
 when Englishmen travelled by coach ; so also has the 
 lamp and harness-maker. In fact, although coach- 
 builders and harness-makers are people with very 
 strong Conservative tendencies, yet gradual improve- 
 ments are always being made in the two important 
 trades to which they belong ; and this is apparent to 
 any one who compares a very old carriage with a 
 modern one, or an old set of four-horse harness with 
 that made at the present time by a first-rate London 
 tradesman. So that to speak of harness or coaches in 
 the old days as being superior to what is manufactured 
 at the present time, is to convey a very erroneous 
 impression to people's minds who are unacquainted 
 ; with such matters. It is only the roads that have 
 
H2 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 altered for the worse, and that is not for the want 
 of knowledge, but from want of interest, encourage- 
 ment, and perseverance. 
 
 There is no doubt that in some remote portions of 
 the United Kingdom coaches will continue to run for a 
 great many years yet that is, in those places where 
 it would not pay to construct a railroad ; but a person 
 need not be very old at the present time to recollect 
 well the last of the coaches working on the great main 
 roads, since I see by the Times newspaper it was as 
 late as October, 1843, that the London and Bristol 
 coach, the " Prince of Wales," was taken off the road ; 
 and it is still later, in September, 1847, tnat tne 
 celebrated " Quicksilver " mail-coach was withdrawn 
 from the Plymouth and Exeter road. I see that 
 the Bath and Bristol Railway was opened on 
 September 3ist, 1840; consequently the coach must 
 have been running at the same time as the locomotive. 
 I am unable to say when the Exeter and Plymouth 
 line was opened. 
 
 Mr. Harris says that the stables in the " Bull and 
 Mouth " yard appeared like a small town when he 
 visited them, and the horse-keeper, as he went round 
 with visitors, would enumerate the various teams in 
 the following manner : " Those are the Glasgow mail 
 horses, those are the Edinburgh, those are the Halifax 
 ' Help,' those the Worcester night-coach, and those 
 the Exeter and North Devon, or some other night- 
 coach that would leave in the afternoon or evening ; " 
 and so on, no doubt, throughout the stable. Every 
 yard varied in the quality and kind of horses employed, 
 each proprietor having his own particular fancy ; con- 
 sequently those who were well acquainted with the 
 various yards could frequently distinguish to whom 
 
PRESERVATION OF HARNESS. 113 
 
 the horses belonged by the kind of animals they were. 
 Many of the horses in the night-coaches, although fast 
 so far as appearance was concerned, would not have 
 been presentable by daylight. Many poor old screws 
 who began their life in a crack day-coach, would after- 
 wards, we are told, under the veil of night, be 
 harnessed to the in-coming or out-going mail, and 
 if not good enough for this, would get drafted down 
 into the country to work some second-rate stage-coach 
 running after sunset. It was over the middle ground 
 that is, between London and some big town to 
 which the coach was bound where the inferior horses 
 would be employed. 
 
 Many of the stage-coaches that ran of a night 
 were very much neglected, as it was presumed they 
 would never be seen by daylight. A writer, to whom 
 I have elsewhere referred, says : " The harness was 
 all smeared over with oil, which, so far as I could 
 ever ascertain, was the only article ever used by the 
 night horse- keeper for doing up or preserving his 
 harness. He certainly believed in oil, and from its 
 constant application, there was a thick, hard coating 
 over all the surface of the leather, into which you 
 might dig your nail. The colour, one must presume, 
 had been originally black, but from the oily accumu- 
 lation, mixed, no doubt, with some portions of mud 
 and dust, it had assumed a gray or dusky sort of hue 
 by moon or lamplight." 
 
 And very wise the horse-keepers of past times 
 must have been, notwithstanding this writer's dis- 
 approval of what they did. Oil is an essential and 
 constituent part of good leather, of this I will speak 
 elsewhere in my chapter on harness ; sufficient to say 
 for the present, that leather, like the skin of all 
 
114 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 animals, is possessed of a large quantity of oil, and 
 when this oil is either washed out of it, dried up, 
 or evaporates, the leather perishes, since it no longer 
 has the power to resist moisture, but becomes harsh 
 and loses all its pliability and wet-withstanding 
 properties. 
 
 Both excessive heat and excessive wet are equally 
 injurious to leather ; and one can well understand the 
 horse-keepers of the old night-coaches using oil to 
 such an excess, when one considers that the safety 
 of the coach and all on board was dependent on the 
 horses and the harness which controlled them and 
 compelled their obedience ; it was exposed not only to- 
 heavy night dews, but frequently to snow, hail, and rain. 
 
 The same writer goes on to say that, " The territs, 
 buckles, and bits did not exhibit an atom of shine ; 
 as for the bits, they were thoroughly rusted all over." 
 For this last-mentioned fault there is really no excuse^ 
 as, although bits may rust less quickly when oiled, 
 yet to allow them to remain rusty is only to promote 
 and encourage the act of oxidation, which, in time, 
 destroys the bit altogether. Medically considered, 
 I have often thought that a rusty bit in a horse's 
 mouth must have rather a beneficial effect, insomuch 
 as it must act on the animal's system like steel wine, 
 since steel wine is nothing more nor less than carefully- 
 prepared steel-wire plunged into water and allowed 
 to rust. In fact, all chalybeate springs are impregnated 
 with iron, or, rather, hold iron in solution ; conse- 
 quently, a bit in a horse's mouth must be as good 
 for the horse as steel wine or a chalybeate spring is 
 for a human being, or a rusty nail is when dropped 
 into the trough from which a dyspeptic canary 
 procures his daily supply of liquid. 
 
COACH INSPECTORS. 115 
 
 It appears that inspectors were sent down from 
 London and travelled on the coaches in order to 
 ascertain that all was going on right, the coachmen 
 and guards very rarely knowing whom they had with 
 them ; but if they had any suspicion of the fact of who 
 their passenger was, the changes were never made 
 quicker and the time was never better kept. Some- 
 times some of the horse proprietors, who generally- 
 kept an inn or a livery stable, and who frequently 
 supplemented this business by furnishing funeral 
 carriages, would employ these horses in the mail, 
 which would greatly displease the passengers who had 
 no fancy for being drawn along by these sepulchral- 
 looking animals, with their long tails tied up into 
 knots to keep them out of the mud, and their manes 
 plaited or hanging in absurd ringlets. 
 
 Mr. Harris tells a tale of a costermonger who 
 possessed a very mournful-looking donkey. When 
 asked to account for the miserable and dejected 
 appearance of this humble quadruped, he replied : 
 <; Yes, sir, he is a werry miserable ass. He've bin 
 a-standing 'twixt two mourning-coach ; orses for a 
 fortnight, and he ain't rekivered his spirits." 
 
 The guards of the old coaches were always pro- 
 vided with spare gear in case of accidents, and a 
 number of tools, which, if not in a chest, were in a 
 tool-basket or huddled away somewhere in the boot ; 
 then there w r ere spare traces, spare bars, and various 
 items of harness serviceable in an emergency ; one 
 thing was scarcely ever omitted, and that was a spare 
 collar. In addition to this, in the earlier days of 
 coaching, was a huge, bell-mouthed blunderbuss which 
 carried an immense quantity of round shot, and was 
 like a small cannon as regards size ; in fact, it was 
 
 I 2 
 
ii5 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 a veritable arsenal of itself when loaded to the 
 muzzle. 
 
 The plan for stopping the coaches was a very simple 
 and yet a most successful one; it was by placing a rope 
 across the road from side to side, this sufficed to throw 
 clown the leading horses All then was in confusion ; 
 the guard jumped down to render assistance, whilst 
 a highwayman, more nimble or with greater presence 
 of mind, hurried to the back of the coach and secured 
 his terrible weapon ; consequently resistance on the 
 part of the guard was frequently met by the muzzle of 
 his own blunderbuss being pointed towards him. 
 Whilst this was going on, another highwayman has 
 cut the traces, uncoupled the horses, and secured the 
 coachman, after which, the mails and whatever valu- 
 ables chanced to be on the coach fell a prey to the 
 robbers. If the coach was loaded with passengers 
 it was rarely attacked ; but if it was then attacked, the 
 number of highwaymen were so increased as to render 
 resistance unsuccessful. 
 
 But to turn to other matters. A great deal of care 
 was required in putting horses to ; the fresh teams 
 when brought out had to be placed behind the spot 
 where the coach pulled up so that they might walk 
 straight into their places without being turned round. 
 For these quick changes, which, on all occasions, 
 occupied less than five minutes, it was necessary for 
 the coachman and horse-keeper to make close and care- 
 ful observation of every atom of harness, and this had 
 to be done very quickly and yet with great precision, 
 as a very trifling omission might give rise afterwards 
 to great delay, if not to a serious accident, and this 
 was more essential in the dark than in the light ; 
 consequently the reflection from a bull's-eye lantern 
 
SKIDS AND BREAKS. 117 
 
 had to be thrown on to every particle of the harness, 
 when the experienced eye of a good coachman could 
 at once detect anything wrong. It must be remem- 
 bered that in those days there was no break ; and the 
 iron shoe or skid is a very clumsy contrivance com- 
 pared with a break. It necessitated a coachman or 
 guard descending from his seat to apply it, and also 
 the stoppage of the coach and the consequent delay. 
 This being the case, it was rarely used except on very 
 severe hills. Although very many wheel-horses are 
 spoilt by the too frequent use of the break, yet an 
 immense number of accidents are averted by its being 
 used, and had this apparatus been in use during the 
 days of coaching, it would have proved an inestimable 
 boon. In fact, with a heavily-laden carriage of any 
 kind, it acts as a safety-valve does to a steam-engine, 
 as it provides an element of security, owing to the 
 ease with which it can be applied and removed. 
 
 If coach-horses were ever to run away with a 
 coach, which is rarely the case, owing to the weight 
 of the vehicle behind them, a powerful break applied 
 by a strong man immediately renders their progress 
 at any great speed a matter of exceeding difficulty. 
 I cannot say to what extent it increases the labours 
 of draught or retards progression, but I should suppose 
 that it would treble or quadruple the load. Accidents 
 however, are not always to be avoided by stopping 
 a vehicle, an axle may break or a wheel come off 
 on a level road, or when ascending a hill which could 
 not be prevented by the use of a break. There is 
 one predicament in which a carriage may be where 
 a break forms an important factor in preventing an 
 accident, this is when a pole breaks on descending 
 a hill, in which case there is only one thing to do, 
 
ii3 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 keep the horses going and apply the break.* One 
 might go on writing of the various coaches for any 
 length of time, as there is no end to the information 
 that can be acquired upon this subject : but I feel 
 disinclined to do so, not having lived in the days 
 of coaching, and knowing as I do how very many 
 books of a superficial and anecdotal character have 
 been written on coaching. As this book is intended 
 to be upon driving and all connected with the road, 
 I could not ignore a subject so vastly requisite to 
 a true and comprehensive history of highways and 
 horses, although I am anxious to pass on to matters 
 in which I feel sure the present generation, like 
 myself, will evince greater interest. 
 
 Captain Haworth in his book "Road Scraping," says 
 that the weight of a mail-coach was one ton ; but 
 it often weighed much more than this. It was painted 
 red, and had the royal arms very conspicuously em- 
 blazoned on its panels. It carried four persons inside 
 and four out, besides the guard and coachman ; on 
 the roof were thrown the mail-bags, and the luggage 
 of the passengers was frequently placed inside a 
 huge basket, as I have mentioned before. The guard 
 always carried pistols or a blunderbuss as a protection 
 against highwaymen. I am, of course, speaking of 
 the early coaches, not of those of later date, close 
 upon the introduction of the locomotive. Tenders 
 for horsing the mails were invited at the expiration 
 of the contracts which were generally entrusted to 
 the same person or persons. Mr. Vidler, of Millbank, 
 Westminster, was the contractor who supplied the 
 mail-coaches. He used to receive from the pro- 
 
 f A break may be applied to a coach when the horses are 
 resting during their ascent of a steep hill, as it prevents the coach 
 running backwards. 
 
HORSING THE MAILS. 119 
 
 prietors who horsed the mails so much a mile for 
 the use of the coaches, which the Postmaster-General 
 forced the coach-proprietors to procure from him 
 under the contract entered into. Mr. Vidler, in 
 addition to charging proprietors so much a mile 
 for the use of the coaches, received ^500 a quarter 
 or ^2000 a year for grease and oil to be used on 
 the mail-coaches, the grease for the boxes of the 
 wheels and the oil presumedly for the lamps, which 
 were as a rule four in number, two large side lamps, 
 one dash lamp, and one bull's-eye lantern, used by 
 the guard when sorting his letters and parcels. Besides 
 this, Mr. Vidler used to send in a bill for repairs and 
 accidents. 
 
 Mr. Harris says that the sum paid to him for 
 the ten years prior to 1835, was ,32,900; after this, 
 the contracts of which, before Mr. Vidler had the ex- 
 clusive monopoly, were thrown open, and the country 
 broken up into districts, one of which was taken by 
 Messrs. Wright and Horn, large coach-builders in 
 London, whilst the Western district was taken by Mr. 
 Williams, a well-known coach-builder at Bristol. 
 
 A style of coach, utterly different to the old mail, 
 was then introduced. This ; I learn from a writer 
 on the subject, was selected by the Postmaster- 
 General from a number of designs submitted for his 
 approval, and this new style of coach continued in 
 use until the mails were taken off the road. 
 
 All the four-horse mails were of one size and 
 pattern, so that wheels, nuts, screws, axles, and other 
 parts intended for one coach would fit another equally 
 well ; but everything, with the exception of the gor- 
 geous colour and the brilliant gilt lettering of the royal 
 arms and initials, was of the plainest description. 
 
120 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 The writer, to whom I have referred, says that 
 a mail-coach of the old style cost 140 guineas, and 
 that in seven years' time it would cost in repairs the 
 same amount. " As is the case with railway rolling- 
 stock, the wear and tear depended very much upon 
 the pace at which the coach travelled. But one coach," 
 he goes on to say, "was, as a rule, provided for every 
 hundred miles, in the same manner as one horse was 
 deemed requisite for every mile." Thus, between 
 London and Bath, one coach would work up whilst 
 another worked down, whilst a spare one was kept 
 somewhere in the event of accident. 
 
 Mr. Harris assures us that the profit reaped by 
 the Government on the conveyance of letters by 
 coaches, exceeded ^2000 a year. As regards horsing 
 the coaches, sixpence a mile was paid for horsing 
 the Holy head mail, but this was afterwards reduced 
 to twopence. This was the average rate for horsing 
 mails out of London ; one advantage, however, mail- 
 coaches had over the stage, they paid no turnpike 
 tolls ; the fact of their carrying the royal mails, 
 exempted them from any such duty. 
 
 The fare for a journey of a hundred miles outside 
 a mail-coach was eight shillings, and twelve shillings 
 for an inside passenger ; but their punctuality procured 
 them a class of passengers who did not mind paying 
 a high fare for travelling upon what was considered 
 an exclusive conveyance. 
 
 The coachmen employed to drive mail-coaches 
 out of town, did not, as a rule, go beyond a distance 
 of thirty miles, and the coach proprietors having their 
 offices, stables, and inns in the metropolis, very 
 frequently did not horse the mail-coaches beyond 
 a certain distance out of town, although their own 
 
HORSING THE MAILS. 121 
 
 stage-coaches were of course horsed by them for the 
 entire distance. All these large coach-proprietors, 
 were, in fact, job-masters. 
 
 The Post Office arrangements appear to have been 
 very singular. In order to convey the mails, the Post- 
 master-General paid a fixed sum to certain coach and 
 horse proprietors, such as Horn, Sherman, Chaplin, 
 and Nelson, who contracted for the job. At the 
 same time, the Postmaster-General, owing to previous 
 arrangement with Mr. Vidler, forced the coach and 
 horse proprietors to procure their coaches from him, 
 which they were forced to do, having to pay Mr. Vidler 
 a certain sum for the use of the coach, each proprietor 
 horsing the coach for a certain distance only, and 
 being responsible for a portion only of the sum paid 
 to Vidler ; so that, in fact, the coach was leased by 
 a company of horse proprietors, who were paid by 
 the Postmaster-General for conveying the mails. The 
 guard was the servant of the Post Office ; but, although 
 the coachman went the full distance, or over ground 
 horsed by several proprietors, I am unable to say 
 whose servant he was. The custom adopted now 
 in carrying mails is for the Postmaster-General, under 
 a contract, to pay a railway company, or a company 
 of ship-owners, a certain sum yearly for the convey- 
 ance of the mails. I am unable to say how it is arranged 
 when letters are transmitted to foreign countries ; but 
 it is not necessary to consider this question. Horn 
 horsed the mails from London to Gloucester, Dover 
 and Hastings, for twenty-eight, thirty-six, and fourteen 
 miles respectively. Chaplin horsed the London and 
 Bath, Norwich, Hull, Bristol, Liverpool, Holyhead, 
 Manchester, and Devonport mails, but in no case 
 did he do so for more than forty-eight miles out o 
 
122 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 town, neither did Sherman, who horsed the London 
 and Worcester, Exeter and Carlisle mails. Coach 
 proprietors frequently worked mail-coaches in unison. 
 Mr. Harris says that Horn, who was not the largest 
 proprietor in London, used to pay annually to Govern- 
 ment ,25,000, and ^6000 a year to Wright and 
 Powell for hire of coaches ; and this did not include 
 all, as he had some from other builders. 
 
 A coach running from a hundred to a hundred 
 and twenty miles, might be calculated to earn from 
 iS to 20 a night. If this was the case, and if, 
 as it has been said, a coach cost 140 guineas only, it 
 appears ridiculous that the Postmaster-General did not 
 purchase the coaches right out, and merely contract 
 with horse proprietors to horse them, as the price 
 paid by the coach proprietors for the use of the 
 coach must have very soon mounted up to the actual 
 price of the coach. 
 
 A hundred and seventy mails and stage-coaches 
 passed through Hounslow in every twenty-four hours ; 
 more horses stood at Hounslow than at any other 
 village in England. Next to Hounslow, Barnet had 
 by far the greatest number of horses ; this was the 
 first stage out of London on the great north road. 
 
 The agreements entered into between the Post- 
 master-General and horse proprietors, when committed 
 to writing, were very lengthy and voluminous. I 
 presume that the coachmen were the servants of 
 the horse proprietors, since fines were inflicted on 
 them and on the proprietors for not keeping time, 
 although the coachman had to drive over such space 
 of ground as was ordered by the Postmaster-General. 
 
 Nelson, Sherman and Chaplin were the largest 
 proprietors of coach-horses. Captain Haworth de- 
 
MA IL- CO A CHMEN. 1 2 3 
 
 clares that Chaplin had one thousand seven hundred 
 horses engaged in coaching ; he used to dine his 
 coachmen once every year, and at this dinner he 
 presided himself. A mail-coach was always expected 
 to have its lamps lit after sunset, just as ships at sea 
 are forced to carry lights, when the sun sinks below 
 the horizon. On the King's birthday, all the mails 
 used to go in procession, the guards and coachmen 
 all in their new scarlet liveries, the horses with new 
 harness, and frequently decorated with flowers, in 
 this manner they promenaded the principal streets 
 of the metropolis. Mail-coachmen used to drive 
 great distances. The writer to whom I have made 
 reference says that a man named Ward drove from 
 Hounslow to Bagshot, at which place he relieved the 
 London coachman, he returned with the up-mail, 
 leaving Bagshot at 3 a.m. doing sixty miles a night ; 
 this he did for seven years. Another coachman, 
 named Harbridge, drove the Manchester mail for 
 two years out of London, performing one hundred 
 miles every night. 
 
 There is one thing to be said about the lives 
 coachmen led ; they could not have been wholesome 
 although so much time was spent in the open air 
 since they had to sit for hours in one position, without 
 any chance of obtaining exercise to restore their 
 circulation, in cold weather. Although enveloped in 
 big coats and numerous wraps, they must have suffered 
 terribly, and in order to infuse some warmth into 
 their bodies, they frequently drank to excess ; this, 
 coupled with the long hours of partial inactivity, 
 predisposed them to ill health and disease. Captain 
 Haworth says that many of the coaches would earn 
 from five to six pounds a mile per month ; and 
 
124 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 if fodder was not too high a price, three pounds a 
 month per mile paid all expenses. The profits of a 
 coach were divided monthly ; the mails had neither 
 duties nor turnpike-gates to pay, since they were the 
 property of the Crown. 
 
 Parcels were charged twopence, and were the 
 source of considerable revenue. Articles of value were 
 registered and insured. 
 
 A strange thing happened to the Salisbury mail 
 when upon its journey from London to Exeter. One 
 dark night, whilst passing through Salisbury Plain, the 
 coachman saw what he thought to be a big calf trotting 
 beside his leaders. The horses became very restive, 
 and the coachman had some difficulty in handling 
 them. Suddenly the supposed calf made a spring on 
 the back of one of the leading horses. The guard 
 thereupon evinced great pluck ; he sprang down from 
 his seat on the coach, and with a pistol he shot the 
 animal dead. It proved to be a large lioness that had 
 escaped from a travelling caravan ; she had previously 
 attacked a horse in a carrier's cart, which she killed 
 and mutilated. 
 
 Exeter was a great stopping-place for coaches 
 working through to the West of England. About 
 seventy coaches left that city daily, Sundays excepted : 
 the Launceston, Bath, Truro, Plymouth, Dorchester, 
 Falmouth, and London. The London mail was called 
 the " Quicksilver ; " it was one of the fastest coaches 
 in England, as the Exeter mail train is one of the 
 fastest trains out of town at the present time. This 
 coach used to perform the journey, one hundred and 
 sixty-six miles, in twenty hours, provided the weather 
 permitted such fast travelling. This mail was driven 
 out of London by Charles Ward, lately the proprietor 
 
COACH PROPRIETORS. 125 
 
 of a livery yard in Knightsbridge. He left the 
 "White Horse" cellars at eight o'clock every even- 
 ing ; but after a time Mr. Chaplin removed his offices 
 to Regent Circus, and it was from there the coach 
 afterwards started. 
 
 The railroad does not seem to have penetrated to 
 the far west so quickly as it did in other directions 
 about England ; consequently coaches continued to 
 run until a very recent date in the West of England. 
 Coachmen who had been driven off the road elsewhere 
 by the advent of the railroad and the locomotive, 
 flocked to the west, amongst whom were four noted 
 coachmen, named Johnson. They were four brothers, 
 sons of a tailor at Marlborough. 
 
 The " Telegraph," a celebrated Exeter coach, was 
 first put on the road by Stevens, proprietor of an inn 
 in London called the " Halfmoon." This coach left 
 Exeter at 6.30 a.m. ; the passengers dined at the 
 " Star" at Andover, and reached Hyde Park Corner 
 at 9.30 p.m., doing the one hundred and sixty-five 
 miles in fifteen hours, including stoppages."" 
 
 A writer, of whom I have before spoken, observes 
 that a stage-coach was excellent property in those 
 days. The " Quicksilver " and Dorchester mail alone 
 paid the rent (^1200) of the new "London Inn;" 
 the profits of the " Quicksilver " mail, which ran from 
 London to Exeter, was ^1000 per annum ; but the 
 profits of the Dorchester mail only ^200. 
 
 Haworth, in his " Road Scrapings," says that the 
 mails from London on the second day of each month 
 were frequently behind time, being loaded with 
 magazines and periodicals ; and at Christmas and Easter 
 the coaches were heavily loaded with parcels contain- 
 ing presents ; and when the shooting season com- 
 * See pages 73 and 76. 
 
126 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 menced, not only were sporting dogs frequently 
 conveyed by the coaches, but a great deal of game 
 was conveyed by them also. 
 
 The largest coach proprietor in the high days 
 of coaching was William Chaplin ; he had offices in 
 the City and at the West of London. It is said that 
 he was originally a coachman himself, though later on 
 in life he was elected M.P. for Salisbury, and after the 
 coaches were swept off the roads, like a sensible man, 
 he did not foolishly endeavour to perpetuate their 
 existence, but became connected with railroad under- 
 takings, and eventually became deputy chairman of 
 the London and Southampton Railway Company, after- 
 wards the London and South Western Railway ; in 
 addition to which he established a great general 
 carrying business ; he was associated with Benjamin 
 Worthy Home. Under the name of Chaplin and 
 Home this firm is known at the present day, although 
 few persons are aware that the original partners were 
 in the coaching days the largest horse and coach 
 proprietors in England, which means in the whole 
 world. 
 
 After the railways were commenced, Mr. Chaplin's 
 extensive stables were converted into warehouses for 
 goods in the course of transmission. Of the eight 
 mails that left the West of London every night, all 
 except the Gloucester and Exeter were horsed by 
 Chaplin ; they all started from Piccadilly. Chaplin 
 also horsed the mail-carts, which, driven by the mail 
 guards with their letter-bags, etc., left the General 
 Post Office every evening to meet the coaches in 
 Piccadilly. For this service he charged thirteen 
 pounds to each mail, the horses in the carts were 
 fast roadsters, as of course the mail-coaches could 
 
COACH PROPRIETORS. 127 
 
 not start without the mails, and the guards in charge 
 of them had therefore to be extremely punctual in 
 their attendance. Mail-carts now take the mail-bags 
 in exactly the same way to the principal railway 
 stations. 
 
 Twenty- seven mail-coaches left London every 
 night. Fourteen of these were horsed by Chaplin ; 
 they went to Norwich, Holyhead, Devonport. Liver- 
 pool, Manchester, Bristol, Halifax, Hull, Portsmouth, 
 Bath, Dover, Southampton, and Poole, Stroud, and 
 Wells. When he did not personally supply the 
 horses, he employed a sub-contractor to do so. He 
 had two hundred coaches ; he had another establish- 
 ment in Gracechurch Street, called the "Spread 
 Eagle," but it was not so large as the " Swan with 
 Two Necks." The Kentish and Surrey coaches started 
 from Gracechurch Street. Chaplin owned three of 
 the fastest coaches out of town, the Bristol, Devon- 
 port, and Holyhead. These started from the " Swan 
 with Two Necks," Lad Lane, Wood Street, Cheapside 
 which was once called facetiously " The Wonderful 
 Bird," Boy Lane, Timber Street, Reasonable Place. 
 The next largest coach proprietor to Chaplin was a 
 Mr. Sherman. He is said to have been a member 
 of the Stock Exchange. He married three old ladies 
 one after the other. He rebuilt a famous old inn 
 called the " Bull and Mouth," where he constructed 
 very large underground stables. He was also a large 
 proprietor of vans and waggons, which started from 
 the "Oxford Arms Inn," in Newgate Market. The 
 "Bull and Mouth" was exactly opposite the General 
 Post Office, at the end of Aldersgate Street. Sherman 
 had five coaches running to Birmingham ; this he 
 eventually increased to nine. He was the originator 
 
128 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 of the long-distance coaches. He never drove a 
 coach, like Chaplin, and rarely, if ever, travelled on 
 them himself. He used to drive about the City in 
 a chaise with yellow wheels, in which he drove a 
 fat pony with double reins evidently for fear it might 
 run away ; this it never offered to do, being extremely 
 docile and quiet. 
 
 There was no appearance of the coachman about 
 Sherman. He had a clean-shaved face, except for a 
 big moustache ; but in manner and appearance it was 
 difficult to believe that he was a man engaged in a 
 very extensive business operation, such as coach- 
 proprietor on an enormous scale, or that he was in 
 any way connected with the road or with horses. 
 
 In those days, coach proprietors and those interested 
 in coaching, frequently affected a horsey appearance, 
 which immediately identified them with the road, 
 they wore big fawn-coloured coats of box-cloth, with 
 white pearl buttons, and countless graduated capes 
 like one sees in the old coaching pictures, a blue scarf 
 with white spots enveloped their necks, and as for 
 the hat they wore, it was generally a low-crowned 
 white beaver. Sherman affected nothing of this kind ; 
 but, so far as appearance went, looked as though 
 nothing was further from his thoughts than horses 
 or coaches, although his capital was invested in 
 them. 
 
 Sherman's coaches carried all the Scotch mails ; 
 he horsed the Edinburgh and Glasgow coaches, he 
 also had a coach called the " Wellington," that ran 
 from London to Newcastle ; he had another coach 
 which was started long before he became connected 
 with coaching it was called the " Subscription," and 
 ran from London to Exeter ; this coach first com- 
 
COACH PROPRIETORS. 129 
 
 menced running in 1819, and continued until the 
 coaches were set aside by the locomotive. When 
 first started, it used to take twenty-five hours to 
 perform the journey, but as the roads improved it took 
 less time, until at last it was as swift as the others. 
 
 When railroads began to be established, Sherman 
 did not evince the same foresight as Chaplin, he 
 stuck to his coaches in spite of the daily decreasing 
 traffic on the road. And it is said that the Chairman 
 of the London and Birmingham Railway, Mr. Glyn, 
 was treated by Sherman in such a manner when he 
 made overtures to him with regard to the transfer 
 of his carrying business from the road to the rail, 
 that arrangements were come to with other coach 
 proprietors ; he afterwards did business with the 
 Great Western, but it is generally understood that 
 by his pertinacious clinging to the road, he threw 
 away the chances that were offered to him of becoming 
 a large railway -carrier, like the more fortunate and 
 more far-seeing Chaplin. 
 
 Another large coach proprietor was Mr. Benjamin 
 Worthy Home ; he had three coaching inns, and had 
 coaches running in almost every direction. The 
 shortest distance to which he ran a coach is said to 
 have been to Dorking, which was only twenty-five miles. 
 He horsed four mail-coaches, the Gloucester, Chester, 
 Hastings, and Dover. He also horsed and ran the 
 Dover auxiliary mail leaving London on Tuesday and 
 Friday and carrying the Continental mail-bags. If 
 this coach was in Dover when the boat arrived, it 
 carried the mails on to London ; but if it had left, then 
 the mails were forwarded by mail-cart, since this 
 coach was in reality only an ordinary stage-coach. 
 When reading of these days and talking them over 
 
1 30 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 with those who have a distant recollection of them, 
 I often wonder why it was necessary to employ a 
 coach to carry mail-bags, and why fast and light mail- 
 carts would not have done far better. The stage- 
 coach business might have been utterly distinct from 
 the conveyance of the mails, and as the mail-coaches 
 travelled of a night, they were never very popular as 
 travelling conveyances, although faster than the 
 generality of stage-coaches. 
 
 Amongst the large coach proprietors was a Mrs. 
 John Nelson ; she was the widow of one John Nelson, 
 who was the landlord of the " Bull Inn," Aldgate, 
 until his death, when his widow carried on the business 
 with the assistance of her two sons, John, who helped 
 her in the business at home, whilst George was coach- 
 man to the Exeter night-coach, the " Defiance," her 
 son Robert being the proprietor of the celebrated 
 " Belle Sauvage Inn." Robert had about 400 horses 
 and a lot of coaches, amongst which were some of the 
 fastest and most fashionable ones of the day ; but 
 he only had one mail-coach, that was the London and 
 Norwich. It seems strange that Robert Nelson should 
 have been in such a large way of business, and that 
 his brother George should have been content to drive 
 the night mail to Exeter. 
 
 Mrs. Nelson's coaches ran into the Eastern 
 Counties, but she had some running elsewhere ; for 
 instance, the celebrated coach, "The Telegraph." This 
 was a day-coach, and started at cock-crow from the 
 " Bull Inn." Mrs. Nelson herself was up with the 
 lark and was always to be found at almost any hour, 
 cheerful, active, and bustling. The " Bull Inn" was a 
 very large establishment, and a very prosperous one. 
 She could accommodate over 150 visitors, besides 
 
COACH PROPRIETORS. 131 
 
 which, about thirty of her coachmen and guards were 
 lodged in the house. They had a sitting- room especially 
 set apart for them, where they dined and passed their 
 evenings ; in this room they used to entertain many 
 celebrities, men of birth and title, who took a strong 
 interest in coaching, and were themselves famous 
 whips. Mrs. Nelson used to give her coachmen and 
 guards a dinner once a year, which lasted for three 
 days in order that all her men might participate in it. 
 Had the dinner been on one night only, many of the 
 guards and coachmen would have been away w r ith 
 their coaches. We are told that some of these guards 
 wore red coats like the mail guards. With this 
 account of Mrs. Nelson, I think I may bring these 
 remarks about coach proprietors to a close. 
 
 Just as stage-coaching became perfected, and the 
 roads were beginning to be w r orks of art, then George 
 Stephenson's success with the " Rocket " caused a new T 
 departure, and the locomotive became the chief motive 
 power. Since then the old inns have been decaying 
 away, the roads have become neglected, and, as for the 
 horses, daily numbers are sent abroad, whilst there 
 does not appear to be a sufficient number of fresh ones 
 to take their place. To those who love horses this is 
 a sad and alarming fact ; and it is certainly imperative 
 that Government by legislation should put a check to 
 such a ruinous state of things, otherwise England, that 
 has always stood unrivalled and pre-eminent for the 
 breed of her horses, will be cut out by continental 
 nations, and it is to them eventually that we shall have 
 to go to replenish our stock. To speak once more of 
 the coaches ; the punctuality of some of them was so 
 great that people used to set their watches by them as 
 they arrived in a town. Unhappily the same thing 
 
 K 2 
 
132 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 cannot always be said of trains, notwithstanding that 
 whereas their efforts are merely mechanical, the 
 punctuality of the coach was dependent upon physical 
 power, and a thousand things that no skill of man 
 could foresee or overcome, heavy snow-storms, roads 
 frequently flooded, and other hindrances to progression. 
 On one occasion a Mr. Kenyon is said to have beaten 
 a celebrated coach with his post-chaise. The name of 
 this coach was the " Wonder," from Shrewsbury to 
 London. This gentleman is said, just before starting 
 from Shrewsbury, to have told his head post-boy that 
 he should like to beat the coach. The post-boy said 
 he would try his best, and he actually got into London 
 before the coach. This coach was one of the most 
 celebrated on the road. Of course the post-chaise 
 had four horses, which were changed at the end of 
 every ten or twelve-mile stage, and so it was not a 
 surprising feat, particularly as a post-chaise is lighter 
 than a coach. 
 
 For those who are fond of driving and like horses, 
 a more pleasing sight could not have been witnessed 
 than one of the royal mail-coaches, with its four gray 
 horses going well up to their bits, driven by a noted 
 coachman, with a guard in scarlet and gold, making 
 music on his big horn and waking up the sleeping 
 villages through which the coach passed, all eager to 
 catch a glimpse of the mail. When trains start, people 
 do not as a rule go to the station merely for the 
 pleasure of seeing them off; they either intend to 
 travel by them, meet or bid good-bye to some 
 friend, or have some business to perform. But this 
 was not the case with the coaches ; people used to 
 frequent the great coach -yards in London merely 
 to see the coaches start ; and we are told that quite 
 
RAIL AA 7 D ROAD. 133 
 
 a crowd used to congregate at Hyde Park Corner 
 to see the coaches go by, as they do now at the 
 White Horse Cellars ; but it is a vastly different 
 thing playing at coaching as they do at the present 
 day, to making it the business of a lifetime, and to 
 know that, come fair or foul, we must undertake a 
 long wearisome journey, exposed to the inclemencies 
 of the weather. Although coaching in fine weather 
 must have been delightful, yet it cannot in bad winter 
 weather be compared with the luxury of a speedy 
 transition to one's destination in a comfortable first- 
 class railway carriage, with a warm rug over one's 
 knees, and the latest periodical literature lying on 
 the seat at your side. 
 
 The engine-driver has taken the place of the 
 coachman, and the railway guard the place of the 
 mail and stage-coach guard. As for the guard on 
 a mail-coach, he was the servant of the Post Office, 
 although he had to make out the way-bill, collect the 
 passengers' fares, and render assistance to the coachman 
 when he needed it. The mail guard of the present 
 day still travels with the mails, but he never has any- 
 thing to do with the passengers, his duty being merely 
 to take charge of the mails ; but the ordinary guard of a 
 train acts towards the train and its passengers in the 
 same manner as did the guard of a stage-coach, except 
 that he does not collect their fares. 
 
 Guards and coachmen in the old coaching days 
 used to be heavily tipped by the passengers. In 
 consequence of this they did not receive a high salary 
 from the proprietors. 
 
 For a proprietor to put a coach on the road in the 
 old days was an expensive matter ; the turnpikes alone 
 frequently cost over ^10 a mile each month, besides 
 
134 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 which there were heavy taxes to pay, $ for each 
 coachman and guard and $ for the coach, making 
 ^15 even in cases where only one guard and coach- 
 man were requisite. On long distances, where coach- 
 man and guard went off duty and were changed for 
 fresh ones, the tax was of course doubled ; then there 
 was a further duty on the coach which was sometimes 
 fixed at threepence a mile. In addition to this there 
 was the cost and depreciation in horse-flesh, bills for 
 fodder, shoeing, stable accommodation, harness, clothing 
 and veterinary surgeon's attendance. Offices had to be 
 established from which a coach started, and where per- 
 sons were booked, and there were inns to accommodate 
 passengers ; these frequently belonged to the coach pro- 
 prietors. The fares were very heavy, far more than on 
 the rail ; so that on the rail, not only is the journey com- 
 pleted in less time and in more comfort, but at a far more 
 moderate rate. In the days of coaching, only well- 
 to-do people could afford to travel any distance, 
 whereas now, almost any one can travel, and with more 
 comfort and more expedition. And yet Englishmen 
 who are good coachmen, and who delight in handling 
 the ribbons, naturally desire to perpetuate the memory 
 of the coaching days. It is with a view of reviving in 
 a manner the old-fashioned coach that the Four-in- 
 hand and the Coaching Clubs were instituted, and 
 after this amateur coaches were placed on the road 
 during the summer months, starting from the White 
 Horse Cellars, Piccadilly, and running their stages 
 just like the old-fashioned coaches, but with this 
 difference : they are playing at coaching, whereas the 
 famous old coaches of days gone by were in real 
 earnest. Nevertheless we wish all success to this 
 revivalist movement, and may it long prosper ; may all 
 
COACH-HORSES. 135 
 
 classes of society give it their support, and by doing 
 so lay tenacious hold to one of the very best and 
 most manly accomplishments of young English- 
 men the driving of a four-in-hand coach. People 
 are apt to remark, who have no sympathy with 
 such tastes, that a man, to be a coachman, must 
 be of an inferior scale of intelligence ; but it is a 
 mistake to suppose this is the case. To be a good 
 coachman requires great intelligence and quick obser- 
 vation ; a steady eye, a firm hand, and a bold heart 
 are positively requisite to success. 
 
 Each guard on a mail-coach carried a timepiece 
 provided by the Government, on which was dated the 
 time the mail left the General Post Office, and on the 
 coach arriving at its destination, he had to give in his 
 time-bill and also his timepiece, which was so con- 
 structed that he could not meddle with it. If the 
 coach was only a few minutes late, a Post Office 
 inspector would be sent down to inquire into the cause 
 of the delay. This strict punctuality caused coachmen 
 to regard horses with very little compassion. They 
 knew that any pity shown to any particular horse who 
 exhibited signs of exhaustion must be firmly locked up 
 in their own breast, and however much they might 
 sympathise with the animal's distress, that it would 
 never do to slacken the pace of the coach. Mr. Harris 
 says that he was told by an old gentleman whom he 
 met at Willesden Junction, that " one hot summer 
 eighteen horses dropped down dead in the coaches 
 somewhere between Grantham and York." An in- 
 stance of overwork happened in the Bristol and Liver- 
 pool mail, which the same writer says travelled at a 
 terrific pace, the greater part of the journey being 
 performed in the night. An old steeple-chase horse 
 
136 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 running leader in it suddenly dropped down dead. 
 He was dragged to the side of the road by the guard 
 and coachman, who then got his clothes off (meaning 
 his harness), and the mail continued its journey with 
 three horses only. For the sake of the horses we 
 ought to be glad that coaching is over. 
 
 In the days of coaching there was no Society for 
 the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and when we 
 consider the vast number of horses that were made 
 use of, and the imperative necessity for keeping time 
 and pushing forward at all risk and at every hazard, 
 we may be certain that consideration for the horse did 
 not occupy a large space in the minds of the coachmen 
 or horse-keepers. Yet in those days, of course, there 
 were certain limits or bounds beyond which it was not 
 practicable to work a horse ; but when it could be done 
 without pecuniary loss or accident then the horse was 
 used, although it might be hastening the end of an old 
 and once valued servant, who, had he been nursed 
 and carefully treated for a lew weeks, might have been 
 restored almost to his pristine vigour. 
 
 When horses are used by private individuals, or 
 when a small tradesman has a horse in his employ, 
 frequently the animal is regarded by its owner, or by 
 him to whom it is confided, with a feeling akin to 
 affection ; but when the horse merely forms one of a 
 large number engaged in some vast commercial 
 enterprise, the identity of the animal is lost amidst 
 so vast a throng of equine companions ; and sickness 
 attacking or injury occurring to any one single horse 
 is regarded as a matter only entailing loss of money, 
 and the poor animal is draughted, doctored, or put out 
 of the way, without awakening compassion or occa- 
 sioning sorrow to any one. As to no one, in such cases, 
 
COACH-HORSES. 137 
 
 is the care of this particular horse confided, he passes 
 through too many hands to become a special object 
 of solicitude. 
 
 We are told that some of the draymen in the large 
 breweries take a great pride in their magnificent 
 horses, and entertain a genuine affection for them ; 
 such is frequently the case with railway employes, 
 who have charge of horses engaged in shunting trains 
 or moving trucks to and fro at various termini and 
 junctions. But these and various other instances are 
 where men have had an opportunity of becoming 
 actually acquainted with a horse, when, imperceptibly 
 though surely, the animal gains a hold on their affec- 
 tions and secures kind treatment. But a London cab- 
 driver, a caretaker of ponies in the vast coal-mines 
 of the North, a London omnibus-driver employed 
 during the day to drive several different pairs of 
 horses, and more particularly the coachmen of the 
 old coaches in clays gone by, have and had no oppor- 
 tunity of knowing the animals they drove, except as 
 fast or slow, willing or sluggish, quiet or the reverse ; 
 they are and have ever been regarded as machines 
 that are necessary to progression, to maintain which 
 the whip of the coachman has frequently to be used. 
 
 Four years was considered to be the limit of a 
 coach-horse's employment on the road. If we take 
 a horse's life (during which time with care he can be 
 made serviceable to man) as from fifteen to twenty 
 years, it seems sad indeed that for four years only 
 of this period he should be in the condition of health 
 and vigour requisite for doing the fast work he was 
 called upon to perform when harnessed to a four-horse 
 coach. It is a very great mistake for people to use a 
 horse when too young ; to use a horse under five years 
 
I 3 8 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 is to ruin and destroy in a great measure an animal 
 who is as yet uninjured and without blemish. Who- 
 ever does so is guilty of a very foolish act ; he is 
 behaving like the child who is anxious to observe 
 how the seeds he has planted in his strip of garden 
 ground are advancing, and digs them up in order to see 
 what progress they are making ; possibly if cast back 
 into the earth they may yet come up and to a certain 
 degree flourish, but not as they would have done had 
 they been left undisturbed. It is only patience and 
 care that is requisite, and it is these two things that 
 are wanting ; wisdom and carefulness being absent, the 
 mind of the child is uncontrolled, whilst impatience 
 suggests to him an act of stupidity. So it is with 
 horse-breeders and owners, they will not wait until 
 the animal is five years old, and yet in the end they 
 lose by their impatience. I will make this the subject 
 of a special chapter further on. All I can do now is 
 to beg and pray that my readers will never use a horse 
 and subject him to regular work until he has passed 
 his fifth year. 
 
 Mr. James Payn, in a volume of essays lately 
 published, commences his first chapter with a descrip- 
 tion of horses relieved from the burden of their 
 harness, which is rather amusing and decidedly well 
 written, although he commits the very serious fault, 
 which I attribute entirely to ignorance, of saying that 
 horses are not sagacious. In my opinion there is only 
 one animal that equals the horse in intelligence, and 
 that is the dog. If horses, owing to the fact that they 
 are used merely as beasts of burden, should display no 
 great intelligence, it is because their brains have not 
 been sufficiently educated, and consequently they have 
 had no opportunity of exhibiting any particular clever- 
 
IMMATURE. 139 
 
 ness. Children, horses, dogs, and plants are all 
 affected by the treatment they receive. We speak 
 of a highly cultivated person, and the same term may 
 be applied with equal reason to vegetable growth. 
 All living things are capable of cultivation, and the 
 brains of animals, human or otherwise, are decidedly 
 capable of improvement. Any one who loves horses 
 and has been intimately acquainted with them, knows 
 that a horse can be taught to do almost anything, and 
 the tales illustrative of their wonderful intelligence and 
 sagacity would, w r ere they collected, more than fill the 
 largest volume ever printed. 
 
 Mr. Payn, in his amusing little essay entitled, " Out 
 of Harness," which is in reality about men and not 
 about horses, speaks in the first few lines about horses 
 as follows : 
 
 c> When horses leave the shafts they have various 
 ways of accepting the gifts of leisure and liberty. 
 Some, with drooping ears and staggering gait, repair 
 forthwith to their stables and go to sleep (I am 
 credibly informed by equine friends) standing. This 
 is a case that has no human parallel. 
 
 " The behaviour, however, of many of these 
 animals on leaving work, is similar enough to that 
 of mankind under the like circumstances. Some rush 
 at once to drink ; some instantly begin to browse, 
 and never seem to have their fill of flesh (for flesh 
 is grass) ; some kick up their heels, and hinny an 
 invitation to the fair sex to join in their gambols. 
 
 " These creatures, like the majority of mankind, 
 appreciate a holiday. On the other hand, there are 
 some who, when once the stage waggon or the 
 omnibus ceases to thunder at their heels, appear to 
 have no raison tfetre. When their cumbrous harness 
 
i jo HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 has been removed, they shiver and stand abashed 
 as if overcome with a sense of indelicacy. They 
 stretch their necks (astonished that they can stretch 
 them) this way and that, and poke their moist cold 
 noses into stray substances with a puzzled air. Their 
 time is their own ; but what on earth, they say to 
 themselves, as they lay their long, not very sagacious, 
 heads together, are they to do with it? Their 
 occupation is drawing, and that gone, they have no 
 other accomplishments. They see their fellow- 
 creatures rolling on the earth with their four legs in 
 the air, a proceeding which strikes them as ridiculous 
 without being amusing. Such high spirits are in- 
 explicable to them ; they are old stagers, and when 
 they are off the stage they lag superfluous." 
 
 It is a singular thing that so many of the old 
 coaches should have been called the " Telegraph," 
 as it was not till the 25th of July, 1837, that the first 
 experiments were made with the electric telegraph, 
 between Euston Square and Camden Town stations ; 
 the London and North-Western Railway Company 
 having sanctioned the laying down of wires between 
 those places, immediately upon the taking out of the 
 patent by Messrs. Wheatstone and Cook. Besides 
 these two operators, Mr. Fox and Mr. R. Stephenson 
 were present to witness the infant triumphs of this 
 wonderful invention. 
 
 Wheatstone, who was knighted by the Queen in 
 1868, had long been a Professor of Natural and 
 Experimental Philosophy at King's College, and had 
 been associated with Cook, who was also knighted on 
 November nth, 1869, in the perfecting of electric 
 telegraphic apparatus ; although the late Professor 
 Morse, of the United States, was regarded by some 
 
THE TELEGRAPH. 141 
 
 persons as a prior discoverer of the electric telegraph. 
 It was Wheatstone, as a scientific man, whose profound 
 and successful researches paved the way for the 
 practical application of the telegraph, and it is to Cook 
 that we are indebted for the establishment of the 
 telegraph system throughout Great Britain. But it 
 was not until some time after I have mentioned that 
 telegraphs came into general use. The definition of 
 the word " Telegraph " is any apparatus for conveying 
 intelligence beyond the limits of distance at which the 
 human voice is audible. This word is now usually 
 restricted to the electric telegraph. Consequently one 
 cannot but suppose that the word in its former and not 
 in its later signification gave rise to the term as 
 applied to a coach, certainly not the modern apparatus 
 with which we at the present day are so well 
 acquainted. 
 
 When we consider that when the Queen came to 
 the throne, railways were in their infancy, that the 
 electric telegraph had not been invented, and that in 
 many parts of England coaches were still running, one 
 cannot fail to regard with astonishment the wonderful 
 progress that has been made in such matters during 
 the past fifty years, more especially when we consider 
 that Englishmen of all shades of politics are of an 
 eminently Conservative race ; that everything new is 
 regarded by them with suspicion ; that no matter how 
 intelligent an invention may be, a thousand objections 
 are raised to its practical application. And not only is 
 this the case, but the legislators of the land in framing 
 the Patent Laws have hindered and obstructed all 
 tendency to improvement, instead of offering en- 
 couragement and rendering assistance. In America 
 all this is different ; the State protects, but does not 
 
1 42 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 heavily tax inventive genius ; whilst the American 
 people are ready to try anything until it is proved to 
 be a failure. 
 
 The following letter appeared in The Field news- 
 paper, June 1 6th, 1877, just ten years ago : 
 
 COACHING PICTURES. 
 
 SIR, I have read with a considerable degree of interest an 
 account of the exhibition of coaching pictures on view at the 
 Gallery, 114, New Bond-street, which appeared in The Field of May 
 1 9th last; and also the letters in your subsequent editions with 
 reference to the picture described in the catalogue as " Coaches 
 Meeting on the Great North Road," as also on the scarlet coat 
 question. On both I have consulted J. Hampton, of Huntingdon, 
 who is referred to in Mr. Soame's letter of May 28th, and he states : 
 *' Forty-six years ago, I drove the Louth mail from London to 
 Huntingdon. The Lynn, Hull, and Edinburgh coaches travelled 
 the same road with me to Hoddesdon. The Hull left us there, 
 and went on to the great north road, via Hertford and Stevenage. 
 The Lynn left us at Royston, and branched off through Cambridge. 
 The Edinburgh and myself continued on through Arrington and 
 Caxton to Huntingdon, thence to Alconbury Hill, the junction 
 with the great north road, where the three coaches met again. They 
 then travelled on the north road to Norman Cross, where the Louth 
 and Hull turned off to Peterborough, the Edinburgh going north, 
 through Wansford and Stamford. Bill Wood drove the Lincoln, 
 Harry Davis the Lynn, Jim Timour the Edinburgh, and Jack 
 Hampton the Louth/'' 
 
 From Hampton's statement it would seem as if the third coach in 
 the picture is the Edinburgh mail, and the place of meeting either 
 Alconbury Hill or Norman Cross. I think, however, it is clear 
 that the Lynn mail did not touch the north road at any point. 
 
 A propos of scarlet coats, Hampton says : " Mr. E. Sherman, 
 whose coaches started from the 'Bull and Mouth,' gave all his 
 coachmen scarlet coats; and any coachman who happened to 
 be in town on the King's or Queen's birthday, as the case was, had 
 one given him for the procession. Hampton had only one the 
 whole time he drove the mail." 
 
 Hampton is, and has been for many years, " mine host " of 
 the " Boro' Arms," Huntingdon, where he is always ready to give 
 his reminiscences of the road in the good old coaching days, and, 
 occasionally taking down a favourite whip from its rack, shows 
 how fields were won; or when during term time some wild Cambridge 
 freshman, tooling his four-in-hand, dashes over the roughly-paved 
 
IN THE CITY. 143 
 
 streets of the town, and awakening its echo with a shrill blast on 
 his yard of tin, Hampton generally wends his way towards the 
 " George " to have a look at the " tits," when he never fails to 
 examine with a critical eye a coaching picture which hangs in the 
 bar, entitled " Three Blind 'Uns and a Bolter." W. JACKSON. 
 
 The Causeway, Chippenham, Wilts, June 14. 
 
 There is one thing I notice about old coaching 
 prints that represent coaches passing through London 
 the streets in these illustrations never appear crowded 
 as they are now. There is a celebrated sketch of 
 Alken's, entitled "Doing a Bit of City," which represents 
 a few carriages being driven at a leisurely pace through 
 an anything but crowded thoroughfare, and two horse- 
 men riding as though it were nothing unusual to take 
 a saddle horse into the City, and were even a pleasant 
 and convenient mode of progression ; in the same 
 picture may be seen a tandem. Now I defy the best 
 coachman in the world to drive a team of horses, 
 either tandem or four-in-hand, with comfort in the 
 City of London ; and were any one to be seen doing 
 so by his friends and acquaintances, he would never 
 be allowed to forget such a foolish proceeding. 
 
 I came across a book the other day, of no particular 
 interest although fairly well illustrated ; the author's 
 name is J. Hissey. In driving from London to the 
 Land's End in a phaeton, he speaks of seeing in the 
 entrance-hall of an old hotel at Alton in Hampshire, 
 an old coaching-bill, of some hundred years ago, 
 hanging up against the wall, giving the fares, times, 
 and particulars of the journey to and from London. 
 Being interested in this antique document, he carefully 
 copied it ; he afterwards mislaid his notes, and there- 
 upon wrote to the landlord asking if he would be 
 kind enough to send another copy, to which letter 
 the landlord sent the following reply : 
 
144 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 " I am very sorry to say I cannot comply with 
 your request, for I thoughtlessly sold my old sign- 
 board last year to a gentleman who was passing 
 through here with a four-in-hand coach, and who 
 took such a fancy to it, that he never left me alone 
 till he got it." 
 
 It is evident that both Mr. Hissey and the landlord 
 were in error as to the name of the thing upon which 
 they set such value, since it was a coaching prospectus 
 or time-table ; nevertheless, it seems to have excited 
 great attention, which is a fresh proof that all relating 
 to the old coaching days is still regarded with interest. 
 The same writer goes on to say : 
 
 "What a change for the worst in fifty years! 
 Now all is rough, neglected, and deserted, which once 
 was smoothness, life, and bustle ; the easy ways have 
 become hard for the nineteenth-century traveller. It 
 is a shame that so many of our once excellent high- 
 ways should have fallen into such a disgraceful state. 
 It seems to me that the Government should keep 
 the old main roads, or see, at least, that they are 
 kept throughout in decent travellable order. In the 
 days of the turnpikes, though the constant tolls added 
 considerably to the expenses of a prolonged driving 
 tour (I have paid as much as seven shillings in one 
 day), and though the pulling up from time to time 
 was a great annoyance, still one had the satisfaction 
 of knowing that the roads were in fair order. 
 
 " In some things our progress has been backwards. 
 In a certain district in Yorkshire, so terribly bad is (or 
 was when we were there) the road between two small 
 towns, that one of the inhabitants told me, had it 
 been only passable, he should have much preferred 
 driving between them, as then he was master of his 
 
A TRANSATLANTIC OPINION. 145 
 
 own time, but as such was not practicable, he was 
 forced to go by rail. This is not as it should be, 
 however beneficial to railway shareholders : people 
 should not be compelled to take to the iron way." 
 
 Whilst on the subject of roads, I would mention 
 that I came the other day across a work written by 
 an American, describing a tour through England in 
 the old coaching days, and this is what he says of 
 them : " It is worth an American's while to go to 
 England, merely to see the splendid roads and soft 
 verdure of the fields. There is scarcely a turnpike 
 road in the island, that is not as smooth as a floor ; 
 and in many places I have seen men repairing them, 
 when it was impossible for me to discover a necessity 
 for their doing so." 
 
 Mr. Hissey, in his " Driving Tour," says : "When 
 leaving Charmouth in Dorsetshire, my horses had a 
 deal of collar-work ; in truth, our whole day's stage 
 was either mounting or descending long and often 
 steep hills ; but this very fact gave us glorious and 
 extended prospects ever and again as we gained the 
 various summits. And then this had been an old 
 coaching road, and so the gradients, though severe, 
 were well engineered ; but it had to get over the 
 hills, and very trying it must have been for the 
 ' cattle ' when the mail was loaded and the going 
 heavy. 
 
 " Terrible work in the winter, when the snow was 
 thick on the ground. As the ostler informed us, on 
 one particular hill, as many as eight horses were 
 required to 'get through.' But the mails did not 
 always get through. 
 
 " One bleak, stormy winter night, the snow falling 
 hard and drifting as well, it is recorded that the mail 
 
146 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 arrived late but safely at Charmouth, with but a single 
 fare bound for Exeter. It was dark and freezing hard, 
 the weather was most inclement, and the passenger 
 declined to proceed further, so he alighted at the 
 inn for the night. It was fortunate for him that he 
 did so. But the mails had to go on. Out into the 
 white world, out into the blinding snow, out into an 
 Egyptian darkness of gigantic gloom, fronting the 
 pitiless raging storm the coach proceeded ; fighting 
 its way, ploughing through the deep drifts, struggling 
 slowly, it still crept onwards. The men had their 
 duty to do, and they did it ; but there was danger 
 in the task. It was their business, they faced the 
 risk without a chance of glory. Peaceful heroes 
 they, but heroes still. Some miles on, at the top of 
 a hill, the coach came to a standstill, and was soon 
 snow-bound ; it could neither proceed nor turn back. 
 Leaving the guard in charge of the mails and horses, 
 the driver essayed to return to the village for help. 
 A vain endeavour : he lost his way and nearly his life. 
 Benumbed, and half frozen in his contest with the 
 bitter biting north-easter, not knowing where he was 
 or whither he was wandering, eventually he observed 
 a solitary light gleaming through the darkness, and 
 towards this he clambered over hedges and fields. 
 The welcome beacon led him to a farm-house. The 
 farmer, duly aroused and informed of the state of 
 affairs, got some of his labourers together, and went 
 in search of the snow-bound coach. The bewildered 
 driver could give but little information as to its where- 
 abouts, and the task of discovery was no easy one. 
 The party shouted again and again, but their voices 
 were almost drowned by the howling winds, and 
 deadened by the falling snow. They stopped to 
 
COACH1XG MISADVENTURES. 147 
 
 listen from time to time, but no answer came back 
 to them ; or if it did, it was lost in the louder voices 
 of the storm. It was not till early dawn that the 
 half-buried coach was discovered, wreathed round with 
 deep snow-drifts. At once a loud cry was raised as 
 the relieving party hurried forward, but there was no 
 response. The poor guard and helpless horses were 
 frozen to death. 
 
 " So the good old days of coach travel had their 
 dark side, a very dark one sometimes. Exhilarating 
 as driving across country was in fine weather, behind 
 a fast- galloping team, with the many varying incidents 
 of the road, and the coachman's ready jokes and racy 
 anecdotes to enliven the journey, it must be remem- 
 bered it was not always summer or fair weather. 
 
 " Such legends and stories of the old coaching days 
 still abound, and may be picked up by the traveller by 
 road at the many ancient hostelries which yet remain 
 dotted over our forsaken highways. These have 
 been handed down from sire to son, losing possibly in 
 accuracy by each succession of tellers. The days must 
 come when these traditions will altogether cease, or 
 become so fabled and blended with romance as to be 
 of little value." 
 
 The same writer says : " Some distance from Char- 
 mouth, at the highest point of the road, we entered a 
 tunnel cut through the crest of the hill. This was the 
 first we had passed through during our lengthened 
 drives about Great Britain ; indeed, we had till then no 
 idea such a thing existed on the ordinary roads ; we 
 thought they were confined to the railways. Plenty of 
 cuttings there are of course (but not tunnels), some 
 both extensive and deep, such as the long one ex- 
 cavated through the chalk downs just the other side 
 
 L 2 
 
i 4 8 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 of Dunstable on the old Holyhead road going north. 
 A vast undertaking in those days, which would be 
 considered a great work even now, and one that tells 
 plainly of the skill of that famous pre-railway engineer, 
 Telford." 
 
 As this writer remarks, there are very few English 
 high-roads passing through tunnels, the configuration 
 of the land over which they pass does not need such 
 feats of engineering skill. It is only such mountain 
 roads as I have mentioned in my first chapter that 
 require it. 
 
 In the days when the coaches ran, naturally there 
 were many road-books and maps published, amongst 
 which was Thomas Kitchins' " Post-chaise Com- 
 panion," published in 1767. This was essentially a 
 road-book and a guide to distance, inns, and objects of 
 interest on the way/" In 1811 was published the 
 fifteenth edition of a very celebrated road-book by 
 Lieut-Col. Paterson, Assistant Quartermaster-General 
 to His Majesty's Forces. This book was published in 
 the latter part of the reign of George III. The 
 title-page is as follows : 
 
 * There was Gary's " Traveller's Companion," published at 
 86, St. James's Street, with excellent maps ; and also Mogg's " Pocket 
 Itinerary." 
 
COL. PATERSON'S ROAD-BOOK. 149 
 
 A NEW AND ACCURATE DESCRIPTION 
 
 OF ALL THE 
 
 DIRECT AND PRINCIPAL CROSS ROADS 
 
 IN 
 
 ENGLAND AND WALES, 
 
 AND PART OF THE 
 
 ROADS OF SCOTLAND, 
 
 WITH A VARIETY OF NEW ADME \SUREMRNTS, A GENERAL MAP 
 ADAPTED OF THE WORK. 
 
 XE\V MAPS, viz. : of the Southern Coast with the country adjacent ; 
 of the Isle of Thanet ; of the Isle of Wight ; and of the parts 
 of Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Lancashire, comprehending 
 the Lakes. 
 
 An Account of Noblemen's and Gentlemen's Seats, and other 
 
 remarkable objects. 
 A General Index of the Roads to the different Towns, denoting the 
 
 Counties in which they are situated, their Market days, and the 
 
 Inns which supply Post-horses. 
 
 An Index to the Country Seats, and places described. 
 A Table of the Heights of Mountains and other eminences, from 
 the Grand Trigonometrical Survey of the Kingdom, under the 
 direction of Lieut.-Colonel Mudge. 
 
 Correct Routes of all the Mail-coaches, and an Alphabetical Table 
 of all the Principal Towns, containing the Rates of Postage, the 
 Times of the arrival and return of the Mails, the Population, etc. 
 
 The whole greatly augmented and improved by FRANCIS FREELING, 
 ESQ., Secretary to the G. P. O., and of the several Surveyors of 
 the Provincial Districts under the Authority of the POSTMASTER 
 GENERAL. 
 
 BY LIEUTENANT-COLONEL PATERSON, 
 
 ASSISTANT QfARTHR-MASTER GENERAL OF HIS MAJESTY'S FORCES. 
 
 THE FIFTEEXTH EDITIOX. 
 
 LOXUOX : 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE PROPRIETOR AND SOLD BY MESSRS. LONGMAN, HURST, 
 
 REES, ORME & BROWN, PATERNOSTER Row. 
 
 1811. 
 
150 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 We see no such comprehensive title-pages now- 
 adays ; the whole contents of the book appear on 
 the title-page, but this does not occur in later editions. 
 This road-book was published by Messrs. Longman 
 & Co., in 1811, seventy-six years ago. The house 
 of Longman, which brought it out, still exist, and are 
 well-known publishers. 
 
 The names of the places and various roads are 
 arranged in a column on each page in this book, on 
 the left-hand side, and the distances occupy two more 
 columns ; there being a space for marginal notes, this 
 space is occupied generally with a description of 
 scenery, objects of interest, the names of gentlemen's 
 country houses, inns, etc. 
 
 The measurements, which are taken in miles, halves 
 and quarters of miles, are arranged in two columns, 
 the first giving the distance from one city, town, or 
 village to the next, the second, the number of miles 
 from the commencement of the road ; and this plan 
 is adhered to throughout the book, whether the 
 measurement be from London, as in all the direct 
 roads, or from some noted city or town, as in the 
 cross-roads. Thus, from the " King's Head " at 
 Lower Mitcham, to the " Cock Inn " at Sutton, is 
 three miles, and this inn is eleven miles and a quarter 
 from London, where the measurement begins ; the 
 Obelisk on Banstead Downs is a mile and three- 
 quarters from the ''Cock Inn" at Sutton, and thirteen 
 miles from London. 
 
 It is amusing to notice in this edition of Paterson's 
 work the following paragraph, which is introduced 
 into the preface : "It may be necessary to remark, 
 that the roads which are pointed out by the initials 
 R. and L., as branching to the right and left, are in 
 
COL. PATERSON'S ROAD-BOOK. 151 
 
 general turnpike roads, but the distinction is not 
 expressed ; and, as travellers are frequently deceived 
 by the natural expectation that turnpikes should be 
 good roads, it is therefore recommended to make 
 previous inquiry into the state of them, as many of 
 the cross turnpike roads are, in winter time, and often 
 after wet weather, rendered almost impassable." 
 
 This acquaints us with the fact that cross-roads 
 in the care of turnpike trustees were not very good 
 in those clays. In this book the great roads were 
 measured as follows : 
 
 The Kent roads were measured from the Surrey 
 side of London Bridge down the Old Kent Road. 
 
 The Portsmouth road and those branching from 
 it were measured from the Stone's End, in the 
 Borough. 
 
 The Croydon, Ryegate (Reigate), Epsom, and 
 Brighthelmstone (Brighton) are measured from the 
 Surrey side of Westminster Bridge, and from the 
 41 Standard " in Cornhill. The distance from Cornhill 
 was exactly one mile more than from Westminster 
 Bridge. 
 
 The Winchester, Southampton.. Dorsetshire, 
 Devonshire, Cornwall, Wiltshire, Somersetshire, and 
 all the roads in the south-west of the kingdom were 
 measured from Hyde Park Corner through Brentford. 
 
 The Uxbridge, Edgeware, Birmingham, Shrews- 
 bury, and most of the roads in the western part of 
 the kingdom were chiefly measured from Tyburn 
 turnpike at the top of Oxford Street. 
 
 The Highgate and Hampstead roads were 
 measured from Holborn Bars, near Gray's Inn 
 Lane, and from the bottom of Oxford Street, where 
 St. Giles's pound formerly stood. A stone in the 
 
i 5 2 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 front of one of the houses in St. Giles's, facing 
 Oxford Street, with an inscription, points out the spot- 
 
 The Barnet road and all the roads in the north 
 and north-west of the kingdom were measured from 
 the place where Hicks's Hall formerly stood ; viz. at 
 the end of St. John's Lane, St. John's Street, West 
 Smithfield. A stone in the front of one of the 
 houses has an inscription pointing out the spot. 
 
 The Ware and Huntingdon roads, with the 
 branches therefrom, were measured from Shoreditch 
 Church ; but the milestones were numbered from 
 this standard no further northward than Alconbury 
 Hill, where these roads join the great north road, 
 as measured from Hicks's Hall. 
 
 The Essex roads were measured from White- 
 chapel Church ; and time can have had no effect on 
 these measurements. By means of these road-books, 
 any town or village, however small, could be found, 
 and the distance from London, or from w^here the 
 road started, ascertained, first by tracing the main 
 road, and then by branching off to the cross-road. 
 
 An eighteenth edition of Paterson's road-book 
 appeared in 1829 ; this edition was edited by Edward 
 Mogg, and was very much enlarged ; it was de- 
 dicated to King George IV. In this edition there 
 is a very curious table giving the rates of postage 
 and the times of arrival and departure of the mails. 
 As it would occupy too much space to give this list 
 in full, I have only mentioned towns of importance ; 
 this was, of course, before the days of penny postage. 
 In this list may also be seen the time at which the 
 mail-coaches arrived and returned to London. This 
 list was copied from the returns made to Parliament 
 in 1831, and was corrected by competent authorities. 
 
COL. PATERSON'S ROAD-BOOK. 
 
 153 
 
 PLACES. 
 
 POSTAGE. 
 
 MAIL COACHES. 
 
 DISTANCE 
 FROM 
 LONDON. 
 
 POPULATION 
 1831. 
 
 POPULATION 
 
 1861 
 
 ARRIVE. 
 
 DEPART. 
 
 Andover 
 
 8 
 
 H. M. 
 
 4. o f 
 
 H. M. 
 
 10. o a 
 
 63 
 
 4,748 
 
 5,221 
 
 Aylesbury 
 
 7 
 
 I. Of 
 
 2. f 
 
 38 
 
 4,97 
 
 6,168 
 
 Bath . 
 
 9 
 
 8.20 f 
 
 6. o a 
 
 106 
 
 38,063 
 
 52,528 
 
 Bedford 
 
 8 
 
 2. f 
 
 4. o a 
 
 53 
 
 6,959 
 
 !3>4i3 
 
 Birmingham . 
 
 9 
 
 8.45 f 
 
 5. o a 
 
 109 
 
 146,986 
 
 296,076 
 
 Brighton 
 
 8 
 
 4. o f 
 
 10. o a 
 
 
 40,634 
 
 77,693 
 
 Bristol 
 
 10 
 
 IO.TO f 
 
 4. o a 
 
 114 
 
 59>74 
 
 154,093 
 
 Buckingham. 
 
 8 
 
 7. of 
 
 6.30 a 
 
 55 
 
 3,610 
 
 3,849 
 
 Colchester . 
 
 8 
 
 12.30 f 
 
 12.30 f 
 
 5i 
 
 16,167 
 
 23,809 
 
 Derby 
 
 10 
 
 II. IO f 
 
 3-25 a 
 
 126 
 
 23,607 
 
 44,091 
 
 Davenport . 
 
 ii 
 
 6. o f 
 
 8.30 a 
 
 218 
 
 75,534 
 
 50,440 
 
 Doncaster 
 
 10 
 
 3- 3 a 
 
 !0.35 f 
 
 162 
 
 10,801 
 
 16,406 
 
 Dorchester . 
 
 10 
 
 II. O f 
 
 3. o a 
 
 119 
 
 3,033 
 
 6,823 
 
 Dover . 
 
 8 
 
 6. of 
 
 8. o a 
 
 7i 
 
 11,924 
 
 25,325 
 
 Durham 
 
 12 
 
 4-15 f 
 
 347 a 
 
 258 
 
 10,125 
 
 14,088 
 
 Eastbourne . 
 
 8 
 
 8. o f 
 
 5. oa 
 
 61 
 
 2,726 
 
 5,795 
 
 Epsom. 
 
 5 
 
 10.15 a 
 
 4-45 f 
 
 14 
 
 3,231 
 
 4,890 
 
 Exeter . 
 
 ii 
 
 5-45 a 
 
 8. o f 
 
 164 
 
 28,201 
 
 33J38 
 
 Falmouth 
 
 12 
 
 10. f 
 
 2. o a 
 
 216 
 
 4,761 
 
 5,709 
 
 Folkestone . 
 
 9 
 
 7.20 f 
 
 6.30 a 
 
 70 
 
 3,638 
 
 8,507 
 
 Gloucester . 
 
 9 
 
 10. f 
 
 4.30 a 
 
 104 
 
 n,933 
 
 16,512 
 
 Gravesend . 
 
 6 
 
 10.45 a 
 
 3-i5 f 
 
 22 
 
 5'97 
 
 18,782 
 
 Guildford . 
 
 7 
 
 midnt. 
 
 2. f 
 
 29 
 
 3,8i3 
 
 8,020 
 
 Harrowgate . 
 
 ii 
 
 
 
 211 
 
 2,812 
 
 4,737 
 
 Hastings 
 
 8 
 
 6.30 f 
 
 8. o a 
 
 64 
 
 10,097 
 
 22,837 
 
 Holyhead 
 
 12 
 
 4. o f 
 
 7.40 
 
 26 7 
 
 4,282 
 
 6,i93 
 
 Hounslow . 
 
 4 
 
 9-35 f 
 
 8. o a 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 Hull . 
 
 12 
 
 5- of 
 
 5. o a 
 
 174 
 
 32,958 
 
 97,66 [ 
 
 Ipswich 
 
 8 
 
 5- of 
 
 10. o a 
 
 69 
 
 20,454 
 
 37,95 
 
 Leamington . 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 8 9 
 
 6.209 
 
 i7,95 8 
 
 Leicester 
 
 9 
 
 7. of 
 
 7. o a 
 
 9 6 
 
 39,3o6 
 
 68,056 
 
 Lincoln 
 
 10 
 
 1.13 a 
 
 10.30 f 
 
 I 3 2 
 
 11,892 
 
 20,999 
 
 Liverpool 
 
 ii 
 
 7.30 a 
 
 10.30 a 
 
 206 
 
 165,176 
 
 443,938 
 
 ! Lowestoft 
 
 9 
 
 10.30 f 
 
 4. o a 
 
 114 
 
 4,238 
 
 10,663 
 
 Manchester . 
 
 ii 
 
 6. o a 
 
 7-35 f 
 
 182 
 
 142,026 
 
 440,760 
 
 Melton 
 
 9 
 
 9. o f 
 
 4. o a 
 
 I0 5 
 
 3-356 
 
 4,047 
 
 Newcastle 
 
 12 
 
 6. o f 
 
 2. o a 
 
 274 
 
 42,760 
 
 109,108 
 
 Newmarket . 
 
 8 
 
 3-45 f 
 
 10.45 a 
 
 61 
 
 2,840 
 
 4,069 
 
 N )rthampton 
 
 8 
 
 4. o f 
 
 10. o a 
 
 66 
 
 i5,35i 
 
 32,813 
 
 Norwich 
 
 9 
 
 10. f 
 
 4.30 a 
 
 108 
 
 61,110 
 
 74,891 
 
 Nottingham . 
 
 10 
 
 12. 5 a 
 
 2.30 a 
 
 124 50,680 
 
 74,693 
 
 O.tkham 
 
 9 
 
 8. o f 
 
 5-30 a 
 
 95 2 440 
 
 2,948 
 
154 
 
 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 PLACES. 
 
 POSTAGE. 
 
 MAIL COACHES. 
 
 DISTANCE 
 FROM 
 LONDON. 
 
 POPULA- 
 TION 
 1831. 
 
 POPULA- 
 TION 
 1861. 
 
 ARRIVE. 
 
 DEPART. 
 
 
 
 H. M. 
 
 H. M. 
 
 
 
 
 Oxford 
 
 9 
 
 3. of 
 
 11.30 f 
 
 54 
 
 20,434 
 
 27,560 
 
 Pembroke . 
 
 12 
 
 8. 3 f 
 
 5. o a 
 
 264 
 
 6,511 
 
 15,07! 
 
 Plymouth . 
 
 II 
 
 6. o f 
 
 5-30 a 
 
 216 
 
 75^534 
 
 62,599 
 
 Portsmouth 
 
 8 
 
 6.10 f 
 
 7. 30 a 
 
 72 
 
 8,083 
 
 94-799 
 
 Preston 
 
 1 1 
 
 ii. o a 
 
 6. o a 
 
 217 
 
 33 5 n 2 
 
 82,985 
 
 Ramsgate . 
 
 8 
 
 7. of 
 
 6.30 a 
 
 7i 
 
 7,985 
 
 11,865 
 
 Reading . 
 
 7 
 
 1.30 f 
 
 2. Of 
 
 38 
 
 15,595 
 
 25,045 
 
 Rochester . 
 
 6 
 
 12. f 
 
 1.40 f 
 
 29 
 
 9,891 
 
 16,862 
 
 Romsey 
 
 8 
 
 9. o f 
 
 6.30 a 
 
 73 
 
 5,432 
 
 2,116 
 
 Rugby 
 
 9 
 
 8. o f 
 
 5-3 a 
 
 83 
 
 2,57 
 
 7,818 
 
 St. Albans . 
 
 6 
 
 10.30 a 
 
 4. o f 
 
 20 
 
 4,772 
 
 7,675 
 
 Salisbury . 
 
 9 
 
 6. o f 
 
 8. o a 
 
 81 
 
 9,876 
 
 12,278 
 
 Scarborough 
 
 12 
 
 6.30 f 
 
 1.30 a 
 
 217 
 
 8,369 
 
 i8,377 
 
 Shrewsbury 
 
 10 
 
 2.30 a 
 
 10 30 f 
 
 153 
 
 21,227 
 
 22,163 
 
 Southampton 
 
 9 
 
 6.25 f 
 
 8.30 a 
 
 74 
 
 19.324 
 
 46,960 
 
 Tunbridge Wells 
 
 7 
 
 12.30 f 
 
 I. Of 
 
 36 
 
 
 
 Warwick . 
 
 9 
 
 7.42 f 
 
 6.57 a 
 
 90 
 
 9,109 
 
 io,57o 
 
 Wells. 
 
