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JOHNA.SEAVERNS
TUFTS UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES
3 9090 013 415 639
Vetermary Library
Tufts University
School of Veterinary Medkme
200 Westboro Rd.
North Grafton, MA 01S36
The Stage Coach:
Old Times
Painting by G. D. Armour.
•^^. »\
COACHING
DAYS ssWAYS
BY
E.D. CUMING
■wrm lUATS-n^ATioNS by
(i-DENHOLMARNfOUR
THK BRITISH
SPORT SERIKS
HODDKl^^ AND STOUCIHTON
COACHING
THE many boons conferred by Mr. John
Palmer upon his generation faded before the
advance of the railways ; but he has deserved
well of posterity, if only for that he altered the
coach team from three horses to four. Until that
enterprising man undertook to demonstrate that the
coach could carry letters more rapidly and safely
than could the post-boy, our ancestors had been
content with the unicorn team ; but after Palmer
had astonished the world by making the journey
from Bath to London, in 1784, at the rate of
nearly seven miles an hour, the team of four
horses gradually but steadily supplanted that of
three in the stages on almost every road in the
country.
It is generally assumed that fast coaching only
came into existence after the macadamisation of
the roads ; but this is not quite the case. Under
favourable conditions the speed attained in pre-
5 B
COACHING DAYS AND WAYS
Macadam days was nearly as great as it became
later. The Sporting Magazine of June 1807 says :
* Lately one of the stage coaches on the North
road ran from London to Stamford, a distance of
90 miles, in 9 hours 4 minutes. The passengers,
four in number, breakfasted and dined on the
road, so it must have run at the rate of 12 miles
an hour all the time it was travelling.'
The * old heavies ' discarded under Palmer's
drastic rule worked out their lives as ordinary
stage coaches, and some of these remained on the
road until well on in the nineteenth century.
Nimrod's description of the old-time coachman
is worth giving : —
* The old-fashioned coachman to a heavy coach —
and they were all heavy down to very recent
times — bore some analogy with the prize-fighter,
for he stood highest who could hit hardest. He
was generally a man of large frame, made larger
by indulgence, and of great bodily power — which
was useful to him. To the button-hole of his coat
were appended several whipcord points, which he
was sure to have occasion for on the road, for his
horses were whipped till whipping was as necessary
6
COACHING
to them as their harness. In fair play to him,
however, he was not solely answerable for this ;
the spirit of his cattle was broken by the task they
were called to perform — for in those days twenty-
mile stages were in fashion — and what was the
consequence? Why, the four-horse whip and the
Nottingham whipcord were of no avail over the
latter part of the ground, and something like a
cat-o*-nine-tails was produced out of the boot, which
was jocularly called the "apprentice"; and a shrewd
apprentice it was to the art of torturing which was
inflicted on the wheelers without stint or measure,
but without which the coach might have been often
left on the road. One circumstance alone saved
these horses from destruction ; this was the frequency
of ale-houses on the road, not one of which could
then be passed without a call.
* Still, our old-fashioned coachman was a scientific
man in his calling — more so, perhaps, than by far
the greater part of his brethren of the present
day, inasmuch as his energies and skill were more
frequently put to the test. He had heavy loads,
bad roads, and weary horses to deal with, neither
was any part of his harness to be depended on, upon
COACHING DAYS AND WAYS
a pinch. Then the box he sat upon was worse
than Pandora's, with all the evils it contained, for
even hope appeared to have deserted it. It rested
on the bed of the axletree, and shook the frame
to atoms ; but when prayers were put up to have
it altered, the proprietors said, ** No ; the rascal
will always be asleep if we place his box on the
springs." If among all these difficulties, then, he,
by degrees, became a drunkard, who can wonder
at his becoming so ? But he was a coachman. He
could fetch the last ounce out of a wheel-horse by
the use of his double thong or his ** apprentice,"
and the point of his lash told terribly upon his
leaders. He likewise applied it scientifically, it was
directed under the bar to the flank, and after the
third hit he brought it up to his hand by the draw,
so that it never got entangled in the pole-chains, or
in any part of the harness. He could untie a knot
with his teeth and tie another with his tongue, as
well as he could with his hands ; and if his thong
broke off" in the middle, he could splice it with
dexterity and even with neatness as his coach was
proceeding on its journey. It short, he could do
what coachmen of the present day cannot do, because
8
COACHING
they have not been called upon to do it ; and he
likewise could do what they never tried to do —
namely, he could drive when he was drunk nearly
as well as when he was sober. He was very
frequently a faithful servant to his employers ;
considered trustworthy by bankers and others in
the country through which he passed ; and as
humane to his horses, perhaps, as the adverse
circumstances he was placed in by his masters
would admit.*
Time has dealt kindly with the reputation of the
old stage coachman, and popular tradition holds him,
as Nimrod portrayed him, a whip of unrivalled skill.
That there were such men is perfectly true ; ^ but
not every stage coachman was an expert : not
all were skilful or even careful, and not all were
civil : and if, as Nimrod says, they could drive as
well when drunk as when sober, the cold light of
contemporary record shows that there was ample
room for improvement. Take the following : — On
the 18th of May 1808 the coachman of the Ports-
mouth coach to London was intoxicated, and *'when
he came to the foot of the hill on Wimbledon
^ Robert Poynter drove the Lewes stage for thirty years without an accident.
9
COACHING DAYS AND WAYS
Common, instead of keeping straight on turned to
the left and found himself in Putney Lane, where
turning the corner of Mr. Kensington's wall in
order to get again into the road to Wandsworth,
the coach was overturned." He appears to have
driven on to the bank by the roadside. The ten
outside passengers were all more or less hurt,
one dying from her injuries, and the coachman him-
self had both legs broken. Accidents due to reck-
less driving and racing were very common, despite
the law* of 1790 which made a coachman who, by
furious driving or careless, overturned his coach,
liable to a fine not over five pounds. The following
is typical: —
*Last night occurred one of those dreadful catas-
trophes, the result of driving opposition coaches,
which has so stunned the country with horror that
sober people for a time will not hazard their lives
in these vehicles of fury and madness.
' Two coaches that run daily from Hinckley
to Leicester had set out together. The first having
descended the hill leading to Leicester was obliged
to stop to repair the harness. The other coachman
1 30 Geo. III., c. 36.
10
COACHING
saw the accident and seized the moment to give
his antagonist the go by, flogging the horses into a
gallop down the hill. The horses contrived to keep
on their legs, but took fright at something on the
road, and became so unmanageable in the hands of
a drunken coachman, that in their sweep to avoid
the object of their alarm, the driver could not
recover them so as to clear the post of the turnpike
gate at the bottom of the hill. The velocity was
so great that the coach was split in two ; three
persons were dashed to pieces and instantly killed,
two others survived but a few hours in the greatest
agony ; four were conveyed away for surgical aid
with fractured limbs, and two in the dickey were
thrown with that part of the coach to a considerable
distance, and not much hurt as they fell on a
hedge. The coachman fell a victim to his fury and
madness. It is time the Magistrates put a stop to
these outrageous proceedings that have existed too
long in this part of the country.' (St. Jameses Chronicle,
15th July 1815).
