The Dumfries Post Office, 1642-1910. 71 



Another incident, illustrative of the trying experiences of the 

 guards and drivers of the mail coaches, is recorded by M'Diarmid 

 in his " Picture of Dumfries." 



" We were roused from our beds on Friday morning, Febru- 

 ary 6, 1829," he says, " by a messenger who stated that the 

 miscreant Hare had arrived in Dumfries. At first we could 

 hardly credit the intelligence, . . . but on repairing to the 

 coach ofiice at the King's Arms Inn, a little after eight o'clock, 

 we discovered that the news was too true. By this time a con- 

 siderable crowd had collected, and every moment added to its 

 density. . . Nearly the whole of the high-street was one 



continued mass of people, so closely wedged, that you might have 

 almost walked over their heads, while Buccleuch-street was much 

 in the same state ; and, to express much in few words, the one, 

 as far as numbers went, reminded us of a great fair, when the 

 country empties itself of its population, and the other of what 

 takes place at an execution. The numbers of the people are 

 variously estimated, but the best judges are of opinion that they 

 could not be under 8000. As it was known that Hare was bound 

 to Portpatrick, the mob everywhere evinced the greatest anxiety 

 to see him pass by, and pay their respects to him in their oivn 

 way. But in the interim of more than four hours that elapses 

 between the arrival of the Edinburgh and the departure of the 

 Galloway or Portpatrick mail hundreds, if not thousands, were 

 admitted to see him. . . . The Edinburgh mail arrived at 

 about 20 minutes before seven, and as the crowd was soon on 

 the qui vive, it became necessary to secrete Hare in the tap-room 

 attached to the King's Arms, . . . where crowds continued 

 to visit him, almost up to the hour (eleven o'clock) when the 

 Galloway mail was expected to start. With a view to this, the 

 Inn yard was cleared not without difficulty, the horses yoked, and 

 the coach brought out ; but the mob, who, Argus-like, and with 

 far more than his eye, anxiously watched every operation, had 

 previously formed their plans almost by instinct, and their aspect 

 appeared so truly threatening that it was deemed impossible to 

 drive the mail along the High-street, if Hare was either out or 

 inside, with safety to any person connected with it. In these 

 circumstances, and while two passengers were sent forward a few 

 miles in gigs, the coach started perfectly empty, if we except the 

 guard and driver, and one of Bailie Fraser's sons, who seemed 



