The roads—Modern traffic compared with old—The stage coach—Stage
waggons—Their speed—Price of posting—The hackney coach—Sedan
chairs—Horse riding—Improvement in carriages.
PERHAPS as good a test as any, of the civilization of a nation, is its
roads. From the mere foot-tracks of the savage, to the broader paths
necessarily used when he had brought the horse into subjugation, mark a
distinct advance. When the wheeled carriage was invented, a causeway,
artificially strengthened, must be made, or the wheels would sink into
the soft earth, and make ruts, which would need extra power in order
to extricate the vehicle; besides the great chance there was of that
vehicle coming to utter grief. Settlers in Africa and Australia can yet
tell tales of the inconveniences of a land without roads.
[Illustration: A STAGE COACH—1804.]
To the Romans, as for much else of our civilization, we are indebted
for our knowledge of road making—nay, even for some of our roads still
existing—but these latter were the main arteries of the kingdom,
the veins had yet to be developed. That roads mean civilization
is apparent, because without them there could be little or no
intercommunication between communities, and no opportunity for traffic
and barter with each other. We, in our day, have been spoilt, by,
almost suddenly, having had a road traffic thrown open to us, which
renders every village in our Isles, of comparatively easy access, so
that we are apt to look with disfavour on the old times. Seated, or
lying, in the luxurious ease of a Pullman car—going at sixty miles an
hour—it is hard to realize a tedious journey by waggon, or even an
outside journey by the swifter, yet slow, mail or stage coach, with
its many stoppages, and its not altogether pleasant adventures. For,
considering the relative numbers of persons travelling, there were far
more accidents, and of a serious kind, than in these days of railways.
It was all very well, on the introduction of steam to say, “If you
are upset off a coach, why there you are! but if you are in a railway
accident, where are you?” The coach might break down, as it often did,
a wheel come off, or an axle, or a pole break—or the coach might be,
as it ofttimes was, overloaded, and then in a rut—why, over all went.
The horses, too, were apt to cast shoes, slip down, get their legs over
the traces, or take to kicking, besides which the harness would snap,
either the traces, or the breeching, or the reins, and these terrors
were amplified by the probability of encountering highwaymen, who were
naturally attracted to attack the stage coaches, not only on account
of the money and valuables which the passengers carried with them, but
because parcels of great price were entrusted to the coachman, such as
gold, or notes and securities, for country banks, remittances between
commercial firms, &c.
[Illustration: THE STAGE WAGGON.]
In the illustration showing a stage coach, it will be seen that there
is a supplementary portion attached, made of wicker-work, and called
“the basket.” This was for the reception of parcels. The mail coaches,
which took long, direct routes, will be spoken of under the heading of
Post Office.
Inconvenient to a degree, as were these stage coaches, with exposure to
all changes of weather, if outside—or else cooped up in a very stuffy
inside, with possibly disagreeable, or invalid, companions—they were
the only means of communication between those places unvisited by the
mail coach, and also for those which required a more frequent service.
They were very numerous, so much so that, although I began to count
them, I gave up the task, as not being “worth the candle.”
But it was not every one who could afford to travel by stage coach, and
for them was the stage waggon, or caravan, huge and cumbrous machines,
with immensely broad wheels, so as to take a good grip of the road,
and make light of the ruts. These machines, and the few canals then in
existence, did the inland goods carriage of the whole of England. Slow
and laborious was their work, but they poked a few passengers among
the goods, and carried them very cheaply. They were a remnant of the
previous century, and, in the pages of Smollett, and other writers, we
hear a great deal of these waggons.
To give some idea of them, their route, and the time they used to take
on their journey, I must make one example suffice, taken haphazard from
a quantity. (1802.)
[Illustration]
“_Tunbridge Wells, and Tunbridge Original Waggon._ To the Queen’s Head
Inn, Borough.
“By J. Hunt.
“Late Chesseman and Morphew. Under an establishment of more than sixty
years. Sets out from the New Inn, Tunbridge Wells, every Monday and
Thursday morning, and arrives at the above Inn, every Tuesday and
Friday morning, from whence it returns the same days at noon, and
arrives at Tunbridge Wells every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon, and
from September 1st to December 25th a Waggon sets out from Tunbridge
Wells every Wednesday and Saturday morning, and arrives at the above
Inn every Monday and Thursday morning, from whence it returns the
same days at noon, and arrives at Tunbridge Wells every Tuesday and
Friday afternoon, carrying goods and parcels to and from—
Tunbridge Wells. Mayfield.
