COACHING 



saw the accident and seized the moment to give 

 his antagonist the go by, flogging the horses into a 

 gallop down the hill. The horses contrived to keep 

 on their legs, but took fright at something on the 

 road, and became so unmanageable in the hands of 

 a drunken coachman, that in their sweep to avoid 

 the object of their alarm, the driver could not 

 recover them so as to clear the post of the turnpike 

 gate at the bottom of the hill. The velocity was 

 so great that the coach was split in two ; three 

 persons were dashed to pieces and instantly killed, 

 two others survived but a few hours in the greatest 

 agony ; four were conveyed away for surgical aid 

 with fractured limbs, and two in the dickey were 

 thrown with that part of the coach to a considerable 

 distance, and not much hurt as they fell on a 

 hedge. The coachman fell a victim to his fury and 

 madness. It is time the Magistrates put a stop to 

 these outrageous proceedings that have existed too 

 long in this part of the country.' (St. Jameses Chronicle, 

 15th July 1815). 



The frequency of upsets is suggested by a letter 

 which appeared in the papers in 1785. The writer, 

 who signs himself * A Sufferer,' begs coach pro- 



11 



