An Old Coachman's Chatter, with Some Practical Remarks on DrivingCorbett, Edward
History
An Old Coachman's Chatter, with Some Practical Remarks on Driving
Corbett, Edward
Coaching (Transportation); Driving of horse-drawn vehicles
I cannot say that the return journey carries with it the same
pleasurable recollections, even after this distance of time. The
"Triumph" coach by which it was performed, was a night one between
Shrewsbury and Birmingham, and travelled by day above the latter town,
but as it had only a pair of horses up to there it was a very slow
affair, starting from Shrewsbury at eleven o'clock at night, and not
arriving at Birmingham before six on the following morning. To send a
boy back to school on a two-horse power, which consumed seven hours in
covering forty-four miles, seems rather like "adding insult to
injury." The only amusement we could by any possibility indulge in was
when we came to a turnpike gate, when the collector was sleepy and
slow in opening it, to cry out "Fire!" as loud as we could to alarm
him. We found that the cry of "Murder!" had no effect.
My recollection also reminds me that we did not always travel home by
the "Rocket." One Easter holidays three of us started from Eton to
post to London in one of the old yellow post-chaises, when soon after
passing Slough, the demon of mischief taking possession of us, we
determined to have some fun on the road, for which purpose we changed
half-a-crown into coppers, and using them as missiles, made a stealthy
attack upon the shop windows as we drove along. This fun lasted very
well till after changing horses at Hounslow, but upon passing through
Brentford, whether we had become too bold and careless, or whether the
inhabitants of that town were a sharper race, I don't know, but we all
of a sudden found ourselves the object of much interest to them, and a
man running out of a shop, seized hold of our horses' heads, and
calling us all the young blackguards he could think of, presented his
little account for broken glass, etc., etc. I need hardly say that
this was immediately settled without haggling, and telling the
post-boy to make the best of his way, we soon left the town of
Brentford, and further hostile attention on the part of its
inhabitants, behind us.
In the previous generation a case occurred when a journey home from
Eton was performed on a much grander scale than that which I have just
recorded, and as it was of necessity performed by road, may not be
inappropriately introduced in this place.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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