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Harry Davidson Esq Writer to the Signet, Edinburgh From Duncan Campbell, Inveraray, 1820 This letter is written on a very large sheet of paper with a very interesting watermark. The letter is sealed with the use of a beautiful signet ring, which has what looks like a swan standing with a motto above the head BE MINDFUL and at the bottom of the seal, the initials D C in a very fancy script. These are obviously the writer Duncan Campbell’s initials. 2) the charge mark of 4/6-1/2, which would have had to be paid by the addressee, and then 3) the Circular date stamp from Edinburgh on arrival FEB 10 1820 with B on the left to identify the hand stamp and M on the right to show it was dealt with in the morning.
Rockhill 7d ffeby 1820 This postage charge seems enormous, and to work out the cost, the mileage involved has to be known. The distance between these two towns via Glasgow, is about 110 miles, within the range of 80 to 120 miles which is a basic cost of 9d. So to make up the 4/6 this would be 6 times the basic rate, plus the additional halfpenny Scottish mail tax. The contents of the letter explains why it was charged so much above the basic rate. So the answer to the high cost of postage is that this sheet of paper would have been folded and would have held 20 of the English Five-Pound notes, which counted as an enclosure and would then be weighed to work out the charges. There was a daily mail coach between the two places, and on the map it does not look to be a great distance. A perfect temptation to the rogues who held up the mail coaches to rob the contents of the mail bags. |
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