LANCASHIRE ROADS. 41 



avoid it as the}'^ would a pestilence, for a thou- 

 sand to one they break their necks or their limbs 

 by overthrows or breakings down. They will 

 here meet with ruts which I actually measured 

 four feet deep, and floating with mud, only from 

 a wet Summer. What, therefore, must it be 

 after a Winter ? The only mending it receives 

 is tumbling in some loose stones, which serve 

 no other purpose than jolting a carriage in the 

 most intolerable manner. Let me persuade 

 all travellers to avoid this terrible country, 

 which must either dislocate their bones with 

 broken pavement or bury them in muddy 

 sand." 



In a well-known passage, Arthur Young vents 

 his spleen at the expense of the municipal 

 authorities of Lancashire, and reproachfully 

 reminds them that, thanks to their abominable 

 highways, London often suffers from want of 

 animal food, while country farmers are unable to 

 get more than five farthings a pound for good 

 beef! 



A coach and six is in our time never seen, 

 except as part of some pageant ; the frequent 

 mention, therefore, of such equipages in old 

 books is likely to mislead. We hear of private 

 carriages and public stage-coaches of six, and 



