126 OLD COACHING DAYS 



or guest. These coaches were owned by 

 John Rigg of the W'indermere Hotel, who 

 then had, and I beHev^e still has, the 

 contracts for the mail coaches — of which 

 more anon. Our usual driver was an old 

 professional called Bell, a fine whip, but, 

 truth to tell, sadly intemperate, for which 

 offence he had been many times discharged 

 and afterwards forgiven by his master. I 

 well remember the episode which led to his 

 final discharge. A couple of coaches had 

 been chartered to take a lot of us to 

 Keswick for a climb up Skiddaw. At the 

 last moment the accommodation proved 

 insufficient to seat us all, and Rio-cr sent 

 down a pair-horse brake to take the rest. 

 Bell was the driver of this. While we were 

 climbing he was drinking. Coming home 

 he could hardly sit on the box without help, 



