Coaching : With Anecdotes of the Road

by William Pitt Lennox

This historic volume from 1876 covers the transportation history of England in eighteen chapters; also mentioned are Ireland, Australia and France. Zither - - June 13, 2008 - Five Star Rating Not the usual rehashes Lord Lennox's anecdotes go farther afield than such secondary sources as 'The Romance of the Road,' which never look beyond southern England. He has an entire chapter on coaching in Ireland, and sections on coaching in Australia and France. He mostly concerns himself with the coaching heyday before the coming of the railroads, but also covers the transition period. He writes for those like the members of the Four-in-Hand Club of his own day about the old Driving Club of 1808 and the Whip Club, their songs and outré costumes. He compares the old harness to that of his own day, and their abuses. For those not technically interested in driving, the best part are the many sections devoted to carriage wrecks and close calls, and the many characters he delineates, from dandies to working mail coach drivers. His level of personal experience makes him authoritative on how sitting uncomfortable inside was, so that he had rather get wet through riding outside, the frequency of highwaymen. His writing style is simple and chatty, drawing the reader easily forward through a charming miscellany of history and anecdote, until you feel like you have ridden the swaying coaches yourself. ............................................................................... A "sample" of the chapter Chapter I - Ancient Charioteers - Celebrated Whips - Introduction of Carriages into England - The State of the Roads in 1739 - Traveling in Bygone Days Chapter II - Dangers of Travelling - Anecdotes of Highwaymen - Innkeepers and Highwaymen - Stage Coach Robberies Chapter III - Slow Coaches - Public Dinners to the Drivers - Nimrod on the Shrewsbury and Chester "Highflyer"- Wonderful Feat of Locomotion Chapter IV - Journey to Bath in the Palmy Days of Coaching - The Old Brighton Road - A Squire of 1638 - "Parson Dennis" Chapter V - Coach vs. Rail - Description of a Coach Journey from London to Bath - Snug Hotelleries - English vs. Foreign Cooking Chapter VI - Moving Accidents by Rail and Coach - Anecdote of the Late Duke of Wellington - Reckless Drivers - Short Time for the Issuing of Railway Tickets Chapter VII - Traveling in Ireland - Irish Wit - Sir Walter Scott and a Genuine Paddy - Irish Cab Drivers - Journey from Cork to Dublin in a Post-Chaise Chapter VIII - Coach Accidents - Mail Robberies - A Drunken Driver - Robbery by Convicts Chapter IX - The Mails Stopped by Severe Snowstorms - Sledges Used for the Mails - Dreadful Storms - Floods in Scotland in 1829 - Coaching in Australia Chapter X - Coaching Acquaintances - Stage Coaching of Bygone and Modern Days - Amateur Drivers - Crack Drivers Chapter XI - The Turnpike Gate at Hyde Park Corner - The "Old White Horse Cellar" Piccadilly Chapter XII - Amateur Dragsmen - The Old Driving Club of 1808 - The Whip Club - Description of the Carriages Chapter XIII - Oxford and Cambridge Men - My First Attempt at Driving - Tandem Driving - The Ostler Country Inns Chapter XIV - Journey to Newmarket - Lord Grantley's Team - The Roayl Mail - General Remarks on Driving Chapter XV - Anecdote of the Late Duke of Wellington - A Hunting Adventure - A Lucky Escape - An Eventful Day Chapter XVI - Hairbreadth Escapes - Meet

145 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 13, 2009

Reviews

[M.A. Nichols · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my goodness, I loved this book. I discovered this little gem on the Project Gutenberg website and thought it might be a good thing to read for a bit of research into the 1800's. I expected it to be dry and found a quite fascinating and even humorous breakdown of transportation from that time written by someone living in that time.

What's great about the book is that Lennox's life spans from the early 1800's up through the late, so he's familiar with the time of coaching all through the advent of the steam engine. Though he mainly focuses on coaches, he spends a fair bit of time discussing the effects of steam travel and a little of its history. Woven through factoids ranging from the various types of carriages and detailed instructions on how to properly drive one, there's great anecdotes from his life illustrating various points.

Lennox has a wittiness to his writing that makes it engaging, and it's chalked full of historical tidbits that I'm going to be using in my historical fiction books. And since it's written by someone from that time period, I have a lot more trust in his words than some of the modern books I've read that may or may not have actual sources backing them up.

If you are a history buff or a history writer, pick this one up. It'll give you a whole new perspective about transportation of the past.