The "Royal Oak" did not carry a guard, and Tom Loader, the coachman,
having resigned his seat to me when the coaches met, had retired to
the one usually occupied by that functionary. As, however, he was not
accustomed to guard's work, he was deficient in the activity necessary
for slipping the skid pan under the wheel whilst the coach was in
motion, and when he tried to do so at the top of Llanymynech hill he
failed in the attempt. Consequently, we got over the brow of the hill
without the wheel being locked, and, as there were no patent breaks in
those days, there was nothing for it but a gallop, as the wheel horses
were unable to hold the big load of passengers and luggage, and, of
course, the lurches of the coach became considerable, to say the least
of it. The turnpike gate, which was at the bottom of the hill, was
rather a narrow one, and a collision seemed not altogether improbable,
when, just as the leaders reached the gate, the passenger sitting on
the roof seat behind me became so much alarmed that he seized hold of
my right arm, thereby rendering any use of the whip impossible if it
had been necessary, which, fortunately, it was not, as the coach was
then in a safe direction, though rather too near the off-side
gate-post to be pleasant. If the whip had been wanted to make the
off-wheel horse pull us clear of the post I was helpless, and a
collision would have been attended with an awful smash, as we were
going at the rate of a mile in five minutes at the time. Killing the
pig would have been nothing to it.