CHAPTER II 



THE HORSEMEN 



"The single gentlemen, then a hardy race, equipped in jack-boots 

 and trousers up to their middle, rode post through thick and thin, 

 and, guarded against the mire, defying the frequent stumble and fall, 

 arose and pursued their journey with alacrity." — Pennant, 1739. 



Long before wheeled conveyances of any kind 

 were to be hired in this country, travellers were 

 accustomed to ride post. To do so argued no 

 connection with that great department we now 

 call the Post Office, although that letter-carr\ing 

 agency and the custom of riding 2:)ost obtain 

 their name from a common origin. The earliest 

 provision for travelling post seems to have been 

 in the reign of Henry YIII., when the office of 

 " Master of the Postes " was established. Sir 

 Brian Tukc then held that appointment, and to 

 him were entrusted the arrangements for securing 

 relays of horses on the four great post roads then 

 recognised : the road from London to Dover, on 

 which the carriers came from and went to foreign 

 parts ; the road to Plymouth, where the King's 

 dockyard was situated ; and the great roads to 

 Scotland and Chester, and on to Conway and Holy- 

 head. These relays of horses were established 

 exclusively for use of the despatch-riders who went 

 on affairs of State ; but by the time of Elizabeth 