The frequency of upsets is suggested by a letter
which appeared in the papers in 1785. The writer,
who signs himself * A Sufferer,' begs coach pro-
11
COACHING DAYS AND WAYS
prietors to direct their servants, when the coach
has been overturned, *not to drag the passengers
out at the window, but to replace the coach on its
wheels first, provided it can be accomplished with
the strength they have with them.'
After coaches began to carry the mails, accidents
grew more numerous. We can trace many to the
greater speed maintained, others to defective work-
manship which resulted in broken axles or lost
wheels, many to top-heaviness, and not a few to
carelessness. The short stage drivers, on the whole,
were the worst offenders. For sheer recklessness
this would be hard to beat : —
* During the dense fog on Wednesday last, as a
Woolwich coach full of inside and outside passengers
was driving at a furious rate, just after it had
passed the Six Bells on its way to town, the coach-
man ran against a heavy country cart. The stage
was upset, and those on the roof were pitched
violently against an empty coal waggon ; two of
them fell on the shafts, one of whom had a shoulder
badly dislocated ; the other had his jawbone broken,
with the loss of his front teeth. A Greenwich
pensioner, with a wooden leg, had an arm broken,
12
Mail Coaches Racing:
Something Wrong with the
Opposition Coach
Painting by G. D. Armour.
COACHING
and some contusions on the head.' (BelVs LifCj 15th
December 1882).
It would be easy to compile a list of accidents due
to causes unforseen, each one, illustrating a different
danger of the road. Here are a few : —
* Tuesday afternoon, as one of the Brighton stages
was leaving London at a rapid pace, the pole broke
in Lambeth, and the coach was upset. Several
passengers had limbs broken and others were
injured.' (BeWs Life, 25th August 1822).
*A fatal accident befel the Woolwich Tally Ho
opposition stage on Tuesday. Coming down the
hill from the Green Man the horses became restive,
the coachman lost his command, and immediately
the whole set off at full speed. In turning a corner
the coach upset, being heavily laden outside. Out
of sixteen persons only one escaped without a leg
or arm broken, and four are not expected to survive.
The coach was literally dashed to pieces. The inside
passengers were more lacerated than those out-
side, owing to the coach being shattered to pieces
and their being dragged along the road for fifty
yards. But little hopes are entertained of a Major
M'Leod — a very fine young man ; not a vestige of
15
COACHING DAYS AND WAYS
his face is left except his eyes.' {BelVs Life^ 22nd
September 1822).
*A fatal accident happened to Gamble, coachman
of the Yeovil mail, on Wednesday, caused by the
leaders shying at an old oak tree. The coachman
was killed on the spot, and the guard escaped with
bruises. The horses started off and galloped into
Andover at the rate of 20 miles an hour. The
single inside passenger was not aware of anything
amiss until two gentlemen, who saw the horses going
at a furious rate without a driver, succeeded in
stopping them just as they were turning into the
George gateway.' {Times, 21st February 1838).
Coachmen and guards were apt to leave too much
to the honour of the horses when stopping, and it
was not at all uncommon for the team to start on
its journey with nobody on the box. An old coach-
man told Lord Algernon St. Maur that on one
night's drive he met two coaches without any
driver ! In 1806 (46 Geo. III., c. 36) it was made
an offence punishable by fine to leave the team
without a proper person in charge while the coach
stopped.
Organised races between public coaches were
16
COACHING
very popular : the coachmen did not spare the
horses on these occasions. This race took place
in 1808 :—
* On Sunday, August 7th, a coach called the
"Patriot," belonging to the master of the **Bell,"
Leicester, drawn by four horses, started against
another coach called the ** Defiance," from Leicester
to Nottingham, a distance of 26 miles, both coaches
changing horses at Loughborough. Thousands of
people from all parts assembled to witness the
event, and bets to a considerable amount were
depending. Both coaches started exactly at 8 o'clock,
and after the severest contest ever remembered,
the "Patriot" arrived at Nottingham first by two
minutes only, performing the distance of 26 miles
in 2 hrs. 10 mins., carrying twelve passengers.*
Mishaps were so frequent and productive of so
many fataHties, to say nothing of broken limbs, that
at last general outcry arose for more stringent
repressive measures : and in 1820 a law (1 Geo. IV.,
c. 4) was passed, making coachmen who might be
guilty of * wanton or furious driving or racing'
liable to imprisonment as well as to fine, even
though their proceedings were not brought to a
17 c
COACHING DAYS AND WAYS
close by overturning the coach. The new law did not
make an end of accidents : on the whole there were
fewer as the result of racing, but the records of
time bear ample witness to lack of ordinary caution.
For many years Macadam and Telford had been
devoting their ingenuity to the task of solving the
secret of road-making ; it was not until 1818 that
the Macadam system was finally approved and
adopted. Then the work of remaking the roads
of the kingdom was taken in hand, and the new
highways, when constructed, ushered in the brief
* golden age ' of coaching — say 1825 to 1838, the
mails having been transferred to the railways in
the latter year.
Nimrod's famous essay, written in 1835, shows in
convincing fashion the difference between coaching
in the olden days and at its best : —
* May we be permitted, since we have mentioned
the Arabian Nights , to make a little demand on our
readers' fancy, and suppose it possible that a worthy
old gentleman of this said year — 1742 — had fallen
comfortably asleep a la Dodswell, and never awoke
till Monday morning in Piccadilly? "What coach,
your honour ? " says a ruflSanly-looking fellow, much
18
COACHING
like what he might have been had he lived a hun-
dred years back. *'I wish to go home to Exeter,"
repHes the old gentleman, mildly. **Just in time,
your honour, here she comes — them there grey
horses; where's your luggage?" ** Don't be in a
hurry," observed the stranger ; ** that's a gentle-
man's carriage." "It ain't! I tell you," says the
cad; "it's the Comet, and you must be as quick
as lightning." Nolens volens, the remonstrating old
gentleman is shoved into the Comet, by a cad at
each elbow, having been three times assured his
luggage is in the hind boot, and twice three times
denied having ocular demonstration of the fact.
