14 THE COACHING ERA 



first inception of a public conveyance can be traced back 

 to carriers' vans which moved slowly from place to place 

 carrying merchandise, and giving occasional lifts to 

 peasants by the way. From this beginning came the 

 great cumbersome waggons which gradually began to 

 travel to and from the country districts and London. 

 These huge wains, with tyres a foot or more in breadth, 

 usually travelled in companies, for support in case of 

 robbery, and assistance when they stuck fast in the mud, 

 as they did two or three times a day. Little provision 

 was made for the passengers, who shared the interior 

 with bulky merchandise, and bumped and jolted against 

 each other, as the waggon groaned and creaked on its 

 way at the rate of a couple of miles an hour. 



The waggoner either walked or rode beside his team, 

 which was rarely, if ever, changed during the journey, 

 so that it is little wonder the pace was slow, andt hat, 

 however ill-assorted, the unfortunate travellers had to 

 put up with close companionship for five or six days at 

 a time. These waggons usually travelled only by day 

 and stopped the night at some inn where the passengers 

 were provided with supper at sixpence a head, and 

 accommodated for the night in a large room or loft. 



Monsieur Soulbriere, a Frenchman who came to 

 England in the reign of Charles H, says: "I went from 

 Dover to London in a waggon. It was drawn by six 

 horses placed one after another, and driven by a waggoner 

 who walked by the side of them. He was clothed in 

 black, and affronted in all things like another St. George. 

 He had a brave monteror on his head, and was a merry 



