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318
The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance
·
James Wilson Hyde
66
An
incident
of
a
romantic
nature
happened
about
the
year
1780
in
connection
with
the
stage-coach
(not
a
mail-coach,
however,
be
it
noted)
running
between
Edinburgh
and
Glasgow
at
that
period.
The
stage-coach,
drawn
by
four
horses,
had
been
on
the
road
for
many
years,
having
been
established
about
the
year
1758.
The
time
occupied
in
the
journey
was
twelve
hours;
nor,
down
to
the
period
in
question,
had
any
acceleration
taken
place.
A
young
lady
of
Glasgow,
of
distinguished
beauty,
having
to
travel
to
Edinburgh,
a
lover
whose
suit
towards
her
had
not
hitherto
proved
successful,
took
the
remaining
tickets
for
the
journey,
and
so
became
her
sole
companion
on
the
way.
By
assiduous
attentions,
and
all
the
winsome
ways
which
the
tender
passion
knows
to
suggest,
as
well
as
by
earnestness
of
pursuit,
the
lover
won
the
lady
to
his
favour,
and
she
soon
thereafter
became
his
wife.
But
the
full
day
did
not
justify
the
brightness
of
the
morning:
the
husband
failed
to
prove
himself
worthy
of
his
good
fortune;
"and
the
lady,
in
a
state
worse
than
widowhood,
was,
a
few
years
after,
the
subject
of
the
celebrated
Clarinda
correspondence
of
Burns."
In
addition
to
the
obvious
duties
of
the
mail-guards--to
protect
the
mails
and
carry
out
their
exchange
at
the
several
stations--they
were
sometimes
required
to
perform
special
duties
unconnected
with
Post-office
work.
They
were,
for
example,
called
upon
to
keep
watch
in
the
early
part
of
the
present
century
upon
French
prisoners
of
war
who
might
be
breaking
their
parole,
a
likely
way
of
escaping
being
by
the
mail-coaches.
The
guards
were
instructed
to
question
any
suspicious
foreigner
travelling
by
the
coach,
and
to
report
the
matter
to
the
postmaster
at
the
first
town
at
which
they
arrived.
This
was
doubtless
looked
upon
as
a
pleasure
rather
than
as
a
hardship;
for
they
were
reminded
that
the
usual
reward
was
ten
guineas
each--not
a
bad
price
for
a
Frenchman
under
the
circumstances.
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