Name: A Book of Escapes And Hurried Journeys — Sir Robert Cary's Ride to Edinburgh
Author: John Buchan

Quotes from A Book of Escapes And Hurried Journeys… (John Buchan)

John Buchan, A Book of Escapes And Hurried Journeys… (1922)

“ SIR ROBERT CARY'S RIDE TO EDINBURGH The history of these islands is strewn with tales of swift and fateful rides, but as a rule the distances were short. In old days it was nobody's business to get in a hurry from Land's End to John o' Groats, and long journeys, even the marches of the Edwards into Scotland, were leisurely affairs. But though roads were infamous, horses were as good then as now, and if a man were called upon for an extended journey against time he could make a record on horseback that was scarcely surpassed till the days of steam. ”

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Source: Wikisource

John Buchan, A Book of Escapes And Hurried Journeys… (1922)

“ But once a courtier always a courtier. Throughout these stirring years Cary was perpetually haunted by anxiety as to how he stood in the Queen's favour, and when he could spare the time would go South to show himself at Court. At the end of the year 1602 he was in London and found Elizabeth very ill. ”

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Source: Wikisource

John Buchan, A Book of Escapes And Hurried Journeys… (1922)

“ Cary was a man of action and did not let the grass grow under his feet. He rode straight to the Knight Marshal's lodging by Charing Cross, where he slept till morning. At nine o'clock he heard that the Lords of the Council were in the old orchard at Whitehall, and he sent the Marshal to tell them that he awaited their commands. They were determined that Cary should not move; but they told the Marshal to send for him, as if they meant to dispatch him at once to King James. ”

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Source: Wikisource

John Buchan, A Book of Escapes And Hurried Journeys… (1922)

“ That, indeed, is the essence of the business, for no horse ever foaled can keep its pace beyond a certain limit. The present writer once, in his youth, rode 75 miles in the Northern Transvaal at a stretch on one horse; but, after the Boer fashion, he off-saddled every two hours for twenty minutes—a thing impossible in a really hustled journey.
This story tells of the ride of Sir Robert Cary from London to Edinburgh with the news of the death of Elizabeth. The distance by any road was little less than 400 miles, but he probably took short cuts after he crossed the Border. ”

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Source: Wikisource

John Buchan, A Book of Escapes And Hurried Journeys… (1922)

“ When Mary of Scots was beheaded he was chosen to carry Elizabeth's explanations to James in Scotland, and the following year he was again at Dumfries with the Scottish king, who was busy suppressing refractory Maxwells. In 1589, being very hard up, he wagered £2,000 with another courtier that he would walk the 300 miles to Berwick in twelve days. He won his bet, and thereafter, he tells us, was enabled to live for some time at Court like a gentleman. He must have been no mean pedestrian, and that in an age when the gentry rode too habitually to walk well. ”

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Source: Wikisource

John Buchan, A Book of Escapes And Hurried Journeys… (1922)

“ After that he crossed the Channel again with Essex, and commanded a regiment with some distinction, so that he was knighted on the field by his general. When the French war was ended he found himself without employment and considerably in debt. ”

John Buchan

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Quotes from A Book of Escapes And Hurried Journeys… (John Buchan)

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John Buchan

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Quotes from A Book of Escapes And Hurried Journeys… (John Buchan)

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Get perspective with Kwize: daily news enlightened by great literature