OLD COACHING DAYS. 191 



blown off and left by the roadside. The mail was overturned, 

 and the coachman was killed ; the guard, a ready and active 

 man, went on with the mails as soon as he could, and on reach- 

 ing Southampton, had some bills printed describing the accident, 

 which he distributed at all the inns and public-houses, and in 

 a few days the sum of 5oo/. was collected for the coachman's 

 widow and children. 



There are certain things that nearly all horses dislike and 

 shy at. I remember one of the mails being upset in the 

 same manner, through the cover of a cart being blown off 

 between Egham and Staines, at early dawn. I never was 

 on the Worcester Mail, but I have heard that it has been 

 seen ' the other way up ' more often than any other mail out 

 of London. 



I have always been given to understand that the late 

 Duke of Beaufort, Lord Chesterfield, Mr. Probyn, Mr. H. 

 Villebois, Sir Walter Carew, and Lord Willoughby de Broke 

 were reckoned among the best coachmen between the years 

 1830-40. 



Mr. Charles Jones, Age, Brighton ; Bob Brackenbury, Age, 

 Brighton ; George French, Tunbridge Wells Telegraph ; 

 Williams, Light Salisbury ; Charles Ward, Devonport Mail ; 

 Tim Carter, Exeter Telegraph ; Jimmy Witherington, Oxford 

 and Cheltenham ; Bill Harbridge, Exeter to Plymouth : these 

 are a few of the best coachmen that I can remember, about 

 the same time. 



I have heard it stated that, if a set of four-horse harness 

 were taken to pieces and thrown upon the floor, very few 

 coachmen would be able to put it together again. This may 

 be so, but I found enough to do in learning how to bit and 

 harness four horses properly, and to put them together, taking 

 care that the bridles or headstalls did not pinch their ears, 

 which is often the case ; that the bits were not too high nor too 

 low in their mouths ; bearing-reins, cruppers, pole-chains or 

 pole-pieces not too tight or too loose ; that the pads fitted 

 well to their backs, and were well stuffed ; all traces the right 