* However, he is now seated; and "What
gentleman is going to drive us ? " is his first question
to his fellow-passengers. "He is no gentleman, sir,"
says a person who sits opposite to him, and who
happens to be a proprietor of the coach. "He has
been on the Comet ever since she started, and is
a very steady young man." "Pardon my ignor-
ance," replies the regenerated; "from the clean-
liness of his person, the neatness of his apparel,
and the language he made use of, I mistook him
for some enthusiastic bachelor of arts, wishing to
19
COACHING DAYS AND WAYS
become a charioteer after the manner of the
illustrious ancients."^ "You must have been long
in foreign parts, sir," observes the proprietor. In
five minutes, or less, after the parley commenced,
the wheels went round, and in another five the
coach arrived at Hyde Park gate ; but long before
it got there, the worthy gentleman of 1742 (set
down by his fellow-travellers for either a little
cracked or an emigrant from the backwoods of
America) exclaimed, " What ! off the stones
already?" "You have never been on the stones,"
observes his neighbour on his right ; *' no stones in
London now, sir." ^
* In five minutes under the hour the Comet arrives
at Hounslow, to the great delight of our friend,
who by this time waxed hungry, not having broken
^ The old gentleman's conjecture was not far wrong. At this time, 1835, It
is true fewer men of good birth occupied the box than had been the case a few
years before — if we rightly interpret Nimrod's own remarks on the point. When
the box had been set on springs or made an integral part of the coach-body, when
the roads had been made worthy of the name and fast work the rule, coach-
driving became popular among men of social position. Some drove for pleasure,
horsing the coaches themselves, others took up driving as a profession and made
good incomes thereby. These gentlemen coachmen did much to raise the
standard of conduct among the professionals of humble origin. Lord Algernon
St. Maur (Driving, Badminton Library) says that Mr. Stevenson, who was driving
the Brighton Age in 1830, was ' the great reformer who set a good example as
regards punctuality, neatness, and sobriety.'
^ Until Macadam was adopted the streets In London were cobbled or paved.
20
COACHING
his fast before starting. '* Just fifty-five minutes and
thirty-seven seconds," says he, **from the time we
left London ! — wonderful travelling, gentlemen, to
be sure, but much too fast to be safe. However,
thank heaven, we are arrived at a good-looking
house ; and now, waiter, I hope you have got
breakf " Before the last syllable, however, of
the word could be pronounced, the worthy old
gentleman's head struck the back of the coach by
a jerk, which he could not account for (the fact
was, three of the four fresh horses were bolters),
and the waiter, the inn, and indeed Hounslow
itself (terraeque urbesque recedunt) disappeared in the
twinkling of an eye. Never did such a succession
of doors, windows, and window-shutters pass so
quickly in his review before — and he hoped they
might never do so again. Recovering, however, a
little from his surprise — **My dear sir," said he,
** you told me we were to change horses at
Hounslow? Surely they are not so inhuman as to
drive these poor animals another stage at this un-
merciful rate !" "Change horses, sir!'* says the
proprietor; **why, we changed them whilst you
were putting on your spectacles, and looking at
21 D
COACHING DAYS AND WAYS
your watch. Only one minute allowed for it at
Hounslow, and it is often done in fifty seconds by
those nimble-fingered horse-keepers." ** You astonish
me — but really I do not like to go so fast." *' Oh,
sir ! we always spring them over these six miles.
It is what we call the hospital ground" This alarming
phrase is presently interpreted : it intimates that
horses whose *' backs are getting down instead of
up in their work" — some "that won't hold an
ounce down hill, or draw an ounce up " — others
** that kick over the pole one day and over the
bars the next " — in short, all the reprobates, styled
in the road slang bo-kickers, are sent to work these
six miles, because here they have nothing to do
but gallop — not a pebble as big as a nutmeg on the
road ; and so even, that it would not disturb the
equilibrium of a spirit-level.
*The coach, however, goes faster and faster over
the hospital ground^ as the bo-kickers feel their legs
and the collars get warm to their shoulders ; and
having ten outsides, the luggage of the said ten, and
a few extra packages besides on the roof, she rolls
rather more than is pleasant, although the centre
of gravity is pretty well kept down by four not
22
COACHING
slender insides, two well-laden boots, and three
huge trunks in the slide. The gentleman of the last
century, however, becomes alarmed — is sure the
horses are running away with the coach — declares
he perceives by the shadow that there is nobody on
the box, and can see the reins dangling about the
horses' heels. He attempts to look out of the
window, but his fellow-traveller dissuades him from
doing so: **You may get a shot in your eye from
the wheel. Keep your head in the coach, it*s all
right, depend on *t. We always spring 'em over
this stage." Persuasion is useless ; for the horses
increase their speed and the worthy old gentleman
looks out. But what does he see? Death and
destruction before his eyes ? No : to his surprise
he finds the coachman firm at his post, and in the
act of taking a pinch of snuff from the gentleman
who sits beside him on the bench, his horses going
at the rate of a mile in three minutes at the time.
"But suppose anything should break, or a linchpin
should give way and let a wheel loose?" is the
next appeal to the communicative but not very con-
soling proprietor. ** Nothing can break, sir," is the
reply; *'all of the very best stuff; axletrees of the
23
COACHING DAYS AND WAYS
best K.Q. iron, faggotted edgeways, well bedded in
the timbers ; and as for linchpins, we have not one
about the coach. We use the best patent boxes that
are manufactured. In short, sir, you are as safe in it
as if you were in your bed." "Bless me," exclaims the
old man, ** what improvements ! And the roads ! ! ! "
**They are at perfection, sir," says the proprietor.
** No horse walks a yard in this coach between
London and Exeter — all trotting ground now." "A
little galloping ground, I fear," whispers the senior
to himself! "But who has efifected all this improve-
ment in your paving?" "An American of the name
of Macadam,"^ was the reply, "but coachmen
call him the Colossus of Roads. Great things have
likewise been done in cutting through hills and
altering the course of roads : and it is no uncommon
thing now-a-days to see four horses trotting away
merrily down hill on that very ground where they
formerly were seen walking up hill."
*"And pray, my good sir, what sort of horses
may you have over the next stage?" "Oh, sir, no
^ John Loudon Macadam was a Scotsman by birth. In 1770, when fourteen
years old, he was sent to the care of an uncle in New York, whence he did not
return till he was twenty-six years of age ; hence the mistake in describing him
as 'an American.'
24
COACHING
more bo-kickers. It is hilly and severe ground, and
requires cattle strong and staid. You'll see four as
fine horses put to the coach at Staines as you ever
saw in a nobleman's carriage in your life." **Then
we shall have no more galloping — no more springing
them as you term it?" "Not quite so fast over
the next ground," replied the proprietor; *'but he
will make good play over some part of it : for
example, when he gets three parts down a hill he
lets them loose, and cheats them out of half the one
they have to ascend from the bottom of it. In short,
they are half-way up it before a horse touches his
collar ; and we must take every advantage with
such a fast coach as this, and one that loads so well,
or we should never keep our time. We are now
to a minute ; in fact the country people no longer
look at the sun when they want to set their clocks
— they look only to the Comet. But, depend upon it,
you are quite safe ; we have nothing but first-rate
artists on this coach." "Artist! artist!" grumbles
the old gentleman, **we had no such term as that."
* **I should like to see this artist change horses at
the next stage," resumes our ancient; *'for at the
last it had the appearance of magic — * Presto, Jack,
25
COACHING DAYS AND WAYS
and begone!*" **By all means; you will be much
gratified. It is done with a quickness and ease almost
incredible to anyone who has only read or heard
of it ; not a buckle or a rein is touched twice, and
still all is made secure ; but use becomes second
nature with us. Even in my younger days it was
always half an hour's work — sometimes more. There
was — 'Now, ladies and gentlemen, what would you
like to take ? There's plenty of time, while the
horses are changing, for tea, coffee, or supper ; and
the coachman will wait for you — won't you, Mr.
