12 ANNALS OF THE ROAD. 



horse to the coach tree, then he sitteth upon the saddle, 

 and when there were four horses he drove those which 

 went before him, guiding them with a rein.' 



In 1742 the Oxford stage used to leave London at 

 seven a.m., arrived at Uxbridge at midday, and at High 

 Wycombe at five p.m. ; here they slept, and thence pro- 

 ceeded to Oxford the next day. The Dover stage was 

 started in March 1 75 1 , as appears from the copy of an 

 advertisement on opposite page in the ' London Evening 

 Post' of that date. It will be seen that nearly two days 

 were then occupied in the journey from London to Dover. 

 This coach probably became afterwards a day coach, con- 

 tinuing its journey through from Canterbury, and it may 

 have been the first day coach to Dover. 



No passengers were then carried on the roof ; and the 

 conveniency referred to behind the coach was evidently 

 the basket in vogue for many years afterwards. 



As early as 1754 a company of merchants in Man- 

 chester started a new vehicle called ' The Flying- 

 Coach ' ; which designation it seems to have owed to the 

 fact that its proprietors contemplated running it at the 

 accelerated speed of about five miles an hour. Its 

 pretensions are set forth in the following terms : — 



1 However incredible it may appear, this coach will 

 actually (barring accidents) arrive in London in four days 

 and a half after leaving Manchester.' 



A hundred and twenty years ago there was no regular 

 staee coach from London to Edinburgh, and the Scottish 

 newspapers occasionally contained advertisements, stating 

 that an individual about to proceed to the metropolis by 



