and make men careless of good horsemanship;that it hindered the
training of watermen and seamen; and interfered with the public
resources。 The reasons given are curious。 It was said that those
who were accustomed to travel in coaches became weary and listless
when they rode a few miles; and were unwilling to get on horseback
〃not being able to endure frost; snow; or rain; or to lodge in
the fields;〃 that to save their clothes and keep themselves clean
and dry; people rode in coaches; and thus contracted an idle habit
of body; that this was ruinous to trade; for that 〃most gentlemen;
before they travelled in coaches; used to ride with swords; belts;
pistols; holsters; portmanteaus; and hat…cases; which; in these
coaches; they have little or no occasion for: for; when they rode
on horseback; they rode in one suit and carried another to wear
when they camp to their journey's end; or lay by the way; but in
coaches a silk suit and an Indian gown; with a sash; silk
stockings; and beaver…hats; men ride in; and carry no other with
them; because they escape the wet and dirt; which on horseback they
cannot avoid; whereas; in two or three journeys on horseback; these
clothes and hats were wont to be spoiled; which done; they were
forced to have new very often; and that increased the consumption
of the manufactures and the employment of the manufacturers; which
travelling in coaches doth in no way do。〃*'12' The writer of the
same protest against coaches gives some idea of the extent of
travelling by them in those days; for to show the gigantic nature
of the evil he was contending against; he averred that between
London and the three principal towns of York; Chester; and Exeter;
not fewer than eighteen persons; making the journey in five days;
travelled by them weekly the coaches running thrice in the week);
and a like number back; 〃which come; in the whole; to eighteen
hundred and seventy…two in the year。〃 Another great nuisance;
the writer alleged; which flowed from the establishment of the
stage…coaches; was; that not only did the gentlemen from the
country come to London in them oftener than they need; but their
ladies either came with them or quickly followed them。 〃And when
they are there they must be in the mode; have all the new fashions;
buy all their clothes there; and go to plays; balls; and treats;
where they get such a habit of jollity and a love to gaiety and
pleasure; that nothing afterwards in the country will serve them ;
if ever they should fix their minds to live there again; but they
must have all from London; whatever it costs。〃
Then there were the grievous discomforts of stage…coach travelling;
to be set against the more noble method of travelling by horseback;
as of yore。 〃What advantage is it to men's health;〃 says the
writer; waxing wroth; 〃to be called out of their beds into these
coaches; an hour before day in the morning; to be hurried in them
from place to place; till one hour; two; or three within night;
insomuch that; after sitting all day in the summer…time stifled
with heat and choked with dust; or in the winter…time starving and
freezing with cold or choked with filthy fogs; they are often
brought into their inns by torchlight; when it is too late to sit
up to get a supper; and next morning they are forced into the coach
so early that they can get no breakfast? What addition is this to
men's health or business to ride all day with strangers; oftentimes
sick; antient; diseased persons; or young children crying; to whose
humours they are obliged to be subject; forced to bear with; and
many times are poisoned with their nasty scents and crippled by the
crowd of boxes and bundles? Is it for a man's health to travel with
tired jades; to be laid fast in the foul ways and forced to wade up
to the knees in mire; afterwards sit in the cold till teams of
horses can be sent to pull the coach out? Is it for their health to
travel in rotten coaches and to have their tackle; perch; or
axle…tree broken; and then to wait three or four hours (sometimes
half a day) to have them mended; and then to travel all night to
make good their stage? Is it for a man's pleasure; or advantageous
to his health and business; to travel with a mixed company that he
knows not how to converse with; to be affronted by the rudeness of
a surly; dogged; cursing; ill…natured coachman; necessitated to
lodge or bait at the worst inn on the road; where there is no
accommodation fit for gentlemen; and this merely because the owners
of the inns and the coachmen are agreed together to cheat the
guests?〃 Hence the writer loudly called for the immediate
suppression of stagecoaches as a great nuisance and crying evil。
Travelling by coach was in early times a very deliberate affair。
Time was of less consequence than safety; and coaches were
advertised to start 〃God willing;〃 and 〃about〃 such and such an
hour 〃as shall seem good〃 to the majority of the passengers。