Smith?' Then Mr. Smith himself was in no hurry;
he had a lamb about his coach for one butcher in the
town, and perhaps half a calf for another, a barrel
of oysters for the lawyer, and a basket of game for
the parson, all on his own account. In short, the best
wheel of the coach was his, and he could not be
otherwise than accommodating."
* The coach arrives at Staines, and the ancient
gentleman puts his intentions into effect, though he
was near being again too late ; for by the time he
could extract his hat from the netting that suspended
it over his head, the leaders had been taken from
their bars, and were walking up the yard towards
26
COACHING
their stables. On perceiving a fine thorough-bred
horse led toward the coach with a twitch fastened
tightly to his nose, he exclaimed, ** Holloa, Mr.
Horse-keeper ! You are going to put an unruly
horse in the coach." *'What! this here 'oss?'*
growls the man; *'the quietest hanimal alive, sir!"
as he shoves him to the near side of the pole. At
this moment, however, the coachman is heard to
say in somewhat of an undertone, ** Mind what you
are about. Bob ; don't let him touch the roller-bolt."
In thirty seconds more they are oflf — ** the staid and
steady team," so styled by the proprietor of the
coach. **Let 'EM go! and take care of yourselves,"
says the artist, so soon as he is firmly seated upon
his box ; and this is the way they start. The near
leader rears right on end ; and if the rein had not
been yielded to him at the instant, he would have
fallen backwards on the head of the pole. The
moment the twitch was taken from the nose of the
thorough-bred near-wheeler, he drew himself back
to the extent of his pole-chain — his forelegs stretched
out before him — and then, like a lion loosened from
his toil, made a snatch at the coach that would have
broken two pairs of traces of 1742. A steady and
27
COACHING DAYS AND WAYS
good-whipped horse, however, his partner, started the
coach himself, with a gentle touch of the thong, and
away they went off together. But the thorough-bred
was very far from being comfortable ; it was in vain
that the coachman tried to soothe him with his voice,
or stroked him with the crop of his whip. He drew
three parts of the coach, and cantered for the first
mile, and when he did settle down to his trot, his
snorting could be heard by the passengers, being as
much as to say, *' I was not born to be a slave."
In fact, as the proprietor now observed, *'he had
been a fair pHte horse in his time, but his temper
was always queer."
' After the first shock was over, the Conservative
of the eighteenth century felt comfortable. The
pace was considerably slower than it had been over
the last stage, but he was unconscious of the reason
for its being diminished. It was to accommodate
the queer temper of the race-horse,^ who, if he had
not been humoured at starting, would never have
1 It was not unusual for retired race-horses to end their days 'on the road.' A
notable instance Is that of Mendoza by Javelin. Mendoza won eight races at
Newmarket In his three seasons on the turf, 1791-2-3 ; then the Duke of Leeda
bought hJm as a hunter ; and after a few seasons with hounds he made one of a
team In the Catterick and Greta Bridge mail-coach. Mendoza was still at work
in 1807, but had become blind.
28
COACHING
settled down to his trot, but have ruffled all the rest
of the team. He was also surprised, if not pleased,
at the quick rate at which they were ascending hills
which, in his time, he should have been asked by the
coachman to have walked up — but his pleasure was
short-lived ; the third hill they descended produced
a return of his agony. This was what is termed on
the road a long fall of ground, and the coach rather
pressed upon the horses. The temper of the race-
horse became exhausted : breaking into a canter,
he was of little use as a wheeler, and there was then
nothing for it but a gallop. The leaders only wanted
the signal ; and the point of the thong being thrown
lightly over their backs, they were off like an arrow
out of a bow : but the rocking of the coach was
awful, and more particularly so to the passengers
on the roof. Nevertheless, she was not in danger :
the master-hand of the artist kept her in a direct
line ; and meeting the opposing ground, she steadied,
and all was right. The newly-awakened gentleman,
however, begins to grumble again. * * Pray, my good
sir," says he anxiously, ** do use your authority over
your coachman, and insist upon his putting the drag-
chain on the wheel when descending the next hill."
29
COACHING DAYS AND WAYS
** I have no such authority," replies the proprietor.
**It is true, we are now drawn by my horses, but
I cannot interfere with the driving of them." "But
is he not your servant?" **He is, sir; but I
contract to work the coach so many miles in so
many hours, and he engages to drive it, and each
is subject to a fine if the time be not kept on the
road. On so fast a coach as this every advantage
must be taken ; and if we were to drag down such
hills as these, we should never reach Exeter to-day."
* Our friend, however, will have no more of it.
He quits the coach at Bagshot, congratulating himself
on the safety of his limbs. Yet he takes one more
peep at the change, which is done with the same
despatch as before ; three greys and a pie-bald re-
placing three chestnuts and a bay — the harness
beautifully clean, and the ornaments bright as the
sun. Not a word is spoken by the passengers, who
merely look their admiration ; but the laconic address
of the coachman is not lost on the bystanders. **Put
the bay mare near wheel this evening, and the
stallion up to the cheek, ^* said he to his horse-keeper
as he placed his right foot on the roller-bolt — i.e. the
last step but one to the box. ** How is Paddy's leg?"
30
Modern Coaching:
In the Show Ring
Painting by G. D. Armour.
y
COACHING
** It's all right, sir," replied the horse-keeper. ** Let
'em go, then," quoth the artist, and take care of
yourselves."
*The worthy old gentleman is now shown into a
room, and after warming his hands at the lire, rings
the bell for the waiter. A well-dressed person
appears, whom he of course takes for the landlord.
**Pray, sir," says he, "have you any slow coach
down this road to-day ? " " Why, yes, sir, " replies
John ; ** we shall have the Regulator down in an
hour." *'Just right," said our friend; **it will
enable me to break my fast, which I have not done
to-day." "Oh, sir," observes John, "these here
fast drags be the ruin of us. " 'Tis all hurry scurry,
and no gentleman has time to have nothing on the
the road. " What will you take, sir ? Mutton-
chops, veal-cutlets, beef-steaks, or a fowl (to kill?)"
*At the appointed time, the Regulator appears at
the door. It is a strong, well-built drag, painted
what is called chocolate colour, bedaubed all over
with gilt letters — a bull's head on the doors, a
Saracen's head on the hind boot, and drawn by
four strapping horses ; but it wants the neatness
of the other. The passengers may be, by a shade
33 E
COACHING DAYS AND WAYS
or two, of a lower order than those who had
gone forward with the Comet ; nor, perhaps, is
the coachman quite so refined as the one we have
just taken leave of. He has not the neat white
hat, the clean doeskin gloves, the well-cut trousers,
and dapper frock ; but still his appearance is
respectable, and perhaps, in the eyes of many,
more in character with his calling. Neither has he
the agility of the artist on the Comet, for he is
nearly double his size ; but he is a strong powerful
man, and might be called a pattern card of the
heavy coachman of the present day — in other words,
of a man who drives a coach which carries sixteen
passengers instead of fourteen, and is rated at eight
miles an hour instead of ten. **What room in the
Regulator ? " says our friend to the waiter, as he
comes to announce its arrival. ** Full inside, sir,
and in front ; but you'll have the gammon board
all to yourself, and your luggage is in the hind
boot." *' Gammon board! Pray, what's that? Do
you not mean the basket?"^ ** Oh no, sir," says
John, smiling ; " no such thing on the road now.
