228 STAGE-COACH AND MAIL IN DAYS OF YORE 



A rominiscent travollor, writing* in 1831, lets 

 some lii^lit into dark places, lie said he was old 

 enough to remember a certain West-country coach, 

 wliich he took to he representative of others at 

 that period. It always took ten, and sometimes 

 twelve hours to do fifty-seven miles. " Now," he 

 said, marvelling at the progress of the age, " it 

 takes only six hours." ,loe Emmens, the driver 

 of this slow coach, Avas famous for never at 

 any time turning aAvay a w()uld-l)e j^^^ss^'nger, no 

 matter how crowded his conveyance, which Avas 

 often observed to be carrying seventeen out and 

 nine in, Avith parcels and hampers tied to and 

 suspended from all kinds of hazardous places. 

 This did not, we sorroAA^fuUy acknoAvledge, argue 

 zeal for his employers' interests, but only an 

 inordinate appetite for those " sliort fares " Avhicli 

 by ancient use and Avont the coachman pocketed. 

 The custom Avas as old as tliat of " tipping." 



Tipping the coachman, a practice already men- 

 tioned, Avas early introduced. It originated, there 

 can scarce be any reasonable doubt, Avith the very 

 first stage-coach journey, and flourished exceedingly 

 to the very last, when the guard as Avell came in 

 for his share. The cust(mi Avas originally known 

 as " capping," from the coachman coming Avith 

 hat or cap in hand for these contributions : a 

 humble and beggarly method to Avliich the later 

 artists of the coachbox Avere a\ holly strangers. 

 The later generation, it is true, removed their hats 

 as a matter of courtesy Avhen they " left you here," 

 but their fee was no longer chucked negligently 



