[12] This refers to the ‘mail-coach parade,’ which was first held in 1799 and for the last time in 1835. The coaches, to the number of about twenty-five, were either new or newly painted with the Royal Arms on the door, the stars of each of the four Orders of Knighthood on the upper panel, and the name of the town whither the coach ran on the small panel over each door. Coachmen and guards wore new uniforms and gentlemen used to lend their best teams—often also their coachmen, as appears from the passage quoted. A horseman rode behind each coach to make the procession longer. The ‘meet’ took place in Lincoln's Inn Fields and the coaches drove to St. James's, there turning to come back to the General Post Office, then in Lombard Street.
[13] Benson Driving Club.
TANDEM DRIVING
Tandem
Painting by G. D. Armour.
It is said, but I must confess failure to trace authority for the statement, that tandem driving was invented as a convenient and sporting method of taking the hunter to the meet. History has not handed down to fame the name of the man who first hit upon the idea of driving tandem; it was in vogue over a century ago, and at Cambridge ranked as a grave offence: witness the following edict dated 10th March 1807:—
‘We, the Vice-Chancellor and Heads of Colleges, do hereby order and decree that if any person or persons in statu pupillari shall be found driving any tandem and shall be duly convicted thereof before the Vice-Chancellor, such person or persons so offending shall for the first offence be suspended from taking his degree for one whole year, or be rusticated, according to the circumstances of the case; and for the second offence be liable to such further punishment as it may appear to deserve, or be expelled the university.’
Extravagantly high gigs were much in favour among the ‘bloods’ of the day, and these were often used for tandem driving, a purpose for which they were by no means unsuitable, always provided the road was fairly level.