192 ON THE GRAMPIAN HILLS. 



there was a great amount of truth in the description 

 of the difference between railway accidents and those 

 by coaches, given by old Will Bowers, the noted 

 Oxford coachman, to Sir Henry Peyton, when they 

 were discussing the subject in the early days of travel- 

 ling by steam. " If," said that admitted authority, 

 " an accident happens to a coach, why there you are ; 

 but if an accident occurs to a train, where are you ? " 

 Keflecting on the truth of this old and trite obser- 

 vation, and feeling that in my case " Hurry would be 

 the Devil," I decided on travelling safely and leisurely 

 along the road, and witnessing the way in which a 

 first-rate coachman handled the ribbons and tooled the 

 different teams from stage to stage, with the minutest 

 punctuality, which experience taught me would be the 

 case. Choosing Saturday last for my journey, I left 

 home in a heavy downpour that showed no signs of 

 cessation. Fortunately, before I reached The Cellar 

 a rift appeared in the clouds, then the sun emerged 

 from the gloom, bits of blue sky were visible, and for 

 the remainder of the day all went merry as a marriage- 

 bell. 



The Brighton coaches are driven alternately by 

 Mr. W. Stewart Freeman, Colonel Clitheroe, Mr. Anson, 

 and Lord Algernon Lennox. In the absence of the 

 proprietors, then Thorogood, the professional coach- 

 man, occupies the bench, doing so on this occasion, 

 and performing the journey with his accustomed punc- 

 tuality, arriving at The Old Ship as the hand of the 

 clock pointed to a quarter-past six the appointed 

 time notwithstanding the fact of his losing some 

 twelve or fifteen minutes by the troublesome conduct 

 of one of the second team, whom, however, he subdued 