 10 
 
 11.45 f 
 
 J-55 a 
 
 124 
 
 6,649 
 
 4,684 
 
 Weymouth 
 
 10 
 
 12. f 
 
 2. o a 
 
 128 
 
 2,529 
 
 11,383 
 
 Winchester. 
 
 8 
 
 4. o f 
 
 10.45 a 
 
 62 
 
 9,212 
 
 14,766 
 
 Windsor . 
 
 6 
 
 6.40 f 
 
 8.30 a 
 
 22 
 
 5,5*3 
 
 9,52 
 
 These road-books are almost as useful now as 
 they were in the coaching days ; it is interesting to 
 notice the increase in the population of the various 
 towns and villages, and the landmarks and objects 
 of interest which are mentioned are frequently the 
 same as those with which we are now familiar. The 
 distance can never alter, consequently these guide- 
 books are as perfect indications to distance at the 
 present day as they were when published, and I 
 strongly recommend any one intending to go on a 
 driving tour to get possession of one if he can 
 contrive to do so. The other day, in a second-hand 
 bookseller's shop at Hastings, I came across a county 
 atlas and road-book published in the reign of 
 
OTHER ROAD-BOOKS. 155 
 
 James I. and dedicated to that monarch. I did not 
 care to purchase such a book myself, although the 
 price was very moderate ; but I have no doubt that 
 as a curiosity the book was of great value, and I 
 recommended the bookseller not to let it go unless 
 he obtained a good price for it, as it is not often 
 one meets with a county atlas published as early 
 as the year 1605. It was a large folio volume bound 
 in calf, with a very elaborate title-page. 
 
 Gary's " Traveller's Companion," of which I have 
 spoken elsewhere, was published by Gary, the engraver, 
 at 86, St. James's Street, and bears the date of 1828. 
 It was bound in calf. Mogg's " Itinerary " is a small 
 pocket volume, bound in green morocco, and published 
 at the Office of Roads, 14, Great Russell Street, Covent 
 Garden. 
 
 The last edition of " Paterson's Roads " is simply 
 perfect ; it is wonderfully well bound in calf, the letter- 
 press is most excellent and well arranged, and the 
 maps are triumphs of art ; in fact, Mr. Stanford, the 
 well-known map-seller of Charing Cross, when he sold 
 me this last copy, called my attention to the beautiful 
 engraving of these maps, saying that there was nothing 
 produced at the present day to equal them. 
 
 I believe that copies of this book now are very 
 rare and consequently difficult to obtain. Some road- 
 books have been written of late years for the use 
 of bicyclists and tricyclists, but they cannot bear any 
 comparison to the celebrated old standard road-book 
 of the coaching days. I will speak of recent road- 
 books and maps at another time. Paterson's road- 
 book also contained a table of the charges for a pair of 
 post-horses for any stage from five miles to twenty, 
 at any rates from twelve to eighteenpence per mile. 
 
15$ HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 A pair of post-horses for five miles cost five 
 shillings, and at one and sixpence a mile, seven and 
 sixpence. At twelvepence a mile for twenty miles 
 they of course cost a sovereign, which appears to have 
 been remarkably cheap ; but horses in those days 
 did not cost what they do now. Lord William 
 Lennox, in his very interesting book on coaching, 
 says that the average price of horses for the fast 
 coaches was about ^23. Fancy teams and those 
 working the first stage out of London were rated 
 considerably higher ; taking a hundred miles of ground 
 well-horsed, the above was about the value. "In 
 these days," he very truly says, "it would be nearly if not 
 quite double," as mentioned elsewhere. The average 
 period of each horse's service did not exceed four 
 years. By this is meant that at the expiration of four 
 years the horses were worn out. If the horses lasted 
 no longer than this, it was evident that the demand 
 for horses must have been very great, and where 
 there is a very great demand there should have been 
 a fair supply. "At Hounslow, the first stage out 
 of London on the great road leading to the West 
 of England, there used to stand solely for posting 
 and coaching, 2500 horses." Lord William Lennox, 
 in speaking of the desertion of the roads and the 
 introduction of the locomotive, says that " Each of 
 these horses must have occasioned an outlay of two 
 pounds per week for keep, duty, shoeing, ostlers, 
 harness, and clothing, not to mention the veterinary 
 surgeon, so that there was a sum of five thousand 
 pounds circulated every week in this one town, besides 
 money that was spent by travellers at the different 
 inns." But I think this estimate was rather high. 
 He goes on to say that the state of things on the 
 
LORD WILLIAM LENNOX. 157 
 
 first stage on the western road will serve as an 
 example for the remaining distance. 
 
 In the last days of coaching there was scarcely 
 a town in England through which some sort of stage- 
 coach did not pass. Just at the last the manner in 
 which the coach business was conducted was simply 
 perfect ; very long distances were done in a single 
 day, such as between London and Manchester, Exeter 
 and Shrewsbury. The coaches used to run to Brighton 
 at the rate of twelve miles an hour. One of the 
 Stamford stage-coaches, that ran daily to London in 
 1807, accomplished the journey, ninety-nine miles, 
 in nine hours and four minutes, including time for 
 refreshments ; the coach maintained a rate of twelve 
 miles an hour. Fast coaches had a horse to every 
 mile of road over which they ran. 
 
 Lord William Lennox, to whose book I venture 
 to make some reference, in speaking of coaching, 
 appears to do so from personal knowledge and ex- 
 perience ; he not only travelled a great deal by coach 
 in his younger days, but frequently, when a youngster, 
 drove public coaches himself. When his book was 
 published, he was seventy-three years of age. He 
 says that " a young man alive at the present day, 
 hardly knows to what improvement of human life he 
 has been introduced; gas," he says, " in my young days 
 was unknown, the streets of London were in semi- 
 darkness. It took me nine hours sailing from Dover 
 
 o 
 
 to Calais before the invention of steam, and nine 
 hours to go from Taunton to Bath before the invention 
 of railroads." 
 
 In point of comfort there can be no comparison 
 between railway travelling and coaching, that is to 
 say in rough wintry weather, or even in wet summer 
 
158 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 weather ; the discomfort of being packed like sardines 
 in a box on the top of a coach, with somebody's wet 
 umbrella dripping down your neck, and a pool of water 
 collecting at your feet, is not pleasant. I experienced 
 this kind of thing in the Lake districts only three years 
 ago, and this, together with other things occurring 
 on the journey, gave me a thorough insight into 
 travelling on a coach in inclement weather. 
 
 In the old coaching days, passengers occasionally 
 suffered very severely. On one occasion when the 
 Bath coach arrived at Chippenham, two outside 
 passengers were found to have perished with the 
 cold, and the third, a soldier, although still alive, died 
 the following morning, 
 
 However charming a drive might have been in 
 fine pleasant weather behind four well-bred horses, 
 it must have been very unpleasant when forced to 
 undertake a long journey on a pitch-dark tempestuous 
 night in the depth of winter. 
 
 It is always a surprising thing to me, that no one, 
 in those days, should have ever thought of building 
 a vehicle to run on the public road like the present 
 private four-horse omnibus ; it would have been a very 
 great improvement upon the dark interior of a four- 
 horse coach, although perhaps not so stylish in 
 appearance. On a lovely spring or summer's day, 
 with the road lightly watered by a passing shower, 
 it is more pleasant to travel short distances by road 
 than rail ; but, taking it all round, the rail is immensely 
 preferable. 
 
 Those who regret the days of coaches must be 
 those who benefited by their running, or young men 
 who have never known the horrors of a winter coach 
 journey ; besides which there were numerous accidents 
 
COACHES RACING. 159 
 
 on the road, owing to intoxicated drivers, dense fogs, 
 heavy snow-storms, floods and the breaking of harness ; 
 and sometimes owing to the skid not locking the wheel 
 on descending a hill, their poles broke, reins sometimes 
 parted, and numerous other accidents occurred. 
 
 Frequently coachmen would race against one 
 another, as was the case in 1820, when two coach- 
 men named Butler and Perdy were charged with 
 the wilful murder of William Hart, who was thrown 
 off the Holyhead mail of which Perdy was the driver, 
 and which was upset by the Chester mail of which 
 Butler was the driver. Lord W. Lennox says that 
 " The grand jury having thrown out the bill for the 
 capital offence, they were tried on a charge of man- 
 slaughter, T\vo witnesses who were suffering severely 
 from the accident made the following deposition : 
 
 " Mr. Archer, a respectable bootmaker of Cheap- 
 side, London, stated that he sat on the box with the 
 prisoner Perdy. When the coach arrived at that 
 part of the road beyond Highgate, where a junction 
 is formed between the Archway Road and the old 
 Highgate Road, the Chester mail came up. Both 
 coachmen began to whip their horses and put them 
 into a gallop, and drove abreast of each other at a 
 furious rate for a considerable distance, when the 
 driver of the Chester mail slackened the pace of his 
 horses and seemed conscious of the impropriety of 
 his conduct ; but when the coaches approached to- 
 wards St. Albans, and had arrived at the hill about 
 a mile from the town, the prisoner Perdy put his 
 horses into a furious gallop down the hill. His 
 example was followed by the other prisoner, who 
 endeavoured to overtake him, and a most terrific 
 race ensued between the two carriages, the velocity 
 
160 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 of both increasing by their own accelerated descent 
 down an abrupt hill. 
 
 " The road was wide enough for three carriages 
 to pass each other ; but the prisoner Butler perceiving 
 that Perdy was keeping ahead of him, pushed his 
 horses on, and waving his hat and cheering, suddenly 
 turned his leaders in front of the leaders of the Holy- 
 head mail, which, in consequence of being jammed 
 in between the bank of the road and the other 
 vehicle, was immediately upset. The consequences 
 were frightful. The deceased was killed on the spot, 
 the witness had a leg and an arm shattered most 
 dreadfully, and a gentleman's servant, named Fenner, 
 was taken up almost lifeless. Thomas Fenner con- 
 firmed the last witness ; he stated that both the 
 prisoners were flogging their horses at a most furious 
 rate down the hill, and he was convinced that the 
 accident might have been avoided with common care, 
 notwithstanding the velocity with which the horses 
 were driven, as there was quite room enough for the 
 Chester mail to have passed the Holyhead. 
 
 " Mr. Baron Gurney summed up the case for the 
 jury in an eloquent and impressive manner. The 
 jury found the prisoners ' Guilty.'" 
 
 " The learned judge, in passing sentence, commented 
 on the conduct of the prisoners in terms of strong 
 animadversion. His lordship laid it down distinctly, 
 as a proposition not to be disputed, that it was unlaw- 
 ful for the driver to put his horses into a gallop, and 
 that he was answerable for all the consequences of an 
 infringement of this law." * 
 
 * I believe this law was frequently evaded by having one fa^- 
 trotting wheel-horse, who trotted whilst the other three horses were 
 galloping, the law making it punishable only when all four horses 
 galloped. 
 
A CARELESS COACHMAN. 161 
 
 The same writer describes a serious accident which 
 happened in April, 1826, to the Dorking coach. "This 
 coach," he says, "left the 'Elephant and Castle' at 
 nine o'clock, full inside and out, and arrived safe at 
 Ewell, where the driver and proprietor, Joseph 
 Walker, alighted for the purpose of getting a parcel 
 from the back part of the coach and gave the reins to 
 a boy who sat on the box. While he was delivering 
 the parcel to a person who stood near the after wheel 
 of the coach, the boy cracked the whip, and the horses 
 set off at full speed. Several attempts were made to 
 stop them, but in vain ; they passed Ewell church, and 
 tore away about twelve yards of strong paling, when, 
 the wheels mounting a small eminence, the coach was 
 overturned, and the whole of the passengers were 
 thrown from the roof. Some of them were in a state 
 of insensibility, showing no symptoms of life. A 
 woman who was thrown upon some spikes, which 
 entered her breast and neck, was dreadfully mutilated, 
 none of her features being distinguishable ; she lin- 
 gered until the following day, when she expired in the 
 greatest agony." 
 
 The same writer in speaking of the Oxford coach 
 says : " Never shall I forget an adventure that 
 happened to me on the box of the far-famed ' Tantivy/ 
 We had just entered the ' University' from Woodstock, 
 when suddenly the horses started off at an awful 
 pace. What made matters worse was that we saw 
 at a distance some men employed in removing a large 
 tree that had fallen during the storm of the previous 
 night across the road, near St. John's College. The 
 coachman shook his head, looking very nervous, while 
 the guard, a most powerful man, stood up to be pre- 
 pared for any emergency. On we went, the coachman 
 
i6z HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 trying in vain to check the galloping steeds, and 
 we had got within a few yards of the critical spot, 
 when the guard, crawling over the roof, managed 
 somehow or other to get on the footboard, when, with 
 a spring, he threw himself on the back of the near 
 wheeler, and with a giant's grasp checked the horses 
 at the very moment the leaders were about to charge 
 the tree. Down they came, but the guard never 
 yielded an inch, and with the assistance of the country 
 people nearest at hand, the leaders regained their 
 legs without the slightest damage to man, horse, 
 coach, or harness. A subscription for our gallant 
 preserver was got up on the spot." 
 
 Many other anecdotes this writer tells of the road ; 
 of all the books which have been written on the 
 subject of coaching there is none more interesting. 
 He remarks how in October, 1816, English stage- 
 coaches were introduced into France, they started 
 from Dieppe and ran between St. Denis and Paris ; 
 but the undertaking was not successful, the Parisians 
 preferring their lumbering diligences to the well- 
 appointed English coach. 
 
 Travelling by the mail rather than by the stage- 
 coach had one advantage ; all other coaches and every 
 vehicle encountered on the road had to make way 
 for the mail, it changed horses every eight miles, 
 and time had to be kept with extreme punctuality. 
 It was a royal way of travelling, in every sense of 
 the word, since it carried the royal mails ; there was 
 no vast collection of luggage on the roof, nor a crowd 
 of passengers all anxious to secure the best places. 
 
 Captain Haworth has written a book called " Road 
 Scrapings," having to do with coaches and coaching ; 
 the illustrations are evidently home-made, which makes 
 
LOCOMOTIVES. 163 
 
 one regret that he did not employ a professional 
 artist. 
 
 Here ends my chapter on mail and stage-coaches, 
 a matter in which all who are fond of driving must 
 feel some interest, and yet no one, except he be 
 fully qualified for the interior of a lunatic asylum, 
 will regret the day when George Stephenson brought 
 the invention of the locomotive to a successful issue, 
 or will nourish ill-feeling against the men who, since 
 his death, have striven by the exercise of supreme 
 intelligence and remarkable inventive genius to 
 improve the machine, to the invention of which the 
 inhabitants of this world owe their daily increasing 
 civilisation, and the free and greatly accelerated ex- 
 pansion of international intercourse. 
 
 M 2 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 IRISH MAIL AND STAGE-CARS. 
 
 Irish troubles A clever novelist Larry Flood A sprig of shillelagh 
 As safe as in church These roads before they were made 
 A rustic cicerone A wild Irishman Irish impudence 
 Bianconi Leaving home to seek a fortune A spirit of mis- 
 chief His first car Car-drivers Electioneering The Bians 
 Irish fisheries Immunity from violence Bianconi's popu- 
 larity Mayor of Clonmel. 
 
 BEFORE quitting the subject of road travelling by 
 public conveyances, I feel compelled to mention 
 Irish jaunting-cars. These vehicles are not to be 
 found in common use in any other part of the 
 civilised world. Those persons who have not visited 
 Ireland may have been made familiar with them by 
 seeing sketches of them in Punch. John Leech not 
 only portrayed the Irish car, its driver, and the horse 
 which drew it. but gave us the jokes of the Irish 
 car-driver, and so furnished us with excellent examples 
 of their wit, good-humour, and readiness of repartee. 
 
 The Irish car is inseparably connected in our 
 minds with Ireland and the Irish; there is an 
 eccentricity about it that appeals to our sense of the 
 ludicrous. Both to the theoretical and practical 
 coach-builder it is possessed of no good quality 
 when balanced on two wheels, as the balance is 
 rarely, if ever, true. In the dog-cart the weight is 
 distributed almost over the axle, but this is not the 
 case with Irish cars. 
 
 Sometimes some one, enthusiastic about all that 
 is Irish, exports one of these vehicles, and it is seen 
 
< -o 
 
 g 
 
 CO <u 
 
 I " 
 
 1 I 
 
 I 
 
IRISH TROUBLES. 165 
 
 standing in a coach-house side by side with sober 
 and precise English carriages, like a clown or a panta- 
 loon amidst a gathering of Church dignitaries in full 
 canonicals ; or wending its way along our quiet 
 English country lanes. 
 
 Passenger cars took the place of coaches in Ireland 
 some sixty years ago. There has always been 
 trouble in Ireland, but in those days there was 
 not so much as in recent years. A writer has re- 
 marked that " in those days landowners lived in 
 peace upon their properties, the peasantry were glad 
 to see them and have them living amongst them, 
 every look was then a smile, and, although the 
 shillelagh was in frequent use, a rap over the head 
 at a convivial meeting with that weapon was often 
 regarded as a token of friendship. No Irish fair 
 would have been perfect without a flare-up between 
 the boys, and if a few heads were bruised it was 
 looked upon as a very ordinary occurrence." 
 
 When the coaches were in existence they were 
 very roughly turned out, but the roads were excellent, 
 and so they have ever since remained ; as for the 
 coaches, if they were rather rough, they went at a 
 great pace, as the horses were nearly always good. 
 
 Nevertheless, Irishmen do not consider it neces- 
 sary to break a horse so completely as we do. 
 Consequently to the coaches, and even later, to the 
 cars, some very queer customers were harnessed ; 
 often they would be led out of a field, a twitch being 
 put on their nose, and one of their fore-legs being 
 held up, they were initiated into the mysteries of 
 harness, never having before looked into a collar, 
 or had a bit in their mouths. Very frequently they 
 would start the coach or car with one such animal 
 
1 66 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 amongst the team, probably as a wheel-horse, and 
 a crowd of ragged young urchins would collect and 
 follow the vehicle barefooted for at least half-a-mile, 
 screaming and yelling to their hearts' content. 
 
 The common Irish jaunting-car is a kind of one- 
 horse chaise, frequently without springs, in which 
 people sit back to back, and with their faces looking 
 sideways. 
 
 Miss Croker, in her clever novel, "A Bird of 
 Passage," gives an amusing account of a young 
 English lady's arrival in Ireland, and her first intro- 
 duction to Irish cars as follows : 
 
 "After four hours' leisurely travelling on the rail 
 from Dublin, she was deposited at a rough shed 
 placarded Bansha. Bag in hand she stepped down 
 on the platform and looked about her. She was, 
 apparently, the only passenger in that out-of-the-way 
 part of the world ; save a few countrymen who were 
 lounging about, there was the invariable policeman 
 and one solitary porter. She was the cynosure of 
 every eye except the porter's, and he was busily 
 engaged in spelling out the name and address on 
 her trunk. 
 
 " ' You'll be for the Castle, miss,' he at length 
 remarked, rising up from the inspection of her 
 luggage. 
 
 " ' No ; for Crowmore, Mr. Sheridan's place,' she 
 replied, walking out through the station entrance in 
 the fond hope of finding some conveyance waiting 
 for her, but all that met her sight were a little group 
 of countrymen, who were gossiping to a rough-rider 
 on a heavy-looking brown colt. 
 
 " ' Shure, Mr. Sheridan's and the Castle is all wan/ 
 continued the porter. 
 
LARRY FLOOD. 167 
 
 " ' How far then is it to Crowmore ? ' she asked. 
 
 " ' Well, it's a matter of in or about six mile/ 
 
 " ' And how am I to get there ? ' 
 
 " ' Faix, I don't rightly know, unless Larry Flood 
 gives you a lift on the mail.' 
 
 "'And when do you think Larry Flood will be 
 here ? ' inquired the young stranger. 
 
 " ' Troth, an' it would be hard to say ! it entirely 
 depends on the humour he's in. He calls for the 
 letters,' pointing to a bag in the doorway, 'just as 
 he takes the notion ; sometimes he is here at five 
 o'clock, and betimes I've known him call at one 
 in the morning.' 
 
 " A sudden interruption made him turn his head, 
 and he added, with a triumphant slap of his corduroy 
 leg: 
 
 " ' Begorra, you are in luck, miss, for here he is 
 now ! ' 
 
 "As he spoke, a red outside car, drawn by a 
 wild-looking chestnut, wearing a white canvas collar, 
 and little or no harness, came tearing into the station 
 amidst a cloud of dust. The driver was a wiry little 
 man, with twinkling eyes that looked as if they were 
 never closed, a protruding under-lip, and an ex- 
 travagantly wide mouth. He was dressed in a good 
 suit of dark tweed, and wore a green tie and a white 
 caubeen. 
 
 " 'What's this ye have with ye, the day, Larry?' 
 demanded one of the idlers, as he narrowly examined 
 the animal between the shafts. ' May I never,' he 
 added, recoiling a step backwards and speaking in 
 an awe-struck tone, ' if it isn't Finnigan's mare ! ' 
 
 " ' The divil a less ! ' rejoined Larry complacently. 
 ' Finnigan could get no good of her, and the old 
 
1 68 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 brown was nearly bet up. I'll go bail she'll travel 
 for me,' he added, getting off the car as he spoke, 
 and giving the collar a hitch. But this proud boast 
 was received in ominous silence, and all eyes were 
 now riveted on Mr. Flood's recent purchase a white- 
 legged, malicious-looking thorough-bred that was 
 seemingly not unknown to fame. 
 
 " ' Well,' said a man in a blue-tail coat, after a 
 significantly long pause, ' it's not that she won't travel 
 for ye, there's no fear of that. I hope you may get 
 some good of her, for she's a great mare entirely ; 
 but she takes a power of humouring.' 
 
 :c ' Shure, she knocked Finnigan's new spring car 
 to smithereens, ere last week/ put in the rider of 
 the coarse-looking brown colt ; ' not a bit of it was 
 together but the wheels, and she left Finnigan himself 
 for dead on the road/ he added with a kind of 
 scornful snort. 
 
 "'You got her chape, I'll engage, Larry, me 
 darlin'/ remarked another of the idlers. 
 
 " ' Faix, and I paid enough for her/ returned her 
 owner stoutly. ' It isen't every man that would 
 sit over her ! She does be a bit unaisy in herself 
 betimes ' (a delicate allusion to her well-known habits 
 of kicking and bolting) ; ' howdsomever, she's a grand 
 goer, and I bought her designedly on purpose for the 
 post. 'Tis she can knock fire out of the road.' 
 
 "'Oh! them sprigs of shillelagh can all do that/ 
 acquiesced a bystander, who had hitherto observed 
 a benevolent neutrality ; ' but they does be dangerous 
 bastes/ 
 
 " Larry thereupon turned to the porter with an 
 off-hand air, and said : 
 
 " ' Anything for me, Pat ? ' 
 
AS SAFE AS IN CHURCH. 169 
 
 " ' Nothing at all, barrin' the mails and this young 
 lady. I'm after telling her you'll lave her at the 
 
 gate ; she's going to the Castle, only ' approaching 
 
 nearer, and whispering behind his hand with a 
 significant glance at Finnigan's mare. 
 
 " ' Oh, the sorra a fear ! ' rejoined Larry loudly, 
 and then addressing the young lady, he said : ' Up 
 ye git, miss, and I'll rowl ye there as safe as if ye 
 were in a sate in church.' 
 
 " It was all very well to say ' Up ye git ; ' but, in 
 the first place, there was no step to the car, and, in 
 the second, it is by no means an easy feat to climb 
 on any vehicle when in motion, and Larry's rampant 
 investment kept giving sudden bounds and playful little 
 prancings, that showed her impatience to be once 
 more on the road. However, by dint of being held 
 forcibly clown by the united strength of two men, 
 she consented to give the lady passenger an oppor- 
 tunity of scrambling up on the jarvey ; and Larry 
 having produced a horse-rug (with a strong perfume 
 of the stable), wrapped it carefully about her knees, 
 then, mounting on the other side of the vehicle 
 himself, he laid hold of the reins, and, with a yell 
 to his friends to ' Give her her head,' they were off 
 as if starting for a flat-race, accompanied by a shout 
 of ' Mind yourself, miss,' from the friendly porter, 
 and ' Safe home, Larry,' from the little knot of 
 spectators who were gathered round the station 
 door. 
 
 "At first, all the ' So-hoing,' and 'Easy now, 
 my lass,' might just as well have been addressed to 
 the hard flint road along which they were rattling. 
 The mare kept up a fast canter for the best part of 
 a mile, and the girl's whole energies were devoted 
 
i;o HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 to clinging on with both hands, as the light post-car 
 swung from side to side with alarming velocity. 
 
 "'You need not be the laste taste unaisy, she's 
 only a bit fresh in herself/ said Larry soothingly ; 
 ' and, after a while, when she settles down, you'll be 
 delighted with the way she takes hold of the road.' 
 
 " A very stiff hill moderated the pace, and 
 Finnigan's mare subsided perforce into a slashing 
 trot, and ' took hold of the road ' as if she were in 
 a passion with it, and would like to hammer it to 
 pieces with her hoofs. 
 
 " Now and then they passed a big empty place with 
 shuttered windows, now a prosperous-looking farm 
 with ricks and slated outbuildings, and now a roadside 
 mud-cabin ; Finnigan's mare dashing madly through 
 poultry, pigs, goats, and such sleeping creatures as 
 might be imprudently taking forty winks in the middle 
 of the little-used highway which highway, with its 
 overhanging ash-trees, tangled hedges, and wide 
 grass borders, was the prettiest and greenest that 
 Larry's passenger had ever beheld. This much she 
 imparted to him ; and he, being ripe for conversation, 
 immediately launched forth with the following extra- 
 ordinary announcement : 
 
 " ' Och, but if ye had seen these roads before 
 they were made, 'tis then ye might be talkin' ! There 
 was no ways of getting about in ould times, no play 
 for a free-going one like this ! ' nodding exultingly 
 at the chestnut, who was flying down hill at a pace 
 that made the post-car literally bound off the ground. 
 ' She's going illegant now ; these chestnuts does 
 mostly be a bit "hot," but where would ye see a 
 better traveller on all the roads of the worruld ? ' 
 
 " * She is not quite trained, is she ? ' 
 
A RUSTIC CICERONE. 171 
 
 "'Well, not to say altogether/ he admitted reluc- 
 tantly ; ' she's had the harness on her about a dozen 
 times, and she never did no harm beyond the day 
 she ran away at Dan Clancy's funeral, and broke 
 up a couple of cars ; and 'twas Finnigan himself was 
 in fault, he'd had a drop. Shure, she's going now 
 like a lady's pony ! Maybe you'd like to take the 
 reins in your hands yourself, miss, and just feel her 
 mouth ? ' 
 
 " But the girl, casting her eyes over the long, raking 
 animal in front of her, and observing her starting eyes, 
 quivering ears, and tightly tucked-in tail, had no 
 difficulty in resisting Larry's alluring offer. Little 
 did she know the vast honour she was rejecting. 
 Larry (like most Irishmen) was not insensible to a 
 pretty face, and rating this young lady's courage 
 beyond its deserts owing to her equanimity during 
 their recent gallop, and the tenacity of her hold 
 upon the jaunting-car paid her the greatest compli- 
 ment in his power when he offered her the office of 
 jehu. Then she, having politely but firmly declined 
 the reins, breathed an inward wish that the animal 
 who had behaved so mischievously at Dan Clancy's 
 funeral, would continue her present sober frame of 
 mind until she was deposited at the gates of 
 Crowmore. 
 
 "And now Larry began to play the cicerone, 
 and commenced to point out various objects of 
 interest, with the end of his whip and the zest of a 
 native. 
 
 ' That's Nancy's Cover,' he said, indicating a 
 patch of gorse. ' There does be a brace of foxes 
 in it every season ; that ditch beyond, running along 
 in company with the cover as far as your eye will 
 
172 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 carry you, goes by the name of "Gilbert's Gripe," 
 because it was there a nephew of Mr. Redmond's 
 I think he was, in the horse soldiers pounded every 
 other mother's son in the field ! Be jabers, I never 
 saw such a lep ! and the horse the very same breed 
 as this mare here he never laid an iron to it ! 
 
 " ' By the powers of Moll Kelly, but I see the 
 Corelish post-car, there ahead of us in the straight bit 
 of road. Do you notice him, miss ? The wreenchie 
 little speck. I do mostly race him to the Cross of 
 Cara Chapel, where our roads part, and I'm thinking 
 I've the legs of him this time! Altho' he has the old 
 piebald and a big start we'll just slip down by the 
 short cut through the bog, and nail him neatly at the 
 corner ! ' 
 
 " At first this announcement was Greek to his fare ; 
 but she began to comprehend what he meant, as he 
 turned sharply into a by-way, or boreen, and started 
 his only too willing steed at a brisk canter ! 
 
 '"There's Cara Chapel," he said, indicating a 
 slated building on the edge of a vast expanse of bog. 
 ' You'll see how illegantly we will disappoint him ; he 
 is on the upper road, and that puts a good mile on 
 him. It will be worth your while to watch his face, as 
 we give him the go-by and finds we have bested him 
 after all ! Do you get the smell of them hawthorns, 
 miss ? They are coming out beautiful ' (as they 
 careered along a narrow, grassy boreen, between a 
 forest of may-bushes, white with flower). ' And now, 
 here's the bog,' he added excitedly, as the boreen 
 suddenly turned into a cart-track, running like a cause- 
 way through a wide extent of peat and heath, that lay 
 far beneath on either side, without the smallest fence 
 or protection of any kind. It was an exceedingly 
 
A WILD IRISHMAN. 173 
 
 awkward, dangerous-looking place, and they were 
 entirely at the mercy of Finnigan's mare, who rattled 
 joyously along, pricking her dainty ears to and fro, as 
 if she was on the qui vive for the smallest excuse to 
 shy and bolt and the pretext was not wanting ! A 
 jackass on the edge of the bog below, suddenly lifted 
 up his voice in song and brayed. It was so near, and 
 so piercingly shrill that even the girl herself was 
 startled ; how much more the sensitive creature 
 between the shafts, who stopped for one second, 
 thrust her head well down between her fore-legs, 
 wrenched the reins out of Larry's hands, so that they 
 broke off short, and ran away ! 
 
 " ' Begorra, we are in for it now,' he shouted. 
 ' Hould on by your eyelashes, miss ; we will just slip 
 off quietly at the first corner. Kape yourself calm ! 
 Bad scran to you for a red-haired divil ' (to the mare). 
 4 Bad luck to them for rotten ould reins ' reins now 
 represented by two strips of leather, trailing in the 
 dust. 
 
 " ' Oh ! murder, we are done ! ' he cried, as he be- 
 held a heavily-laden turf-cart, drawn up right across 
 the track. ' Oh, holy Mary ! she'll put us in the bog.' 
 
 " The owner of the turf-cart was toiling up the bank 
 with a final creel on his back, when he beheld the run- 
 aways racing down on his devoted horse and kish. 
 His loud execrations were idle as the little evening 
 breeze that was playing with the tops of the rushes 
 and the gorse. Finnigan's mare was already into them ! 
 With a loud crash and a sound of splintering shafts, a 
 thousand sods of turf were sent flying in every direc- 
 tion. The young lady was shot off the car and landed 
 soundly and safely in a heap of bog-mould that luckily 
 received her at the side of the road, Larry also made 
 
i 7 4 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 a swift involuntary descent ; but, in a twinkling, had 
 sprung to his feet, and seized his horse's head, calling 
 out to his companion as she picked herself up : ' 'Tis 
 yourself that is the fine souple young lady, and not a hair 
 the worse ; nayther is the mare, barrin' a couple of 
 small cuts, and one of the shafts is broke. Faix, it might 
 have been an accident.' 
 
 " ' Arrah, what sort of a driver are ye, at all?' 
 shouted the owner of the turf-cart, breathless with 
 rage and haste. ' Oh, 'tis Larry Flood, an' I might 
 have known ! ' 
 
 " ' And what call have you to be taking up the 
 whole road ? ' retorted Larry loudly. ' The divil 
 sweep you and your old turf kish that was nearly being 
 the death of us ! ' 
 
 " ' Ah, and sure wasn't she running away as hard 
 as she could lay leg to ground ? ' 
 
 " ' Well, and if she was ; didn't she see you below in 
 the bog, and take you for a scare-crow ? And small 
 blame. Here, don't be botherin' me, Tim Moony, but 
 lend a hand to rig up the machine, and the tackling.' 
 
 " Thanks to the turf-cutter's generous assistance, in 
 a very short time Mr. Larry Flood was enabled to 
 come forward and announce to his fare, who had 
 dusted her dress from bog-mould and taken a seat on 
 a piece of wood, that, ' He was ready, if she was.' 
 
 " The young lady accordingly rose and followed him, 
 and gravely inspected the turn-out. The car was all 
 clown on one side, the result of a spring broken in the 
 late collision ; but the reins had been knotted together, 
 and the shaft was tied up with a piece of twine. 
 
 " ' It will hould all right," said Larry, following her 
 eyes. ' Any way, it will carry your distance, I'll go 
 bail/ 
 
IRISH IMPUDENCE. 175 
 
 11 ' Thank you, but I am not going to try the experi- 
 ment. I'm stiff enough as it is; and one fall in the 
 day is ample for the present.' 
 
 " ' Fall ! What fall ? Sure ye only jumped off the 
 car/ 
 
 " ' All the same, I shall walk, fall or no fall,' returned 
 his late passenger. 
 
 " ' You are a good mile off it yet,' expostulated 
 Larry. ' How will you get there ? ' 
 
 " 'On foot.' 
 
 " ' And your bag. Is that going on foot as well ?' 
 
 " ' Perhaps you would leave it as you pass.' 
 
 '"Indeed and I will. Of course you are only 
 English, and what could ye expect ; but, at the first go 
 off, you were stout as any lady that ever sat on a car.' 
 
 " ' Stout ? ' she echoed in supreme amazement. But 
 perhaps in Ireland things had different names. 
 
 " ' I mane stout-hearted ! And now, after all, you 
 are going to walk ! To walk ! ' he reiterated, with 
 indescribable scorn. 
 
 " ' Yes,' she replied, ' and you will take the bag it 
 has no neck to break.' 
 
 " ' To be sure ; I'll lave it with pleasure. But 
 
 and here he paused rather significantly. 
 
 " ' Of course I'll pay you,' she said, fumbling for 
 her purse. * How much ? ' 
 
 " 'Oh, well, sure nothing at all ! I would not be 
 charging the likes of you. 'Twas an honour to drive 
 such a beautiful young lady/ 
 
 " * How much ? ' she repeated, with a stamp of her 
 little foot. 
 
 " ' Well, then, miss, since you are so detarmined, we 
 won't quarrel over two half-crowns ; and if you would 
 like me to drink your health in the best that was/ 
 
I7 6 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 rubbing his mouth expressively with the back of his 
 hand, 'we will say six shillings.' 
 
 "The girl immediately placed six shillings in his 
 greedy palm. 
 
 11 ' Thank you kindly, my lady ! and may you live 
 seven years longer than was intended for you. It's 
 not my fault that I did not lave you at your journey's 
 end, as Tim Moony will allow. There's the mare,' 
 waving his hand towards the wicked-looking chestnut ; 
 ' there's the machine,' indicating the battered car and 
 twine-tied shaft ; * and they are both altogether, com- 
 pletely, and entirely at your service.' 
 
 " The young lady shook her head resolutely, and 
 made no other reply. 
 
 '"'Well, then, miss, as I see I can't tempt ye, I 
 suppose I may as well be going, and I'll lave the bag 
 inside the lodge. Keep on straight after the cross, 
 till you come to a pair of big gates, and there you are.' 
 
 " Having given these directions, and ascended to 
 the driving-seat, so as to have what he called, ' a 
 better purchase on the baste,' Larry muttered a 
 parting benediction, lifted his caubeen, and drove 
 furiously away." 
 
 Thus ended this eventful drive on an Irish car, 
 Larry Flood is an excellent example of a humorous, 
 dare-devil young Irishman of the lower class ; but it is 
 not with such characters that one has always to deal in 
 Ireland! Sometimes the humour and pluck are both 
 wanting, and in their place we find cunning and cruelty. 
 It is not such men as Larry Flood who become mid- 
 night assassins and who ill-treat and mutilate dumb and 
 inoffensive animals. It would be a happy thing for 
 Ireland if the perpetrators of such cruelties and the 
 assassins who lie in ambuscade could be brought to- 
 
BIANCO NI. 177 
 
 justice and punished as they deserve ; but the most 
 cowardly and the most deserving of blame are those 
 better educated persons who, when speaking in public, 
 incite the lower classes to such deeds by their inflam- 
 matory and unprincipled language. But to return to 
 the subject of Irish roads and the public conveyances 
 used thereon, 
 
 The Irish roads are excellent ; they are as good, if 
 not better than English roads ; but when coaches 
 were running in England in vast numbers from 
 every town, the communication between Irish towns 
 was very bad. Notwithstanding the fact that there 
 was an abundant supply of horses and plenty of 
 unemployed outside jaunting-cars, it was left for a 
 young Italian picture-frame maker, a man with small 
 capital but indomitable energy, to establish a proper 
 system of stage-carriages in Ireland. 
 
 Bianconi was born in 1 786 at the small village of 
 Tregolo, which lies on the Italian side of the Alps, 
 not far from Como and Milan. The district is known 
 for its extreme beauty ; it is moreover celebrated for 
 the rearing of silk- worms, the finest silk in Lombardy 
 being produced in the neighbourhood. Indeed, it is 
 difficult to say what could have induced young Charles 
 Bianconi to have quitted so beautiful a spot and one 
 which offered so many opportunities of employment, 
 only to exchange the blue skies of Italy for the humid 
 and depressing atmosphere of Ireland. Although the 
 Italian peasantry may be poor, the Irish are certainly 
 poorer, consequently the opportunities for making 
 money must have been rather in favour of the home of 
 his birth than of the home of his adoption. It may be 
 that he wished to escape conscription. He had three 
 brothers and one sister ; he was sent to school at an 
 
i7 8 HIGH 'W 'AYS AND HORSES. 
 
 early age, but his early education proved a complete 
 failure ; he was a wild, plucky little chap, but a tremen- 
 dous dunce. Mr. Smiles says that "Teaching had as 
 little effect upon him as pouring water on a duck's 
 back." He left school at sixteen years of age. It 
 appears to have been a constant practice for workmen 
 in the neighbourhood of Como to quit their homes and 
 emigrate to England, where they might follow their 
 various trades with greater profit than at home. 
 
 Bianconi's father arranged with a man named 
 Andrea Faroni to take the lad with him to England, 
 and instruct him in the art of hawking prints. Bian- 
 coni was to be apprenticed to this trade for eighteen 
 months, at the end of which time, if he did not like his 
 occupation, he was to be removed to the care of an old 
 friend of his father's named Colnaghi, who was a 
 print-seller in London. This man afterwards made a 
 large fortune and a considerable reputation. Bian- 
 coni's mother seems to have been very much attached 
 to him ; there was a little banquet given in his honour, 
 and at which the whole family were present, shortly 
 before he left Italy. On this occasion his mother was 
 so grieved at parting with him that she fainted. Just 
 as he was leaving his home at Tregolo, he heard her 
 last words, which were : " When you remember me, 
 think of me as waiting at this window, waiting for 
 your return." And yet it appears he never did return, 
 although he afterwards became a wealthy man, which 
 does not say much for his filial affection. Three other 
 boys accompanied Faroni to Ireland ; they did not stay 
 in London en route but went straight to Dublin. This 
 was in the summer of 1802. When Bianconi went 
 into the streets of Dublin to sell his prints, he could 
 not speak a word of English. He used to hold up his 
 
A SPIRIT OF MISCHIEF. 179 
 
 fingers to indicate the number of pence he wanted for 
 his goods. When he afterwards learnt English. 
 Faroni used to despatch him every Monday morning 
 with about forty shillings' worth of prints, telling him 
 to sell them as fast as he could, and then to return 
 home. The only money he received at starting was 
 fourpence. Faroni would say: "While you have 
 goods you have money ; if you want money make 
 haste and sell your goods." At the end of eighteen 
 months Bianconi's apprenticeship was up ; Faroni then 
 offered to take him back to his father in Italy, but he 
 preferred to remain in Ireland, where he started in 
 business for himself. He wandered about the country 
 selling his prints, but at last growing tired of this sort 
 of life, he settled at Carrick-on-Suir as a carver and 
 gilder and print-seller. Not getting on very well there 
 he removed to Waterford, and made a third removal in 
 1809 to Clonmel. Here his trade flourished, but he 
 had never forgotten the long journeys he formerly 
 took on foot when wandering about Ireland as a 
 hawker. 
 
 At Clonmel he began to employ assistants in his 
 trade, and kept three German gilders at work at this 
 time. He seems to have been imbued with a per- 
 petual spirit of mischief. On one occasion he suffered 
 in consequence. 
 
 He was driving a car from Clonmel to Thurles, 
 and he had with him a large looking-glass with a gilt 
 frame upon which he had expended a fortnight's labour. 
 Moved by some spirit of mischief, he began to tickle 
 the horse he was driving with a straw ; the result was 
 that the animal ran away down a steep hill, the car 
 was capsized and smashed to pieces, and the glass was 
 shivered into a thousand atoms. 
 
 N 2 
 
iSo HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 On another occasion a man was carrying to 
 Cashel on his back one of Bianconi's large mirrors. An 
 old woman by the road-side, observing the carefully 
 wrapped-up package, asked what it was. Bianconi, 
 who was close behind, answered that " It was the 
 Repeal of the Union." The old woman was so de- 
 lighted that she knelt down on her knees in the 
 middle of the road, and thanked God for having 
 preserved her in her old age to see what she and 
 all Ireland had been longing for, for years past. 
 
 At the time of the war between England and 
 France, when Napoleon was at the zenith of his 
 glory, gold was at a premium in Ireland ; a guinea 
 was worth about twenty-six or twenty-seven shillings. 
 Bianconi began to buy up the guineas from the pea- 
 santry, which he afterwards sold at a profit to the 
 bankers. But, about this time, he was impressed with 
 the necessity of providing proper conveyances for 
 the poor. 
 
 When Mr. Wallace, Chairman of the Select 
 Committee on Postage in 1838, asked Mr. Bianconi 
 what induced him to commence his car establishment, 
 his answer was : " I did so from what I saw after 
 coming to this country of the necessity for such cars, 
 inasmuch as there was no middle mode of con- 
 veyance, nothing to fill up the vacuum that existed 
 between those who were obliged to walk and those 
 who posted or rode. My want of knowledge of the 
 language gave me plenty of time for deliberation ; 
 and, in proportion as I grew up with the knowledge 
 of the language and the localities, this vacuum pressed 
 very heavily upon my mind, till at last I hit upon the 
 idea of running jaunting-cars, and for that purpose I 
 commenced running one between Clonmel and Cahir." 
 
HIS FIRST CAR. 181 
 
 The beginning that Bianconi made was a very 
 small one, it was only one ordinary jaunting-car 
 drawn by a single horse, capable of accommodating 
 six persons ; it ran between Cahir and Clonmel, a 
 distance of about twelve miles, and commenced on 
 the 5th of July, 1815 ; until then, passengers were 
 forced to ride on coaches, and the fares were so 
 high that the poorer class could not possibly afford 
 to pay them. The fare on the car betwixt Clonmel 
 and Cahir was eighteenpence. At first scarcely 
 any one would go by the car ; people preferred to 
 walk, rather than spend their money. The car some- 
 times ran for weeks without a passenger. Bianconi, 
 finding this to be the case, started an opposition car. 
 No one knew of it but himself, not even the driver 
 of the opposition car, since the affair was managed 
 with such secrecy ; but, no sooner was the opposition 
 car started, than the people began to patronise both 
 cars. There were races between the car-drivers, then 
 there was the excitement of the contest which just 
 suited the Irish lads, and attracted the attention of 
 the public ; the people took sides, and, before very 
 long, both cars came in crowded. After a time the 
 opposition car broke down, and still Bianconi's original 
 car was as full as ever. 
 
 During the same year, 1815, he started another 
 car between Clonmel, Cashel, and Thurles, so that 
 all the principal towns of Tipperary were connected 
 together by car traffic. Men of business, com- 
 mercial travellers, and farmers, and even peasants 
 were delighted with this new state of things ; before 
 the cars were started it took a man a whole day 
 to walk from Thurles to Clonmel, whereas now he 
 could travel backwards and forwards in one day, and 
 
i82 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 have five or six hours for transacting his business. 
 The next year, 1816, Bianconi started a car from 
 Clonmel to Waterford. The new cars were well 
 appointed, and the men who drove them were good 
 coachmen ; before this the jaunting-cars had been in 
 a very bad condition, the drivers, too, were a drunken 
 lot. Mr. Smiles says : " They were often very reck- 
 less, and that a car-driver on one occasion said to 
 his passenger, ( Will I pay the pike or drive at it, 
 plaise your honour ? ' 
 
 Sam Lover told a tale of a car-driver, who, at 
 the end of a long journey over very bad roads, 
 asked his fare for something extra. 
 
 " Faith," said the driver, " it's not putting me 
 off with this ye'd be, if ye knew but all," where- 
 upon the passenger gave him another shilling. 
 
 "And now," said the passenger, "what do you 
 mean by saying, 'If ye knew but all'?" 
 
 "Why," said the carman, "I druv yer honour 
 the last three miles without a linch-pin." 
 
 Bianconi now commenced to build his cars for 
 himself, at the same time he kept on his carving 
 and gilding shop, and still sold engravings and 
 picture-frames, until at last he was forced to give 
 the shop up and stick to the cars. 
 
 The car from Clonmel to Waterford was at this 
 time his most triumphant feat ; the distance was thirty- 
 two miles, and the fare was three-and-sixpence. In 
 1818 he established a car between Waterford and 
 Ross, the next year a car between Waterford and 
 Wexford, the year following a car between Water- 
 ford and Enniscorthy. A few years later he ran 
 cars between Waterford and Kilkenny, and Water- 
 ford and Dungarven, and other cars were speedily 
 
n 
 
 CO -r 
 
ELECTIONEERING. 183 
 
 put upon the road completing the communication 
 north, east, and west. So much had the traffic in- 
 creased that a hundred passengers frequently passed 
 between Clonmel and Waterford during the day. 
 
 At the Waterford election of 1826, the Marquis 
 of Waterford's party, or rather the Beresford party, 
 who were all-powerful, asked Bianconi to supply them 
 with cars ; this he did ; but the most powerful party 
 was not the most popular. The popular party started 
 a candidate and asked Bianconi to help them, but this 
 he could not do, as his cars were all engaged by the 
 Beresford party. The morning after his refusal Bian- 
 coni was pelted with mud, and some of his cars and 
 horses were thrown over the bridge into the river. 
 Bianconi thereupon wrote to the Beresford agent 
 desiring to be released from his engagement ; on 
 receipt of his letter the Beresford party very generously 
 gave him his release ; he then engaged with the popu- 
 lar party, and was instrumental in winning the election 
 for them. For this he was paid the sum of one thou- 
 sand pounds ; thereby he was enabled to extend his 
 business. The year after the Waterford election he 
 found time to get married to a young Irishwoman, 
 Eliza Hayes, who was twenty years younger than him- 
 self, he being forty years of age. At this time he took 
 great interest in politics; he was a great ally of 
 O'Connell. He had now established communication 
 between Clonmel and Cork, and extended this commu- 
 nication northward through Mallow and Limerick, and 
 so on from Limerick to Tralee, and from Tralee to 
 Cahirciveen on the south-west coast of Ireland. Com- 
 munication was also established northward from 
 Thurles to Roscrea, Ballinasloe, Athlone, Roscommon 
 and Sligo, and all the principal towns in the north-west 
 
1 84 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 of Ireland ; in fact, all the market-towns were brought 
 into communication one with another. So, in time, 
 Bianconi succeeded in establishing a perfect system 
 of car communication throughout Ireland, conveying 
 passengers at the rate of one penny farthing a mile. 
 At first the cars were small jaunting-cars, but after a 
 time their size was very much increased. Some cars 
 had four wheels and some two, and four horses in place 
 of the one animal with which he commenced business. 
 The large four-horse cars carried seventeen passengers. 
 The light, fast cars on two wheels were called " Faugh- 
 a-Ballagh," or " clear the way." 
 
 When Bianconi's system was fully established, he 
 had a hundred cars on the road, a hundred and forty 
 stations for changing horses, a hundred drivers, thir- 
 teen hundred horses which performed an average 
 distance of three thousand eight hundred miles daily, 
 passing through twenty-three counties, and calling at a 
 hundred and twenty of the principal towns and cities 
 in the south and west and midland counties of Ireland. 
 Bianconi's horses consumed on an average from three 
 to four thousand tons of hay yearly, besides an enor- 
 mous quantity of oats. Owing to the establishment of 
 Bianconi's cars, the fishermen of Galway and the 
 entire west coast of Ireland were able to send their 
 fish to market at the large towns, in consequence of 
 which they were delivered on the day after they were 
 caught. There is something very sad in the fact that, 
 even at the present day, the Irish do not take advan- 
 tage of the good things that lie almost within their 
 grasp. The Galway fisheries are greatly neglected ; 
 both the sea and the land are extremely prolific, the 
 land being capable of excellent cultivation, whereas 
 the sea is teeming with fish ; besides which the land is 
 
S 
 
 I I 
 
 Hi 
 
IRISH FISHERIES. 185 
 
 rich in mineral wealth ; there is copper in Wicklow, 
 Waterford, and Cork, iron ore in Leitrim, Kilkenny, 
 and Ulster. In County Connaught there is coal mixed 
 with the iron ore. In parts of Ireland there is excellent 
 porcelain clay, suitable for pottery manufacture. But 
 if the land has been unexplored and unworked, the sea 
 has been almost totally abandoned. All round the 
 west coast of Ireland there are enormous shoals of fish 
 which are consumed, not by Irishmen, but by swarms 
 of sea-birds which follow and devour them, or by 
 foreign fishermen who come all this long way to reap 
 the harvest of the sea, which by right should fall to the 
 share of the Irishmen living along the coast. It can- 
 not be for want of harbours, as there are any number 
 of natural harbours. The greater number of the 
 boats which take part in the fishery are from 
 the Isle of Man, Devonshire, Cornwall, Wales, 
 Scotland, and even from France. Whilst the 
 Irish fishermen are diminishing in number, the 
 strangers are increasing. Regularly every year Scotch 
 fishing-boats leave Cockenzie, in the Firth of 
 Forth, for the herring fishery off Kinsale in Ireland, 
 the Scotchmen at that place having provided them- 
 selves with fifty decked fishing-boats, each costing, 
 with nets and gear, about five hundred pounds. So 
 profitable was their Irish fishing, that, with the aid of 
 Lord Wemyss, they built themselves a harbour instead 
 of appealing to the Government to do so ; such is the 
 difference between the Scotch and the Irish character. 
 So rich in fish are the seas around the west coast of 
 Ireland that the Dutch, in the reign of Charles the First, 
 were admitted to these Irish fisheries on the payment 
 of thirty thousand pounds ; in fact, these seas abound 
 with myriads of every kind of fish in common use, 
 
1 86 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 cod, ling, haddock, hake, mackerel, herring, whiting, 
 conger, turbot, brill, bream, soles, plaice, dories, and 
 salmon. And yet Scotland imports eighty thousand 
 barrels of cured herrings every year into Ireland, 
 most of which have been caught off the Irish coast. 
 The newspaper, Land and Water, remarks that 
 " The fishing at Kinsale is so enormous that mackerel 
 are sold at one shilling for six score, that piles of 
 magnificent fish lie rotting in the sun, or are thrown 
 back into the sea." This great and wicked waste 
 is attributable to the scarcity of packing-boxes in 
 which to send them away, but more probably from 
 a want of energy on the part of the inhabitants. 
 What is wanting is the industrial element ; in fact, 
 as Sir Rowland Hill said when engaged as one of 
 the Royal Commissioners on Railways, in examining 
 witnesses as to the fish traffic, " The Irish will 
 neither fish themselves, nor allow any one else to 
 fish, if they are in sufficient numbers to drive the in- 
 vading fleet of fishermen away." 
 
 But, to return to Bianconi's cars. What I have 
 said respecting the Irish fisheries, the mineral wealth 
 of the country, and the prolific nature of the soil, 
 all goes to prove that Ireland is endowed by Nature 
 with considerable wealth ; that if there is poverty 
 and destitution the fault rests, not with the natural 
 features and productions of the country, and the 
 seas along its coasts, but with the inhabitants, and 
 those who politically influence their welfare. Had 
 Bianconi been an Irishman and not an Italian, his 
 marvellous system of cars would never have been 
 established ; and had he been from the South of 
 Italy and not from the North, I believe the lack 
 of energy would have been as apparent as though 
 
IMMUNITY FROM VIOLENCE. 187 
 
 he had been an Irishman. The Italians of North 
 -and South Italy are as different in character as the 
 English are from the Irish, or the Irish from the 
 Scotch ; one has only to visit Naples, Ancona, Turin, 
 and Milan to observe the vast difference there is 
 between the inhabitants of the Northern and Southern 
 towns. The Northerner is in every way superior to 
 the Southerner ; he is more cleanly in his person 
 and surroundings, more industrious, more frugal, and 
 more painstaking. When the Italian from the North 
 is busily and actively engaged, the Southerner is 
 basking in idleness, waiting for the good things to 
 come to him, and never stirring hand or foot to 
 approach nearer to them. 
 
 Bianconi's cars enabled tourists to visit those parts 
 of Ireland renowned for their magnificent scenery, 
 their historical interest, or the sport they afforded. A 
 very singular thing about Bianconi's cars was that no 
 matter how much the country was disturbed, they were 
 never molested ; every one was his friend. Even 
 during the Whiteboy insurrection the cars met with 
 no interference, and the mails they carried for the 
 Government always travelled in safety. 
 - Bianconi, at a meeting of the British Association 
 in 1857, said that, ''Although his cars had been 
 established for forty-two years, they had never met 
 with the slightest injury from the people, neither had 
 any of his property suffered at their hands." 
 
 When his cars were first established on the road 
 the mail-bags were carried by men on foot or horse- 
 back, sometimes by lads riding mules, but the delivery 
 was very irregular. About this time Bianconi offered 
 to carry the mails for half the price hitherto paid ; he 
 obtained the contract, and eventually carried the post 
 
i88 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 in place of the mail-coaches. At one time the coach 
 proprietors were his great opponents ; but, no sooner 
 had he shown people that it was possible to succeed 
 with his cars, than there sprang up plenty of persons 
 anxious to do the same thing ; but none of these had 
 the power of organisation such as was possessed by 
 Bianconi. Consequently they one after another failed 
 in their efforts to compete with him. He exercised a 
 very strict discipline over his drivers, yet he never 
 failed to reward those who deserved it. He promoted 
 the younger men to better positions according to their 
 respective merits and whenever there were vacant 
 berths. He provided for all who were injured or 
 incapacitated by age or sickness. The con- 
 sequence was that he was literally worshipped by 
 those he employed ; his men were always sober ; 
 if any of his car-drivers were found to be drunk they 
 were dismissed. When in conversation with any of 
 his men, he had a very charming way of making them 
 feel that they conferred a greater benefit on him when 
 serving him than he did when paying them their wages. 
 When railroads were established in Ireland they broke 
 up Bianconi's long-established system of car communi- 
 cation. He had to take a thousand horses off the 
 road and thirty-seven cars, and yet he was not dis- 
 heartened, but remodelled his entire system so as to 
 run his cars between the railway stations and the 
 towns and villages at a distance from them. After 
 this he went further afield, and directed his attention 
 to those remoter parts of Ireland which had not 
 hitherto had the advantage of public conveyances. In 
 1 86 1 he employed nine hundred horses travelling 
 over four thousand miles daily; but in 1866, when 
 he resigned his business, owing to ill-health, he was 
 

 il 
 
 < rt 
 
 * 
 
 9 
 
MAYOR OF CLONMEL. 189 
 
 running only six hundred and eighty-four miles daily 
 below the maximum run in 1845, before the railways 
 had begun to interfere with his traffic. At the age of 
 seventy Bianconi might have been seen at Clonmel, 
 helping at busy times to load the cars ; even when near 
 upon eighty he still continued to manage his immense 
 business, extending over two thousand five hundred 
 miles of road. In 1831 he became a naturalised British 
 subject; in 1844 he was elected Mayor of Clonmel; 
 he was re-elected Mayor in the following year; in 
 1846 he bought the estate of Longfield in County 
 Tipperary : it consisted of a thousand acres of land with 
 a mansion-house overlooking the River Suir ; to this he 
 added more land. One of his favourite sayings was, 
 " Money melts, but land lasts." He founded, with 
 O'Connell, the National Bank of Ireland. His own family 
 and that of O'Connell became closely intermarried ; 
 Bianconi's son married O'Connell's granddaughter, 
 and O'Connell's nephew married Bianconi's daughter. 
 His son died in 1864, leaving no male heir to inherit 
 the estates ; the following year the poor old gentle- 
 man, who was seventy-eight, met with a severe 
 accident, when his thigh was badly fractured ; 
 this forced him to retire from business ; he thereupon 
 handed over the whole of his plant, consisting of cars, 
 horses, harness, and stables to his employes. 
 
 About this time he lost his eldest daughter, who 
 died in Italy. He built a beautiful mortuary chapel 
 close to his house, and here he laid the remains of 
 his son and daughter, employing Italian sculptors to 
 beautify the interior. He died himself in 1875, in 
 his ninetieth year, and was interred in this mausoleum 
 close beside his son and daughter. 
 
 I am indebted to Mr. Smiles for much of this 
 
190 HIGH IV AYS AND HORSES. 
 
 information respecting Bianconi; this gentleman having 
 written a very interesting sketch of his life, which 
 appeared first in Good Words, and was afterwards 
 reproduced in another form. I have also from other 
 reliable sources obtained information on this subject ; 
 but it is exceedingly difficult to do so, as no book of 
 reference, and indeed very few books on Ireland 
 contain any information on the subject. In fact, the 
 word "car" is not to be found in any Encyclopaedia ; 
 consequently, it is difficult to trace the history of the 
 Irish car, which has now become inseparably connected 
 in our minds with Ireland and the Irish. 
 
 I have in my possession an old book containing 
 maps of the roads of Ireland, surveyed in 1777 and 
 corrected down to 1783, in which year (1783) it was 
 published by T. Longman, Paternoster Row, London ; 
 at the same time there was published a " Post-Chaise 
 Companion to Ireland." But these books, although fur- 
 nished with notes, do not contain a word about mail or 
 stage-cars ; in fact, these books, one of which I hold in 
 my hand, were published three years before Bianconi 
 was born. The road-book of Ireland that I have men- 
 tioned, and which was compiled by Messrs. Taylor 
 and Skinner, is a hundred and four years old. 
 
 Before Bianconi established his system of cars, it is 
 evident that cars were not employed as public stage 
 conveyances. Of course there were cars to be hired, 
 but these were of the most primitive description ; in 
 many cases they had no springs, and as the roads 
 were in those days in very bad condition, they must 
 have been very uncomfortable to ride on. In many 
 cases they were mere rough boards raised above 
 and supported on an axle to which two badly made 
 wheels were attached. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HACKNEY-COACHES, CABS, AND STAGE-CARRIAGES. 
 
 Hobson's choice Origin of hackney-carriages Hackney-coaches in 
 Paris The first cab-stands Cabs Police supervision Acts 
 relating to hackney-carriages Abstract of Acts Mrs. Prodgers 
 A smart hansom S. and T. Station broughams Amateur 
 cabmen Growlers Stage-carriages First omnibuses Act s 
 relating to the same Omnibus companies Tramways and 
 tram-cars Steam and electric tramways. 
 
 I DO not think that a work on Highways and Horses is 
 complete without some mention of hackney-carriages. 
 A hackney-carriage is a carriage kept for hire and ex- 
 posed in the streets for that purpose. The derivation 
 of the word " hackney," seems to have more to do 
 with the horse than the vehicle to which he is harnessed. 
 Hackney-coaches were said to be derived from the 
 French Coche-a-haquende, a vehicle with a hired horse, 
 haquente. That they originated in Hackney, near 
 London, is a mistake. 
 
 The word " hackney" was evidently first applied 
 to horses let for hire, and then, by a very natural 
 transition, extended itself to carriages ; these horses 
 being used exclusively on the road may, perhaps, also 
 have originated the word " hack," as applied to a horse 
 used exclusively on the road. 
 
 Cabs of all descriptions are hackney-carriages ; they 
 are also sometimes called "flys." The word "cab" 
 is evidently derived from cabriolet, which is frequently 
 called cab ; it is a one-horse vehicle, and was introduced 
 in the streets of London in 
 
192 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 A fly is also a hackney-carriage ; it is a contraction 
 of " fly-by-night," as sedan-chairs on wheels used to be 
 called during the Regency. These fly-by-nights were 
 patronised greatly by George, Prince of Wales, and his 
 companions, during their stay at Brighton, and were 
 invented in 1809, by John Butcher, a carpenter of Jew 
 Street. 
 
 Hackney-carriages in use in country towns are fre- 
 quently called " flys ;" the word " fly " is, as I have said, 
 a contraction. 
 
 Tobias Hobson was the first man in England who 
 let out hackney-horses ; he was a carrier of Cambridge, 
 apparently well-to-do, since his biographer says that he 
 made a much greater fortune than a thousand men 
 educated in that University ever acquired, or were 
 capable of acquiring. The following account was given 
 of him in the Spectator : 
 
 " Mr. Tobias Hobson was a very honourable man, 
 for we ever shall call the man so who gets an estate 
 honestly. He was a carrier, and being a man of great 
 abilities and invention, saw where there might good 
 profit arise, though duller men overlooked it ; this 
 ingenious man was the first in this island who let out 
 hackney-horses. He lived at Cambridge, and ob- 
 serving that the scholars rid hard, his manner was to 
 keep a large stable of horses, with boots, bridles, and 
 whips, to furnish the gentlemen at once, without going 
 from college to college, to borrow, as they have done 
 since the death of this worthy man. Mr. Hobson 
 kept a stable of forty good cattle, always ready and 
 fit for travelling ; and when a man came for a horse, 
 he was led into the stable, w r here there was great 
 choice ; but he obliged him to take the horse which 
 stood next to the stable door, so that every customer 
 was alike well served according to his chance, and 
 
ORIGIN OF HACKNEY-CARRIAGES. 193 
 
 every horse ridden with the same justice ; from whence 
 it became a proverb, when what ought to be your 
 election was forced upon you, to say, ' Hobson's 
 choice.' This memorable man stands in fresco, at 
 the ' Bull Inn' (which he used) in Bishopsgate Street, 
 and a hundred pound bag under his arm, with this 
 inscription upon the bag, ' The fruitful mother of a 
 hundred more/ ' 
 
 Hobson, it will be observed, let out horses and not 
 carriages ; but as I have before explained, the term 
 "hackney" related to horses and not to carriages, and 
 it was only by a transition that it afterwards became 
 adapted to vehicles. Hobson died at the time of the 
 Plague in 1630, in the eighty-fifth year of his age. 
 Milton wrote two epitaphs on him. There is also a 
 poem called " Hobson's Choice," which was printed in 
 a folio pamphlet entitled " The Choice," by Pomfret. 
 
 Hackney-coaches were first established at Edin- 
 burgh in 1673. (Arnot's " History of Edinburgh," 
 
 page 597-) 
 
 In 1679, at the Rebellion, the hackney-coach 
 horses of Edinburgh were employed to draw the 
 Royal Artillery (" Maitland's History," page 338), thus 
 acting in the service of the King as stipulated. 
 
 Hackney-carriages were first introduced into War- 
 saw, in Russia, in 1778. In Copenhagen, about the 
 same time, there were about one hundred hackney- 
 coaches. In Madrid were a large number; and also 
 in Vienna there were two hundred hackney-coaches. 
 In 1663 coaches with wheels were forbidden in 
 Amsterdam, being considered destructive to the pave- 
 ment ; but in 1775 their number had increased so 
 much that there were twenty-five thousand coach- 
 horses in the seven united provinces. Charles Vilerme 
 paid into the treasury of the King of France fifteen 
 
194 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 thousand livres for the exclusive privilege of keeping 
 coaches for hire within the city of Paris ; this occurred 
 in about the year 1655. Shortly after this hackney- 
 coaches were kept standing at certain places in different 
 streets, to go from one part of the city to another. A 
 full history of the Parisian fiacres, and the orders 
 respecting them, may be seen in " Continuation du 
 Traite de la Police, Paris, 1738," fol., p. 435 ; and also, 
 " Hist, de la Ville de Paris, par Sauval," vol. i., p. 192. 
 
 When in 1823, cabriolets were introduced first into 
 the streets of London as vehicles for hire, they differed 
 from the fashionable cabriolet, afterwards driven by 
 gentlemen, behind which a little groom, called a tiger, 
 stood upright and hung on, insomuch as the driver of 
 the hired cabriolet or cab sat beside his fare ; this being 
 the case they did not resemble a private cabriolet, but 
 were in almost every particular identical with the 
 hooded Stanhope gig, since the two passengers sat 
 side by side. The carriage possessed a leather hood, 
 and had no other seat. 
 
 Hackney-coaches were first introduced into France 
 in the year 1650, by one Nicolas Sauvage, who lived 
 in a house called the Hotel St. Fiacre, from which 
 circumstance all hired carriages came to be called 
 fiacres, although eventually the name was restricted 
 to such as were stationed for hire in the streets. 
 
 It should be observed, however, that in ancient 
 Rome there were carriages let out for hire which 
 Suetonius called rheda meritoria and meritoria vehicula. 
 
 It was in the. year 1625 that hackney-carriages first 
 began to ply for hire in the streets of London, and 
 sometimes at the inns, to be called for as they were 
 wanted. At the first they were only twenty in number. 
 In 1634, sedan-chairs appear for the first time to have 
 
THE FIRST CAB-STANDS. 195 
 
 entered into competition with the hackney-carriages ; 
 they were owned in that year by Sir Sanders Duncomb. 
 In the following year an attempt was made to check 
 the increasing annoyance occasioned by the general and 
 promiscuous use of hackney-coaches by a proclamation 
 from the King, Charles I., that no hackney or hired 
 coach should be used in London, Westminster, or the 
 suburbs, unless it were engaged to travel at least three 
 miles out of the same, and that every hackney-coach 
 owner should constantly maintain four able horses for 
 the royal service when required. Finding it impossible 
 to prevent the use of so great a convenience, a commis- 
 sion was issued to the Master of the Horse in 1637 to 
 grant licenses to fifty hackney-coachmen in and about 
 London and Westminster, and as many others as might 
 be needful in other parts of England, each proprietor 
 being allowed to keep not more than twelve horses. 
 
 In 1652 the number of hackney-coaches daily 
 plying in the streets was limited to two hundred, in 
 1654 it was increased to three hundred, allowing, how- 
 ever, only six hundred horses, and an increase was at 
 different times allowed till 1/71, when the number of 
 hackney-carriages was further increased to a thousand. 
 Notwithstanding this steady increase in the use of 
 hackney-carriages, they were long assailed as a public 
 nuisance. The first hackney-coach stand was estab- 
 lished in 1634 by Captain Baily, near the " Maypole," 
 in the Strand ; * before then they had either stood at the 
 inns waiting to be sent for when they were wanted, or 
 they were driven slowly about the streets ; but in 1634 
 there was established, for the first time, a proper 
 hackney-cab stand in the middle of the street, where 
 ihey could pull up, feed their horses, and wait to be hired. 
 * See Chapter VII., "Past and Present." 
 
 O 2 
 
196 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 Even so late as 1660 Charles II. issued a pro- 
 clamation against hackney-coaches standing promis- 
 cuously at street corners to be hired. But although 
 down to the year 1823 the London hackney-coachmen 
 enjoyed a monopoly which remained undisturbed, yet 
 the hackney-coach at this time was never worse. The 
 hackney-coach had hitherto been drawn by two horses, 
 and was a huge, lumbering vehicle, uncommonly slow 
 and uncomfortable to ride in. Whilst this was the state 
 of things in London a lighter carriage, called cabriolet 
 de place, had been brought into extensive use in Paris ; 
 but it was not till 1823, and then with great difficulty, 
 that licenses were obtained for cabriolets to ply for 
 hire in London at fares one-third lower than those of 
 hackney-coaches. The new vehicle was a hooded 
 chaise drawn by one horse and carrying only one 
 passenger besides the driver, who sat side by side with 
 his fare as I have said before. An improved build was 
 soon introduced by which room was provided for a 
 second passenger, and the driver was separated from 
 his fare. 
 
 With the rapid extension of a lighter class of 
 vehicle, numerous varieties of construction were in- 
 troduced, some providing for three or four passengers, 
 some were on two wheels, others on four ; but all were 
 drawn by one horse, and the word " cab " was used for 
 the first time in connection with a hackney-carriage, 
 and so they have ever since been called, no matter 
 what their construction, provided they plied for hire 
 as hackney-carriages. All restrictions as to number 
 ceased in 1831, by an Act 2 Wm. IV. ; the fare was 
 then one shilling a mile. 
 
 The office for the licensing of hackney-carriages 
 was removed to Somerset House in 1782. The lost 
 
POLICE SUPERVISION. 197 
 
 and found office, for the recovery of property left in 
 hackney-coaches, was established by Act 55 Geo. III. ; 
 in the year 1815, by an Act 16 and 17 Viet., the 
 control of public vehicles was placed in the hands of 
 the Commissioners of Police; this occurred in June and 
 August, 1853. 
 
 By Act i and 2 Wm. IV., c. 22, it is declared that 
 every carriage with two or more wheels plying for hire 
 in public, within five miles of the General Post Office 
 in London, of whatever form or construction, or what- 
 ever may be the number of persons which it shall be 
 calculated to convey, or the number of horses by which 
 it shall be drawn, it shall be deemed a hackney-carriage. 
 
 The rise and progress of hackney-carriages in 
 London may be distinctly traced from notices in 
 MacPherson's "Annals of Commerce," and Anderson's 
 ;: History of Commerce." In 1844, 4627 cabs were 
 licensed for hire; besides this, 371 watermen received 
 licenses permitting them to ply for hire. About two 
 hundred years ago the inhabitants of London made 
 use of watermen's boats on the Thames, quite as much 
 as they now make use of cabs. 
 
 According to the laws at present prevailing with 
 regard to hackney-carriages, every such carriage must 
 receive a certificate from the Commissioners of Police, 
 by whose authority the vehicles may be inspected. If 
 upon inspection it be approved of, the Commissioners 
 grant a certificate stating how many persons the 
 vehicle is permitted to carry. On the presentation of 
 this certificate, the Board of Inland Revenue may 
 grant a license. The Police Commissioners are em- 
 powered at any time, deemed by them proper, to order 
 an inspection of metropolitan and hackney-carriages 
 and horses. If any of them are found in improper 
 
198 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 condition, notice thereof is sent to the proprietor ; if 
 he neglects to attend to this warning, the Commis- 
 sioners may suspend his license for a stated time, and 
 take away his stamped office-plate until after the 
 expiration of that time. 
 
 By the Act 16 and 17 Viet., c. 33, of 1853, the fare 
 for London hackney-carriages was fixed at sixpence 
 for every mile or fraction of a mile, and two shillings 
 per hour ; sixpence per quarter of an hour was allowed 
 for waiting or detention ; each carriage was to be pro- 
 vided with a table of fares, placed conspicuously, so 
 that the passenger could see it, and each driver with a 
 book or card of fares which he was to produce when 
 required. The driver must not refuse to carry a fare, 
 if the distance be within six miles, or the time likely to 
 be occupied in such a journey within an hour. Beyond 
 these limits he may exercise an option, or discretion. 
 When hired by time, the driver is not bound to go 
 more than four miles an hour, unless paid sixpence per 
 mile extra ; a reasonable quantity of luggage is to be 
 taken free of charge ; lamps are to be lighted on the 
 carriages of a night ; the police are to have control 
 over all cab-stands. In cases where a hackney-cab is 
 drawn by more than one horse an addition of one-third 
 may be made to the fare ; the driver may refuse to 
 charge by time instead of distance between eight in the 
 evening and six the following morning. If more than 
 two persons ride in a hackney-carriage, sixpence is 
 charged over any distance beyond the regular fare. 
 All the above provisions came into force by the above- 
 mentioned Act, and were compelled by fine or im- 
 prisonment. The above Act related chiefly to hackney- 
 carriages in connection with the public ; another Act 
 relating to their connection with the Revenue was 
 
ACTS RELATING TO HACKNEY-CARRIAGES. 199 
 
 passed in the same year ; the old duties were repealed 
 and lower duties imposed ; the license for every hack- 
 ney-carriage was made two pounds, and the duty six or 
 seven shillings, according as the carriage was worked 
 six or seven days in the \veek. Every license was for 
 one year only, and was to be renewed annually. This 
 Act was 1 6 and 17 Viet., c. 127, and it raised the fare 
 from sixpence to a shilling a mile. 
 
 On the loth of March, 1871, a further order was 
 made with regard to hackney-carriages plying for hire 
 within the metropolitan area or circle, or four-mile 
 radius from Charing Cross. It was as follows, and still 
 remains in force : 
 
 ABSTRACT OF THE ACTS FOR REGULATING HACKNEY-CARRIAGES. 
 Extract from Order made in pursuance thereof ^ iot/1 of March^ 1871. 
 
 7. A number-plate is to be fixed in a four-wheel cab on the back 
 panel, in a two-wheel cab on the back under the driver's seat. 
 
 8. The Inspectors shall at the same time cause to be affixed to the 
 cab a fare plate, which, in a four-wheel cab, shall be in the inside under- 
 neath the front windows, and in a two- wheel cab on the inside of the 
 splash-board. 
 
 12. A license for hackney or stage-carriages shall continue in 
 force for one year, and such license shall be subject to revocation or 
 suspension for any period as may be willed by the Commissioners. 
 
 19. If a cab carry a greater number of persons than the number 
 it is licensed to carry, the driver and also the proprietor, if he be 
 cognisant of the fact, shall be deemed to have committed a breach 
 of this order. For the purpose of this regulation, two children under 
 ten years of age shall count as one person. 
 
 20. The hiring shall be by distance or by time, as the hirer may 
 express at the commencement of the hiring, but unless so expressed 
 it shall be taken as bv distance. 
 
 21. The fare for the hiring of a cab which is both hired and dis- 
 charged within the four-mile circle shall be regulated as follows : 
 
 (i.) Where the hiring is by distance then whether the cab is four- 
 wheel or two-wheel, the fare shall be : 
 
 (#.) If the distance does not exceed two miles s. d. 
 
 For the whole distance ... ... ... ... ... i o 
 
 (b.) If the distance exceeds two miles 
 
 For each mile of the whole distance .. o 6 
 
 For any part of a mile over and above any number of 
 
 miles completed ... ... ... ... ... o 6 
 
200 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 together with such extra payments (if any) as the driver may, under 
 this order, be entitled to charge in the cases hereinafter mentioned. 
 Where the hiring is by time the fare shall be : 
 
 For a four- For a two- 
 wheeled wheeled 
 carriage, carriage. 
 
 (a.) If the time does not exceed one hour s. d. s. d. 
 
 For the whole time ... ... ... ... 2 o 2 6 
 
 (b.) If the time exceeds one hour 
 
 For each quarter of ai hour of the whole time 06 08 
 
 (c) For any period of less than fifteen minutes, 
 which is over and above any number of 
 periods of fifteen minutes complettd, shall 
 be taken as included in the said fifteen 
 minutes ... ... ... ... ... o 6 o 8 
 
 together with such extra payments (if any) as the driver may, under 
 this order, be entitled to charge in the cases hereinafter mentioned. 
 
 23. The fare for the hiring of a cab, which is hired within, but 
 discharged without, the four-mile circle, shall be regulated as follows : 
 
 (i.) When the hiring is by distance, then, whether the cab is a 
 four-wheeled carriage or a two-wheeled carriage, the fare shall be : 
 
 (a.) If the distance does not exceed one mile s. d. 
 
