3o6 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 



great gateway of the inn, I saw on one side the light 

 of a rousing kitchen fire beaming through a window. 

 I entered, and admired for the hundredth time that 

 picture of old-fashioned comfort and convenience, the 

 kitchen of an English inn. The scene completely- 

 realised ' Poor Robin's ' humble idea of the comforts 

 of mid-winter : 



Now trees their leafy hats do bare 

 To reverence Winter's silver hair ; 



A handsome hostess, merry host, 

 A pot of ale, and a toast. 



Tobacco, and a good coal fire, 



Are things this season doth require." * 



But, speaking of coaches, a writer says that " the 

 conveyance which has most interest for us in the 

 annals of English history is that which spread the 

 news of Nelson's victories and Wellington's winning 

 strife — the old mail-coach. Its knell beo^an to toll 

 in 1837, and the final strokes were nearly rung in 



1853-" 



We have said elsewhere that gentlemen took a 



great interest in coaching, but this was not until the 



pace improved ; then a different order of men were 



attracted by the art of driving four horses. Our 



cousins across the Atlantic are nearly as keen as 



ourselves in the art of handling the ribbons. On the 



26th of May, 1882, eleven coaches belonging to the 



New York Coaching Club paraded the Fifth Avenue, 



This club numbers now twenty-one members, with 



seventeen drags. 



What we really want, says a writer, speaking of 



English amateur coachmen, is a race of young men 



who, having thoroughly mastered the technical details 



* " Poor Robin's Almanack," 1684. 



