Note 10 — COACHING

The conveyance of ‘trunks, parcels, and other packages’ on the roof of a mail-coach was prohibited in the Postmaster-General's circular to mail contractors of 29th June, 1807. As the mails increased it became impossible to enforce this regulation, and the bags were carried wherever they could be stowed. ‘The Druid’ says of the Edinburgh mail-coach: ‘The heaviest night as regards correspondence was when the American mail had come in. On those occasions the bags have been known to weigh above 16 cwt. They were contained in sacks seven feet long and were laid in three tiers across the top, so high that no guard unless he were a Chang in stature could look over them ... and the waist (the seat behind the coachman) and the hind boot were filled as well.’