 For the whole distance ... ... ... ... ... i o 
 
 (b.) If the distance exceeds one mile 
 
 For each mile ended within the four-mile circle ... o 6 
 
 For each mile ended without the four-mile circle ... i o 
 For any part of a mile ended without the four-mile circle, 
 
 over and above any number of miles completed ... i o 
 
 together with such extra payments (if any) as the driver may, under 
 this order, be entitled to charge in the cases hereinafter mentioned. 
 (2.) Where the hiring is by time, the fare shall be the same as if 
 the cab had been hired without the four-mile circle. 
 
 24. Whether the hiring be by distance or by time, the driver 
 shall be entitled to charge, in addition to what is due to him for 
 distance or time as the case may be, the following extra payments 
 in the following cases respectively : 
 
 (i.) If any luggage is carried outside the cab he shall be entitled 
 to an extra payment of zd. for each package carried outside, what- 
 ever may be the number of persons carried within. 
 
 (2.) If at any time during the hiring more than two persons are 
 carried together, he shall be entitled to an extra payment of 6d. for 
 every person above two persons so carried. Provided that two 
 children under the age of ten years shall count for one person, and 
 that for any one such child, when carried together with two or more 
 persons, the extra payment shall be 3^., and no more. 
 
 25. If a hackney-carriage is hired by distance, and in the course 
 of the hiring is, at the request of the hirer, made to wait, the driver 
 
ACTS RELATING TO HACKNEY-CARRIAGES. 201 
 
 shall be entitled to charge (in addition to what is due to him for 
 distance) an extra payment as follows : 
 
 (i.) For each period of fifteen minutes completed, whether in 
 one stoppage or in several stoppages ^ ^ 
 
 For a four-wheeled cab hired within the four-mile circle... o 6 
 
 For a two-wheeled cab hired within, or for any cab hired 
 
 without, the four-mile circle ... ... ... ... o 8 
 
 The driver shall not be entitled to any extra payment for waiting 
 any less period than fifteen minutes (whether such less period be 
 completed in one stoppage or in several stoppages) which is over 
 and above any number of completed periods of fifceen minutes. 
 
 The driver shall not be entitled to receive any extra payment for 
 waiting, if such waiting has not amounted in the whole to fifteen 
 minutes. 
 
 26. A driver, if hired by distance, shall not be compelled to 
 drive more than six miles ; and, if hired by time, shall not be com- 
 pelled to drive more than one hour. 
 
 27. A driver of a cab who, for any hiring, shall charge, or take 
 more than the fare, shall be deemed to have committed a breach of 
 this order. 
 
 28. The driver shall deliver to the hirer, on entering the cab, a 
 ticket in the form specified. 
 
 If the driver neglect or refuse to deliver such ticket in manner 
 aforesaid, he shall be deemed to have committed a breach of this 
 order. 
 
 29. It shall not be lawful for any cib to ply for hire elsewhere 
 than at some cab-stand or place appointed for that purpose. 
 
 R(gulatio?is as to Property accidentally left in Hackney and Stage- 
 Carriages. 
 
 34. If any property found in a hackney or stage-carriage, and 
 brought to any police-station by the driver, or by the driver or con- 
 ductor thereof respectively, under the Statute 16 and 17 Viet., cap. 33, 
 sec. n, be not, within three months, claimed and proved to the 
 satisfaction of the Commissioner to belong to the claimants, the 
 Commissioner shall forthwith sell such property, and out of the 
 proceeds shall award to such driver or conductor as follows : 
 
 For property consisting of, or comprising \ A sum equal to $s. 
 gold or silver money, bank note, jewellery, >in the ;i on the 
 or watch, and being of less value than ^10. j value of the property. 
 
 For property of any other kind, ) A sum equal to 2 s. 6d. in the 
 and being of less value than ;io. j ;i on the value of the property. 
 
 For property of the value of ^ Such a sum as the said Coin- 
 ^10 or upwards. / missioner shall deem reasonable. 
 
 Provided that the Commissioner may, if he think fit, at the 
 
202 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 expiration of the said period of three months, deliver the property to 
 such driver or conductor, instead of awarding to him a sum of money. 
 
 35. If the property which shall have been so brought to a police- 
 station, be claimed before the expiration of the said period of three 
 months, and the claimant prove to the satisfaction of the Commis- 
 sioner that he is entitled thereto, the same shall be delivered to him 
 on payment by him of all expenses incurred, and of a remunera- 
 tion to the driver or conductor. The amount of such remuneration 
 shall be determined by the Commissioner, with reference to the 
 character and value of the property, in accordance with the foregoing 
 section. 
 
 In Kelly's " Post Office Directory" of London will be found a list 
 of crossing points, being the places where the four-mile circle, de- 
 scribed from King Charles's statue at Charing Cross, as determined by 
 the police authorities, intersects the several roads mentioned; these 
 generally coincide with the same points as shown by the map prefixed 
 to the Directory, but where any variations exist, this list may be taken 
 as correct rather than the map. 
 
 The measurements have been very carefully made, 
 and it is strange to remark what places form the outer 
 limit of the four-mile circle. Sometimes a tree indi- 
 cates the spot ; at other times a letter-box let into a 
 wall, sometimes a lamp-post, and frequently the front 
 door or entrance to a house or shop. The fares for 
 hackney-carriages in London and other large towns 
 throughout England are very much the same. Even 
 in country towns the fare is generally one shilling a 
 mile, but if taken any distance outside the town, the 
 driver generally expects something for himself. In 
 some towns the fare exceeds a shilling a mile ; but, in 
 my opinion, it should not do so. In London when the 
 fares were sixpence a mile, cabs were frequently taken 
 a mile, upon the completion of which the cabman was 
 paid sixpence ; but, of course, this was utterly ridiculous, 
 and no generous-minded person would have paid such 
 a fare, and yet it was authorised by Government. 
 Most Londoners are acquainted with Mrs. Prodgers, 
 an old lady whose name used to figure in the Police 
 
A SMART HANSOM. 203 
 
 Court reports, and who was frequently summoning the 
 poor cabbies because they would not submit to be paid 
 sixpence for driving a mile with a stout old lady 
 frequently accompanied by a heavy trunk. 
 
 Had a cabman driven twenty miles a day at this 
 rate of remuneration he could only have made ten 
 shillings a day ; besides which, before the Act of 16 and 
 17 Viet., c. 127, cabs had to carry a moderate amount 
 of luggage without extra payment. 
 
 A shilling a mile is a very fair charge, but sixpence 
 a mile was insufficient. It must be remembered that 
 cab proprietors have to keep, on an average, two 
 horses to every cab, sometimes with smart hansoms 
 even three, when they have to do a lot of night work. 
 \Yell-appointed hansom cabs do not commence work 
 very early in the morning, unless it be on unusual 
 occasions ; they first appear in the streets when 
 business men are hurrying citywards, or wherever 
 their business happens to be situated, those who have 
 to attend to business earlier in the day being generally 
 clerks and people in a subordinate position who cannot 
 afford to hire cabs. 
 
 Nothing could be better than the present condition 
 of some of the best hansom cabs in London, and 
 nothing could be much worse than the condition of 
 the London four-wheeler."" If we take one of the 
 
 f Four-wheele4 cabs are frequently employed to remove fever 
 patients from their homes to the hospitals ; and owing to this fact, and 
 to their not being disinfected, but having their windows afterwards 
 closed, they act as perfect traps for the conveyance of contagious 
 diseases from one person to another; and the fresh fares, being 
 unconscious of the danger they run, can take no precautions against 
 infection besides which, the cabby himself may not be aware that 
 he is conveying a fever patient. The penalty for engaging a public 
 conveyance under such circumstances ought to be a very heavy one ; 
 and this ought to be enforced by law. The hospitals should be forced 
 to maintain vehicles for this purpose. 
 
204 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 best hansoms, we will probably find it appointed as 
 follows. To begin with the horse : between the 
 shafts, you will observe, is a thoroughbred, drafted 
 from some racing stable, not for any vice, but because 
 he has not the requisite turn of speed ; he has been 
 sent up to TattersalPs or Aldridge's, and has been 
 purchased by some cab proprietor. The horse is a 
 nice-looking beast, with a neat-looking head and neck, 
 good shoulders, and excellent limbs, and you probably 
 remark that he is too good for a cab. He has on 
 him a nice, light, well-made harness, the brass-work 
 of which Mr. Cabby is continually polishing ; the 
 cabman himself is a smart-looking fellow, and appa- 
 rently takes great pride in his horse and cab. The 
 cab is built by Forder, the well-known coach-builder, 
 of Upper St. Martin's Lane ; the wheels have noise- 
 less indiarubber tires, and in place of the old doors 
 opening in the centre and falling back on either 
 side, there is one large door like the apron of a 
 carriage stretched out on a solid frame, which falls 
 against the dash, leaving room for the fare to get 
 in or out. As you enter the cab, the cabby, appa- 
 rently conscious that you are wearing a good hat, 
 lifts his reins out of the brass guide through w r hich 
 they pass, in order to avoid knocking it off. As you 
 seat yourself inside the cab, you observe the india- 
 rubber mat at your feet, the two little looking-glasses, 
 the place for your cigar-ash, and the box of lucifer- 
 matches ; in addition to these luxuries there is some- 
 times a pneumatic or electric bell. In one cab in 
 which I rode, there was actually an apparatus for 
 signalling to the driver to stop, turn to the right 
 or the left, and so on ; in addition to this there is 
 a little silk blind to each side window (the use of 
 which I have never been able to understand) ; to this 
 
A FORDER HANSOM. 
 
 CLOSED. OPEN. 
 
 A VICTORIA HANSOM CAB BY MESSRS. MULLINER, COACH-BUILDERS, 
 OF NORTHAMPTON. 
 
 FLOYD'S PATENT HANSOM CAB. 
 
 [To /ace page 205. 
 
S. d- T. 205 
 
 blind is frequently suspended an artificial flower 
 similar to that which adorns the horse's head, just 
 above his blinkers. If it be one of Lord Shrewsbury's 
 cabs it will be marked S. & T. on the outside panel, 
 and you will have the satisfaction of knowing that 
 your cab-proprietor is Charles Henry Talbot, Earl 
 of Shrewsbury, Earl Talbot of Hensol, County Gla- 
 morgan, Viscount Ingestre, County of Stafford, and 
 Baron Talbot of Hensol in the Peerage of Great 
 Britain, Earl of Waterford in that of Ireland, and 
 hereditary Lord High Steward of Ireland. 
 
 But all hansom cabs are not like this ; some of them 
 are dirty and shabby, the horse an ill-bred and sluggish 
 beast who probably stands over, having broken his 
 knees. It is painful to be drawn by such an animal, as 
 he has very little go in him, and to keep him up to his 
 collar, the driver's heavy lash is frequently brought 
 down heavily on his worn frame. To any one who 
 loves horses nothing can be more distressing than this. 
 One cannot help conjecturing the history of the poor 
 animal, and what he must have been before he came 
 to such a pass. Remonstrance does but very little good 
 in these cases ; although the cabby may abstain from 
 thrashing the horse whilst you are in the cab, in the 
 belief that by desisting he may increase the amount of 
 his fare, yet, immediately that your back is turned, you 
 may be certain, if the man is so inclined, he will punish 
 the poor animal more than ever in consequence of the 
 short respite you have obtained for him, and this is 
 still more likely to be the case if some one afterwards 
 engages his cab to catch a train, who feels no sympathy 
 with the sufferings of dumb animals. I have often 
 seen cabmen, when walking their horses slowly along 
 the street, although their cabs have been empty, 
 thrashing their horses, in order, possibly, to observe 
 
2o6 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 what effect the application of the lash will have upon 
 them, and I have often felt inclined to pull them from 
 their seats, and thrash them as they have been thrashing 
 their horses. The only thing that has deterred me is, 
 that my good intentions might probably be misunder- 
 stood, and that the cabman might excite in the minds 
 of bystanders a sympathy which he did not deserve. 
 Of course the best time for hansom cabs is during 
 
 c> 
 
 the London season. A hansom is not a good wet- 
 weather carriage, a four-wheeler is even preferable on 
 a really wet day. With a hansom there is always 
 some obstruction and inconvenience with the reins, the 
 door, and the window, which even when it is let down 
 allows the rain to splash through in one's face. For a 
 lady on a wet day a hansom cab is a most inconvenient 
 carriage ; the muddy wheel, standing out obtrusively as 
 it does, is destructive to gowns. 
 
 It is a matter for extreme regret that cab proprietors 
 do not start some good station broughams. If half the 
 care and money were expended on good broughams as 
 is lavished on hansoms, we should have a far more 
 useful class of hackney-carriage than we have now. 
 Last season several victorias made their appearance 
 in the London streets, and on the cab-stands ; but these 
 are essentially fine-weather carriages, and not suited to 
 our uncertain climate. There was also a hansom cab 
 which opened and closed, brought out last season, but 
 this was an expensive and very complicated vehicle, 
 which for general purposes could bear no comparison 
 to a strongly-built, square-fronted station brougham. 
 
 Most of the cab-horses are bought by auction at 
 Aldridge's Repository, Upper St. Martin's Lane ; 
 Tattersall's, Albert Gate ; Rymill's, 56, Barbican ; 
 Ward's in the Edgware Road, or some other place 
 where they are easily obtainable at a low price, the 
 
AMATEUR CABMEN. 207 
 
 usual price being about ten pounds a leg for a really 
 good sound horse, whereas screws can be picked up at 
 any price from five pounds and upwards. The price 
 for a good cab-horse is about the same as what is paid 
 by Government for cavalry remounts. Some of the 
 London hansom cabmen are first-rate coachmen and 
 understand cutting in and out amidst crowded traffic 
 without colliding, and have a marvellous knack of 
 keeping their horses on their feet on wood pavement, 
 which continuous rain has made as slippery as ice. 
 
 It must be remembered that, when driving a han- 
 som cab (and, as a youngster, I have, of a night, driven 
 one myself about the London streets, which may be 
 all very well for the fun of the thing, but must be very 
 different when circumstances force one to adopt this 
 humble calling as a profession), from your elevated 
 seat, you can see nothing of your horse but his head, 
 and very little of that, the wheels can scarcely be seen 
 at all, consequently it is very difficult to judge what 
 space you have to spare. Hansom cabmen, who are 
 not proprietors but merely drivers, occasionally have 
 much difficulty in making a profit ; out of the season 
 they pay about fifteen shillings a day to the cab pro- 
 prietor, that is in the utterly dead time of year, but 
 in the busy times they pay as much as twenty-five 
 shillings ; but I am informed that, as a rule, they pay 
 seven shillings at mid-day when changing horses, 
 and ten shillings more when they return to the stable 
 of a night. 
 
 A correspondent to the Pall Mall Gazette, who 
 drove a cab for one entire day in order to furnish his 
 paper with some information respecting cabmen, states 
 that, in addition to the sum I have named, the driver 
 pays a fee of two shillings, called "yard-money," also 
 a tip of threepence to the horse-keeper, who is, in fact, 
 
2o3 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 the stableman ; and another threepence to the washer, 
 who washes the cabs and horses. He goes on to state 
 that many of the drivers when the winter arrives seek 
 other occupations ; he says that most drivers make an 
 income of about a hundred pounds a year, and to do 
 this it is necessary to take over twenty-five shillings a 
 day in summer, and not less than a pound in winter. 
 This amateur cabman goes on to say that, in twelve 
 hours he had eleven passengers, and took in all twenty- 
 seven shillings. " One gentleman," he says, 4< engaged 
 my cab near the House of Commons. He went about 
 from place to place for nearly three hours, apparently 
 collecting signatures ; he gave me half-a-sovereign, the 
 proper fare was seven-and-six ; but I got the gold," he 
 facetiously remarks, "by addressing him as 'your 
 Excellency.' ; 
 
 Four-wheel cabs might be much improved if the 
 window-glass was fixed properly in the frames, and the 
 frames themselves were covered with cloth, to render 
 them noiseless ; in a four-wheel cab, when the windows 
 are up, and it is being driven over stone or macadam, 
 it is almost impossible to hear oneself speak ; conversa- 
 tion under such circumstances is an impossibility. 
 There is still a very large field for improvement in 
 London hackney-carriages ; but, as I have before 
 remarked, good broughams and station cabs are what 
 are required. I also think that cabmen might wear some 
 distinctive sort of uniform, for however well a cab be 
 turned out, the harmonious effect is entirely destroyed 
 by the singular get-up of some of the London cabbies. 
 
 In my opinion, a man who is officiating as coach- 
 man of any vehicle that seeks patronage owing to its 
 neat and smart appearance, should wear some kind of 
 dress that is in character with his equipage ; the driver 
 of a regular old growler is frequently a most alarming 
 
STAGE-CARRIAGES. 209 
 
 sight, and on a pouring wet day there is nothing more 
 pitiful than to observe the reluctance with which he 
 quits his seat and divests himself of the seedy old 
 horse-cloth that covers his knees, when called upon to 
 open the cab-door, or ring a street bell. 
 
 There is one thing to be said in favour of four- 
 wheel cabs. If the horse, by some extraordinary 
 chance, should be a good one, they will carry a mar- 
 vellous amount of luggage, and think nothing of 
 trotting along with it as freely as though they were 
 harnessed to a light cart ; to see the enormous trunks 
 which are yearly brought to London by American 
 ladies, and packed on to the roof of four-wheel cabs, is 
 a sight that fills us with astonishment. 
 
 It must not be supposed that a hackney-carriage 
 is a stage-carriage. Four-horse coaches are stage- 
 carriages, so are omnibuses and tramways, so in fact 
 are trains, since they run an allotted, defined, or pre- 
 arranged distance. 
 
 A stage is a place of rest upon a public road or 
 where a relay of horses is taken, the distance between 
 two places upon a public road, a degree of advance or 
 of progression. 
 
 A stage-carriage is a carriage for conveying goods 
 and passengers, at stated times, a certain appointed 
 distance. Omnibus is a Latin word, meaning "for 
 all " being the dative case of Otnnis, all. The carriage 
 to which it has given a name, is a long-bodied, 
 enclosed, four-wheeled vehicle, the seats being 
 arranged along the sides ; this is the definition given 
 to it by lexicographers. 
 
 The people who are constantly regretting stage- 
 coaches should remember that in point of comfort they 
 were not equal to a well-constructed omnibus. The 
 idea of such a conveyance as an omnibus is ascribed to 
 
2io HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 Pascal, about 1662, when similar carriages were started 
 but soon discontinued ; they were revived in Paris, 
 about the nth of April, 1828, and introduced into 
 London by a coach proprietor, named Shillibeer. The 
 first omnibus started from Paddington to the Bank 
 of England, on Saturday, July the 4th, 1829. The 
 omnibus is usually licensed to carry from ten to twelve 
 passengers inside, and from ten to fourteen outside, 
 and is attended by a conductor. Regulations were 
 made respecting omnibuses by Act 16 and 17 Viet., c. 
 33, in the year 1853. 
 
 When the first omnibus ran from Paddington to the 
 Bank, going in the morning and returning at night, it 
 was not always full ; the fare was two shillings inside, 
 and eighteenpence outside. An attempt was made, in 
 the year 1 800, to introduce, instead of coaches for long 
 distances, a commodious kind of vehicle resembling an 
 omnibus, but the project failed in consequence of the 
 general prejudice against the hearse-like appearance of 
 the carriage. The long-bodied carriage then tried was 
 drawn by four horses and had six wheels. When in- 
 troduced from Paris, the omnibus had four wheels but 
 was much longer and heavier than at present, and was 
 drawn by three horses abreast. One of the first suc- 
 cessful omnibuses in London was started in 1829, to 
 run between Greenwich and Charing Cross, at fares 
 considerably less than those of the old short stage- 
 coaches ; in addition to which advantage, the greater 
 part of the passengers were sheltered from the weather. 
 Success in the first experiment led Shillibeer to estab- 
 lish omnibuses between Paddington and the Bank, as 
 I have before mentioned. 
 
 After opposing the innovation most violently for a 
 time, the old coach proprietors followed his example^ 
 
ACTS RELATING TO STAGE-CARRIAGES. 211 
 
 started omnibuses of their own, and by combined 
 opposition succeeded in driving him entirely off the 
 road ; not, however, before the new system of travelling 
 was fully established. 
 
 The word " omnibus " was for some time not re- 
 cognised by the Legislature. The conduct of the stage- 
 carriages which are employed in London, and within 
 ten miles of the General Post Office, was further regu- 
 lated by an Act passed in 1838, in which they are 
 directed to be called "Metropolitan Stage-carriages," 
 and by which, besides the rules applicable by previous 
 Acts to these conveyances as stage-carriages, other 
 enactments were made as to the Stamp-office plates, 
 etc. It also empowered the Secretary of State to 
 appoint a Registrar of Metropolitan Stage-carriages, 
 whose duty it was to issue the license which the Com- 
 missioners of Stamps are authorised to grant to drivers 
 and conductors. These licenses the Registrar may 
 grant to any person above sixteen years of age, who can 
 produce certificates of his ability to drive, and of good 
 character ; and are subject to much the same restric- 
 tions as applies to hackney-coach drivers. 
 
 Another regulative Act was passed in 1843. Omni- 
 bus proprietors were as before to fix their own fares ; 
 but the list of fares was to be painted inside the omni- 
 bus. A further Act passed in 1855 contained two or 
 three further clauses ; the mileage duty was reduced 
 from one penny halfpenny to a penny a mile, etc. In 
 1836 a joint-stock association, called the " London Con- 
 veyance Company," was established ; which proposed 
 to run omnibuses along the principal lines of traffic, 
 starting at short and regular intervals, and conducted 
 by men of sober and respectable character. The 
 result of this experiment was so successful that other 
 
 P 2 
 
212 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 owners formed themselves into bodies of similar 
 character. In the course of a few years the association 
 system was almost universally adopted in the metropolis. 
 For some years the traffic from Paddington to the 
 Bank through Holborn was managed by the London 
 Conveyance Company, with more than eighty omni- 
 buses, and not less than a thousand horses. Each of 
 the omnibuses performed upon an average six double 
 journeys per day, and required at least ten horses to 
 work it, independent of casualties. These horses were 
 selected for strength and activity, and an experienced 
 veterinary surgeon, with a staff of assistants and 
 farriers, was employed to attend to them. The annual 
 receipts of this company alone were roughly estimated 
 at ^80,000 to i co, ooo. 
 
 About the year 1844, it was found that, out of 
 1400 metropolitan omnibuses, 200 were engaged 
 on various routes to Paddington. In 1855, a " London 
 General Omnibus Company " was established. It was 
 of French origin, as a Socittt en Commandite, but was 
 afterwards transformed into an English company with 
 limited liability. A capital was raised by shares ; and 
 the company proceeded, not to establish new omnibuses 
 and omnibus routes, but to purchase those already 
 existing. The sets of omnibuses known as the 
 "Wellington," " Atlas," " Waterloo," " Favourite," 
 etc., were one by one bought up. On an average 
 the company purchased eleven horses with each 
 omnibus. In order to propitiate the public, the 
 company promised new and superior vehicles. They 
 offered a prize of ^100 for a design for an improved 
 omnibus ; but though the prize was awarded, the 
 company have not adopted that or any other particular 
 model in the build of their omnibuses. The operations 
 
OMXIBUS COMPANIES. 213 
 
 gradually extended until the company became possessed 
 of more than 600 omnibuses ; each omnibus with 
 its stud of horses, harness, and "goodwill" of the 
 business already established, cost on an average about 
 */oo. The horses exceed 6000 in number. 
 
 It has been found that these metropolitan omnibuses, 
 one with another, run more than 20,000 miles a year 
 each. In renewing the stock the average expenditure 
 has been about ,120 per omnibus, ^30 per horse, and 
 12 harness. Each horse, under average prices, costs 
 26s. per week for food, litter, medicine, shoeing, 
 attendance, etc. The "wear and tear" of omnibus 
 and harness per week is about 245*. The horses run 
 about twelve miles per day each, on an average. 
 
 The transactions of this company during the year 
 1860, present a strange result in a financial point of 
 view : 40,000.000 passengers had been conveyed, and 
 had paid about ,589,000 to the company for that 
 service ; but the expense incurred in rendering the 
 service was ,591,000, showing a small but actual 
 loss on the whole year's operations, and leaving no 
 dividend whatever for the invested capital. The 
 receipts show an average of about ^%d. per passenger. 
 
 The omnibuses in Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, 
 and several other towns, are in most respects superior 
 to those of London. The mileage duty paid to the 
 Government for the metropolitan omnibuses amounts 
 to about 70,000 a year, to which is added about 
 "15,000 a year for stamp duty, and drivers' and 
 conductors' licenses. 
 
 Much of the information given above was derived 
 from the " English Encyclopaedia." 
 
 The " Encyclopaedia Britannica," in its article on 
 London, speaking of street communication, states that 
 
214 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 in 1857 there were in London 4312 hackney-cabs 
 and 1019 omnibuses for the conveyance of persons 
 from one part of the metropolis to another. The 
 extent to which omnibuses are patronised may be 
 estimated from the weekly traffic receipts of the 
 General Omnibus Company, which amounted, in the 
 week ending the 7th of March, 1857, to ,10,818 155. 
 
 In New York there are thirty lines of omnibuses, 
 there being 600 of these conveyances in daily use ; 
 the routes of these lines vary in length from three to 
 five miles, the uniform fare is threepence. The 
 number of hackney-cabs is not in proportion to the 
 population of the City, owing mainly to the greater 
 facilities afforded by more popular conveyances, and 
 somewhat to the extortionate demands of cabmen, 
 though their rates are duly prescribed by law. 
 
 The omnibus was introduced into Amsterdam in 
 1839, and since then its use has been extended to all 
 large cities and towns in the civilised world. 
 
 Tramways are an abbreviation of Outram roads ; 
 this seems a rather far-fetched derivation, but it is the 
 fact. Mr. Benjamin Outram, in the year 1800, made 
 improvements in the system of railways for common 
 vehicles. One of the first tramways ran from Croydon 
 to Wandsworth ; this was completed on July 24th, 
 1801. Mr. Outram was the father of the late Sir 
 James Outram, the famous general officer of the 
 Indian Mutiny. 
 
 Since Outram's time an immense number of tram- 
 ways have been established, more especially in the 
 United States ; in New York, and other large towns 
 of America, they are in frequent use. The improved 
 form of tram-car, when introduced into England, was 
 first made use of in Liverpool and Birkenhead. The 
 
TRAMWAYS AND TRAM-CARS. 215 
 
 first street tramway was opened at Birkenhead, in 
 Cheshire, on August 3oth, 1860. At Birkenhead a 
 large number used to be constructed, and were sent 
 to various other towns. An immense number of large 
 straggling towns, where the population is dispersed, 
 now make use of tram\vays, which, although they 
 injure carriages that cross their line of route, owing 
 to the defective way in which the rails are frequently 
 laid, are yet a great boon to the poorer class of the 
 inhabitants. As far as regards London, tramways 
 have not been altogether successful. 
 
 I very well recollect tramway-rails being laid in 
 the Bayswater Road, but there was such an outcry from 
 the residents in the neighbourhood, that the line had 
 to be taken up. As regards London, tramways, it 
 appears, only answer in a comparatively poor neigh- 
 bourhood ; this is easily understood, as the people 
 in the wealthier districts mostly have their own 
 carriages or ride in cabs, and even were a tramway 
 to pass by their doors, might not feel disposed to 
 make use of it. 
 
 Tram-cars are most destructive to horses, on this 
 account : when once the car is set in motion, like 
 rolling stock on a railway, that motion can easily be 
 continued, but it is the first effort to set the wheels 
 revolving that tries the back-sinews and fetlock -joints 
 of horses. Many expedients have been resorted to 
 in order to start the cars by mechanical power stored 
 up for the occasion, but I am not aware that they 
 have been successful. Mules have been employed 
 to supersede horses, a number of which may be seen 
 working the tram-cars in the Westminster Bridge and 
 Brixton Roads; but why they answer better than 
 horses for such work, I am at a loss to understand, 
 
216 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 except it be they are cheaper to buy and cheaper 
 to keep. 
 
 About ten years ago I saw a steam tramway at 
 Rouen, in France; since then a great number of steam 
 tramways have been established, as may be remarked 
 by observing the long list of tramway companies in 
 Kelly's " London Post Office Directory." There 
 was a steam tramway on Ryde Pier in the Isle of 
 Wight ; but this has been done away with, and an 
 electric tramway established in its place. The elec- 
 tricity is generated by an Otto gas-engine stationed 
 at one end of the pier. An electric tramway was 
 established by the Siemens firm, and ran between the 
 Palais de 1' Industrie and the Place de la Concorde, in 
 Paris. An electric tramway was supplied by Siemens 
 and Halske at the Berlin Exhibition, during the 
 summer of 1879, and was such a success that it was 
 repeated at Brussels, Diisseldorf, and Frankfort ; in 
 the last-mentioned town it ran from the exhibition 
 to the railway station. On the I2th of May, 1881, an 
 electric tramway was inaugurated near Berlin, under 
 the superintendence of the same firm. 
 
 I must apologise for this digression. I merely 
 mention steam and electric tramways, to show what 
 advance has been made in stage-carriages, proving 
 that we must be prepared, at no distant date, to see 
 horses superseded by other motive-power so far as 
 regards conveyance by stage-carriage. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 POSTAL TRANSMISSION POST-CHAISES AND POST-BOYS. 
 
 Early letter-carriers and postal systems The first English Post 
 Further postal organisation The Penny Post Post-chaises 
 and post-boys Postillions Post-horses Post-houses, post- 
 masters, and post-boys Two good Conservatives Rules of 
 posting-yard. 
 
 BEFORE speaking about post-chaises and post-boys it 
 would be as well to speak not only of the origin of 
 the word post but of the actual transmission of letters 
 by road, since coaches and horses have been largely 
 employed on the road in the transmission of letters 
 and the conveyance of travellers. Although the word 
 post should perhaps be confined to the transmission 
 of letters only, it has somehow extended itself and 
 obtained a wider signification, since it gave a name 
 to a carriage and to the men employed to ride the 
 horses that drew it. 
 
 It is difficult to trace the origin of the word post 
 as applied to travelling. It is defined by some lexi- 
 cographer as being the means by which letters or 
 travellers are transported with rapidity and ease from 
 place to place ; the name is supposed to be derived 
 from the Latin positus, placed, because horses were 
 placed at certain distances on the routes. Posts seem 
 to have had their origin amongst the Persians. Darius, 
 the first son of Hystaspes, caused couriers, with saddle- 
 horses, to be always ready at different stations through- 
 out the empire at a distance of one day's journey from 
 
2i8 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 each other, in order that there might be no delay in 
 getting reports from the provinces. 
 
 During the Empire an institution similar to the 
 modern post was established by Augustus among the 
 Romans. 
 
 In Germany, France, and Italy, during the ninth 
 century, there existed messengers who travelled on 
 horseback; they were, however, only employed for the 
 Government. The use of carrier pigeons, introduced 
 from the East, had only a short duration in Europe. 
 With the progress of commerce, however, the necessity 
 for having posts made itself felt, and in all the largest 
 cities of Germany mounted messengers and stage- 
 coaches began to be established ; letters were also 
 placed in the charge of travellers, merchants, and 
 butchers, who rode about the country to buy cattle. 
 
 Pedestrian messengers who took charge of letters 
 and money for the students were maintained by the 
 University of Paris in the beginning of the thirteenth 
 century. In the fifteenth century Louis XI. established 
 for his own use mounted messengers, and instituted post 
 stations at intervals of four French miles on the principal 
 roads of France. During the next century Charles VIII. 
 extended this institution for the use of the court. 
 
 The first post was established in Germany by 
 Roger I., in the latter part of the fifteenth century. 
 
 In 1516 another was established by his son 
 between Brussels and Vienna. Charles V., on 
 account of the vastness of his estates, desired to 
 have news as quickly as possible, and caused a 
 permanent riding-post to be established from the 
 Netherlands through Liege, Treves, Wurtemburg, 
 Augsburg, and the Tyrol to Italy. 
 
 After the death of Charles V., Leonard of Thurn 
 
EARLY POSTAL SYSTEMS. 219 
 
 and Taxis, who had established the post, was ap- 
 pointed Postmaster-General to the Empire. As long 
 as the Empire existed this postal system lasted. 
 
 Austria and Prussia in 1850 formed an inter- 
 national post compact, in which, after a time, Bavaria, 
 Saxony, and various other States joined. At first 
 the stage-coaches were united with the post-offices ; 
 but this arrangement was, in that country as well 
 as in others, greatly altered and modified by the 
 introduction of railways. In France, shortly after 
 the beginning of the seventeenth century, the system 
 of posts began to receive more regular attention, 
 a Controller-General of Posts being appointed. The 
 post was then farmed out to private speculators 
 till the expiration of the last lease, and the establish- 
 ment reverted to the King at a time when it produced 
 an income of more than 11,000,000 francs. Until 
 the Revolution, which took away all such privileges, 
 the Post-Masters enjoyed great immunities. The 
 present rates in France, as regards letters, were 
 established by the decree in 1854. 
 
 The Russian internal postage fees are very moderate, 
 notwithstanding the difficulty of travelling, owing to 
 the severity of the climate and want of good roads ; 
 the charge for each letter in that large Empire 
 amounts to no more than ten copecks, about twopence- 
 halfpenny. 
 
 In Denmark the post is on the German model, 
 and managed very much with a view to revenue, 
 and the same is the case in Sweden. In Norway 
 there is an independent post carried on especially 
 by steamboats, which visit the whole coast. In the 
 Netherlands the English system of post seems to 
 be followed, and in Holland the French. 
 
220 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 Posts were first established in the English colonies 
 in North America in 1639. The celebrated Benjamin 
 Franklin was appointed Postmaster-General to the 
 American colonies in 1 753 ; he remained in that position 
 till 1774, when the British Government very foolishly 
 dismissed him.* Many improvements were introduced 
 during his superintendence. The postal charge in 
 America upon ordinary local letters is one cent, which 
 is one halfpenny ; upon letters not exceeding half-an- 
 ounce in weight, addressed to any distance within three 
 thousand miles, three cents, equal to three-halfpence ; 
 and when sent upwards of that distance ten cents, 
 fivepence ; and all letters have to be prepaid. 
 
 The English postal system commenced in the reign 
 of Edward III., but it was not exactly a public insti- 
 tution. In Edward IV.'s reign post-houses were 
 placed at intervals of twenty miles along the main 
 roads ; and, in the north, a military post was estab- 
 lished to communicate with the army during the 
 invasion of Scotland. It is uncertain at what period 
 the public were permitted to make use of this institu- 
 tion. Before the reign of Charles I., merchants, 
 tradesmen, and professional men resorted to less secure 
 methods of conveying their letters, or employed ex- 
 press messengers at great expense. It must have been 
 in these days that the word "express" originated, 
 used in connection with particular haste and speed. 
 Lexicographers define it, when taken in this sense, as a 
 messenger or vehicle sent with haste on a particular 
 errand ; any vehicle sent with a special message. 
 
 * This made him very hostile towards England, although 
 America was merely the country of his adoption, he being an 
 emigrant. After the Declaration of Independence he became a 
 naturalised subject of the United States, but the bent of his incli- 
 nations may have been decided by his dismissal from Government 
 employment. 
 
FURTHER POSTAL ORGANISATION. 221 
 
 Of late years a railway-train, which travels at a high 
 rate of speed, has been called an express ; but it 
 evidently originated in the early days of posting, and 
 in America and other parts of the world where public 
 vehicles act as regular stage-coaches on common roads, 
 or where horsemen are employed to transmit the 
 mails, the word express is frequently used. In the 
 principal cities and universities there were messengers 
 who performed long journeys on horseback or on foot, 
 and returned with answers to letters. 
 
 With the assistance of Matthew Le Ouester, 
 James I. established a system of forwarding letters to 
 foreign countries ; before that time this had been done 
 by private enterprise. In 1632 Charles I. by a 
 proclamation forbade letters being sent out of the 
 kingdom except through the post-office, and three 
 years afterwards he established a system of post for 
 England and Scotland, which was carefully and judi- 
 ciously regulated. This was followed by the abolition 
 of all local and private posts, and the income of the 
 post-offices was claimed by the King. The newly- 
 established post was placed under the control of 
 Thomas Witherings. About the same time Charles, 
 in connection with Louis XIII. of France, estab- 
 lished an international post between London and Paris, 
 while the private post, which had hitherto existed 
 between Rye and Dieppe, was abolished. During the 
 period of the civil wars these institutions suffered 
 severely, but they recovered when peace and tran- 
 quillity was restored. A member of the House of 
 Commons, named Edmund Prideaux, suggested altera- 
 tions in the postal system, one of which was a weekly 
 conveyance of letters to all parts of the kingdom, 
 whereby the public were saved ^/ooo per annum. 
 The greatest advance, however, was made in the postal 
 
222 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 system in the year 1656, when an Act of Parliament 
 was passed which dealt with the postage of England, 
 Scotland, and Ireland. This Act stipulated that there 
 should be one General Post Office in London, and one 
 Postmaster-General, having authority over the entire 
 system ; this Act was confirmed at the Restoration, but 
 repealed in Queen Anne's reign. 
 
 A London penny post was started in 1683, and 
 between 1711 and 1838 more than one hundred and 
 fifty Acts were passed affecting the regulations of the 
 Post Office ; but for the great radical change which 
 took place in our postal system we are indebted to Sir 
 Rowland Hill ; it was he who substituted the penny 
 postage for the old system and charges hitherto in 
 vogue. At the time this was done great fear was 
 manifested by the Government that, by lessening the 
 charge of postage, they would lower the receipts of the 
 Post Office ; but this, as every one knows, has not 
 proved to be the case. But as the penny postage did 
 not come into effect until 1840, which was after the 
 time of the establishment of railways, and the removal 
 of the mails from the road, I may be excused for not de- 
 scribing its various advantages and its remarkable results. 
 
 I am indebted to an early edition of Beeton's 
 " Dictionary of Science, Art, and Literature," for some of 
 the history of the postal system ; and, although this may 
 appear somewhat of a digression from what has to do 
 with the roads, yet up to this point in the history of 
 postal transmission all letters were carried by the road, 
 and consequently mail-coaches, mail-carts and letter- 
 carriers of all descriptions were a striking feature on 
 the highway. Moreover, post-chaises and post-boys, 
 as I have said, owed their name in some way to the 
 establishment of the postal system. Post is thus used 
 
POST-CHAISES AND POST-BOYS. 223 
 
 adverbially for swiftly, expeditiously. To travel with 
 post-horses means to travel with speed ; to ride post is 
 to be employed to carry despatches, and as such 
 carriers rode in haste, the phrase " Post " signifies to 
 ride in haste, to pass with expedition. 
 
 Posting means, travelling by means of horses hired 
 at different stations on the line of journey ; postillion 
 is derived from the French, and post-boy has always 
 been the more usual term used when speaking of the 
 men employed to ride hired post-horses in England. 
 A post-chaise is a carriage for conveying travellers 
 from one station to another ; the term post-haste, has 
 been derived from travelling with speed. Posting- 
 houses, are houses where relays of horses are kept 
 for the convenience of travellers. 
 
 Before the days of railroads, there were six ways by 
 which persons could be conveyed on the high-road : 
 they could travel by mail-coach, by stage-coach, 
 travel with their own carriages and horses, or with 
 their own carriage and post-horses, or ride on horse- 
 back, or, if poor and of the lower class, they could 
 journey by the slow stage-waggon. As regards the 
 regular post-chaise and the private travelling-carriages 
 then in use, they were very similar to the carriage 
 which the present generation knows as a chariot, but 
 without the coach-box and the huge hammer-cloth ; 
 in fact, it was like a large single brougham hung on 
 very high C springs, with a dash-board before the 
 front window where, in a chariot, the coach-box would 
 have been situated. 
 
 Why the term "jolly" should ever have been 
 applied to a post-boy, it is difficult to say. In my 
 opinion a post-boy's life must have been a very trying 
 one ; the very fact of being wedged in between a 
 
224 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 hard ash pole and a horse's side, holding in your 
 hands the reins, not of one horse, but of two, must 
 have been exceedingly trying and anything but jolly ; 
 besides which, when the roads were dusty, the dust 
 kicked up by the horses' heels must have been more 
 than sufficient to suffocate any properly-constituted 
 human being, whose larynx was of mere ordinary 
 capacity. Perhaps at the end of his journey, under 
 the reviving influence of capacious draughts of ale, 
 the features of these old boys might have relaxed 
 sufficiently to entitle them to their youthful appellation, 
 they might have been induced to kick their heels 
 in the merry dance, or in some tap-room lift in song 
 the boyish voices that had grown discordant with dust, 
 beer, and age. Whilst in wet weather they must have 
 looked like drowned rats, the only protection afforded 
 them against pouring rain being short capes just cover- 
 ing their shoulders, but leaving their knees, thighs, 
 and arms exposed to the full force of the elements. 
 
 These are mere idle conjectures ; sufficient to say 
 the term " jolly post-boy" is one for which the past, 
 and not the present, generation is responsible. The 
 idea of any full-grown man being called a boy, is 
 sufficiently ridiculous of itself without going still further 
 and taking it for granted that, in addition to this, he 
 possessed convivial and festive qualities of so high an 
 order that they caused him to be described as jolly. 
 
 The custom of riding postillion has always appeared 
 to me wrong from a humanitarian point of view ; a 
 horse that is employed in draught has enough to 
 do without, in addition to this, being made to carry 
 a weight, which is in itself sufficient to tax his powers 
 of endurance. When going downhill a wheel-horse 
 has quite enough to do in keeping a carriage back 
 
POSTILLIONS. 225 
 
 without being made to support the additional burden of 
 a man's weight. Another thing against mounting a pos- 
 tillion on a wheel-horse is this : although the horse he 
 rides may be held fairly well, and an equal tension be 
 made to bear on either rein, yet, in the case of the 
 horse he is leading, it is very different ; the animal's 
 head is pulled aside continuously, which prevents his 
 seeing where he is going and renders his progress a 
 matter of some danger. At the present day, postillions 
 are used very rarely ; post-boys not at all, since the 
 system of posting has entirely ceased throughout the 
 United Kingdom. Postillions are employed to ride 
 horses attached to carriages when going to race meet- 
 ings, and occasionally at weddings, but there is no 
 advantage in it, and it is merely done for the sake of 
 display. 
 
 The Queen is very fond of employing postillions, 
 and, in her case, there is this advantage : as she takes 
 long country drives, a coachman and footman on the 
 box-seat would obstruct the view; besides which, it 
 would be out of character were four horses driven in a 
 landau, and were there only two it would not be an 
 arrangement appropriate or befitting the style in which 
 the Queen of England should be seen driving on the 
 public roads. 
 
 In the coaching days posting was of equal import- 
 ance with the more public modes of travelling. A 
 prince of the blood royal, or a duke, bound on a 
 journey, would post with four horses, so would all 
 ladies of rank, if they could afford to clo so ; the lady's- 
 maid and footman sitting in the rumble. On these 
 occasions they used their own carriages ; but if they 
 possessed none of their own, they could always hire. 
 People who posted were apt to think themselves far 
 
226 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 superior to the ordinary coach-travellers, and, in fact, 
 post-masters seemed to have a regard for them in 
 exact proportion to their own estimate of themselves. 
 There were posting-houses and coach offices, the 
 former sometimes described as hotels, the latter as 
 inns. Mr. Harris remarks that the coaches never 
 stopped at the posting-houses unless they combined 
 the two businesses of coaching office and posting- 
 house. At the " Red Lion " and the " Green Man," 
 at Barnet, were two notable posting- houses on the 
 second stage out of London ; no coaches stopped at 
 these, they kept post-horses only ; so at the " Verulam 
 Arms," St. Albans, the " Salisbury Arms," at Hatfield, 
 the " Rose and Crown," at Hounslow, the " Sugar 
 Loaf," at Dunstable, the "White Hart," at Reigate ; 
 but the two most celebrated posting-houses were at 
 Barnet the " Red Lion," at the top of the hill, at the 
 London end of the town, and the " Green Man," at 
 the other end. Eighteen pairs of post-horses were 
 kept at the " Red Lion" and eight post-boys, and 
 twenty-six pairs at the " Green Man " and about 
 eleven post-boys, and there were in the yards what 
 the post-boys called " cads," who looked after the 
 post-horses, washed the chaises, called up the post- 
 boys when wanted of a night, and lighted, and assisted 
 them to change horses. The " cads " in cases of emer- 
 gency had to ride post, unless they happened to meet 
 a post-boy returning with his pair of horses, when 
 they exchanged places, the post-boy finishing the 
 stage, whilst the "cad" took his horses back to the 
 stables.* 
 
 * It is evident from this that in those days the word "cad" 
 had a different signification from that which it has at the present 
 day ; it was not then a word of abuse, as it has since become. It is 
 
POSTAL HOUSES, POST-MASTERS, AND POST-BOYS. 227 
 
 For the services of the " cads," the post-boys 
 themselves had to pay about four shillings a week. 
 
 The same writer goes on to say that the post-boys 
 at the "Red Lion," at Barnet, rode in yellow jackets 
 and black hats, and the post-boys at the " Green Man " 
 in blue jackets and white hats. Passengers who had 
 been left behind by the coach frequently posted after 
 it, hoping to catch it up before it arrived at the next 
 change. 
 
 In those days post-horses were kept ready saddled 
 and harnessed day and night. 
 
 On one occasion seventy-five pairs changed within 
 twenty-four hours at the " Green Man," at Barnet ; 
 but twenty-five pairs a day was considered about the 
 average of changes. 
 
 Post-boys would frequently ride fifty miles a day. 
 
 Post-masters had to pay a tax of five guineas on 
 every post-chaise. 
 
 "When persons travelled a distance of seventy miles 
 or more the post-chaise, as well as the post-boy, was 
 changed at every inn ; this caused considerable con- 
 fusion, delay, and inconvenience, as it necessitated 
 removing the luggage and all the paraphernalia of the 
 traveller from the one chaise to the other ; all the 
 heavy trunks being securely strapped on to a large flat 
 board over the axle of the front wheels. 
 
 At the posting-houses four horses were allotted to 
 each post-boy ; consequently, by the number of post- 
 boys at an inn, one could obtain a fair estimate of the 
 number of post-horses there were in the stable. 
 
 The post-boy frequently on his return journey, 
 
 believed to be a corruption of the word " cadger," which means 
 a beggar, one who would rather live on other people than work for 
 himself. Dr. Johnson uses the word, and gives " huckster " as the 
 meaning. 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 when the post-chaise was empty, rode on a bar placed 
 between the two front C springs, from where he drove 
 the horses ; his feet rested on the board used for sup- 
 porting the travellers' luggage. 
 
 A writer says that there were two gentlemen, 
 Colonel Sibthorp and Sir John Sebright, who, even 
 when railways were established, never would travel in a 
 railway carriage, but continued to post along the road 
 until the day of their death. 
 
 Post-horse proprietors lost considerably by the in- 
 troduction of the railroad, but not, perhaps, so much as 
 coach proprietors, as the post-chaises were still of some 
 use for short journeys or for private use ; but the large 
 number of coaches that existed were of no use, except 
 for firewood, as it is not every one who is disposed to 
 drive four horses merely for amusement, even if they 
 can afford to do so. 
 
 Mr. Harris gives the rules and regulations that 
 were in force in the stable-yard of a large posting 
 establishment. They were as follows : 
 
 RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THIS YARD. 
 
 1. Every man shall conduct himself properly. No 
 swearing or quarrelling allowed. 
 
 2. That no one shall have a naked candle in his 
 stable, sconces being provided. 
 
 3. That each shall be answerable for his own 
 windows, and when he leaves his situation to pay all 
 breakages. 
 
 4. That no one shall encourage strangers on the 
 premises. 
 
 5. That when straw or corn comes in each shall 
 
RULES OF POSTING-YARD. 229 
 
 immediately attend, take his own proper quantity, and 
 assist with the remainder into the loft. 
 
 6. That each shall as quick as possible get the 
 manure from the stable door to the mine, and have his 
 doorway swept clean by ten o'clock every morning. 
 
 7. That the sweeper shall have the yard clean 
 by half-past ten o'clock every morning, and that he 
 keep it so throughout the day. 
 
 8. That each shall wheel, or throw the manure as 
 far as possible to the back of the mine. 
 
 9. That the first and second turn post-boys shall be 
 always booted and spurred, with their horses ready 
 harnessed, from eight o'clock in the morning until 
 seven o'clock at night. 
 
 10. That the chaise-washer shall see that no 
 carriage remains in the open yard all night, whether 
 belonging to his employer or to any other post-master 
 on this road. 
 
 11. That no post-boy or person engaged in this 
 establishment shall be allowed, under any circum- 
 stances, to wash his horses. 
 
 12. That in case of any accident occurring to 
 chaises or horses, the man meeting with such accident 
 shall as soon as possible make the same known to his 
 employers. 
 
 13. That every servant in this yard shall at all 
 times, at his own expense, be provided with such tools, 
 etc., as are necessary to fulfil the duties of his situation. 
 
 14. That no one shall enter the service of this yard 
 without first giving their assurance that they will 
 comply with these rules and regulations, and by so 
 doing they shall at all times find their employers ready 
 to make their situations comfortable, and promoting 
 their different stations as an opportunity may occur. 
 
230 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 A fine of sixpence shall be paid for every neglect 
 of the above regulations into the hands of the head 
 ostler, which money shall be appropriated towards 
 assisting indigent and sick servants of this yard who 
 may be unable to work. 
 
 A place for everything, and everything in its place. 
 
 Waste not, want not. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ROAD LOCOMOTIVES. 
 
 Colonel Macaroni's steam carriages Mr. Gurney spends ; 100,000 
 Sir Isaac Newton's steam carriage Reactionary propulsion 
 Trevithick's and Griffith's steam carriages Thirty-two to thirty- 
 five miles an hour The " Era " runs eighteen miles an hour 
 Steam carriages in and about London Report of committee of 
 the House of Commons Eighty-four miles in nine hours and 
 twenty minutes Opposition to steam carriages Restrictive 
 acts relating to road locomotives Discouragement to road 
 locomotion Electric carriages. 
 
 ABOUT the time that railroads became established, 
 a very strong opinion existed amongst scientific men 
 that locomotives could be made available on the 
 high-roads, then gradually becoming deserted. This 
 idea was put into practice first by a Mr. Gurney, 
 who spent ,22,000 in experiments relating to travel- 
 ling by steam on common roads. 
 
 Besides this gentleman, there was a Colonel 
 Maceroni, who accomplished several long journeys 
 at the rate of twenty-four miles an hour. His steam 
 carriages weighed about six tons, and a writer on 
 the subject says that they were under perfect control, 
 and that he was in the habit of running in and out 
 of London with them ; and that one of his locomotive 
 carriages was regularly worked between Paddington 
 and the Bank of England, along New Road, but 
 withdrawn after a time, as it did not pay in 
 
232 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 consequence of its having to stop so frequently on its 
 way. The same writer goes on to say that the great 
 difficulty was want of capital. Most of the inventors 
 and advocates of road locomotion were poor men, 
 although a few capitalists spent considerable sums 
 of money in perfecting their ideas ; for instance, 
 Mr. Gurney spent ,100,000, and Mr. Ogle ,"60,000. 
 
 Colonel Maceroni performed some good journeys 
 on the road ; for instance, he ran his locomotive 
 for eighteen months from London to Harrow, and 
 also to Edgeware, mounting Harrow Hill, which is 
 said to be one of the steepest hills between London 
 and York, besides being of soft yielding material ; 
 and yet Colonel Maceroni's engine went up it at 
 the rate of eight miles an hour, which is far faster 
 than any horses could have travelled up such a 
 steep ascent. He frequently travelled from Regent 
 Circus to Watford, and went four times a day up 
 and down Oxford Street. A steam carriage also 
 ran from London to Hastings. 
 
 Locomotive carriages, it was said, were perfectly 
 safe on the common road. However safe they may 
 have been, in my opinion there must have been one 
 serious drawback to the use of steam-engines on 
 the road ; they must have caused driving and riding 
 on the road to be attended with great danger, as 
 there are few horses now that will meet a traction 
 engine without being seriously alarmed. I see no 
 reason to suppose that the horses in those days were 
 more courageous or less susceptible to fright. It is 
 said that these engines did not frighten horses when 
 working in London ; but I cannot understand this. 
 Had the boiler had a good head of steam, it would 
 
SIR ISAAC NEWTOWS STEAM CARRIAGE. 233 
 
 have been impossible to shut it off completely when 
 it was desired to do so ; and had there been any 
 escape, it must have frightened horses, particularly 
 as a London street is not like a country road, where 
 they could turn off the steam until a horse had passed. 
 There could have been scarcely a moment during the 
 day when the street was without horses of some kind. 
 all liable to be frightened by coming in contact with 
 a machine of this description ; otherwise there is much 
 to be said in favour of road locomotion, and I have 
 no doubt, in the present greatly improved condition 
 of the steam-engine, a very light and simple loco- 
 motive could be built at the present time capable 
 of travelling at a great pace and with perfect safety ; 
 but possibly it would be necessary to banish horses 
 from the road were steam carriages introduced on 
 highways and byways as a regular mode of conveyance. 
 
 Another writer gives the following particulars. He 
 says that Sir Isaac Newton, in 1680, was the first 
 person to design a steam carriage for road travelling. 
 This vehicle was of the most primitive and elementary 
 kind ; in fact, toys have been manufactured recently, 
 working on the same principle. It consisted of a 
 globular boiler, under which there was a fire ; there 
 was an outlet to this boiler, terminating in a long tube 
 in an opposite direction to which the carriage was 
 travelling ; this permitted an escape of steam, which 
 rushed forth in volume immediately the water boiled, 
 and by the reactionary force of the external air against 
 which it was impelled forced the carriage along. 
 
 It is upon the same principle that the hydraulic 
 steamships were propelled. There are several steam 
 floating fire-engines on the Thames, which have 
 
234 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 neither screw propeller nor paddle, but are driven by 
 water discharged from both their port and starboard 
 quarters. The Water Witch, an armour-plated ship of 
 war, built at the Thames Iron Works, was constructed 
 on the same principle. She was built from the design 
 of Admiral Sir George Elliott, but was not found a 
 success. Nevertheless, she had one good point, there 
 was no propeller which could be injured by the enemy's 
 shot. 
 
 I will return to the question of road locomotives. 
 There were an immense number of steam carriages 
 constructed at different times. A man named Nathan 
 Read built one in 1790, for which he obtained a 
 patent. 
 
 It consisted of two horizontal cylinders, with the 
 pistons terminating in a ratchet arrangement, which 
 worked on a toothed wheel through which the fore- 
 most axle passed, by which means the carriage was 
 propelled. Another steam carnage was made by a 
 French officer, named Nicholas Cugnot, who con- 
 structed his carriage in 1769. In 1770, he made a 
 second steam carriage, which is still to be seen in the 
 Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, Paris. In this 
 machine the cylinders are upright. After this there 
 is no record of a road steam carnage until Murdock, 
 the partner of James Watt, constructed a model one. 
 This model ran six to eight miles an hour, its driving 
 wheels making from 200 to 275 revolutions per minute ; 
 it was fitted with an American grasshopper engine. 
 
 After this, Oliver Evans, a native of the United 
 States, constructed a road carriage, which he christened 
 the " Oruker Amphibolis ; " it was built in the year 
 1804. I n September of the same year he made a 
 statement to the Lancaster Turnpike Company, as 
 
TREVITHICK'S AND GRIFFITHS STEAM CARRIAGES. 235 
 
 to the expenses of working a steam waggon that 
 would carry one hundred barrels of flour fifty miles 
 in twenty-four hours. 
 
 Richard Trevithick, in 1802, made a steam carnage 
 for use on the common roads. He was a pupil of 
 Murdock, who was partner to James Watt. Tre- 
 vithick's engine is still to be seen in the Patent 
 Museum, at South Kensington. This was a high- 
 pressure boiler, and consequently no weighty con- 
 denser had to be carried. 
 
 In 1821, Julius Griffith, of Brompton, London, 
 patented a road locomotive, to carry passengers ; 
 this was built by the inventor of the celebrated 
 Bramah lock. The boiler in this engine did not 
 prove large enough for continuous work. After this 
 came the Gurney locomotive, spoken of before. 
 Gurney's carriage was like a large four-horse coach, 
 and carried several passengers ; it was built in 1828, 
 and was remarkably well constructed. There were 
 many others built about this time, but it would occupy 
 too much space to describe them here. Then there 
 were Hancock's steam carriages, of which he had 
 quite half-a-dozen. In 1831, Hancock placed his 
 first steam carriage on the road between London 
 and Stratford, where it ran regularly for hire. 
 
 A Sir Charles Dance, the same year, started another 
 steam carriage between Cheltenham and Gloucester, 
 where, a writer on the subject says, it ran from 
 February 2ist to June 22nd, travelling three thousand 
 five hundred miles, and carrying three thousand 
 passengers ; running the nine miles in fifty-five 
 minutes, and sometimes in three-quarters of an hour; 
 and that, during the whole time, it never met with 
 a single accident except once, when it ran over a heap 
 
236 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 of stones placed in the road purposely by some 
 enemies of the new system, upon which occasion 
 it broke an axle ; but of course this was not attribu- 
 table to any fault of its construction or working. 
 
 Messrs. Ogle and Summers ran a steam carriage 
 which attained a speed of from thirty-two to thirty-five 
 miles. Ogle made a statement to this effect before 
 a Committee of the House of Commons : "It ran on 
 the Southampton main-road, and on a rising gradient 
 near Southampton it went twenty-four and a half 
 miles an hour." This was probably from the town 
 up what is called the Avenue, across the common, and 
 so on to Basset ; they carried two hundred and fifty 
 pounds of steam, ran eight hundred miles, and never 
 met with an accident. 
 
 Thurston tells us that Colonel Maceroni, in 1833, 
 ran a steam carriage of his own design from London 
 to Windsor and back with eleven passengers, a 
 distance of twenty-three and a half miles, in two 
 hours. 
 
 Sir Charles Dance ran his carriage sixteen miles 
 an hour, and made long excursions into the country at 
 the rate of nine miles an hour. Another enthusiast 
 constructed a road locomotive with which he ascended 
 Lickley Hill, between Worcester and Birmingham, 
 up a very steep gradient ; this road is said to be 
 one of the worst in England, and yet this engine 
 towed a coach up it containing twenty passengers. 
 
 Hancock, after this, built a carriage propelled 
 by steam, which he christened the " Infant;" it 
 commenced work in 1831. Another, called the " Era," 
 was built for the London and Greenwich Steam 
 Carriage Company ; this was mechanically a success. 
 In October, the " Infant " ran to Brighton from 
 

GURNEY'S STEAM CARRIAGE. 
 
 HANCOCK'S "AUTOPSY," 1833. 
 
 [ To face page 237. 
 
THE "AA" A'/AV7 EIGHTEEN MILES AN HOUR. 237 
 
 London, carrying eleven passengers, at the rate of 
 nine miles an hour, ascending Redhill at a speed 
 of five miles per hour. Thurston says that they 
 steamed thirty-eight miles the first day, stopping at 
 Hazledean, and reaching Brighton the following 
 morning. During the second day they ran eleven 
 miles an hour. They returned with fifteen passengers ; 
 the coach ran one mile on its return in four minutes, 
 and went ten miles of the journey in fifty-five minutes. 
 A run from Stratford to Brighton was afterwards made 
 in less than ten hours, at an average speed of ten miles 
 an hour ; the actual time under steam was only six 
 hours. 
 
 Hancock had another steam carriage which he 
 ran to Brighton, called the " Autopsy." After run- 
 ning to Brighton, it went about the London streets 
 without meeting with any accident. It was something 
 like an omnibus, the steam-engine and boiler being 
 in the foremost part of the carriage. 
 
 These coaches ran until the end of November, 
 1834, carrying four thousand passengers, at the rate 
 of twelve miles an hour. The "Era" once ran 
 eighteen miles an hour. 
 
 In 1835 Hancock built a large carriage called 
 the " Erin," which carried twenty passengers. It also 
 towed three omnibuses and a stage-coach containing 
 fifty passengers through Whitehall, Charing Cross, 
 and Regent Street, and on to Brentford, running 
 at the rate of fourteen miles an hour ; it also ran 
 to Reading, going thirty-eight miles in three hours 
 and eight minutes. The same carriage ran to Marl- 
 borough, seventy-five miles, in seven hours and a half, 
 stopping four hours and a half on the road. This 
 delay was in consequence of certain stores having 
 
238 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 been left behind which were positively necessary to 
 the journey. 
 
 Hancock put all his carriages on the Paddington 
 Road in 1836, and ran regularly for five months, 
 running four thousand two hundred miles. He built 
 a light steam phaeton for his own use, which ran 
 about twenty miles an hour. This he drove about 
 the City of London, amongst horses and carriages, 
 without causing annoyance or danger. The usual 
 speed was about ten miles an hour. Altogether, 
 Hancock built nine steam carriages, capable of con- 
 veying one hundred and sixteen passengers, besides 
 engineers and stokers. 
 
 In December, 1833, about twenty steam carriages 
 were running in and about London ; but hostile legis- 
 lation and the bad condition of the roads discouraged 
 inventors and those who owned them, and even 
 Hancock, the most indefatigable of them all, threw 
 his up in despair. 
 
 And yet a Committee of the House of Commons, 
 who were desired to report upon the matter, gave 
 a very satisfactory account of the working of road 
 locomotives, and expressed a conviction that the 
 substitution of inanimate for animal power on com- 
 mon roads was most important ; and they considered 
 its practicability to have been " fully established," 
 and predicted that its introduction would take place 
 more or less rapidly, in proportion as the attention 
 of scientific men was directed by public encourage- 
 ment to further improvement. 
 
 As yet steam carriages have not had a fair trial, 
 and there is no doubt that some day they will be in 
 general use. An electric carriage would answer the 
 purpose still better. Farey, one of the most clis- 
 
REPORT OF COMMITTEE OF HOUSE OF COMMONS. 239 
 
 tinguished engineers of that day, gave testimony to 
 their great value, and the practicability of the system 
 being universally introduced on our roads. 
 
 The Committee of the House of Commons con- 
 cluded with the following memorandum : 
 
 1. That carriages can be propelled by steam on a common road 
 at ten miles an hour. 
 
 2. That at this rate they can convey fourteen passengers. 
 
 3. That their entire weight does not exceed three tons. 
 
 4. That they can ascend and descend steep gradients with 
 perfect safety. 
 
 5. That they are perfectly safe for passengers. 
 
 6. That, if properly constructed, they are not and need not be a 
 nuisance. 
 
 7. That they are cheaper than carriages drawn by horses. 
 
 8. That they admit of greater width of tire than other carriages, 
 and as the roads are not acted on injuriously by horses' feet as in 
 common draught, they do not wear the roads out like horses do. 
 
 It seems a great pity that, the Committee of In- 
 quiries having arrived at such conclusions, nothing 
 more should have been done ; as from the time this 
 Committee sat to consider the question, notwithstand- 
 ing their favourable report, the scheme seems to have 
 fallen to the ground. Had it not done so, I have no 
 doubt that by this time every one who now keeps a 
 carriage would have had one propelled by steam, and, 
 to make the idea still more ludicrous, all the business 
 of life which is now carried on by wheeled vehicles 
 drawn by horses, would be dependent upon steam 
 for their means of propulsion. I can scarcely imagine 
 the Park, in the height of the season, or Piccadilly, or 
 Belgravia, the scenes of such innovations. As I 
 suppose, had road locomotion succeeded to the same 
 extent as railway locomotion has done, ladies would 
 drive their steam carriages in the Park, and the youth 
 of the period would visit his club, and make his 
 
240 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 afternoon calls, as naturally in a steam carriage as he 
 does now in a T cart or smart buggy. 
 
 Lord William Lennox, in his book on coaching, 
 says : " Many attempts have been made to introduce 
 steam carriages on the roads, and, in 1822, Mr. (after- 
 wards Sir) Goldsworthy Gurney inventor of the 
 steam-jet, emphatically called by engineers ' the life 
 and soul of locomotion ' constructed a carriage for 
 that purpose. To show that it was capable of as- 
 cending and descending hills, of maintaining a 
 uniformity of speed, once a journey was undertaken 
 from Hounslow Barracks to Bath and back. On 
 arriving at Melksham, where a fair was being held, 
 the people made an attack upon the steam carriage, 
 wounding the stoker and the engineer severely on 
 their heads by a volley of stones, 
 
 " The return journey was more satisfactory, as the 
 whole distance (eighty-four miles), stoppages for fuel 
 and water included, was travelled over in nine hours 
 and twenty minutes, the carriage at one time increasing 
 its speed to twenty miles an hour. The Duke of 
 Wellington and his staff met the carriage at Hounslow 
 Barracks, and were drawn in his Grace's barouche by 
 the steam-engine into the town." 
 
 Why the countrymen at this fair should have 
 savagely attacked the stoker and driver it is difficult 
 to say. As no explanation is given of the circumstance, 
 we should rather ascribe it to some trivial dispute 
 having arisen between the country people at the fair 
 and the men employed on the steam carriage, and 
 not to a determined and organised resistance to the 
 use of locomotives on common roads. 
 
 The same writer goes on to say " that in May, 1830, 
 much attention was excited in the neighbourhood of 
 
OPPOSITION TO STEAM CARRIAGES. 241 
 
 Portland Place by the appearance of a steam carriage 
 which made its way through a crowded traffic without 
 any perceptible impulse. There was neither smoke 
 nor noise ; there was no external force nor apparent 
 directing agent ; the carriage seemed to move by its 
 own volition, passing by horses without giving them 
 the least alarm. Five gentlemen and a lady con- 
 stituted the passengers. 
 
 " One gentleman directed the moving principle or 
 power, and another appeared to sit unconcerned behind, 
 but his object was ascertained to be the care of the 
 fuel and water. The carriage was lightly and con- 
 veniently built, not larger nor heavier than a phaeton. 
 It went without the least vibration, and preserved a 
 balance in its most complicated movements. The pace 
 was varied from five to twelve miles an hour, according 
 to pleasure." 
 
 This writer confirms my previous statement as to a 
 steam carriage running on the road between Gloucester 
 and Cheltenham. He describes the circumstance as 
 follows : 
 
 " From February to June, 1831, steam carriages 
 ran between Gloucester and Cheltenham regularly 
 four times a day, during which time they carried nearly 
 three thousand persons, and travelled nearly four 
 thousand miles without a single accident. Every 
 obstacle, however, was thrown in the way of this 
 new invention ; large heaps of stones were laid across 
 the road eighteen inches deep, under the pretence of 
 repairing the highway ; and on an Act of Parliament 
 being passed which imposed prohibitory tolls on turn- 
 pike trusts, the steam carriage was driven off the road. 
 On the journey to Bath above referred to, the toll for 
 the steam carriage was six guineas each time of passing." 
 
 R 
 
242 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 At the present day there are very stringent laws 
 in existence as to the working of road locomotives ; 
 these were epitomised by Mr. Thomas Aveling. 
 Road Locomotive Acts were passed in 1861, 1865, 
 and 1878, for the use of owners and drivers, and 
 were introduced into the Highway Act. The altera- 
 tions made in the last Act related to the form of 
 engine wheels, the consumption of smoke, the use 
 of the red flag, and the times specified for travelling. 
 It is undoubtedly the case that local and other 
 authorities regard steam traffic upon common roads 
 as a nuisance, to be put down if possible, and to 
 be impeded when extinction is impossible. 
 
 Traction engines are, of course, very apt to frighten 
 horses ; but this would not be the case were suitable 
 steam carriages used, burning smokeless fuel, or made 
 to consume their own smoke and steam, and so 
 constructed as not to alarm horses by any great 
 singularity in their appearance. But, of course, 
 traction engines fulfil a very useful purpose in agri- 
 culture, and to do so they must move from place 
 to place. I think that they might be compelled to 
 travel on the road of a night, or early in the morning 
 before people were about. With regard to the con- 
 sumption of smoke, the Act says that 
 
 Every locomotive used on any turnpike road or highway shall be 
 constructed on the principle of consuming its own smoke ; and any 
 person using any locomotive not so constructed, or not consuming, 
 so far as practicable, its own smoke, shall be liable to a fine not 
 exceeding five pounds for every day during which such locomotive 
 is used on any such turnpike road or highway. 
 
 Regarding the limit of speed the Act goes on to 
 say : 
 
 Subject and without prejudice to the regulations hereinafter 
 authorised to be made by local authorities, it shall not be lawful to 
 
ACTS RELATIXG TO ROAD LOCOMOTIVES. 243 
 
 drive any such locomotive along any turnpike road or public highway 
 at a greater speed than four miles an hour, or through any city, town, 
 or village at a greater speed than two miles an hour ; and any person 
 acting contrary thereto shall for every such offence, on summary 
 conviction thereof, forfeit any sum not exceeding ten pounds. 
 
 The rules provided by this Act were as follows : 
 
 Every locomotive propelled by steam or any other than animal 
 power on any turnpike road or public highway shall be worked 
 according to the following rules and regulations, viz. : 
 
 FIRSTLY. At least three persons shall be employed to drive or 
 conduct such locomotive, and if more than two waggons 
 or carriages be attached thereto, an additional person shall 
 be employed, who shall take charge of such waggons or 
 carriages. 
 
 SECONDLY. One of such persons, while the locomotive is in 
 motion, shall precede, by at least twenty yards, the loco- 
 motive on foot, and shall, in case of need, assist horses, 
 and carriages drawn by horses, passing the same. 
 
 THIRDLY. The drivers of such locomotive shall give as much 
 space as possible for the passing of other traffic. 
 
 FOURTHLY. The whistle of such locomotive shall net be 
 sounded for any purpose whatever ; nor shall the cylinder 
 taps be opened within sight of any person riding, driving, 
 leading, or in charge of a horse upon the road ; nor shall 
 the steam be allowed to attain a pressure such as to exceed 
 the limit fixed by the safety-valve, so that no steam shall 
 blow off when the locomotive is upon the road. 
 
 FIFTHLY. Every such locomotive shall be instantly stopped on 
 the person preceding the same, or any other person with a 
 horse, or carriage drawn by a horse, putting up his hand 
 as a signal to require such locomotive to be stopped. 
 
 SIXTHLY. Any person in charge of any such locomotive shall 
 provide two efficient lights to be affixed conspicuously, one 
 at each side on the front of the same, between the hours 
 of one hour after sunset and one hour before sunrise. 
 
 In the event of a non-compliance with any of the 
 provisions of this section, the owner of the locomo- 
 tive shall, on summary conviction thereof before two 
 justices, be liable to a penalty not exceeding ten 
 pounds ; but it shall be lawful for such owner, on 
 proving that he has incurred such penalty by reason 
 
 R 2 
 
244 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 of the negligence or wilful default of any person in 
 charge of or in attendance on such locomotive, to 
 recover summarily from such person the whole or 
 any part of the penalty he may have incurred as 
 owner. 
 
 It was in consequence of all these restrictive Acts 
 of Parliament that I gave up using a steam tricycle 
 I designed and constructed about fifteen years ago. 
 Were it not for these restrictions to their use, light 
 steam carriages w r ould long before this have been used 
 on common roads, and so constructed as not to alarm 
 horses or become a nuisance. 
 
 Notwithstanding the fast progress that has been 
 made by the railway locomotive, road locomotion, 
 except so far as regards the unsightly and terrible 
 traction engine, has made no progress whatever, 
 neither have engineers or men of science been 
 encouraged to turn their attention to its development, 
 for the very good reason that, no matter how perfect 
 a steam carriage may be, it can never be used on the 
 high-road except at so slow a speed and with such 
 precautions that there w r ould be no advantage what- 
 ever in its use or adoption. Were it not for this, 
 luxurious steam carriages, such as broughams, victorias, 
 etc., might be constructed, that would travel at a speed 
 of twenty or thirty miles an hour, perfectly safe, and 
 affording the utmost comfort. In towns, and in the 
 suburbs thereof, they might be compelled to slacken 
 speed, and to take every precaution necessary for the 
 safety of the public. 
 
 Although there is this strong objection to steam 
 locomotion on common roads, which has culminated 
 in legislative enactments, it is to be hoped that there 
 will not be the same objections raised to electric 
 
ELECTRIC CARRIAGES. 245 
 
 locomotion, as I firmly believe that if an Act can be 
 passed to encourage their construction, electric carriages 
 will be made to travel at a great speed with perfect 
 safety, and with none of the objectionable character- 
 istics of a steam-engine. It will be merely a matter 
 of charging the battery at intervals during the journey, 
 and this could easily be done at the large towns in 
 which one rested. 
 
 The following interesting account of a dog-cart 
 propelled by electricity appeared in the Morning Post 
 of January 6th, 1888, copied from Engineering: 
 
 AN ELECTRIC DOG-CART. Mr. Volk, whose electric railway is 
 known to all visitors to Brighton, has constructed an electrically 
 driven dog-cart, which is attracting a good deal of attention there. 
 It is driven by a half horse-power Immisch motor and sixteen small 
 E. P. S. accumulators, which have a capacity equal to six hours' 
 work. In the desire to keep the machinery light scarcely sufficient 
 power has been provided, so that, although the vehicle will make a 
 speed of nine miles an hour on asphalte, it only makes a speed of 
 four miles on a soft macadam road, while, with two passengers, an 
 incline of one in thirty is the limit of its climbing power. The motor 
 runs at a high speed, and transmits its motion by means of a 
 Reynolds chain to a countershaft, from which another chain carries 
 the power to a four-feet wheel attached to one of the road wheels. 
 This last driving wheel is formed of a series of blocks about one foot 
 apart. Etigiriecring. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT EIGHTEENTH AND NINETEENTH 
 
 CENTURIES. 
 
 One hundred years ago 111 omens Three-bottle men Watchmen 
 and Bow Street runners Signboards Village stocks May-poles 
 -Beating the bounds Dick Turpin " Stand, and deliver ! " 
 Collecting The ducking-stool The majesty of the law The 
 last century Encouraging virtue by exposing vice Military 
 patrols An empty boast An exchange of property " I merely 
 borrow" Turpin's death A sharp archbishop "Remove that 
 dangerous weapon " Tyburn tree Men of the time Wars of 
 the last century Abolition of slavery Yoho ! Washington 
 Irving and an English coach Virgil on driving. 
 
 THE eighteenth century was essentially the period of 
 road travelling. One thing which has a material 
 influence upon civilisation is the ease and speed with 
 which one can perform long journeys. 
 
 Any person at the present day who is over sixty 
 years of age should retain a vivid recollection of 
 the mail and stage-coaches, although that mode of 
 travelling may have only continued for a short period 
 during the very earliest days of their childhood ; but 
 all persons now alive of seventy years and upwards 
 must have passed much of their life amidst scenes 
 familiar to travellers on the road previous to the 
 introduction of railways. 
 
ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO. 247 
 
 The extreme limit of human life appears to be 
 very little over a hundred. That people do live 
 to such an age may be proved by the frequent 
 statements to that effect in the newspapers. An 
 old lady died lately near my house who was over 
 a hundred years old. To remember any public event 
 that took place a hundred years ago, a person must 
 have lived very considerably beyond that age. It 
 is an extraordinary thing to think that any one alive 
 now actually existed in times which, to us, have 
 become remote and historical ; but that they can 
 recollect such events is still more remarkable. Yet 
 there have been known persons who can do this. 
 
 It is almost impossible to realise that such 
 enormous changes should have taken place in the 
 social and political aspect of affairs within a period 
 occupied by a single life. The present age, which 
 we consider so highly civilised, may, in the course 
 of a hundred years, be regarded by our successors 
 as a period quite as wanting in the comforts, con- 
 veniences, and luxuries of life as was England, in 
 our opinion, a century ago. 
 
 It must be remembered that the fact of travelling 
 by coach is not sufficient in itself to convey to the 
 minds of the present generation the conditions under 
 which a journey was performed a hundred years ago. 
 To do this, the world must roll back upon the wheels 
 of time, and country and town and their inhabitants 
 must present exactly the same appearance to our eyes 
 as they did to people who were on a journey at that 
 period. Every modern improvement that now exists 
 is a forcible reminder of the age in which we live. 
 The reality of our surroundings makes it difficult for 
 us to form an adequate conception of the circumstances 
 
248 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 under which Englishmen travelled during the last 
 century, neither can we picture to ourselves the 
 various infinitesimal details of dress, manner, and 
 custom that made that period so foreign to the 
 present. 
 
