The Dumfries Post Office, 1642-1910. 39 



A.R.C.O. ; W. L. Blackie, Esq. ; W. Allan, Esq. ; J. G. Drum- 

 mond, Esq.; and J. Thomson, Esq., Hole i' th' Wa' Inn, Dum- 

 fries, for assistance in various ways. 



In the preparation of these pages the writer has found a 

 pleasant relaxation from the severer duties of a subordinate 

 position in the postal service. If the work should prove of 

 interest to his former colleagues in the Dumfries Office and help, 

 even in a small measure, towards a complete history of the Post 

 Office in Scotland, his labours will not have been in vain. 



I. — Introductory and General History. 



Like all institutions whose origin dates back to early times, 

 the first establishment of a postal system is somewhat obscure. 



What may be regarded as the initial step in the postal develop- 

 ment of our country is recorded during the reign of Edward II., 

 when we learn that private individuals kept horses for hire so that 

 a messenger might travel " post," i.e., by relays. 



It is not, however, clear that at this early date the post was 

 established as a public institution. In all probability it would be 

 used as occasion might demand and as soon as the requirements 

 of the moment had been satisfied the system would be allowed to 

 fall into disuse. 



Again, in the reign of Edward IV., it is recorded that when at 

 war with Scotland in 1481 he established a system of posts of 20 

 miles distance, so that he might receive early news of the progress 

 of his army, and in 1482 Parliamentary sanction was obtained for 

 the establishment of a public post to be paid out of the Treasury. •* 



These posts were controlled from the King's Household, and 

 an officer, known as the Master of the Posts, was appointed to 

 direct them.^ 



In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, about the year 1543, some 

 kind of regular system of posts was adopted, but it would appear 

 to have met with only a varying amount of success, as we find that 

 although letters were conveyed from London to Edinburgh in 

 four days (a rate of transportation exceedingly rapid for the 

 period) the arrangement was abandoned after a very short time. 



0. Proceedings of Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Vol. I., 

 p. 278. 



1. The Post Office: An Historical Summary. Published by 

 order of the Postmaster-General, 1911. 



