COACHING 



very popular : the coachmen did not spare the 

 horses on these occasions. This race took place 

 in 1808 :— 



* On Sunday, August 7th, a coach called the 

 "Patriot," belonging to the master of the **Bell," 

 Leicester, drawn by four horses, started against 

 another coach called the ** Defiance," from Leicester 

 to Nottingham, a distance of 26 miles, both coaches 

 changing horses at Loughborough. Thousands of 

 people from all parts assembled to witness the 

 event, and bets to a considerable amount were 

 depending. Both coaches started exactly at 8 o'clock, 

 and after the severest contest ever remembered, 

 the "Patriot" arrived at Nottingham first by two 

 minutes only, performing the distance of 26 miles 

 in 2 hrs. 10 mins., carrying twelve passengers.* 



Mishaps were so frequent and productive of so 

 many fataHties, to say nothing of broken limbs, that 

 at last general outcry arose for more stringent 

 repressive measures : and in 1820 a law (1 Geo. IV., 

 c. 4) was passed, making coachmen who might be 

 guilty of * wanton or furious driving or racing' 

 liable to imprisonment as well as to fine, even 

 though their proceedings were not brought to a 



17 c 