 The aspect of affairs throughout England and 
 Europe was vastly different from what it is now. 
 In 1788 George III. was King of England, Louis XVI. 
 was insecurely seated on the throne of France, and 
 George Washington was President of the United 
 States, America having declared her independence, 
 and there is no doubt but that the States would 
 belong to us now had it not been for the ridiculous 
 and obstinate policy of Farmer George. France, 
 shortly after this, was in the throes of her great 
 Revolution, with all its attendant horror, terror, 
 blasphemy, and anarchy, during which time the 
 French ports were blockaded to the English, and 
 those Englishmen who cared, or who could afford, 
 to travel, were almost compelled by necessity to do 
 so in their own country. In 1788 William Pitt, 
 although only in his twenty-fourth year, was at the 
 head of the English Government, fulfilling the duties 
 of First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the 
 Exchequer, Lord Thurlow was Lord Chancellor, 
 Lord Carmarthen was Home Secretary, and Lord 
 Sydney Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. 
 This was the younger Pitt's first Administration. 
 
 One hundred years ago was not altogether the 
 pleasantest time that an Englishman could have 
 selected for a sojourn upon this planet. Only a few 
 years previously the American War had been brought 
 to a close, and White, in his celebrated " History of 
 Selborne," says that " the summer that followed 
 
ILL OMENS. 249 
 
 upon that event was an amazing and portentous one ; 
 there were alarming meteors and tremendous thunder- 
 storms ; for many weeks of June, July, and August, 
 the sun was clouded over with a smoky fog, that 
 proceeded from whatever quarter the wind blew ; 
 the sun when it rose and set \vas lurid and blood- 
 coloured. This phenomenon prevailed over the whole 
 of Europe ; people looked with superstitious awe upon 
 this singular twilight." To Englishmen, particularly 
 sensitive to meteorological influences, having lost 
 America, they became fully convinced that their 
 country was ruined ; to those of the French, who had 
 time to think amidst the terror and confusion which 
 everywhere prevailed during the Revolution, this 
 peculiar phenomenon must have appeared as though 
 it were an indication of the anger of Heaven, and of 
 the vengeance that would overtake those that had 
 brought their country to such a terrible pass. 
 
 As regards England, the money she spent in losing 
 America, she afterwards succeeded in replacing in 
 her exhausted treasury. The prevailing notion during 
 the greater part of the reign of George III. was that 
 England was in its declination, and these ideas were 
 supplemented by positive assertions that her popu- 
 lation was decreasing, and would go on doing so 
 indefinitely ; but this is proved never to have been 
 the case ; in fact, if it had been the case, it might, 
 in a manner, have benefited the State, by re- 
 lieving it of its surplus population, for whom 
 there was no employment. Oliver Goldsmith 
 admits that the depopulation which he deplores in 
 his wonderful poem, the " Deserted Village," was 
 nowhere to be seen in reality. In my previous 
 chapters I have given a parody on this poem, and 
 
250 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 also a table of the population of several towns through- 
 out England in 1861 as compared with 1837, which 
 will conclusively prove how greatly the population of 
 England was increasing, even at that time ; and this 
 was even more the case a hundred years ago, since the 
 State, although they executed near upon two thousand 
 persons during the year, thereby seriously diminishing 
 the population in a ludicrous yet terrible fashion, did 
 not then afford the same encouragement to emigration. 
 Between 1751 and 1781 the population had increased 
 at the rate of one million two hundred thousand ; and 
 there was a still larger increase, of more than one 
 million and a half, from 1781 to 1801 ; in fact, about 
 the latter half of this twenty years, France having 
 recovered from the effects of the Revolution, a new 
 impetus appears to have been given to the great 
 industries throughout Europe, although they were 
 greatly interfered with by the successive wars of 
 Napoleon. As for the condition of English husbandry 
 during the last century, it was in the most deplorable 
 state. Agricultural science was almost unknown ; in 
 some respects, the condition and manners of the 
 rural population were worse than they are now ; in 
 other respects, they were a trifle better. 
 
 The country squires and squireens were, in those 
 days, coarse and uneducated, and very intemperate in 
 their habits. Amongst the country gentlemen it was 
 thought to be almost a disgrace to rise from the table 
 sober, and no disgrace to be found after dinner lying 
 under it outrageously drunk. It is difficult to imagine 
 that from such rough material could be created the 
 educated, courteous landowners of another century. 
 Fielding, the novelist, has given us in his novels some 
 excellent types of the country gentlemen of those 
 
THREE-BOTTLE MEN. 251 
 
 days. As county justices their notions of law and 
 their ideas of justice and morality were beneath con- 
 tempt, their manners as well as their dialect and dress 
 were provincial in the extreme ; but as the waste lands 
 were reclaimed, fenced in, and brought under cultiva- 
 tion, so a like improvement was manifested in the 
 minds and manners of country people of all classes, 
 from the lords of the soil to those who tilled it. The 
 gentlefolk of England at the present day no longer 
 indulge at breakfast-time in strong ales and other 
 intoxicating drinks, neither do they dine at four or 
 five o'clock and prolong the dinner-hour late into the 
 night, rising from the table in a state of intoxication. 
 
 It was the fashion in those days to drink port wine 
 to excess ; gentlemen were frequently described as two 
 or three-bottle men, as the case might be. Even 
 William Pitt, with all the numerous virtues of which 
 he was possessed, was strongly addicted to excessive 
 indulgence in the wines of Oporto ; and this is said to 
 have very materially hastened his death. 
 
 The country parson was little better in point of 
 intelligence or behaviour than the squire. If we are 
 to believe Fielding and other writers, drinking at some 
 low village alehouse, or hanging about the servants' 
 quarters of the big house, drinking and gormandising, 
 was no unfrequent occupation amongst the lower orders 
 of the clergy. As for schools, it is difficult to imagine 
 nowadays how rough they were, or the terrible amount 
 of ill-treatment to which boys in those days were sub- 
 jected. Literature, too, was in a terrible state, and the 
 difficulties attending publication were quite sufficient to 
 deter any author, however sanguine ; besides which, 
 no one could venture upon a literary career unless 
 supported by some patron of rank and influence, as 
 
252 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 was manifested by Dr. Johnson's long attendance on 
 Lord Chesterfield, but this was very early in the 
 century. 
 
 The condition of the Universities was most de- 
 plorable. Wilberforce, who in after years advocated 
 so strenuously the abolition of the slave trade, was 
 entered at St. John's, Cambridge, in 1776, at the age 
 of seventeen. He says that, on his arrival at Cam- 
 bridge, he found that the undergraduates drank hard, 
 and that their conversation was even worse than their 
 lives. As for work, they did none at all, but passed 
 their time in cock-fighting, drinking, and creating dis- 
 turbances. Corruption reigned in all the public offices. 
 The medical profession was distracted by jealousies, 
 rivalries, and ignorance. The law was made ridiculous 
 by the absurd technicalities of the courts, and the 
 ignorance manifested by barristers in the laws and 
 constitution of their own country. As for members 
 of the mercantile class, some years before, w r hen Dr. 
 Johnson was told that the society of Twickenham 
 chiefly consisted of opulent traders retired from busi- 
 ness, he replied: "Sir, I never much like that class 
 of people, for they have generally lost the civility of 
 tradesmen without acquiring the manners and habits 
 of gentlemen." 
 
 Smollett, in his novel " Roderick Random," has 
 very well described the journey undertaken by Random 
 and his faithful follower Strap in a road waggon which 
 they ascend by a ladder, and tumbling into the straw 
 discover that they have for fellow-passengers several 
 persons whom it would be difficult to imagine riding in 
 a waggon at the present day, but to whom a journey 
 on a coach would have been too expensive. The 
 great dread of all persons travelling on the road in 
 
ll'ATCHMEN AND BOW STREET RUNNERS. 253 
 
 those days was the fear of highwaymen. Highway- 
 men were an institution specially connected with stage- 
 coaches, post-chaises, and travelling carriages ; they 
 were in their greatest glory when George III. occupied 
 the throne. 
 
 In London there were no police, only the watch- 
 men, sometimes called "Charlies," and the Bow Street 
 runners. The watchmen were armed with long poles, 
 and carried a lanthorn ; they used to patrol the streets 
 crying the hour every time the clock struck, also pro- 
 claiming the condition of the weather, if good or bad. 
 They also used to wake those people who were going 
 upon a journey. These old watchmen (for they were 
 generally old men) used to be much ill-treated by the 
 youngsters of that period when they came rioting from 
 the taverns and coffee-houses where they had spent 
 the night. The Bow Street runners were thief-takers, 
 and were not instrumental in the prevention or even 
 the detection of crime, but merely ran the criminal in 
 after the crime was committed. When they had in- 
 formation of a house to be broken open or a mail to 
 be robbed, they never interfered until the act had 
 been perpetrated. When they were sure of a capital 
 conviction, they would take their man and obtain ^"40 
 for bloocl money. The number of executions in those 
 days was something terrible. To understand this, it 
 must be remembered how many offences were awarded 
 capital punishment. Townsend, the celebrated Bow 
 Street runner, in 1/83 said that "when Serjeant Adair 
 was Recorder of London, there were forty persons 
 hung at two executions." 
 
 The old novelists give us a very good idea of the 
 condition of affairs in those days, Fielding in par- 
 ticular. The prisons were in a terrible state ; there 
 
254 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 was no distinction in the treatment of the prisoners ; 
 besides which, those who could pay exorbitant fees 
 were allowed great privileges and indulgencies. There 
 had been no improvement made in the management 
 of prisons for many years past, until in 1777 John 
 Howard published his book on prisons, and awakened 
 public attention to their deplorable and disgusting 
 condition. Although the condition of the law is not 
 even now what it should be, yet there is nothing like 
 the amount of crime there was one hundred years ago. 
 By lessening the severity of punishment, crime seems 
 to have diminished rather than have increased ; in fact, 
 throughout the present reign crime has diminished to 
 an extraordinary extent, and there is no doubt it will 
 continue to do so as the law becomes better adminis- 
 tered and the sentences present a more uniform justice. 
 At present, to read of the sentences inflicted by judges 
 upon criminals who have committed offences of exactly 
 the same nature, and in all points bearing a strong 
 resemblance one to the other, is positively ludicrous. 
 It is to be hoped that some day an Act of Parliament 
 will be passed compelling judges to pass a certain 
 sentence for a certain offence, and that they will not 
 be permitted to exceed or diminish the amount of 
 punishment except by permission of a higher tribunal, 
 and then only when the circumstances of the case 
 will necessitate the infliction of a certain increase or 
 diminution of punishment. The amount of crime a 
 century ago was, in a great measure, owing to the 
 condition of the prisons and the modes of punish- 
 ment, which provoked persons of an evil disposition 
 into a course of depredation and warfare upon society. 
 In country villages there was no other guardian of the 
 peace but the parish beadle, a far more imposing 
 
SIGNBOARDS. 255 
 
 personage than the village policeman, and one far 
 better calculated to strike terror into the hearts of 
 village miscreants than the blue-coated, silver-buttoned, 
 helmet-headed bobby of the present day. 
 
 It is more than possible that every time a coach 
 passed through a village the beadle was quickly on the 
 spot, particularly if it pulled up to deliver a passenger 
 or a letter-bag, as it was then necessary for him to 
 keep back the village children, upon whom the sight 
 of his staff and big cocked hat had an awe-inspiring 
 effect. 
 
 To the villages in those days there was generally 
 a green, round which were clustered the cottages, and 
 near to which stood the village inn, whilst the sign- 
 post and swinging signboard frequently stood on the 
 green itself; and these signboards were, in rare 
 instances, works of art. Sir Peter Lely is said to have 
 painted one, and other famous artists frequently con- 
 descended to do so, more for the fun of the thing 
 than for anything else. 
 
 A Royal Academician, in his lately published 
 Autobiography, admits having done so for an inn 
 in H arrogate ; but this sign was never hung in its 
 legitimate position, but only on the walls of the 
 sitting-room occupied by the proprietor of the inn 
 for which it was intended. 
 
 On these village greens, as a matter of course, 
 were the village stocks ; and such things have been 
 known, in some villages, as a ducking-stool. "Madam," 
 said Dr. Johnson, in a conversation with Mrs. 
 Knowles, " we have different modes of restraining evil ; 
 stocks for the men, a ducking-stool for women, and a 
 pound for beasts." 
 
 The only thing which remains in common use 
 
256 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 at the present time, is the pound for beasts ; for as- 
 human beings no longer treat one another like beasts, 
 the stocks and the ducking-stool have disappeared. 
 But the ducking-stool was a little out of fashion in Dr. 
 Johnson's time, and more so still one hundred years 
 ago. 
 
 It is mentioned in the London Evening Post of 
 April 27th, 1745. " Last week," says that journal, 
 " a woman that keeps the Queen's Head Ale House 
 at Kingston in Surrey, was ordered by the court to be 
 ducked for scolding, and was accordingly placed in 
 the chair and ducked in the River Thames under 
 Kingston Bridge, in the presence of 2000 or 3000 
 people." 
 
 According to verbal tradition, this punishment 
 was inflicted at Kingston and other places up to 
 the beginning of the present century. 
 
 Mr. Cole, the antiquary, writing about 1780, 
 says : " In my time, when I was a boy, and lived 
 with my grandfather in a great corner house at the 
 bridge foot next to Magdalen College, Cambridge, 
 I remember to have seen a woman ducked for 
 scolding." 
 
 On most village greens there were stocks, and in 
 some villages a whipping-post. On May 5th, 1713, 
 the Corporation of Doncaster ordered a whipping-post 
 to be set up at the stocks, at Butcher's Cross, for 
 punishing vagrants and sturdy beggars.* The stocks 
 were often so constructed as to serve both for stocks 
 and whipping-post : and the posts which supported 
 the stocks, being made sufficiently high, were fur- 
 nished near the top with iron clasps to fasten round 
 the wrists of the offender and hold him securely 
 * Notes and Queries, vol. xvii., 327. 
 
VILLAGE STOCKS. 257 
 
 during the infliction of the punishment. Sometimes 
 a single post was made to serve both purposes, clasps 
 being provided near the top for the wrists when used 
 as a whipping- post, and similar clasps below for the 
 ankles when used as stocks, in which case the culprit 
 sat on a bench behind the post, so that his legs, 
 when fastened to the post, were in a horizontal position. 
 Stocks and whipping-posts of this description still exist 
 in many places, and persons are still living who have 
 been subjected to both kinds of punishment for which 
 they were designed. Latterly, under the influence 
 we may suppose of growing humanity, the whipping 
 part of the apparatus was dispensed with, and after 
 a time the stocks were also disused. 
 
 The stocks was a simple arrangement for exposing 
 a culprit on a bench confined by having his ankles 
 held fast in holes under a movable board. Each 
 parish had one usually close to the churchyard, but 
 sometimes in more solitary places. 
 
 There is an amusing story told of Lord Camden, 
 when a barrister, having been fastened up in the 
 stocks on the top of a hill, in order to gratify his 
 curiosity on the subject. He was, however, left there 
 by the absent-minded friend who had locked him in, 
 and he found it impossible to procure his liberation 
 for the greater part of the day. On his entreating 
 a chance traveller to release him, the man shook 
 his head, and passed on, remarking that " of course 
 he was not put there for nothing." 
 
 Nowadays, the stocks are in most places removed 
 as an unpopular object ; or we see little more than 
 the remains of them left. The whipping of female 
 vagrants was expressly forbidden by a statute of 1791. 
 
 Before the erection of the whipping-post, vagrants 
 
258 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 used to be tied to the cart-tail and whipped throughout 
 the village ; in fact, the laws against vagrancy were 
 exceedingly cruel. Men and women were whipped 
 at Worcester till the close of the last century, as may 
 be seen by the corporation records ; the plan was 
 to strip them to the waist, and whip them until blood 
 came. Young girls used to be whipped in this manner 
 for merely wandering about without any fixed place 
 of habitation, or for begging. 
 
 All these things were witnessed by travellers in 
 those days ; and then there were the great village 
 fairs, and the festivities on May Day, when Jack-in- 
 the-Green was " en evidence," and the village beauty 
 was enthroned and crowned as Queen of May. This 
 last old custom is a very delightful one, and there 
 is no doubt that by perpetuating it we greatly con- 
 tribute to the amusement of people whose lives are 
 not remarkable for any great amount of enjoyment. 
 May Day is perhaps one of the most noteworthy of 
 these past customs, the celebration of which must have 
 been witnessed by many travellers on the old coaches 
 as they passed through village after village on the 
 first of May. Chambers says that in England we 
 have to go back several generations to find the 
 observance of May Day in its fullest development ; 
 even the king and queen were accustomed to join 
 in the maying festivities. In Chaucer's " Court of 
 Love " we read that, early on May Day. " Forth goeth 
 all the court, both most and least to fetch the flowers 
 fresh." In fact, in the reign of Henry VIII., of 
 murderous memory, the heads of the Corporation of 
 London went out into the high grounds of Kent 
 to gather in the may; the king and his queen, Catherine 
 of Arragon, coming from their palace at Greenwich, 
 and meeting them at Shooter's Hill. 
 
MA Y-POLES. 259 
 
 One can scarcely imagine a fat old alderman 
 searching for wild flowers, and waddling home with 
 great branches of may- blossom, whilst an H.R.H. 
 meets him on his return journey, and congratulates 
 him on the fact. 
 
 It was the custom to decorate the doors and 
 windows with flowers and branches of may ; besides 
 which every old town and village had a May-pole 
 as high as the mast of a vessel of a hundred tons, 
 on which every year as May Day returned there were 
 suspended wreaths of flowers, and round this May-pole 
 villagers or townspeople were wont to dance. The 
 May-pole, as it was called, was as much an institution 
 of village life a hundred years ago as the parish 
 church or the parish stocks. 
 
 AYashington Irving, who visited England early in 
 this century, records in his " Sketch-Book," that to 
 his delight he had seen an old English May-pole. 
 At the present day it is only the little children of 
 the village who perpetuate this custom that once was 
 regarded as so important. The children in my own 
 village, on the first of May, come to my front door 
 with bunches of wild flowers tied to sticks. The 
 flowers are a good deal damaged by their rough 
 handling, and the children appear very uncertain as to 
 what they are to do with themselves or the sticks 
 which they grasp so nervously in their grubby little 
 hands. They sing a few songs, and, receiving a suitable 
 recompense, they go on their way rejoicing to visit other 
 houses to solicit more contributions. Taking them 
 all round, there are not more than a dozen children at 
 the outside, and in other villages throughout England 
 I have no doubt this is about the extent to which May 
 Day is now celebrated. Yet it is only two hundred 
 years ago that there was a May-pole in the Strand, 
 
 S 2 
 
260 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 which was said to be one hundred and thirty-four feet 
 high ; but this was subsequently removed. A writer 
 in the year 1800, facetiously and inquiringly remarks : 
 
 What's not destroyed 
 By Time's relentless hand ? 
 Where's Troy ? and where's 
 The May-pole in the Strand ? 
 
 But there always appears to me to be some wisdom in 
 this old custom of celebrating May Day, since every 
 one should rejoice at the return of warm weather, 
 except it be those who love hunting better than any 
 pastime. Certainly the coachman, guards, and pas- 
 sengers on a coach must have rejoiced at the approach 
 of summer, although in our uncertain climate the 
 whole month of May is frequently terribly cold : per- 
 haps one hundred years ago the clerk of the weather 
 was less irregular in his proceedings. In the garden 
 of the Palais Royal there is a cannon, above the 
 vent-hole in the breech of which there is a magnifying 
 or burning-glass. This is so focussed and directed 
 that when the sun's rays are sufficiently strong the 
 powder becomes ignited and the cannon is discharged ; 
 then do Parisians become acquainted with the fact 
 that summer is approaching by an audible proof. 
 
 Beating the bounds was another strange custom 
 prevailing in towns and villages one hundred years 
 ago. Chambers says that it was designed to suppli- 
 cate the divine blessing on the fruits of the earth, and 
 to preserve in all classes of the community a due 
 respect for the bounds of parochial and individual 
 property. Refreshments were provided for those who 
 undertook to beat the bounds ; in fact, at Edgcote, in 
 Buckinghamshire, there was an acre of land, let at 
 three pounds a year, which was left to the parish 
 officers to defray the expenses of such annual peram- 
 
BEATING THE BOUNDS. 261 
 
 bulation of the parish. At Husburne Crawley, in 
 Bedfordshire, four pounds are spent once in seven 
 years to defray the expenses of perambulating and 
 marking out the boundaries of the parish. They were 
 often opposed by the owners of property over which 
 they proceeded, and have frequently been prosecuted 
 for trespass, but the judges have always decided in 
 favour of the boundary beaters. If a canal had been 
 cut through the parish, or a river obstructed the way, 
 they had to swim or cross it in boats. If a house had 
 been erected on the boundary line, the procession 
 claimed the right to pass through it. 
 
 But with all these innocent customs and old- 
 fashioned observances, one must not be oblivious of 
 the fact that England was anything but innocent one 
 hundred years ago : life and property were both ex- 
 posed to frequent attacks. There were any number of 
 highwaymen, footpads, and housebreakers ready to 
 take advantage of any moment when either property 
 was insecurely guarded or the temptation to possess it 
 became too overpowering to be resisted. Highway- 
 men especially were the terror of the road. Every 
 one has heard of Dick Turpin. He was no mythical 
 character, but actually existed. He was born 1711, 
 and was executed at York in 1739 ; consequently he 
 was twenty-eight years of age at the time of his execu- 
 tion. He has been immortalised by Harrison Ains- 
 worth. Claud Duval lived a great time before. He 
 was born in 1670, and consequently had very little to 
 do with robbing stage-coaches ; but since the days of 
 Dick Turpin there was a famous highwayman called 
 Galloping Dick, who was executed at Aylesbury in 
 1 800 ; and still later than this lived Captain Grant, the 
 Irish highwayman, executed at Maryborough in 1816. 
 The lower classes in those days appear to have had 
 
262 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 great sympathy for the knights of the road, possibly 
 because they had no occasion to rob the poor ; and it 
 was evident that the rising generation of shop-lads 
 and apprentices of those days was much impressed 
 with the exciting and adventurous life led by these 
 gentlemen of the road. In fact, there is an old ballad 
 which runs as follows : 
 
 Hurrah for the road ! my steed, hurrah ! 
 
 Through bush, through brake go we ; 
 
 'Tis ever a virtue, when others pay, 
 
 To ruffle it merrily ! 
 
 Oh, there never was life like the robbers so 
 
 Jolly, and bold, and free : 
 
 And its end ? why, a cheer from the crowd below, 
 
 And a leap from the leafless tree ! 
 
 The road that passes over Shooter's Hill near 
 Blackheath, was once the great Roman road from 
 Dover to London ; it was on this road that Turpin 
 made many of his successful raids on travellers ; in 
 fact, this spot was a favourite one for these tax- 
 gatherers of the highway. Byron has immortalised it 
 in verse by selecting it for the robbery of Don Juan. 
 Turpin's real name was Richard Palmer ; the position 
 of his family was a very good one, but he, being 
 apprehended for poaching, made his escape and fled 
 from his home. Turpin's first collection, for so it was 
 called in those days, was the robbery of the steward 
 of Squire Norton in Epping Forest ; he was conveying 
 his master's rents to London to deposit them in the 
 bank, and was travelling in his master's coach when he 
 was stopped by Turpin, who was riding the celebrated 
 Black Bess, which, although it did not then belong to 
 him, afterwards became his property. The carriage 
 which he stopped had only emerged from the " Spread 
 Eagle," a well-known inn in Epping Forest, about 
 
DICK TURPIX. 263 
 
 half-an-hour before ; it was one of those huge carriages 
 common enough in those days ; they were generally, 
 as was the case in this instance, drawn by clumsy, 
 high- crested Flemish horses, and, consequently, they 
 travelled very slowly. When the carriage approached, 
 Turpin and his accomplice, who had been hidden 
 amongst some trees by the roadside, moved swiftly 
 out into the middle of the road ; Turpin was quickly at 
 the door of the coach, crying out, " Stand and deliver," 
 whilst the other highwayman sprang to the horses' 
 heads and arrested their further progress. Four stout 
 canvas bags, containing the rent, were, after much 
 hesitation, thrown out on the road by the alarmed 
 steward, who was then allowed to continue his journey ; 
 but, as the two highwaymen were picking up the bags, 
 the steward, having recovered from his fright, managed 
 to fire a parting shot, which whistled harmlessly over 
 their heads. Nevertheless, shortly after this, they 
 were pursued by a party of foxhunters, who had been 
 informed of the robbery ; and it is alleged that on 
 nearing the Thames, at a spot formed by the em- 
 bouchure of the creek dividing Plaistow Level from 
 the broad level of Barking, and known as Creek Point, 
 they took to the Thames, and with their horses swam 
 across the river, hiding their money-bags before they 
 proceeded to do so ; after which they plunged boldly 
 into the stream, and with much difficulty reached the 
 opposite bank in safety. This is one of the many 
 tales told of Turpin's daring exploits, and is men- 
 tioned very positively in an old book of the period ; 
 his companion on this occasion was named Fielder. 
 Not long after this he stopped Tom King, another 
 celebrated highwayman who knew Turpin, although 
 Turpin did not know him. "What!" cried King, 
 "dog rob dog? \Vhy, strike me ugly, if that's not 
 
264 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 good ! " But the matter having been satisfactorily 
 explained, and King's identity having been proved 
 beyond doubt, these two rascals were ever afterwards 
 capital friends. 
 
 I cannot be answerable for all the tales told of 
 Turpin, but have chosen those fictions which possess 
 a substratum of truth. He is said to have stopped 
 Lord C.'s coach. Tom King, the highwayman, with 
 whom Turpin became very intimate, had suggested 
 his doing so. Highwaymen, who by their nefarious 
 trade managed to live like gentlemen, in frequenting 
 Vauxhall, Ranelagh Gardens, and the noted coffee and 
 gambling-houses, frequently scraped acquaintance with 
 the gentlemen and noblemen of that period ; such is 
 stated to have been the case with King. Lord C. was 
 very well known to him, so an old writer declares. 
 Notwithstanding this fact, he agreed with Turpin 
 to stop his lordship's coach ; the account of his doing 
 so is so graphic that I do not think I can do better 
 than give it literally, since it affords us the opportunity 
 of judging how these light-fingered gentry became 
 possessed of their fortunes, which ill-gotten gains were 
 frequently squandered in a single night at the gaming- 
 tables which then abounded in all parts of the metro- 
 polis ; it was a case of light come, light go. 
 
 When King had thoroughly explained his views, 
 Turpin readily agreed to them. " I like it much," 
 replied he ; " here's my hand on't ; and for my part 
 of the business, fortune favouring, consider it as done. 
 You must not, however, be seen, Tom, as he will 
 be sure to recognise you, though I did not. Leave 
 it all to me; only detain our bird a few minutes at 
 the ' Star,' and if I don't pluck his feathers, call 
 me a bungler if you like." 
 
 " I don't approve of your having all the danger, 
 
DICK TURPIN. 26$ 
 
 though," said King ; " I'll be at hand in case of 
 necessity." 
 
 "Pooh, pooh! never fear ; d'ye think I'll sloven 
 it ? Show me the rattler,* so that I may know it 
 when I see it again, and I'll undertake to catalogue 
 
 its contents." 
 
 Matters were soon arranged, and King then rode 
 forward to the inn at which the young nobleman was 
 expected. He soon after arrived. Being personally 
 acquainted with Tom from a town introduction he 
 was on his way to his country seat he was rejoiced 
 at this unexpected rencontre with a pleasant fellow. 
 Wine was liberally ordered, and a merry hour and 
 a half was passed, while Dick spent the interval in 
 making the necessary arrangements for the success 
 of their exploit. 
 
 The sun set, and up rose the moon that was to 
 witness so much mischief. "The devil's in that moon," 
 Lord C. would have thought had he known what 
 was to befall him in the next hour. 
 
 After some hearty shakes of the hand, and an 
 appointment to meet in London at a future day, 
 Tom King bade good-bye to his aristocratic bottle 
 companion. 
 
 The night was beautiful. The broad, bright 
 summer moon silvered the foliage of the massive and 
 majestic timber which clothed both vale and upland 
 thereabout ; there was scarcely enough motion in 
 the air to shake the leaves on the trees that bor- 
 dered the high-road. It was just the night for the 
 nightingale to pour forth its song from the coppice 
 undisturbed. 
 
 The rattle of Lord C.'s coach- wheels resounded 
 on the still night air. His attendants consisted of 
 
 * Carriage. 
 
266 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 his valet and a postillion. The coach entered a 
 narrow lane, where long rows of lofty over-arching 
 elms threw dense shadows on the roadway. It had 
 advanced some fifty yards along this avenue when 
 the horse on which the post-boy rode suddenly shied, 
 and, tossing his head, reared at some obstacle on the 
 ground. His rider spurred him on and he fell, drag- 
 ging with him the off-horse, who had also stopped 
 short. 
 
 The boy rolled from the saddle, the valet leaped 
 from the rumble, and, opening the carriage door, 
 inquired if his lordship was hurt a question more 
 polite than necessary, seeing that nothing had hap- 
 pened that was likely to hurt him. His lordship 
 was just enjoying a doze, to which the sultriness of 
 the evening and the fumes of the wine he had 
 imbibed had disposed him, when he was awoke by 
 the sudden stoppage and by his valet's inquiry. 
 
 " What the devil's the matter now, Stevens ? 
 'Sblood ! a horse down, eh ? Help the lad to get 
 him up, then, and be d d to you. Stab me, but 
 you stare like a fool. Shut the door, fellow ; I'm 
 drowsy." 
 
 A minute after, Stevens again softly opened the 
 door. 
 
 " My lord," said he, almost in a whisper, " we 
 can't get on ; there's one of the horses disabled by 
 his fall. One would think that 'twas done designedly, 
 for there's a small tree across the road, and the bark 
 so peeled off it that the best eyes couldn't see it 
 in the moonlight. Shall I go back to the ' Star,' 
 my lord, or 
 
 " You may go to the devil, you fool ! " vociferated 
 the angry nobleman ; for, in those days, the elegant 
 accomplishments of hard swearing, hard drinking, and 
 
"STAND, AND DELIVER." 267 
 
 abusive language to servants and subordinates, were 
 distinguishing features of a man of ton, to which 
 character his lordship laid a strong claim. " 'Sblood, 
 but the road surveyors hereabout shall hear of this, 
 the d d scoundrels ! That extortionate numskull, 
 too, mine host of the ' Star/ to send a nobleman 
 forward with such floundering cats'-meat. Demme ! 
 but I'll horsewhip him round his own yard strike 
 me dumb, but I will ! " 
 
 His lordship, having by this time sworn himself 
 awake, looked out of the front window of the vehicle 
 with a languid yawn. 
 
 " Stevens," said he the valet again hastened to 
 the carriage door " Stevens, what the devil's the 
 use of your running away ? Can't the young scamp 
 there ride back for the fresh horses as well as you, 
 you blockhead ? " 
 
 " Certainly, my lord," replied Stevens obsequi- 
 ously ; and the boy accordingly mounted the un- 
 injured horse, and rode back to the " Star." 
 
 He had scarcely cleared the lane when a man 
 stepped from behind a tree at the roadside. 
 
 " Down on your knees, or I fire!" said he, in a 
 gruff undertone, to the valet, at the same time 
 presenting a pistol to his ear. 
 
 The gentleman's gentleman dropped instantly at 
 the word of command, and Turpin, with a significant 
 gesture, stepped towards the open coach-door. His 
 lordship had thrown himself back, and as he had 
 sworn himself awake, was now reversing the process, 
 and proving its efficacy by an endeavour to curse 
 himself to sleep again, when a strange voice prevented 
 the progress of his experiment by bidding him " Stand, 
 and deliver!" His lordship was certainly astonished, 
 but not being constitutionally timid, he soon saw how 
 
268 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 matters were. Yet the coolness and assurance of the 
 highwayman, who stood at the door, while Stevens 
 knelt in the dusty road at some couple of yards 
 distance, staggered him. He placed his hand in a 
 pocket of the carriage, and drawing forth one of his 
 travelling pistols, levelled it deliberately at Turpin's 
 head. 
 
 " Stevens ! " shouted he. 
 
 " Stevens knows better than to stir," replied the 
 highwayman, pointing his pistol for an instant in the 
 direction of the valet. 
 
 His lordship seized the opportunity, and drew the 
 trigger, but no sound was heard but the click of the 
 flint. Our hero turned to him with a smile. 
 
 " Upon my word, my lord," said he coolly, " I'm 
 obliged to your lordship for rebuking my bad manners 
 in not attending to you first. I have to apologise 
 
 The enraged nobleman had snatched the other 
 pistol from its receptacle, but again the provoking 
 flash of the priming powder whiffed off in smoke ! 
 He angrily hurled the harmless weapon at Turpin, 
 who, ducking his head, avoided the missile. His 
 lordship then threw himself back on his seat, with 
 the air of a man who has left all to fate, and is per- 
 fectly resigned to the inevitable. 
 
 " Much obliged, certainly, for your kind intention," 
 resumed Dick, " but, my lord, next time you feel 
 inclined to shoot anybody, take the precaution of 
 seeing your pistols haven't had their charges drawn. 
 It is a bad world we live in," added he, without 
 altering the tone of his voice or dismissing the smile 
 which played on so much of his face as was not hidden 
 by the mask he wore. His lordship was thoroughly 
 amazed at his impudence and at the condition of his 
 firearms. " And now, if you please, we'll discuss 
 
COLLECTING. 269 
 
 business/' said Turpin. " I must trouble you for your 
 loose cash, my lord " (a purse was handed to him). 
 " And now, if you please, I'll take your watch ; it is a 
 handsome one, I know " (his lordship drew it slowly 
 from his fob). " That diamond on your finger ; and 
 I'll also thank you for the miniature you carry about 
 you of a lovely lady, of whom, my lord, we'll say 
 nothing but that I know you have it." 
 
 All but the last-named article was delivered with 
 the air of a martyr or a helpless and resigned man ; 
 but at the last demand his lordship found his tongue. 
 
 " Gadzooks, Mr. Highwayman," said he, " I'm 
 sorry I did not know you better. I take it you're a 
 gentleman ; and as it seems " (his lordship here un- 
 buttoned his coat, and drew forth a picture) " you 
 know of this though stifle me if I can guess where 
 you got your information I'll make an appeal to you. 
 The picture I'll not part with, demme" (his lordship 
 grew warm) " and if you're the blood I take you to 
 be, you'll not insist on it. Name the terms, and I'll 
 redeem my pledged word like a man of honour and a 
 gentleman demme ! " 
 
 " Why, really," replied Dick, " I have wasted too 
 much time already. I forgive you the attempt you 
 made to provide for me in another world ; and as I've 
 reason to believe your lordship really has an affection 
 for this picture, and I've no wish to disfigure it by 
 breaking its frame, say thirty guineas. You assent ? 
 Then an order for thirty guineas on your agent in 
 Coombe will do, and I'll ensure its presentation before 
 your lordship can trouble him with any advice on the 
 subject." 
 
 Lord C. drew forth his pocket-book, and, extract- 
 ing a leaf, wrote the required order. Turpin looked 
 narrowly at it, folded it, and, bowing low with an air 
 
270 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 of mock reverence to his lordship, closed the coach- 
 door. A low whistle was heard, and he disappeared 
 through the gap in the hedge by which he had come. 
 
 All this while the valiant Stevens had knelt, with 
 a piteous and alarmed aspect, in the road. His master 
 looked out, and, despite his vexation at the untoward 
 affair, could not keep his gravity at viewing the pale 
 and affrighted countenance of his terrified menial. 
 
 " By gad ! " exclaimed he, " may I be struck comical 
 if you are not the drollest picture of a goose at his last 
 gasp I'd ever the luck to see ! Why, what in the name 
 of all that's miserable ails the man ? Get up with 
 you." 
 
 Stevens rose from his genuflexions. 
 
 The whistle Turpin had heard was the signal 
 of the approach of the horses and assistance. They 
 came, the obstruction was removed, and his lordship 
 once more proceeded on his journey. We need not 
 say the order was presented and duly honoured. 
 
 Some little way back, I have spoken of the 
 apparatus that was made use of to pacify scolding 
 wives, and in fact all women of the lower class who, 
 when they lost their tempers, allowed their tongues to 
 get the better of their discretion. Dick Turpin's 
 biographer gives an animated description of the way in 
 which this punishment was inflicted. He says : 
 
 " A day or two after their return to town, Turpin and 
 his friend Tom King were sauntering down Margaret 
 Lane, with the intention of idling an hour at Oliver's 
 to learn the news of the day, when, as they were about 
 to turn into Palace Yard, they were passed by a 
 motley rabble of ragged boys, unwashed coster- 
 mongers, and slipshod women, shouting most voci- 
 ferously, thrusting and elbowing towards a knot of 
 
THE DUCKING-STOOL. 271 
 
 blackguards who were carrying a woman, apparently 
 drunk, in the midst of them. 
 
 "'Hurrah for Roaring Peg ! ' cried the disorderly 
 mob. * Hurrah for the ducking-stool ! * hurrah ! 
 hurrah ! ' and onward rushed the riff-raff down the 
 narrow avenue of Dirty Lane. Bellowing and shouting, 
 on they passed, and turning by ' Purgatory,' they 
 took their way to the river-side. 
 
 " ' Shall we follow, and see the sport ? ' suggested 
 Dick Turpin. ' What the deuce does it all mean ? ' 
 
 " * Have you never seen the cooling discipline ? ' 
 asked King. 
 
 " Dick replied in the negative. 
 
 " ' Have with you, then/ said Tom ; and the friends 
 followed the riotous assemblage. 
 
 " Arrived at the spot, they witnessed a curious scene. 
 The victim of this popular discipline was a muscular 
 virago of some forty years oldj and displayed in her 
 neglected person and face the wreck of a once hand- 
 some woman, destroyed by a long course of drunken- 
 ness. In spite of her kicks and struggles, she was 
 thrust into a strong and clumsily-constructed arm-chair, 
 and a rod of iron being passed through a hole near the 
 extremity of each arm, her body was effectually secured 
 therein. This chair was attached by a chain and rope 
 to the longer lever of a huge wooden beam, and, by 
 the united efforts of a number of men, the drunken 
 scold was elevated in the air amid the vociferations of 
 the delighted mob. 
 
 " * Now, my lads,' exclaimed the beadle, who was 
 
 * " The ducking-stool stood at the end of Dirty Lane, near the 
 building called Purgatory; it was removed about 1738." See Smith's 
 "History and Antiquities of Westminster," London, 1807, where a 
 description of the apparatus is given. 
 
272 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 master of the ceremonies on this important occasion, 
 ' stick to your tackle ; stand clear, there ! ' and he 
 applied his rattan lustily to the shoulders of the 
 junior branches of the bystanders, avoiding with 
 astonishing dexterity, only to be acquired by long 
 practice, falling into the error he was so often chal- 
 lenged to commit, of ' hitting any one of his own 
 size/ 
 
 " The ponderous machine swung upon the post 
 which formed its fulcrum, and, by half a revolution, 
 placed the virago in mid-air, her legs performing 
 sundry eccentric fandangos over the river, which was 
 now at high tide. 
 
 " ' Hurrah ! hurrah for Roaring Peg ! ' shouted the 
 multitude. 
 
 "The unfortunate victim of the popular discipline 
 .cursed and raved ; but her imprecations were inaudible 
 in the roar of the many-throated voice of the sovereign 
 people. 
 
 "The gold-laced functionary, having allowed the 
 tumult in some degree to wear itself out and subside, 
 gave the signal. The loosened cord, passing over a 
 pulley fixed to the shorter arm of the lever, allowed 
 the chair to descend until the inveterate scold dis- 
 appeared over head and ears in the muddy water 
 of the Thames. Again the chair rose, and again, 
 spluttering oaths and imprecations, was its unlucky 
 feminine occupant immerged. 
 
 " ' Hold hard ! ' cried the beadle, raising his cane ; 
 the fellows who worked the apparatus gave it a half- 
 turn, and the beadle, keeping a respectful distance 
 from the dripping and wretched creature, proceeded 
 to interrogate, with the air of a chief inquisitor. 
 
 "'Well, Mistress Peg, you see "long-threatened 
 
THE MAJESTY OF THE LAW. 273 
 
 come at last." Will you promise not to give me and 
 these gentlemen here so much trouble again ? ' 
 
 " Peg's reply was too strong for 'ears polite.' 
 
 " ' So, so,' exclaimed the insulted Bumble. ' I see 
 still owdacious against the mighty majesty of the 
 law ! We'll cure her, I'll warrant. Now, lads, another 
 dip ; yeo, ho ! and away ! ' 
 
 "'Mister Beadle! 7 screamed Peg; but her re- 
 monstrance was too late. She had refused the 
 proffered amnesty, and the beadle felt his conde- 
 scension misplaced. 
 
 " The ponderous beam revolved, the chair de- 
 scended, and Peg plunged again, ' hissing hot, into the 
 bosom of the Thames. 7 
 
 " This time, in obedience to a gesture of the director, 
 a momentary pause took place during the submersion 
 ere the beam again rose, and exhibited the wretched 
 creature to the derision and laughter of the populace. 
 The last prolonged dip had effectually cooled her. 
 
 " * For the love of mercy, good Mister Beadle, let 
 me out ! ' exclaimed she ; ' oh, pray let me out ! 
 Oh do ! I'll never agen, s'elp me Oh, oh ! ' 
 
 " ' Land her, boys,' cried the beadle ; but to this 
 some of the mischievous assistants in the ceremony 
 demurred. 
 
 " ' Let's give her another dip, mister ; it'll do her a 
 mort o' good,' remonstrated they. 
 
 " But the dignitary knew that concession to the 
 demands of a mob is fatal to the supremacy of the 
 ruler ; so, to preserve his character of beaclle-craft, in 
 imitation of greater potentates, he peremptorily vetoed 
 the popular proposition. The arm was accordingly 
 swung round, and poor Peg, completely conquered, 
 deposited on terra fimna; and the beadle, after exacting 
 
274 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 a public and unconditional promise of peaceable con- 
 duct, ordered her release ; and the victim of intoxi- 
 cation and vituperative passion staggered homeward." 
 
 But to return to matters more nearly connected 
 with our subject, the condition of England a hundred 
 years ago. The stage-coaches then used to be adver- 
 tised to start from York, God willing, on a certain 
 day in the year of our Lord 1739, and these same 
 coaches would arrive, " Providence remaining willing," 
 in London some eight or ten days later. A writer 
 calls our attention to this fact, and says : 
 
 " This may serve to give some notion of the 
 uncertainty of communication ; and this uncertainty 
 was an element of safety to the highwayman, who, 
 in this age of fast coaches and railroads, exists no more. 
 The highwayman who took a purse on the road had 
 only to ride across the country, and he was, com- 
 paratively speaking, as safe from pursuit or recognition 
 as if, at this time, he betook himself to some distant 
 land. The merchant, the lawyer, the farmer, the 
 grazier, tl e commercial traveller knew not the safety 
 of K'inks, the convenience of paper currency, or the 
 accommodation of a ready and rapid transmission of 
 valuables by post. The grazier who drove up his 
 live stock from the North, returned, by easy stages 
 on horseback, in or out of company, as he might 
 happen to be prudent or incautious, bold or cowardly, 
 with the proceeds of his speculation in ' bright gold.' 
 The farmer took his way to market with leathern or 
 canvas bag well or scantily furnished, as his worldly 
 means might permit. The commercial traveller pro- 
 ceeded on his rounds, with goods of the more valuable 
 and lighter descriptions in bulk, on pack-horses, or by 
 the broad wheeled waggon. In the days of Fielding 
 
THE LAST CENTURY. 275 
 
 and of Smollett, we find such persons as clergymen 
 and men of a respectable rank in life, travelling by 
 waggon, a conveyance now * confined to the lowest 
 and most needy of the populace. For the shorter 
 distances round London and the great towns, there 
 were, it is true, stage-coaches ; but these, from the 
 slowness of their motion, were overtaken or stopped 
 at pleasure, and thus they offered an easy prey to 
 the knights of the road. Another cause of impunity 
 and the contempt with which the laws were treated 
 by the violators of them, was the corruption and 
 insufficiency of our protective regulations. There were 
 no police. A more consummate set of scoundrels, as 
 our criminal annals bear witness, could not have been 
 found than the subordinate officers of justice. The 
 lapse of a few years shows us no less than seven 
 thief-takers who ended their days on ' Tyburn tree,' 
 for various desperate crimes of which they had been 
 convicted. The roads in the neighbourhood of the 
 metropolis were so infested with robbers, that the 
 Duke of Newcastle of that period declared that for 
 a man of rank and property to travel fifty miles 
 unmolested was so unusual a fact that it was quite 
 exceptional. The character of Macheath, in The 
 Beggars Opera, was not in the slightest degree 
 overdrawn, though some modern critics declare it to 
 be so. The petty larceny knave of these degenerate 
 days (1830) of thieving can furnish no point of com- 
 parison with the dashing, well-dressed, well-mounted 
 men, who rode forth with loaded pistols and jauntily- 
 cocked hats to stop a gentleman's carriage or rob the 
 mail. It is true that they did so at the risk of their 
 lives, not so much dreading the scaffold as the pistol 
 
 f This work from which I quote was published 1830. 
 
 T 2 
 
276 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 or the blunderbuss loaded with slugs of the travellers 
 whom they boldly bade ' Stand and deliver ! ' Many 
 are the anecdotes of the generosity of these knights 
 errant Turpin, King, and their comrades." 
 
 Speaking of thieves, Shakespeare makes Timon of 
 Athens thus address a thief : 
 
 You must eat men. Yet thanks I must you con 
 
 That you are thieves profess'd ; that you work not 
 
 In holier shapes : for there is boundless theft 
 
 In limited professions. Rascal thieves, 
 
 Here's gold : Go, suck the subtle blood of the grape, 
 
 Till the high fever seeth your blood to froth, 
 
 And so 'scape hanging. Trust not the physician ; 
 
 His antidotes are poison, and he slays 
 
 More than you rob. Take wealth and lives together; 
 
 Do villainy, do, since you profess to do 't, 
 
 Like workmen. I'll example you with thievery : 
 
 The sun's a thief, and with his great attraction 
 
 Robs the vast sea : the moon's an arrant thief, 
 
 And her pale fire she snatches from the sun : 
 
 The sea's a thief, whose liquid surge resolves 
 
 The moon into salt tears : the earth's a thief, 
 
 That feeds and breeds by a composture stolen 
 
 From general excrement : each thing's a thief. 
 
 The laws, your curb and whip, in their rough power 
 
 Have uncheck'd theft. Love not yourselves : away ; 
 
 Rob one another. There's more gold : Cut throats ; 
 
 All that you meet are thieves : To Athens go; 
 
 Break open shops ; nothing can you steal, 
 
 But thieves do lose it : Steal not less, for this 
 
 I give you ; and gold confound you howsoever. 
 
 Timon of Athens, sc. iii. 
 
 Although highwaymen may have robbed in a gallant 
 fashion, and in manner and appearance were often 
 the equals of gentlemen of good birth, yet they were 
 none the less thieves. An old writer on this subject, 
 in the Quarterly Review, makes the following remark. 
 He says that " it is dangerous to expose vice, lest we 
 contaminate the imaginations of those who are yet 
 innocent and virtuous." And there is no doubt that 
 
ENCOURAGING VIRTUE BY EXPOSING VICE. 277 
 
 the popular works of fiction which used to make 
 heroes of house-breakers and highwaymen, did a vast 
 amount of injury amongst the rising generation of the 
 last century. In fact, even later, Harrison Ainsworth 
 might have chosen more virtuous heroes for his novels 
 than Jack Sheppard and Dick Turpin. 
 
 Another writer who seems well acquainted with 
 facts relating to the criminal classes of the last century, 
 says that " ignorance and innocence are synonymous 
 terms." This is a libel on virtue, for it is as much 
 as saying that, in the absence of guilty knowledge 
 of crime mankind eschews its commission. But this 
 is not the argument of a healthy mind. Were this the 
 case they would evince no more sagacity than the 
 ostrich, who plunges his head into the sand, in the 
 belief that by doing so, the whole of his body will 
 be hidden. 
 
 The Spartans intoxicated their helots to deter 
 them from drunkenness, by showing the degradation of 
 their minds and bodies when subjected to such a 
 process. This is very much like allowing a lad or 
 young woman engaged in a pastry-cook's shop to de- 
 vour as many sweetmeats as they like, in order that by 
 surfeiting them with these dainties, they may come to 
 dislike them, so that the proprietor of the shop may 
 be ensured against future loss from their depredations. 
 It is on this principle, and with this object in view, 
 that old fictional writers of the last century made 
 heroes of highwaymen and house-breakers, so that the 
 knowledge and punishment of crime might act as a 
 deterrent to the youth of that period. 
 
 Turpin, in conjunction with Tom King, robbed 
 whenever he had a chance, mostly confining his 
 exploits to the highway ; but one robbery very much 
 
278 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 resembled another. Information was first lodged with 
 Turpin by scouts whom he employed, as to the con- 
 templated journey of some one carrying a well-filled 
 purse, or bearing with him treasure which he in- 
 tended depositing in a bank or other place of safety. 
 Every opportunity was taken of acquiring knowledge 
 as to the route to be pursued by wealthy travellers ; 
 besides which, if any such opportunity offered, the 
 travellers' firearms were tampered with, so that when 
 they were stopped, and were prepared to offer resis- 
 tance, their old flint pistols and blunderbusses merely 
 flashed in the pan, without producing the expected 
 discharge that was to send the highwayman upon the 
 longest of all journeys never to return. 
 
 The following account, which I have slightly 
 edited, is from the same writer : 
 
 Turpin also robbed a Mr. Major. This gentleman 
 was mounted on a thorough-bred horse at the time of 
 the robbery. He had been dining with a Justice of 
 the Peace, or rather, having supper, for the convivial 
 meeting had been carried far into the night, and when 
 Mr. Major rose from the table the wax-lights were 
 flickering low in their sockets, and the daylight was 
 slowly stealing through the window-blinds. As for 
 the " worshipful company," many of them were county 
 magistrates, landowners, with one or two parsons ; 
 all of these enlightened individuals would have been 
 scandalised at the bare idea of encouraging education, 
 or proficiency in refinement, or at the mere mention 
 of total abstinence, or, in fact, of anything that would 
 improve the social and moral condition of country 
 communities. These fine old English gentlemen had 
 partaken of such fine old English hospitality, that 
 they were all dead drunk, and lying under the table 
 
MILITARY PATROLS. 279 
 
 or upon chairs and sofas scattered about the room, 
 with the exception of Mr. Major, who, opening the 
 door, called his servant, and announced his intention 
 of riding home. 
 
 " Let White-stockings be saddled," he said, "and 
 make haste." 
 
 " Ay, ay, sir," replied the man. 
 
 White-stockings was saddled, and Mr. Major took 
 his way along the avenue leading from the mansion 
 where he had been dining, much refreshed by the 
 " balmy breath of incense-breathing morn." He slack- 
 ened the pace of his horse as he reached the high-road. 
 Still feeling the effects of his share in the night's 
 debauch, he rode on leisurely with a loosened rein. His 
 horse was one which he had hunted, and it might be 
 said to have but two paces a walk and a gallop. 
 
 The racehorse of a hundred years ago, though not 
 equal in speed to the finer-bred animal of the modern 
 turf, had more bone and lasting qualities, and was up 
 to great weight ; in fact, the old " King's Plate " horse 
 of those days, though unfit to compete for short dis- 
 tances with the higher-bred nag of the present time, 
 made up in bone and endurance what he lacked in 
 blood and swiftness. 
 
 The subject of conversation at the dinner-table the 
 night before amongst the magistrates present, had been 
 the recent robberies, and the advisability of a communi- 
 cation to the Secretary of State, praying that a troop 
 of dragoons might patrol the road thereabout, not an 
 uncommon practice in the neighbourhood of London 
 at that time/'' 
 
 * From this employment of soldiers, the state of public safety on 
 the highways may be well imagined. Several instances of their being 
 engaged to patrol the roads may be found incidentally in the sketch 
 of Turpin in the ' f Malefactors' Register" ; in " The Life of Gentleman 
 
280 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 Whilst Mr. Major was thus musing, the regular 
 sound of a horse at full speed rose on his ear ; the 
 rider was evidently going the same road, namely, that 
 towards London. 
 
 " Here's company, at any rate," said he ; " and pretty 
 well mounted, if I may guess from the pace." 
 
 The horseman came up, and courteous salutations 
 were exchanged. 
 
 " Fine morning, sir," observed Turpin, for it was 
 he ; " going far on this road ? " 
 
 "Some four miles; nearly to Plaistow," replied 
 Mr. Major. " Early out this morning. That's a 
 pretty beast of yours." 
 
 Turpin replied merely by patting his horse's neck, 
 and the conversation turned on indifferent topics. 
 
 Nothing was further from Dick's mind than doing 
 what he termed " business " with the gentleman whom 
 he thus met at the very entrance of the clump of houses 
 at Trap's Hill. They rode on amicably, and in reply to 
 an inquiry on the part of Mr. Major, Dick informed him 
 that his name was Cutler ; that he resided at Hoddes- 
 don, in Hertfordshire, but having occasion to call on a 
 relation at Epping on his way to town on urgent 
 business, he had slept there on account of the 
 unsafeness of the roads, and had started with the 
 morning's dawn. The frank manner of Dick, and his 
 manly bearing, prejudiced Mr. Major in his favour ; 
 yet being like most sporting men not a little given 
 to braggadocio, he could not forbear laughing at 
 Turpin's apprehensions. 
 
 "I never had the luck," said he, "to meet any 
 of these fire-eating blades ; yet as the gentry here- 
 
 Harry" (who was executed at Tyburn, 1754), London, 8vo, 1754; in 
 The London Magazine, and in several contemporaneous tracts. 
 
AN EMPTY BOAST. 281 
 
 abouts have requested me, I've put my signature to 
 the requisition for the military. If I knew two or 
 three whose staunchness I could rely on, demme, but 
 I'd have a try to trap some of these knights of the 
 road. There's Colonel Asher, the Justice's brother; 
 'tis true he's a military man, but I don't value him 
 a straw. The humbug, when I asked his opinion, 
 prated as if he were about to open a campaign on the 
 Rhine against King Louis, instead of nabbing some 
 three or four scurvy desperadoes. No, no ; he's no 
 good! It's one Dick Turpin " (Dick turned his head 
 to conceal a smile) " they talk about most, and I've 
 more than a guess that there's something in the notion 
 that he's a lurking-place in the Forest here. I should 
 like no better sport, if they'd let me have three or four 
 of the troopers though I suppose that would be con- 
 trary to military etiquette than to unkennel them with 
 a hound or two." 
 
 " You may unkennel one of them without red-coat 
 or hound," cried Dick, suddenly turning his horse 
 against the shoulder of his antagonist's. " Deliver ! 
 and go home safely to tell your friends the Justices that 
 you met Dick Turpin." 
 
 Mr. Major reined back his horse, for the salute 
 was so sudden that he hardly understood its import ; 
 there was, however, no mistaking the look and gesture 
 of Dick. Mr. Major did not lack courage ; he dashed 
 aside the presented pistol with the butt of his riding- 
 whip, struck spur into the flank of White-stockings, 
 passed Dick at a single bound, and had cleared some 
 three strides ere our hero could give chase. Turpin had 
 not fired his pistol ; indeed, so desirous was he not to 
 do mischief, that its being upon half-cock alone secured 
 it from discharge, when struck aside by Mr. Major. 
 
282 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 " Stop surrender, or I'll fire!" exclaimed Dick. 
 
 Mr. Major, relying upon the excellence of his 
 horse, put still more ground between them. 
 
 "By gad!" muttered Dick, "I'll be as good as 
 my word. He's best mounted, but he sha'n't escape 
 me ! " 
 
 He raised his horseman's pistol to his eye, and 
 took as steady aim as his position would permit. A 
 bystander might easily have seen, however, that his 
 practised hand was directed far below the level of the 
 flying rider before him. 
 
 White-stockings shrank momentarily as he felt the 
 sharp cut of the ball ; but on a hint from the armed 
 heel of his rider, again " laid out." 
 
 A trickling stream of sanguine colour showed itself 
 down his fine white shank. Turpin eyed it with a 
 smile. Nevertheless, the horse was doing its utmost, 
 but the mare, Black Bess, not only held her own, 
 but was fast gaining on him ; but alas, they were 
 now at Friday Hill, within a mile of Woodford 
 Wells. 
 
 Turpin drew his remaining pistol. 
 
 " Stop ! I warn you ! " exclaimed he in a deter- 
 mined tone. 
 
 The only reply the fugitive deigned to make to 
 this summons was to place one hand behind him and 
 discharge a pistol without aim. 
 
 Dick raised his weapon on a level with his 
 shoulder, but let it fall again, as if hesitating whether 
 he should throw away his last shot. 
 
 " I must, or he will escape. I'll chance it ! " 
 
 Again was a low aim taken ; again the sharp crack 
 echoed the smoke curled along the air two bounds 
 upon three legs a sob an abortive attempt at a 
 
AN EXCHANGE OF PROPERTY. 283 
 
 spring and over fell White-stockings, sending his 
 rider rolling on the road before him. 
 
 Dick rocle up to Mr. Major. The bullet had 
 taken effect in the hock, and the panting animal 
 lay piteously eyeing his flanks. Mr. Major was 
 on the ground slightly bruised, but by no means 
 seriously hurt, and Dick, keeping an eye on him, 
 quickly reloaded his pistols. 
 
 The prostrate gentleman had now recovered his 
 feet, and was about, in his confusion, to make his 
 way to the wounded horse. This, however, Dick 
 prevented, for he doubted not that another pistol 
 remained in the holster. 
 
 " Another yard nearer, and I'll shoot you ! " said 
 he. 
 
 The half-stunned and smarting gentleman stared 
 at him stupidly. 
 
 " Come, quick, hand out look alive ! Your watch 
 I'll take first, that's handiest ; besides, mine don't go 
 just now, but I'm sure yours will." 
 
 Mr. Major complied sulkily he could not relish 
 the jest and cast a look at the wounded horse. 
 
 " Confound it ! " muttered he, " I wouldn't mind 
 my purse, but to lose my White-stockings. Fellow," 
 said he, turning angrily to Turpin, who, with one 
 hand extended and the other presenting the muzzle 
 of the "little persuader" at his head, sat waiting the 
 delivery of the gold, "you've done more mischief than 
 you can mend. I'd gladly give five purses such as 
 this to have saved his life." 
 
 " I've no time to argue," said Dick, looking warily 
 along the road ; " though, as we seem pretty much by 
 ourselves, I'll tell you that I'd the choice between you 
 and your horse, and I seldom miss. Thank my 
 
284 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 forbearance it's no worse. White-stockings or yourself 
 for you will observe I've hit him twice I'll thank 
 you for the studs from your ruffles, and the clasp from 
 your hat you must have fallen ; I took my choice, 
 and wherever you mention this little affair, be sure to 
 set against your regret for White-stockings the recollec- 
 tion that you owe your life to the forbearance of Dick 
 Turpin." So saying, Turpin clapped spurs to his 
 steed, and an hour after he was riding through London 
 on another horse. 
 
 After the robbery of Mr. Major, the country 
 appeared to be thoroughly roused ; the country 
 gentlemen took to patrolling the county in bodies, but 
 they soon discontinued this when, in November, 
 hunting of another kind commenced. 
 
 An example of Turpin's occasional good-hearted- 
 ness. He is said to have robbed a farmer of the rents 
 he was carrying to his landlord ; he was riding a stout 
 cob when stopped by Turpin. The highwayman rode 
 up to him at a brisk trot, and commanded him to 
 41 stand ! " The unfortunate fellow did so, not, however, 
 without looking round wistfully for help. 
 
 "Your money!" cried Turpin; "look alive, my 
 good man, don't you see you are keeping me 
 waiting ? " 
 
 "Oh, Lord! oh, Lord!" groaned the unfortunate 
 fanner. " Pray have mercy, good Mister Highwayman, 
 on a poor devil who never harmed man or beast ; it's 
 true, gentleman, I have a heavy sum." 
 
 " I'll soon lighten you," interrupted Turpin, " so 
 leave off chattering." 
 
 " It's my ruin, good gentleman," urged the poor 
 fellow, slowly drawing forth a canvas bag. " Take 
 five or ten pounds, and I may recover the loss, though 
 
"/ MERELY BORROW? 285 
 
 it will be hard work with eleven children to provide 
 for, and with such a hard landlord as I have ; there's 
 sixty-seven pounds, gentleman, savings, scrapings, 
 and borrowings, and I'm as good as turned out of my 
 farm if 'tain't paid to-day." 
 
 " My friend," said Turpin, " I must borrow that bag 
 from you." (The poor farmer's heart fell below his 
 waistband.) " Observe, I say borrow." 
 
 The word conveyed no comfort to the farmer, for 
 who would dream of a highwayman repaying what he 
 had stolen ? To the poor soul it was the wildest fiction 
 that was ever imagined. 
 
 " Dost hear?" said Turpin, snatching the bag from 
 the farmer's grasp. " Nay, don't drop your jaw as if you 
 never meant to shut your mouth again. Harkee ! 'tis 
 only borrowed, I tell ye that is, if your story's true ; if 
 a lie, then bid good-bye to every farthing. And, hark 
 ye, friend, if you pursue me with a view of recovering 
 your cash, you shall never see a shilling of it again." 
 
 The money was delivered up, and the farmer 
 returned home a poorer but a wiser man. Although 
 urged by his wife to do so, he declined to give infor- 
 mation against the highwayman, and three weeks after, 
 received back every farthing of his money. 
 
 This was somewhat different to the character given 
 to highwaymen in a popular ballad of that day, which 
 was as follows : 
 
 Over Hounslow, and Finchley, and Bagshot we're told, 
 Through the night one might travel in safety of old ; 
 But sp thick now are robbers that 'tis my belief, 
 For each lord of the manor you now find a thief. 
 
 Robin Hood he was famous enough in his day, 
 But his hand it was open to scatter his prey ; 
 But the thieves of our times are such covetous elves, 
 That whatever they get they keep all to themselves. 
 
286 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 Turpin, after committing several other highway 
 robberies, was pursued by the officers of justice, and to 
 escape from them he had to set forth on his celebrated 
 ride to York. In a scuffle he and King had with the 
 Bow Street runners before he started on his journey, 
 he by accident shot his old friend and ally Tom King. 
 The shot was intended for the celebrated Bow Street 
 runner Bayes, but in the scuffle that ensued between 
 Bayes and King, Turpin being mounted, the shot 
 miscarried, and entered the breast of King, who imme- 
 diately afterwards expired. He called out to Turpin to 
 shoot Bayes in order to prevent his being taken ; but 
 in the uncertain light, and the heat and excitement of 
 the scuffle, the bullet intended for Bayes put an end 
 to the life of King. " Fly, Dick," he cried ; " it is all 
 up with me." A shudder, a groan, and the gay, ex- 
 pressive features of the celebrated highwayman had 
 settled into the changeless quietude of death. 
 
 " Fifty pounds to the man who stops Turpin," cried 
 Bayes, but Turpin was off and away, whilst the bullets 
 from several pistols whizzed round his head. On he 
 rode through county after county, the shouts of his 
 pursuers (who procured fresh horses in the King's 
 name at each town through which they passed) 
 being often heard by him in the far distance 
 whilst Black Bess held bravely on. He only stopped, 
 when he had distanced his pursuers, to refresh his 
 horse with such stimulants as his long experience 
 of horseflesh could suggest, until, within nine miles of 
 York, the gallant Bess sank down exhausted on the 
 road. 
 
 Turpin stood for a while watching her death- 
 struggles. He loosened her bridle, he slipped the 
 bit from her mouth, whilst, with gaping jaws and 
 
TURPIN' S DEATH. 287 
 
 wide-strained nostrils, poor Bess panted for breath ; 
 the trembling sinews shook, although the power to rise 
 had gone. Another groan ; she fell back prostrate ; 
 a sob, a gasp, a choking rattle, and blood gushed from 
 her nostrils ; one fond look up into her master's face, 
 and, at last, the heart of the gallant Black Bess was 
 broken. 
 
 After the mare had died, Turpin heard a horseman 
 approaching. A few minutes afterwards he was at 
 that horseman's side, crying: ''Stand and deliver!" 
 Thereupon Turpin forced the new-comer to dismount. 
 " I shall not take your purse, sir," he said, "but shall 
 require your horse for the day ; to-morrow, if you will 
 pledge me your word as a gentleman not to proceed 
 further in this affair, the horse shall be returned to 
 you." 
 
 And, in a few minutes, the favourite hack of Sir 
 W. L was seen by its owner galloping away 
 towards York. 
 
 Turpin, not content to rest quiet in York, got 
 into a quarrel at a low public-house, and, being 
 marched off to prison, was recognised as the celebrated 
 highwayman. 
 
 He was executed shortly after this at York, the 
 year being 1739, and was followed to his grave, at his 
 own particular request, by six young unmarried women, 
 dressed in white, to whom he left sufficient money to 
 purchase what they required for the occasion. 
 
 An attempt was made by some body-snatchers to 
 remove his body from the grave, but this was 
 frustrated by a woman who was sincerely attached to 
 him. 
 
 Some of these particulars are confirmed by a 
 narrative of his early life, Svo., York, 1739, in the 
 
288 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 British Museum ; but the tales I have narrated above 
 are mostly gathered from the " Life of Dick Turpin,'' 
 by Henry Miles ; but they describe very well the kind 
 of exploits for which Turpin was famed, and the in- 
 terruptions to which travellers were subjected when 
 peacefully journeying from one place to another on 
 the King's highway, a little over one hundred years 
 ago. 
 
 " Hawke, the noted highwayman, once stopped a 
 gentleman, and bade him stand and deliver ; the 
 latter protested that he had no money to deliver, 
 but that he was flying from his creditors, in order to 
 avoid gaol. Hawke, pitying his unhappy situation, 
 inquired how much would relieve his wants ; he was 
 answered thirty guineas. Hawke then directed the 
 gentleman to go to a house, not far distant, and wait 
 until nine o'clock next morning, and he would bring 
 him something that would relieve him ; the gentleman 
 went, and before the time expired Hawke made his 
 appearance, and presented him with fifty guineas, 
 saying, ' Sir, I present this to you, with all my heart ; 
 wishing you well. Hesitate not, for you are welcome 
 to it.' The generous highwayman having done this,, 
 immediately took his leave." * 
 
 This was certainly very much to the credit of the 
 highwayman ; but, at the same time, there are few 
 gentlemen who would have cared to profit by it, if they 
 had considered for one moment from whence the 
 money came, and the trouble that the loss of it 
 may have occasioned some unoffending and peaceful 
 traveller. 
 
 There is a very ludicrous account in the same 
 book of an attempted robbery : 
 
 * "Percy Anecdotes," p. 19. 
 
A SHARP ARCHBISHOP. 289 
 
 " It was the custom of Archbishop Sharpe in his 
 journeys generally to have a saddle-horse attending 
 his carriage, that, in case of his feeling fatigued with 
 sitting, he might refresh himself by riding occasionally. 
 
 " In his advanced age, and a few years before his 
 death, as he was going in this manner to his episcopal 
 Palace, and was a mile or two in advance of his 
 carnage, a decently-dressed, good-looking young man 
 on horseback came up to him, and, with a trembling 
 hand and faltering voice, presented a pistol some- 
 where in the direction of the Archbishop's head, 
 telling him to stop. 
 
 " His Grace, with great composure, turned round, 
 and, looking steadily at him, desired he would re- 
 move that dangerous weapon, and tell him fairly his 
 condition. 
 
 " ' Sir, sir,' cried the youth with great agitation, 
 ' please, no words ; it is not a time for words now. 
 Your money instantly, if you please/ 
 
 " ' Hear me, young man,' said the venerable 
 prelate ; ' come on with me. I, you see, am a very 
 old man, and my life is of little consequence ; yours 
 seems far otherwise. I am Sharpe, the Archbishop of 
 York ; my carriage and servants are behind. But 
 conceal your perturbations, and tell me who you are 
 and what money you want, and on the w^ord of my 
 character I will not injure you, but prove a friend. 
 Here, take this' (pushing aside the barrel of the 
 pistol with his ungloved hand, and giving him a 
 purse of money). 'And now tell me how much 
 you want to make you independent of so dangerous 
 and destructive a course as you are now engaged in.' 
 
 " ' Oh, sir,' replied the young man, ' I detest the 
 business as much as you do. I am but but at 
 
 u 
 
290 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 home there are creditors who will not wait. Fifty 
 pounds, my lord, would indeed do what no thought 
 or tongue besides my own can feel or express.' 
 
 " ' Well, sir, I take you at your word, and, upon 
 my honour, if you will compose yourself for a day 
 
 or two, and then call on me at , what I have 
 
 now given shall be made up to that sum. Trust 
 me ; I will not deceive you.' 
 
 " The amateur highwayman looked at him, was 
 silent, and went off, and at the time appointed actually 
 waited on the Archbishop, received the money, and 
 assured his lordship that he hoped his words had 
 left impressions which no inducement could ever 
 efface. 
 
 " Nothing more transpired of this for a year and 
 a half, when one morning he knocked at his Grace's 
 gate, and, with a peculiar earnestness of voice and 
 countenance, desired to see him. The Archbishop 
 ordered the stranger to be introduced. He had 
 scarcely entered the room when his countenance 
 changed, his knees tottered, and he sank almost 
 breathless on the floor. On recovery he requested 
 an audience in private. This being granted, he said : 
 
 " ' My lord, you cannot have forgotten, the circum- 
 stance of having relieved a highwayman. Gratitude 
 will never suffer it to be obliterated from my mind. 
 In me, my lord, you now behold that once most 
 wretched, most despicable of mankind ; but now, 
 by your inexpressible humanity, rendered equal, per- 
 haps superior, to millions. Oh, my lord, 'tis you, 
 'tis you, 'tis you who have saved me, body and soul ; 
 'tis you that have saved a much-loved wife and a little 
 brood of innocent children, whom I love dearer than 
 my own life. Here, my lord, is the fifty pounds, but 
 
" REMOVE THAT DANGEROUS WEAPON? 291 
 
 never shall I find language to express what I feel. 
 Heaven is my witness. Your deed itself is your 
 glory, and may Heaven be your present and ever- 
 lasting reward.' 
 
 " The Archbishop, much edified by this peroration, 
 was refusing the money, when the gentleman added : 
 
 " ' My lord, I was the younger son of a wealthy 
 man. Your Grace knew him, I am sure. My name 
 is - . My marriage alienated the affection of my 
 father, who left me to sorrow and penury. My dis- 
 tresses But your Grace already knows to what 
 
 they drove me. A month since my brother died, a 
 bachelor and intestate. His fortune has passed to 
 me ; and I, spared and preserved by your goodness 
 from an ignominious death, am now the most 
 penitent, the most grateful of human beings/ " 
 Percy Anecdotes, p. 64. 
 
 It is a fortunate thing that the " Percy Anecdotes" 
 are in very small type, or these long-winded stories 
 would occupy volume after volume. This tale of the 
 Archbishop and this singularly timid and delicate-minded 
 highwayman, is extremely ludicrous. It is evident that 
 at the first encounter the highwayman was much more 
 frightened than his intended victim ; I dare say he 
 would have fainted had his pistol gone off by accident. 
 The idea of the Archbishop saying, " Remove that 
 dangerous weapon ! " is perfectly delicious ; it puts me 
 in mind of a burlesque, when some trembling fair one 
 wants to know if the sword will go off, and puts her 
 eye to the barrel of the villain's blunderbuss to see if it 
 is loaded. It must be remembered that it was with 
 trembling limbs he approached the Archbishop, and in 
 a faltering voice that he asked him to empty his 
 pockets. The way the venerable prelate tells him to 
 
 u 2 
 
292 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 conceal his perturbations, is delightful ; as though they 
 were something that could be put behind his back or 
 stowed away in the pockets of his tail-coat. Then, 
 when this amateur highwayman (who should have been 
 by rights rocking a cradle, or holding skeins of silk for 
 the women folks of his family, instead of taking to the 
 King's highway) calls on the Archbishop to return 
 him the money, his knees totter, and he sinks breathless 
 on the floor. Tableau, the good Archbishop and the 
 penitent highwayman!!! Act III. Curtain falls. 
 
 A hundred years ago, that is at the latter part of 
 the eighteenth century, travelling was neither at its 
 worst nor best, it was just sufficiently on the increase to 
 make the profession of highwayman a very profitable 
 one, until they were captured, and made to expiate 
 their crimes by swinging in the air at Tyburn, or some 
 other well-known place of execution. Previous to 
 1783, Tyburn was the chief place of execution in 
 London, and a gallows was permanently erected there. 
 In the reign of Henry VIII. the average number of 
 persons executed annually in England was two thou- 
 sand ; the present number is under twelve. 
 
 The gallows at Tyburn, upon which all the high- 
 waymen and other criminals arrested in and around 
 London were hanged, was frequently called Tyburn 
 Tree, because malefactors were at one time hung on 
 the elm-trees which grew on the banks of a small 
 stream called the Tyburn. 
 
 Felton, the assassin of the Duke of Buckingham ; 
 Jack Sheppard, the celebrated house-breaker, im- 
 mortalised by Harrison Ainsworth ; Jonathan Wild, 
 the thief-taker and receiver of stolen goods ; Lord 
 Ferrers, who murdered his steward ; and Dr. Dodd, 
 all died on the Tyburn tree. Dick Turpin would 
 
TYBURN TREE. 293 
 
 have done the same had he not been executed at 
 York. Tyburn Turnpike, which stood a few years 
 ago at the southern extremity of the Edgware Road, 
 close to the Marble Arch, was not very far distant 
 from this place of execution. The district round 
 about the Marble Arch is even to this day called 
 Tyburnia, which, as before stated, was in consequence 
 of there being a little stream or tiny bourne just at 
 that spot. Upon one of the elm-trees which grew 
 beside this stream, there was hung Roger de Mortimer, 
 the paramour of Queen Eleanor. 
 
 When the humbly born yet distinguished men of 
 the last century set forth from their native places 
 to seek their fortune in the wide world, they must 
 naturally, like other people, have taken the inevitable 
 journey on the road. 
 
 In this advanced period of the nineteenth 
 century, this journey, like every other action of their 
 lives, is regarded by us with extreme interest. A 
 certain halo of romance surrounds these travellers 
 upon the journey which was to introduce them to the 
 metropolis, where in after years their names would be 
 so well known. Had they lived in the days of rail- 
 roads, a very few hours might have been sufficient to 
 waft them from the home of their childhood to the 
 scene of their future operations. 
 
 We know that those distinguished Englishmen 
 who lived one hundred years ago, and who had to 
 make their way in the world from small beginnings, and 
 whose hearts were set upon reaching London, where 
 they could satisfy their ambition, must, to attain their 
 object, have journeyed by coach or ridden on horse- 
 back, if they did not enter London in that still more 
 humble conveyance, the stage- waggon, or have travelled 
 
294 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 upon the nether limbs with which beneficent Provi- 
 dence had provided them. To us living at the present 
 day, it seems almost impossible to believe that so 
 many distinguished men, whose names figure in history, 
 or whom we know only through their biographers, 
 should have flourished and had their being within 
 the short period of one hundred years ago ; yet such 
 was the case. There was alive then, Napoleon 
 Bonaparte, who was at the zenith of his power ; he 
 did not die until 1821. The man who conquered him, 
 and who was instrumental in his deposition, Arthur, 
 Duke of Wellington, did not quit this world till 1852, 
 and a hundred years ago he was only a lad of nineteen. 
 It is a circumstance worthy of recording, that Bonaparte 
 and Wellington were born on the self-same day and 
 year. 
 
