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318
The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance
·
James Wilson Hyde
181
A
somewhat
similar
attack
upon
a
postboy
was
made
in
Yorkshire
in
the
year
1798,
when
the
rider's
life
was
threatened
by
a
highwayman
single-handed,
and
the
mails
stolen
from
him.
The
case
is
interesting
owing
to
the
fact
that
traces
of
the
robbery
were
obtained
so
recently
as
1876,
though
at
the
period
of
its
occurrence
no
trace
of
the
highwayman
or
of
his
plunder
could
be
discovered.
The
official
account
of
the
robbery,
when
it
happened,
was
as
follows:--
"The
postboy
coming
from
Selby
to
York
was
robbed
of
his
mail
between
six
and
seven
o'clock
this
evening.
About
three
miles
on
this
side
of
Selby
he
was
accosted
by
a
man
on
foot,
with
a
gun
in
his
hand,
who
asked
him
if
he
was
the
postboy,
and
at
the
same
time
seized
hold
of
the
bridle.
Without
waiting
for
any
answer,
he
told
the
boy
he
must
immediately
unstrap
the
mail
and
give
it
him,
pointing
the
muzzle
of
the
gun
at
him
whilst
he
did
it.
When
he
had
given
up
the
mail,
the
boy
begged
he
would
not
hurt
him;
to
which
the
man
replied
he
need
not
be
afraid,
and
at
the
same
time
pulled
the
bridle
from
the
horse's
head.
The
horse
immediately
galloped
off
with
the
boy,
who
had
never
dismounted.
"He
was
a
stout
man,
dressed
in
a
drab
jacket,
and
had
the
appearance
of
being
a
heckler.
The
boy
was
too
much
frightened
to
make
any
other
remark
on
his
person,
and
says
he
was
totally
unknown
to
him.
The
mail
contained
the
bags
for
Howden
and
London,
Howden
and
York,
and
Selby
and
York."
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