CONTROLLER, SORTING DEPARTMENT, GENERAL POST OFFICE, EDINBURGH.
FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION.
EDINBURGH:
PRINTED BY W. H. LIZARS, ST. JAMES' SQUARE.
1856.
NOTE.
This Historical Summary, compiled by Mr. Lang, was originallycontained in a Letter addressed to the Secretary to the General PostOffice in Scotland, with a view to its being included in the AnnualReport of the Postmaster-General, presented to both Houses of Parliamentat the commencement of the present Session, but it not being considerednecessary to include the whole Summary in the Report, Extracts only werepublished in the Appendix. The whole Summary is therefore now printed,with his Grace's sanction, for private distribution.
AN
HISTORICAL SUMMARY
OF THE
POST OFFICE IN SCOTLAND.
The earliest records that can be found relating to the conveyance ofDespatches or Letters in Scotland, do not date earlier than thefourteenth and fifteenth centuries. In these early records, specialmessengers for the conveyance of the King's Despatches andCorrespondence are called "Nuncii" or "Cursores;" but theinformation as to their mode of travelling, and regulations for theirguidance, is imperfect and limited. Messengers of this description werealso employed to convey despatches from foreign countries, for whichthey received gratuities on their arrival at the Scottish Court. Aboutthe year 1500, the name of Post is found to apply to messengerstravelling with the utmost rapidity then attainable in charge ofdespatches.[1] On the 1st of April 1515, the English envoy in Scotlandwrote from Stirling to Henry VIII. of England—"This Friday, when I camehome to dyner, I received your most honorable letters by Post, dated atyour mansion, Greenwich, 26th March."[2] These letters, which appear tohave occupied five or six days in transit from Greenwich to Stirling,must have been conveyed by one of these special Court Messengers.
It was not long after this period that the municipal corporations andprivate persons of consequence also introduced messengers of thisdescription. For example, in 1590, a Post was established by theMagistrates of Aberdeen for carrying their despatches to and fromEdinburgh and other places of royal residence. They appointed a personfor conducting these despatches, under the name of the[Pg 4] Council Post,who was dressed in a garment of blue cloth, with the town's armorialbearings in silver upon the right sleeve.[3]
In 1635 a public Post was first established in Britain, under Governmentauthority by Charles I.[4] Its main object was to establish regular andcertain communication between London and Edinburgh. The journey waslimited to three days, an