 In the year 1788 Nelson was also alive, being 
 at that time only a post-captain ; it was not till some 
 years afterwards that he became the distinguished 
 admiral and England's greatest naval hero. 
 
 Amongst ecclesiastics were Wesley and W 7 hitfield. 
 The great lawyers of the day were Sir William 
 Blackstone and Sir Samuel Romilly. Poetry was repre- 
 sented by Cowper, Burns, Shelley, and Keats, whilst 
 this period was rich in historians, since there were 
 David Hume, Gibbon, the author of " The Rise and 
 Fall," and Dr. Robertson. Smollett had died in 1771,. 
 consequently he did not live within the hundred years r 
 although well within the last century. As for authors 
 of more general literature, Dr. Johnson just escaped 
 living within this period, since he died in 1784. 
 Oliver Goldsmith, too, had not long been dead. Adam 
 Smith, to whom we are indebted for " The Wealth 
 of Nations," was alive; so was Boswell, Johnson's 
 
MEN OF THE TIME. 295 
 
 remarkable satellite. As for philosophers, there were 
 Cavendish, and Herschell, one of the most distinguished 
 astronomers and philosophers of modern times, although 
 perhaps his son, Sir John, has the greatest claim to 
 be universally remembered. I have enjoyed many a 
 happy and contented hour in the library of the Royal 
 Institution poring over his treatises on light, sound, 
 and other works on natural philosophy. There were 
 also Sir Humphrey Davy, whose death did not occur 
 till 1829, and Dugald Stewart, and the two celebrated 
 Scotch physicians, Hunter and Abernethy, whilst 
 Art was represented by the never-to-be-forgotten 
 names of Reynolds and Gainsborough ; in fact, Gains- 
 borough died in 1788, just one hundred years ago. 
 Amongst sculptors might be found Chantrey, Flaxman, 
 and Nollekens, all of whom lived far into the present 
 century. On the London stage might have been seen 
 Kemble and Mrs. Siddons, Quin, Garrick, and Foote 
 having all died a very short time previously. In 1788 
 lived that great philanthropist, John Howard, whose 
 evidence before the House of Commons, and publica- 
 tions on the prisons of England and Wales, led to 
 their total reformation. 
 
 The famous engineers of the period were John 
 Smeaton, constructor of the Eddystone lighthouse, 
 James Watt, Matthew Boulton, John Rennie, Isambard 
 Brunei, and Henry Maudslay. 
 
 Invention had also its representatives, since there 
 was John Dollond, the inventor of the achromatic 
 telescope, Wedgewood, the founder of the Stafford- 
 shire pottery ware, whilst James Watt, Joseph Bramah, 
 Richard Arkwright, and Dr. Cartwright, contributed 
 their share to the inventions of the age ; but it re- 
 mained for George Stephenson, in 1814, by the 
 
296 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 invention of the locomotive steam-engine, to in- 
 augurate an entirely new mode of travelling, which 
 was to have a greater influence upon the progress 
 of civilisation than any other invention of this or past 
 centuries. But, as I have shown, a hundred years ago, 
 or, in fact, any part of the last century, was the 
 period when coaches were the principal means of 
 travelling ; many of the distinguished men I have 
 mentioned must have been in the constant habit of 
 travelling on coaches. Nelson, for instance, may have 
 driven down the Portsmouth road to join his ship, the 
 Victory, before starting in pursuit of the French, and 
 immortalising himself by his glorious victory at 
 Trafalgar. 
 
 It is by associating in our minds these famous 
 characters of the last century with the road travelling 
 about which this book treats so especially, that we 
 best appreciate the fact of how short a time it is since 
 these celebrated men lived ; but if we were to extend 
 this hundred years so as to include the distinguished 
 personages living at the commencement of the last 
 century, we might supplement the list very con- 
 siderably. 
 
 It must not be forgotten that some of the most 
 distinguished politicians England has ever known, a 
 hundred years ago were the leading spirits of the age, 
 since William Pitt's death did not occur till 1 806 ; 
 whilst Burke, Fox, Sheridan, Lord Lyttleton, and 
 Grattan were living considerably into this century. 
 
 It has been said that during the eighteenth century 
 England made greater strides in civilisation than she 
 had done during the whole of her existence. Mr. 
 Seeley says this in his " Expansion of England," a 
 clever series of essays; but I certainly should not 
 
WARS OF THE LAST CENTURY. 297 
 
 think that this was the case. He, very rightly, objects 
 to any particular period being named after a monarch, 
 such as the age of Louis XIV., contending that history 
 should be divided into periods and not into reigns. 
 And this is right enough, since the character of the 
 age is not so much influenced by the sovereign who 
 reigns over a country, or by the Government who rule 
 it, as by the advance made in intelligent thought and 
 the disposition of the people ; but the advance made 
 in civilisation by a country is owing to the combined 
 efforts of monarch, Legislature, and people ; the people 
 it is who have the greatest influence in such a matter. 
 
 The eighteenth century was a century for England 
 of continual warfare. George III.'s reign occupied 
 a very large portion of the latter part of this century, 
 and during his reign there was a great and unending 
 rivalry betwixt France and England.* In addition to 
 this there was war with Spain, and war with America, 
 so that England during that period was scarcely ever 
 at peace. The civil war with America continued 
 eight years, from 1775 to 1783. The reason we were 
 always at war with France was undoubtedly owing 
 to the fact of our contiguity to that country, which 
 brought us into frequent collision with her ; we 
 are no further off at the present day in fact, we 
 are nearer, if we consider the speed with which we 
 can now cross the Channel, owing to the introduction 
 of steam but, as is well known, mortal enemies who 
 live next door to one another are certain to come to 
 loggerheads, but it does not follow that two friends 
 who reside in such close proximity should remain 
 anything but friends to the end of their natural lives. 
 
 * The wars with France lasted for twenty years, from 1744 to the 
 Peace of Paris, 1763. 
 
298 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 As for England having made a greater advance in the 
 eighteenth century than in the nineteenth, that is 
 decidedly not the case, as although the nineteenth 
 century is not yet completed, there is not the faintest 
 doubt but what, when it is completed, it will be a 
 period of the very greatest advance in civilisation that 
 has ever been known ; but perhaps not, so far as 
 regards conquest, as annexation is generally the 
 result of war. A country who annexes now, either by 
 force of arms and right of conquest, or by diplomatic 
 measures, is called upon by the great Powers of the 
 world to offer an explanation for doing so ; and it has 
 been decided by the unanimous voice of the great 
 nations of the world that a balance of power must 
 be maintained, that aggression must be punished, that 
 even colonies that can maintain their own independence 
 should be permitted to make the attempt if they desire 
 to do so, and that annexation is only justifiable where 
 the annexed country is to reap a benefit ; consequently 
 the frontier of this nation has not expanded to any 
 considerable extent in this century. The eighteenth 
 century was spent in war, the nineteenth century has 
 been spent more in the establishment of peace and the 
 solidification of the empire. 
 
 Although this book is upon Highways and Horses, 
 I am not unmindful of the fact that, when speaking 
 of the advance of civilisation in England, we should 
 remember that it is the nineteenth century that 
 witnessed the invention of the locomotive, and that 
 George Stephenson's invention has left a greater 
 impression upon the civilisation of the world than 
 the distinguished deeds, marvellous performances, and 
 profound wisdom of any other man, however dis- 
 tinguished ; and it is a singular fact that such a man 
 
ABOLITION OF SLAVERY. 299 
 
 should never have received any mark of favour from 
 his sovereign, and except at Newcastle, and in the 
 Great Northern Railway Station at Euston Square, 
 there is scarcely a statue of him in existence. 
 
 There is no doubt about it that the eighteenth 
 century was a period of great men ; and it is in that 
 century that the first endeavours were made to improve 
 the education of the lower classes, by the Sunday 
 School system, originated by the benevolent efforts of 
 Robert Raikes, of Gloucester, born in 1735. In the 
 last century, too, the slave trade was abolished. 
 
 It is a singular thing that attention was drawn 
 to the condition of the slave trade, by a Latin essay on 
 the subject by the undergraduates at Cambridge, the 
 question being, " Anne liceat invitos in servitutem 
 dare ? " " Is it lawful to make persons slaves against 
 their will?" Clarkson, a graduate of St. John's 
 College, carried off the prize ; in after years it was 
 he, Wilberforce, Buxton, Brougham, and others, who 
 forced England to blot out from her escutcheon the 
 foul crime of slavery, and brought forward the Act of 
 Parliament which emancipated the negroes. 
 
 But I have said enough about the eighteenth century, 
 and I have spoken of it at such length only because it 
 was the period of road travelling, and because, to give 
 the history of roads and of the vehicles that made use 
 of them, without making some endeavour to describe 
 the condition of the kingdom, and to mention some 
 of the famous names of that period, would be like 
 painting a picture and leaving out the background. 
 From the eighteenth to the nineteenth century, we 
 pass, first through a period of slow road travelling, 
 with all the attendant dangers of the road caused 
 by the faulty condition of the laws, which gave 
 
300 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 encouragement to highway robbery, then to a period 
 of faster travelling on the road, and lastly, to the 
 time when road travelling ceased altogether owing to 
 the introduction of railways. 
 
 Although I call this chapter, " Past and Present," 
 I do not think we need speak much of the present, 
 since we do not now live in the days of road travelling. 
 Yet, before concluding this chapter, I will give an 
 extract from Dickens' " Martin Chuzzlewit," in which 
 he speaks of a fast night-coach, and from Washington 
 Irving's "Sketch-Book ; " neither of them were written 
 in the days of highwaymen or indifferent cattle, but 
 at a time when the perpetration of a robbery on the 
 King's highway would have been almost as remarkable 
 as it would be now ; and when, so far as regarded four- 
 horse coaches, the word slow- coach had no significance 
 in fact. This description compares favourably with 
 the descriptions of coaching which Dickens wrote 
 during his tour in America. It is as follows : 
 
 " The four greys skimmed along as if they liked it 
 quite as well as Tom did ; the bugle was in as high 
 spirits as the greys ; the coachman chimed in sometimes 
 with his voice ; the wheels hummed cheerfully in unison ; 
 the brass-work on the harness was an orchestra of 
 little bells ; and thus, as they went clinking, jingling, 
 rattling smoothly on, the whole concern, from the 
 buckles of the leaders' coupling-reins to the handle of 
 the hind boot, was one great instrument of music. 
 
 " Yoho ! past hedges, gates, and trees ; past 
 cottages and barns, and people going home from work. 
 Yoho ! past donkey-chaises drawn aside into the ditch, 
 and empty carts with rampant horses, whipped up at a 
 bound upon the little watercourse, and held by struggling 
 carters close to the five-barred gate, until the coach 
 
YOHO ! 
 
 301 
 
 had passed the narrow turning in the road. Yoho ! 
 by churches dropped down by themselves in quiet 
 nooks, with rustic burial-grounds about them, where the 
 graves are green, and daisies sleep for it is evening 
 on the bosoms of the dead. 
 
 " Yoho ! among the gathering shades, making of 
 no account the deep reflections of the trees, but 
 scampering on through light and darkness all the same, 
 as if the light of London fifty miles away were quite 
 enough to travel by, and some to spare. 
 
 " Away with fresh horses from the 'Bald-faced Stag/ 
 where topers congregate about the door admiring ; and 
 the last team, with traces hanging loose, go roaming off 
 towards the pond, until observed and shouted after by 
 a dozen throats, while volunteering boys pursue them. 
 Now, with a clattering of hoofs and striking out of fiery 
 sparks, across the old stone bridge, and down again 
 into the shadowy road, and through the open gate, and 
 far away into the wold ! 
 
 "Yoho! See the bright moon! High up before 
 we know it ! 
 
 " Yoho ! why, now we travel like the moon herself! 
 Hiding this minute in a grove of trees, next minute in 
 a patch of vapour ; emerging now upon our broad 
 clear course, withdrawing now, but always dashing on, 
 our journey is a counterpart of hers. Yoho ! a match 
 against the moon ! The beauty of the night is hardly 
 felt, when day comes leaping up. Yoho ! two stages, 
 and the country roads are almost changed to one 
 continuous street. Yoho ! past market-gardens, rows 
 of houses, villas, crescents, terraces, and squares ; past 
 waggons, coaches, carts ; past early workmen, late 
 stragglers, drunken men, and sober carriers of loads ; 
 past brick and mortar in its every shape ; and in 
 
302 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 among the rattling pavements, where a jaunty seat 
 upon a coach is not so easy to preserve. Yoho ! down 
 countless turnings, and through mazy ways, until an 
 old inn-yard is gained, and Tom Pinch, getting down, 
 quite stunned and giddy, is in London. * Five minutes 
 before the time, too,' said the driver, as he received his 
 fee of Tom."* 
 
 Washington Irving published his " Sketch-Book" 
 soon after 1846. Gates speaks of it as a mercantile 
 failure ; what he means by that I am unable to say. 
 He certainly cannot mean that it was a literary failure, 
 as it was one of the most popular works he ever wrote, 
 and in England it is certainly the best known of any 
 of his writings. It was written after he visited 
 England, where he lived for some time as Secretary 
 to the American Embassy. In his " Sketch-Book " 
 he speaks of an English stage-coach as follows : 
 
 " In the course of a December tour in Yorkshire, I 
 rode for a long distance in one of the public coaches, on 
 the day preceding Christmas. The coach was crowded 
 both inside and out with passengers, who, by their 
 talk, seemed principally bound for the mansions of 
 relations or friends, to eat the Christmas dinner. It 
 was loaded also with hampers of game, and baskets 
 and boxes of delicacies ; and hares hung dangling 
 their long ears about the coachman's box, presents 
 from distant friends for the impending feast. 
 
 " I could not but notice the more than ordinary air 
 of bustle and importance of the coachman, who wore 
 his hat a little on one side, and had a large bunch of 
 Christmas greens stuck in the button-hole of his coat. 
 He is always a personage full of mighty care and 
 
 * Dickens' description is picturesque, poetical, and excellent; 
 but why does he say Yoho ? 
 
WASHINGTON IRVING AND AN ENGLISH COACH. 303 
 
 business, but he is particularly so during this season, 
 having so many commissions to execute in conse- 
 quence of the great interchange of presents. And 
 here, perhaps, it may not be unacceptable to my un- 
 travelled readers to have a sketch that may serve as 
 a general representation of this very numerous and 
 important class of functionaries, who have a dress, a 
 manner, a language, an air, peculiar to themselves, 
 and prevalent throughout the fraternity ; so that 
 wherever an English stage-coachman may be seen, 
 he cannot be mistaken for one of any other craft. 
 He has commonly a broad, full face, curiously mottled 
 with red, as if the blood had been forced by hard 
 feeding into every vessel of the skin ; he is swelled 
 into jolly dimensions by frequent potations of malt 
 liquors, and his bulk is still further increased by a 
 multiplicity of coats in which he is buried like a cauli- 
 flower, the upper one reaching to his heels. He 
 wears a broad-brimmed, low-crowned hat, a huge roll 
 of coloured handkerchief about his neck, knowingly 
 knotted and tucked in at the bosom, and has in 
 summer-time a large bouquet of flowers in his button- 
 hole the present, most probably, of some enamoured 
 country lass. His waistcoat is commonly of some 
 bright colour, striped ; and his small-clothes extend 
 far below the knees to meet a pair of jockey-boots 
 which reach about halfway up his legs. 
 
 " All this costume is maintained with much preci- 
 sion ; he has a pride in having his clothes of excellent 
 materials, and, notwithstanding the seeming grossness 
 of his appearance, there is still discernible that neat- 
 ness and propriety of person which is almost inherent 
 in an Englishman. He enjoys great confidence and 
 conskieration along the road ; has frequent conferences 
 
304 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 with the village housewives, who look upon him as a 
 man of great trust and dependence ; and he seems to 
 have a good understanding with every bright-eyed 
 country lass. The moment he arrives where the 
 horses are to be changed, he throws down the reins 
 with something of an air, and abandons the cattle to 
 the care of the ostler ; his duty being merely to drive 
 from one stage to another. When off the box, his 
 hands are thrust into the pockets of his great-coat, 
 and he rolls about the inn-yard with an air of the 
 most absolute lordliness. Here he is generally sur- 
 rounded by an admiring throng of ostlers, stable-boys, 
 shoeblacks, and those nameless hangers-on that infest 
 inns and taverns, and run errands, and do all kinds 
 of odd jobs for the privilege of battening on the 
 drippings of the kitchen and the leaking of the 
 tap-room. These all look up to him as an oracle, 
 treasure up his cant phrases, echo his opinions 
 about horses and other topics of jockey lore, and, 
 above all, endeavour to imitate his air and carriage. 
 Every ragamuffin that has a coat to his back, 
 thrusts his hands in the pockets, rolls in his gait, 
 talks slang, and is an embryo coachey. 
 
 " Perhaps it might be owing to the pleasing serenity 
 that reigned in my own mind, that I fancied I saw 
 cheerfulness in every countenance throughout the 
 journey. A stage-coach, however, carries animation 
 always with it, and puts the world in motion as it 
 whirls along. The horn, sounded at the entrance of a 
 village, produces a general bustle. Some hasten forth 
 to meet friends, some with bundles and band-boxes to 
 secure places, and in the hurry of the moment can 
 hardly take leave of the group that accompanies them. 
 In the meantime the coachman has a world of small 
 
WASHINGTON IRVING AND AN ENGLISH COACH. 305 
 
 commissions to execute. Sometimes he delivers a 
 hare or pheasant, sometimes jerks a small parcel or 
 newspaper to the door of a public-house ; and some- 
 times, with knowing leer and words of sly import, hands 
 to some half-blushing, half- laughing housemaid an odd- 
 shaped billet-doux from some rustic admirer. As the 
 coach rattles through the village, every one runs to the 
 window, and you have glances on every side of fresh 
 country faces, and blooming, giggling girls. At the 
 corners are assembled groups of village idlers and wise 
 men, who take their stations there for the important 
 purpose of seeing company pass ; but the sagest knot is 
 generally at the blacksmith's, to whom the passing of 
 the coach is an event fruitful of speculation. The 
 smith, with the horse's heel in his lap, pauses as the 
 vehicle whirls by, the Cyclops round the anvil suspend 
 their ringing hammers, and suffer the iron to grow 
 cool ; and the sooty spectre in brown-paper cap 
 labouring at the bellows, leans on the handle for a 
 moment, and permits the asthmatic engine to heave a 
 long-drawn sigh, while he glares through the murky 
 smoke and sulphurous gleams of the smithy. 
 
 " Perhaps the impending holiday might have given a 
 more than usual animation to the country, for it seemed 
 to me as if everybody was in good looks and good 
 spirits. Game, poultry, and other luxuries of the table 
 were in brisk circulation in the villages ; the grocers', 
 butchers', and fruiterers' shops were thronged with 
 customers. The housewives were stirring briskly 
 about, putting their dwellings in order ; and the glossy 
 branches of holly, with their bright-red berries, began 
 to appear at the windows. 
 
 " In the evening we reached a village where I had 
 determined to pass the night. As we drove into the 
 
306 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 great gateway of the inn, I saw on one side the light 
 of a rousing kitchen fire beaming through a window. 
 I entered, and admired for the hundredth time that 
 picture of old-fashioned comfort and convenience, the 
 kitchen of an English inn. The scene completely 
 realised ' Poor Robin's ' humble idea of the comforts 
 of mid-winter : 
 
 Now trees their leafy hats do bare 
 To reverence Winter's silver hair ; 
 
 A handsome hostess, merry host, 
 A pot of ale, and a toast, 
 
 Tobacco, and a good coal fire, 
 
 Are things this season doth require." * 
 
 But, speaking of coaches, a writer says that "the 
 conveyance which has most interest for us in the 
 annals of English history is that which spread the 
 news of Nelson's victories and Wellington's winning 
 strife the old mail-coach. Its knell began to toll 
 in 1837, and the final strokes were nearly rung in 
 
 We have said elsewhere that gentlemen took a 
 great interest in coaching, but this was not until the 
 pace improved ; then a different order of men were 
 attracted by the art of driving four horses. Our 
 cousins across the Atlantic are nearly as keen as 
 ourselves in the art of handling the ribbons. On the 
 26th of May, 1882, eleven coaches belonging to the 
 New York Coaching Club paraded the Fifth Avenue. 
 This club numbers now twenty-one members, with 
 seventeen drags. 
 
 What we really want, says a writer, speaking of 
 English amateur coachmen, is a race of young men 
 who, having thoroughly mastered the technical details 
 
 * "Poor Robin's Almanack," 1684. 
 
VIRGIL ON DRIVING. 307 
 
 of driving, shall recognise that too great familiarity 
 with professional guards and coachmen need not 
 form a part of the curriculum. It is quite possible 
 to arrive at the dignity of being a perfect whip with- 
 out abating one jot of one's character as a gentleman. 
 Those people who believe in nothing but railways 
 and in no coachman except he wear a livery and 
 receive wages, should not be allowed any cause for 
 sneering at those who, with money to spend and 
 disposition and health to enjoy, delight in tooling four 
 well-bred ones over the macadam. 
 
 The first man to drive four horses, according to 
 Virgil, was Erichthonius, for he remarks : " Primus 
 Erichthonius currus et quatuor ausus jungere equos." 
 Geor. III. 113. 
 
 Provided that the world continues to exist, not- 
 withstanding the numerous other modes of progression, 
 I am convinced that it will be a very long while yet 
 ere the last coachman will take his seat on the bench 
 of a four-horse coach, or, manipulating his ribbons in a 
 workmanlike style, throws his lash persuasively across 
 the quarters of his near leader, since the love of 
 driving is so strongly implanted in the breast of 
 Englishmen. When this comes to pass, we may 
 then expect to see a New Zealand aboriginal sitting 
 upon Waterloo Bridge in all his war-paint, and view- 
 ing, with undisturbed countenance, the oft-foretold 
 destruction of the City of London. 
 
 X 2 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 AMATEUR COACHING. 
 
 Coach-building and harness-making trades Coaches versus covert- 
 hacks Do foxes like being hunted ? Light coaches Holland 
 and Holland All should take their share of work Amateur 
 coachmen Mad Mytton The Four-in-Hand Club Mr. 
 Morritt, of Rokeby The Coaching Club A professional 
 opinion Randolph Caldecott Time-bills Winter coaches 
 The "Defiance" coach The Brighton coach A sale of coach- 
 horses The " Perseverance " The "Old Times" The 
 " Nonpareil "The "New Times" The Defiance "The 
 "Wonder" The Brighton coach Coaching a luxury. 
 
 I INCLUDE under the head of amateur coaching all 
 coaching which is not strictly carried on for the purpose 
 of pecuniary profit. Under this heading I denominate 
 coaches placed upon the road for the purpose of re- 
 viving, in some measure, the habits of the old coaching 
 days ; insomuch as long journeys are undertaken 
 daily by these coaches, seats are booked and paid 
 for, parcels frequently conveyed ; whilst the horses 
 are changed at stated intervals, in exactly the same 
 manner as in the days when coaching was a necessity ; 
 and yet it is not for the sake of profit, but for 
 pleasure, since no profit can be made sufficient to 
 cover the outgoing expenses. 
 
 There is another phase of coaching which I include 
 under the heading of amateur coaching, and this is, 
 the driving of a private coach by gentlemen for the 
 
COACH-BUILDING AND HARNESS-MAKING TRADES. 309 
 
 conveyance of their family and friends, or for the mere 
 pleasure of driving four horses. 
 
 In accordance with these pursuits are the meetings 
 of the Four-in-Hand and Coaching Clubs. These clubs 
 were evidently intended, not only to encourage good 
 coachmanship, particularly in the driving of four 
 horses, but were also intended to prevent the practice 
 of driving a coach from becoming obsolete when the 
 regular coaches were removed from the roads. Had 
 the Four-in-Hand Club not been established, it is very 
 possible by this time that no coach would now be in 
 existence, except such as ran in remote parts of Great 
 Britain, and were never seen in the metropolis ; our 
 coach-builders would have forgotten how to build a 
 coach, instead of which coach-building has never 
 been brought to greater perfection. Smartness, 
 strength, and durability are combined in the coaches 
 produced by our best London coach-builders in such a 
 manner as was not dreamt of by the coach proprietors 
 of the old coaching days. Workmen have become 
 more skilled in every branch of the coach-building 
 trade ; whilst the productions of the manufacturers and 
 the requisite machinery have improved in like manner. 
 Harness-making, too, has made enormous strides ; 
 numberless inventions have been introduced, have 
 proved successful, and have been patented, which 
 have brought both harness and coach as near to 
 perfection as possible. 
 
 Having said this much, I think we may now 
 embark on this chapter with a firm persuasion that 
 it will contain some matters of interest to those who 
 feel sympathy with coaching, and regard driving as 
 a healthy and manly exercise for one's muscles, if not 
 for the superior faculties of one's mind. 
 
310 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 I see in the Morning Post of to-day, Tuesday ? 
 August 3Oth, 1887, the following paragraph : 
 
 " THE GUILDFORD COACH. This well-known coach, 
 called ' The New Times,' which has been running 
 between 'HatchettV Hotel, Piccadilly, and the 'Angel 7 
 Hotel, Guildford, has now stopped, and the horses will 
 be sold by Messrs. W. & S. Freeman, at Aldridge's. 
 This coach was one of the best horsed of the season,, 
 and has been mostly driven by its owner, Mr. Walter 
 Shoolbred. There are altogether twenty-nine horses to 
 be sold." 
 
 It is a strange thing that this coach should have 
 ceased running so soon, as the best times for coaching 
 are undoubtedly the spring and autumn ; during such 
 a hot summer as we have lately experienced, driving 
 daily along the dusty roads in the hot sun must have 
 been very trying to the horses, and very unpleasant for 
 those who were seated on the top of a coach ; 
 consequently it is a strange thing that, directly the 
 weather became cooler, and the dust was laid by a few 
 heavy showers, the Guildford coach should have ceased 
 running, and have been taken off the road, which is one 
 of the prettiest anywhere out of London. This year 
 there have been a great number of coaches on the road, 
 about which I will presently speak. 
 
 There is no doubt that there are just as goodi 
 coachmen now as there were in the old coaching days ; 
 besides which, coach-building has greatly improved, 
 harness is better made, and far lighter and neater in ap- 
 pearance than it used to be. The coaches that leave 
 the White Horse Cellars and the "Grand" and 
 " M^tropole " Hotels, before emerging from London, 
 have to traverse thoroughfares far more crowded and 
 dangerous to navigate successfully with a well-bred 
 
COACHES VERSUS COVERT-HACKS. 311 
 
 team than in the old coaching days, when there were 
 fewer inhabitants and less traffic. 
 
 Some of the coaches which run from the White 
 Horse Cellars, run during the winter, a singular thing 
 for them to do, particularly in the case of the " Oatlands 
 Park Hotel " coach ; this hotel in the depth of winter 
 cannot be a very cheerful place in which to stay. I 
 cannot imagine a Londoner venturing on the top of a 
 coach on a bitterly cold winter's day, merely to be 
 deposited at the end of his journey at a place which 
 can offer no attraction whatever as a winter residence, 
 and is only enjoyable in summer because of its garden 
 and proximity to the Thames. 
 
 If coach proprietors are inclined to run well-ap- 
 pointed coaches during the winter, they should do so in 
 the hunting counties from the principal towns, in which 
 case they would be certain of a coach-load to the more 
 distant fixtures, as hunters could then be sent on early 
 in the morning, and their owners might dispense with 
 the services of a hack, and need not take their own 
 carriage to the meet ; the grooms might return on the 
 coach in charge of their master's overcoat and wraps. 
 A good coach, well horsed, w r ith a decent coachman, 
 would under such circumstances be a welcome addition 
 to the conveniences of such renowned hunting centres 
 as Melton, Market Harborough, Oakham, Rugby, and 
 Leamington ; besides which, a coach at Bletchley or 
 Leighton Buzzard, on the L. & N.W. line, would be 
 of considerable service, as a number of men hunt from 
 these two last-mentioned places, coming down from 
 London by rail, and returning again to town in the 
 evening ; consequently they are not in the habit of 
 keeping a carriage of any kind to convey them to the 
 meets. Driving to meets of hounds economises one's 
 
3 i2 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 strength, as a long ride on an indifferent hack, and 
 even on a good one, must exhaust some of the 
 strength and energy with which one started. 
 
 I think a great deal of rubbish has been written 
 about the decline of coaching, yet I am of opinion 
 that the revival of coaches on the road during the 
 summer months is a very sensible way of providing 
 people with amusement, and enabling them to take 
 pleasant drives through a picturesque country ; and there 
 is no objection whatever to gentlemen of rank and 
 birth putting these coaches on the road and maintain- 
 ing them in good style, occasionally driving them- 
 selves ; but I do not think it is wise to make a daily 
 practice of driving a public coach. The result of such 
 a practice would not, I feel certain, improve a man's 
 mind ; at the same time, there is nothing degrading 
 in such a practice. As for driving one's own private 
 coach, it is as innocent a pastime as yachting ; the 
 sport, if it can be so called, is of the most inoffensive 
 description far more so than racing, which frequently 
 brings one into contact with persons of questionable 
 character. Some persons, with far-strained ideas of 
 what is cruel, denominate hunting and shooting as 
 cruelty to animals ; but those who so regard those 
 two sports, one of which is called the sport of kings, 
 can surely have no such charge to make against 
 coaching ; consequently, gentlemen who drive four 
 horses have the satisfaction of knowing that in the 
 breast of no one whom they pass on the road do they 
 raise a storm of indignant protest ; besides which, 
 when driving, the same as when yachting, they give 
 pleasure to others besides themselves. As regards 
 hunting being cruel, the following reply was made to 
 this accusation : 
 
DO FOXES LIKE BEING HUNTED? 313 
 
 " We know the men like it, the horses certainly 
 like it, and we have no proof that the fox does not 
 like it." He very probably does enjoy himself on a cold 
 scenting day when the hounds cannot hit off his line ; 
 then probably, as he sneaks away down wind, he 
 turns round to make grimaces at his pursuers ; but I 
 cannot imagine that he experiences much pleasure 
 when he is chopped in covert, or feels that the leading 
 hounds are close to his brush, and that a funeral 
 sermon will very soon be preached over his remains. 
 
 As regards driving, cruelty can only exist when the 
 horses are made to perform work beyond their powers, 
 or made to labour when out of condition, or suffering 
 from disease, or from wounds or sores occasioned by 
 ill-fitting harness, or when the driver loses his temper 
 and strikes a horse without necessity, or is not suffi- 
 ciently patient with the animals committed to his care ; 
 but these things would not be likely to occur with 
 four-horse coachmen. 
 
 In regard to driving coaches, these vehicles are 
 made excessively heavy. In the old coaching days 
 this was necessary, as they had to journey over very 
 bad roads and met with all sorts of accidents ; but 
 this is not the case now, and there is no reason why, 
 in order to obtain the style of an old-fashioned four- 
 horse coach, modern coaches should be made so heavy. 
 Modern coaches are rarely in use except in the summer- 
 time ; if they travel at all it is over good roads, they 
 rarely, if ever, meet with accidents, neither are they 
 so heavily loaded ; consequently coach-builders of the 
 present day should aim as much as possible at lightness 
 of build in combination with strength, durability, and 
 characteristic appearance. 
 
 If any complaint can be made against four-in-hand 
 
3H HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 coachmen with regard to ill-treatment of horses, it is 
 that coaches are too heavy ; a couple of elliptic springs 
 taken from a full-sized four-horse coach appear to me 
 to be as heavy as an entire carriage of the lightest 
 class, such as a T cart or Stanhope gig. Yet it is 
 a well-known fact that a coach upon which so many 
 people ride must be strong in proportion to the weight 
 it has to support, and that the stronger it is made, 
 the longer it will last and the safer it will be. Not- 
 withstanding this, there have been many complaints 
 about the weight of coaches ; letters have frequently 
 been written to sporting papers on the subject. A 
 gentleman wrote some time ago to the Field ; his 
 letter appeared about May 6th, 1882, in which he says : 
 " I was a guest on the first trip of the Dorking 
 coach this season." He then asks : " Why all this 
 cumbrous machinery for carrying over our well-made 
 roads a few gentlemen who might be packed in a 
 one-horse waggonette ?" He goes on to say : " It is 
 a coach-maker's hobby. Eighteen months ago I was 
 a guest of a well-known baronet in the North of 
 Wales, during which I had the pleasure of the most 
 glorious and enjoyable rides over the Welsh hills I ever 
 had in my life. The coach was but fifteen hundred- 
 weight, and was a marvel of symmetry and comfort. 
 The light horses of the district were able to take it 
 over the hills with the greatest ease, and there was 
 a marvellous elasticity about it entirely unlike the 
 ordinary coaches to which I had been accustomed. 
 Perhaps it should be stated as I was informed that 
 the builders, Morgan & Co., a well-known firm in 
 Long Acre, claim a patent for this little coach. Any- 
 how, the fact remains that coaches should not be 
 the cumbersome things they now are ; and the sooner 
 
A LIGHT MORGAN COACH, WITH LUNCHEON BOX ON ROOF, HORN CASE, 
 SPARE LEADERS' BARS BEHIND GROOM'S SEAT, BASKET FOR STICKS 
 
 AND UMBRELLAS, LIGHTHOUSE SIDE LAMPS, SKID AND BREAK. 
 
 LIGHT FOUR-HORSE HARNESS, AS IT SHOULD BE NO BEARING-REINS, 
 LOOSE POLE-CHAINS. 
 
 {To face page 315. 
 
LIGHT COACHES. 315 
 
 coach-builders recognise the fact that the old style of 
 coach, in which few improvements can be claimed during 
 the present century, the better for their reputation.* 
 The drive on a four-in-hand through the country would 
 be infinitely more enjoyable if we knew that the powers 
 of the willing horses were not unnecessarily taxed." 
 
 This letter was signed " Four-in-Hand," and was 
 followed by a number of letters on the same subject, 
 written by men of some experience. One remarks 
 that "coaches themselves, unloaded, are quite sufficient 
 to tax the powers of any team ; but with a full load 
 of passengers they are simply killing to the poor 
 horses." This gentleman goes on to speak of the 
 light coaches running in the Lake districts, which, he 
 says, are built by Mr. Rigg, of Windermere. Captain 
 Hargreaves, who once ran the London and Ports- 
 mouth coach, drove one of these coaches daily from 
 Windermere to Keswick, and was so pleased with 
 their lightness and easy-running qualities that he 
 ordered one for himself in the South. This writer, 
 after making some rather foolish remarks about our 
 London coach-builders taking a lesson from Mr. Rigg, 
 of Windermere, concludes his letter by signing himself 
 " Four-horse Whip." 
 
 This letter was followed by another, which men- 
 tioned the late Captain Cooper, who, it will be 
 remembered, owned a beautiful place called Pain's 
 Hill, near Esher. He, for some time, had the London 
 and Boxhill coach, when driving which he had a bad 
 accident, the pole having broke. He got a coach 
 by Wand, of the Old Kent Road, and had it copied by 
 modern firms. In this coach iron was almost done 
 
 * This writer is mistaken in supposing no improvements have 
 been made ; there have been numerous improvements made in 
 coaches of late years. 
 
316 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 away with, and the timber was increased in pro- 
 portion ; nevertheless, it weighed twenty hundred- 
 weight. This writer goes on to speak about doing 
 away with the perch, but in that case the vehicle 
 would no longer be a coach. He further remarks 
 that it is not essential, in order to maintain the ancient 
 glories of the road, to draw a vehicle of twenty-four 
 hundredweight just because it is a particular shape. 
 He says that the quidnuncs at Hatchett's would be 
 dreadfully shocked were four horses driven in any- 
 thing but a coach. This entertaining writer signs 
 himself " Quaint Bits ; " and with a few more remarks 
 from other writers, this newspaper controversy was 
 concluded. 
 
 Mr. V. Kesterton, who is the proprietor of 
 Messrs. Holland's coach-building establishment in 
 Oxford Street, has sent me the following answers 
 to questions I asked of him respecting coaches ; and 
 he must naturally have great experience, when one 
 considers that, as regards the building of four-horse 
 coaches, Messrs. Holland are unrivalled ; in fact, they 
 have made the building of four-horse coaches their 
 speciality. 
 
 I asked him what was the weight of a full-sized 
 four-horse stage-coach, such as would be used for 
 carrying a number of people with heavy luggage. 
 His answer was twenty-two hundredweight. 
 
 Question : What is the weight of a full-sized pri- 
 vate coach ? 
 
 Answer : Nineteen hundredweight. 
 
 Question : What is the weight of the smallest coach 
 made ? 
 
 Answer : Seventeen and a half to eighteen hun- 
 dredweight. 
 
HOLLAND AND HOLLAND. 317 
 
 These were the questions and answers which passed 
 between myself and Mr. Kesterton ; and though I 
 admit that a coach weighing twenty-two hundred- 
 weight, loaded with passengers, is too heavy for any 
 coach-horses except the very strongest of their kind, 
 yet no one can complain when a coach does not 
 exceed eighteen hundredweight. Yet where there is 
 smoke there must be fire, and there is undoubtedly 
 some truth in the complaints that have been made 
 as to coaches being too heavy, but to do away with 
 the perch, as one of these correspondents suggests, 
 would alter the character of the whole carriage. Mr. 
 Kesterton in writing to me remarks, that " a coach 
 without a perch is no coach at all, only a four-wheel 
 carnage. A perch prevents the pole from being un- 
 steady, prevents it chucking, as in a coach with a 
 perch the pole is under the springs, and not above 
 them. The perch gives greater strength and assists 
 the draught, as it connects the front and hind carriage ; 
 it would, therefore, never do to dispense with it, as 
 suggested by the Field correspondent." 
 
 Speaking of the coaches in the Lake districts, 
 whatever they may be as regards build, I can bear 
 testimony to their being remarkably well driven. I 
 spent some time in the Lake districts a couple of years 
 ago, and was surprised at the skilful, and I may 
 almost say reckless way in which they were driven. 
 It is not always the best appointed coach which is 
 best driven ; there are many coaches throughout Eng- 
 land that are badly appointed, badly horsed, yet well 
 driven, coaches upon which one might hesitate to be 
 seen ; and yet there is no doubt that when a gentleman 
 takes to driving, in many cases his superior intelligence 
 is the means of making a better coachman of him than 
 
3 i8 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 would be the case with a servant, or some one in a 
 lower class of life. One thing in his favour is that he 
 has lighter hands this is the result of his never having 
 done hard manual work of any kind ; in fact, a man 
 who wrote a great deal, or an artist, sculptor, or 
 engraver, were he to engage in hard manual labour, 
 would soon lose his delicacy of touch ; even were he to 
 row or do anything requiring a continuous use of the 
 muscles of his hands, his touch would be impaired. It 
 is on this account that ladies have such good hands, 
 and by their delicacy of touch can manage a restive 
 horse when with a man he would probably run away. 
 Grooms have always bad hands ; I never knew yet a 
 gentleman's servant who could drive really well. There 
 is a tale told of some gentleman whose horses always 
 pulled when driven by his coachman, simply because 
 he pulled at the horses. In order to convince him 
 that he was wrong, the gentleman tied a rope to an 
 iron post, and placed the end of the rope in the groom's 
 hands. " Now pull," said he, and the groom pulled. 
 " Do you feel it pulling ?" said the gentleman. " Yes," 
 replied the groom. " Now slacken it off; does it pull 
 now ? " " No," answered the groom. " Now, you 
 fool," said the gentleman, " that post is like your 
 horses ; if you don't pull at them, they won't pull at 
 you." 
 
 The above remark is very true ; horses with good 
 mouths are often spoilt by grooms with bad hands. 
 It must always be remembered that riding and driving 
 is like married life, one must give and take ; it is only 
 upon this principle that a horse and his rider can get 
 along comfortably. Of course, a great deal depends upon 
 the way a horse is bitted. I would not recommend 
 any one to use severe bits, even with a horse that 
 
ALL SHOULD TAKE THEIR SHARE OF WORK. 319 
 
 pulled, as a severe bit often makes a horse pull, when 
 with a mild one he would go perfectly easily and 
 quietly. When in a team of four horses there is a 
 refractory animal, the best thing is to bit the other 
 three horses, so that you may keep them well in hand, 
 whilst you let the pulling horse take charge of the 
 coach ; he will soon get tired of this, and a few miles 
 along a stiffish road will bring him to his senses, and 
 make him trot quietly with the rest of the team. This 
 can easily be done by loosening the traces of the three 
 temperate horses you have under perfect control, and 
 either tightening the traces of the pulling horse, or 
 allowing them to remain as they are; in either case, 
 the labour of drawing the coach will come almost 
 entirely upon him alone, and no horse in the world, 
 however much he wishes to run away, can do so with 
 a ton weight tied to his heels. 
 
 Very often with an indifferently driven coach, it 
 may be observed that with light-mouthed horses on 
 level ground, or up a very slight incline, the leaders 
 are in hand that is, they are not let out to the full 
 extent of their traces consequently they are not con- 
 tributing their proper share of labour to the drawing 
 of the coach. When this is the case, it is the two 
 wheel-horses who are dragging the coach along ; con- 
 sequently those persons who complain that a heavy 
 four-horse coach is too great a load for four horses, 
 would be still further distressed were they to consider 
 how many amateur coaches, driven by inexperienced 
 coachmen, are actually drawn over the greater part 
 of their journey by the two wheel-horses, whilst the 
 leaders do not contribute in any way to the progress 
 of the vehicle. 
 
 Amateur coaching is not altogether a thing of the 
 
320 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 present day. In the old coaching days, very many 
 gentlemen used to drive the public coaches. 
 
 Captain Barclay it was who, for a bet, drove the 
 mail right through from London to Aberdeen, and 
 then offered to drive the London mail back, but Lord 
 Kennedy, who made the bet with him, did not care to 
 renew it. 
 
 A Mr. Stevenson, a graduate of Cambridge, horsed 
 and drove a coach called the "Age," which ran to 
 Brighton ; his passion for the bench got the better of 
 all his other ambitions, and, as Nimrod says, " he 
 became a coachman by profession. He died very 
 young ; but not before he had arrived at perfection in 
 his art. His education and early habits had not, 
 however, been lost upon him ; his manners were those 
 of a gentleman, and it may fairly be said of him that 
 he introduced the phenomenon of refinement in a 
 stage coachman. At a certain change of horses on 
 the road a silver sandwich-box was handed to his 
 passengers by his servant, accompanied by the offer 
 of a glass of sherry to such as were so inclined."* 
 
 Nimrod goes on to say : " Well-born coachmen 
 prevail on this road. A gentleman connected with 
 the first families in Wales, and whose father long 
 represented his native county in Parliament, horsed 
 and drove one side of the ground with Mr. Stevenson; 
 and Mr. Charles Jones, brother to Sir Thomas Tyrwhit 
 Jones, had a coach on it, called the ' Pearl,' which he 
 both horsed and drove himself. 
 
 "The Bognor coach, horsed by the Messrs- 
 Walkers, of Mitchel Grove, and driven in the first 
 style by Mr. John Walker, must also be fresh in the 
 recollection of many of our readers ; and Sir Vincent 
 
 * Nimrod evidently considered that the production of this 
 sandwich-box and glass of sherry was a convincing proof of good 
 breeding. 
 
AMATEUR COACHMEN. 321 
 
 Cotton, one of our oldest baronets, now drives the 
 'Age,' having purchased it of Mr. Willan, who 
 drove it, and who now drives the ' Magnet ' on the 
 same road." 
 
 When the old coaches were taken off the roads, 
 and railroads were established, the fancy for driving 
 four horses appeared evidently on the decline ; in fact, 
 before this it occupied much attention amongst the 
 best classes of society. 
 
 Nimrod says : " Taken in moderation, we can see 
 no reason to condemn this branch of sport more than 
 any other. Even in ancient days the Athenians, the 
 most polished nation of all antiquity, deemed it an 
 honour to be considered skilful charioteers. Why, 
 then, should Englishmen consider it a disgrace ? 
 To be serious, our amateur or gentlemen coachmen 
 have done much good. The road would never have 
 been what it now is, but for the encouragement they 
 gave, by their notice and support, to all persons 
 connected with it. Would the Holyhead road have 
 been what it is, had there been no such persons as the 
 Hon. Thomas Kenyon, Sir Henry Parnell, and Mr. 
 Maddox ? Would the Oxford coachmen have set so 
 good an example as they have done to their brethren 
 of 'the bench,' had there been no such men on their 
 road as Sir Henry Peyton, Lord Clonmell, the late 
 Sir Thomas Mostyn, that Nestor of coachmen, Mr. 
 Annesley, and the late Mr. Harrison, of Shelswell? 
 What would the Devonshire road have been, but for 
 the late Sir Charles Bamfylde, Sir John Rogers, 
 Colonel Prowse, Sir Lawrence Palk, and others ? 
 Have the advice and the practice of such experienced 
 men as Mr. Charles Buxton, Mr. Henry Villebois, Mr. 
 Okeover, Sir Bellingham Graham, Mr. John Walker. 
 Lord Sefton, Sir Felix Agar, Mr. Ackers, Mr. rlaxse. 
 
322 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 Hon. Fitzroy Stanhope, Colonel Spicer, Colonel 
 Sibthorpe, ciim multis aliis, been thrown away upon 
 persons who have looked up to them as protectors ? 
 Certainly not ; neither would the improvement in 
 carriages stage-coaches more especially have ar- 
 rived at its present height, but for the attention and 
 suggestions of such persons as we have been speaking 
 of. 
 
 " The fashion, however, was not one of venerable 
 standing among us gentlemen coachmen not having 
 been known in England for more than about half-a- 
 century. We believe we ourselves remember the Anglo- 
 Erichthonius the late Hon. Charles Finch, brother to 
 the late Earl of Aylesford, who used to drive his own 
 coach-and-four, disguised in a livery great-coat. Soon 
 after his ddbut, however, the celebrated ' Tommy 
 Onslow,' Sir John Lade, and others, mounted the box 
 in their own character. Sir John was esteemed a 
 renowned judge of coach-horses and carriages, and a 
 good coachman of the old school ; but everything 
 connected with the coach-box has undergone such a 
 change in the last twenty-five years, that the Nestors 
 of the art are no longer to be quoted. Mr. Warde, the 
 father of the field, may now, we believe, be called the 
 father of the road also ; and if the old heavy Gloucester 
 ' six inside and sixteen out, with two tons of luggage/ 
 were to reappear on the road, no man's advice would be 
 better than his." 
 
 John Mytton, of Halston in Shropshire, was born on 
 the 3Oth of September, 1796, and when he came of 
 age inherited an enormous fortune, which he did his 
 best to dissipate ; he became widely known by his 
 eccentric and extravagant exploits. We do not hear 
 much of his driving a four-in-hand coach, but he was a 
 great tandem driver, and on one occasion was actually 
 
MAD MYTTON. 323 
 
 foolish enough to drive across country by moonlight ; 
 and yet it was universally acknowledged that Mytton 
 was no coachman, although he drove so much. On 
 one occasion, when he was dining out, and the con- 
 versation turned on the danger of driving tandem, with 
 which team he had driven out to dinner, Mytton at 
 once expressed his dissent from this doctrine, and 
 offered to bet a pony (^25) all round that he would 
 that night drive his tandem across country into the 
 turnpike road, a distance of half-a-mile, having, in his 
 progress, to get over a sunk fence, three yards wide, a 
 broad, deep drain, and two stiff quickset hedges, with 
 ditches on the opposite side. The bets offered were 
 taken by several men who were present, to the amount 
 of ^150 and upwards. After the necessary prepara- 
 tions, all turned out to see the performance ; although, 
 as Mytton was under age, he was strongly persuaded 
 not to make the attempt ; these admonitions naturally, 
 however, had a contrary effect, and, twelve men with 
 lanterns attached to long poles having been procured, 
 to supplement the light of the moon, at the appointed 
 signal away went Mytton and his tandem across 
 country. 
 
 The first obstacle was the sunk fence, into which, 
 as may be expected, he was landed ; but the opposite 
 side, being a gradual slope, the carnage and the lunatic 
 who sat in it, by applying the lash to the horses, were 
 drawn out without injury. He next sent his horses 
 at a wide drain, and such was the pace he went at it 
 that it was cleared by a yard or more, but the jerk 
 sent Mytton flying on to the wheeler's back ; but he 
 somehow managed to resume his seat, and took the 
 two remaining fences in gallant style, after which he 
 got safe back into the turnpike road, and, pocketing 
 the money he had gained, drove away home. 
 
 Y 2 
 
324 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 In fact, Mytton, if we are to believe all that 
 Nimrod says of him, was in the constant habit of 
 driving his gigs over fences whenever he was resolved 
 upon a short cut to avoid going round ; and although 
 he frequently surmounted the obstacle without injury 
 to horse, cart, or driver, he had an incredible number 
 of accidents. In fact, he was a perfect lunatic, and 
 Nimrod's only object in writing his life must have 
 been to chronicle his marvellous escapes.* When he 
 drove his phaeton up to the door at Halston, instead 
 of letting a groom drive it round to the stables, he 
 would start the horses off by themselves at a gallop, 
 and, strange to say, they conducted the carriage safely 
 into the yard, although they had two rather sharp 
 turns to make and one gate to go through. He was 
 fool enough on one occasion to drive a tandem at a 
 turnpike gate. It happened as follows : 
 
 Having bought a horse of a dealer named Clark, 
 of Meole, in Shropshire, he put him into a gig as 
 leader in a tandem, and took the dealer for a drive. 
 Upon approaching a turnpike gate, which was closed, 
 he asked the dealer who sat beside him if he thought 
 the new purchase was a good timber-jumper. Upon 
 the dealer expressing a doubt, Mytton said, " Then we 
 will try him ; " and seeing the turnpike gate, he gave 
 the horses their heads, and galloping straight at the 
 gate the leader cleared it in beautiful style, leaving 
 Mytton and the dealer and the wheel-horse fortunately 
 all alive, although on the wrong side ; the gig, 
 out of which the dealer was sent flying, was a good 
 deal knocked about. 
 
 * The elder Alken illustrated Nimrod's " Life of Mytton," and 
 although Mytton did nothing worthy of biographical notice, Alken's 
 sketches are so remarkably clever and spirited that they make the 
 book interesting solely on that account. 
 
MAD MYTTON. 325 
 
 On one occasion Nimrod was driving with Mytton, 
 they were both going out to dinner, for which they 
 were late ; having taken a wrong turning on approach- 
 ing the house, they found themselves in a field from 
 which there was no egress, except by the gate through 
 which they had entered. " We'll manage it," said 
 Mytton ; " this horse is a capital fencer, so do you 
 get over the fence and catch him." The fence was a 
 stiff hedge, with a ditch on the other side. He then 
 unbuckled the bearing-rein, gave the horse a sharp 
 cut with his whip, and over he came, gig and all, with- 
 out the slightest accident. One day, when taking 
 some friends round his stable at Halston, he said that 
 he had something still better worth seeing than his 
 horses ; and opening his coach-house doors he thus 
 addressed them : " You see that gig : last night it was 
 carried clean over my lodge gates, and, as you will 
 observe, is not a bit the worse for it, neither is the 
 horse which you saw in the stable." 
 
 Nimrod says this was a marvellous performance, 
 as it certainly was ; but that the inhabitants of the 
 town of Wrexham, in Denbighshire, can well re- 
 member a somewhat similar circumstance occurring at 
 a villa close to that town, some twenty years back. A 
 horse, the property of the late Mr. Watkin Hayman, 
 ran away with a gig from his front-door, and carried it 
 over a high palisade gate, without injury to either him- 
 self or the gig. Nimrod says he went next day to see 
 the gate ; the only impression left upon it was the 
 fracture of one of the spikes or points of the top rail. 
 
 Mytton naturally caused his friends some appre- 
 hension, and Nimrod says that he never entered a 
 carriage with him without first making' him promise 
 not to drive or touch the whip or reins. On one occasion 
 he was driving a friend in a gig, when Mytton, without 
 
326 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 any prefatory remark on the subject whatever, said : 
 " Were you very much hurt, then, by being upset 
 out of that gig ? " 
 
 " No, thank God ! " said his companion, " for I 
 never was upset out of one." 
 
 " What," replied Mytton, " never upset out of a gig ? 
 
 What a d slow-coach you must have been all your 
 
 life ! " and running his wheel up the bank, over they 
 both went, fortunately without either being much hurt. 
 But Nimrod says that Mytton was really no coachman, 
 he knew nothing of the actual science of driving four 
 horses ; he would, however, now and then drive the 
 Holy head mail, but when he did so, he never attempted 
 any larks. 
 
 Forty years ago the late Sir Henry Peyton, a 
 member of the Four-in-Hand Club, a famous whip in 
 those days, elicited from Will Bowers, the well-known 
 Oxford coachman, the following clear and conclusive 
 criticism on the difference between locomotion by rail 
 and by road : 
 
 "Why, you see, Sir Henry," said Bowers, "if an 
 accident happens to a coach, why, there you are ; but if 
 an accident happens to a train, where are you ? " 
 
 In the early days of railroad travelling, even the 
 Four-in-Hand Club appeared to languish, and there were 
 many men of that generation who predicted with great 
 emphasis that the days of all coach driving were doomed; 
 but that these birds of ill-omen were wrong, is proved 
 by the flourishing condition of the Four-in-Hand and 
 Coaching Clubs, not to mention the revival coaches, 
 which, I think, is the best term to apply to those 
 coaches which have of late years been put on the road 
 during summer. At all the great race-meetings, too, such 
 as Epsom, Ascot, Goodwood, and Sandown, the dis- 
 
THE FOUR-IN-HAND CLUB. 327 
 
 play of coaches will satisfy any one that coaching has 
 not yet become a thing altogether of the past. 
 
 The Four-in-Hand Club is now in better form than 
 ever ; the Committee, in 1878, consisted of the Duke 
 of Beaufort, the Duke of Sutherland, the Marquis of 
 Londonderry, the Earl of Sefton, the Earl of Maccles- 
 field, Lord Londesborough, Lord Wenlock, and Lord 
 Aveland. The Duke of Beaufort is the President ; 
 there were over fifty members, amongst whom the 
 following names may be mentioned : Colonel Dickson, 
 Sir Henry Tufton, Sir Henry Meysey-Thompson, 
 the Marquis of Waterford, Sir T. Peyton, Lord 
 Abingdon, Lord Haldon, Count Munster, Mr. Adrian 
 Hope, General Owen Williams, the Earl of Bective, 
 Lord Charles Beresford, the Marquis of Blandford, 
 Mr. Henry Chaplin, Lord Cole, the Earl of Craven, 
 Mr. W. G. Craven, Mr. Eaton, Lord Hemsley, Sir 
 John Lister Kaye, Lord Macduff, Lord Muncaster, 
 Sir Roger Palmer, Sir George Wombwell, the Marquis 
 of Worcester, and Mr. C. Birch Reynardson, the author 
 of an amusing book called " Down the Road," which 
 was lately published by Messrs. Chapman & Hall. 
 
 The Four-in-Hand Club generally meets in Hyde 
 Park twice during the season, and drives to some place 
 out of town, where the members and their friends dine, 
 and return late in the evening. I have witnessed a 
 great many meets of the Four-in-Hand Club at the 
 Magazine in Hyde Park, but I do not intend to 
 enumerate them all, or to attempt to describe the 
 appearance of the various coaches and their teams, 
 since the correspondents of the various sporting papers 
 are so active in this particular branch of literature, 
 except to say that both the coaches and horses belong- 
 ing to the Four-in-Hand Club are well turned out, and 
 
328 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 the horses are generally well-bred and a good-looking 
 lot ; but from what I have seen of the many meets of 
 the Coaching Club which have been held during the 
 two past seasons in Hyde Park, I cannot extend to 
 them the same amount of praise : a more indifferent- 
 looking lot of horses it has rarely been my lot to 
 behold. Before the Four-in-Hand Club was estab- 
 lished there were many other driving clubs, but when 
 driving four horses not attached to the mail or stage- 
 coaches, it was frequently the habit to make use of a 
 barouche with a high driving seat, and a rumble behind 
 for the two grooms. 
 
 A correspondent of the Sporting Gazette of the 
 5th of June, 1880, speaks as follows of a meet of the 
 Four-in-Hand Club at the Magazine in Hyde Park : 
 
 Two-and-twenty was the number a much larger one than ex- 
 pected whom Lord Aveland, in the absence of the Duke of Beaufort 
 and Lord Carington, led off down the drive. The Crystal Palace 
 for luncheon was the supposed destination of the club ; but of course 
 there was the usual falling out, and a great many " scratched " at 
 Hyde Park Corner and in Belgrave Square. It is long since either 
 club has mustered in any numbers at the Crystal Palace, the horrors 
 of the tram having acted as a deterrent to many coachmen. In the 
 early days of the C.C., and when afternoon meets were the fashion, 
 there were one or two very pleasant dinners at the Palace and an 
 awkward place to get away from it was after dinner, we remember- 
 but these gatherings seem of the past. We are inclined to regret 
 this. We all know what cohesive and cementing powers there are in 
 a dinner. Both the Four-in-Hand and the C.C. are clubs without a 
 local habitation, and to meet twice a year or so at a particular spot 
 in the Park is all that they do to keep up the club idea and the name. 
 We are not for a moment believers that coaching will suffer because 
 coachmen do not dine ; but yet it is just possible that that thoroughly 
 English institution, a dinner, might help to keep the fire aglow, and, 
 supposing such a necessity should arise, rekindle the fading embers. 
 We beg to submit the idea to the noble presidents and vice-presidents 
 of both institutions.* 
 
 The Coaching Club meet on Wednesday, June 16, and drive to 
 Hurlingham for luncheon. 
 
 * Since this letter appeared the Badminton and Road Clubs 
 have been established. 
 
THE FOUR-IN-HAND CLUB. 329 
 
 The above is evidently written by a correspondent 
 who forgets that the members do dine together after 
 the meets in the Park. 
 
 On June i;th, 1882, the first meet of the Four-in- 
 Hand Club for that year took place at the Magazine 
 in Hyde Park, and is described as follows in the 
 Sporting Gazette of June 2Oth : 
 
 The first meet of the Four-in-Hand Club was held at the Magazine 
 on Wednesday at 12.30 p.m., and, favoured by the presence of 
 Royalty and splendid weather, the sight was one of the prettiest that 
 is ever seen during the London season, albeit the muster of coaches, 
 numbering only fourteen, was a sad falling off from last year's parade 
 or of that of the junior club, the Coaching Club, which was held last 
 Saturday. The Duke of Beaufort, the president of the club, although 
 the last to arrive on the scene, soon worked his good-looking coaching 
 team to the front and took the post of honour. Lord Arthur Somer- 
 set was on the box seat, but relinquished in order to pilot the regi- 
 mental coach of the Blues, which had been driven to the meet by 
 Lord Kilmarnock. The time of starting having arrived, the president 
 led the way, followed by Lord Aveland (browns), with the Prince of 
 Wales on the box seat ; and then came Lord Londesborough (browns), 
 Count Munster (chestnuts), Sir H. Meysey-Thompson (browns), 
 Marquis of Waterford (greys), Mr. Adrian Hope (browns), Mr. 
 Chandos-Pole (chestnuts), Duke of Portland (blacks), Lord Cole's 
 coach, driven by Colonel Chaplin (bays) ; ist Life Guards, driven by 
 Captain Spiar (chestnuts) ; Royal Horse Guards' coach, driven by 
 Lord Arthur Somerset (bays) ; Lord Hothfield (blacks), and General 
 Dickson (browns and bay). They drove round by Hyde Park Corner 
 to Queen's Gate, where the procession broke up, a few coaches going 
 to Hurlingham, the remainder returning to the Park. 
 
 There have been many more recent descriptions, 
 both in the Field and the Sporting Gazette, of these 
 meets of the Four-in-Hand and Coaching Clubs, but 
 the ones which I have given will serve my purpose. 
 There is no novelty whatever about them : a certain 
 number of gentlemen driving a certain number of 
 coaches meet in Hyde Park to drive to a certain 
 place ; all the fashionables who are in London flock to 
 the Park to see them ; very probably Royalty is present, 
 the Prince and Princess of Wales frequently attending 
 
330 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 these meets ; after driving round the Park many of 
 the coaches go home, to be seen no more. 
 
 The Coaching Club is a far more recent institution, 
 and cannot lay claim to quite the same exclusiveness as 
 the Four-in-Hand Club, as has been explained. The 
 only club-houses or places at which the members of 
 these two driving clubs can meet and discuss coaching 
 are the Badminton and Road Clubs. There should 
 also be a club for hunting men, more particularly for 
 Masters of Hounds, where they might meet and discuss 
 matters relating to hunting, the distribution of their 
 countries, and all matters relating to the well-being of 
 the chase. 
 
 As I have before said, there were driving clubs 
 even before the time of the Four-in-Hand Club. 
 In Dickens's " Dictionary of London," " the Benson 
 Driving Club is said to have been established in 1807 
 and broken up in 1854. It consisted of twenty-five 
 members, and was the last of the old coaching clubs 
 known to the past generation ; as the Four-horse Club, 
 which was organised a year later, expired in 1826, 
 and the Richmond Driving Club did not last long." 
 
 In the old days there were a number of country 
 squires, noblemen, and persons of less degree, who 
 took shares in horsing fast coaches for the mere 
 privilege of driving them, such as the celebrated 
 Captain Barclay of Ury. Driving four-in-hand became 
 the fashion towards the end of the last century, when 
 George, Prince of Wales, extended to it his patronage; 
 not that the Prince drove four-in-hand himself, the 
 team in his travelling barouche consisted of six horses, 
 four of them in hand, whilst the two additional leaders 
 were ridden by postillions. In those days the Pavilion 
 at Brighton was full of guests, the Steyne was crowded 
 
MR. MORRITT, OF ROKEBY. 331 
 
 with all the smartest people in London, and Brighton 
 and Lewes races were then most fashionably attended. 
 The Race-course was crowded with handsome carriages ; 
 the Prince of Wales' German waggon (for so barouches 
 were called in those days) was drawn by six bay 
 horses ; when it arrived at the race-course it took up 
 its station close to the grand stand, where it remained 
 the centre of attraction during the day. Sidney says 
 that, " for a time a solitary representative of the 
 coaching interest was a rough-looking man driving 
 every day through the suburbs* in all weathers ; he 
 drove four useful, rough-looking gray horses, harnessed 
 to what had the appearance of a mail-coach, except 
 that there were no names or coat-of-arms on the 
 panels. The omnibus drivers, who were then for 
 the most part broken-down knights of the road, of 
 amazing four- horse fame, declared that this man was 
 bound, under penalties in his father's will, to drive 
 four horses a certain number of miles every day." 
 
 It was in 1856 that the late Mr. Morritt, of Rokeby, 
 succeeded in getting together thirty good men and 
 true, who had a passion for driving, and established 
 the Four-in-Hand Driving Club, of which he became 
 the president ; each member was entitled to wear a 
 brown coat bearing the club buttons. Since then a 
 furious revival has taken place, and the services of 
 the professional survivors of the coaching era have 
 been in constant demand. But the Four-in-Hand 
 Club was, after a time, found to be too exclusive 
 for the increasing taste for the road; and in 1870, 
 Mr. Goddard and a few other gentlemen established 
 the Coaching Club, which, on its very first appearance 
 in Hyde Park, turned out twenty-two drags, and in 
 
 * Of London. 
 
332 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 1879 the list of members (confined to one hundred) 
 was full, whilst many applicants for election were upon 
 the books. 
 
 Both clubs meet twice a year, and generally at 
 the Magazine in Hyde Park, though the Four-in- 
 Hand Club do sometimes meet on the Horse Guards 
 Parade-ground in the Green Park. The Four-in- 
 Hand Club's first meet is always on the Wednesday 
 before the Derby. The members of these clubs after 
 the meet is over generally drive to Greenwich, 
 Richmond, the Alexandra or Crystal Palaces, the 
 Orleans Club, Hurlingham, or some convenient place 
 at which to dine ; the Orleans Club has for some 
 time past been wound up, but it used to be a very 
 favourite rendezvous for the coaches. In 1874 Major 
 Furnival opened the Road Club in Park Place, and 
 Mr. Herman very shortly after this established the 
 Badminton Club at 100, Piccadilly, where there is 
 capital stabling for fifty horses. The Road Club keeps 
 a coach for the use of its members during the season, 
 and the Badminton has always one or two teams, 
 with a coach, brake, etc., in the yard. The Duke of 
 Beaufort is president of both these clubs, as he is 
 also of the Four-in-Hand and Coaching Clubs. 
 
 I give an extract from a report that appeared in the 
 Sporting Gazette, during the summer of 1881, with 
 regard to a meet of the Coaching Club. This corre- 
 spondent says that " on this occasion, Count Munster, 
 the German Ambassador, and a very enthusiastic coach- 
 man, was about the first arrival ; he was soon followed 
 by Captain Bill and Major Dickson, the latter driving 
 the coach of the Badminton Club, which," this corre- 
 spondent goes on to say, "is the local habitation of the 
 Coaching Club. Major Dickson, who with Captain 
 

HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF BEAUFORT, K.G., PRESIDENT OF THE FOUR-IN-HAND AN 
 
 COACHING CLUBS. 
 
 [ To face page 33 
 
THE COACHING CLUB. 333 
 
 Goddard was the originator of the institution, was 
 entered early to coaching, and drove the drag of the 
 Royals before the days of the so-called revival. Few 
 more enthusiastic devotees of the road than the Major, 
 who keeps his hand in all the year round, and is never 
 so happy as when he is driving the ' Old Times ' 
 through frost and snow, and is able to boast, even in 
 the most severe weather, that he is up to time at 
 4 Hatchett's ' on the return journey. He has a very easy 
 task on this occasion, driving three neat bays and a 
 chestnut. The chestnuts of Sir Clifford Constable 
 formed, there is no doubt, the best-looking team at the 
 meet. He is famous for his chestnuts ; he sold a team 
 last year to Mr. Walter Shoolbred." This corre- 
 spondent goes on to state that Lord Charles Beresford, 
 Mr. Trotter, Mr. Winthrop Praed, Sir Bache Cunard, 
 Mr. Murietta, Mr. Banbury, Sir Henry Tufton, and 
 Sir Henry Thompson, were present with their coache? 
 at this meet. 
 
 To show that these smart amateur coaches are 
 not always exempt from accident, notwithstanding 
 the care expended upon them, I give the following 
 extract from the Sporting Gazette of May i3th, 1882 : 
 "A great many coaches have been seen about town 
 during the past week or two. On Wednesday 
 afternoon some excitement was caused in Queen's 
 Gate by an accident to Major Lawe's drag, the axle- 
 tree of which broke ; the occupants were thrown off, 
 one lady, Mrs. Willis, had her leg injured."* Such 
 an event as the capsizing of a coach might have had 
 far more serious results ; in fact, it is a wonder that 
 no one was killed, as being thrown on to a hard 
 macadamised road or street pavement is a very 
 different thing to being pitched out on to a grassy 
 * See page 367. 
 
334 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 bank, or into a ditch, although neither can be very 
 pleasant. 
 
 The following account of a meet of the Coaching 
 Club appeared in the Carriage-Builder^ and Harness- 
 Makers Gazette, and in my opinion is likely to be more 
 interesting than the gossiping remarks of a sporting 
 correspondent, whose notices of the coaches, horses, 
 and their drivers, are apt to become somewhat mono- 
 tonous. In many cases, at the meets of these clubs 
 there are a number of carriages present, the occupants 
 of which have come to see the coaches ; the horses 
 in these carriages are oftentimes immeasurably superior 
 to those in the coaches, and are better harnessed, and 
 altogether better turned out ; but the fact of any 
 horse figuring as a coach-horse on such occasions, 
 procures him a meed of praise of which he is thoroughly 
 undeserving, and when probably, were he in a hansom 
 cab, he would feel far more comfortable, and be far 
 more in accordance with his surroundings. 
 
 When going about London, and seeing such a vast 
 number of horses, I am constantly thinking that if one 
 only knew and understood the character and disposition 
 of many good-looking horses one sees employed in 
 menial occupations, what a field for conjecture would 
 be opened to one's mental vision ! Human beings 
 possessed of nobility of mind, wonderful powers of 
 endurance, extraordinary perseverance, and great 
 application, combined with cleverness, generally con- 
 trive to better their position in life ; in fact, there is no 
 withstanding a man who is determined to get on in 
 the world, and who has the necessary qualifications 
 for doing so ; but with a horse it is different. If, owing 
 to some accident of fate, or some obscurity as to his 
 antecedents, or if he has all his life lived in this world 
 unnoticed by an appreciative human eye, it is very 
 
A PROFESSIONAL OPINION. 335 
 
 possible, that although he have the courage of a lion r 
 the gentleness of a lamb, the speed of a race-horse, 
 and the intelligence of a hunter, he will remain in 
 his lowly sphere, and never rise above it, although out 
 of the corners of his eyes he may see in stylish coaches 
 or smart carriages, animals vastly inferior to himself. 
 
 Without doubt there are many good horses in light 
 carts, hansom cabs, and omnibuses, which, if well fed, 
 well groomed, and well ridden, with proper prepara- 
 tion, would hold their own in the stiffest of Leicester- 
 shire runs, even though it were from Waterloo Gorse, 
 with a burning scent breast-high, and with a straight fox. 
 No one knows ; for was not the Godolphin Arab 
 bought out of a water-cart in Paris, and in him did 
 not the English thorough-bred originate ? 
 
 But to return to the subject of coaching. In the 
 Carriage- Builders Gazette there appeared the follow- 
 ing account of a meet of the Coaching Club on May 
 1 4th, 1887 : 
 
 " Many of the teams are described as small phaeton 
 horses ; the foot-boards are complained of as being 
 too low ; it was remarked that the harness was brass- 
 mounted ; the top hame-straps in many cases looked 
 shabby, the tail of the strap flopping about or twisted 
 up into a little knot of marked inelegance ; we did not 
 see any of the newly-patented top hame-chains on 
 the teams as expected, which give such a prominent 
 finish to a good harness ; there were a great many 
 bearing-reins, which, although they may control high- 
 couraged, restive animals, are not wanted at actual 
 work, particularly on a journey. Curb bits were 
 general, and there were nose-nets used with two or 
 three pullers ; they did not look well, but until a light, 
 easy bit to stop a pulling horse is invented, they are 
 the most effective contrivances yet adopted." 
 
336 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 I will here bring to a conclusion my remarks con- 
 cerning the Four-in-Hand and Coaching Clubs, and 
 speak of the amateur stage-coaches that start from 
 " Hatchett's" Hotel during the summer months. As 
 a prelude to these remarks I cannot do better than 
 introduce the following amusing parody : 
 
 What a fine coaching day ! 'tis the first day of May, 
 
 All the coaches to Hatchett's will come ; 
 Every friend will be there, and will pay his full fare, 
 
 And will leave all his troubles at home. 
 See, the coaches are now on their way, 
 Guards and coachmen their white hats display ; 
 
 So we'll join the glad throng that goes gaily along, 
 And we'll all go a-coaching to-day. 
 
 We'll all go a-coaching to-day, 
 
 The country looks charming and gay ; 
 
 So we'll join the glad throng that goes gaily along, 
 And we'll all go out coaching to-day. 
 
 The " Windsor," I ween, 's the first coach to be seen, 
 
 With Davis and Greenhall and Bailey ; 
 You can't well beat these three, you will very soon see, 
 
 As you trot down through Hammersmith gaily. 
 Sir Thomas not here ? Very queer ! 
 Let us hope he's not ill or in pain ; 
 
 His return we'll greet gladly, and welcome him madly, 
 For he must come a-coaching again. 
 We'll all go to Windsor to-day, 
 Harry Thorogood won't take your nay; 
 
 So we'll join the bright throng that goes blythely along, 
 For we'll all go to Windsor to-day. 
 
 Here comes the " Old Times " as punctual as chimes, 
 
 To Virginia Water en route; 
 Neither Knatchbull, nor Beckett, nor the Major will wreck it, 
 
 We have Speed here and Safety to boot. 
 See Wilson and Taylor are there, 
 Of our Chaplain you must be aware ; 
 
 So we'll join the glad throng that goes spanking along, 
 And we'll all go a-coaching to-day. 
 
 We'll all go out coaching to-day, 
 For Selby is sprightly and gay ; 
 
 We will join that gay throng that goes spinning along, 
 And our instinct for pleasure obey. 
 
RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. 337 
 
 This is not unlike " We will all go a-hunting 
 to-day," which poor Caldecott so cleverly illustrated. 
 In speaking of Randolph Caldecott, not only was he a 
 most remarkable artist, far superior in my opinion to 
 John Leech, but he was a humourist in the truest 
 sense of the word. Leech's sketches were funny and 
 amusing when taken as a whole, but the minutest 
 detail in Caldecott's sketches provoked laughter ; his 
 sense of the humorous was so extraordinary that every 
 figure in his drawings was suggestive of some joke ; 
 the faces of both human beings and animals told a 
 tale which needed no further signification. I do not 
 believe that any clever sketcher will ever surpass 
 Caldecott. 
 
 The time-tables of the various coaches always 
 appear in the Sporting Gazette. I here give one of 
 them which appeared in the year 1879; as will be seen, 
 it has the time-bill of the celebrated " Defiance" coach."" 
 
 BOXHILL. A well-appointed four-horse coach leaves "Hatchett's" 
 Hotel, Piccadilly, at 11.30 a.m., and returns from the "Burford 
 Bridge " Hotel at 4 p.m. every day (Sundays excepted). The 
 journey will occupy two hours and a half. 
 
 BRIGHTON. A fast four-horse coach leaves the White Horse Cellars, 
 Piccadilly, every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 12 o'clock, 
 arriving at the "Old Ship," Brighton, at 6 p.m., returning Monday, 
 Wednesday, and Friday, starting and arriving at same hours. 
 
 DORKING. A fast four-horse coach leaves Hatchett's W 7 hite Horse 
 Cellars every morning (Sundays excepted) at 11.15, v ^ Clapham 
 Common, Morden, Ewell, Epsom, Alstead, Leatherhead, Boxhill, 
 &c., returning to Piccadilly at 6 p.m. 
 
 GUILDFORD. A fast four-horse coach runs daily, Sundays excepted, 
 from the White Horse Cellars, Piccadilly, at n a.m., arriving 
 at the "White Hart," Guildford, at 2 p.m. ; returning at 4 p.m., 
 due in Piccadilly at 7 p.m. 
 
 HAMPTON COURT. A coach leaves the " Horse Shoe " Hotel every 
 morning (Sundays excepted) at 11.30 a.m., via Shepherd's Bush, 
 Hammersmith, Barnes Common, Roehampton, Wimbledon, and 
 Kingston, arriving at the "Mitre" at 1.15 p.m., returning at 
 4.15, due at the " Horse Shoe" at 6 p.m. 
 
 z 
 
33 8 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 LEAMINGTON TO STRATFORD-ON-AVON. The "Shakespeare," four- 
 horse coach, leaves the "Regent" Hotel, Leamington, for 
 Stratford-on-Avon every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 
 10.30 a.m. ; returning from Stratford-on-Avon at 4 p.m. 
 
 LEAMINGTON, KENILWORTH, AND COVENTRY. The " Shakespeare,"" 
 four-horse coach, leaves the " Regent " Hotel, Leamington, for 
 Coventry, via Kenilworth, where the coach stops an hour, every 
 Thursday and Saturday ; returning from Coventry at 4.30 p.m. 
 
 *OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE. A fast and well-appointed four-horse 
 coach, the " Defiance," will leave the " Mitre " Hotel, Oxford, 
 every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 9 a.m., and will 
 proceed through High Wycombe to London, where it will arrive 
 at the White Horse Cellars at 2.50 p.m., twenty minutes being 
 allowed for luncheon, when it will resume its journey through 
 Royston, &c., to Cambridge, arriving there at 9 p.m. On 
 Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday it will perform the return jour- 
 ney, arriving and starting from either end, also at " Hatchett's," 
 at same times. On Saturdays the coach runs through to 
 Cheltenham, arriving at the "Plough" Hotel at 2 o'clock on 
 Sunday morning, allowing half-an-hour at Oxford for supper, 
 and returns on Monday, leaving Cheltenham at 4 a.m., arriving 
 at Cambridge at 9 o'clock the same evening, allowing half-an- 
 hour in Oxford for breakfast. 
 
