98 THE COACHING ERA 



road were accustomed to set their watches by it. At 

 the end of the year the Stag was taken off, having 

 accomplished its purpose and run the Nimrod off the 

 road. 



So dearly did the old coachmen love a race that, if 

 they could not pit themselves against the opposition, 

 they were perfeftly ready to make a trial of speed with 

 anyone of a sporting tendency, and many wagers were 

 laid on horses and ponies backed to race coaches for 

 certain defined distances. The York mail came to grief 

 during one of these contests, for the coachman was so 

 determined to beat the horseman in question that he 

 lost all sense of prudence in his excitement and turned 

 round a corner so sharply that the coach heeled over. 

 One of the passengers was killed, and the others all 

 seriously injured. 



Such races were, no doubt, abhorrent to travellers 

 not possessed of sporting instincts, but there were some 

 trials of speed which, by their novelty, afforded coach 

 passengers considerable amusement and entertainment. 

 A miniature four-in-hand, which raced and often beat 

 the coaches on the Great North Road, belonged to a 

 cripple known as "Old Lai," and consisted of a light 

 cart or trolly drawn by four foxhounds. A cripple boy 

 at East Grinstead with his unicorn team of bulldogs 

 frequently competed with the Brighton coaches. An 

 even more original turn-out was owned by a farmer 

 near St. Albans, for he used to trot briskly along the 

 road in a cart drawn by four large hogs. One gentleman 

 who witnessed the uncommon spectacle was so struck 



