Goodfellow and McGeorge, The Peril of the Post. Multi-Cache
Lorgadh: As the owner has not responded to my previous log requesting that they check this cache I am archiving it.
If you wish to email me please send your email via my profile (click on my name) and quote the cache name and number.
Regards
Karen
Lorgadh - Volunteer UK Reviewer www.geocaching.com
UK Geocaching Policies Wiki
Geocaching Help Center
Email me via my profile
Goodfellow and McGeorge, The Peril of the Post.
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(micro)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
This cache is all about duty and sacrifice. Begin by using the map on the cemetary gate to find the resting places of James McGeorge and John Goodfellow. Study both and answer the question to discover the cache. Please be respectful whilst exploring in this intriguing old cemetary. The cache is not hidden in the cemetery, you need only go it to read the headstones of the two men.
This is a story many of us will be familiar with but few will know in great detail. It is the story of the tragic loss of the guard and driver of the Edinburgh bound mail coach to the elements , a story of bravery and determination in the face of ferocious of weather we often dismiss today as we travel in our heated cars on snow ploughed roads. It’s a tale of two friends who did their duty faithfully until the end.
James McGeorge was the guard and John Goodfellow the driver of the Edinburgh mail coach that set off from Dumfries at half past ten on the 8th of February 1831 in a heavy snowstorm. Having been chastised for a delay on a previous run the two men were determined to deliver the mail. Their employer H.M.Mails demanded haste as the roads between Moffat and Edinburgh had recently been improved to a high standard. The coach managed to reach Moffat in early afternoon and upon arrival the men were advised to delay their travel until the storm passed. The roads above Moffat are still known to be treacherous in bad weather to this day and are often closed due to snow. However the two men refused this notion and decided to continue. Men with local knowledge were added to the party of passengers which included two women. Two horses were also added to the coach for the steep pull up the road to the devil’s beef tub.
A mile and a half beyond Moffat the coach got stuck, and neither the horses or men could move it one inch. Goodfellow and McGeorge were determined to use what was left of daylight to go onward. They took two of the horses, and the mail-bags, and set off with the local men ; first, however, directing the men they left to send to Moffat for rescue for the lady passengers. They found it impossible to get forward on horseback and although Goodfellow, the driver, thought better of it they continued on foot. McGeorge was determined not to be disciplined again for another delay. The local men still with him urged him repeatedly to go back, saying that no one could blame him now. If he could not go on horseback, he could not go on foot. It were best to return to Moffat. McGeorge, however, seems to have been a very determined man. He picked up the heavy mail sacks that were said to have weighed seven stones, and crying out to Goodfellow that he might return if he liked, went away onward. Goodfellow would not desert his friend. He followed through the wind and snow disappearing into the white with his colleague McGeorge. The local men expected that they would see the impossibility of the attempt, give up and return. Meantime the two women were left alone in the coach. The men passengers seem to have left the coach earlier, and either returned to Moffat with the horses, or joined the others in debating with the driver and guard. For there were only the two women left, who, seeing the coach being more and more snowed up, thought that they had been deserted by the other passengers, and began to scream for help. Just then a local inn-keeper arrived with help. The rescued ladies were driven to Moffat, reaching it about five o'clock, weakened greatly by the bitter cold.
The driver and guard did not return that evening as expected and the following morning a man named Marchbank set out to discover the state of the road and coach. After struggling through the snow towards tweedshaws he was to find the mailbags hung on a post by the road. The post was adorned with bloody marks from frostbitten fingers. Marchbank too tired and beaten by the weather to go on followed his tracks back towards moffat where he was helped by others along the way. He too was almost lost to the cold. Upon hearing of the brutal discovery and with a slim hope the people of moffat formed a party to head for tweedshaws to find news of the brave mail mens fate. They set off with lanterns through the evening but upon arrival were saddened as McGeorge and Goodfellow had not been seen. The searching continued over the next few days as the weather calmed.
Four days passed until the bodies of James McGeorge and John Goodfellow were found. Goodfellow, the reluctant but loyal driver, had been the first to fall. McGeorge had remained near his friend till he died. He then struggled on alone, probably feeling tremendous guilt for insisting they continue he also perished not far from his friend. They were buried in this kirkyard, and a monument erected to the memory of them by the roadside. Two brave men, colleagues, friends, until the end.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Oynpx Anab
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
Loading Treasures