 RAMSGATE, MARGATE, AND CANTERBURY. A fast four-horse coach 
 leaves the " Granville " Hotel, Ramsgate, every morning (Sun- 
 days excepted) at 10.30 a.m., via Margate, Westgate, Upstreet, 
 &c., arriving at the "Rose" Hotel, Canterbury, at i p.m., 
 returning at 3.15 p.m., due at the " Granville," Ramsgate, at 
 5.45 p.m. 
 
 RANELAGH AND HURLINGHAM. Leaves "Hatchett's" each day at 
 3.15 and 7.45, returning at 6.45 and 11.30. Journey, thirty 
 minutes. 
 
 ST. ALBANS. A fast four-horse coach, "Old Times," leaves Hatchett's 
 White Horse Cellars, Piccadilly, every day (Sundays excepted) 
 at ii a.m., via St. John's Wood, Finchley, Barnet, &c., to 
 "George" Hotel, St. Albans, arriving at 1.30 pm., returning at 
 
 4 p.m., arriving at " Hatchett's " at 6.30 p.m. 
 
 THAMES DITTON. A well-appointed fast four-horse coach leaves 
 Thames Ditton every morning at 8 a.m., via Hampton Court, 
 Kew, &c., arriving at "Hatchett's" at 10 a.m., returning at 
 6 p.m. (Saturdays at 3 p.m.), arriving at 7.55 p.m. (Saturdays at 
 
 5 P..). 
 
 VIRGINIA WATER. The "Tally-Ho" leaves "Hatchett's" Hotel, 
 Piccadilly, at 10.45 a.m., returning from the "Wheatsheaf" 
 Hotel, Virginia Water, at 7 p.m. every day (Sundays excepted). 
 
 WEST WICKHAM AND BECKENHAM. A fast four-horse coach, the 
 "Rapid," leaves Beckenham every morning at 8.45, through 
 
TIME-BILLS. 339 
 
 Dulwich to the City, arriving at 10, and the White Horse 
 Cellars at 10.20, returning from Piccadilly at 5 p.m. (Saturdays 
 at 3 p.m.). 
 
 The same year, or in the year following, the Ports- 
 mouth coach was running, which again is a long-dis- 
 tance coach. The time-bill of this and other coaches 
 will be seen below : 
 
 DORKING, BOXHILL, AND LONDON. The "Perseverance," a well- 
 appointed four-horse coach, Mr. William Sheather proprietor, 
 leaves "Hatchett's" Hotel, Piccadilly, every morning, except 
 Sundays, at 11.15 a - m -> via Clapham 11.45 a - m -> Tooting 12, 
 *Merton 12.10 p.m , Ewell 12.48 p.m., *Epsom i p.m., 
 Ashstead 1.17 p.m., Leatherhead 1.28 p.m., Boxhill 1.50 p.m., 
 arriving at Dorking at 2 p.m.; returning at 3.15 p.m., and 
 arriving in Piccadilly at 6 p.m. 
 
 ESHER AND LONDON. The "Rapid," four-horse coach, leaves the 
 "Bear," every morning (Sundays excepted) at 8 a.m., arriving 
 at the White Horse Cellars at 10 a.m., returning at 5.30 p.m., 
 due at Esher at 7.30 p.m. On Saturday it will leave London 
 at 3 p.m. 
 
 GUILDFORD AND LONDON. The " New Times," well-appointed fast 
 four-horse coach, Mr. Walter Shoolbred proprietor, leaves the 
 White Horse Cellars every week day at n a.m., via Putney 
 11.30, *Kingston Vale 11.50, Kingston 12.8, *Esher 12.32, 
 Cobham 12.55, *Ripley 1.20, arriving at Guildford at 2 p.m. ; 
 returning at 4 p.m., and getting to Piccadilly at 7 p.m. 
 
 LEDBURY AND GLOUCESTER. The mail coach leaves the "Feathers" 
 Hotel, Ledbury, every morning at 8, arriving at the "Grey- 
 hound" Hotel, Gloucester, at 10.15; returning at 3.25 p.m. 
 
 PORTSMOUTH AND LONDON. The " Rocket," fast four-horse coach, 
 Mr. C. R. Hargreaves proprietor, leaves the White Horse 
 Cellars, Piccadilly, every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, at 
 1 1. 10 a.m., via Putney 11.40 p.m., * Kingston Hill 12.4 p.m., 
 Esher 12.43 p.m., Cobham 1.3 p.m., *Guiidford 2.5 p.m. (thirty 
 minutes for luncheon), Godalming 2.59 p.m., *Thursley 3.25 
 p.m., *Liphook 4.15 p.m., Petersfield 5.3 p.m., *Horndean 5.52 
 p.m., and Portsmouth 7 p.m. ; returning on Mondays, Wednes- 
 days, and Fridays, leaving "George" Hotel, Portsmouth, at 
 10 a.m., lunching at Guildford at 2.30 p.m., and arriving at 
 Piccadilly at 6 p.m. 
 
 VIRGINIA WATER, OATLANDS PARK HOTEL, AND LONDON. The 
 "Old Times," that fast and well-appointed four-horse coach, 
 
 * Change horses. 
 
 Z 2 
 
340 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 the property of Mr. J. W. Selby, which runs somewhere every 
 day all the year round, Sundays and Christmas Days only 
 excepted, leaves the White Horse Cellars at 10.45 a.m., via 
 *East Sheen, which it leaves at 11.30 a.m., Richmond 11.45 
 a.m. } Twickenham 11.55 a.m., *Teddington 12.5, Hampton 
 Court 12.15, Walton 12.40, *Oatlands Park 12.50, Weybridge 
 1.5, *Chertsey 1.15, and Virginia Water 1.45 p.m. ; returning 
 from Virginia Water at 3.30 p.m., Oatlands Park 4.20 and 
 with the same times over the other stages back, arriving in 
 Piccadilly at 6.30 p.m. 
 
 WINDSOR AND LONDON. A well-appointed four-horse coach leaves 
 the White Horse Cellars every morning at 10.30 a.m. (Sundays 
 excepted), via *East Sheen 11.18 a.m., Richmond 11.28 a.m., 
 Twickenham 11.35 a.m., Teddington 11.48 a.m., * Hampton 
 12.6 p.m., *Staines 12.50 p.m.; arriving at the "White Hart," 
 Windsor, at 1.30 p.m. ; returning at 3.40 p.m., due in Piccadilly 
 at 6.40 p.m. 
 
 On June 2Oth, 1882, it was announced that a 
 double coach would run to Brighton. During the 
 revival of coaches this is the only instance I know of 
 a double coach being placed upon the road. " Baron 
 Oppenheim and Mr. Steward Freeman will com- 
 mence running a double coach to Brighton on the 
 1 7th of this month, leaving ' HatchettV and Brighton 
 at 11.30 a.m., and arriving at their respective destina- 
 tions at 5.30 p.m. The down coach will lunch at 
 Reigate, the up coach at Crawley. The coaches will 
 be supplied by Holland, horsed by E. Woodlands ; 
 and E. Fownes and J. Thorogood will be the coach- 
 men." 
 
 On October i;th, 1885, the following bill appeared 
 in the Sporting Gazette : 
 
 LEDBURY AND GLOUCESTER. The mail coach leaves the " Feathers " 
 Hotel, Ledbury, every morning at 8, arriving at the "Grey- 
 hound" Hotel, Gloucester, at 10.15 a.m.; returning at 3.25 p.m. 
 
 OATLANDS PARK HOTEL AND LONDON. The " Old Times," a fast 
 and well-appointed four-horse coach (Mr. J. W. Selby pro- 
 prietor), runs daily (Sundays excepted) from the White Horse 
 
 * Change horses. 
 
WINTER COACHES. 341 
 
 Cellars, " Hatchett's " Hotel, Piccadilly, leaving at n a.m., 
 arriving at Putney 11.30 a.m., *Putney Vale 11.45 a - m -> 
 Kingston 12.10 p.m., *Hampton Court 12.15 P- m -> and "Oat- 
 lands Park " Hotel i p.m. ; returning at 3 p.m., *Hampton Court 
 3.40 p.m., Kingston 3.45 p.m., *Putney Vale 4.10 p.m., 
 
 arriving at White Horse Cellars at 5 p.m. 
 
 These two coaches ran all through the winter, the 
 Ledbury and Gloucester coach starting as early as 
 eight o'clock in the morning, which, on a dark, raw 
 winter morning, could not have been very inviting. 
 As the following time-bill appeared in the Sporting 
 Gazette of March i3th, 1886, we may take it for 
 granted that they ran all through the winter : t 
 
 LEDBURY AND GLOUCESTER. The mail coach leaves the " Feathers " 
 Hotel, Ledbury, every morning at 8, arriving at the " Grey- 
 hound" Hotel, Gloucester, at 10.15 a.m. ; returning at 3.25 p.m. 
 
 OATLANDS PARK HOTEL AND LONDON. The " Old Times," a fast 
 and well-appointed four-horse coach (Mr. J. W. Selby pro- 
 prietor), runs daily (Sundays excepted) from the White Horse 
 Cellars, "Hatchett's" Hotel, Piccadilly, leaving at n a.m., 
 arriving at Putney 11.30 a.m., *Putney Vale 11.45 a - m -> King- 
 ston 12.10 p.m., * Hampton Court 12.15 p.m., and "Oatlands 
 Park" Hotel i p.m. ; returning at 3 p.m., *Hampton Court 3.40 
 p.m., Kingston 3.45 p.m., *Putney Vale 4.10 p.m., arriving at 
 White Horse Cellars at 5 p.m. 
 
 The following interesting letter appeared in the 
 Sporting Gazette, describing the " Defiance " coach, 
 horsed by Carleton Blyth, whom I knew when he was 
 a very small boy, never supposing that he would turn 
 out such an adventurous coachman : 
 
 THE "DEFIANCE" COACH-HORSES. 
 
 To the Editor of " The Sporting Gazetted 
 
 SIR, The dreadful summer has caused me to postpone a day I have 
 long promised myself with this wonderful coach the coach of the 
 season but the weather being hopeless I determined at last to have 
 
 * Change horses. 
 
 t The Bentley Priory coach also runs throughout the winter, very 
 often, I should imagine, going and returning empty. 
 
342 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES 
 
 a try, wet or fine, and was lucky enough to pick out one of the few 
 bright days we have had for my expedition. 
 
 The old saying, " Nothing succeeds like success," came to mind 
 in studying the various teams of the " Defiance." The proprietor, Car- 
 leton V. Blyth, Esq., is to be congratulated on having so successfully 
 carried out the pluckiest undertaking attempted during the present 
 revival of road coaching. " Nimrod," in the old book, " Road, Turf, 
 and Chase," says " a fast coach has, or ought to have, very nearly a 
 horse for every mile of ground it runs, reckoning one way, or one 
 side of the ground." This old-fashioned advice has been followed 
 in the present instance. 
 
 On Sept. 15, Messrs. Tattersall will sell without reserve 120 
 horses a horse a mile the entire stud of Carleton V. Blyth, Esq., 
 nearly all of which have been in regular work in the coach between 
 Oxford, London, and Cambridge during the season (six months). 
 "For particulars," says the characteristic yellow yard, "see catalogue." 
 But I say see the horses. Any one who is looking forward to the 
 coming hunting season, and who is not already suited, or who wants 
 harness horses of rare stamp and quality, should see those of the 
 " Defiance." They have nearly all good shoulders about the first 
 thing one looks for and most of them look like hunters. Of course 
 they are very fit, and considering the unusually long season, the 
 heavy state of the roads all the summer, and \.\\Qpace they have been 
 required to go, they are wonderfully well and fresh. Naturally some 
 are a little stale on their legs after such trying work, but much jarring 
 and bruising of feet has been avoided by the capital plan of shoeing 
 with leather. 
 
 The first team I saw were those four bays who come into Oxford 
 at 9 p.m., and submit so patiently to the rather demonstrative crowd 
 of admirers who assemble at the " Mitre " by lamplight to see the 
 " Defiance" arrive. At 9 p.m. one can only perceive they are bays, and 
 that the coach is yellow, and that Fownes has brought them in ; and 
 our old friend, young Cracknell, has apparently an unlimited number 
 of hat-boxes and portmanteaus to dive for in the boot. But at 9 a.m. 
 we see these same bays to advantage. They are a real old-fashioned 
 sort, strong wheelers, with a wear-and-tear look about them I hardly 
 expected ; leaders a trifle lighter, all bright and healthy in their coats, 
 and perfectly turned out in every way. The coach is as good as 
 those of Messrs. Holland & Holland always are. They go off quickly 
 and gently down the old street at Oxford, Cracknell making sweet 
 music on his horn in a way that few others can. As I have said, the 
 morning was, for a wonder, bright and sunny; and although the 
 meadows round the town were, of course, mostly under water, and no 
 end of hay floating about, our road was high and dry enough, and 
 the country lovely through which we passed to Wheatley, the first 
 change. Here they took on four other bays, lighter than the last, 
 Irish-looking horses I thought, quick and active, and with a useful 
 
THE "DEFIANCE" COACH. 343 
 
 hunter look about them. From Tetsvvorth bigger ones. Here I had 
 time to notice some odd horses, as I believe they are called. A grey 
 gelding, with a great deal of quality, and a big bay ; so that here are 
 six big horses, all of whom go well together as leaders or wheelers. 
 Further on, a rather big bay mare, with fine quarters and strong back, 
 said to be a wonderful jumper ; and I must not forget a bay, or brown, 
 gelding with so many white hairs he is almost roan who shows a 
 lot of breeding. 
 
 Our next change was at Stokenchurch four chestnuts, the wheelers 
 a perfectly-matched pair, compact and useful, the leaders somewhat 
 lighter, as I fancy they should be. All this way they go a great pace, 
 galloping up and down hill, severely testing soundness of legs and 
 feet. From High Wycombe to Gerrard's Cross is a slower stage, and 
 a very heavy one for horses with a loaded coach. A few minutes at 
 the "Bull " Inn at the latter place for refreshment, served in a pleasant 
 parlour overlooking the common and picturesque woods beyond, so 
 well known to hunting people. The landlord of the " Bull " is a sport- 
 ing character, and most hospitable. While discussing the good fare 
 he provided Cracknell puts his head in at a window and declares we 
 have only two minutes so off again. Brown ones this time ; a strong 
 lot, with a big blood leader who took my fancy. Galloped along to 
 Hayes, where another chestnut team succeeded them. I thought 
 it worth all the journey to watch the action of the near side leader. 
 Those who have seen this mare will guess her companions have to 
 " go along." From Acton, four of the eight black-browns that every- 
 body knows who has seen the "Defiance" come into or leave London 
 during the past season. It is no use my attempting to describe them. 
 It is to be hoped they will all be sold together, for it would be a 
 thousand pities to part two such teams. 
 
 It seems odd not to finish the journey in Piccadilly, but Mr. 
 Carleton Blyth does not do anything so ordinary. He only allows 
 twenty minutes for luncheon. 
 
 In the interval one can study human as well as equine nature on 
 the steps at <l Hatchett's." Even at the end of August public interest 
 in this model coaching venture continues. Presently the four greys, 
 as well known as their black-brown brethren, arrive to do the first 
 stage out of London towards Cambridge, and Mr. Carleton Blyth 
 takes the ribbons. The start from the Cellars with this team is well 
 worth alone going to see ! At Tottenham High Cross the greys are 
 changed for blood bays, and by blood ones I do not mean weedy 
 thorough-breds, but strong, useful ones, pictures of hunters, all up to 
 13 st. across country. At Waltham Cross four dark browns, wonder- 
 fully matched, about 15 hands 3 in., do the stage to Hoddesdon. 
 From thence to Wade's Mill four red roans, big, short-legged horses, 
 perfect for carriage pairs one would say. The "Feathers" here is a 
 regular old-fashioned inn, where one can get an excellent cup of tea. 
 At nearly all the places I have named odd horses are kept several 
 
344 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 together, where the accommodation is convenient. After stopping 
 some ten or fifteen minutes at Wade's Mill they take on two chest- 
 nuts, big, strong harness horses, with brown and roan leaders, for 
 continuing the now flying journey for the pace at this part of the 
 road becomes to the uninitiated something frightful ! I am old- 
 fashioned in my ideas possibly, and know I shall be laughed at for 
 saying so but there is no denying Mr. Carleton Blyth does go very 
 fast! 
 
 From Buntingford to Royston (I think the fastest stage), four 
 more chestnuts, the off-wheeler a wonderful mover, who trots when 
 others gallop. On to Harston two bay blood leaders, apparently, for 
 it began to get dark ; and bay wheelers, all little ones, still going as 
 hard as ever. Into Cambridge a roan, two greys, and a bay kept up 
 the pace to the last moment. No wonder crowds come out on foot, 
 in gigs and pony-carts, and every description of " conveyance," to see 
 and greet the " Defiance " and the popular owner. No wonder this 
 coach the " sensation " coach of the season has been heavier laden 
 than any other all the summer. It is a marvel, and an immense 
 amount of credit is due to Mr. Carleton Blyth, not only for placing 
 such a coach upon the road, but for the way in which he has done it ; 
 the admirable way in which the various teams are classed, and the 
 way in which every individual horse seems to fill the very place he is 
 best suited for. If Mr. Carleton Blyth personally selected these 
 horses, he has shown very great judgment, and I understand they 
 were all purchased from one dealer. 
 
 I have no space to tell of the perfection of all other arrangements 
 connected with the "Defiance," and I did not go the extra weekly jour- 
 ney to Cheltenham, when this coach does 160 miles in sixteen hours. 
 I did hear it hinted that next season Mr. Carleton Blyth intends 
 putting a coach on the road from London to York. If another 
 " Defiance," it will be difficult to equal impossible to beat. Faith- 
 fully yours, CUB-HUNTER. 
 
 Another interesting letter appeared in the Field, 
 Sept. 2oth, 1879, respecting the Brighton coach : 
 
 ON THE BRIGHTON COACH. 
 
 IT is now some time since we have told our readers anything about 
 the Brighton coach and its doings, and as it has this season altered 
 its route in some measure, Mr. Freeman, one of the proprietors, very 
 kindly offered us a seat when we could spare a day, in order that we 
 might see the beauties of the road he now travels, and compare them 
 with the line they have taken since leaving the Reigate route until 
 the commencement of the present season. Using what petitions we 
 thought most likely to influence the clerk of the weather and secure 
 
THE BRIGHTON COACH. 345 
 
 a fine day, so that we might not be almost washed from our seat, as 
 was the case when travelling on the Virginia, we at length settled on 
 a day for the trip, and awaited it with some composure, seeing that 
 the skyey influences had not been quite so unpropitious for a few- 
 days as during the greater part of the summer. Alas ! what was our 
 disappointment when the day came to find that a sun which shone 
 bright and fair at seven o'clock in the morning was quite hidden by 
 nine, when the wind came howling over the hills, driving before it 
 thick storm-clouds that boded ill for our prospects of pleasure. As 
 old-fashioned people would say, we laid in the country the previous 
 night, and consequently had a short journey by rail to reach 
 "Hatchett's,"and sad it was as we sped along to see whole fields flooded 
 in the Harrow country, and the hay being washed about from one 
 side to the other like a ship in a storm. Still, we hoped, as it were,, 
 against hope, and flattened our nose against the window in the front 
 room at " Hatchett's," only to see the splash and hear the continual 
 drip, drip of the rain as it came down on road and pavement. The 
 Dorking drove up, and started without a passenger. Then came 
 Hubble with the Boxhill, and proved a sort of Job's comforter by 
 inquiring if we were well waterproofed, predicting a very sufficient 
 soaking for us if we were not. He, too, drove off with the coach to- 
 himself, and we were left again to meditate on our fate. At length 
 we see Thorogood drive up the Brighton with four very useful bays. 
 The weather seems better for a time, and when Mr. Freeman takes 
 his place on the bench it scarcely drops at all, so we take heart of 
 grace and resolve that the weather has decided to clear up at noon r 
 according to custom. How woefully are we undeceived, for ere 
 Hyde Park Corner is reached it is down upon us again with tropical 
 violence, and so wet is it as we go on that the welcome which the 
 bevy of pretty girls in the South Lambeth Road accord to all the 
 coaches day after day is scarcely noticed in our efforts to keep our- 
 selves dry. We have had tramways down to Vauxhall Bridge, and 
 passing the "Swan" into the Brixton Road, drop on to them again, and 
 right lustily they sway the coach about at intervals, for our pace was 
 good, the bays being of the sort that can get along, and make a long 
 journey seem a short one. The near-wheeler, we hear, is a rare 
 horse, and has worked the whole season through without a single 
 rest day, but his companion is new to the work, having only been at 
 it a day or two, but is a rare short-legged stamp of mare, such as 
 would carry a pretty good weight to hounds, which, we are told, has 
 been her vocation up to the end of last season. 
 
 At length the abominations of the tram are done with, though 
 only for a time, as we find afterwards, and passing the pleasant 
 villas between Brixton and Streatham,we pull up at the "Greyhound" 
 in forty-five minutes, not very bad work from "Hatchett's." Our 
 next team, a roan and chestnut at lead and black and chestnut at 
 wheel, were a very useful lot again, with plenty of power about 
 
3*6 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 them, and, moreover, seemed a steady, even lot to drive. These 
 took us on by Norbury Manor Farm, where, as in other places, 
 the speculating builder seems to be putting his foot down pretty 
 firmly, and so to the outskirts of Croydon, before reaching which 
 we met with another single tram line in course of construction, 
 and a very bad one it is for throwing the coach about. We heard 
 it is to run to Addington, and should never be surprised were it 
 to be carried on to meet the London one at Brixton, for the space 
 between there and Croydon that is yet unlined with houses is not 
 very great, and once get it covered there would probably be no 
 lack of passengers. If it should ever happen, though, it will 
 diminish the pleasure of coaching on this road in no inconsiderable 
 degree. As it was, it caused a good deal of twisting and crossing 
 from one side to the other to enable us to get along, and gave us 
 several good examples of the nicety to which four horses can be 
 driven when they are well put together, and a man has hold of 
 them who knows what he is about. 
 
 It is very evident that Mr. Freeman's experience on the box 
 
 for some years has not been thrown away, for we seemed to glide 
 
 by all obstacles, and slip through difficulties as if by magic. It 
 
 is a strange thing, but the last time we were on the Brighton the 
 
 straight passage through Croydon was barred, we think then on 
 
 account of either assizes or sessions being held there, and we had to 
 
 turn aside and go down a back way. Now the road was up, or 
 
 something of that sort, and we had to make a circuit of nearly the 
 
 entire town ere getting once more into the right track. This, of 
 
 course, takes time, and lays a little extra stress on the team, but they 
 
 are equal to the occasion, for Mr. E. Woodlands, from whom we 
 
 believe the horses came, knows what he is about far too well to send 
 
 Mr. Freeman anything that is not equal to more than the required 
 
 pace, and able to make up lost time on an emergency. Beyond 
 
 Croydon we changed at a little roadside public-house, the name of 
 
 which we could not learn, for it stood rather back from the road, and 
 
 the weather was far too wet to induce us to vacate our seat for the 
 
 purpose of seeing. Here a team of four greys were put to, the 
 
 leaders as neat little nags as any one need wish to run their eye over. 
 
 The off one having been bought in a selling race at Croydon, should 
 
 be worth looking after when they come up for sale, as it must have 
 
 a turn of speed, and although certainly not a weight-carrier it should 
 
 make a quick nag for a light weight across a country, or a smart 
 
 covert hack for any one who likes to pass as much time between the 
 
 sheets of a morning as he conveniently can. Its companion is 
 
 also very smart, and the near-wheeler struck us as being a capital 
 
 sort, and at one part of the journey we noticed it trotting at ease 
 
 while the rest were galloping. Altogether they were a very smart 
 
 lot, such a team as Mr. Freeman says he likes to drive, as he prefers 
 
 little quick ones to a larger and less handy team. They were as 
 
THE BRIGHTON COACH. 347 
 
 fresh as paint, and any one who had seen them going along full of 
 play as kittens, would have set a coach-horse's down as a wondrously 
 easy life in the present day. These took us along merrily until the 
 finish of their stage was reached, when they were replaced by a very 
 good-looking white-faced black at lead, whose companion was a bay, 
 and behind them we had a dun and a grey, both very powerful 
 horses. 
 
 What about our journey and the new route? As to the first, it 
 was as fortunate and pleasant as well could be under the circumstances. 
 It would be a manifest untruth were we to say that anything appears 
 as much couleur de rose in a drenching rain as in bright sunshine, but 
 a determination to make the best of things, and companions equally 
 willing to look at the bright side, will do wonders. This we had. 
 No doubt many little things which would have amused ourselves and 
 readers were passed over unnoticed, for it's ill writing notes in hard 
 rain, and a man who has to guard himself from rain and his hat from 
 flight as best he can is not in the position to write accurately every- 
 thing that occurs ; but these are evils that must be borne. As to the 
 change of route, it is, we think, altogether for the better. Those who 
 drive say the road is better, though rather longer, perhaps a mile ; 
 while as regards its beauty there can be no diversity of opinion. 
 The other is not to be compared to it for the views obtained or the 
 interest in the places passed through. To this, perhaps, may in 
 some measure be attributed the fact that in spite of the unkind 
 summer the Brighton has loaded better this season than she did last, 
 though Mr. Freeman thinks an increase in pace has something to do 
 with it. Perchance it has ; we do like to go the pace in the present 
 day on the road as well as elsewhere. That she has loaded better is 
 a fact, no matter how it comes about, and we are heartily glad of it. 
 May she continue to do so until the end of the season, and have such 
 a success that the proprietors may be induced to start her year after 
 year until they are beyond the delights of coaching, and may young 
 ones be constantly coming forward to fill their places as each retires. 
 
 Innumerable articles of this kind are always ap- 
 pearing in the sporting papers, so that the proceedings 
 of the coaches are not likely to remain long unreported. 
 Some passengers on these coaches seem to be in some 
 doubt as to the social standing of the gentlemen who 
 drive them ; I have heard that on more than one occasion 
 a tip has been offered them, and I think it was Mr. 
 Freeman who told me that, having driven a gentleman 
 and his family on his coach to Brighton, he was coolly 
 requested by Paterfamilias, when he arrived there, to 
 
348 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 drive on to his residence at Kemp Town, instead of 
 depositing them at the " Albion " Hotel, which was 
 the regular destination of the coach. 
 
 The owners of these coaches make no profit out of 
 their venture, but very frequently lose money ; the 
 only time when they make any adequate return for 
 their expenditure is when their coach is taken off the 
 road and their horses are sold by public auction. On 
 these occasions these large studs of coach-horses fre- 
 quently realise very long prices, and as the hunting 
 season will shortly commence, they are very often sold 
 as hunters. As to their going in harness, about this 
 there can be no doubt, since they have been driven for 
 several months past, and their not being laid up is a 
 certain proof of their soundness ; in fact, I do not think 
 that people in search of carriage-horses could do better 
 than take a ride on one of these coaches just as the 
 season is drawing to a close, when they will have every 
 opportunity of observing which are the best horses in 
 the various teams, and making their own selection ; 
 after which, when the horses are sold at Tattersall's 
 or Aldridge's, they can bid for them with a perfect 
 certainty of obtaining what they require. I have no 
 doubt that the sum realised by the sale of these horses 
 far exceeds what they cost when got together in the 
 first instance ; and certainly the men who horsed these 
 coaches which contribute so greatly to people's plea- 
 sure and amusement, deserve some reward for their 
 exertions. 
 
 I have just come across a paragraph in the Morning 
 Post of Thursday, September 22nd, 1887, giving the 
 prices realised by the sale of the Windsor coach-horses 
 of this year, which is as follows : 
 
A SALE OF COACH-HORSES. 349 
 
 SALE OF COACH-HORSES Messrs. W. and S. Freeman sold by 
 auction, yesterday, at the Repository, St. Martin's Lane, 35 horses, 
 which had been worked daily in the Windsor coach throughout the 
 summer, between " Hatchett's," Piccadilly, and Windsor. Amongst 
 them were many well-known hunters, also match pairs and single 
 harness horses, most of them having fine action, power, and quality. 
 The prices obtained were as follow : Eileen, a .chestnut mare, 
 86 gs. ; Quickstep, a chestnut mare, 13 gs. ; The Swell, a chestnut 
 gelding, 66 gs. ; Gamecock, a chestnut gelding, 72 gs. ; Christopher, 
 a chestnut gelding, 60 gs. ; Sandown, a grey gelding, 26 gs. ; Rupert, 
 a chestnut gelding, 150 gs. ; Lincoln, a chestnut gelding, no gs. ; 
 Stockings, a chestnut gelding, 60 gs. ; Colleen Bawn, a grey mare, 
 46 gs. ; Plymouth, a black gelding, 86 gs. ; Kate, a bay mare, 35 gs. ; 
 Squire, a chestnut gelding, 23 gs. ; Mentmore, a brown gelding, 
 57 gs. ; Cossack, a grey gelding, 56 gs. ; Ewart and Monkey, a pair 
 of leaders, were sold together, and were knocked down for the small 
 sum of 50 gs. ; Sala, a chestnut gelding, 55 gs. ; Dunmow, a dun 
 gelding, 44 gs. ; Maude, a chestnut mare, 31 gs. ; Bacon, a roan 
 gelding, 29 gs. ; Rugby, a bay gelding, 50 gs. ; Tradesman, a roan 
 gelding, 25 gs. ; Kathleen, a brown mare, 60 gs. ; Beverley, a bay 
 mare, 48 gs. ; Dublin, a bay gelding, 30 gs. ; Sweep, a black gelding, 
 35 gs. ; Lottery, a grey gelding, 35 gs. ; Lily, a grey mare, 30 gs. ; 
 Ascot, a grey mare, 18 gs.; Corky, a grey gelding, 14 gs.; Marksman, 
 a dun gelding, '20 gs. ; Punch, a bay gelding, 20 gs. ; Scamp, a brown 
 gelding, 14 gs. ; Doctor, a black gelding, 26 gs. ; Worcester, a brown 
 gelding, 84 gs. 
 
 It will be noticed that they averaged about fifty 
 pounds ; Lincoln, a chestnut gelding, fetching as much 
 as one hundred and ten guineas ; whilst Eileen fetched 
 eighty-six guineas ; and also Plymouth, eighty-six 
 guineas ; Worcester, eighty-four guineas. These are 
 fairly good prices ; but several, it will be noticed, did 
 not fetch more than fourteen guineas. 
 
 In concluding this chapter, I do not think that I 
 can do better than give the time-bills of the coaches 
 that have started from the White Horse Cellars 
 during the present season. They are as follows. To 
 commence with the Dorking coach : 
 
350 
 
 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 On and after 2nd May, 1887, 
 
 THE DORKING AND BOX HILL COACH, 
 " PERSEVERANCE," 
 
 WILL LEAVB 
 
 HATCHETTS WHITE HORSE CELLARS, PICCADILLY, 
 
 AT 1 1. 10 A.M. 
 
 Arriving at " WHITE HORSE HOTEL," DORKING, at 2.10 P.M., 
 
 AND RETURN FROM THE 
 
 "WHITE HORSE HOTEL? DORKING, 
 
 AT 3.40 P.M., 
 
 Arriving at " HATCH ETT'S " at 6.40 P.M., EVERY DAY (Sundays excepted). 
 
 II. IO 
 
 11.40 
 
 12.30 
 
 FARES. LEAVING 
 
 *. d. PICCADILLY, 
 
 "Hatchett's" . 
 
 1 6 BARNES. 
 
 2 6 *ROEHAMPTON, 
 
 " King's Head " . 
 
 4 6 KINGSTON 
 
 5 o *SURBITON, 
 
 "The Plough" . .12.40 
 66 EWELL, "Spring Hotel" 1.7 
 7 o EPSOM, ' ' King's Head ". 1.17 
 
 7 6 *ASHTEAD, 
 
 "Ashtead Hotel" 
 
 8 o LEATHERHEAD, 
 
 "The Swan" . 
 
 8 6 MlCKLEHAM . 
 
 9 o Box HILL, 
 
 " Burford Bridge Hotel" 2. o 
 10 o Arriving at DORKING, 
 
 " White Horse Hotel" 2.10 
 
 1.30 
 
 i-43 
 1-55 
 
 FARES. RETURNING FROM P.M. 
 
 j. d. DORKING, 
 
 " White Horse Hotel" 3.40 
 i o Box HILL, 
 
 "Burford Bridge Hotel" 3.50 
 
 1 O MlCKLEHAM . . .3-55 
 
 2 o LEATHERHEAD, 
 
 "The Swan" . . 4. 7 
 2 6 * ASHTEAD, 
 
 "Ashtead Hotel" . 4.20 
 
 30 EPSOM, " King's Head ". 4.33 
 
 36 EWELL, " Spring Hotel" 4.43 
 
 5 O *SURBITON, 
 
 " The Plough " . -5-7 
 5 6 KINGSTON . . .5.17 
 
 7 6 *ROEHAMPTON, 
 
 " King's Head". . 5.50 
 
 8 6 BARNES . . . . 6. 10 
 10 o Arriving at PICCADILLY, 
 
 "Hatchett's" . . 6.40 
 
 * Change Horses. 
 
 Single Fare, IQS. Return Fare, 15^. Box Seat, 2s. 6d. extra each way. 
 The whole of the Coach to Box Hill and Dorking and back, 8 8s. 
 
 For further f articular s apply to W. & A. BANKS, White Horse Cellars, 
 
 Piccadilly. 
 Telephone No. 3831. 
 
THE "OLD TIMES." 351 
 
 After this comes the Oatlands Park and Virginia 
 Water coach : 
 
 THE "OLD TIMES" 
 OATLANDS PARK AND VIRGINIA WATER COACH 
 
 WILL LEAVE 
 
 HATCHETTS WHITE HORSE CELLARS, PICCADILLY^ 
 
 AT 10.45 A.M. ; 
 AND RETURN FROM THE 
 
 "WHEATSHEAF HOTEL," VIRGINIA WATER, 
 AT 3.30 P.M., EVERY DAY (Sundays excepfed). 
 
 s. d. PICCADILLY, "Hat chett's" 10.45 
 2 o *AST SHEEN, "Bull" . 11.30 
 
 RETURNING. 
 
 s- d. VIRGINIA WATER, 
 
 " Wheatsheaf " . . 3.30, 
 
 30 RICHMOND, "Greyhound" u.45 i 6 *CHERTSEY, "Crown" .3.58 
 
 4 o TEDDJNGTON, "Royal 
 
 Oak". . . . 12. 5 
 
 3 o *OATLANDS PARK HOTEL 4.25 
 3 6 WALTON . . . .4.35 
 
 5 o 'HAMPTON COURT, 5 o *HAMPTON COURT, 
 
 " King's Arms ". . 12.15 j " King's Arms " . . 5. o. 
 
 7 o WALTON . . . 12.40 6 o TEDDINGTON, "Royal 
 
 7 6 *OATLANDS PARK HOTEL 12.50 : Oak " .... 5- 10 
 
 8 6 *CHERTSEY, "Crown" .120 7 RICHMOND, "Greyhound" 5.30. 
 100 VIRGINIA WATER, 8 o *EAST SHEEN, "Bull" .5.45 
 
 "Wheatsheaf" . . 1.45 10 o PICCADILLY, "Hatchett's" 6.30. 
 * Change Horses. 
 
 Return Fare, \*}s. 6d. ; Box Seat, 2s. 6d. extra each way. 
 Intermediate Fares charged. 
 
 For further Particulars, apply to W. & A. Banks, White Horse Cellars. 
 
 Piccadilly. 
 
352 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 Then the Hampton Court coach : 
 
 On and after MONDAY, APRIL i8th, 1887, 
 
 THE ''NONPAREIL," 
 HAMPTON COURT & LONDON FOUR-HORSE COACH, 
 
 WILL LEAVE 
 
 THE "HOTEL METROPOLE? CHARING CROSS, 
 At 11.15 a.m., EVERY DAY (Sunday included), 
 
 CALLING AT 
 
 THE "GRAND HOTEL," 
 
 AND 
 
 JIATCHETTS WHITE HORSE CELLAR, PICCADILLY, 
 
 ViA BARNES, EAST SHEEN, RICHMOND, TWICKENHAM, & TEDDINGTON. 
 
 TIME TABLE. 
 
 LEAVES A.M. 
 
 " HOTEL METROPOLE". . 11.15 
 
 HAMPTON COURT, "Mitre" i. o 
 
 RETURNS FROM 
 
 HAMPTON COURT, "Mitre" . 4.30 
 
 ' "- 20 RICHMOND, "Greyhound" . 5. 
 PICCADILLY, "Hatchett's". 11.30 
 
 EAST SHEEN, "The Bull" 
 *EAST SHEEN, "The Bull" . 12.15 
 
 RICHMOND, "Greyhound" . 12.30 PICCADILLY, " Hatchett's . 6.0 
 
 "HOTEL METROPOLE" . . 6.15 
 
 * Change Horses, 
 
 Seats can be booked at the "Hotel Metropole" and Hatchett's White Horse 
 
 Cellar, Piccadilly. 
 
 FARES : 5*. each way ; Box Seat, 2s. 6d. extra. 
 N.B. On Sundays the Coach will leave the "Hotel Metropole" at 12 noon. 
 
E. FOWNES 
 A well-known professional Coachman. 
 
THE "NEW TIMES." 353 
 
 This is followed by the Guildford coach, the 
 44 New Times," in contradistinction to Selby's " Old 
 Times." 
 THE "NEW TIMES" GUILDFORD COACH 
 
 LEAVES THE 
 
 WHITE HORSE CELLAR, PICCADILLY, 
 AT ii A.M., 
 
 AND RETURNS FROM THE 
 
 "ANGEL HOTEL," GUILDFORD, 
 AT 4 P.M. EVERY DAY (Sundays excepled). 
 l FARES. 
 
 FARES. 
 
 IN. OUT. 
 
 s. d. s. d. PICCADILLY, 
 
 " Hatchett's " 
 
 A.M. 
 II. O 
 
 PUTNEY, 
 
 Railway Station . 11.30 
 
 3 6 KINGSTON VALE, 
 
 " Robin Hood". 11.50 
 26 46 KINGSTON, 
 
 the "Griffin" . 12. 8 
 5 o THAMES DITTON . 12.20 
 36 56 ESHER, 
 
 the "Bear" . 12.32 
 40 70 COBHAM, the 
 
 "White Lion" . 12.55 
 WISLEY HEATH, 
 
 the " Hut" . 1. 10 
 50 80 RIPLEY, 
 
 the "Talbot" . 1.20 
 60 10 o GUILDFORD, the 
 
 "Angel Hotel". 2. o 
 
 IN. OUT. 
 
 s. d. s. d. GUILDFORD, the 
 
 "Angel Hotel" 
 10 20 RIPLEY, 
 
 the "Talbot" 
 WISLEY HEATH, 
 
 the "Hut" 
 20 30 COBHAM, the 
 
 " White Lion " 
 26 46 ESHER, 
 
 4. o 
 4-32 
 4-45 
 S- o 
 5-20 
 
 the "Bear" 
 
 5 o THAMES DITTON . 5.40 
 36 56 KINGSTON, 
 
 the "Griffin" . 5.50 
 
 6 6 KINGSTON VALE, 
 
 "Robin Hood" . 6. 6 
 PUTNEY, 
 
 Railway Station . 6.28 
 60 10 o PICCADILLY, 
 
 Hatchett's 
 
 . 7. o 
 
 Return Fare, 15^. Outside. Box Seat, 2s. 6d. extra each way. 
 N.B. Intermediate Fares are charged at an average rate of ^d. per mile, but not 
 
 less than is. taken. 
 
 PASSENGERS' LUGGAGE FREE. 
 
 Places can be secured in advance, either at "Hatchett's," White Horse Cellar, 
 Piccadilly, or at the "Angel Hotel," Guildford. 
 
 PARCELS CARRIED AT MODERATE RATES, AND PUNCTUALLY DELIVERED. 
 
 The " Defiance," which comes next on my list, runs 
 to Bentley Priory from the " Metropole " and " Grand " 
 Hotels, and is driven by Fownes, a famous professional 
 coachman, whose name will be found frequently men- 
 tioned in the annals of coaching ; he is an excellent 
 
 2 A 
 
354 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 whip, and a good fellow, and his sons, too, are good 
 coachmen.* 
 
 THE "DEFIANCE" COACH. 
 
 LONDON AND BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 TIME TABLE, 1887. 
 LEAVING. 
 
 "HOTEL METROPOLE" 11.30 
 
 PICCADILLY, '* Hatchett's Hotel " 11.45 
 
 HENDON, arr. . 12.30. " WELSH HARP," dep. . 12.35 
 
 EDGWARE, "Bald-faced Stag" arr. 12.50 
 
 STANMORE, " Abercorn Arms " arr. i. 5 
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY arr. 1.15 
 
 Change Horses. 
 RETURNING. 
 
 BENTLEY PRIORY 4.30 
 
 STANMORE arr. 4.45 
 
 EDGWARE, " Bald-faced Stag " arr. 5. o 
 
 HENDON, arr. . 5.15. " WELSH HARP," dep. . 5.20 
 
 PICCADILLY, " Hatchett's Hotel " arr. 6. 5 
 
 "HOTEL METROPOLE" arr. 6.10 
 
 Change Horses. 
 Starting on Sundays at 12.0 p.m. "Welsh Harp," i.o. 
 
 Bentley Priory at 1.45 ; returning at 5.30. 
 "Welsh Harp," 6.15, arriving at "Hotel Metropole," 7.0 p.m. 
 
 Seats maybe secured at "Hotel Metropole," and "Grand Hotel," Northumberland 
 Avenue, Charing Cross. 
 
 LONDON TO BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 FARES : Single, 6s.; Return, 10^.; Box Seat, 2s. 6d. extra each way. 
 
 The whole of the Coach to Bentley Priory and back, 6 6s. 
 
 Table d'hote, y. 6d. for Coach. 
 
 * When calling at Messrs. Shanks' coach-building establishment 
 in Great Queen Street, I was shown an admirably-built four-horse 
 coach, intended as a present for Fownes by several gentlemen who 
 had either driven the Bentley coach, or who had known him in past 
 times. The gift consisted of the coach and a set of four-horse 
 harness, a remarkably handsome present, as the coach could not 
 have cost less than three hundred guineas, and the harness would no 
 doubt cost another sixty. The body of the coach is a dark colour, 
 the wheels and under-carriage being yellow. The name of the coach, 
 which is called the "Defiance," and the owner's name are both 
 painted on it in the usual manner. As for the coach, it was quite 
 r eady, like the highwaymen of whom I have written, to take to the road. 
 
THE BENTLEY PRIORY COACH AT BENTLEY PRIORY. 
 
 \To face page 355. 
 
THE WONDER." 355 
 
 Bentley Priory was some time the residence of 
 Queen Adelaide, the consort of William IV. ; it after- 
 wards belonged to the Duke of Abercorn, and more 
 recently to Sir John Kelk. I frequently visited the 
 place when it was in his possession ; the park and 
 gardens are quite worth a visit ; in fact, once inside 
 the gates, one might be a hundred miles from London 
 instead of only fourteen. 
 
 The next coach I must mention is the " Wonder," 
 which runs from London to St. Albans : 
 
 THE "WONDER" COACH. 
 
 LONDON AND ST. ALBANS (via WATFORD). 
 
 TIME TABLE, 1887. 
 
 FARES. MILES. LEAVING 
 
 * * PICCADILLY, " Hatchett's Hotel " . . IO-45 
 
 26 7 *HENDON arr. 11.30 
 
 "Welsh Harp" dep. 11.34 
 
 40 9 EDGEWARE, "Bald-faced Stag". . . arr. 11.45 
 
 50 13 *STANMORE arr. 12.10 
 
 " Abercorn Anns " ..... dep. 12.14 
 
 70 17 * WATFORD arr. 12.50 
 
 " Rose and Crown ". .... dep. 12.54 
 
 10 o 25 *Sr. ALBANS, " Peahen " . . . . arr. 1.45 
 
 RETURNING FROM 
 
 ST. ALBANS, "Peahen" .... 3.15 
 
 30 8 *WATFORD arr . 4 . 5 
 
 " Rose and Crown*" dep. 4. 9 
 
 50 13 *STANMORE arr. 4.50 
 
 " Abercorn Arms " dep. 4.54 
 
 60 15 EDGEWARE, "Bald-faced Stag". . . arr . 5.15 
 
 76 19 *HENDON arr. 5.25 
 
 "Welsh Harp" dep. 5.29 
 
 10 o 25 PICCADILLY, "Hatchett's Hotel" . . arr. 6.15 
 
 * Change Horses. 
 
 LONDON TO ST. ALBANS. 
 
 FARES Single Journey, los. ; Return, 15^. Box Seat, 2s. 6d. extra each way. 
 The whole of the Coach to St. Albans and back, /8 8s. 
 
 2 A 2 
 
356 
 
 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 Then the Brighton coach, for this coach has no 
 name beyond that of the " Brighton Coach." 
 
 On and after Saturday -, June $th, 1887. 
 
 THE BRIGHTON COACH 
 
 LEAVES THE 
 
 WHITE HORSE CELLARS, PICCADILLY, 
 
 EVERY 
 
 TUESDAY, THURSDAY, AND SATURDAY, AT n A.M., 
 
 RETURNING FROM THE 
 
 "OLD SHIP HOTEL," BRIGHTON, 
 
 EVERY 
 
 MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, AND FRIDAY, AT 12 NOON. 
 
 Departure. 
 
 ii a.m. LONDON. 
 
 11.40 STREATHAM. 
 
 12.35 SMITHAM BOTTOM. 
 
 1.40! HORLEY, "CHEQUERS." 
 
 2. 10 | ( 3 o Minutes Allowed.) 
 
 3.5 HAND CROSS. 
 
 4.5 ALBOURNE. 
 
 5.0 BRIGHTON. 
 
 TIME TABLE. 
 
 BRIGHTON 
 
 ALBOURNE 
 
 HAND CROSS 
 
 HORLEY, "CHEQUERS" 
 
 (30 Minutes Allowed) 
 
 SMITHAM BOTTOM 
 
 STREATHAM 
 
 LONDON 
 
 Departure. 
 
 12 noon 
 
 12-55 
 1-55 
 
 52.50 
 
 (3-2 
 4-25 
 5.20 
 6. o 
 
 FARES : 
 
 INSIDE, IDJ. ; OUTSIDE, 155. j Box SEAT, 2s. 6d. EXTRA. 
 Intermediate Fares at an average rate of 40*. per mile, but not less than is. charged. 
 
 PARCELS CARRIED AND PUNCTUALLY DELIVERED. 
 
COACHING A LUXURY. 357 
 
 This terminates my chapter on amateur coaching. 
 Should a new edition of this work be ever called for, 
 I may, possibly, have something further to say on 
 the subject which will be of more interest than the 
 facts already recorded ; but a book that is, to a certain 
 extent, on a technical subject requires constant and 
 prolonged familiarity with all that refers to that sub- 
 ject. By obtaining such knowledge, facts worth re- 
 cording may be mentioned with a certainty of arousing 
 interest ; but the subject is one that requires revision, 
 and addition, and very possibly omission of certain 
 passages of doubtful interest. 
 
 Coaching may be regarded as a pastime not within 
 the reach of any but rich men, and, therefore, I am 
 aware I can only rely upon a small number of readers ; 
 but driving, in the more modest acceptation of the 
 word, is a subject regarded with interest by all classes 
 of the community without restriction; and, consequently, 
 I entertain the most sanguine hopes with regard to 
 my second volume, which treats of Driving, in the 
 widest sense of the word. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 COACH-BUILDING. 
 
 That one-boss shay Scale-drawing Owner's superintendence 
 Dimensions of four-horse coach Broken poles and axles 
 Timber employed in coach-building Wheels Varnish versus 
 paint Manipulation of timber Wheels Collinge's patent 
 axle The aequirotal carriage The mail axle The carriage as 
 distinct from the body Iron-work Sons of Vulcan Carriage- 
 springs Painting and varnishing Lining carriages Improve- 
 ments in carriage-building C springs The English drag 
 The sobriety of French workmen Scientific training American 
 wheels The interchangeable system The Paris and Dublin 
 exhibitions Cruppers andbreechings Labour-saving machinery 
 Indiarubber tires Standard sizes The millionth part of 
 an inch Standard gauges Improvements in carriage-building 
 Coach-building periodicals Driving by night Carriage- 
 lamps Height of coaches C springs Brought up to a trade. 
 
 BEFORE commencing this chapter, I here give Oliver 
 W. Holmes's views on coach-building, as evidenced 
 by his wonderful verses on the still more wonderful 
 " One-hoss shay." 
 
 "THE ONE-HOSS SHAY." 
 
 Have you heard of the wonderful one-hoss shay, 
 
 That was built in such a logical way, 
 
 It ran a hundred years to a day, 
 
 And then of a sudden it ah ! but stay, 
 
 I'll tell you what happened without delay : 
 
 Scaring the parson into fits, 
 
 Frightening people out of their wits 
 
 Have you ever heard of that, I say ? 
 
 Now, in building of chaises, I tell you what, 
 
 There is always somewhere a weakest spot 
 
 In hub, tire, felloe, in spring, or thill, 
 
 In panel, or crossbar, or floor, or sill, 
 
 In screw, bolt, thoroughbrace lurking still, 
 
 Find it somewhere you must and will 
 
THAT OXE-HOSS SHAY. 359 
 
 Above or below, or within or without, 
 
 And that's the reason, beyond a doubt, 
 
 A chaise breaks down, but doesn't wear out. 
 
 But the deacon swore (as deacons do, 
 
 With an " I dew vum," or an " I tell yeou "), 
 
 He would build one shay to beat the taown, 
 
 'N' the keounty ; n' all the kentry raoun' ; 
 
 It should be so built that it couldn' break daown. 
 
 "Fur," said the deacon, "'t's mighty plain 
 
 That the weakes' place mus' stan' the strain ; 
 
 'N' the way to fix it, wy, I maintain, 
 
 Is only jest 
 
 T make that place uz strong uz the rest." 
 So the deacon inquired of the village folk 
 Where he could find the strongest oak, 
 That couldn't be split, nor bent, nor broke 
 That was for spokes, and floor, and sills ; 
 He sent for lance-wood to make the thills ; 
 The cross-bars were ash, from the straightest trees ; 
 The panels of white-wood, that cuts like cheese 
 But lasts like iron for things like these ; 
 The hubs of logs from the "settler's ellum," 
 Last of its timber, they couldn't sell 'em, 
 Never an axe had seen their chips, 
 Arid the wedges flew from between their lips, 
 Their blunt ends frizzled like celery-tips ; 
 Step and prop-iron, bolt and screw, 
 Spring, tire, axle, and linchpin, too, 
 Steel of the finest, bright and blue ; 
 Thoroughbrace, bison-skin, thick and wide; 
 Boot, top-dasher, from tough old hide 
 Found in the pit when the tanner died. 
 That was the way he "put her through." 
 "There !" said the deacon, "naow she'll dew." 
 Do ! I tell you, I rather guess 
 She was a wonder, and nothing less ! 
 Colts grew horses, beards turned gray, 
 Deacon and deaconess, dropped away, 
 Children and grandchildren, where were they? 
 But there stood the stout old one-hoss shay, 
 As fresh as on Lisbon earthquake day ! 
 Eighteen hundred, it came and found 
 The deacon's masterpiece strong and sound. 
 Eighteen hundred increased by ten, 
 "Hahnsum kerridge" they call it then; 
 Eighteen hundred and twenty came, 
 Running as usual, much the same ; 
 Thirty and forty at last arrive, 
 And then come fifty and fifty-five. 
 
360 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 First of November the earthquake day 
 There are traces of age in the one-hoss shay, 
 A general flavour of mild decay, 
 But nothing local, as one may say ; 
 There couldn't be, for the deacon's art 
 Had made it so like in every part, 
 That there wasn't a chance for one to start. 
 For the wheels were just as strong as the thills,. 
 And the floor was just as strong as the sills, 
 And the panels just as strong as the floor, 
 And the whippletree neither less nor more, 
 And the back cross-bar as strong as the fore,. 
 And spring, and axle, and hub encore. 
 And yet, as a whole, it is past a doubt, 
 In another hour it will be worn out ! 
 
 First of November, "fifty-five," 
 This morning the parson takes a drive. 
 Now, small boys, get out of the way ! 
 Here comes the wonderful one-hoss shay,. 
 Drawn by a rat-tailed, ewe-necked bay. 
 " Huddup ! " said the parson ; off went they. 
 The parson was working his Sunday's text, 
 Had got to fifthly, and stopped perplexed 
 At what the Moses was coming next. 
 All at once the horse stood still, 
 Close by the meet'n'-house on the hill. 
 First a shiver, and then a thrill, 
 Then something decidedly like a spill ; 
 And the parson was sitting upon a rock, 
 At half-past nine by the meet'n'-house clock,. 
 Just the hour of the earthquake shock ! 
 What do you think the parson found, 
 When he got up and stared around ? 
 The poor old chaise in a heap or mound, 
 As if it had been to the mill and ground ! 
 You see, of course, if you're not a dunce, 
 How it went to pieces all at once ; 
 All at once, and nothing first, 
 Just as bubbles do when they burst. 
 
 O. W, H. 
 
 Having spoken so much about coaching, I do not 
 think it is out of place to make some remarks about 
 coach-building ; as there are some owners of carriages 
 and gentlemen who are fond of driving, who, I should 
 
SCALE-DRA WING. 361 
 
 imagine, would feel interested in knowing something 
 of their construction, which knowledge, I feel assured, 
 will be of service to them in more ways than one. 
 
 Before a carriage is put in hand careful drawings 
 have to be made of it to scale, and .although the 
 designing of a carriage does not necessitate any very 
 profound mathematical knowledge or calculations, yet 
 carriage architects, when scale-draughting, require to 
 do their work very carefully and skilfully. In addition 
 to a reduced drawing, full-sized diagrams have fre- 
 quently to be made in chalk on a blackboard, for the 
 workmen to work to ; these are placed up against the 
 wall so that the various timbers used in the construc- 
 tion of the carriage may be compared with such 
 drawings. 
 
 As a carriage is composed of various parts, and as 
 all these parts must exactly correspond with one an- 
 other, it is absolutely necessary that a working draft of 
 the full size be completed before a carriage can be made. 
 
 In the first place, it depends upon the construction 
 of a coach what difference will be required betwixt the 
 heights of the fore and hind wheels, to bring the perch 
 to a proper level ; the depth from front to back of the 
 body ; and the height which it is to be hung from the 
 ground is next required, in order to ascertain the proper 
 length of the carriage, that is, what distance the fore 
 and hind axle-trees are to be from one another ; the 
 particular manner in which the body is to be hung 
 upon the carriage must also be fixed, in order to give the 
 springs a proper degree of curvature. To obtain these 
 particulars a draft is made of the entire machine, and 
 from it the master-coachbuilder at once sees what effect 
 will be produced. In making these drafts, the coach- 
 builder is limited, in a certain degree, by the fashion 
 
362 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 of the day ; at the same time he has it in his power to 
 display taste and judgment in the construction. His 
 object should be to combine elegance with strength, 
 and that one part of the vehicle shall be so in character 
 with another, that the carriage shall not want anything 
 that it ought to have, and not have anything that it 
 could do without. He, also, has to be careful not to 
 make any part heavier than absolutely necessary, and 
 must be particular to make it easy of draught, by 
 having the best finished axles set in such an exact 
 manner, that the w r heels may run perfectly free, follow- 
 ing one another in the same track. 
 
 There is no earthly reason why a gentleman of 
 education and intelligence, who is fond of driving, 
 and passes much of his time on the box, or the 
 bench, as it used to be called, should not make a 
 study of carriage-building, just in the same way as 
 the owner of a yacht acquires a knowledge of yacht- 
 building. I even knew an Admiral, who, when in 
 command of the Channel Squadron, expressed a 
 very strong wish to be thoroughly acquainted with 
 iron ship-building and marine engineering ; and it 
 appears to me that when one passes so much of 
 one's time making use of a particular thing, or 
 having anything under one's entire charge, it is only 
 natural and creditable that one should manifest some 
 anxiety to become acquainted with its construction. 
 In the event of any accident happening on the road 
 or a carriage being out of repair, an owner would 
 benefit considerably if he possessed some knowledge 
 of coach-building ; besides which, a coach-builder's 
 account is, to any one not initiated into the mysteries 
 of coach-building, as difficult to understand as a 
 house-builder's account ; in both cases it appears as 
 
A THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE. 363 
 
 though the tradesman had taken refuge behind ram- 
 parts bristling with technical terms through which it 
 is impossible to force a passage. Supposing that a 
 gentleman's superintendence of the building of his 
 carriages went no further than to execute the design, 
 it might at least go so far ; he might make a scale- 
 drawing of the carriage he intends building one-half 
 inch to the foot is generally the scale upon which 
 carriages are draughted. Most of the carriages one 
 meets with originate in a drawing to scale, and are 
 then transferred to the blackboard in full size ; 
 those that do not so originate are merely copied 
 from existing patterns. No coach-builder having an 
 excellent pattern of any carnage in ordinary use 
 upon which it is impossible to make any improve- 
 ment, would make new drawings when the old ones 
 which he already had by him would answer the 
 purpose in view, consequently all the big coach- 
 builders turn out numberless carriages on exactly 
 the same pattern, the only difference in these 
 carnages being, that each is painted, lined, and 
 trimmed, to suit the taste of their customers, who 
 are frequently forced to make use of a particular 
 colour, it being one which their family have made 
 use of for many generations ; this is called a family 
 colour, and all great families, it may be observed, 
 have such a colour, just as their servants wear the 
 same livery. And I may further remark that even 
 if one possesses no obligation to make use of a 
 certain livery, or a particular colour in one's carriages, 
 nothing looks worse than to see a variety of colours in 
 one's coach-house, or to see a gentleman driving a 
 blue carriage one day, and a green one the next, 
 whilst on the third day he seats himself in a carriage 
 
364 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 with yellow body and red wheels. This can be made 
 still more ridiculous if the liveries of the coachman and 
 footman on the box are not in character one with the 
 other. But to apologise for this digression, and to 
 return to the A B C of coach-building, and what is 
 necessary for the execution of a drawing, it must 
 be remembered that before a drawing to scale can 
 be made suitable to work to, it is necessary that the 
 carriage architect provide himself with suitable draw- 
 ing instruments, a properly constructed drawing-board, 
 and all the necessary paraphernalia of a draughtsman. 
 In executing a diagram to scale of a carriage, the 
 elevation is drawn, commencing from a horizontal line, 
 this is the first scale-draught ; there is also a process 
 called French, or square rule, where not only the 
 elevation of the carriage appears, but also the laying- 
 out of the under-carriage in the form of a plan, which 
 gives the circle described by the wheels when turning ; 
 although this is not always the case, the wheels are 
 frequently left out, but the elevation of the body 
 and the plan of the body are frequently draughted 
 in these diagrams. What is called the working- 
 draught is similar to the last-mentioned plan, and the 
 drawing on the blackboard differs from these in no 
 respect save that the drawing is now to the full size. 
 
 The different branches of coach-building as com- 
 monly practised are : Wheel-making, carriage-making, 
 (which means the under-carriage), and body-making, 
 which includes smith's work, painting, and trimming. 
 The carriage, as already described, is the framework 
 which is necessary to support the body, or shell, of 
 the machine ; this branch is considered next in import- 
 ance to the body-making, and, in fact, in the know- 
 ledge of these two may be said to consist the art 
 of coach-making. 
 
TIMBER EMPLOYED IN COACH-BUILDING. 365 
 
 Coaches are made in three sizes. The heaviest 
 four-horse stage-coach, such as would be used for 
 passenger traffic, weighs about 22 cwt. ; the weight 
 of a full-sized private coach, built with a view to 
 lightness, is about 19 cwt. ; and the weight of 
 the smallest coach made is from 17^ to 18 cwt. 
 English ash is used for the framing of all coaches ; 
 Honduras mahogany for the panels, and pine for 
 the roof, floor, and divisions. The usual height of 
 the front wheels is 3 feet 4 inches, and the height 
 of the hind wheels 4 feet 3 inches ; they should be 
 28^ inches apart. The set of eight springs should 
 weigh about 250 Ibs. The length from splinter-bar 
 to after part of coach, in a full-sized coach, is 10 feet 
 9 inches, the height from the ground to the roof 
 is 6 feet 1 1 inches. The tires of the wheels of a 
 full-sized coach are i y inches wide, and ^ inch thick.* 
 
 The best kind of brake in my opinion to apply to a 
 coach-wheel is one that you work with a circular 
 handle in connection with a screw. This brake gives 
 you enormous power, and the wheel which you touch 
 to set it in motion is fixed close against the driving- 
 seat. Such a brake was made in St. Petersburg for 
 Prince Bariatinsky, and is fitted to a small coach which 
 a very short time ago was standing at Messrs. Hol- 
 land's coach-building establishment in Oxford Street. 
 The English brake is very good, but, unless made 
 strong, the lever sometimes gets bent ; besides which, 
 by the use of a screw instead of a lever, one can exert 
 a much greater mechanical force. 
 
 * This information was supplied to me by Mr. Kesterton, who now 
 presides over the business of Holland & Co., Oxford Street, London, 
 who have a world-wide renown for the excellence of their coaches. 
 With Mr. Kesterton I have been acquainted for now more than 
 twenty years, and am well aware of his experience in the highest 
 class of coach-building. 
 
366 HIGH 'W 'AYS AND HORSES. 
 
 The pole of a coach should be made of carefully 
 selected ash, 9 feet long from splinter-bar, and 4^ 
 inches deep at butt. A pole should always be stout and 
 strong, since the safety of the carriage to which it is 
 attached is entirely dependent upon it. Sometimes it 
 is well to strengthen it with iron, but if this is done, 
 care should be taken that screws do not enter the pole, 
 and so weaken it. The iron might be attached to the 
 pole by one or two thin bands encircling it. Captain 
 Cooper, when he had the Box Hill coach, was so 
 anxious to possess a light coach that he did all he 
 could to dispense with iron and reduce the weight, the 
 result of which was that his pole broke going down 
 the hill close by Burford Bridge, and he met with a 
 serious accident. 
 
 When a pole breaks there are only two things to 
 do : one is to apply instantly a powerful brake to the 
 wheels, if you have such a thing fitted to the coach, 
 the other is to keep your wheelers going, so that 
 they may remain in front, and not be overrun by 
 the coach. No one can say exactly how one would 
 act under such circumstances ; if the pole were 
 merely to break, and the horses were to behave 
 like lambs, there is no doubt that a good coachman 
 would surmount the difficulty ; but it must be re- 
 membered when a pole breaks the foremost end of 
 the pole falls to the ground, and the bars and 
 broken piece of pole dangle about the leaders'" 
 heels, and hit their hocks ; naturally such an alarm- 
 ing condition of things frightens them out of their 
 wits, and makes them run away. It should always 
 be remembered that the pole, and the axle, and 
 connections with the wheels, are the parts upon 
 which the safety of the coach and its occupants 
 
BROKEN POLES. 367 
 
 most depends ; for a coach the axle should always 
 be mail axles, and not Collinge's patent axles.""" Every 
 coach should have a perch ; a coach without a perch 
 not only looks bad, and is depriving the carriage of 
 much of its style and character, but it is absolutely 
 necessary to comfort and safety ; it binds the after 
 part of the carriage to the fore part, and prevents 
 the pole jumping about when passing over bad roads, 
 and so assists the draught. 
 
 The hind wheels should always be made high, 
 as this also assists the draught. " The old post- 
 chaises," Mr. Kesterton says, " which were used on 
 bad roads, and often with very inferior cattle, always 
 had very high hind wheels, which, when once in 
 motion, acted like the fly-wheel of a steam-engine, 
 and helped them along." 
 
 It must be remembered in speaking about poles, 
 it is not always on descending a hill that they break ; 
 sometimes on turning the coach round they will break, 
 at such a moment there is a considerable strain on 
 the end of the pole. 
 
 It will be remembered that I gave an extract from 
 the Sporting Gazette, which stated that a coach was 
 capsized at Queen's Gate, whereby the occupants were 
 thrown off and a lady was injured ; this was owing to 
 the breaking of an axle.t The iron-work about a 
 coach should be made very strong and particularly the 
 axles. I recollect, about twenty-three years ago, staying 
 at Bognor, with two youngsters of my own age. We 
 took a house for the Goodwood week, and I drove 
 
 ^ * ^ Iron coach axles are generally bedded in the wooden axle ; 
 this improves the appearance of the under-carriage, and makes it 
 look what it is intended to be a four-horse coach, not a drag. 
 t See page 333. 
 
3 68 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 them daily, in a tandem-cart, to the races ; but on the 
 very first day, just as we were approaching Chichester 
 witfrthe horses trotting well up to their bits, suddenly the 
 axle of my cart broke ; we were not capsized, as would 
 have been the case with a coach, but sank down grace- 
 fully all of a heap on the road, whilst the two wheels 
 flew upward, breaking away the patent leather wings, 
 but with no further ill effect. I had the cart conveyed 
 on a trolley into Chichester, where a coach-builder 
 fitted me a new axle ; but had this not occurred on 
 a level road the consequences might have been serious. 
 
 But to return to coach-building. In coach-building 
 there is a combination of crafts, such as are rarely 
 united in any other trade, except it be ship-building ; 
 for a ship-builder not only builds the vessel, but 
 frequently finishes it throughout, even to furnishing 
 it and supplying the most insignificant article of 
 upholstery. 
 
 The technical names of those trades which are 
 comprised in the different branches of coach-building 
 are body-makers, carriage-makers, wheelers, spring- 
 makers, axle-makers, smiths, trimmers, etc. ; painting is 
 an important part of the business, and those professing 
 it are divided into body, carriage, and heraldry or 
 ornamental painters ; these workmen have each their 
 own department in the construction of a coach. 
 
 The timber employed in coach-building comprises 
 ash, beech, elm, oak, mahogany, cedar, deal, pine, 
 larch-wood, and birch ; but the timber most employed 
 is English-grown ash ; the hedge-row ash growing in 
 open spots is of slower growth, but is much firmer, 
 stronger, and tougher, than that grown in the coppice, 
 and is, therefore, preferred to it for making the heavy 
 framework of a carriage. Ash is rather a tough and 
 
TIMBER EMPLOYED IN COACH-BUILDING. 369 
 
 fibrous than an elastic wood, and is well calculated to 
 bear the concussions to which the supporting frame- 
 work of a coach is exposed ; it is best fitted for use 
 when arrived at maturity, but before it has attained 
 its extreme size. It is sometimes white at the heart, 
 sometimes red ; the former is best suited for the pur- 
 pose in view. It is sometimes so wrinkled and twisted 
 in the grain as to render it almost impossible to plane 
 it out smooth ; but it is then in its toughest state, and it 
 acquires by boiling or steaming a plastic property, 
 which enables it to be bent to a form suited to carriage 
 timbers. These various qualities, together with the 
 absence of any tendency to warp or twist, render ash 
 better fitted than any other kind of timber for the 
 skeleton framework of a coach. 
 
 Elm is used sometimes for strong planking ; of 
 the two kinds hedge-row elm is more employed than 
 wych elm. The grain of this wood is curly and wavy, 
 difficult to work, brittle, and apt to split ; but, when 
 once brought into workable form, elm possesses great 
 strength, especially for the naves of wheels. Oak is 
 not employed to any considerable extent in coach- 
 building, yet it forms the spokes of \vheels. The 
 nave, a cylindrical block of wood into which the 
 spokes are fitted, is sometimes of elm and forms the 
 centre of the wheel ; it is pierced longitudinally with 
 a hole to receive the axle. The spokes are, of course, 
 the radiating arms framed into the nave at equal 
 distances, and the felloes are circular segments framed 
 or fitted on to the outer extremities of the spokes and 
 forming collectively the periphery or rim of the wheel. 
 
 The first thing to be considered is the wheel. Each 
 felloe has at least two spokes ; felloes are sometimes 
 made in one piece of wood which is bent into a 
 
 2 B 
 
370 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 complete circle by means of steam ; wheels made in this 
 way are preferable in appearance, but the difficulty 
 of repairing them has prevented their being brought 
 into general use. The external surface of the felloes 
 is protected by a covering of iron called the tire. The 
 spokes standing at right angles with the axle are 
 adapted to meet the lateral shocks to which a carriage- 
 wheel is exposed. The spokes are usually formed of 
 oak saplings and are wrought into proper form after 
 being driven into the nave ; the nave is protected at 
 either end by this hoop of iron called the tire, to 
 enable it to resist the strains of the spokes. In 
 ordinary hind coach-wheels there are generally four- 
 teen spokes, and in the fore-wheels, which are about a 
 foot lower, there are usually only twelve spokes. 
 
 The tire is put on the wheel when expanded by 
 heat, but as soon as the iron hoop is fitted into its 
 proper place round the wheel, water is thrown upon 
 it to prevent the wood-work from catching fire, and 
 the result of the sudden contraction of the hoop or 
 tire is to compress the felloes and to force each spoke 
 into its proper place, so that when complete, the wheel 
 is admirably adapted by its combined strength and 
 elasticity for the purpose for which it is designed. 
 The tire is further secured, after cooling, by a few small 
 bolts driven through it and the felloes, and riveted 
 inside the latter. 
 
 But to speak once more of timber employed in 
 coach-building. Mahogany is chiefly in request for 
 forming the panels or broad plain surfaces of the body 
 of a coach ; it always seems a great pity that such a 
 beautiful wood as mahogany should be concealed by 
 paint. It is a mere question of fashion and habit. We 
 have grown so accustomed to painted carriages that 
 
VARNISH VERSUS PAINT. 371 
 
 if the wood were unpainted or unvarnished, no matter 
 how well it might be prepared, or how beautiful the 
 grain might be, or how choice the specimens of wood 
 employed, a carriage built after such a fashion would 
 not be tolerated for a moment. An eadeavour was 
 once made to varnish and not to paint the hulls of 
 yachts ; the Witchcraft belonging to Mr. Broadwood, 
 the great piano manufacturer, was a striking instance 
 of this innovation. I remember the outer skin of the 
 vessel above water was built of mahogany, which, 
 when newly varnished, looked very well, but did not 
 retain its brilliant appearance long, and was afterwards 
 painted ; but this was no doubt owing to exposure to 
 weather, salt water, and boats constantly scraping 
 against the side. I remember the vessel was nick- 
 named the " Musical box." The same objections that 
 applied to the yacht cannot apply to carriages. 
 Carriages are carefully housed, and receive an amount 
 of attention which it is impossible can be devoted to 
 the outer surface of a yacht or a boat. In the use of 
 mahogany, there is a difference between the cabinet- 
 maker and the coach-builder ; the former prefers 
 Spanish mahogany on account of the beautiful curled 
 grain, which gives such diversity of light and shade, 
 whereas the latter employs Honduras mahogany, 
 because the curled grains of the Spanish prevent it 
 from being bent into the curvatures required in coach- 
 making. Honduras wood can be procured in planks 
 four feet in width, perfectly straight-grained, and free 
 from all knots and blemishes, and is therefore a kind 
 of timber well suited for bending, and therefore well 
 adapted to coach-building. Cedar of considerable 
 width and having a coarse grain is sometimes 
 used instead of mahogany for carnage panels, but 
 
 2 B 2 
 
372 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 it is really too porous to receive a painted surface 
 properly. Deal is employed for the flooring of 
 carriages. Wide American pine cut into very thin 
 boards is used for roofing. Fustic, a hard, yellow 
 wood obtained from Central and South America, is 
 sometimes employed for the naves of wheels which are 
 intended for hot climates, as being less likely to shrink 
 than English timber. Lance-wood, a yellow, close, 
 straight-grained, elastic but brittle wood, is much used 
 for the straight shafts of carts ; but for curved shafts of 
 Stanhope gigs and four-wheeled carriages it cannot be 
 employed. American birch is much used for flat 
 boarding on account of its great width, its homo- 
 geneous character, its freedom from rents, the small - 
 ness of its pores, the readiness with which it yields to 
 the plane, and the non-appearance of the grain when 
 painted. It is, however, brittle, and cannot be bent 
 like mahogany for panels. Sycamore, chestnut, and 
 plane-wood are occasionally used as substitutes for 
 some of the above-mentioned woods. 
 
 Timber employed in coach-building is dried in a 
 dry ing- kiln. Mr. Parsons, the proprietor of the 
 common-sense drying-kiln, speaking at a meeting of 
 the members of the Institute of British Carriage Manu- 
 facturers, describes the effect produced upon wood 
 subjected to the process of drying in the above-men- 
 tioned kiln. " Here," he said, " is a piece of persim- 
 mon, which was originally i^ inches thick ; it is now 
 reduced to \}i inches thick. Here is a piece of stone- 
 wood, originally I 3 A inches thick; it is now i/^ inches 
 thick. Here is a piece of beech, that was 2 inches 
 thick ; now it is \}i inches thick." 
 
 This system of drying timber gets rid of all the 
 sap and seasons the wood at the same time. The 
 
MANIPULATION OF TIMBER. 373 
 
 machine steams the timber, dissolves the sap, and 
 sucks it from the centre. The blocks exhibited were 
 exposed to a pressure of 15 tons to the square inch. 
 The weight was increased so much in proportion to 
 the size that compressed beech exceeds box-wood in 
 specific gravity. The wood that has been submitted 
 to this process resists all attempts to split it in two. 
 
 Mr. Bennett, a timber-merchant of Canada, who 
 was present at this meeting, said that " Bass-wood 
 would be suitable in cases where mahogany was used 
 at the present time in coach-building. American rock- 
 elm," he said, "was superior to English elm, on 
 account of its being free from knots and blemishes of 
 any kind." He went on to say that " Canadian timber 
 could be seasoned ninety days after being cut, owing 
 to the dryness of the air in Canada." 
 
 There being so much to be said in favour of 
 Canadian timber, it naturally follows that our English 
 coach-builders employ it largely in the construction 
 of carriages. Hickory has been largely employed for 
 wheels, and, owing to its elasticity and strength, 
 has made a very favourable impression upon the 
 coach-builders of this country when used for light 
 wheels. As has been explained, for bodies and under- 
 carriages, and especially for poles, no wood seems to 
 equal the English hedge-row ash for toughness and 
 durability ; full-grown wood is best suited for this 
 purpose. The lower part of the body of a coach is 
 panelled up with the softest bay mahogany ; ash is 
 used for the felloes of wheels, but beech felloes are 
 often used, and it has been found by experience, that 
 beech, when cut into felloes from the log shortly after 
 it is felled, and kept until they become dry before 
 being framed into wheels, answers admirably for this 
 
374 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 purpose ; indeed, nothing but properly-seasoned wood 
 can be applied to any purpose in the construction of 
 a coach. 
 
 In working up these varieties of timber, tools and 
 processes are employed similar to those witnessed in 
 many other trades. In the first place, a mould of the 
 coach-body is prepared from the pattern, as in the 
 preparatory stage of ship-building ; that is, thin pieces 
 of wood are so cut out as to denote the size, form, and 
 curvatures of all the separate parts of the coach, and 
 these afterwards act as guides in cutting and shaping 
 the timber. The working operations are of two 
 wholly distinct kinds, carried on by different sets of 
 workmen : one relates to the body, and the other to 
 the under-carriage, or that part below the body. 
 
 In bending thin pieces of timber to form curved 
 panels, the wood is wetted on the side which is to be 
 convex, and heated on that side which is to be con- 
 cave ; the unequal expansion of the two surfaces, or 
 rather the expansion of the one and the contraction 
 of the other, produces the curvature, and it is the 
 workman's business to secure this curved form when 
 once obtained. With a few exceptions, the process 
 connected with coach body-making may be regarded 
 as very similar to those of cabinet- making. 
 
 In the making of the carriage which supports the 
 body the flat surfaces are so few in number that the 
 plane is scarcely employed ; after the saw the chief 
 cutting instrument is a hand tool resembling a spoke- 
 shave. The complexity of the framework, and the 
 number of pieces which compose it, depend a good 
 deal on the circumstance whether the carriage has 
 four wheels or only two, and whether drawn by one 
 or two horses. 
 
