CruelUj to Coach Horses, 39 



brought up outside one of the coaching houses 

 in Biggleswade when all four of them have been 

 blowing as though their hearts would break, 

 the sweat literally pouring from them. True, 

 the stages were comparatively short, but some 

 of the drivers were devils untied. 



And, as you might expect, the worst 

 horses in the stables were always brought out 

 for the night runs. Here I may mention a 

 fact that will perhaps still be remembered by 

 others who lived in this district in the coaching 

 days. "Doctor" Fisher, who lived on the 

 Market Square, Biggleswade, sixty years ago, 

 and who was a very clever vet., grew so 

 accustomed to the running of the coach horses 

 that he could tell, while lying in bed, if one 

 of a team was lame. Often he would wake 

 up his wife as a coach was rattling past in the 

 night, with the remark : " Listen ! That off- 

 leader is lame," or " It's cruel to be running 

 that near-leader (or wheeler, as the case might 

 be) to-night." 



The railways have, of course, killed all 

 that prosperity which was brought by the 



