I90 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES, 



information respecting Bianconi; this gentleman having 

 written a very interesting sketch of his hfe, which 

 appeared first in Good JVords, and was afterwards 

 reproduced in another form. I have also from other 

 reliable sources obtained information on this subject ; 

 but it is exceedingly difficult to do so, as no book of 

 reference, and indeed very few books on Ireland 

 contain any information on the subject. In fact, the 

 word "car" is not to be found in any Encyclopsedia ; 

 consequently, it is difficult to trace the history of the 

 Irish car, which has now become inseparably connected 

 in our minds with Ireland and the Irish. 



I have in my possession an old book containing 

 maps of the roads of Ireland, surveyed in 1777 and 

 corrected down to 1783, in which year (1783) it was 

 published by T. Longman, Paternoster Row, London ; 

 at the same time there was published a " Post-Chaise 

 Comoanion to Ireland." But these books, althouQ'h fur- 

 nished with notes, do not contain a word about mail or 

 stage-cars ; in fact, these books, one of which I hold in 

 my hand, were published three years before Bianconi 

 was born. The road-book of Ireland that I have men- 

 tioned, and which was compiled by Messrs. Taylor 

 and Skinner, is a hundred and four years old. 



Before Bianconi established his system of cars, it is 

 evident that cars were not employed as public stage 

 conveyances. Of course there were cars to be hired, 

 but these were of the most primitive description ; in 

 many cases they had no springs, and as the roads 

 were in those days in very bad condition, they must 

 have been very uncomfortable to ride on. In many 

 cases they were mere rough boards raised above 

 and supported on an axle to which two badly made 

 wheels were attached. 