 But, to commence at the lowest point in the car- 
 
WHEELS. 375 
 
 riage, it is necessary again to speak of the wheels ; and 
 although I have done so before, I did not fully describe 
 their construction. Carriage-wheels, in their manu- 
 facture, require the greatest ingenuity ; they must have 
 3. degree of elasticity sufficient to bear the strains that 
 they are subjected to when in motion. The simplest 
 shape in which wheels for carriages could be formed 
 would be that in which the spokes would stand exactly 
 .at right angles with the axle, and would form a flat or 
 plane figure when the wheel is viewed edgeways, but 
 such a wheel would be ill adapted to meet the lateral 
 shocks to which a carriage-wheel is exposed. The 
 -more common form is that called the dished wheel, in 
 which the centre or nave is made to fall back a little 
 from the plane of the felloes, so that the face of the 
 wheel is not flat but slightly concave ; the elasticity of 
 this form is a very great recommendation. It possesses, 
 also, this advantage, that if the axle be slightly bent 
 downwards towards its extremity so as to bring the 
 spokes of the lower half of the wheel into a nearly 
 vertical position which will enable them to bear the 
 greatest possible weight, the upper half of the wheel 
 will have such an inclination outward as to leave more 
 room for the body of the carriage, and to throw 
 particles of dirt caught up in its revolution away from 
 it. Very strong wheels are occasionally made in a 
 double dished form, or with the spokes alternately 
 inclining outward and inward from the felloe, so that 
 the centre or nave of the wheel forms the base of 
 a pyramid of which the felloe forms the apex ; but 
 such wheels are deficient in elasticity and consequently 
 will not bear much concussion. The dished form of 
 wheel, together with the bending of the axle, involves 
 some increase of actual friction, as it cannot possibly 
 roll in a straight line without a degree of rubbing 
 
376 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 friction most injurious to the road, and which also 
 increases the draught. 
 
 The ordinary mode of making a coach-wheel is 
 as follows : The piece of elm for the nave is turned 
 in a lathe to the proper size and shape, and has a 
 hole driven through it to receive the axle ; it is then 
 fixed in a vice and holes are chiselled out of it to- 
 receive the ends of the spokes. There is nothing but 
 the practised eye of the workman to guide him in 
 making these holes in the proper position for pro- 
 ducing the dishing of the wheels ; half of the spokes 
 are near one end of the nave, and half near the 
 other, and the holes have to be regulated accord- 
 ingly. The pieces of oak for the spokes are shaped 
 by hand, by a small cutting tool called a spoke- 
 shave ; every one who is acquainted with carpentry 
 or joinery knows what a spoke-shave is like, and 
 there is no carpenter or joiner who does not make 
 use of one frequently in his trade. 
 
 In wheels the felloes are dowelled together, 
 and are further secured by inserting wedges in the 
 ends of the spokes, and by the iron tire. It is 
 undoubtedly a fact worth recording, and it has been 
 proved, that iron tires of a narrow width, when 
 passing over bad roads, whose surface is soft and 
 impressionable, sink deep into the ground, get wedged 
 into ruts, from which the horses have to drag them, 
 which without doubt increases their labour, and 
 greatly fatigues them. In every case it should be 
 remembered that large wheels possess an enormous 
 superiority over small wheels, not only when con- 
 sidered mechanically, as acting like a lever to overcome 
 obstacles that retard progression, but their friction upon 
 the axle is far less than small wheels, since they turn 
 less often ; at the same time the weight upon them is 
 
WHEELS. 377 
 
 equal, though in the larger wheel it is more distributed. 
 The bearing of a large wheel preponderates over 
 the bearing of a small one, and the arc of the circle 
 which meets the surface of the road being greater, it 
 would not sink so deep ; the large wheel would also 
 have the advantage over the small one in rising over 
 eminences. A wheel of eight feet diameter surmounts 
 an obstacle twice as easily as one of four feet ; if it 
 requires a certain power to draw a carriage of a certain 
 weight over a certain obstacle with wheels of any 
 given diameter, it will require wheels of four times 
 that diameter to draw the same carriage over the 
 same obstacle with half that power. And yet, it 
 has been inferred that, supposing the friction of two 
 carriages of equal weight, but of different-sized wheels, 
 to be equal, the low-wheeled one would be drawn 
 up hill, on a smooth plane, much more easily than 
 the high-wheeled one, though on a smooth, horizontal 
 surface the latter would be drawn more easily than 
 the former. On the contrary, on going down hill, 
 the high- wheeled carriage will be urged forward 
 by its relative gravity more than the low-wheeled 
 one, consequently low-wheeled carriages are preferable 
 to high-wheeled ones in a hilly country, both for going 
 up hill and down hill. This has been proved with 
 bicycles : where hills have to be ascended and 
 descended, a small wheel has an advantage over the 
 big one. Were large wheels made experimentally 
 and attached to a carriage for the purpose of being 
 driven, were the axles to be raised above the breasts 
 of the horses, they would have to draw downwards, and 
 would, in consequence, be incapable of exerting their 
 utmost strength ; with small wheels the axle would, 
 being low, increase the draught, in consequence of 
 the horses having to draw upwards. And yet, so far 
 
3?8 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 as the bearing of the collar is concerned, a horse 
 can draw from a low splinter-bar with far greater 
 comfort than from a high one.* 
 
 The strong iron which extends across and beneath 
 the wood-work of the under-carriage, is, as every one 
 knows, called the axle-tree ; the round parts at each 
 end, on which the wheel runs, are called the axle- 
 arms ; the nave of the wheel is pierced through the 
 centre with a large hole to introduce the box or 
 iron tube, for the axle-arm. It has frequently been 
 proposed to make metal naves, or centre pieces for 
 wheels ; the objection to this was that if the wood 
 of the spokes were to shrink, they would become 
 loose in the mortises, whereas a wooden nave would 
 shrink at the same time with the spoke. 
 
 The word axle-tree was evidently derived from 
 the fact that axles used to be made of wood, the 
 stem of a tree being frequently employed for the 
 purpose. The axle-tree and box most in use for 
 light carriages is " Collinge's Patent Cylindrical Axle- 
 tree and Box." These axle-trees have been a con- 
 siderable time in use, and their advantages have 
 been proved in the length of time they wear, in the 
 silent and steady motion they preserve to the wheels, 
 in the advantage of retaining the oil to prosecute 
 a journey of two thousand miles without being 
 once replenished ; and lastly, they are very 
 durable and but little subject to be out of order. 
 The axle-tree arm is made as perfectly cylindrical 
 as possible and of a peculiar hard substance ; the 
 middle of the cylinder is reduced, to contain 
 the oil necessary to feed the axle-trees, so that 
 
 * But to meet these objections a middle course should be adopted, 
 and regard should be had to the shape of the horse's shoulder. The 
 collar should rest on the scapula or shoulder-blade, and should there 
 have a firm bearing. 
 
COLLING &S PATENT AXLE. 379 
 
 the two bearings are at the two ends of the axle, 
 which has an internal shoulder, against which the 
 inner end of the wheel-box takes its bearings. Be- 
 hind this shoulder is a deep groove for a washer to 
 preserve the oil and prevent noise in its use ; also a 
 hollow box on the outer end of the axle-tree arm. The 
 middle portion of the axle-arm is greatly reduced, so 
 that between it and the inner portion of the box there 
 should exist a space containing oil for lubrication. The 
 extreme end of the arm is double screwed, to receive 
 two nuts for securing the wheel ; the one screw turns 
 the way of the wheel, the other the reverse, and is 
 meant as an additional security.* 
 
 The box is made of a very hard metal, nicely 
 polished, and fitted to the arms, having a circular 
 recess all round, at the end nearest the carriage, for 
 containing a supply of oil. The box is longer than 
 the part which bears on the axle, and the projecting 
 part beyond the bearing at each end is bored out 
 larger than the axle-arms. f In fact, the arm of the axle, 
 which revolves in the box, has several shoulders and 
 indentations. There are three spaces for oil : one cut 
 in the box, and two in the arm. At the outer end of 
 the arm are two nuts, and over all is screwed the cap, 
 which is generally of brass. 
 
 Speaking of a wheel in a mechanical sense, it is, in 
 
 * One thing should always be remembered that proper care and 
 attention should be given to the box of the wheel, and to all those 
 parts bearing on the axle-arm. Every foreign substance that increases 
 friction should be carefully removed with a sponge, after which all the 
 working parts should be thoroughly lubricated with the best oil, by 
 which means draught will be lessened to an extraordinary degree. 
 
 t It is considered by coach-builders of the present day inadvisable 
 to groove the box as a receptacle for oil, it is considered best to 
 make a recess on the top of the axle-arm as a well to contain the 
 lubricating oil, as the axle-arm does not rotate but is stationary; 
 whereas the box, being fixed in the nave, revolves with the wheel. 
 
380 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 fact, a lever where the power is made to act continu- 
 ously ; by the revolving of the wheel, a number of 
 levers of the first class are continually brought into 
 motion ; as the radius of the wheel exceeds that of the 
 axle so it increases in power, and so increases the dis- 
 tance that the operative force has to pass through. A 
 large wheel, when set in motion, exercises a centrifugal 
 force, the axle being the basis of its operations, and 
 the tendency to the motion described being increased 
 with the diameter of the wheel. 
 
 Several attempts have been made to provide high 
 wheels for the fore body of a four-wheel carriage as 
 well as for the hind body, but the difficulty has been 
 to lock the carriage round. In a four-wheel carriage 
 there is an axle connecting the two fore wheels, and 
 another connecting the two hind wheels, but if these 
 two axles were so fixed as to remain constantly parallel 
 the carriage could not turn. In practice the front 
 axle is made to turn upon a pivot, and the wheels 
 connecting it are made small enough to go under the 
 frame of the carriage during the act of turning. It 
 is for this reason, and this alone, that the front wheels 
 are made smaller than the hind ones, and as a great 
 disadvantage in draught is thereby occasioned, various 
 contrivances have been adopted for rendering the use 
 of somewhat larger wheels practicable. 
 
 Sometimes the body of the carriage is raised to 
 a greater height ; sometimes a portion of the under 
 part of the body is cut away to leave room for the 
 turning of the wheel. It was as a means of remedying 
 these inconveniences, that Mr. Adams proposed, a few 
 years ago, the " a?.quirotal " construction of carriages, 
 of which I will afterwards speak more fully. 
 
 As the inequality in the sizes of the fore and hind 
 wheels is adopted solely as a means of enabling the 
 
THE &QUIROTAL CARRIAGE. 381 
 
 vehicle to be turned round, Mr. Adams sought for 
 some mode of enabling this turning to be effected even 
 when all the four wheels are of equal size. This he 
 does by having the carriage so divided in the middle 
 as to turn upon a pivot ; or, rather, the pivot or perch- 
 bolt 3 which, in a common carriage, is placed imme- 
 diately between the two front wheels, is, on the 
 sequirotal principle, placed much further back, by 
 which the fore wheels have so large a radius in turning, 
 that they do not touch the body, and may therefore 
 be made of equal size with the hinder wheels. 
 
 The mode of adjusting this pivot depends upon 
 the kind of carriage. In a phaeton, which is an open 
 four-wheeled carriage with two seats, the front one 
 higher than the lower, the hinder half of the body 
 is hinged to the front half. In a chariot or a coach, 
 the coach-box is connected with the framew r ork of the 
 front wheels, and the body with that of the hind 
 wheels, and there is a pivot which connects the two 
 halves together ; the late Duke of Wellington had a 
 carriage of this kind. 
 
 The only means, with which we are acquainted, of 
 placing heavy loads in such a position that they may 
 be conveyed with rapidity along a high-road, is to 
 support the vehicle which contains them upon wheels. 
 The advantage of a wheeled carriage over the common 
 sledge is too obvious to require explanation. 
 
 Before quitting the subject of wheels, I would 
 observe that some time ago a patent was obtained for 
 making the felloe of a wheel all in one piece, a method 
 which had long been in practice in the North, and of 
 which I have spoken elsewhere. The plan consisted 
 in selecting a beam of the proposed size of the intended 
 felloe, and boiling it in a bath of water until the wood 
 became reduced almost to a pulp, when it was bent in 
 
382 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 a cylinder of the diameter of the intended ring of the 
 wheel, after which it was shaped, mortised, and fitted 
 to the spokes as before described ; such kind of wheels 
 are still made, but the boiling process greatly weakens 
 them, hence wheels so made are not much in common 
 use ; they are, however, neater and look much better 
 than any wheel which can be made by the common 
 method ; the drawn iron tire is always made use of 
 for such wheels. 
 
 The boxing of a wheel and adapting the axle-tree r 
 is done usually by the coach or tire-smith. The box 
 for a wheel consists of a hollow, conical tube of iron, 
 furnished on its outside with two or three square 
 projections, which have the effect of giving it a key 
 when mortised through the nave of the wheel. The 
 box is well polished on its inside, and the axle-tree is 
 accurately formed to fit into it, with sufficient play to 
 admit of oil being introduced to modify the friction. 
 
 The external ends of axle-trees, which pass through 
 the boxes, are generally formed into screws to which 
 are adapted nuts of sufficient size to cover completely 
 the external edges of the boxes of the wheels, which, 
 with a linch-pin that passes through the axle-tree arm, 
 completely secures the wheels to their work. The screws, 
 upon which the nuts are fitted are cut reverse ways. 
 
 The mail axle is of a different construction, and owes 
 its safety to four bolts, which pass completely, first 
 through the iron shoulder on the axle,*and then through 
 the nave of the wheel and the outer plate, these bolts 
 having a square shoulder on the inside of the nave, 
 with screws and nuts on its front. The box is made 
 like other boxes, except that it and the nave are com- 
 pletely covered at their outer end with a solid and 
 broad cap of iron. The axle-tree, too, is formed to fill 
 * This iron shoulder, of course, revolves into the nave. 
 
THE MAIL AXLE. 383 
 
 the box and press up close to this iron cap. The round 
 iron shoulder is made and welded to the solid axle-arm ; 
 this shoulder works in the box of the nave. This and 
 the outer cap have four perforations, through which the 
 iron bolts are driven, and which also pass through the 
 nave of the wheel with their screws presenting them- 
 selves through the iron cap at its outer end. When these 
 bolts are all adapted and in their place, four nuts, of 
 about an inch and a quarter square, are screwed on to 
 them ; the shoulders of which are supplied by the iron 
 cap which secures the axle-tree in the box, and holds up 
 the wheel more firmly to its work than any other plan 
 now adopted. By this method no dirt can penetrate 
 to impede the motion, or create friction, as the end of 
 the cone of the working axle is completely enclosed,, 
 and when once the wheel is put on and properly oiled,, 
 it is found to go on in its work for a considerable time, 
 This axle is the celebrated "mail axle," which is used 
 in all coaches, mail phaetons, and properly built Stan- 
 hope gigs ; and, of all axles that have been invented, 
 none is stronger, less likely to get out of order, 
 or more drag-like in appearance. This, and Col- 
 linge's patent axle, are about the only two axles in 
 general use. There are three parts in the axle, the 
 two arms which pass into the naves of the two wheels, 
 and the bed or centre part which connects the two 
 arms. It is partly on account of the ingenious way in 
 which lubrication with oil is effected, that Collinge's. 
 patent axle is so much employed. Besides the me- 
 chanism for connecting the axle with the wheel, there 
 is the little cup for holding oil, and as the wheel rolls 
 along, the oil is pumped or drawn out of its receptacles, 
 and made to lubricate the adjacent surfaces. It must 
 be understood that there are three kinds of axles in 
 existence ; these are the common or plain axle, the 
 
384 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 patent mail-coach axle, better known as the mail axle, 
 and Collinge's patent axle,* which last, when properly 
 made, is found to be the best for retaining the oil, as it 
 is in good order, in this respect, after a journey of five 
 hundred to six hundred miles, or even further. 
 
 The carriage, as technically understood by coach- 
 builders, means the framework upon which the axle- 
 trees and springs are fixed. 
 
 The carriage-maker, although not required to finish 
 his work with that delicacy which is indispensable in 
 the body-maker, has nevertheless to put together his 
 joints with great precision and firmness, as the strength 
 and durability depend upon the carriage, for it under- 
 goes more fatigue and is therefore liable to fail sooner 
 than any other part, the wheels only excepted. For 
 this reason the best seasoned wood must also be made 
 use of in this branch, that none of the joints may 
 shrink. In fitting the various iron plates and stays, 
 great care must be taken that they be properly set to 
 the required curves, and that their bearings be quite 
 correct before being fastened ; as otherwise by the 
 force of the bolts in screwing them on, the wood-work 
 would be twisted, and thereby not only disfigure the 
 appearance of the parts, but materially weaken them. 
 Smiths in general are so little aware of this that the 
 carriage- maker has often more difficulty in getting his 
 iron-work made perfect, than in executing his own 
 more particular department. The carriage is always 
 made of ash of the strongest growth, and perfectly dry, 
 that is, free from sap and other moisture. The joints 
 are put together with white lead ground in oil, secured 
 with bolts and iron plates, stays, hoops, and other iron- 
 
 * But the common axle is only used on the very commonest and 
 cheapest wheeled vehicles. It consists merely of an axle-arm, linch- 
 pin, and nut. 
 
THE CARRIAGE AS DISTINCT FROM THE BODY. 385 
 
 work to the weight of from 230 Ibs. in a light carnage 
 to 370 Ibs. in a heavy one, exclusive of axle-trees and 
 springs. 
 
 In fact, carnages, as they have been made for 
 many years past, are in every part a combination of 
 wood and iron, in order to produce a light appearance ; 
 the workmen being enabled, from the additional 
 strength of the iron, to reduce the dimensions of the 
 wood. 
 
 The springs are made fast to their respective bars 
 with screwed bolts, and the fore or under-carriage is 
 secured to the main carriage by means of a strong iron 
 bolt, upon which the axle of the front wheels turns 
 independently of the hind wheels, thereby enabling the 
 whole carriage to turn with ease, which it could not 
 otherwise do. 
 
 The next process is body-making. This is the making 
 the wood-work of the body or shell, or that part con- 
 taining the seat of every vehicle generally known by 
 the name of carriage, whether open or close, and 
 having either two or more wheels. This is considered 
 the nicest branch of the art of coach-making, and very 
 deservedly so ; for to understand it thoroughly requires 
 knowledge rarely to be met with in the lower classes 
 of artisans, besides an accuracy and delicacy in the 
 junctions of the various parts, and neatness in finish- 
 ing, which no other part of coach-making so particu- 
 larly requires. The framework of the body is 
 uniformly made of ash timber, the bottom (and roofs 
 of close carriages) of fir, as being lightest, the panels 
 of mahogany (sometimes walnut-tree), as fittest from 
 its nature to receive the paint, and more pliable to 
 take the curved form which is required ; the back and 
 upper quarters are sometimes made of mahogany, but 
 more frequently of fir. The joints of the framework 
 
 2 C 
 
386 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 are all put together with white lead, ground in oil ; 
 and the junction of the panels with the framework is 
 strengthened by small blocks of wood being glued to 
 both, and strips of canvas glued at small distances from 
 one another across the reed of the wood, all over the 
 inside of the panels, reaching from the framework on 
 the one side to the framework on the other. The 
 curvature is given to the panels by holding to the 
 fire, or to a piece of iron made red hot, the side which 
 is required to be hollow, and by applying water to the 
 opposite side, by which the one side is contracted and 
 the other side is expanded. When brought by this 
 means to the desired form, they are fixed into grooves, 
 or laid down with glue upon the framework until dry, 
 and then cleaned off; the door panels besides this are 
 secured with plates of brass, attached firmly to the 
 framework with screws. The utmost attention should 
 be paid to use the best seasoned wood, as the smallest 
 shrinking of any of the joints, or contraction of any of 
 the panels after being painted, injures the appearance, 
 although not always materially the security of the 
 carriage. 
 
 1 here is a great variety of smith's work necessary 
 in making a carriage, and as much dependence is 
 put upon the iron-work, it must be not only of the 
 very best quality, but worked in the best possible 
 manner ; this being the case, ordinary smiths are 
 not, without a good deal of practice, fit to be em- 
 ployed by coach-makers, except in the coarser parts. 
 In order to obtain as much perfection as possible 
 in the execution of this branch of the work, it is 
 subdivided into particular departments, some work- 
 men being constantly employed in making springs, 
 others at the axle-trees, others at the steps, some at 
 the iron-work upon the wheels, some at the different 
 
IRON-WORK. 387 
 
 plates and stays for new carriages, and others at 
 repairs upon old work of all kinds. The springs 
 ought to be of steel of the best quality, well worked, 
 and properly tempered, which is the chief art 
 of the spring-maker. In spring-making there is a 
 considerable nicety required in proportioning the 
 thickness and lengths of the different plates, giving 
 them an equal temper and proper set, in order to 
 produce a regularly increasing resistance to any 
 weight that may be put upon them. It is by these 
 means that a carriage can be made equally easy to 
 ride in with one person only, as with four or six. 
 
 The axle-trees ought to be built of different bars 
 of iron, laid alongside of one another, and well 
 welded together ; for this purpose the tires which 
 come off old wheels are preferred, and the thinner 
 they are worn down, so much the better, as a greater 
 number of plies are necessary, thus receiving a better 
 mixture of metal, and, of course, greater uniformity 
 and average strength. 
 
 The finishing of the axle-trees ought to be done 
 with the greatest possible accuracy, as much of the ease 
 of draught depends upon that circumstance, and as the 
 greatest part of the noise made by carriages when 
 in motion, proceeds from the axle-arms and boxes 
 not having been properly fitted to one another. A 
 considerable degree of correctness is also necessary in 
 making the steps. 
 
 The variety of iron plates and fastenings requisite 
 for a carriage is so great, that it would take too long, 
 and occupy too much space, to describe them all ; I 
 shall, therefore, merely mention that almost every piece 
 of wood in the carriage is supported by, or strengthened 
 with iron, attached to the wood-work by bolts or rivets 
 passing through both. A considerable degree of art 
 
 2 C 2 
 
3 88 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 and practice is required in putting the tire or iron 
 hoop round the rim of the wheels ; the holes for. the 
 nails to fasten it to the felloes are first made, the 
 bar of iron is then turned round and formed into 
 a circle of the required diameter, and the two ends 
 welded together ; it is then heated all round red-hot, 
 and the wheel being laid with its face (that is, the out- 
 side of the nave undermost) upon a flat piece of stone- 
 work or metal plate, the iron hoop, from the great 
 expansion occasioned by its heat, goes easily round the 
 wheel, the iron is then immediately cooled, and, by 
 contracting, binds all the wood-work together ; the 
 nails are then put through the tire into the felloes, and 
 the wheel being cleaned off, is finished. Formerly, 
 the iron was, very generally, put round the wood-work 
 of the wheel in separate pieces, having nothing to 
 fasten it to the felloes except the nails ; but this 
 practice has become obsolete. 
 
 The sons of Vulcan are almost as active in the 
 blacksmith's department of a coach-builder's establish- 
 ment, as they are in those businesses where things 
 constructed of iron are the sole articles of manufacture. 
 Most of a carriage-smith's time is spent beside his 
 forge and over his anvil. The principal tools that he 
 requires are all descriptions of hammers, chisels, and 
 punches, but it would occupy too much time to go into 
 all the details of a blacksmith's work, who is employed 
 in the construction of carriages ; sufficient to say that 
 he makes a great part of the under- carnage, the iron 
 fastenings of wood-work, the steps, springs, lamp 
 brackets, and wheel tires. The greatest care is needed 
 in the iron framework of the under-carriage of a four- 
 wheel carriage, which enables the fore part of a carnage 
 to lock round. 
 
 There are numberless things which a smith has to 
 
CARRIAGE-SPRINGS. 389 
 
 do besides those I have already named. Every part 
 of a modern carriage is strengthened by iron stays ; 
 the wings and dash have an iron framework, which is 
 merely covered with leather ; there are the iron railings 
 round the seats, the raised backs, the opening and 
 closing heads of carriages, such as landaus, phaetons, 
 victorias, and sociables, are more or less constructed of 
 iron, which being covered with leather is not seen, 
 except the iron stays which are observed on the 
 outside, but which coach-builders have lately frequently 
 dispensed with. 
 
 One of the principal things a smith has to construct 
 are axle-trees ; these are now frequently made of Bes- 
 semer steel welded together. To be successful in 
 welding steel axles, everything preparatory to the 
 task must be attended to, as it is generally understood 
 that steel is exceedingly difficult to weld. The smith 
 has also to set his axles, so that the axle-arms may 
 properly fit the box in the nave of the wheel. In all 
 cases, and under all circumstances, the wheels should 
 be ready for the smith before he welds up his axles. 
 
 Carriage-springs should occupy a great part of the 
 smith's attention ; they are one of the most essential 
 points in the construction of a carriage. All coach- 
 builders gain their knowledge of what is requisite in 
 a set of springs, suitable for a certain carriage, from 
 experience, or from comparing it with other carriages 
 to which they have fitted springs ; but no fixed rule 
 to my knowledge exists, whereby a coach-builder may 
 be governed in making springs sufficient to support 
 any particular weight. 
 
 The fact of there not being any fixed rule decided 
 by precise mathematical calculation, is rather a matter 
 for regret, as carriages frequently suffer, as also do the 
 horses who draw them, and the persons who ride 
 
390 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 within or on them, from the insufficiency of strength 
 in carriage-springs, or the foolish way in which they 
 are adapted. There is one carnage in particular which 
 suffers in this respect : this is a Stanhope phaeton or 
 T cart, convertible into a waggonette. As a T cart, 
 with only a light groom seated behind, the springs are 
 quite sufficient ; but immediately that it is converted 
 into a waggonette, with seats sufficient to accommodate 
 four persons instead of one, the springs are no longer 
 sufficient to support the additional weight, and the 
 discomfort of riding in such a carriage is apparent to- 
 all who have tried it. 
 
 In this case, in addition to the longitudinal elliptic 
 springs, there should be elliptic cross-springs, or cross- 
 springs of some kind running from one side of the 
 carriage to the other. A carriage that rocks may be 
 greatly benefited by cross-springs ; good springs are 
 perhaps the things most requisite to the comfort of 
 those who make use of carriages. A coach- builder, 
 to whose opinions I have referred, observes that to 
 hold up a weight of 1500 pounds with three springs,, 
 that is with two elliptic longitudinal springs, and one 
 elliptic cross-spring, on the American principle, it 
 would be necessary that the three springs should 
 weigh eighty pounds, there being four or five leaves 
 or plates on each spring. 
 
 Carriage-springs should be very carefully tempered ; 
 it is necessary that the spring be carefully forged, not 
 over-heated, and not hammered too cold. Besides 
 springs, the smith has to hoop the wheels, that is, fit 
 the iron tires round the felloes, thereby embracing 
 the whole wheel ; but this process I have already 
 described. 
 
 I have by me a table giving the weight of elliptic 
 springs, and the weight of common axles ; but as these 
 
CA RRIA GE-SPRh\GS. 39 1 
 
 calculations are of American origin, I decline to make 
 use of them. 
 
 I am afraid that there has been a good deal of 
 repetition in this chapter, but in referring to many 
 opinions it is difficult to avoid a certain aniount of 
 repetition, particularly when comparing opinions ex- 
 pressed by others with that which I myself entertain ; 
 besides which I have been anxious to lay emphasis 
 upon certain points in connection with coach-building, 
 more especially that which refers to wheels and axles. 
 I wish the attributes of the two axles in general use 
 to be thoroughly understood, for it is upon wheels, 
 axles, and the pole that the safety of a coach mainly 
 depends. 
 
 The common axle which I have referred to else- 
 where, is not worthy of consideration when speaking of 
 carriage-building, it being only used on vehicles of a 
 very inferior class. 
 
 As regards springs it may be mentioned that they 
 not only contribute to the comfort of persons driving 
 in a carriage, but they also assist draught and lessen 
 the fatigue of the horses employed to draw a carriage. 
 Their object is to yield to the rise and fall of the 
 wheel when passing over the inequalities of the road 
 so that the body may not be affected by them, and 
 that the concussion may be sensibly diminished ; in 
 consequence of which the horses will go more at their 
 ease, and not be made to suffer by constant jolts and 
 jerks whilst they are exercising their powers in draw- 
 ing the vehicle to which they are attached. There 
 are many varieties of springs, but they may be com- 
 prised under two distinct heads ; first, those in which 
 steel only is used as the elastic material, such as the 
 ordinary elliptic and grasshopper spring ; and, secondly, 
 those in which it is aided by leather straps as in the 
 
392 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 C spring. The grasshopper spring consists of an 
 indefinite number of plates of steel riveted together 
 in the middle where the spring lies upon the axle-tree, 
 and is attached to it by a clip ; one plate lies upon the 
 top of the other, each one being gradually shorter 
 than the one above it. They are ground to a thin edge 
 at their ends so as to play freely upon the plate above ; 
 by this arrangement the spring is much more lively 
 than it would be if made in a solid piece, and it will 
 bear greater weight without breaking. 
 
 The elliptic spring resembles two grasshopper 
 springs greatly bent and one placed on the other, 
 with their extremities terminating in eyes being united 
 by bolts ; the axle is attached to the lower one and the 
 body of the carriage to the upper one. C springs are 
 made in the same way as regards the steel plates of 
 which they are composed ; but these are bent into the 
 form of the letter from which they take their name. 
 The lower end of the C spring is attached by bolts to 
 the under-carriage, the upper end having a leather 
 strap or brace, which is attached to the body ; this 
 spring is the easiest of all. Until lately it has been 
 quite out of fashion except with heavy C spring 
 barouches, but now it is gradually being applied even 
 to small carts, buggies, victorias, and other light 
 vehicles ; and as there is no other spring which is 
 equally easy and quiet, it is gradually regaining its 
 former position in public estimation. 
 
 Having said all we can about smith's work, we may 
 now pass on to painting. The first process of paint- 
 ing the body of a carriage is to lay it all over with any 
 common colour, in which a considerable proportion of 
 japan and a little spirit of turpentine are mixed. Of 
 this colour the body ought to get three or four 
 coats, always increasing the quantity of turpentine 
 
PAINTING AND VARNISHING. 393 
 
 and diminishing the japan ; this is called priming for 
 the grounding. After this two or three coats of filling 
 up, or grounding, composed of powdered ochre, japan, 
 and a considerable proportion of turpentine, must be 
 laid on ; after having done this properly, if there are 
 any holes above the heads of nails, or other small 
 indentations in the panels, they ought to be filled up 
 with white lead ground in turpentine and mixed up with 
 japanners' gold size. When all this is quite dry and 
 hard, the painter, having flattened a piece of pumice- 
 stone on one side, applies it with water to the 
 panels, and by constantly and regularly rubbing 
 them all over, produces a smooth, even surface. After 
 this, the body is laid over with a colour, preparatory 
 to that with which it is to be finished. If the colour 
 is ultimately to be light, the preparatory colour must 
 be light also, and the reverse if the colour is to be 
 dark. In this part of the operation, which is called 
 priming for the body colour, two or three coats will 
 be necessary. When all these previous coats are 
 quite dry, the body colour is laid over them, and it 
 depends upon the particular colour and shade what 
 number of coats will be necessary. One coat must 
 succeed another until the colour is quite solid, that 
 is, until there is no cloud or inequality of shade per- 
 ceptible in any part of the whole. After this, the 
 best copal varnish ought to be made use of, and a 
 body cannot be well varnished without six coats, 
 and seven if the panels are to be polished. Betwixt 
 each coat of paint, the panels ought to be smoothed 
 with sand-paper, and after each coat of varnish they 
 ought to be well rubbed down with pumice-stone, 
 reduced to a very fine powder, put upon a piece of 
 woollen cloth, made up into a roll as hard as possible, 
 and moistened with water, care being taken to smooth 
 
394 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 the panels in this way as much as possible, without 
 rubbing through the varnish. The body colour some- 
 times requires to be laid with varnish alone, and 
 sometimes it is necessary to mix a little of the colour 
 with the two or three first coats of varnish. To 
 produce a better black, the upper quarters, roof, and 
 back of the body are done with japan in place of 
 varnish, immediately after the colour ; and to render 
 it capable of being polished, one or two coats of 
 varnish are put above the japan. When armorial 
 bearings or letters are to be painted upon the panels, 
 the proper time is betwixt the first and second, or 
 sometimes betwixt the second and third coats of 
 varnish, after which such a number of coats ought 
 to follow as will render the whole panels smooth over 
 the arms, crests, or letters. 
 
 Panels ought not to be polished sooner than a 
 month after the last coat of varnish is given them, and 
 if the carriage is used during that time, or even for a 
 longer period, before polishing, so much the better, 
 the varnish by exposure to the atmosphere acquiring 
 a harder consistency, and consequently becoming more 
 susceptible of a fine polish. 
 
 The first operation in polishing is to rub down the 
 panels as before described, with very fine pulverised 
 pumice-stone and water, then after with purified rotten- 
 stone, and afterwards by constant rubbing with the 
 palm of the hand, using a small portion of dry rotten- 
 stone to remove the gumminess off the skin. When 
 by these means the panels are brought to a good 
 polish, a little flour and sweet oil rubbed over gives 
 a smoothness to the whole, and finishes the work. 
 
 In painting carriages, there is nothing particularly 
 worthy of remark. The painter's chief care is to 
 
LINING CARRIAGES. 39 > 
 
 remove all grease or oil from every part before he 
 begins to paint, and as the work goes on, to smooth 
 every coat with sand -paper before laying the next. In 
 ornamenting the bars and wheels, everything depends 
 upon the steadiness of the hand in drawing the lines 
 clear and well-defined. The carriage, after being 
 painted, ought to get two or three coats of varnish to 
 give it a lustre corresponding with that of the body. 
 
 Next comes the process of trimming, which means 
 the internal lining of the carriage. The trimmer's 
 business is to cut the lining, give directions for sewing 
 it, to arrange the lace properly upon the different 
 parts, and, after being sewed, to stuff, quilt, and to 
 fasten it into the body. This requires a considerable 
 dexterity and neatness of hand. 
 
 Much of the comfort of a carriage depends upon 
 its being well lined and stuffed ; and as every part 
 of it is immediately under the eye of the people 
 within, if anything is left undone, or any error 
 committed, it cannot escape notice, nor fail to give 
 a bad impression of the whole machine. The trimmer 
 has also in a close carriage to cover and finish the 
 glass frames, blinds, shutters, footsteps, and to do 
 everything belonging to the inside (and outside 
 leather work) of the bodies of carriages. 
 
 The lining of carriages is generally made of 
 woollen cloth, sometimes of morocco leather, and 
 sometimes partly of both, trimmed with lace manu- 
 factured for the express purpose, made a fancy 
 pattern, or with family arms or crests as may be 
 wished. There are also interlinings, made generally 
 of cotton cloth used for the purpose of preserving 
 the principal lining. I have now nearly completed my 
 review of coach-making. 
 
396 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 There are two things which naturally suggest 
 themselves to the minds of those interested in the 
 improvement of carriages ; the comfort of the people 
 who ride in them, and the ease with which they 
 can be drawn. Perhaps the introduction of springs 
 was one of the greatest improvements ever made in 
 carriages. It is mentioned in the Memoirs of the 
 French Academy, that the idea of applying springs 
 to carriages was suggested by M. Thomas, in 1 703, 
 .and that he actually gave a drawing of a carriage 
 constructed upon that principle. It appears, how- 
 ever, from the same work, that he considered it an 
 Improvement rather of a theoretical nature, than one 
 capable of being reduced to practice. The result, 
 however, has proved the contrary ; and whether 
 M. Thomas is really entitled to the invention or 
 not, it is the greatest improvement that has ever 
 been made in the construction of carriages. 
 
 The next improvement I must mention, is the 
 present method of constructing carriages to open at 
 the top, giving at once all the advantages of a close 
 and open carriage. Although it is not long since 
 this improvement was introduced, yet it has so 
 gradually come to its present state of perfection, 
 that I cannot say when the first carriage of the 
 kind was constructed, which could be said completely 
 to answer the intended purpose. 
 
 The old-fashioned, long-perch carriages having 
 been found to occupy a large space in turning, the 
 crane-neck was introduced for the purpose of reme- 
 dying this inconvenience. The crane-neck, however, 
 soon gave way to the short perch, which is found 
 equally to answer the purpose of turning in a short 
 space, although it requires the body to be hung higher ; 
 
IMPROVEMENTS IN CARRIAGE-BUILDING. 397 
 
 but perches are rarely used now except in coaches and 
 mail phaetons. 
 
 The axle-trees known by the name of Collinge's 
 patent, ought not to be overlooked as a material 
 improvement ; they undoubtedly facilitate the draught, 
 and save great trouble in oiling ; they are ingenious in 
 their construction, and afford considerable security. 
 
 A writer, to whom I have referred for many of my 
 particulars respecting coach-building, gives the following 
 interesting account of an iron under-carriage : " One 
 of the latest improvements is that of making carriages 
 totally of iron, which, amonr; other advantages, 
 possesses that of having more strength than those 
 of the ordinary construction of the same weight. The 
 first of this kind was applied to a heavy stage-coach, 
 licensed to carry sixteen passengers, besides baggage, 
 and has hitherto required no repair, although the coach 
 has already run upwards of 90,000 miles with the same 
 velocity as the mail-coach. Metal wheels have also 
 been introduced, and axles of a new construction." 
 
 But this was written some years ago ; and I am 
 inclined to think that, in the coach mentioned by this 
 writer, there was little more iron used in the under- 
 carriage than is now the case, although at the time 
 the fact of using iron so extensively may have 
 suggested the name of an iron carnage. 
 
 It would be a hopeless task to attempt, within the 
 limits of a work of this kind, to go exhaustively into 
 matters relating to coach-building ; consequently I 
 intend the rest of this chapter to be presented to my 
 readers in the form of unconnected gossip on matters 
 relating to the building of carriages. Having said 
 this, I may be excused if my treatment of the subject 
 appears somewhat erratic. 
 
398 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 It must be remembered that, in making the bodies 
 of carriages, no very great skill is required, unless 
 they be of a curved form, which necessitates the 
 bending of panels and more delicate workmanship, in 
 which case you enter upon the higher branches of the 
 coach-building trade. But where the bodies are square, 
 and there is no curved or bent surface, the workman- 
 ship is in no way superior to first-rate joiner's work ; 
 but it is these curved surfaces that give to a carriage 
 the artistic and graceful shape in which the best of our 
 coach-builders so excel. 
 
 In order to avoid the carriage-tax on four-wheel 
 carriages, some few years ago, in place of the old 
 four-wheel pony-chaise and other vehicles of a 
 similar nature, a number of small carts were 
 introduced, having varnished bodies ; these ranged 
 in size from the small village cart to be drawn by a 
 pony to the dog-cart suitable for a full-sized horse, 
 and the introduction of these carriages created quite 
 a revolution in the lower branches of coach-building. 
 Yearly the demand for this class of vehicle has 
 increased, and in the streets of every country town 
 throughout England, and along the many country 
 roads diverging from them, may be seen numbers of 
 vehicles of this description ; they are known by all 
 manner of names, such as the rustic cart, the village 
 cart, the Battlesden car, the Norwich pony-cart, and 
 numberless other names which signify a desire on the 
 part of the builders to provide a carriage of the 
 simplest and most humble description, yet having 
 style and smartness. Many of them are mere boxes 
 on wheels, and, being so, naturally do not require any 
 high-class workmanship to be expended upon them. 
 The dash is not covered with patent-leather, but is of 
 
C SPRINGS. 399 
 
 wood painted black, as also are the wings ; the springs 
 are more frequently grasshopper than elliptic springs, 
 and every part is of the simplest construction. Speak- 
 ing of springs, a letter appeared in the Field news- 
 paper on April 7th, 1883, in which C springs were 
 strongly advocated for carriages without perches as 
 being the most comfortable in every possible way. 
 There are certain trade difficulties respecting it owing 
 to some unexpired patent; but the gentleman who 
 writes this letter says that having used them for some 
 years he is convinced that no spring more nearly 
 approaches absolute perfection, both for ease of riding, 
 safety, and lightness for the horses. In mentioning 
 these springs he does not mean the old C spring as 
 formerly used, but a modification of the old spring. 
 Another gentleman, writing to the same paper, con- 
 firms the first writer's opinion by saying that " no 
 carriage can be easier than one hung on C and under 
 springs, as the body of the vehicle can swing gently, 
 longitudinally and laterally [he should say latitudinally], 
 so that every shock is broken." This writer goes on to 
 say that to neutralise vertical shocks he employs a 
 layer of corrugated indiarubber which he places under 
 the cushions. " I am using it daily," he remarks, " in 
 two carriages of mine, and find them much easier than 
 without the indiarubber under the cushions.' 7 This 
 would appear a very sensible plan and very well calcu- 
 lated to diminish concussion, were it not that the 
 Editor of the Field, in a footnote, remarks, " we have 
 ourselves tried the corrugated indiarubber springs, but 
 could discover no advantage in them." 
 
 Mr. Hooper, of Victoria Street, one of the most 
 eminent of all coach-builders, in his report on the 
 carriages exhibited at the Paris Universal Exhibition, 
 
400 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 where he acted as vice-president and reporter of the 
 International Carriage Jury, in speaking of coaches 
 exhibited at the Exhibition, mentioned drags as a 
 thoroughly national carriage, which should be copied, 
 not only by France and America, but by other 
 European nations. He qualifies this remark by 
 saying that the French and American coach-builders 
 have shown great aptitude in catching the style and 
 copying the construction which has engaged the at- 
 tention, ingenuity, and varied experience of English 
 coach-builders, as well as amateur and professional 
 drivers for many years past, notwithstanding that they 
 have now arrived at a high state of perfection. 
 
 There are many ingenious contrivances to render 
 them more accessible for ladies. These vehicles, he goes 
 on to say, should be more for use than ornament ; they 
 occasionally get very rough treatment. Moreover, their 
 exposure to the weather and general use at race 
 meetings, cricket matches, and picnics, is a severe 
 trial to carriages of such elaborate and costly finish. 
 A drag should not be pretty, but properly built for its 
 destined use ; if a drag has a habit of rolling when the 
 horses canter or gallop, the discomfort and danger to 
 those on it is not compensated for by the high polish 
 and brilliancy that is so attractive to the uninitiated. 
 Many of those that carry passengers in and out of 
 London have been very successfully treated in this 
 respect, or they would not have been so well supported. 
 Mr. Hooper attributes much of the skilful work ob- 
 servable amongst the French exhibits in the carnage 
 department, to the sobriety of the French nation. 
 Many of the British carriage workmen, he says, are 
 sober, industrious, and skilful, but they lack the special 
 training of the French. A run of prosperous years,. 
 
THE SOBRIETY OF FRENCH WORKMEN. 401 
 
 when labour was in great demand, has led to drinking 
 habits with many, causing them to become careless in 
 their work, irregular as to their hours, and the influence 
 of these habits has been in every way pernicious. 
 Great and steady progress has been made in England 
 towards greater sobriety ; but a few years of brisk trade 
 have thrown back the progress of improvement. Until 
 a great change takes place, as regards the consumption 
 of strong drinks, British carriage-building, like other 
 trades, can make comparatively little progress. 
 
 These observations, coming from an eminent 
 coach-builder like Mr. Hooper, only confirm the 
 opinions of all employers of labour with respect to 
 the question of drink. English workmen become 
 intoxicated with strong liquors, whereas Frenchmen 
 rarely, if ever, are intoxicated, except with excitement. 
 In times of popular excitement, no nation loses its 
 head quicker ; but this is not to be attributed to the 
 intemperate use of strong drinks, but rather to a 
 wrongly directed superabundant vitality, engendered 
 by false political teachings, to which one need only 
 apply a spark to kindle an unquenchable flame. 
 
 A remarkable feature in the French carriages, 
 Mr. Hooper says, is their very high finish. They 
 are all varnished with English or American varnish ; 
 many of the most highly-finished are, in addition, 
 hand-polished all over panels, wheels, etc. Masters 
 and men must have worked together harmoniously 
 to obtain such results ; they both receive a more 
 suitable, scientific, and artistic training than in 
 England ; there is evidence of care, patience, in- 
 telligence, taste, and a loving pride in their work. 
 The fittings of the drags especially are finished with 
 great care : walnut-wood, veneered ice-wells, polished 
 
 2 D 
 
402 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 iron folding-steps, etc. The bright iron and steel 
 work is in many cases coated with nickel, thus saving 
 much time and labour in keeping it clean. This 
 process is in much more general use in France and 
 America than in England. It is said that a patent 
 stands in the way of its more general use in our 
 own country. But it must be remembered that 
 carriages are for use on dusty and muddy roads, 
 and to take people from place to place ; dust and 
 mud are fatal to such fine work. If it is really to 
 be preserved, people would be obliged to buy one 
 carriage to use, and another to look at. 
 
 The ingenuity and skill of the French carriage- 
 builders is shown in numberless contrivances ; some 
 for converting one carriage into two or more, some 
 simple, some complicated, and some so elaborate 
 that it would require a skilled engineer or mechanic 
 to accompany them when used, to adjust any matter 
 that might happen to go wrong when in use, or on 
 their return from a drive. 
 
 The hours of labour in France are longer than in 
 England, and Saturday half-holidays are unknown 
 among French carriage workmen. They receive their 
 wages in some cases once in four weeks, in others once 
 in two weeks ; whereas, the English carnage work- 
 men are all paid weekly. 
 
 England, France, and America have each periodicals 
 devoted to carriage-building. One English journal 
 publishes essays which were written in competition for 
 the prizes offered by the Coach-makers' Company, on 
 the subject of coach body-making, carriage-making, 
 and spring and axle-making. When the series is 
 published, complete in one volume, it is hoped that it 
 will form a good text-book. 
 
SCIENTIFIC TRAINING. 403 
 
 Mr. Hooper, continuing his report, says : " It is 
 true that technical classes are carried on in England, 
 but the energy and forethought are not so apparent on 
 the English side of the Channel as on the French in 
 this matter ; routine and experience in England taking 
 the place of scientific training. While the Company 
 of Coach-makers of London has been pondering how 
 to do it, the employers, foremen, and workmen in 
 France, wiser in their generation, have been working 
 out a very clever and complete course of teaching and 
 training for the rising generation of coach-makers ; 
 if other trades in France have made as much 
 progress, the French may well be proud of the 
 intelligence, industry, energy, and patriotism of her 
 people. It is to a certain extent a proof that she has 
 recovered from the effects of the Franco- Prussian war. 
 
 "In the French department are also shown samples 
 of wheels, springs, axles, ironmongery, wood-carving, 
 metal-chasing, lamps, internal fittings, cloth, lace, silk, 
 etc., mostly in ample variety, and of good quality. 
 
 " A product in which the French are in arrear is 
 varnish. For many years the English had almost 
 a monopoly of the varnish trade of the world. 
 
 ' In comparing the brilliancy of the varnish of the 
 English and French carriages, various points have 
 to be taken into consideration. In London the soil 
 is mostly clay, the climate moist, and the coal-smoke 
 ever present in the air ; the combined effect is to 
 render all surfaces dull and dirty. Whereas the soil 
 of Paris being rock and porous earth, the climate dry, 
 and the smoke mostly that from wood or charcoal 
 fires, the air is purer and cleaner, and the carriage 
 panels retain their brilliancy longer than in London. 
 
 "In leather the English are still pre-eminent, 
 
 2 D 2 
 
404 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 especially for such as is enamelled or japanned ; for 
 pliancy, toughness, and colour, it is unequalled. 
 Large quantities of it are used by the best coach- 
 makers in France and America. 
 
 " English carriage-cloth is still, as it has been for 
 many years, made of excellent quality ; but the French 
 are introducing novelties in cloth, to adapt them to 
 the use of the numerous open carriages now made 
 for country work. 
 
 " The mahogany used for the panels of the 
 English carriages enables the makers to produce a 
 more accurate and durable surface to their carriages 
 than those of other countries, and for bodies and 
 under-carriages (and especially poles), no wood seems 
 to equal the hedgerow English ash for toughness 
 and durability. 
 
 " England still retains her reputation for the best 
 axles. Not only was the system of Collinge an 
 English one, but her iron, fuel, and processes of 
 fitting and hardening the arms and boxes are 
 superior to those of other countries. 
 
 " The English have made great progress of late 
 in the manufacture of carriage-lamps, both as regards 
 illuminating power, soundness, and style of shape. 
 Some (mineral- oil lamps) are now made for the use 
 of the London street cabs that produce a brilliant 
 light at a very trifling cost per night. 
 
 " The most costly carriages shown are those from 
 America ; so costly, in fact, that the best London 
 carriages can be delivered in New York at lower 
 prices than those charged in America, notwithstanding 
 a duty of thirty-three per cent, the cost of elaborate 
 packing, long sea voyage, and insurance against injury 
 or total loss in transit. 
 
AMERICAN WHEELS. 405 
 
 " Some of the American carriages exhibited have the 
 axle-boxes bedded in the wheel-stocks, with front and 
 hind collar or cushion of indiarubber secured by a 
 slightly tapered and screwed iron collar ; the object is 
 to cut off the vibrations of the wheel from the body, so 
 as to reduce the concussion while the carriage is in 
 motion. The American wheels are not shown with 
 the carriages, but with the American machinery, in a 
 separate annex ; this is a manufacture in which they 
 specially excel ; they seem to have brought all their 
 energy, skill, and ingenuity to its development, whether 
 as regards the excellence of the machinery employed, 
 or in the finished wheels. It was first necessary to 
 make a great effort to supply the demand of the public 
 for light wheels ; these were of little use in such a 
 country, if they were not durable. To secure this end, 
 not only was it necessary to use the choicest timber, 
 but the most careful and accurate workmanship. 
 
 " The American hickory was found to be the wood 
 best suited for such wheels. Not only had machines 
 to be invented to facilitate the manufacture, but such 
 machines had to be worked by carefully-trained men. 
 The general education received by the American 
 people enabled them to secure intelligent workers, who 
 saw that machinery was a friend to be encouraged, not 
 a foe to be kept at a distance ; the consequence is that, 
 while English workmen have been casting difficulties in 
 the way of improving the wheel manufacture, the Ameri- 
 cans are supplying the world with such wheels as for ac- 
 curacy of workmanship are unsurpassed. For not only 
 have they made their national light and high wheels for 
 their fast-trotting carriages, but they have produced 
 wheels of the pattern and size used in Europe, and 
 adapted for European carriages. Large quantities are 
 
4 o6 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 now sent to England and many parts of Continental 
 Europe. A few of such wheels are sent from Canada ; 
 but it is evident that the United States of America 
 have developed the wheel manufacture in advance of 
 other nations. Not only is it a distinct trade from the 
 coach-maker in America, but large wheel factories with 
 the finest machinery, are worked by thousands of in- 
 telligent workmen and prosperous employers. 
 
 " In this exhibition Russia, Italy, Austria, Belgium, 
 Holland, Hungary, Norway, Canada, Switzerland, etc., 
 show carriages of various forms and make ; many of 
 the English and French type ; some national, such as 
 the travelling-phaeton from Pesth, the cariole of Nor- 
 way, and the light carriages of Canada. Some copies, 
 as the drag from Pesth, are capable of much improve- 
 ment, but show a growing taste for four-in-hand driving 
 in the south-east of Europe among the magnates of 
 Hungary. 
 
 '' Speaking of Parisian omnibuses, the Paris General 
 Omnibus Company, and the Paris General Carriage 
 Company, each have their own manufactories, the 
 latter at 134, Rue d'Aubervilliers. In the omnibus 
 factory nearly all the carriages are alike, and the 
 various parts interchangeable. This system has its 
 advantages and its drawbacks ; in the first instance 
 it was necessary to consider the conditions that had 
 to be fulfilled as regards the number of passengers 
 to be carried, the weight of the carnages, the best 
 proportions, the size, shape, and strength of the various 
 accessories. Of course carriage-building must have 
 reached a certain degree of perfection before such a 
 system as that of interchangeable parts can be worked 
 with any chance of success ; but a well-conceived plan, 
 
THE INTERCHANGEABLE SYSTEM. 407 
 
 well developed under careful management and a good 
 organisation, had much to recommend it. 
 
 " By uniformity of pattern, machines are worked 
 with economy and with satisfactory results. The 
 great advantage in such a business and establishment, 
 when the wear and tear of the traffic is continuous and 
 excessive, is the immense facility of repairs. 
 
 " A broken spring is replaced at once by a similar 
 one taken from the stock without delay, the same with 
 axles. Worn wheels can be replaced in an hour by 
 others of uniform size, kept in readiness. 
 
 " At the Paris General Carriage Company the same 
 plan of uniformity is observed, but cannot be carried 
 out to a similar extent as there is a variety in the 
 patterns of the carriages ; these consist of a single 
 brougham, victoria, four-wheel hansom, double vic- 
 toria, four-wheel cab (London pattern), small landau, 
 and a small omnibus. 
 
 "The first three are so made that the wheels, axles, 
 springs, fore-carriages, driving seats, and dashers, are 
 interchangeable. This plan not only facilitates repairs 
 and shortens the time the carriage is kept from work, 
 but is also an advantage to the public as well as to the 
 company. It is a system which London coach-builders 
 would do well to adopt. 
 
 " Another establishment worthy of a visit is the 
 carriage-spring and axle factory of M. Lemoine, at 
 Ivry, near Paris. With ample steam-power and well- 
 designed machinery, he employs about 350 men. In 
 its present complete state it is only four years old ; all 
 the processes to which machinery can be applied are 
 here carried out with an excellent organisation ; the 
 work, between the various processes, being examined 
 
408 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 and tested by persons independent of the workmen, 
 with a view to accuracy and satisfactory results. 
 
 " About 1 20 of the men are employed in the manu- 
 facture of carriage-springs. Great care is taken to 
 ensure soundness, good fit to the plates, and well- 
 fitted and jointed ends ; they are tested as to soundness 
 and elasticity twice at the works, again at the depot 
 in Paris, so that the French carriage-builders are 
 in this direction well supported by those who use 
 springs which they can rely upon. Not very long 
 ago, a French coach-maker was of necessity obliged 
 to employ spring-makers on his own premises if he 
 wished to use reliable springs. 
 
 " Taking the French carriages as exhibited, they 
 are heavier than those made in England ; there may 
 be good reason for this, as, notwithstanding the 
 excellent paving in that part of Paris seen by English 
 visitors, other parts away from the fashionable quarters 
 are anything but good ; even in the street where 
 the works of the Paris General Carriage Company are 
 situated, the state of the road is so bad that it would 
 be difficult to match it in any part of London. The 
 company's carriage-springs are tolerably well tested 
 in the very street where the carriages first emerge 
 from the works, and before they begin to be used. 
 An omnibus of the London General Omnibus Company 
 would well bear comparison with the French one, 
 as regards lightness and carrying power ; but a 
 genuine London four-wheel cab would make the 
 French public believe that London was just emerging 
 from barbarism, unless a London hansom accompanied 
 it to show that things are not quite so bad as they 
 seem." 
 
 Here terminates Mr. Hooper's report on the 
 
THE PARIS AXD DUBLIN EXHIBITIONS. 409 
 
 carriages exhibited at the Paris International Exhibition. 
 It will be observed that he does not confine himself 
 to mere notices of the carriages exhibited in the 
 Exhibition, but reviews the condition of the coach- 
 building trades of England, America, and on the 
 continent of Europe. As a practical carriage manu- 
 facturer himself, his observations are deserving of 
 attention. Other coach-builders nearly, if not equally, 
 as experienced as Mr. Hooper, do not give us the 
 benefit of their experience, possibly not caring to 
 commit their thoughts to paper. 
 
 The jurors at the Dublin International Exhibition 
 of 1865, were Mr. Arthur Holmes of Derby, and 
 Mr. George Hooper of London, carriage-builders ; also 
 Mr. Maxwell Hatton of Dublin, a carriage-builder 
 who acted as chairman, and Mr. Peters, the well-known 
 carriage-builder of London. In the report it is observ- 
 able that the word coach-builder is not made use of; 
 and it is certainly incorrect to speak of coach-builders, 
 since "coach" at the present day only signifies a 
 vehicle drawn by four horses, whereas a carriage- 
 builder constructs carriages of all kinds, although some 
 are specially distinguished for a particular class of 
 carriage. 
 
 At this exhibition the jurors in their report, which 
 was drawn up by Mr. Hooper, speak of the changes 
 that have taken place in horses and carriages during 
 the past few years. There has been a demand for 
 lighter carnages. This is attributable to the use of a 
 smaller, lighter, and more active breed of horses ; the 
 demand for such horses is supposed to be owing to the 
 fact of persons liking small horses, from fifteen hands 
 to fifteen-two, that they can both ride and drive ; 
 besides which, small horses are much faster and more 
 
410 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 active in harness than larger ones ; horses over sixteen 
 hands are generally very slow in harness, although 
 there are exceptions. 
 
 In speaking about brakes these jurors commend 
 highly both the screw and lever brake ; the preci- 
 pitous slopes of the Alps are daily descended at a trot 
 by the diligences and vetturini, all owing to the safety 
 and convenience afforded by the brake. 
 
 At the previous Dublin Exhibition of 1853, one of 
 Mr. Bianconi's four-wheel outside cars was shown. It 
 was made to take a large number of passengers, and was 
 of a very light weight, although unsuitable as regards 
 shelter in bad weather, and it is nearly always raining 
 in Ireland. These cars, nevertheless, possess many 
 advantages ; the weights are kept low, thereby affording 
 safety in case of a collision or break- down ; and the 
 seats being low, it was easy for passengers to alight or 
 mount the vehicle quickly. 
 
 In this Exhibition it was reported that the use of 
 steel instead of iron gradually increases. Attempts 
 were being made to use it for axles ; since then it has 
 been used for axles, Bessemer steel having been 
 procured for the purpose, although some difficulty 
 appears to have arisen when welding, to prevent the 
 parts flying asunder. Mr. Hooper advocates bolts, 
 nuts, and screws of toughened steel, on account of 
 their not requiring large holes to be bored in the 
 wood-work to take them, by which the wood is not 
 weakened. 
 
 Mr. Hooper speaks highly of French roads ; but in 
 a previous report, I remember he says that the Paris 
 omnibus need be strong and heavy, because the roads 
 away from the English quarter of Paris are so intoler- 
 ably bad. 
 
CRUPPERS AND BREECHINGS. 411 
 
 In speaking of the carnage trade he says, that 
 whereas, once upon a time, owners of carriages had 
 them built to order, now they select an unfinished 
 carriage of the form they require and have it finished 
 to suit their taste, and painted a colour they select, or 
 one they are bound to use, as it represents their family 
 colour. In speaking of the difference between light 
 and heavy carriages, the jurors of this Exhibition 
 condemn the practice of using a large horse for a 
 small light carriage as being unsafe. I cannot agree 
 with them in this respect, although too large a horse 
 in too small a carriage naturally looks out of place. 
 Heavy carriages are said to be more comfortable to 
 ride in ; this is Mr. Hooper's opinion as representing 
 the jurors. He says they are safer for horses and 
 drivers ; but I fail to understand how this can be 
 if the light ones are strong and well-made. He 
 qualifies this remark by saying that heavy carriages 
 require repairs less often, whereas light carriages are 
 constantly requiring repair ; lighter carriages follow 
 the horses more easily, and of course are less fatiguing 
 to the horses, but light carriages should be well and 
 strongly made to compensate for the want of weight 
 and bulk. These jurors condemn the practice of 
 driving without breechings, but it must be remembered 
 that coach or carriage-builders are not coachmen, or 
 very rarely so ; with a powerful brake, there is no 
 objection that can reasonably be made with regard to 
 dispensing with breechings. Breechings necessitate the 
 use of cruppers, and cruppers are certainly uncomfort- 
 able and inconvenient to an animal engaged in draught; 
 when used at all, they should be strapped lightly and 
 never allowed to chafe the horse. Cruppers are 
 
4 i2 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 merely used to keep the pad from slipping forward, and a 
 horse with good withers can need no crupper. 
 
 Mr. Hooper, in writing of the exhibits in the 
 carriage department of the Colonial and Indian 
 Exhibition at South Kensington, mentions the Cape 
 carts as having very long poles extending beneath 
 the carts almost to the back, which gave strength and 
 solidity. I did not notice this myself; but with 
 curricles, such as they are, the pole should pass to the 
 back of the cart, as, by doing so, it is rendered far 
 more steady and does not rock or sway about to such 
 an extent as it would otherwise do. 
 
 The young princes, Albert Victor and George of 
 Wales, sent home to the Princess of Wales a jamritzska 
 from Japan, and a Cape cart from the Cape of Good 
 Hope. In this Exhibition were exhibited some South 
 African waggons ; probably the strongest conveyance 
 off a railroad ever made, except it be a traction engine. 
 The wheels are massive and stupendous, as they need 
 to be, seeing that they frequently have to cross the 
 roughest and most rocky country without a vestige of 
 road, frequently not even a cattle-track. They are 
 drawn generally by about sixteen oxen, with three or 
 four drivers urging them forward with enormously 
 long and heavy stock-whips ; but when we have spoken 
 of such conveyances as these, we have gone to the 
 very extreme limit of carriage or coach-building. 
 These waggons are all covered, and form both a means 
 of transit and a habitation. Professor Macoun, a 
 Canadian, says the Cape waggons are unnecessarily 
 heavy, that a light Canadian waggon frequently draws 
 a weight which would astonish the Cape drivers, and 
 advocates attaching one waggon behind the other and 
 
LABOUR-SAVING MACHINERY. 413 
 
 moving one at a time whenever very severe obstruc- 
 tions were encountered. 
 
 This gentleman goes on to speak of the prejudice 
 in England against labour-saving machines, owing to 
 the impression in the minds of workmen that they 
 render manual labour unprofitable and undesirable. 
 But this : Js a mistake, as has been proved repeatedly; 
 improved machines rather than lessening create a new 
 demand for labour, although it may be, I admit, labour 
 of a different kind to what was required before their 
 adoption. In consequence of this prejudice a system 
 of labour prevails in England, in various departments 
 of manufacture, that was in vogue fifty years ago ; 
 whereas, America and Continental nations have in 
 many instances adopted the improved system. 
 
 It is probable that between 1000 and 2000 men 
 are employed in America in preparing wheel-timber 
 and materials, and in making wheels for the British 
 market. This is a fact to be greatly deplored. 
 
 I must again refer to Mr. Hooper, to whom I am 
 indebted for copies of papers he has read and 
 reports he has made at the various Exhibitions on the 
 subject of carriage construction. In a paper read by 
 him at the City and Guilds of London Institute at 
 South Kensington, he says, in speaking of wheels : 
 " Many alterations are shown in the form, materials, and 
 system of construction. Many wheels are made with 
 malleable iron bands to the stocks ; and being provided 
 with morticed spaces, they carry the spokes more 
 firmly than when framed into wooden stocks, and are 
 rendered more durable, although at an increased cost. 
 
 " A plan has been introduced of bedding the axle- 
 boxes in the stocks with bands of indiarubber, one at 
 
4 i 4 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 each end, to reduce the vibration. The lubricating oil, 
 however, sometimes acts on them, and dissolves 
 portions, rendering them insecure and liable to 
 accidents. 
 
 " Indiarubber tires have been introduced with 
 gradually increasing success, owing mainly to the use 
 of the materials in a better form, and an improved 
 method of cementing. The chief drawback is their 
 limited durability, especially when used on roads of 
 fresh-laid small stones on the MacAdam system. To 
 remedy this, a plan is shown of providing a wheel with 
 a hollow external tire, bedded on a cushion of india- 
 rubber, that encircles the whole wheel, and is concealed 
 by the external hollow tire." This plan I myself 
 proposed, not knowing that such a plan had ever been 
 adopted. " As regards axles, a very considerable step 
 has been made in improving them. By methods 
 suggested by the Institute of British Carriage Manu- 
 facturers, which took up the subject, several improve- 
 ments of great value have been introduced. Carriage 
 manufacturers had long desired improvements in quality, 
 accuracy, and facility of repair. 
 
 " The liability to cause a rattling noise, chiefly owing 
 to the demand for light carriages, reducing the 
 diameter and wearing surfaces of the arms and boxes, 
 had to be overcome. 
 
 " The multiplicity of sizes and parts varying greatly, 
 and complicated by each maker producing sizes strictly 
 confined to his own works, rendered repairs costly and 
 tedious. 
 
 "The first step was to devise means to produce 
 order out of chaos ; and after having ascertained what 
 really was necessary, communications were opened 
 with Sir Joseph Whitworth. It was soon found that 
 
STANDARD SIZES. 415 
 
 his investigations and experience would enable the 
 Institute to carry into practice the ideas that were 
 uppermost in the minds of the council. 
 
 " The cordial and ready permission he granted to 
 members of the council, and practical axle manu- 
 facturers, to visit his works and inspect his methods 
 of manufacture, enabled them to take steps that would 
 have been most difficult, and almost impossible under 
 less favourable conditions. A Committee on Standard 
 Sizes was nominated ; to this were added some of the 
 best known and most experienced axle manufacturers. 
 Further investigations being found necessary, a sub- 
 committee of experienced axle-makers was nominated 
 to deal with the numerous special and practical details. 
 They reported to the General Committee on Standard 
 Sizes, who in turn recommended the adoption of 
 standard sizes to the general meeting of members. 
 After still further discussion the report was finally 
 adopted, recommending the gradations of sizes to be 
 in fractions of eighths of an inch, as most familiar to 
 all parties, and meeting the greatest number of wants. 
 
 " Standard sizes have been adopted with regard to 
 shaft proportions, by which it is hoped many accidents 
 to life and limb will be avoided, and also to the sockets 
 for carrying lamps, enabling them to interchange with- 
 out trouble or misfit when properly made to the official 
 standards. 
 
 "With regard to springs, there have been many 
 changes in carriage-springs made of late years ; among 
 the chief is the very ingenious machinery for forging, 
 drawing, and grinding the plates, rolling the eyes, and 
 forging the cupheads, greatly reducing the time and 
 labour necessary to make thoroughly reliable springs ; 
 and were more attention given to the accurate turning 
 
4 i6 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 of the bolts and fitting of the cupheads and eyes, they 
 would leave little to desire." 
 
 These remarks with regard to Sir Joseph Whit- 
 worth's fractional computations open an entirely new 
 feature in the construction of carriages. Were a 
 system properly established by which interchangeable 
 parts could be made use of, the repair of carriages 
 would be a matter requiring but little time or attention 
 on the part of the coach-builder ; and were there, in 
 addition to this, greater attention paid to the measure- 
 ments, particularly to the distances that one part was 
 from another, we should not have carriages as they 
 are frequently made nowadays, sprawling about all 
 over the place, with no regard either to uniformity or 
 to the increased draught consequent on want of atten- 
 tion to these details. 
 
 Machinery, were it to be constructed without 
 serious consideration as to measurement, would occupy 
 far greater space than could possibly be provided for 
 it, particularly on board ships ; but happily it is so- 
 arranged, and space is so marvellously economised, 
 that there does not exist within the limits of good 
 machinery an" atom of space that is not made use of 
 for some purpose. The moving parts pass one another 
 so closely, that the distance between them is computed 
 by the millionth part of an inch ; and it is the late 
 Sir Joseph Whitworth who was particularly active in 
 bringing about this condition of things ; and I can 
 see no reason why in the construction of car- 
 riages some of the nicety as regards measurement,, 
 that is such a striking feature in the manufacture 
 of machinery, should not also be applied to 
 carriages intended for the common roads. Were 
 this so, the appearance of carriages would be im- 
 
STANDARD GAUGES. 41? 
 
 proved, their draught would be lessened, they could 
 be made both lighter and stronger, the parts would 
 not get so quickly loose as they do now, causing the 
 carriage to jolt and shake ; consequently there would 
 not be the noise there is now when a carriage was 
 in motion. 
 
 There are used in the construction of machinery 
 a variety of gauges, some of which might be appli- 
 cable to carriage construction. There are both cylin- 
 drical and flat gauges made for this purpose ; the cylin- 
 drical gauges would be too delicate if made smaller 
 than one-tenth of an inch diameter, so that for sizes 
 below this, down to one-fiftieth, flat gauges are used 
 a gauge of this form was made by Whitworth. A 
 mechanical means by which the division of very 
 minute quantities can be made visible, was suggested 
 by Mr. Ramsbottom. This is brought about by a 
 corresponding but very noticeable difference taking 
 place in another part of the machine. 
 
 Messrs. Elliot Brothers brought out a pocket-gauge 
 for measuring the thousandth part of an inch. Mr. 
 Holtzapffel also brought out a sliding-gauge for 
 measuring the thousandth part of an inch. Another 
 machine by Sir Joseph Whitworth measures the ten- 
 thousandth ; this has been used for ensuring accuracy 
 in various patterns before issuing them from the pat- 
 tern-makers' shop. Sir Joseph Whitworth also in- 
 vented a machine for computing the millionth part of 
 an inch ; this was exhibited in the Exhibition of 1851. 
 This is, perhaps, greater accuracy than is required for 
 mere carriage-building, but many of the gauges men- 
 tioned would be of great assistance in the making of 
 axle-arms, boxes of wheels, and the screw-nuts by 
 which they are secured to the axle; besides which, too 
 
 2 E 
 
4 i8 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 great accuracy cannot be manifested in the making and 
 fixing of the various portions of a carriage, both iron 
 and wood, especially in the matter of iron bolts, screws,, 
 nuts, etc. ; the better they fit, the quieter will be the car- 
 riage when in motion, and the easier it will be to ride in. 
 
 In my opinion, there is an immense deal of unneces- 
 sary bulk and weight in a modern carriage, which might 
 be dispensed with ; there should not be a single un- 
 necessary part. The same thing should be urged in the 
 making of harness ; why, for the sake of appearance, 
 and in order to be in fashion, should horses be made to 
 carry harness which is unnecessary, and which is only 
 apt to chafe them, and add to their fatigue, when 
 safety and comfort both to horse and driver can be 
 secured with less trouble and less cost ? Mr. Hooper 
 continuing says : 
 
 " The springs, both elliptic, under, and C, are made 
 of better shape than formerly. In many cases, the 
 end bolts are carefully and accurately turned and fitted 
 with casings of brass, and in others surrounded with 
 indiarubber, with a view to reduce noise and vibration ; 
 other elliptic springs are coupled together at the ends 
 with balls of indiarubber, secured with a single bolt. 
 The system of suspending light carnages on C springs 
 without a perch, was introduced about the year 1844, 
 and at that time many were so made. Recently, 
 a combined C and elliptic spring has been brought 
 into use. There is yet another innovation in springs, by 
 which they are attached to the axles with a collar of 
 indiarubber between them, instead of the ordinary 
 wooden block. 
 
 " As regards locks, for many years British carriage- 
 builders have been desirous of procuring reliable 
 spring-locks for doors of carriages. Up to a recent 
 time they have been dependent to a certain extent 
 
IMPROVEMENTS IN CARRIAGE-BUILDING. 419 
 
 on France and America ; but locks of finer quality and 
 design are now made in England that surpass those 
 procured from other countries, and the tendency is still 
 further to improve and simplify them. 
 
 " Carriage-lamps have been much improved in 
 pattern and style ; the methods of fastening them to 
 carriages have also been improved. When the standard 
 size sockets become more general, many advantages 
 will accrue in facilities for interchanging lamps. 
 
 " Brakes for retarding the speed of carriages when 
 descending hills, and keeping back the weight from 
 the horses, have had much attention bestowed upon 
 them. 
 
 " The preparation of morocco leather has under- 
 gone improvement, the surface has been waterproofed, 
 preventing saturation by rain and preserving it for a 
 longer time. 
 
 " The existing cry for cheapness, combined with the 
 exceptional annual taxation, naturally influences the 
 quality of carriages now constructed. The numerous 
 light carriages that are now made can be taken into 
 hilly and mountainous districts, where heavier ones 
 could hardly travel. 
 
 " Another demand of the present day is for high 
 wheels. Scientifically, and for easy running and speed, 
 these are very desirable, and in new countries with bad 
 roads or no roads, they are indispensable ; but under 
 some conditions they carry penalties side by side with 
 advantages. With rapid driving they throw far more 
 mud than those of more moderate height." 
 
 Mr. Hooper, before closing his remarks on the sub- 
 ject of improvements in the carriage-building industry, 
 says that " it is specially taxed, and consequently labours 
 under exceptional disadvantages. Railway carriages 
 have never been taxed, nor have road carriages been 
 
 2 E 2 
 
420 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 taxed in Ireland, but railway carriages compete very 
 severely with road carriages. In many parts of the 
 country they have almost driven them off the roads, 
 and the very few exceptions go to prove the rule. 
 Every new railway or tramway opened tends further 
 to crush the carriage- building industry. It is said 
 sometimes that the rich pay the carriage taxes. In- 
 vestigations prove that, although the taxes are directly 
 paid by the owner, they are ultimately paid out of the 
 wages of the workmen and the profits of the employers ; 
 they enhance the cost of manufacture, rendering com- 
 petition with foreign countries difficult and almost 
 hopeless, and they intensify on the carriage-building 
 industry a trade depression that seems general. The 
 exceptional and oppressive character of these taxes 
 on industry demands the careful consideration of 
 statesmen and financiers." But the question of the 
 carriage tax I have dealt with elsewhere, and therefore 
 I will now quit the subject. 
 
 In speaking of springs I forgot to mention that 
 tilbury springs have been applied to a brougham in 
 order to ease and stop vibration. I believe that Lord 
 Arthur Somerset is the first person who had this done 
 to his ow r n brougham, which Mr. G. Newson, the well- 
 known coach-builder of Bond Street, mentioned in a 
 speech he made before the members of the Institute of 
 Carriage Manufacturers, which statement was received 
 with general approval. 
 
 In the Carriage Department of the London Inter- 
 national Exhibition of 1873, there were some interest- 
 ing exhibits of conveyances formerly in use ; amongst 
 these were sedan-chairs used by former Duchesses of 
 Northumberland, and various litters, etc., from India, 
 Japan, etc., as also an Australian barouche, lent by His 
 * In England, and yet they are subject to no tax. 
 
COACH-BUILDING PERIODICALS. 421 
 
 Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, and a town 
 chariot, built about forty years ago for the late Earl of 
 Onslow. As a means of comparing the British export 
 of carriages with that of foreign countries, Her Ma- 
 jesty's Commissioners, at the request of the Carriage 
 Committee, have procured from the Board of Trade 
 statistics of the export and import of carriages, which 
 show that the export trade of France and Austria now 
 greatly exceeds that of Great Britain. The Post- 
 master-General showed a model of a mail-coach, such 
 as carried the letters of a former generation on all the 
 great roads throughout the country. 
 
 The literature of carriage-building does not receive 
 so much attention in England as in several other 
 countries. In France a magazine is published every 
 two months ; and in the United States, there are two 
 periodicals dealing specially with carriage-building. 
 These are well supported, and have a large circula- 
 tion ; in them are discussed an infinity of matters 
 connected with the manufacture of carriages, and 
 illustrations of new designs and methods of construc- 
 tion appear constantly.* 
 
 The conditions under which the Americans carry 
 on the carriage manufacture differ from those of Great 
 Britain. Up to the time of their war, carriages were 
 untaxed, and their use became much more general 
 than in England ; their trade is now protected by a 
 duty of thirty per cent, on foreign carriages imported. 
 
 Up to a recent time foreign carriages were pro- 
 hibited entry into France, except as the property of 
 persons using them. As regards taxation it is not 
 levied equally in Great Britain, for, while carriages 
 
 * The best English publication on the subject is the Coach- 
 Builders' Art Journal, published by Messrs. Cooper, of Long Acre. 
 
422 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 are untaxed in Ireland, they must pay a yearly duty in 
 England, Scotland, and Wales. 
 
