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1
435
Her Majesty's Mails
·
William Lewins
88
He
seems
to
have
himself
borne
the
charges
of
attending
to
the
office
"without
any
reasonable
allowance
therefor;"
and
petitioning
the
Committee
of
Estates
to
that
effect,
they
allowed
him
to
retain
the
"eighth
penny
on
all
letters
sent
from
Edinburgh
to
London
(no
great
number),
and
the
fourth
penny
upon
all
those
coming
from
London
to
Edinburgh."
At
the
Restoration
the
office
was
bestowed
on
Robert
Main,
and
considerable
improvements
were
made
under
his
management,
although
only
with
existing
posts.
Little
was
done
for
other
parts
of
Scotland.
A
traveller
in
Scotland
so
late
as
1688,
commenting
on
the
absence
of
stage
or
other
coaches
on
most
Scotch
roads,
says,[47]
that
"this
carriage
of
persons
from
place
to
place
might
be
better
spared,
were
there
opportunities
and
means
for
the
speedier
conveyance
of
business
by
letters.
They
have
no
horse-posts
besides
those
which
ply
between
Berwick
and
Edinburgh,
and
Edinburgh
and
Portpatrick
for
the
Irish
packets....
From
Edinburgh
to
Perth,
and
so
on
to
other
places,
they
use
foot-posts
and
carriers,
which,
though
a
slow
way
of
communicating
our
concerns
to
one
another,
yet
is
such
as
they
acquiesce
in
till
they
have
a
better."
Our
traveller
is
somewhat
wrong
in
his
date,
for
in
1667
a
horse-post
to
Aberdeen
from
Edinburgh,
twice
a
week,
was
started,
with
the
consent
of
Patrick
Graham,
of
Inchbrakie,
his
Majesty's
Postmaster-General,
"for
the
timous
delivery
of
letters
and
receiving
returns
of
the
samen."
Two
years
afterwards
Inverness
got
dissatisfied
with
the
want
of
postal
communication,
when
Robert
Main,
the
Edinburgh
postmaster,
was
commissioned
to
establish
a
constant
foot-post
between
Edinburgh
and
Inverness,
going
once
a
week,
"wind
and
weather
serving."[48]
"Wind
and
weather
serving"
is
an
amusing
qualification,
as
pointed
out
by
Mr.
Chambers,
considering
that
there
was
only
one
ferry
of
six
or
seven
miles,
and
another
of
two
miles,
to
cross.
In
1661,
we
find
the
Edinburgh
postmaster
useful
in
another
capacity,
for
in
that
year
the
Privy
Council
grant
a
warrant
to
him
"to
put
to
print
and
publish
ane
diurnal
weekly,
for
preventing
false
news
which
may
be
invented
by
evil
and
disaffected
persons."
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