It is the hind-dickey, as some call it ; where you'll
^ The early coaches were equipped with a huge basket slung over the hind
axle wherein passengers were carried at lower fares.
34
COACHING
be as comfortable as possible, and can sit with
your back or your face to the coach, or both^ if
you like." "Ah, ah," continues the old gentleman;
"something new again, I presume." However, the
mystery is cleared up ; the ladder is reared to the
hind wheel and the gentleman safely seated on the
gammon board.
* Before ascending to his place our friend has
cast his eye on the team that is about to convey
him to Hartford Bridge, the next stage on the
great western road, and he perceives it to be of
a diflferent stamp from that which he had seen
taken from the coach at Bagshot. It consisted of
four moderate-sized horses, full of power, and still
fuller of condition, but with a fair sprinkling of
blood ; in short, the eye of a judge would have
discovered something about them not very unlike
galloping. **A11 right!" cried the guard, taking
his key-bugle^ in his hand ; and they proceeded
up the village, at a steady pace, to the tune of
** Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled," and continued
at that pace for the first five miles. '*/ am landed"
thinks our friend to himself. Unluckily, however,
^ Only the mail-coach guard carried a horn ; stage-coach guards used the
key-bugle, end some were very clever performers on it.
35
COACHING DAYS AND WAYS
for the humane and cautious old gentleman, even
the Regulator was about to show tricks. Although
what now is called a slow coach, she is timed at
eight miles in the hour through a great extent of
country, and must, of course, make play where she
can, being strongly opposed by hills lower down
the country, trifling as these hills are, no doubt,
to what they once were. The Regulator, moreover,
loads well, not only with passengers, but with
luggage ; and the last five miles of this stage, called
the Bridge Flat, have the reputation of being the
best five miles for a coach to be found at this time
in England. The ground is firm ; the surface un-
dulating, and therefore favourable to draught ;
always dry, not a shrub being near it ; nor is
there a stone upon it much larger than a marble.
These advantages, then, are not lost to the Regulator,
or made use of without sore discomposure to the
solitary tenant of her gammon board.
* Any one that has looked into books will very
readily account for the lateral motion, or rocking,
as it is termed, of a coach, being greatest at the
greatest distance from the horses (as the tail of a
paper kite is in motion whilst the body remains
36
COACHING
at rest) ; and more especially when laden as this
coach was — the greater part of the weight being
forward. The situation of our friend, then, was
once more deplorable. The Regulator takes but
twenty-three minutes for these celebrated five miles,
which cannot be done without *' springing the cattle"
now and then ; and it was in one of the very best
of their gallops of that day, that they were met
by the coachman of the Comet, who was return-
ing with his up-coach. When coming out of rival
yards, coachmen never fail to cast an eye to the
loading of their opponents on the road, and now
that of the natty artist of the Comet experienced
a high treat. He had a full view of his quondam
passenger, and thus described his situation.
* He was seated with his back to the horses —
his teeth set grim as death — his eyes cast down
towards the ground, thinking the less he saw of
his danger the better. There was what is called
a top-heavy load — perhaps a ton of luggage on the
roof, and it may be not quite in obedience to the
Act of Parliament standard.^ There were also two
^ 50 Geo. III., c. 48 came into operation in 1810. This enacted that on a
four-horse coach baggage might be piled to a height of 2 feet. To encourage
low-hung coaches this law allowed baggage to be piled to a height of 10 ft.
9 in. from the ground.
37 F
COACHING DAYS AND WAYS
horses at wheel, whose strides were of rather
unequal length, and this operated powerfully on
the coach. In short, the lurches of the Regulator
were awful at the moment of the Comet meeting
her. A tyro in mechanics would have exclaimed,
**The centre of gravity must be lost, the centri-
fugal force will have the better of it — over she
must go! **
* The centre of gravity having been preserved,
the coach arrived safe at Hartford Bridge ; but the
old gentleman has again had enough of it. ** I
will walk into Devonshire," said he, as he descended
from his perilous exaltation. '* What did that rascally
waiter mean by telling me this was a slow coach ?
and moreover, look at the luggage on the roof ! "
"Only regulation height, sir," says the coachman;
*'we aren't allowed to have it an inch higher;
sorry we can't please you, sir, but we will try
and make room for you in front." *^ Fronti nulla
fides,** muttQYS the worthy to himself, as he walks
tremblingly into the house — adding, " I shall not
give this fellow a shilling ; he is dangerous."
* The Regulator being off, the waiter is again
applied to. *' What do you charge per mile posting?"
38
COACHING
*'One and sixpence, sir." ** Bless me! just double!
Let me see — two hundred miles, at two shillings
per mile, postboys, turnpikes, etc., £20. This will
never do. Have you no coach that does not carry
luggage on the top?" "Oh yes, sir," replies the
waiter, " we shall have one to-night that is not
allowed to carry a band-box on the roof."^ "That's
the coach for me ; pray what do you call it ? "
"The Quicksilver mail, sir; one of the best out
of London — Jack White and Tom Brown, picked
coachmen, over this ground — Jack White down
to-night." "Guarded and lighted?" "Both, sir;
blunderbuss and pistols in the sword-case ;^ a lamp
••^The conveyance of 'trunks, parcels, and other packages' on the roof of a
mail-coach was prohibited in the Postmaster-General's circular to mail con-
tractors of 29th June, 1807. As the mails increased it became impossible to
enforce this regulation, and the bags were carried wherever they could be stowed.
' The Druid ' says of the Edinburgh mail-coach: 'The heaviest night as regards
correspondence was when the American mail had come in. On those occasions
the bags have been known to weigh above 16 cwt. They were contained in
sacks seven feet long and were laid in three tiers across the top, €0 high that
no guard unless he were a Chang in stature could look over them . . . and
the waist (the seat behind the coachman) and the hind boot were filled as well.'
^ It must be remembered that the old gentleman s peks by the light of his
knowledge of nearly a century earlier, when highway robaery was very common,
and it was not usual for coaches to run at night. At the period to which
Nimrod refers highwaymen had not entirely disappeared from the roads (William
Rea was hanged for this oflFence, 4th July, 1828), and not every stage-coach
carried a guard. Mail-coaches, all of which carried guards, were, of course,
unknown to Nimrod's old gentleman.
39
COACHING DAYS AND WAYS
each side the coach, and one under the foot-board —
see to pick up a pin the darkest night of the year."
**Very fast?" **Oh no, sir, just keeps time, and
that's all." *' That's the coach for me, then,"
repeats our hero ; ** and I am sure I shall feel at
my ease in it. I suppose it is what used to be
called the Old Mercury."