Tunbridge. Wadhurst.
Groombridge. Ticehurst.
Langton. Mark Cross.
Spaldhurst. Frant.
Ashurst. Eridge.
Rotherfield. Southboro, &c.
“No Money, Plate, Jewels, Writings, Watches, Rings, Lace, Glass, nor
any Parcel above Five Pounds Value, will be accounted for, unless
properly entered, and paid for as such.
“Waggons or Carts from Tunbridge Wells to Brighton, Eastbourne, &c.,
occasionally.”
Now Tunbridge is only thirty-six miles from London, and yet it took
over twenty-four hours to reach.
Of course, those who had carriages of their own, or hired them, could
go “post,” _i.e._, have fresh horses at certain recognized stations,
leaving the tired ones behind them. This was of course travelling
luxuriously, and people had to pay for it. In the latter part of
the eighteenth century, there had been, well, not a famine, but a
great scarcity of corn, and oats naturally rose, so much so that the
postmasters had to raise their price, generally to 1s. 2d. per horse
per mile, a price which seems to have obtained until the latter part of
1801, when among the advertisements of the _Morning Post_, September
23rd, I find, “Four Swans, Waltham Cross. Dean Wostenholme begs leave
most respectfully to return thanks to the Noblemen and Gentlemen who
have done him the honour to use his house, and to inform them that he
has lowered the price of Posting to One Shilling per mile,” &c.
And there was, of course, the convenient hackney coach, which was
generally the cast-off and used up carriage of some gentleman, whose
arms, even, adorned the panels, a practice (the bearing of arms) which
still obtains in our cabs. The fares were not extravagant, except in
view of the different values of money. Every distance not exceeding one
mile 1s., not exceeding one mile and a half, 1s. 6d., not exceeding two
miles 2s., and so on. There were many other clauses, as to payment,
waiting, radius, &c., but they are uninteresting.
A little book[37] says: “The hackney coaches in London were formerly
limited to 1,000; but, by an Act of Parliament, the number is
increased. Hackney coachmen are, in general, depraved characters, and
several of them have been convicted as receivers of stolen goods,” and
it goes on to suggest their being licensed.
The old sedan chair was not obsolete, but was extensively used to take
ladies to evening parties; and, as perhaps we may never again meet with
a table of the chairmen’s charges, I had better take it:
RATES OF CHAIRMEN.[38]
_s._ _d._
For the first hour, if paid by an hour 1 6
For every hour afterwards 0 6
For any distance not exceeding one mile 1 0
For one mile to one mile and a half 1 6
For every half mile afterwards 0 6
In fact, their fares were almost identical with those of the hackney
coachmen, and offending chairmen were subject to the same penalties.
The roads were kept up by means of turnpikes, exemption from payment
of which was very rare; royalty, the mails, military officers, &c., on
duty, and a few more, were all.
The main roads were good, and well kept; the bye, and occupation roads
were bad. But on the main roads there was plenty of traffic to pay for
repairs. It was essentially a horsey age—by which I do not mean to
infer that our grand and great-grandfathers, copied their grooms either
in their dress or manners, as the youth of this generation aspire to
do; but the only means of locomotion for any distance was necessarily
on horseback, or by means of horse-flesh. Every man could ride, and
all wore boots and breeches when out of doors, a style of equine dress
unsurpassed to this day.
The carriages were improving in build; no longer being low, and
suspended by leather straps, they went to the other extreme, and were
perched a-top of high C springs. The _Times_, January 17, 1803, says:
“Many alterations have lately taken place in the building of carriages.
The roofs are not so round, nor are the bodies hung so low, as they
have been for the last two years. The circular springs have given place
to whip springs; the reason is, the first are much more expensive, and
are not so light in weight as the others. No boots are now used, but
plain coach boxes, with open fore ends. Barouche boxes are now the
_ton_. During the last summer ladies were much oftener seen travelling
seated on the box than in the carriage. Hammer-cloths, except on state
occasions, are quite out of date, and the dickey box is following their
example. To show the difference between the carriages of the present
day, and those built ten years ago, it is only necessary to add that
in the year 1793 the weight of a fashionable carriage was about 1,900
pounds; a modern one weighs from 1,400 to 1,500.”
[Illustration]