have, enclosed, a list of what came in my open bagg; if there were any frank letters, I received none of them, save 6 or 7."[26] It would also appear that the Mail was occasionally violated by common robbers.

In 1716, the Duke of Argyll, who had then supreme control in Scotland, gave orders to Mr. Anderson to place relays of horses from Edinburgh to Inverness, for the purpose of forwarding despatches to, and receiving intelligence from the army in the Highlands under General Cadogan. These Posts worked upon two lines of roads—the one went through Fife and round by the east coast, passing through Aberdeen; the other took the central road via Perth, Dunkeld, and Blair Athole. These Horse Posts were, however, discontinued immediately after the army retired.

At this time the Government evinced great concern about the Irish correspondence, and ordered Mr. Anderson to visit Portpatrick, and examine the harbours, with the view of selecting the one most convenient for the Mail Packets.

After the Rebellion had been suppressed, the public appear to have had great confidence in the Post, and evinced a desire to have more extended Postal accommodation, and in some instances memorialized the Postmaster-General to open offices in the rural districts.

By an order, dated 26th November 1717, Mr. Anderson received notice, that he had been superseded, and that Sir John Inglis had been appointed Deputy Postmaster-General for Scotland, and would take office on the 1st December.

It would appear from the correspondence of Mr. Anderson, that all appointments in the Post Office in Scotland, were held directly from the Deputy Postmaster-General for the time being; and on the entrance of a new Postmaster-General into office, all commissions and bonds of security had to be renewed, and it was common for the Postmasters to employ all the influence in their power to obtain the favour of the new Postmaster-General, in order to be retained in their situations.[27]

In 1730, the yearly revenue of the Post Office establishment in Scotland was £1194.[28]

In 1738, Archibald Douglas, Esq., was Deputy Postmaster-General, and the establishment in Edinburgh consisted of eleven persons, including the Postmaster-General, a person called an apprehender of private letter-carriers, and three letter-carriers or runners.[29]

In 1741, Alexander Hamilton, Esq. of Innerwick, was Deputy Postmaster-General, and the establishment, exclusive of letter-carriers, consisted of eight persons, including a Solicitor. In this year there were 106 Post Towns in Scotland, and direct Bags were sent from Edinburgh to Kirkwall and Stornoway.[30]

About the year 1750, the Mails began to be conveyed from stage to stage by relays of fresh horses, and different Post-boys, to the principal places in Scotland, but the greater portion of the Mails were still carried by Foot Runners. Before the system of relays was introduced on the north road, the mode of conveying the Mails was very tedious. "For instance, a person set out with the Mail from Edinburgh for Aberdeen; he did not travel a stage, and then deliver the Mail to another Post-boy, but went on to Dundee, where he rested the first night; to Montrose, where he stayed the second, and on the third he arrived at Aberdeen, and as he passed by Kinghorn, it behoved the tide, and sometimes also the weather, to render the time of his arrival more late and uncertain. In this manner the Mail was conveyed 'thrice a-week.' The communication by Post between London and Edinburgh was not much better."[31] The condition of the roads however in Scotland, would not admit of any thing like rapid travelling. The best roads, even in the populous districts, were occasionally to be found in the channels of streams. The common carrier from Edinburgh to Selkirk, 38 miles, required a fortnight for his journey, going and returning. The channel of the river Gala, which for a considerable distance ran parallel with the road, being, when not flooded, the track chosen as the most level and easiest to travel in. Between the principal cities, the means of travelling were little better. It took a day and a-half for the stage coach to travel from Edinburgh to Glasgow.[32]

At this period, and for long before, there was a set of single horse "trafficers" (cadgers), that regularly plied between different places. These traffickers, and the carriers, in spite of the laws against them, carried more letters than the Post Office, at least in the country districts.[33]

In 1754, the revenue of the General Post Office in Scotland was £8927, and in the year 1757 it amounted to £10,623. In the latter year the Mail was upon the road from London to Edinburgh 87 hours, but from Edinburgh to London 131 hours. At this time, upon a representation from the committee of Royal Burghs, such regulations were adopted, that the time was reduced to 82 hours from London to Edinburgh, and 85 hours from Edinburgh to London.

In the year 1760, the revenue of the Post Office in Scotland, amounted to £11,942.

On the 10th of October 1763, a further improvement was made in the London Mail, by having it despatched five times a-week, instead of three as formerly. Previously it had travelled in so dilatory a manner, that in winter the letters which were sent from London on Tuesday night, for the most part, were not distributed in Edinburgh till Sunday, between sermons.

In 1765, the Postage upon a single letter, carried only one stage, was reduced from 2d. to 1d.[34]

In 1771, William Oliphant, Esq. of Rossie, was Deputy Postmaster-General. The Edinburgh establishment then consisted of ten persons, exclusive of letter-carriers, and there were 130 Post Towns in Scotland. A packet was despatched to Lerwick on the first Wednesday of each month, and returned about the 8th or 10th of the intervening month; the Postage upon a single letter to Lerwick was 6d.[35]

In 1776, the modern Stage Coach was introduced into Scotland; the first coach arriving in Edinburgh on the 10th April. It