* Unfortunately, the Devonport (commonly called
the Quicksilver) mail is half a mile in the hour faster
than most in England, and is, indeed, one of the
miracles of the road. Let us then picture to our-
selves our anti-reformer snugly seated in this mail,
on a pitch-dark night in November. It is true she
has no luggage on the roof, nor much to incommode
her elsewhere ; but she is a mile in the hour faster
than the Comet, at least three miles quicker than
the Regulator ; and she performs more than half
her journey by lamplight. It is needless to say,
then, our senior soon finds out his mistake ; but
there is no remedy at hand, for it is the dead of
the night, and all the inns are shut up. He must
proceed, or be left behind in a stable. The climax
of his misfortunes then approaches.
* Nature being exhausted, sleep oomes to his aid,
40
COACHING
and he awakes on a stage which is called the fastest
on the journey — four miles of ground, and twelve
minutes the time ! The old gentleman starts from
his seat, having dreamed the horses were running
away with the coach, and so, no doubt, they might
be. He is determined to convince himself of the
fact, though the passengers assure him ** all's right."
** Don't put your head out of the window," says
one of them, '*you will lose your hat to a
certainty": but advice is seldom listened to by a
terrified man, and next moment a stentorian voice
is heard, crying, *'Stop, coachman, stop — I have lost
my hat and wig!" The coachman hears him not —
and in another second the broad wheels of a road
waggon have for ever demolished the lost head-
gear.'
That was the Road at its best : the poetic side
we have in mind when we speak of the good old
days of coaching. The following passages refer
equally to the * golden age ' ; their very baldness
has an eloquence of its own. It is true that the
winter of 1836-37 is conspicuous in history for the
exceptionally heavy snowfall ; but as Nimrod has
shown coaching at its best, there is no injustice in
41
COACHING DAYS AND WAYS
presenting these glimpses of coach travel at its
worst : —
* Tabor, guard of the Devonport, who left London
with the mail on Sunday and returned on Wednes-
day, reports that a mile and a half from Amesbury
they got completely blocked. The leaders dropped
down, but rose again ; the near wheel-horse fell and
could not be got up. The coachman procured a
pair of post horses, but they could only get the
wheel-horse out of the snow ; it was impossible to
get him on his legs. Four more post horses and
four waggon horses were requisitioned, and with their
assistance the mail was extricated by daylight. Then
they travelled with the six post horses across the
Downs. They were again blocked near Mere.
About a hundred men were at this time employed
a little distance off in digging out the Subscription
and Defiance coaches. After being extricated by
some labourers they resumed their progress from
Mere with four fresh mail-horses and two posters.
Between Ilchester and Ilminster the post horse
leaders fell in a snow drift, and were run upon
by the mail leaders.' {Bell's Life, January 1837).
'The Estafette coach from Manchester on Sunday
42
COACHING
morning did not reach London until Tuesday night,
having been dug out of the snow twelve times.
It was the first coach from Manchester of the
same day that arrived in town. The guard attri-
butes his success to the exertions of four sailors,
outside passengers, who lent a hand at every
casualty.*
* A gentleman who left Sheffield by the Hope
coach of Sunday week reports that the coach did
not complete its journey until Saturday afternoon.
Between Nottingham and Mansfield, close to the
Forest, they came upon three coaches blocked in
the snow, which was lying 9 feet deep. The Hope
left Mansfield with eight horses and was driven
into Nottingham with ten. They picked up a poor
boy nearly perished with cold. The boy was got
by a gentleman jumping down while the coach was
in motion, for the coachman declared that if he came
to a dead stop he would not be able to get the wheels
in motion again.' {BelPs Life, 8th January 1837).
Highway robbery was still practised at this time,
but the armed horseman with crape mask and
pistols had gone out of fashion, and thefts were
accomplished by craft.
43
COACHING DAYS AND WAYS
* The Stirling mail has been robbed of notes to
the value of £13,000 in the following manner : —
A man took his seat at Stirling as an outside
passenger. The mail was followed closely from
Stirling by a gig containing two men. When the
mail arrived at Kirkliston the guard stopped to
take out the customary bags to leave there. The
gig also stopped there, and the two men in it went
into the house. The guard had left the mail box
open, in which the parcels were, and the outside
passenger easily abstracted the one containing the
notes. He then left the coach. The gig with the
two men took the Queensferry Road. The parcels
were not missed until the mail reached Edinburgh.
On the Queensferry Road the two men were joined
by their accomplice, the outside passenger. They
left the gig and took a post chaise for Edinburgh.
They discharged the chaise before entering the
city and gave the post-boy £3.' (^Bell's Life, 2nd
January 1825).
Great improvements in all matters connected with
coaching were made during the first two decades
of the nineteenth century : these were due to the
rage for driving that prevailed about this time.
44
COACHING
The King was deeply interested in coaching, was
himself no mean whip, and he set the fashion.
It did not last very long. Nimrod, writing in 1835,
remarks that about 1825 * thirty to forty four-in-
hand equipages were constantly to be seen about
town : one is stared at now.'
The driving clubs held * meets ' in George the
Third's time much as they do at present, but the
vehicles used were 'barouche landaus,' and the drive
taken was much longer than that in vogue to-day.
Bedfont beyond Hounslow, and Windsor were
favourite places whither the coaches — * barouche
landaus' — drove in procession to dine. Very par-
ticular attention was paid to dress. This was the
costume in which members of the Whip Club,
founded in 1808 as a rival to the Benson, mounted
their boxes on 6th June 1808, in Park Lane, to
drive to Harrow : —
*A light, drab-colour cloth coat made full, single
breast with three tier of pockets, the skirt reach-
ing to the ancles ; a mother of pearl button the
size of a crown piece ; waistcoat blue and yellow
stripe, each stripe an inch in depth ; small clothes
corded silk plush made to button over the calf of
45
COACHING DAYS AND WAYS
the leg, with sixteen strings and rosettes to each
knee. The boots very short and finished with very
broad straps which hang over the tops and down
to the ancle. A hat three inches and a half
deep in the crown only, and the same depth in
the brim exactly. Each wore a large bouquet at
the breast, thus resembling the coachmen of our
nobility who, on His Majesty's birthday, appear in
that respect so peculiarly distinguished,' ^
Grimaldi the clown, then at the zenith of his
fame, burlesqued this get-up so mercilessly that a
less conspicuous garb was adopted.
The fifteen barouche landaus which turned out
on this occasion, driven by * men of known skill
in the science of charioteering,* were well calculated
to set off the somewhat conspicuous attire of the
members : they were * Yellow-bodied carriages
with whip springs and dickey boxes ; cattle oi a
^ This refers to the 'mail-coach parade,' which was first held in 1799 and for
the last time in 1835. The coaches, to the number of about twenty-five, were
either new or newly painted with the Royal Arms on the door, the stars of
each of the four Orders of Knighthood on the upper panel, and the name of
the town whither the coach ran on the small panel over each door. Coachmen
and guards wore new uniforms and gentlemen used to lend their best teams—
often also their coachmen, as appears from the passage quoted. A horseman
rode behind each coach to make the procession longer. The * meet ' took
place in Lincoln's Inn Fields and the coaches drove to St. James's, there turning
to come back to the General Post Office, then in Lombard Street.