 A peculiarity of most foreign carriages is the 
 difference of the track of the front and hind wheels ; 
 this is caused by the continual striving of foreign 
 builders to shorten to the utmost the distance between 
 the front and hind wheels ; they effect their object 
 partly by complicated arrangements of the fore 
 carriage, aided by a shortening of the front axle 
 several inches. In England we submit to a longer 
 space between the front and hind wheels, with these 
 advantages : the hind wheels following in the two 
 tracks marked or cut by the front wheels, have that 
 portion of the road rolled for them, whereas in the 
 foreign plan, each of the front and hind wheels has to 
 roll a track of its own, thereby increasing the draught 
 to the horses. 
 
 Besides this, the driver of an English carriage 
 can rely on his hind wheels passing where his front 
 wheels have cleared ; not so the driver of a foreign 
 carriage with short front axles, for his front wheels 
 may have passed without collision or accident, but he 
 can hardly ever be sure of his hind wheels being safe, 
 unless he has a tolerably clear space on each side. 
 
 It may be interesting to some persons to know that 
 the waggonette, which has enjoyed great popularity for 
 many years, was introduced by the late Prince Consort, 
 in the year 1845. 
 
 Sir Joseph Whitworth steel is sometimes used 
 in the construction of carriages instead of iron. For 
 many years the late firm of Raworth produced large 
 quantities of excellent carriage axles forged by 
 machinery ; experience has proved how sound and 
 good the forgings by such means can be made. 
 
DRIVING BY NIGHT. 423 
 
 The introduction of steel goods coated with 
 nickel has much to recommend it ; polished pole- 
 hooks, chains, driving-bar ends, bits, stirrups, spurs, 
 when treated by this process can be kept clean and 
 in good condition with one-tenth of the labour that 
 is necessary to keep steel bright, considering that a 
 very short exposure to water or to damp air produces 
 oxidation. 
 
 The painting of heraldic devices on carriage panels 
 has fallen much into disuse of late years ; formerly 
 great importance was attached to this art. 
 
 The glass of carriages should never be too thin, 
 as thin glass has a tendency to vibrate and rattle. 
 
 Very little has been said about lamps ; but this 
 is a very important matter as regards the fitting up 
 and finishing of a carriage. In London and other 
 large towns where the streets are well lighted, only 
 a very faint light is required, just sufficient to prevent 
 vehicles colliding with one another, since in a town 
 one cannot go far without meeting with a street lamp- 
 post surmounted by a respectable gas-lamp. But in 
 the country it is quite a different matter, and those 
 who have never driven through country lanes on a 
 pitch-dark night have little conception of the misery 
 of such an experience ; besides which it is very 
 dangerous, as the carriage and its occupants may 
 be hurled down a precipice or precipitated into a 
 deep ditch, whilst the overturned carriage lies on 
 the top of you, or the horses kick your brains out 
 in their efforts to become emancipated from their 
 harness. Or you may be driven into by a vehicle 
 approaching from an opposite direction ; but this last- 
 mentioned fatality only takes place when you and the 
 .approaching vehicle are without lamps, and neither 
 
424 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 one can see the other. But these tragic events 
 are not likely to occur with the exercise of proper 
 precautions. 
 
 Nevertheless, to drive without lamps except 
 at a walking pace, even on roads that have been 
 familiar to you in the daylight for years past, is a 
 matter of great difficulty ; and it is almost as bad 
 when the candle-lamps you are using will not burn 
 up properly, they merely render the darkness visible. 
 Possibly they light up very faintly the fence at the 
 side of the road, whilst leaving the road itself in utter 
 obscurity ; in fact, oftentimes when using lamps, and 
 the road is as I have described it, if you turn round 
 in your seat and look at the road you have left behind 
 you, you will observe that it is comparatively light 
 compared with the road in advance of you ; and 
 this is only in consequence of the insufficiency of 
 light produced by the lamps, and in consequence 
 of their not being directed toward that part of the road 
 in advance of you which it is most necessary should be 
 illuminated. Apart from the question of safety, it must 
 be remembered, that when you cannot see where you 
 are driving to, you can only drive very slowly, conse- 
 quently you double the length of the time required for 
 the accomplishment of your journey. I experienced an 
 instance of this the other night ; as a rule I have my 
 lamps in perfect order, but not having been out driving 
 after sunset this year, I had given no attention to the 
 matter. I drove over to Southampton from this house, 
 a distance of ten miles, intending to return before 
 dark, but this I failed to do ; consequently the drive 
 that would by daylight have taken one hour took 
 nearly two, although I was driving in a light curricle 
 with two fast horses. I do not think that when driving 
 
CARRIAGE-LAMPS. 425 
 
 of a dark night on country roads the light can be too 
 powerful ; when it is not a dark night, and the road 
 does not pass much under trees, a carriage is better 
 without lamps. The best lamps in my opinion are oil. 
 
 Messrs. Salisbury, of Long Acre, stand pre-eminent 
 as carriage-lamp manufacturers ; but I will speak of 
 lamps and their application to carriages hereafter. For 
 the present it is only necessary to mention the lamps 
 most in use. The lamp most often used is a candle- 
 lamp, with a spring below the candle to raise it in the 
 socket, on the old-fashioned principle. These are the 
 lamps commonly used, and with proper care they ought 
 not to get out of order. When the case of the lamp is 
 muddy, it ought to be washed with a sponge, taking 
 care that no wet gets inside ; which, if covered with 
 candle-grease, ought to be held near the fire for the 
 grease to melt, and then rubbed with a dry cloth, and 
 afterwards cleaned with plate-powder ; if the springs 
 upon being taken out are dirty or choked up with grease, 
 they should be placed near a fire, when the grease will 
 melt and run away. If the candle fit the socket, the 
 candle will always rise in proportion as it is burnt 
 away, and will never fail to burn properly. During 
 a long driving tour I once took without a groom, I 
 attended to the lamps myself, and I had no reason 
 to regret doing so, as they burnt well during many a, 
 long journey in the dark, and never once went out. 
 
 There are other lamps made which burn both colza 
 and mineral oil. Of course there is some danger about 
 using mineral oil, but it gives a very brilliant light. 
 Hansom cabs frequently are fitted with lamps that 
 make use of this oil. I recollect reading in a news- 
 paper that in Vienna there was a cabman who used 
 electric light in his cabs, which he generated by the 
 
426 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 action of the wheels when in motion. Four-horse 
 coaches make use of colza oil lamps, a number of 
 which are supplied by Mr. Salisbury, of Long Acre. 
 These are upon the very simplest principle. The wick 
 is flat, and passes up through the lid which covers the 
 oil, and is continued through two narrow channels or 
 tubes, on the sides of which are two small openings 
 into which a pin may be inserted, by which means the 
 wick can be raised or lowered. Other colza lamps on 
 a different principle have been introduced, some in 
 which the wick turns up and down by means of a 
 handle ; but the one I have mentioned is the simplest 
 and least likely to get out of order. Mr. Salisbury's 
 drag-lamps are very large ; I always speak of them as 
 lighthouse lamps, as they remind me of the huge 
 lamps and reflectors in a lighthouse. A number of 
 dash lamps of great power are sold, and these are 
 extremely useful if kept low and away from the line 
 of vision, particularly when driving a pair of horses. 
 When driving only one horse I do not approve of 
 their being used ; but in driving a pair the light shoots 
 right ahead between the horses, lighting up the road 
 for a considerable distance in advance. 
 
 Because a letter happens to appear in a newspaper, 
 it does not follow that it is worth referring to ; and an 
 immense deal of rubbish is written in the sporting 
 papers by persons who think they are qualified to 
 express an opinion upon a subject after the very 
 briefest acquaintance with it. Every one is entitled 
 to express an opinion, but it does not follow that, 
 having done so, their opinion is worth anything. Mr. 
 Hooper's papers, to which I have been referring, are 
 the opinions of an experienced coach-builder ; and 
 although his observations are frequently rather wide of 
 
WEIGHT OF COACHES. 427 
 
 the mark, and he seems inclined to digress, yet I have 
 only taken such of his observations as are consistent 
 with the subject of this chapter. Mr. Hooper is not so 
 much a man of letters as a man of axles, springs, and 
 carriage-bodies, who is desirous of seeing the work 
 in which he is interested carried out in the most per- 
 fect manner possible ; in addition to which he takes an 
 intelligent view of other matters not relating to his 
 trade. 
 
 In speaking of newspaper correspondents, some 
 interesting letters appeared in the Field newspaper of 
 June loth, 1882. These have the advantage of being 
 written by a man who had some knowledge of the 
 construction of coaches, and are, consequently, worth 
 recording. 
 
 WEIGHT OF COACHES. 
 
 SIR, I was brought up as a coach body-maker with Atkinson 
 & Philipson, and have been in their employment for fifty years. 
 I have thus seen the change from road to railway travelling, and can 
 confirm some of the opinions expressed in letters in the Field. 
 
 I assisted in making many of the heavy stage-coaches of old, and 
 saw the " Telegraph," " Highflyer," and others in course of construc- 
 tion. I assisted, too, in making the " Tallyho ; " and in the latter the 
 body was hung on four springs, back and front, without perch. This 
 is the first coach I recollect as having been fitted up in that way. 
 This I suppose was done to reduce weight and keep the body low, 
 so as to prevent the luggage from catching the wind in going over 
 the moors, where some coaches were blown over. I may well 
 remember the weight of the coaches, as it was the duty of the 
 apprentices at that time to assist in bringing them from the "Turf " 
 Hotel (the head coaching quarters at that day) to be examined, 
 oiled, and cleaned, and to take them back at night. At first it 
 required a man and six boys to take them, the coaches then weigh- 
 ing about 30 cwt. When afterwards the weight was reduced to 
 20 cwt, a man and three boys could take them. These light 
 coaches were famous for their good steady running, and were 
 finished off as perfectly as private carriages. They belonged to the 
 firm, and were run on the mileage system. I also assisted in making 
 Capt. Watson's coach, afterwards sold to Lord Hastings, which was 
 considered a light coach in that day, and weighed about 18 cwt., 
 
428 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 though I cannot give the weight with exactness. And, talking 
 of weight, I may mention that the firm put up a platform weighing- 
 machine to ascertain the exact weight, as they were much annoyed 
 by false quotations. They desired to be accurate, and, indeed, 
 often lost an order by not quoting the weights too low. There 
 seems to be a great change now in the construction of carriages. 
 
 WILLIAM LUMSDEN. 
 
 3, LEAZES CRESCENT, NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, June 2. 
 
 SIR, I was connected with stage-coaches as early as the year 
 1826, when coaches ran between Newcastle and Edinburgh by way 
 of Morpeth, Wooler, and Kelso. The " Highflyer," of which I was 
 guard for twelve years, was built by Messrs. Atkinson & Philipson, 
 of Newcastle, and was considered one of the best running coaches of 
 the day. I can testify to the soundness of its build, requiring little 
 or no repair, excepting in case of accident; its weight was 22 cwt, 
 and it was considered without an equal until the " Quicksilver " was 
 brought out by the same firm of builders. The weight of this coach 
 was only 18 cwt, being the lightest running. It was the fastest on 
 the road, going ten miles an hour. It had four springs, back and 
 front, and a check cross-spring to relieve the others. For some 
 time visitors to Newcastle desired to see this coach, on account of 
 its lightness, and I may say it revolutionised coach-building, and 
 many of the old ones had their heavy perches done away with. 
 
 One of the great features of Atkinson & Philipson's coaches was 
 that the builders departed from the old-fashioned lines, and made them 
 on the best mechanical principles ; and any one calling at their 
 establishment will find about a thousand designs of carriages, showing 
 all the changes in coach-building during the last hundred years. For 
 more than fifty years I have been connected with coaches, as guard, 
 driver, and proprietor, and always found Messrs. A. & P.'s coaches 
 built of the best materials, and gave much satisfaction. When the 
 " Quicksilver " coach was brought out, it was feared there might be 
 danger to passengers, on account of its lightness ; but it did its work 
 as safely and as well as any other. Others, on same principles, were 
 soon after put on the road. 
 
 The first patent hand-drag I remember was attached to a coach 
 of which I was part proprietor, and which ran daily between Newcastle 
 and Alnwick. This drag, I think, was brought out by the late Mr. 
 Philipson, who was succeeded by his son, Mr. John Philipson, who 
 is now looked upon by mechanical engineers as an authority on these 
 matters. 
 
 JOHN BRAITHWAIT. 
 ALNWICK, June 5. 
 
C SPRINGS. 429 
 
 SIR, Any one travelling through the Lake district can well re- 
 member the style of coaches used twenty-five years ago, and the 
 changes introduced by Mr. Riggs, of Windermere, whose name is a 
 household word to all visitors in the Lake district. The new coaches 
 are kept snug and near the ground, and do not stand higher than the 
 char-a-banc used at the Scotch Lakes, and they have the further 
 advantage of having covered seats for four, available for wet weather. 
 
 The small coach built by Atkinson & Philipson, Newcastle, was 
 much talked about at the time, and also one which ran at Ulswater ; 
 but both were found quite equal to a heavy load, and were also a 
 great saving to the horses. 
 
 The old stage-coach is not to be met with in the northern counties, 
 and, by your ventilating the subject, doubtless the south-country 
 four-in-hands will soon follow the example of having weight-carrying 
 coaches with no more lumber than necessary. 
 
 TRAVELLER. 
 
 In speaking of C spring carriages, one objection 
 has been urged against them : it has been said that 
 their action affects a coachman's driving. As the 
 body of the carriage sways backwards and forwards 
 alternately, it is said to vary the distance of the 
 driver's hand from the horses' mouths to the extent 
 of several inches, and also, to some extent, sideways. 
 Owing to the play of the springs, the motion of the 
 hand in trying to hold the reins so as to feel the 
 horses' mouths becomes so uncertain that the driver 
 has to relinquish the attempt to do so. By the 
 constant swinging of the body of the carriage that 
 is hung on C springs both in front and behind, the 
 distance between the horses' heads and the coachman 
 is said to vary as much as nine inches ; but when 
 only the after body is hung on C springs, and the 
 fore body is on elliptic springs, then the sway of 
 the hind C springs was scarcely perceived by the 
 coachman when driving. 
 
 It is very certain that coach-builders understand 
 very little about mechanics. They do not hesitate 
 
430 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 to write voluminously upon matters relating to the 
 construction of carriages, but they never, in any 
 case, support their theories by treating such matters 
 scientifically, or proving they are right in their con- 
 clusions by reducing them to mathematical calculation. 
 The rule of thumb is apparent throughout their 
 labours, although I believe that a great deal has 
 been done of late years to improve their system of 
 draughting. 
 
 The revival of C springs seems just at the present 
 moment to be revolutionising the manufacture of 
 carriage springs, but in all of them the application is 
 indirect, since they are either employed in combination 
 with elliptic or grasshopper springs, and are attached 
 thereto. 
 
 Yachtsmen who do not buy vessels, but build them,, 
 frequently visit the vessel whilst in the course of con- 
 struction. If they know anything of yacht-building 
 or designing, although the vessel may not be their 
 own design, they feel that they are well acquainted 
 with the various stages of its creation ; they see the 
 parts put together under their own eyes, and when the 
 vessel is sheathed with copper and launched into its 
 natural element, they are conscious that they possess a 
 knowledge of its complete organisation. If there is 
 anything wrong with it beneath water, the part which 
 is affected does not remain to them an unknown 
 quantity, but has been rendered familiar to them by 
 actual observation when in the stages of its earliest 
 creation. 
 
 With regard to coaches, the same familiarity might 
 be insisted upon with regard to their construction;, 
 and one might even go so far as to say that other 
 carriages which one drives oneself, or even if driven. 
 
BROUGHT UP TO A TRADE. 431 
 
 by one's coachman if built to order, might be visited 
 when in the various stages of construction, so that the 
 owner might become familiar with the carriage he is 
 making use of; in consequence of which he would 
 be able to deal with the question of repairs, and not 
 be utterly at the mercy of his coach-builder when 
 time or accident rendered it imperative that the 
 carriage should go into dock. A gentleman and a 
 man of the world should have a smattering of all 
 knowledge and understand a little of everything ; 
 there are, of course, subjects a knowledge of which 
 is not necessary, but there is an enormous amount 
 of knowledge which would be extremely useful which 
 hitherto has not been considered as essential to 
 the education of a gentleman. 
 
 It is difficult to say what is essential ; lately there 
 has been a great agitation amongst bodies of public 
 teachers with regard to the teaching of Greek, some 
 maintaining that a knowledge of Greek is essential 
 to the education of a gentleman, whilst others are 
 equally emphatic in pronouncing it to be utterly 
 unnecessary. So far as regards my own opinion, I 
 think that with such excellent translations as we have 
 of both Xenophon and Homer, it is utter waste of 
 time for a school-boy to attempt a task which has 
 already been accomplished for him. In my opinion, 
 the education of a gentleman should consist of what- 
 ever branch of knowledge will be likely to assist him 
 in after life. 
 
 A tale is told of a gentleman who brought every 
 one of his sons up to a trade. When I say trade, 
 I mean that of an artisan, such as bricklayer, carpenter, 
 joiner, and blacksmith. At the same time he did not 
 omit to give them an excellent education, which should 
 
432 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 qualify them for the position they would doubtless 
 occupy in after life ; but his argument was, that if they 
 were possessed of a knowledge of some trade which 
 might be defined as skilled labour, not even in an 
 over-populated country like England could they 
 ever starve, prove Fortune ever so fickle or Fate 
 ever so adverse. 
 
 Before I quit the subject of Coach-building, I 
 would mention the names of those whom I consider 
 the best toac/t-builders. I use the word coach as 
 distinct from carriage-building. There are an im- 
 mense number of excellent carriage-builders in London 
 and elsewhere who would have no difficulty in building 
 a coach if one w r ere ordered of them, but w r ho do not 
 make coach-building their speciality. Amongst men 
 of all professions there are some who are specialists, 
 and the practice of being so is followed amongst 
 tradesmen, coach-builders more particularly. Messrs. 
 Holland & Holland ; Shanks, of Great Queen Street ; 
 Peters, of Park Street, Park Lane ; and Hooper & Co., 
 of 113, Victoria Street, are undoubtedly the best coach- 
 builders in London. Messrs. Morgan, of Long Acre, 
 make excellent light coaches ; and Messrs. Allen, of 
 the same address, also have on hand a large number 
 of coaches, particularly after the Derby Day. But if 
 you want the very best article that can be made, you 
 must go to those builders who make coach-building a 
 speciality. In my opinion Holland & Holland, and 
 Shanks, are the two best ; but in the building of 
 carriages of the most elaborate and highly-finished 
 description possible, there is no doubt that Mr. Hooper 
 and Mr. Peters stand pre-eminent. 
 
 But it must be remembered that, in addition to 
 being the owner of a coach, the fact of possession is 
 
COACH-HOUSES. 433 
 
 not sufficient in itself. When once a valuable article 
 like this is acquired, it should be taken care of. Very 
 many persons are unable to do this, not from the want 
 of inclination, but because they do not possess the 
 requisite knowledge. In the first place, carriages suffer 
 greatly when kept in a damp coach-house. There 
 should be ample ventilation ; and if the soil upon 
 which the building is erected is naturally moist, a 
 slow-combustion stove should be kept burning during 
 the wettest of the winter months, care being taken 
 that the coach does not stand too close to the stove, 
 otherwise the varnish will crack, the panels will be 
 seriously injured, and the entire carriage will suffer. 
 But a damp coach-house will soon destroy carriages if 
 left standing long within it. It is also a mistake to 
 leave any door of communication open between the 
 stable and coach-house, as the air from the stable, 
 being highly charged with the fumes of ammonia, 
 attacks the varnished surfaces, and, by cracking the 
 varnish, ruins the appearance of the carriage. But 
 the worst thing of all about a damp coach-house 
 is the fear that the carriage-poles may be allowed to 
 rest upon the ground ; where this is the case the 
 moisture ascends, and poles of the very finest ash 
 timber, as Mr. Hooper remarks, "very soon lose their 
 hard and elastic qualities." After lying on damp 
 ground it requires but little force to break them, and 
 consequently no reliance can be placed upon a pole 
 that has been subjected to such pernicious treatment. 
 Carriage-poles should, if possible, be placed in racks 
 at the side of the coach-house. For this purpose I 
 have in my stable properly constructed racks ; the 
 hooks are covered with leather, and the poles and 
 shafts rest thereon. 
 
 2 F 
 
434 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 Newly painted carriages should not be used until 
 the varnish is fairly hard. Mud leaves spots on 
 freshly varnished surfaces. A carriage should be 
 washed as soon as possible after use ; the mud should 
 never be allowed to dry on, as when it does so it is 
 far more difficult to get off, and when it does come off, 
 the varnish or even the paint frequently falls away 
 with the mud. The mud ought to be well soaked 
 before attempting to remove it. Mr. Hooper advises 
 that a cloth mop, a soft sponge, or a chamois leather 
 be used ; a sponge is what my grooms always make 
 use of. The use of a spoke-brush I have never been 
 able to understand, as were it used for the spokes it 
 would most certainly knock off the paint and varnish. 
 I once had one with a leather back, which was certainly 
 an improvement, as the leather is far softer than 
 wood. I believe these brushes have a tallow candle 
 sewn up inside the back, so that when they are plunged 
 into water and afterwards allowed to dry, the moisture 
 does not destroy the leather. But if a spoke-brush be 
 used, the best one would be with the bristles all round, 
 so that no wooden handle could come in contact with 
 die painted and varnished surfaces. I have a brush 
 with a hollow back and handle ; the back is perforated, 
 and the handle is attached to an indiarubber tube, 
 which, when connected with a water-tap at some 
 height above the carriage to be washed, allows the 
 water to pass between the bristles, the amount of 
 water being controlled by a small tap in the handle 
 which can be turned on or off as desired ; consequently 
 no bucket of water need be used, as the brush is itself 
 a vehicle for conveying water to the muddy parts of 
 the carriage. 
 
 As regards the lining of a coach, it should be 
 
PREVENTION BETTER THAN CURE. 435 
 
 thoroughly brushed at stated intervals to get rid of 
 the dust and prevent moths getting into the cushions ; 
 the outside seats should also be beaten and well 
 brushed. 
 
 It must be remembered that if a coach-house is 
 damp, the springs, and all the other iron and steel 
 -work, will become rusty and in consequence not fulfil 
 their proper duties. 
 
 The axle-arms should be carefully cleaned and 
 oiled with the best salad oil about every three months, 
 by a person who really understands what he is about. 
 To do this the wheels will have to be taken off, the 
 coach will have to be raised with a carriage-jack, but 
 what is still better is a Jim Crow, such as is used to 
 raise locomotives when over the ash-pit, and which 
 many locomotives carry with them. These small 
 machines, with a very slight alteration, can be made to 
 raise carriages far better than any carriage-jack. I 
 have one myself, but I never heard of any one else 
 using them for such a purpose ; nevertheless, I have 
 conclusively proved that Jim is a better man than 
 Jack. 
 
 All loose bolts and clips about a carriage should 
 be tightened, except those at the end of the springs. 
 Small repairs should never be neglected, as a stitch in 
 time saves nine. If tires of wheels get loose, they 
 should be seen to at once ; if spokes rattle, they should 
 be made fast ; if the washers inside the box of the 
 wheels are worn too thin, they should be replaced by 
 new ones. A good carriage should go to a good 
 coach-builder's once a year, or the coach-builder 
 should visit the carriage and thoroughly examine it ; if 
 he be an honest man as well as a good tradesman he 
 will tell the owner when it does not require repair, yet 
 
 2 F 2 
 
436 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 the visit will not be wasted, as the owner will have the 
 satisfaction of knowing that he and his friends are 
 riding on a sound vehicle. 
 
 All good carriages when conveyed by rail should 
 be conveyed in covered trucks, as they are then pro- 
 tected from dust, smoke, and from rain in wet weather. 
 I remember reading of a coach I think it was the old 
 Exeter mail coach that was carried westward by rail, 
 and caught on fire owing to a spark from the engine 
 alighting on the roof, upon which a number of inflam- 
 mable articles were packed. 
 
 I think that this is all I need say about the care 
 of coaches. I only hope that my remarks may be of 
 some service to those who contemplate becoming pur- 
 chasers of this most valuable of all road vehicles, since 
 it must be remembered that a first-rate, well-appointed 
 coach by one of the best builders costs three hundred 
 guineas. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 HARNESS. 
 
 Oak-bark tanning Oil your leather Reins Horse beats horse 
 Patent leather Much harness unnecessary Comfortable har- 
 ness Don't use bearing-reins A natural balance "Sit on 
 his 'ead " Look to your reins and bridles Care of harness 
 Harness should fit well Harness-makers. 
 
 THE celebrated coaching song of the last century was 
 41 The Tantivy Trot." It ran as follows : 
 
 Here's to the arm that can hold them when gone, 
 
 Still to a gallop inclined, sir ; 
 Heads in the front, with no bearing-reins on, 
 
 Tails with no cruppers behind, sir. 
 
 If this was the coaching song of the last century, it 
 only proves that the coachmen of those days had more 
 good sense than is possessed by their grandchildren 
 and great-grandchildren, the coachmen of the present 
 day. This verse exactly expresses my own opinion as 
 to bearing-reins and cruppers : 
 
 Heads should be to the front with no bearing-reins on, 
 Tails with no cruppers behind, sir. 
 
 All those persons who drive four horses should 
 know something about harness ; and, in fact, any one 
 
43 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 who intends driving frequently and possessing harness- 
 horses of his own, might very well, for once in a 
 way, condescend to inquire into the nature of a material 
 of which he makes so great a use. The hides of 
 steers or heifers make the best leather for harness after 
 being well tanned with the bark of the oak-tree, which 
 a writer on the subject says imparts a light brown 
 colour to the leather, makes it firm with an even grain, 
 and, to a certain extent, allows the hide to retain its 
 softness. There are many methods employed in tan- 
 ning leather ; but many produce a rough hide, and 
 cause leather to swell after being exposed to rain. 
 There is no process equal to oak-bark tanning ; by its- 
 use we obtain the lightest, strongest, and most pliable 
 leather ; it is closer grained, and is dressed better 
 after use. After tanning, the hide is termed " rough 
 leather," and from this the various kinds of harness 
 are produced. Merely tanning leather will not, how- 
 ever, fit it for the harness-maker's use ; it must be 
 subjected to another process, termed " currying," by 
 which the leather is made soft, pliable, and durable. 
 As harness-makers require their hides as level as- 
 possible, those that are smooth, free from cuts or 
 injuries are chosen for the best harness or rein leather, 
 and being exceedingly difficult to obtain, they are 
 worth twenty per cent, more than an ordinary hide of 
 equal weight. After going through several processes, 
 the hide is laid out on a table, and dubbing (a mixture 
 of tallow and cod-oil) is applied to it ; after this it is 
 hung up to dry, but not until the dubbing or oil is 
 made to penetrate every pore, whereby the hide is 
 rendered still more pliable and durable, and in a capital 
 state to resist wet. And it must be borne in mind 
 that leather, unless it possesses a certain amount of oil,. 
 
OIL YOUR LEATHER. 439 
 
 very quickly perishes, and is incapable of resisting 
 strains or withstanding wet. Some people in cold, 
 wet weather are in the habit of putting their feet to 
 the fire when they have their boots on. It is a great 
 mistake putting the soles of boots anywhere near the 
 fire unless they are really wet, as the heat of the fire 
 causes the leather to dry up and perish, and it is then 
 no longer capable of resisting moisture. Consequently, 
 a pair of boots which withstood the wet and kept their 
 owner dry-footed, may, by being placed too near the 
 fire, be deprived of the essential oil which gives it that 
 most valuable quality of resisting wet. I have men- 
 tioned boots in order that I might make coachmen 
 understand better the grave necessity there is for 
 keeping leather soft and pliable, and possessed of 
 vitality ; as it must be remembered that the safety of 
 a carriage and the persons thereon or therein are 
 dependent on the strength and durability of the 
 harness, especially the reins and bridle, which are 
 the particular parts by which the horses are controlled 
 and held in subjection. The writer to whom I have 
 referred says : " Both black and brown harness 
 leather has to be dressed to the proposed colour 
 before it ever reaches the harness-maker." 
 
 It is worthy of notice that the harness made by 
 first-class large firms is decidedly better than that 
 produced by small country harness-makers, because 
 the large dealer usually cuts out a number of sets of 
 harness at one time, and has a variety of hides to 
 choose from ; he is thus enabled to use only such parts 
 as are most suitable, such as backs for traces and other 
 heavy strapping, the under part of the hide for lighter 
 portions of the harness ; but the small country maker 
 cannot exercise such discretion, as he has not the 
 
440 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 requisite leather to choose from, unless he keeps a 
 stock of material utterly disproportioned to his busi- 
 ness. This writer, continuing, says that " the proper- 
 ties of leather may be completely spoiled by injudicious 
 cutting ; the grain should always run parallel to the 
 cut, otherwise the leather will stretch directly it comes 
 into use and continue to do so. Brown leather, which 
 we use for reins, is in every respect the same as 
 harness leather except in colour, it being bleached 
 instead of blackened, and afterwards stained a light 
 shade of brown." There is no part of a harness which 
 requires more attention than the reins, as were they to 
 break, even when driving a donkey, and all control 
 were lost over that humble quadruped, a very serious 
 accident might ensue ; in addition to this, the hand- 
 parts of reins should possess great softness and plia- 
 bility, as nothing tires the hands so much as having 
 thick, clumsy reins that will not bend when the hand 
 is closed. Yet reins should be very strong. " Some- 
 times the hand-parts of reins are made of white leather ; 
 this leather is obtained from the hide of the horse, 
 bleached and dressed in a solution of alum to preserve 
 it. White leather, however, is not fashionable, and it 
 is more generally used for whip-thongs." 
 
 It is a strange thing that when a horse dies his 
 skin should be made into whip-thongs, that he may 
 thereby unconsciously be the means of inflicting punish- 
 ment on his fellow horses ; so that, when the lash is 
 brought down heavily on the flanks of some patient 
 and industrious animal, it is within the range of possi- 
 bility that, if the horse from whom this thong was 
 taken could only know the suffering his hide has been 
 instrumental in inflicting upon his fellow beast, his 
 ethereal bosom would be rent asunder with grief and 
 
HORSE BEATS HORSE. 441 
 
 remorse. It seems a strange thing, when we consider it, 
 that we should take the hides of dead horses the hides 
 upon which the lash may so often have descended to 
 make more lashes to beat more horses, whose hides 
 will, in their turn, be made into thongs to beat future 
 generations of horses, and so on through successive 
 periods of time till the chapter ends until the merci- 
 less drivers have passed away from this world, and the 
 spirits (if they possess any) of the patient beasts who 
 have been subjected to their lashes have departed to 
 the spirit-land where all good horses rest in peace and 
 tranquillity. 
 
 To those who love dumb animals, it is satisfactory 
 to suppose that there is such a spirit-land, where 
 horses, relieved of harness, dwell in happiness and 
 comfort ; where dogs wear neither muzzle nor collar ; 
 where no link of a dog-chain has ever yet been forged ; 
 where M. Pasteur, in common with other vivisection- 
 ists, is held up to universal execration ; where low, 
 fierce growls accompany the mention of vivisectionist 
 names, w r hich could these merciless votaries of science 
 hear, would make these searchers after knowledge 
 relinquish all further attempts at solving such scientific 
 problems. It is probable that the untutored Indian 
 thinks and cares more for his horse and dog than 
 do many civilised beings. Pope says : 
 
 He thinks, admitted to that equal sky, 
 His faithful dog shall bear him company. 
 
 And again he remarks : 
 
 Go, like the Indian, to another life ; 
 Expect thy dog, thy bottle, and thy wife. 
 
 But to return to the question of harness, one thing 
 a coachman must always bear in view, which is, that it 
 
442 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 must be made as light and easy as possible for the 
 horse, at the same time to be sufficiently strong to 
 secure perfect safety. By bearing this fact in mind 
 we shall best contribute to the animal's comfort. 
 
 A writer on harness says : " Japanned leather is 
 best known as ' Patent leather' ; it is made from spe- 
 cially selected hides, tanned with more than ordinary 
 care ; after being tanned the hide is split, some hides 
 yielding two or three splits, according to the thick- 
 ness of the leather. In the manufacture of patent 
 leather there are many processes of an extremely 
 delicate nature, chief amongst which is the application 
 of varnish, to receive which the leather is stretched 
 out tightly on a board. The quality of patent leather 
 is dependent upon the state of the atmosphere when 
 japanning ; this should only be done during cold 
 weather, otherwise it will crack on exposure to cold. 
 
 " Leather that has been tanned with chemicals is 
 usually red in colour, but it may be bleached to resemble 
 tanning with oak bark : when chemicals are used, the 
 natural strength of the hide is usually destroyed in the 
 tanning pit, and though such leather is cheaper than 
 that which has been oak-tanned, it is nothing like so 
 strong or so durable." 
 
 Furniture is a name applied to the metal founda- 
 tions of harness ; this includes hames, terrets, rings, 
 buckles, saddles, and the metal foundation of 
 blinkers. The mountings may either be plated or 
 brass, according to the taste of the owner. In my 
 opinion brass looks best, and plated mountings are 
 objectionable owing to their cost ; if of brass they 
 should be made solid. Nickel mountings are coming 
 into use. 
 
 The hames and kidney links, when the mountings 
 
MUCH HARNESS UNNECESSARY. 443- 
 
 are of brass, are of course too large to be made 
 solid, and if they were, would not be sufficiently 
 strong ; consequently they are made of iron plated 
 with brass. 
 
 Covering harness furniture with leather has 
 arrived at some perfection, but if it be iron that 
 is covered with leather, and the weather is often 
 wet, it is apt to rust through the leather. 
 
 As regards bits, purchasers should reject every- 
 thing but the best steel bits ; they are much safer, 
 and will last much longer. Although one would 
 suppose it to be a matter almost unworthy of con- 
 sideration, yet the quality and make of the thread 
 used in stitching harness should be subjected to 
 careful scrutiny. Nothing exhibits a greater proof 
 of good harness-making than neat and tightly drawn 
 stitches, made with the best flax thread well and 
 carefully waxed ; cheap harness is frequently made 
 with a sewing-machine, but hand -made harness 
 is more durable, and is altogether better, in the 
 same way as hand-made boots are better than those 
 made by machinery. 
 
 With four horses there should not be more harness 
 than is actually requisite ; with a good brake no breech- 
 ings are required, and loin-straps are not a positive 
 necessity. Cruppers, if worn, should never be too 
 tight, bearing-reins should be dispensed with altogether, 
 and the pole-chains sufficiently loose to allow of the 
 horses going freely, otherwise they will be too closely 
 tied to their work, and their action and pace will 
 be destroyed. The bits should not have high ports 
 or be in any way severe ; nothing is better than a 
 plain Liverpool bit with a short cheek or branch, but 
 of course the bits throughout the team should corre- 
 
444 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 spond ; it is well to have a bottom bar across from one 
 cheek to another, as it is handy for a groom to catch 
 hold of, particularly with leaders. The blinkers should 
 be well hollowed out so as not to hurt the horse's eyes. 
 There have been numerous trace buckles brought out 
 lately, and in fact Mr. White, of Bishopsgate, twenty 
 years ago patented a peg and slide which was exhibited 
 at the International Exhibition of 1851, and I do not 
 know that anything much better has been done since 
 then. It lies flat, and allows the trace to be let out 
 and taken in very easily. Messrs. Lennan & Son, of 
 Dublin, have recently patented an improvement on 
 White's invention. 
 
 The blinkers should never press upon the eyes, 
 but be wide apart but not so wide as to flap about. 
 The only intention of the blinker is to protect the eye 
 from the lash, to prevent the horse from shying at 
 objects with which he meets, or from seeing the 
 carriage behind him. 
 
 The cheek-strap in harness should never be too 
 tight ; the bit should be placed firmly but comfortably 
 in the horse's mouth, but not in any way to incon- 
 venience him. 
 
 One of the most important things about a horse's 
 harness, and which requires the very greatest care and 
 consideration, is his collar ; it should be well made, 
 not stuffed too hard, but with plenty of elasticity ; it 
 should rest perfectly easily upon the shoulder-blade 
 or scapula. When the collar is on, there should be 
 room to place one's hand easily between it and the 
 chest of the horse. The collar should never be put on 
 or taken off with the names on ; the hames should 
 be first unbuckled, the collar will then yield to the 
 horse's head. To attempt to push a collar over a 
 
DON'T USE BEARING-REINS. 44$ 
 
 horse's head with the hames on is a gross act of 
 cruelty ; the collar cannot yield when held fast by the 
 iron names, and not only is a horse likely to lose his 
 eyesight, but he must suffer very much when a clumsy 
 groom is forcing a collar over his head in this manner. 
 
 The shape of the pad is another matter which 
 deserves close attention. If a pad is not made on 
 a suitable tree, and stuffed to suit the shape of the 
 horse's back, so as to bear on the fleshy part of the 
 back and not on the spine, it causes the animal great 
 inconvenience and suffering. The pad should fit so 
 closely as not to roll about, and yet the belly-band 
 or girth should not be too tight. 
 
 As regards the bridle, this is one of the most 
 important details of the harness. Bridles can gene- 
 rally be made to fit various-sized heads by means 
 of letting out or taking up the straps a few holes, but 
 care should be taken that the blinkers do not chafe the 
 horse's eyebrows. 
 
 No bearing-rein should be used on any account 
 whatever ; it is a most abominable practice. A horse, 
 if he be worth anything, and has good shoulders, will 
 hold his head well enough without any bearing-rein ; 
 and the whole position of the animal will be more 
 natural and more graceful, and he will be less likely to 
 fall, and, if he does fall, will be better able either to 
 recover his balance or get up again. A horse, when 
 he starts a load or mounts a hill, when left to himself, 
 lowers his head and throws his weight into the collar, 
 but if his head is held up in the air, he cannot employ 
 the same mechanical force. Even on descending a 
 hill a horse needs the free use of his head to act as a 
 counterbalance ; and it may be remarked by any one 
 who has observed a horse turned out in a field on 
 
446 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 the slope of a hill, that, when he gallops down hill, his 
 head is not stuck up in the air so that he cannot see 
 where he is going, but is held in a natural and suitable 
 position, and one best qualified to maintain his balance. 
 I am told that even a dog's tail is of use to him in 
 maintaining his balance when running, and, when ob- 
 serving greyhounds coursing, one is almost inclined to 
 believe that this is the case, and that they who shorten 
 a dog's tail deprive him of an appendage which is 
 -exceedingly requisite to him ; in fact, Nature provides 
 nothing that is of no use, although it may be exceed- 
 ingly difficult for us to understand the use of everything 
 which the Deity creates. Yet we may be certain that 
 every animal, and every part of an animal, is created 
 for some wise purpose, and that nothing w r ould be 
 created that was simply superfluous and unnecessary 
 not even a dog's tail ; and to see dogs mutilated by 
 having their tails cut off, as is frequently the case with 
 terriers and sheep-dogs, fills me with disgust. 
 
 A horse, when down on the ground, always raises 
 his head before attempting to rise ; were his head con- 
 fined by a bearing-rein when in this position, I doubt if 
 he could get up at all. A horse is certainly not so liable 
 to stumble when he has no bearing-rein as when he 
 has one. I believe, if one only had the nerve to do 
 so, it would be safer to gallop down a steep hill when 
 riding with a loose rein than with a severe bit pulling 
 the horse's head up into the air. When a horse in 
 harness falls down in the slippery London streets, and 
 a crowd collects, there is always some individual in that 
 crowd who, anxious to display his familiarity with 
 equine matters, cries out, " Sit on his 'ead ! " which 
 operation is very often performed in a very thoughtless 
 and cruel manner. The person who condescends to do 
 
"SIT ON HIS >AD." 447 
 
 so seats himself upon the poor horse's head, very often 
 upon the blinkers, which he presses against the animal's 
 yes. I remember seeing a horse fall down at the 
 bottom of the Hay market one afternoon ; and when 
 I suggested that the animal's head might be kept down 
 without gouging his eye out, I was asked what I knew 
 about 'orses, and whether I would like to sit upon his 
 'ead myself ? Seeing that remonstrance was in vain, 
 and that interference in such a matter had procured me 
 an unenviable notoriety, I walked away, by doing 
 which I no doubt manifested a considerable want of 
 moral courage ; but it is almost useless to interfere 
 between horse and driver unless the latter is known 
 to you, or you to him, in which case, of course, matters 
 would be different ; but any attempt at interceding 
 with a driver for the better treatment of his horse 
 is likely to have a result exactly opposite to that which 
 you desire, in addition to which you are probably 
 favoured with an amount of unparliamentary language 
 which is by no means edifying. 
 
 But to return to the question of harness. Cruppers, 
 as well as bearing-reins, are iniquitous things if used 
 improperly that is, if they are too tight as they cause 
 great injury to the horse's spine. The only use of a 
 crupper is to support the loin-strap or breeching, and to 
 prevent the pad from slipping too far forward ; but 
 a horse with high withers, and a good girth just behind 
 the shoulder, is so formed that the pad cannot ride 
 forward if properly made and properly strapped on and 
 adjusted. A badly-made pad will frequently rock about 
 and get out of place. When this is the case the crupper 
 does assist to keep it in its place ; but when a gag bear- 
 ing-rein is used in connection with a tight crupper, then 
 the horse is practically in a vice, and the person who so 
 
448 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 harnesses him, and is instrumental in causing such 
 suffering, is either a demon or a fool. 
 
 A coachman's control over his horses depends 
 entirely upon reins, bits, and bridles. A horse may 
 kick himself free of everything else, but provided the 
 reins, the bit, and the bridle hold fast, he still has 
 some control over the animal ; but if the reins were 
 to break, there is no saying what might happen. 
 Possibly the driver, and those whom he was charioteer- 
 ing, and his team, might one or other of them be 
 killed ; and it would be as bad if any part of the bridles 
 were to break or give way, as the reins would then be 
 rendered useless. It is of the greatest importance that 
 reins should be of the best leather ; they ought, in all 
 cases, to be of single leather, as then the slightest flaw 
 or crack on either side can be easily detected ; the 
 hand-part should be made rather light, as I mentioned 
 before, and be soft and pliable. New reins are gene- 
 rally slippery ; to prevent this, they should be washed 
 in warm water, then be allowed to dry, and then 
 rubbed with powdered resin ; but I do not approve of 
 wetting leather if it can be avoided, as that very 
 slipperiness proves that the essential oil in the leather 
 has not evaporated. 
 
 As regards bits, I do not much fancy sliding mouth- 
 pieces, as one side is apt to get up whilst the other 
 remains down ; besides which, if a bit is buckled on 
 properly and rests easily in the horse's mouth, there is 
 no need whatever to have a sliding mouthpiece. 
 
 Bad stitching is often the cause of an accident with 
 harness ; this should be carefully seen to. Whatever 
 may be the value of four coach-horses, the style of the 
 coach, the reputation of the coach-builder and harness- 
 maker, or the skill of the coachman, a coach and four 
 
CARE OF HARNESS. 449 
 
 horses never look well unless the horses, the harness, 
 and the coach are well cared for ; this being the case, 
 owners of four-horse coaches, besides driving them, 
 should give an eye to the proper treatment of their 
 possessions. It is not absolutely necessary to clean 
 harness, as is the case with carriages, after each time 
 of using ; if there be no mud and only a little dust 
 upon the harness, it will be sufficient if the dull leather 
 is well brushed with composition, and the patent 
 leather and buckles, terrets, and other mountings are 
 dusted with a dry rag ; but any parts that show signs 
 of sweat from the horse must be wiped with a wet 
 sponge, especially the insides of the collars, the pads, 
 and the girths. After this, the patent leather should 
 be rubbed over with a greasy rag dipped in neat's- 
 foot oil. Should the harness be muddy, each part 
 must be taken separately and washed, great care being 
 taken with the patent leather, which must be dried 
 with a soft chamois leather ; the dull leather must also 
 be wiped, but with another chamois leather, after 
 which it must be blacked. 
 
 In cleaning the mountings of brass or silver plate, 
 leather guards should be used to protect the patent 
 leather upon which the brass or silver-plated furniture 
 is mounted ; in some stables a piece of flannel moistened 
 with lemon-juice is used to clean brass mountings. 
 Three brushes are necessary in cleaning harness : a 
 hard brush to remove the dirt, a soft brush to apply 
 the blacking, and a hard brush for polishing. When 
 the blacking has been applied it should be left exposed 
 to the air to dry ; as soon as it acquires a dull or bluish 
 tint, it is ready to be polished ; when it has been 
 polished a little, then some beeswax may be applied, in 
 order to render it waterproof ; it will then become so 
 
 2 G 
 
450 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 brilliant that even rain cannot dim its lustre. The 
 best waterproof blackings are made of beeswax mixed 
 with other things and made into a paste ; this blacking 
 is waterproof, but if turpentine or naphtha be employed 
 it is not good for leather. The prepared blackings of 
 Harris or Harding are the best that can be procured. 
 
 A writer upon harness remarks that the best 
 blacked and polished harness he ever saw was in the 
 harness-room of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, where 
 he learnt that nothing but Everett's Liquid Blacking, 
 the same as employed for boots and shoes, was ever 
 used ; but then the head coachman was a person to be 
 relied on, since he took care that his subordinates 
 should work properly. 
 
 Patent leather must be oiled occasionally, or it will 
 crack. 
 
 I do not propose to speak of clothing or stable 
 requisites, but have merely mentioned harness, since I 
 am speaking of all those things that appear on the road, 
 and not those which may be observed within the walls 
 of a stable. When harness is ordered it ought, if 
 possible, be made specially to fit the horses for which 
 it is intended ; each horse should certainly be measured 
 for his collar, his pad or saddle, his bridle, and his 
 blinkers. Some people who are very particular have 
 had bits made specially to fit certain horses ; in fact, 
 a gentleman named Von Weyrother, formerly chief of 
 the School of Equitation at Vienna, invented a special 
 instrument for ascertaining all the necessary dimensions 
 of a horse's mouth. I think that this instrument can be 
 obtained of Messrs. White & Coleman, of Bishopsgate 
 Street, London. 
 
 The late Mr. Edward Flower, of Hyde Park 
 Gardens, directed his attention to the unsuitable bits 
 
HARNESS-MAKERS. 451 
 
 and bearing-reins in common use, and, by constantly 
 agitating the matter, established his reputation as a 
 reformer in matters appertaining to driving ; and yet 
 the singular thing is that our forefathers did not use 
 bearing-reins, sometimes even did without cruppers, 
 and, in the hunting-field, never rode a horse with any- 
 thing except a plain snaffle-bit, as may be observed by 
 examining the old sporting prints of a hundred years 
 ago. 
 
 As regards the price of four-horse harness. A com- 
 plete set of four -horse harness, with silver-plated 
 mounts, Queen's (or any other pattern) blinkers, chain 
 or enamelled leather fronts, chased rosettes, or with 
 crest or monogram, shifting mouth Buxton or Liver- 
 pool bits, straight or swelling pads, covered hames, all 
 double buckles (except for bridle or collar- buckles), 
 complete with martingales or breast-plates and loin- 
 straps, hand-sewn all through, with flat reins, costs 
 about sixty-six pounds. This includes martingales or 
 bridoons and loin-straps ; but as bridoons are only 
 used for bearing-reins, I do not think them necessary, 
 neither are martingales or loin-straps positive necessi- 
 ties. A brass-mounted four- horse harness of the best 
 kind, with all necessary furniture and fittings, costs 
 about sixty pounds. 
 
 As for the choice of a harness-maker, that is a 
 matter best left to my readers ; but if price be no 
 object, and good material and workmanship is the 
 principal thing to be considered, one cannot do wrong 
 by employing any of the first-rate West End firms, 
 such as Wilkinson & Kidd, 5, Hanover Square ; 
 Samuel Merry & Co., 21, St. James' Street; John 
 Sowter, 1 8, Haymarket. But if a cheaper set of 
 harness is required, there is Mr. Davis, 10, Strand, 
 
 2 G 2 
 
452 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 who is noted for his astonishingly low-priced and 
 serviceable harness and saddlery ; and if it be that 
 something a little out-of-the-way in breaking-tackle 
 or bit or harness to suit an unruly animal is required, 
 then Mr. Blackwell, of 469, Oxford Street, will be cer- 
 tain to suit all one's requirements. But for bits pure and 
 simple, and nothing else, there is no one in London 
 and elsewhere who excels more in this particular 
 department of the harness-maker's trade than Messrs. 
 Latchford, of Upper St. Martin's Lane, exactly 
 opposite Aldridge's. 
 
 NOTE. I hope that the above recommendations do not sound 
 too much like a tradesman's circular; my only object in naming the 
 establishments where coaches and harness of the best description 
 can be procured, is to enable such of my readers who are unacquainted 
 with such matters to obtain what they require without the trouble 
 of seeking for information on the subject, with the possibility of 
 being misled by some too confiding and inexperienced friend. At 
 the same time I admit that my very comprehensive list of tradesmen 
 somewhat resembles the circulars one receives at Christmas and 
 Midsummer, that run as follows : " We beg to offer our respectful 
 thanks for past favours, and trust by the strictest attention to 
 business to merit a continuance of the same." 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 COACH-HORNS AND WHIPS. 
 
 Variety of horns How to blow " Way for the coach " The rule 
 of the road Coach-horn calls A heavy lash and a long stick 
 Whip and coach-horn makers. 
 
 THE first horn that was constructed was undoubtedly 
 from the horn of an animal, as the name denotes, horn 
 being a general term for all hard and pointed ap- 
 pendages on the heads of animals and even insects ; 
 but the modern coach-horn so entirely differs from the 
 horns of animals so contrived as to form a musical or 
 unmusical instrument as the case may be that it is 
 with the greatest difficulty we remember the original 
 signification of the word. 
 
 The hunting-horn (the cor de chasse of the French, 
 the waldhorn of the Germans), a brass or copper tube 
 gradually expanding into a bell-shaped mouth and 
 bent into a semicircle, was for a long time the chief 
 form in existence. 
 
 By lengthening or shortening a long tube-like horn, 
 unprovided with notes, the key can be transposed. 
 
 An old guard, who writes upon the subject of 
 coach-horns, calls attention to the fact of the difference 
 
454 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 existing between post and coach-horns by saying : 
 " The coach-horn is now the only recognised horn 
 used on a four-in-hand coach ; but the post-horn, fifty 
 or sixty years ago, was the recognised signal-horn 
 used by all the guards on the fast mail coaches, hence 
 the name post-horn/' 
 
 A coach-horn should always be perfectly straight, 
 and be made of copper, with German silver or real 
 silver mouthpiece and mountings. Lately a telescopic 
 horn has been made, which allows the top half, or 
 rather the mouthpiece end, to slide inside the lower 
 portion of the horn, on the same principle as the 
 portable metal drinking- cups. The tone and ease with 
 which these horns can be blown is not in the least 
 affected by this arrangement. There are many ad- 
 vantages about this plan, as a very long horn may, on 
 this principle, be so telescoped as to occupy a very 
 small space, and is less likely to get bent, dented, or 
 otherwise injured, and is more easily packed and 
 carried about. 
 
 The guard whom I have mentioned says that " a 
 coach-horn should not exceed thirty-six inches in 
 length, or else the peculiar ring or note (musicians 
 would call it the timbre) of the true coach-horn becomes 
 lost, and merges into that more resembling the field- 
 bugle used in the army." And yet many good coach- 
 horns are used measuring forty-six inches in length, 
 and even longer than this ; but such long horns are 
 not always used for show, but because they are easier 
 to blow, not the same notes, but a greater number 
 of notes upon them. 
 
 The habit of calling the coach-horn the "yard 
 of tin " arose from the fact that it really was a yard, or 
 thirty-six inches, of tin, many of the old horns on the 
 
HOW TO BLOW. 455 
 
 inferior coaches being made of tin, and not of copper 
 or brass. The old key-bugle was sometimes used on 
 the best mail coaches by such guards as could play it, 
 and upon this instrument they would enliven a journey 
 with the popular airs of the day. The post-horn, which 
 is identical with the tandem-horn of the present day, is 
 only thirty-two inches in length, and is generally made 
 of brass, and not of copper. A proper post-horn ought 
 always to be made with a slide, to elongate it, if neces- 
 sary, for tuning purposes. 
 
 Five notes can be produced on the coach-horn, viz. : 
 
 Upon the post-horn an old guard says four notes 
 are all that can be sounded with ease, and indeed 
 it is seldom that more than three notes are used. On 
 the coach-horn at the first trial, most persons will 
 produce the note G, but after a little practice, by 
 compressing the lips more tightly the upper notes 
 will be obtained. A very little alteration in the 
 position of the lips will do this, but to produce the 
 lower note, C, it is necessary to relax the lips so 
 that they are wider apart. When blowing a horn 
 outside a coach and the wind is high, it is advisable 
 to turn one's face away from the wind, as by doing 
 this, one can blow with far greater ease. 
 
 It should be remembered that a coach-horn, when 
 on a well-appointed coach, should not be used unless 
 it be positively necessary to clear the road of the 
 innumerable omnibuses, cabs, and other vehicles that 
 block the way in the streets of a crowded thoroughfare, 
 rendering it almost impossible to drive a team with 
 
456 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 comfort without the aid of the horn. I think every 
 coachman will admit that at the sound of the horn, 
 cabbies and omnibus drivers, coachmen in and out 
 of livery, and every one who is driving any vehicle 
 whatsoever, as a rule promptly and civilly respond 
 to the request which the horn conveys that they 
 will make " way for the coach." But where the 
 guard is known to sound the horn without occasion, 
 like the cry of " Wolf, wolf," then drivers are not 
 so ready to respond to it. It must be remembered 
 that a gentleman's private coach, or even a public 
 coach, is not a travelling circus, and therefore it is 
 not necessary to proclaim the fact that you possess 
 a horn, and know how to blow it, more than is posi- 
 tively necessary. It is far more excusable on a public 
 coach than a private one ; but it must be remembered 
 that the very fact of making a loud noise by the 
 blowing of a coach-horn calls immediate attention to 
 the existence of yourself and your coach. It is as 
 much as to say, " See what a smart coach I have, 
 and how well we can blow our horn ! " 
 
 As regards tandem-driving, there is nothing more 
 pitiful than to see the use that is sometimes made 
 of a horn. It may be that you are walking along 
 a deserted high-road when you suddenly hear a dis- 
 cordant sound, resembling, as nearly as possible, the 
 groans of a dyspeptic cow. These sounds are well 
 calculated to turn all the milk in the neighbourhood 
 sour. From such a noise one naturally does not 
 expect any very imposing sight to follow, so that 
 one is not surprised, on lifting one's eyes, to 
 observe a very badly-turned-out tandem, with nothing 
 right about it, but everything wrong, and with every 
 indication of having been hired, at so much an hour, 
 
o 
 
 1 
 
 H 
 
 THESE HORNS ARE MANUFACTURED BY MESSRS. KOHLER & SON. 
 
 [To face page 457. 
 
THE RULE OF THE ROAD. 457 
 
 by some youths just released from the counter of a 
 shop. 
 
 But to speak of the real thing, and not of such base 
 impositions, there are certain times, when driving four 
 horses, or even a tandem, when the horn may be used 
 without exciting any adverse criticism. It is well 
 known to all coachmen that, when horses in a team 
 have settled down, and are all trotting together well 
 up to their bits, nothing is more vexing than to be 
 compelled to pull them up, and so have to begin 
 all one's work over again, because some vehicle of 
 heavy draught, such as a country waggon, a brewer's 
 dray, a heavily-loaded van, or a lot of empty cabs, 
 impede the way, and, getting over the wrong side 
 of the road, refuse to pull aside. On such occasions 
 as this a coach-horn may be used to one's heart's 
 content, otherwise one may have to wait a very long 
 time before the road is clear ; consequently, if on a 
 journey with such hindrances, there is no saying what 
 length of time may be occupied in performing it. 
 Frequently, on country roads, one's way is impeded 
 by covered waggons, the drivers of whom are very 
 often fast asleep, when it seems that nothing short 
 of a dynamite explosion will wake them up to a sense 
 of their responsibilities. 
 
 Much of my time when driving is spent in remon- 
 strating with such people, to whom the rule of the road 
 is evidently " a paradox quite," or it may be that, having 
 no varnish on their own vehicles to destroy, they 
 are indifferent to the fact of your anxiety on that 
 score ; besides which, to charge them like the chariots 
 did one another on the battle-fields of old, would be 
 like knocking one's head against a wall, as it would 
 be you that suffered and not they. 
 
4$8 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 The guard to whom I have referred has stated 
 that the following coach-horn calls can be easily blown 
 with a little practice, and that each conveys an observa- 
 tion intended either for the coachman, the horse- 
 keepers (where the change was to be effected), or 
 the gatekeepers of the various turnpikes on the road. 
 If the gate happened not to be quite wide enough 
 open for the passage of the coach the horn had to be 
 blown ; but the coach never pulled up, as a fixed sum 
 was paid yearly by the coach - proprietors to the 
 turnpike trustees : 
 
 COACH-HORN CALLS. 
 
 No. I.* THE START. 
 
 No. II.' 
 
 CLEAR THE ROAD. 
 
 
 No. III. 
 
 OFF SIDE. 
 
 No. IV. 
 
 NEAR SIDE. 
 
 
 No. V. 
 
 SLACKEN PACE. 
 
 A little slower. 
 
COACH-HORN CALLS. 
 
 No. VI.* PULL UP. 
 
 459 
 
 3 
 
 :p=5= 
 
 No. VII.* CHANGE HORSES. 
 
 No. VIII.* THE POST-HORN CALL. 
 
 ^m-tf-m^h -m- , ~^*- ! ^5- 7 -- - - V 
 
 No. IX. 
 
 HIGHER UP. 
 
 A RUSTIC CALL. 
 
 No. XI. 
 
 STEADY. 
 
 
 These Calls can be repeated ; and all those 
 marked '" can be sounded on Post-horns as well as 
 Coach-horns. 
 
460 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 In speaking of whips, I have nothing to guide 
 me except my own experience. I think it is a 
 mistake to have too heavy a whip, as it tires the 
 hand. I like a good heavy thong, as it can be more 
 easily thrown and caught than a light one, particularly 
 in a high wind ; and there is no doubt that a long 
 stick is advantageous in more ways than one, as it 
 enables one to reach one's leaders with greater ease, 
 and certainty of hitting them just where you desired. 
 I do not like the thong to be too thick close to 
 where it is attached to the stick ; in my opinion it 
 is better when it is not much graduated, but nearly 
 the same size all the way down, terminating in a 
 thick, heavy, whip-cord point ; the quills round which 
 the thread is bound should be very strong, as it is 
 here that frequently a whip will break when double- 
 thonging one's wheelers. I always prefer a holly 
 stick with plenty of knots, to which a whalebone 
 continuation is attached, which acts as an intermediary 
 between the stick and the thong ; this whalebone 
 gives the whip an immense amount of elasticity and 
 enables one to throw one's lash with the greatest 
 precision, whilst the knots on the stick allow of 
 the lash being caught and held so as to form a 
 loop with which to strike one's wheelers if necessary. 
 
 The handles are frequently now covered with seam- 
 less leather ; this, I am told, is the skin from the tail of 
 some animal drawn over the stick, after which it 
 undergoes some process to give it the requisite finish. 
 
 It must be remembered that the stick should be as 
 straight as possible ; nothing looks worse than a stick 
 that is bent. 
 
 Good whips when not in use should be hung up on 
 a whip-holder, screwed to the match-boarding on the 
 
WHIP-MAKERS. 461 
 
 harness-room wall ; they should hang perfectly straight. 
 These whip-holders are turned in a lathe, and are gene- 
 rally provided with one or two grooves for the thongs 
 of the whips which are suspended to them. When the 
 sticks are very much bent or the thongs are very much 
 twisted, it is well to hang a small weight on to both 
 the thong and the stick, and leave it for some time ; 
 this will straighten out the lash, and make the stick 
 straight also. A good whip should never be leant up 
 against a wall, as if it is allowed to remain there any 
 length of time, however straight it may be in the first 
 instance, it will soon become bent. 
 
 Some of the best whip-makers sell an excellent 
 portable whip, which can be unscrewed in the centre, 
 and is then laid on a flat, narrow mahogany board 
 purposely made to receive it, to which it is afterwards 
 secured by straps ; consequently, any coachman pro- 
 vided with such a whip can always carry a spare one 
 about with him in case of accident. Every coachman 
 must be aware what an advantage this is, as although 
 I do not advocate the too free use of the whip, yet 
 there are times when not to make use of one's whip 
 would endanger the safety of the coach and its 
 occupants. 
 
 I do not think I need say anything more about 
 whips or horns except to mention that Messrs. Callow 
 & Son, of 8, Park Lane, Piccadilly, and Messrs. 
 Swaine & Adeney, of 185, Piccadilly, are, so far as my 
 knowledge goes, the best whip-makers, although there 
 are, no doubt, others who do their work in a first-rate 
 manner. I have bought whips of James Schomberg, 
 122, Long Acre, who makes whips his speciality, and 
 who has given me perfect satisfaction. J. Wilkinson, 
 of Spa Road, London, S.E., used to supply the seam- 
 
462 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 less leather handles, but I have no doubt they can be 
 obtained of all good whip-makers ; there is this 
 advantage about them, that they look well and are more 
 comfortable to hold. 
 
 As for coach-horns, I know only three good makers, 
 although there are, no doubt, many more ; these are 
 Messrs. Kohler & Son (established 1780), of 116, 
 Victoria Street, Westminster; H. Potter & Co., 30, 
 Charing Cross, and Arthur Chappell, 52, New Bond 
 Street; but were I asked, I think I should be inclined to 
 say Messrs. Kohler stand pre-eminent as the makers of 
 all kinds of horns, particularly coach-horns, to which 
 they seem to have given a great deal of attention, and 
 whether it be the post-horn of twenty-seven inches, 
 the Beaufort coach-horn of thirty-six inches, the heavy 
 mail-coach horn of forty-six inches, or the telescopic 
 horn of unlimited length, Mr. Kohler will supply you, 
 and, moreover, will teach you how to blow it. Con- 
 sequently, having said this much, I think I may take 
 leave of my readers : veteran coachmen, coachmen 
 who aspire to the bench and to the handling of the 
 four ribbons, and those who are interested in the 
 subject, not because they were, are, or intend being 
 coachmen, but because over all that concerns the roads 
 and the wheels that travel thereon there exists for 
 them a certain amount of indefinable interest, since 
 these still afford an avenue for locomotion, and so long 
 as the world lasts we, its inhabitants, will roll about it, 
 unless in course of time some other means of progres- 
 sion be substituted for that of travelling on wheels over 
 the highways and byways of the world. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 CHIT-CHAT. 
 
 A private omnibus A miniature drag The price of horses Fifty 
 years ago The world on wheels Thompson's cyclometer 
 The Wealemefna Nature knows best. 
 
 WHATEVER a coach may be outside, it must be far 
 from pleasant riding inside on a fine day, as there is no 
 carnage with which I am acquainted that possesses a 
 more gloomy interior. In this respect the old coaches 
 used to be far worse than those built at the present 
 day; and when George III. was king, it required con- 
 siderable agility and dexterity to mount the steps 
 leading to the interior of a coach, the body of which 
 was hung very high, particularly the mail coaches ; and 
 when the passenger had safely deposited him or herself 
 on the hard, uncomfortable seats therein, the windows 
 being high up in the doors, they found themselves, 
 when the doors were closed, in semi-obscurity. Of 
 course, so far as regards outward appearance, nothing 
 can compare with a coach ; the very shape of a coach 
 conveys to one's mind the idea of four horses, and all 
 the stylish, business-like paraphernalia of the road. 
 
464 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 Yet in point of comfort for inside passengers a coach 
 compares very unfavourably with a private omnibus, 
 but an omnibus has no outside seat suitable for grooms 
 or guard ; besides which it cannot carry the same 
 number of persons outside, and as for appearance, 
 however well built, it cannot compare with a coach. 
 Why this is, it is difficult to say ; possibly our eyes 
 have become so accustomed to a coach in connection 
 with four horses, that we can tolerate no other vehicle, 
 whilst an omnibus is associated in our minds with a 
 public street conveyance, with a ride all the way from 
 Charing Cross to the Bank for twopence, with such 
 frequent stoppages to take up passengers that a very 
 natural contempt for this pottering mode of progression 
 fills our minds. However this may be, a coach, for the 
 reasons I have named, is preferable to an omnibus ; 
 but lately I saw a very excellent elevation drawing of 
 what may be called a station brougham, patented by 
 Messrs. Cockshoot & Co., of Manchester. 
 
 It is in my opinion a most excellent carriage, but 
 with carriages and harness, as I have before remarked, 
 one has to overcome very strong conservative pre- 
 judices which stand in the way of their adoption ; the 
 fact of being seated in any strange vehicle and forced 
 to remain still, deprived of the power of volition, the 
 observed of all observers, is particularly repugnant and 
 distressing to the feelings of civilised mankind, 
 especially to Englishmen. The first man who carried 
 an umbrella must have been possessed of greater 
 courage than the winner of a Victoria Cross, although 
 the quality, or rather the nature of such courage was 
 scarcely the same. 
 
 It is uncertain who the person was who evinced 
 this remarkable resolution, although an umbrella was 
 
A MINIATURE DRAG. 465 
 
 first used in Edinburgh in 1780, but Swift says in the 
 Tatler of October i;th, 1710 : 
 
 The tucked-up seamstress walks with hasty strides, 
 Whilst streams run down her umbrella's sides. 
 
 But to go back to our subject, or something more 
 nearly akin to it. 
 
 The carriage of which I have spoken is an excellent 
 substitute for a coach, where a very light vehicle is 
 required, and where the passengers are in all cases few 
 in number ; the only alteration that would be required 
 to enable four horses to be driven with comfort would 
 be to raise the box seat. I remember making a draw- 
 ing of a carriage of this description, never supposing 
 that it had already been done ; this is one more proof 
 that invention repeats itself, if proof were needed, but 
 the instances of its having done so are so numerous 
 that no evidence is needed of this fact by those who 
 pass their time in planning and contriving. A simul- 
 taneous invention, or two minds conceiving exactly the 
 same thing in exactly the same way, and even at 
 exactly the same time, is not surprising when one 
 comes to consider it ; even poets and authors have 
 given expression to exactly the same thought in 
 exactly the same words, and yet it can be proved 
 beyond doubt that neither one can have seen or read 
 a word of the rival composition. A drawing can be 
 had of the carriage to which I have made reference. 
 For use in the country by a family composed of only a 
 few members, and when it is desired occasionally to 
 drive four horses, nothing could be more convenient, 
 and even if a team be not driven it has the following 
 advantages : 
 
 As a station carnage it has a considerable capacity 
 
 2 H 
 
466 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 for carrying luggage, both in the boot, under the 
 driver's seat, and on the top. 
 
 It holds four persons inside, and five outside, nine 
 in all. 
 
 It forms both an open and close carriage, since 
 people of not too advanced an age can ride outside as 
 well as inside if sufficiently active to climb upon the 
 roof, or a ladder such as is supplied to coaches might 
 be made use of. It would be an excellent carriage for 
 travelling with a team, or with two strong horses 
 standing about 15.3 or 16 hands, or a light iron-framed 
 rumble could be fitted behind for one or two grooms, 
 and the passengers could either sit in or outside as 
 they were inclined and according to what the weather 
 might be. 
 
 Were two seats not fitted behind, the grooms would of 
 course have to be disposed of elsewhere ; and although 
 nothing looks worse than to see grooms always rushing 
 to the horses' heads, or getting down from their seats 
 without positive occasion for so doing, they should 
 nevertheless be accommodated with seats in such a 
 position that, in the event of requiring their services, 
 they will be able to descend with quickness and in 
 safety. Grooms or a guard on the back seat of a coach 
 can manage to do this well enough, but the same 
 thing would not be the case if they had to scramble up 
 and down from a front seat whilst the vehicle was in 
 motion. 
 
 There is one thing to which I have omitted to call 
 attention. This is, that in the old days of coaching- 
 let us say one hundred years ago notwithstanding the 
 great demand there must have been for horses, the 
 prices were nothing like so high as they are now ; and 
 even much later fifty years ago the prices were 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 467 
 
 exceedingly low. Bianconi did not, for his Irish cars, 
 give more than ten pounds a horse, and he frequently 
 purchased them for as low as five pounds. 
 
 Even speaking of fifty years ago reminds me what 
 great strides have been made in the comfort and con- 
 veniences of people's lives during that period. Else- 
 where I have spoken of one hundred years ago ; but 
 take the past half-century, and, if we consider the 
 change that has taken place during the past fifty years, 
 we cannot fail to recognise how great is the general 
 improvement that has been effected, and slowly and 
 almost imperceptibly diffused, over the world, more 
 especially in this particular quarter of the globe, and 
 yet this past fifty years consists only of the period 
 during which Queen Victoria has occupied the British 
 throne. As fifty years ago was a period when persons 
 journeyed on the road, I may not be wrong in referring 
 to it. 
 
 Fifty years ago our agriculturist reaped with a 
 sickle and threshed with a flail, instead of employing 
 complicated machinery ; umbrellas were rarely used, 
 and mackintosh coats were unknown. If one's house 
 caught fire in town or country, only a hand fire-engine 
 could be employed, since steam was practically un- 
 known in its application to fire-engines ; neither was 
 there, in those days, such a thing in use as a fire- 
 escape. As for our soldiers, they slew the enemy at 
 short range with an old musket possessing every fault 
 a musket could possess. Our naval armament was 
 built completely of wood, and, during hours of sick- 
 ness, a Gamp of the old school and not a trained 
 hospital nurse it was who watched beside the bed of 
 suffering humanity. 
 
 The chimney-sweep consisted, not of a big brush 
 
468 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 at the end of a succession of jointed rods, but of a 
 small urchin probably stolen from his parents, and 
 made to risk life and limb in ascending chimneys and 
 ridding them of the soot which had accumulated 
 therein. As for electricity, and its application to tele- 
 graphy, such a thing was unknown ; but one might so 
 multiply instances of general improvement that it would 
 require an enormous volume to record every one of 
 them. As for progress on wheels, wheels of some kind 
 are always rotating and bearing onwards the inhabitants 
 of this earth ; and the great wheel of time, which is the 
 only wheel that, to our knowledge, has ever solved the 
 question of perpetual motion, as it journeys onward, 
 naturally finds that a great improvement is observable 
 in this world during its progression. Improvement and 
 progress are words identical with civilisation. The 
 fruits of the earth that were presented to mankind 
 notably to our first parents were of such a multifarious 
 nature that, even up to the present time, we are in- 
 capable of comprehending their full extent. Earth, 
 and all thereon and therein, was one big puzzle, which 
 it was man's vocation to piece together ; the Deity 
 created a being, not only with thews and sinews like 
 the beasts of the field, but in His own image, and with 
 a brain capable of enabling him to piece together this 
 puzzle, by unravelling the mysteries of nature, and pro- 
 curing, both from the surface of the earth and from 
 what lay beneath it, all those things which, in course of 
 time, would contribute to a perfect comprehension 
 of its resources, so that eventually no portion of the 
 earth within the reach of mankind would be left unex- 
 plored, and nothing upon or within it would remain 
 unutilised. This gradual piecing together of this big 
 puzzle constitutes the progress of civilisation. Un- 
 
THOMPSON'S CYCLOMETER. 469 
 
 doubtedly, when all is accomplished that can be accom- 
 plished by mankind, then He who created will no 
 longer withhold the threatened destruction of the 
 world. Why such marvellous things should be created 
 merely to be destroyed is beyonl our comprehension ; 
 the eventual fate of human beings themselves is suf- 
 ficient to make us presumptuous in our curiosity, and 
 impertinently anxious to obtain a solution of such 
 problems. 
 
 But to descend from the sublime, not to the ridicu- 
 lous, but to matters which would almost appear so after 
 such an elevated flight into the realms of conjecture, 
 and to speak of what is significant to the subject at 
 present under consideration. I have on one of my 
 carriages a cyclometer for measuring the distance 
 travelled by carriages. The same thing is supplied to 
 bicycles and tricycles ; and I have often thought that 
 cabs might be fitted with a similar contrivance that 
 should indicate upon a dial in the interior of the cab 
 the distance traversed ; and there might even be a clock, 
 which should indicate the time during which a cab 
 waited at any particular place. Were any one to invent 
 any such contrivances, and make them so skilfully that 
 they would not get out of order, but would register 
 both time and distance correctly as explained, I have 
 no doubt there would be a very large sale for such 
 instruments, and they would, if reliable, certainly be a 
 great boon to the public, although cabmen might not 
 manifest quite the same amount of pleasure in their 
 use ; nevertheless, they would put an end to all dis- 
 putes, as, if recognised by Government, there would be 
 no gainsaying such evidence ; and there is no doubt 
 that such machines could be easily contrived and sup- 
 plied, if in large numbers, at a very low price. The 
 
470 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 
 
 great objection to the cyclometer is that one cannot put 
 the hands back. From the time it is first used it com- 
 mences its registration, and, as one continues to use it, 
 it goes on computing distance, so that, every time it is 
 used, one has to remember the distance already regis- 
 tered on the dial. It certainly might be unwound by 
 attaching it to the face-plate of a lathe, and, by working 
 the lathe, reverse the action of the carriage-wheel ; but 
 the labour of moving the treadle of the lathe sufficiently 
 long to bring the hand back to the starting-point would 
 be too great, and not worth one's while. It of course 
 registers distance, owing to the successive revolutions 
 of the carriage-wheel. The height of such wheel must 
 be given to the makers of the cyclometer, that they 
 may supply an instrument in exact accordance with the 
 wheel of the vehicle for which it is intended. The 
 maker's name and address from whom I obtained my 
 cyclometer is Thompson, 4, King Street, Tower Hill, 
 London, E. It is of course a patent. 
 
 When upon a driving tour it is useful, as one has 
 not then to calculate distance upon maps with either 
 compasses or any other instrument,'''" since you have 
 on your carriage the very best register of distance 
 that it is possible to imagine ; every yard of the way 
 is indicated ' on the dial that forms, as it were, the 
 screw cap on the box of the carriage wheel. If your 
 carriage merely pulls across the road or in the course 
 of your journey -makes the slightest detour, you are 
 conscious all the while that every yard of your way is 
 being registered ; and on the close of a long day's 
 journey, if there are no mile-stones to assist you, you 
 can easily prove the correctness or incorrectness of the 
 maps with which you are supplied, or verify the state- 
 
 f Perhaps the best instrument for measuring distances on a map 
 is the Wealemefna, sold by all mathematical instrument makers. 
 
NATURE KNOWS BEST. 471 
 
 ments of the aborigines who are frequently apt to 
 mistake distance, by a mere glance at your cyclometer. 
 I do not know whether a cyclometer could be fitted 
 to a mail axle. Probably not, until some alteration had 
 been made in the outside plate, and some plan contrived 
 for adapting it to such an axle ; in any case it should 
 not stand too far out, as it looks conspicuous, and is 
 apt to get injured by passing vehicles. 
 
 There is one thing the importance of which 
 travellers on wheels passing over our high and by-ways 
 are forced to recognise, this is " horse-shoeing ; " unless 
 horses be sound on their legs the progress of vehicles 
 to which they are attached is a matter of impossibility 
 to any one who values their reputation for good sense 
 and humanity. 
 
 I do not feel inclined to say more than a very few 
 words on this subject, for reasons which may eventually 
 appear ; but I implore coachmen not to let smiths 
 tamper with their horses' feet. For eight years I have 
 never had a single horse lame, neither hunters nor 
 carriage-horses, and I attribute this immunity merely 
 to the fact that I never allow the frog to be cut, the 
 sole to be pared, the heels to be opened, or the crust to 
 be rasped, being firmly convinced that Nature, who 
 orders all things for the best, takes under her especial 
 care the horses, whom man has subjected and subor- 
 dinated to his will and use. forcing them to quit the 
 pastures where undoubtedly they would prefer to re- 
 main, in order that, upon the hard metallic surfaces of 
 the high and by-ways of the world, these patient beasts 
 may labour unceasingly in our service. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 CHARLES DICKENS AND EVANS, CRYSTAL PALACE PRESS. 
 
r, HENRIETTA STREET, COGENT GARDEN, W.C. 
 
 MAY, 1888. 
 
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