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THE FREEDOM OF THE ROAD

II

there were frequent patches of blue showing through the cloud- rifts above; all of which points taken together gave promise of improved meteorological conditions, so that, in spite of the dulness of the moment, we drove along in the most optimist of moods, firm in the belief that the day would turn out fine; but fine or wet, we set forth on pleasure bent with a fixed determination, come what might in the shape of weather, to enjoy ourselves, and it would have taken a good deal more than a few showers just then to damp our jubilant holiday spirits.

No children fresh from school could have felt "jollier" than we did on that memorable morning, at perfect liberty to wander whither we would, masters of our conveyance, with no anxiety as to luggage, bound by no tiresome time - tables, but departing and arriving at pleasure, stopping here and there when anything of interest attracted our attention, loitering by the way or hastening along at our own sweet pleasure: the freedom of the road was ours, more desirable to us than the freedom of any city, however great that city might be; and the former is to be had by all, and the latter is only for the favoured few!

Now, kind reader, if you will permit me to call you so once more, as at last we really have started on our tour, I take the opportunity to crave your welcome company, and cordially invite you in spirit to mount on to the box-seat and join us in our pleasant pilgrimage along the highways and byways of this little-travelled corner of Old England, and allow me to do the honours of the country as we

pass through it, and for the nonce to act the part of guide, philosopher, and friend."

For the first few miles it was a getting-out-oftown all the way; houses and villas lined the road more or less, with tantalising peeps between-peeps ever growing wider and more frequent-of the greenful country stretching away to the blue horizon beyond, a beyond that looked very alluring to our town-tired eyes. We drove on apace, for we found nothing to specially interest or detain us till we reached Barnet; we felt only anxious to escape as speedily as possible from the ever-spreading domain. of bricks and mortar, and to reach the real open country, where pleasant footpaths take the place of the hard pavements, and fragrant hedgerows, verdurous meadows, and tilled fields with their green and golden crops that of houses raised by the speculative builder-to sell. How much better was the old system of men building their own homes. to live in! The speculative builder is the unhappy product of a progressive (?) century; he perhaps is responsible for the uglification of London more than aught else, and, alas! is still adding to it.

Passing through the once rural hamlet of Whetstone, it was difficult to realise that this now frequented spot was erst the favourite hunting - ground of that famous (or infamous, if you will) arch-highwayman, Dick Turpin. Great indeed was the terror inspired by his name, for it is recorded that many a Scotch nobleman, squire, and merchant of the period, having occasion to go from Edinburgh to London or vice versa,

A POPULAR SIGN

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actually preferred to risk the dangers and suffer the certain discomforts of the then tedious sea voyage between those places, rather than face the possibility of meeting with Master Turpin-lord of the road from London to York! A driving tour would have afforded plenty of excitement in those days, though I shall ever maintain that adventures -and this from personal experiences of such with Indians, bears, and rattlesnakes, whilst exploring the wild forests and mountains of far-off California -are vastly better to read about than to experience. Adventures are excellent things to relate to your friends in after-dinner talk, if you can only get them to take you seriously!

Arriving at Barnet, we pulled up at the "Red Lion," and rested there to bait our horses. The sign of the inn-perhaps the most popular of all English signs-was not painted on a board and upheld by a post, as so frequently obtains in oldfashioned hostelries such as this; but the lion was carved in wood, and skilfully carved too, whilst to add to his dignity we found him rejoicing in a fresh coat of vermilion, and still further to attract the wayfarer's attention he was supported upon a wroughtiron bracket that projected right over the pavement. This sign, standing thus boldly aloft on its great bracket, was a point of interest in the everyday street for the eye to dwell upon an interest emphasised by past-time associations, for thus, before the coming of the iron horse, had it greeted our inn-loving forefathers when journeying this way, and in a pleasantly defiant manner bade them stop and

take their ease; not that they needed much pressing to do so, for did not the worthy Dr. Johnson, when posting across country, frequently exclaim, "Here is an inn; let us rest awhile"? But that was in the leisurely days gone by when mortals had more time to call their own. I have often wondered, could he be conjured back to life again, what the worthy doctor would think of present-time ways, what he would say of the railways, but above all, what his opinion would be of the huge company hotel, where he would find his individuality merged in a mere number. I trow he would prefer his comfortable tavern, where he could have his quiet talk-and listeners.

I find, by referring to some ancient and valued road-books in my possession, that the two chief inns of the coaching age at Barnet were the "Red Lion" and the "Green Man," each patronised by rival coaches. The latter sign I imagine, judging from the frequent mention of it in the same authorities, to have been at the period a very common and popular one, though now apparently gone entirely out of favour. What was the origin of this strange sign I cannot say, but it may be remembered that green men that is, men with their faces, arms, and hands stained that hue, and their bodies covered with skins were frequently to be found amongst the processions and pageants of the sight-loving Middle Ages, such a "get-up" being intended to represent a savage, and constant mention of them was made in the old writings and plays. In the play of The Cobbler's Prophecy (1594) one of the characters is

"THE GREEN MAN"

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Then

made to say, "Comes there a pageant by? I'll stand out of the green man's way." I find also, in Dr. Brewer's Handbook of Allusions, an extract given from a play of a year later, entitled, The Seven Champions of Christendom, which runs as follows:-"Have you any squibs, or green man in your shows?" During the next century, and for some time afterwards, gamekeepers were usually clad in green, a fact noted by Crabbe:

But the green man shall I pass by unsung. ?

A squire's attendant clad in keeper's green.

At one or other of these two once famous hostels the old coaches took their first change out, or their last change in, and not much time was allowed for or lost in the changing either; for if our ancestors, according to modern notions, made haste slowly, at least they made all the haste they knew. The now quiet (except at the time of the noted horse fair) Barnet High Street was then astir all the day long and half the night with the coming and going of coaches, to say nothing of "posters," and the roadway rang with the rattle and clatter of fast travelling teams, the air was resonant with the musical echoes of the frequent horn, whilst the hurried shout of "next change" kept the inn-yards alive and ready, the ostlers alert. Steam has changed all this; now we travel more speedily but less picturesquely, more luxuriously but less romantically. Why, the very meaning of the word travel-derived, my dictionary informs me, from "travail; excessive toil❞— has surely wholly lost its signification in this easy-going

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