46
Tandem
Painting by G. D. Armour.
COACHING
bright bay colour with silver plate ornaments on
the harness and rosettes to the ears.'
The meets of the driving clubs appear to have
roused a spirit of ribaldry in unregenerate youth.
One day in March 1809 a young Etonian made
his appearance in a low phaeton with a four-in-
hand of donkeys, with which he brought up the
rear of the procession as it drove round Grosvenor
and Berkeley Squares.
The Driving Club was the Benson, which had
been founded in 1807. Sir Henry Peyton was
the last survivor of the 'noble, honourable, and
respectable' drivers who composed it. Thackeray
described him in the last of his papers on The
Four Georges as he appeared driving the *one solitary
four-in-hand' to be seen in the London parks.
He was then (1851) very old, and attracted atten-
tion as much by his dress, which was of the fashion
of 1825, as by his then unique turn-out.
The Benson Club came to an end in 1853. The
Whip Club, otherwise the Four Horse Club, came
to an end in 1838. The Defiance Club, for mem-
bers who had been * lately permitted to retire'
from the other two, was projected in 1809, but
49 G
COACHING DAYS AND WAYS
it does not appear to have come to anything. The
Richmond Drag Club was founded in 1838, but it
did not survive for many years ; the members to the
number of fifteen or sixteen used to meet at Lord
Chesterfield's house. These were the principal clubs.
Some of the amateur whips of a century ago
were addicted to coach matches. Here is the
account of such a race from the Sporting Magazine
of 1802:—
* Mail Coach Match.— On Thursday, May 20th,
the London Mail, horsed by Mr. Laud, of the
New London Inn, Exeter, with four beautiful
grey horses, and driven by Mr. Cave Browne, of
the Inniskilling Dragoons, started (at the sound of
the bugle) from St. Sydwell's for a bet of Five
Hundred Guineas against the Plymouth Mail,
horsed by Mr. Phillipps, of the Hotel, with four
capital blacks, and driven by Mr. Chichester, of
Arlington House, which got the mail first to
the Post Office in Honiton. The bet was won
easy by Mr. Browne. A very great concourse
of people assembled on this occasion.'
In 1811 Mr. George Seward undertook to drive
a four-in-hand fifteen miles in fifty minutes. He
50
COACHING
selected the road from Hyde Park Corner to Staines,
and started at six in the morning. He failed
to accompHsh his undertaking, but only by three
minutes twenty seconds.
There was more originality about the competition
arranged in May 1805 between Mr. Charles Buxton,
inventor of the bit known by his name and one of the
founders of the Whip Club, and a horse-dealer : —
' One of our most celebrated whips Charles
Buxton, Esq., has concluded a bet of 500 Guineas
with Mr. Thomas Hall, the dealer in horses. The
object of the wager is to decide which of the two
is the best driver of four unruly horses. The
wager is to be decided by two friends of the
parties, who are to pick out eight horses from
Spencer's, Marsden's, and White's. Lords Barry-
more and Cranley are chosen as the umpires. The
horses selected are only to be those which have
not been broken in. The friend of each charioteer
Is to pick the horses alternately until the number
agreed on is selected. The parties are then to
mount the box and proceed to decide the wager.
The bettings already are said to be considerable.
Neither the scene of action nor the day when the
51
COACHING DAYS AND WAYS
contest is to take place are yet determined on.
Mr. Buxton is said to be so certain of success
that he has offered to double the bet.'
Though the law of 1820 made racing a criminal
offence, the practice was one which could not be
wholly put down, and on May-day the law was
set at naught by popular consent, rival coaches
on that day racing one another without disguise :
the May-day race became an institution of the road,
and seems to have been winked at by the author-
ities. Some wonderful records were made in these
contests on the macadam. Thus, on 1st May 1830,
the Independent Tally Ho ran from London to
Birmingham, 109 miles, in 7 hours 39 minutes.
It was not rare for a coach to perform its journey
at a rate of fifteen miles an hour on May-day.
We may compare this with the time made in the
Leicester-Nottingham race of 1808 mentioned on
page 17.
It is seventy years since the carriage of the
mails was transferred from coach to railway train,
and there are yet living men who can remember
the last journeys of the mail-coaches, some carrying
little flags at half-mast, some displaying a miniature
52
COACHING
coffin, emblematic of the death of a great institution.
Yet the mail-coach survived until a much later date
in some districts, where the line was slow to
penetrate. Mr. S. A. Kinglake, in Baily^s Magazine
of 1906, gave an account of the Oxford and
Cheltenham coach, which only began to carry the
mails in 1848, and made its last trip in 1862, when
the opening of a new branch line ousted this
lingerer on the roads.
The interregnum between the last of the old coaches
and the modern era was not a very long one :
indeed, taking the country as a whole, and accept-
ing the coach as subsidiary to the railway, the old
and the new overlap. Modern road coaching dates
from the later 'sixties, when the late Duke of
Beaufort, with some others, started the Brighton
coach. This was the first of several private ventures
of the same kind: their primary object was to enable
the owners to enjoy the pleasure of driving a team,
and the financial side of the business was not much
regarded. The subscription coach was a later
development, with the same object in view, pleasure
rather than money-making, and the large majority
of the coaches which run from London to Brighton,
53 H
COACHING DAYS AND WAYS.
St. Albans, Guildford, and other places within an
easy day's journey are maintained by small syndi-
cates of subscribers, who take turns on the box.
American visitors patronise these vehicles extensively,
and no doubt to their support may be traced Mr.
Vanderbilt's venture on the Brighton road.
The modern coach travels quite as fast as its
predecessor when required : as witness James Selby's
famous performance on 13th July 1888. He left
the White Horse Cellar at 10 a.m. ; arrived at
the Old Ship, Brighton, 1.56 p.m. ; turned and
reached town at 5.50 ; the journey out and home
again being accomplished in 7 hours 50 minutes ;
part of the way between Earlswood and Horley
he travelled at a rate of twenty miles an hour.
Nor are modern horse-keepers less * nimble
fingered ' than those of whom Nimrod wrote. At
the International Horse Show of 1908 Miss Brockle-
bank's grooms won the Hon. Adam Beck's prize
for *Best coach and appointments and quickest
change of teams ' : the change was accomplished
in forty-eight seconds. During James Selby's
Brighton drive horses were changed at Streatham
in forty-seven seconds.
54
COACHING
The road coachmen of the present day do not
aim at lightning changes of team : the work is
done in leisurely fashion, and passengers enjoy the
opportunity afforded them to get down for a few
minutes.
The Four-in-Hand Club, founded in 1856, for
many years used to meet in the Park at quarter
to five in the afternoon, but the hour was changed
to half-past twelve in order to avoid the incon-
venience inseparable from meeting at the time
when carriages are most numerous.