The difference of a day in the journey from London to York was a
small matter; and Thoresby was even accustomed to leave the coach
and go in search of fossil shells in the fields on either side the
road while making the journey between the two places。 The long coach
〃put up〃 at sun…down; and 〃slept on the road。〃 Whether the coach
was to proceed or to stop at some favourite inn; was determined by
the vote of the passengers; who usually appointed a chairman at the
beginning of the journey。
In 1700; York was a week distant from London; and Tunbridge Wells;
now reached in an hour; was two days。 Salisbury and Oxford were
also each a two days journey; Dover was three days; and Exeter
five。 The Fly coach from London to Exeter slept at the latter place
the fifth night from town; the coach proceeding next morning to
Axminster; where it breakfasted; and there a woman Barber 〃shaved
the coach。〃*'13'
Between London and Edinburgh; as late as 1763; a fortnight was
consumed; the coach only starting once a month。*'14' The risk of
breaks…down in driving over the execrable roads may be inferred
from the circumstance that every coach carried with it a box of
carpenter's tools; and the hatchets were occasionally used in
lopping off the branches of trees overhanging the road and
obstructing the travellers' progress。
Some fastidious persons; disliking the slow travelling; as well as
the promiscuous company which they ran the risk of encountering in
the stage; were accustomed to advertise for partners in a postchaise;
to share the charges and lessen the dangers of the road; and;
indeed; to a sensitive person anything must have been preferable to
the misery of travelling by the Canterbury stage; as thus described
by a contemporary writer:
〃On both sides squeez'd; how highly was I blest;
Between two plump old women to be presst!
A corp'ral fierce; a nurse; a child that cry'd;
And a fat landlord; filled the other side。
Scarce dawns the morning ere the cumbrous load
Boils roughly rumbling o'er the rugged road:
One old wife coughs and wheezes in my ears;
Loud scolds the other; and the soldier swears;
Sour unconcocted breath escapes 'mine host;'
The sick'ning child returns his milk and toast!〃
When Samuel Johnson was taken by his mother to London in 1712; to
have him touched by Queen Anne for 〃the evil;〃 he relates;
〃We went in the stage…coach and returned in the waggon; as my mother
said; because my cough was violent; but the hope of saving a few
shillings was no slight motive。。。。 She sewed two guineas in her
petticoat lest she should be robbed。。。。 We were troublesome to the
passengers; but to suffer such inconveniences in the stage…coach
was common in those days to parsons in much higher rank。〃
Mr。 Pennant has left us the following account of his journey in
the Chester stage to London in 1789…40: 〃The first day;〃 says he;
〃with much labour; we got from Chester to Whitchurch; twenty
miles; the second day to the 'Welsh Harp;' the third; to Coventry;
the fourth; to Northampton; the fifth; to Dunstable; and; as a
wondrous effort; on the last; to London; before the commencement of
night。 The strain and labour of six good horses; sometimes eight;
drew us through the sloughs of Mireden and many other places。
We were constantly out two hours before day; and as late at night;
and in the depth of winter proportionally later。 The single
gentlemen; then a hardy race; equipped in jackboots and trowsers;
up to their middle; rode post through thick and thin; and; guarded
against the mire; defied the frequent stumble and fall; arose and
pursued their journey with alacrity; while; in these days; their
enervated posterity sleep away their rapid journeys in easy
chaises; fitted for the conveyance of the soft inhabitants of
Sybaris。〃
No wonder; therefore; that a great deal of the travelling of the
country continued to be performed on horseback; this being by far
the pleasantest as well as most expeditious mode of journeying。
On his marriage…day; Dr。 Johnson rode from Birmingham to Derby with
his Tetty; taking the opportunity of the journey to give his bride
her first lesson in marital discipline。 At a later period James
Watt rode from Glasgow to London; when proceeding thither to learn
the art of mathematical instrument making。
And it was a cheap and pleasant method of travelling when the
weather was fine。 The usual practice was; to buy a horse at the
beginning of such a journey; and to sell the animal at the end of
it。 Dr。 Skene; of Aberdeen; travelled from London to Edinburgh in
1753; being nineteen days on the road; the whole expenses of the
journey amounting to only four guineas。 The mare on which he rode;
cost him eight guineas in London; and he sold her for the same
price on his arrival in Edinburgh。
Nearly all the commercial gentlemen rode their own horses; carrying
their samples and lug
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