He
told of the days when he manipulated the ribbons from the box of the
famous coach "Engineer" when he dashed along with foaming horses as
if the fate of a nation depended upon his reaching his stage at a
given time. He could remember Mosspaul Inn at the zenith of its fame
under the reigning sovereign Mr. Gownlock--whose tact and management
made his Hotel famous. He had frequently to carry large sums of money
from the Border banks and although these were the days of footpads
and highwaymen, and coaches were "held up" in other parts, Sandy's
Coach was never molested, although he had been blocked with his
four-in-hand in the snow. He gave a graphic description of the
running of the last mail coach from Hawick to Merrie Carlisle in
1862. Willie Crozier the noted driver was mounted on the box, and the
horses were all decked out for the occasion. Jemmie Ferguson the old
strapper, whose occupation like that of Othello's was all gone, saw
it start with a heavy heart, and crowds turned out to bid it
good-bye. When the valleys rang with the cheery notes of the
well-blown horn, and the rumbling sound of the wheels and the
clattering hoofs of the horses echoed along the way, rich and poor
everywhere came to view the end of a system which had so long kept
them in touch with civilisation.
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