ABERDEEN TO STONEHAVEN. 201 



spitted on an ashet before the fire. He would have 

 his rounds of beef of a certain circumference, and it 

 was because he despaired of finding a bullock of the 

 regulation size that he made Champion stand 

 proxy. 



The same spirit was seen in his management of the 

 Defiance. He would have first-class pace, and he 

 got it. The Union was "the old original," which first 

 went from Edinburgh through Cupar Fife, Dundee, 

 and Forfar to Aberdeen in one day ; whereas, prior to 

 its establishment in '26, the passengers spent the 

 night at Perth. Mr. Croall of Edinburgh, and Mr. 

 M'Nab of Cupar Fife, were the principal proprietors 

 of it ; and when the Defiance began, on July 1st, 

 1829, the two often met at Forfar and raced furiously 

 the remainder of the road. The Union was not got 

 up in the same style as the Defiance, as every pro- 

 prietor had his own harness, and there were no guards 

 in livery. Barclay of Ury, James Scott of Edinburgh, 

 Hugh Watson of Keillor, Donald Seaton of Bridge 

 of Earn, and Captain Skelton of Kinross, were the 

 first proprietors of the Defiance, which took the high 

 road by Forfar, Cupar Angus, and Perth to Queen^s 

 Ferry. Davy Troup, a proUgd of Captain Barclay's, 

 was one of the earliest coachmen ; and Henry Lind- 

 say was such an active guard, that he would drop off 

 behind, run round the coach, and on again when it 

 was going its best pace. Twelve miles an hour, in- 

 cluding stoppages, was the regulation speed ; and it 

 kept time so exactly, that half the watches in Stone- 