The Coaching Club was founded in 1870, and
held its first meet at the Marble Arch in June
the following year.
SONG OF THE B.D.C. i
You ask me, Gents, to sing a song.
Don't think me too encroaching.
I won't detain you very long,
With one of mine on coaching.
No rivalry we have to fear,
Nor jealous need we be, Sir,
We all are friends who muster here,
And in the B.D.G. Sir.
^ Benson Driving Club.
55
COACHING DAYS AND WAYS
Horace declares the Greeks of old
Were once a driving nation ;
But Shakespeare says 'The World's a stage '-
A cutish observation.
The stage he meant, good easy man,
Was drawn by nine old Muses ;
But the Mews for me is the B.D.G.,
And that's the stage I chooses.
I call this age the Iron Age
Of railways and pretension.
And coaching now is in a stage
Of horrible declension,
The day's gone by when on the fly
We roU'd to Alma Mater,
And jovial took the reins in hand
Of the Times or Regulator.
Those were the days when Peyton's grays
To Bedfont led the way. Sir,
And Villebois followed with his bays
In beautiful array. Sir.
Then Spicer, too, came next in view
To join the gay procession.
Oh ! the dust we made— the cavalcade
Was neat beyond expression.
No turnpike saw a fancy team
More neat than Dolphin sported,
When o'er the stones with Charley Jones,
To Bedfont they resorted.
56
COACHING
Few graced the box so much as Cox;
But there were none, I ween, Sir,
Who hold the reins 'twixt here and Staines
More slap up than the Dean, Sir.
Those are the men who foremost then
To coaching gave a tone. Sir,
And hold they will to coaching still,
Tho' here they stand alone. Sir —
Then drink to the coach, the B.D.G.,
Sir Henry and his team. Sir,
And may all be Mowed right oflf the road
Who wish to go by steam, Sir.
57
TANDEM DRIVING
IT is said, but I must confess failure to trace
authority for the statement, that tandem driving
was invented as a convenient and sporting method
of taking the hunter to the meet. History has not
handed down to fame the name of the man who
first hit upon the idea of driving tandem ; it was
in vogue over a century ago, and at Cambridge
ranked as a grave offence : witness the following
edict dated 10th March 1807:—
*We, the VICE-CHANCELLOR AND HeADS OF
Colleges, do hereby order and decree that if any
person or persons in statu pupillari shall be found
driving any tandem and shall be duly convicted
thereof before the vice-chancellor, such person
or persons so offending shall for the first offence
be suspended fromltaking his degree for one whole
year, or be rusticated, according to the circum-
stances of the case; and for the second offence
be liable to such further punishment as it may
appear to deserve, or be expelled the university.'
Extravagantly high gigs were much in favour
among the * bloods' of the day, and these were
58
TANDEM DRIVING
often used for tandem driving, a purpose for which
they were by no means unsuitable, always provided
the road was fairly level.
As a matter of course, when tandems became
numerous and drivers clever in handling them,
races against time came into fashion. Matches on
the road, whether trotting in saddle or driving,
were usually * against time ' for obvious reasons.
On April 14th 1819 the famous whip, Mr. Buxton,
backed himself to drive tandem without letting his
horses break their trot, from Hounslow to Hare
Hatch, distance twenty-four miles, in two hours.
His horses, however, were not well matched, and
* broke' before they had gone six miles. As break-
ing involved the penalty of turning the equipage
round and starting afresh, and breaks were frequent,
Mr. Buxton occupied over an hour in going ten
miles and gave up, forfeiting the hundred guineas
he had staked on the task.
On 19th May 1824 a match was thus recorded in
the Sporting Magazine: —
* Captain Swann undertook a tandem match from
Ilford, seven miles over a part of Epping Forest.
He engaged to drive 12 miles at a trot and to
59
COACHING DAYS AND WAYS
back his wheels if he broke into a gallop. This
happened only once in the seventh mile, which
he nevertheless completed in 33 minutes. On his
return the pacing of the horses was a picture.
The match was won fairly with two minutes and
six seconds to spare.'
A Mr. Houlston in the same year drove his tandem
twelve miles on the Winchester Road in one minute
thirty-nine seconds under the hour allowed. By
this time tandem drivers had come to the reason-
able conclusion that the turning penalty (proper
enough in trotting matches, whether in shafts or
saddle) was excessive for their sport, and * backing'
had been substituted therefor. Any one who has
had occasion to turn a tandem on the road without
assistance will admit that the abolition was wise.
Long journeys against time were sometimes under-
taken. In 1824
* Captain Bethel Ramsden undertook to drive
tandem from Theale to London, 43 miles, in 3
hours and 40 minutes. The start took place at four
o'clock in the morning, and in the first hour the
captain did 12j miles to between Twyford and
Hare Hatch. He did in the next hour 12 miles
60
TANDEM DRIVING
and upwards, and got the horses' mouths cleaned
at Slough. He had 5^ miles to do in the last forty
minutes, and performed it easily with eleven
minutes to spare.*
The cult of the trotting horse stood high in those
days when so much travelling was done in the
saddle : there are innumerable records of trotters
doing their fifteen and sixteen miles on the road
within the hour, sometimes under very heavy
weights. Mr. Charles Herbert's horse, in 1791,
trotted 17 miles in 58 minutes 40 seconds on the
Highgate Road, starting from St. Giles' Church.
The road is by no means a level one, and the only
advantage the horse had was the hour selected —
between six and seven in the morning, when the
traffic was not heavy.
A famous whip of the 'thirties was Mr. Burke of
Hereford — he was also an amateur pugilist of renown,
but that does not concern us here. In June 1839
he made his thirty-fifth trotting match, whereby he
undertook to drive tandem forty-five miles in three
hours. The course was from the Staines end of
Sinebury Common to the fifth milestone towards
Hampton : he did it with four and a half minutes
61
COACHING DAYS AND WAYS
to spare. The horses used in this match were both
extraordinary trotters : the wheeler, Tommy, had
covered 20 miles in 1 hour 18 minutes two months
earlier, and the leader, Gustavus, twenty-four years
old, had done his 20 miles in 1 hour 14 minutes.
Though not a tandem performance in the strict
sense of the term, Mr. Thanes' feat on 12th July
1819 is worth mention. He undertook *to drive
three horses in a gig, tandem fashion, eleven miles
within the hour on the trot, and to turn if either
horse broke.* Fortunately none of the three did
break, and he did the eleven miles, on the road
near Maidenhead, with three minutes to spare.
Tandem driving seems to have gone out of
fashion to a certain extent about 1840, though
some young men * still delighted in it.' The re-
establishment of the Tandem Club, soon after the
close of the Crimean War, marked a revival which
made itself felt at Cambridge ; for on 22nd February
1866 the Senate passed another edict, this time
forbidding livery-stable keepers to let out on hire
tandems or four-in-hands to undergraduates. This
was confirmed in 1870.
62
VetMlnary tJbrary
Tufts University
School of Veterinary Medicine
200 Westboro Rd.
North G'lftan. MA C1!;56
