COACHMEN 53 



names were not down on the way-bill, and whose fares 

 went into the pockets of the coachmen and guards 

 instead of the proprietor's. This well-established custom 

 flourished exceedingly despite strenuous efforts on the 

 part of those in authority to put it down. The most 

 ingenious device for the abolition of shouldering was 

 making the fine of 40s. payable to the turnpike men, who 

 eagerly embraced the opportunity of adding to their 

 incomes. The coachmen got out of the difficulty by 

 putting extra passengers down on one side of the gate 

 and taking them up on the other; a pradfice which 

 entailed a heavy penalty if detedled. 



Even more abhorrent than the "pikes" in the eyes of 

 the coachmen, were the professional informers who 

 patrolled the roads with the avowed intention of catch- 

 ing coachmen infringing some of the innumerable laws 

 which Parliament had enafted for the regulation of their 

 conduft, but which they ignored with the greatest 

 possible freedom. When an informer managed to 

 convi6l a coachman of shouldering, allowing amateurs to 

 drive, being the worse for drink, carrying excess luggage, 

 or committing any other sin for which a fine was ex- 

 pressly specified, he pocketed the whole or part of the 

 penalty as the Court might decide. 



As was only to be expefted, the coachmen hated the 

 informers with the bitterest hatred, and the whole of 

 their extensive vocabulary was inadequate to express 

 their opinion of them. Occasionally informers were seen 

 and recognized on the road; then ostlers became blind 

 and deaf, whilst the coachman with the most exquisite 



