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The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance
·
James Wilson Hyde
38
"I
was
travelling
in
Ireland
(it
must
have
been
about
the
year
1818),
between
Cork
and
Skibbereen,
when
I
witnessed
a
stoppage
of
the
mail
to
rob
it.
The
road
was
effectually
barricaded
by
a
huge
tree,
passage
was
impossible,
and
a
dozen
men
with
blackened
faces
speedily
surrounded
the
coach.
To
attempt
resistance
would
have
been
madness:
the
guard
wisely
abstained
from
any,
but
surrendered
his
arms;
the
priming
was
removed,
and
they
were
returned
to
him.
The
object
of
the
gang
was
limited
to
acquiring
the
mail-bags;
they
were
known
to
contain
some
writs
against
a
gentleman
very
popular
in
the
district.
These
being
extracted,
the
coach
pursued
its
way
without
further
interruption.
The
whole
affair
did
not
occupy
five
minutes.
It
was
subsequently
ascertained,
however,
that
there
had
been
a
further
purpose.
The
gentleman
had
that
day
paid
his
rent--all
in
bank-notes;
when
the
agent
desired
to
mark
them,
there
was
neither
pen
nor
ink
in
the
house;
the
mail-bag
contained
these
notes.
Where
they
eventually
found
their
way
was
never
proved,
but
it
was
certain
they
did
not
reach
the
landlord,
whose
receipt
was
in
the
hands
of
his
tenant,
duly
signed."
Interceptions
of
the
mail
for
the
purpose
of
preventing
the
serving
of
writs
by
means
of
the
post
are
not
unknown
in
Ireland
at
the
present
time.
In
August
1883
a
post-runner
near
Mallow
was
stopped
by
two
men,
dressed
in
women's
clothes
and
with
blackened
faces,
who
seized
his
mail-bag,
and
made
search
for
registered
letters
which
it
was
supposed
might
have
contained
ejectment
notices.
None
were
found,
however,
and
the
men
returned
the
other
letters
to
the
runner.
A
similar
outrage
was
committed
in
the
same
neighbourhood
in
1881.
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