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  • "All of this brings me to the subject of this article, Wordie & Co., the biggest carrier and haulage firm ever to operate in Scotland. So famous that they inspired the great McGonagall to write:

    Twenty horses in a row

    Everyone of Wordie & Co.

    This modest number of beasts was the tiniest fraction which went on to serve the company, because it was reckoned that at one time Wordie had well over 2000 horses stabled at depots all over Scotland."

    ...

    "Like many great concerns, Wordie & Co. had humble beginnings, and the earliest mention of the destined-to-be haulage empire came in the early 19th century when John Wordie, carrier of Stirling, omitting to inform the government of the day, endeavoured to supplement his income by running an illegal mail service between Stirling, Glasgow and Edinburgh, charging 6½d to Glasgow, and 8d to the capital."

    ...

    "John Wordie's heart suddenly failed him one day when out for his Sunday walk, and he died leaving half a dozen horses and carts to his son William."

    ...

    "The railway was now spreading its tentacles all over Scotland, and wherever the railway went, William Wordie was sure to go. In 1851 he became agent for the Caledonian Railway and then secured a contract for the Scottish Central Railway."

    ...

    "William Wordie had fixed his wagon to a star in orbit. But on 9th October, 1874, his industrious life came to an end at his Lenzie home. He died leaving a family of seven – five daughters and two sons, John and Peter, who took over the business and still found time to move the family into more spacious accommodation, at Millersneuk House, in Lenzie."

    ...

    "All things must end, however, and the proud slogan – "You'll find Wordie & Co. wherever you go" – was soon consigned to history. In 1945, the Government passed the Road Traffic Act, and Wordie became part of the nationalised British Road Services."

    - 'Horse and Carter,' Bob Morrow in The Scots Magazine, Dec 2001.

    March 26, 2008

  • Ha! Excellent, bilby! I say we revive the proud slogan. Haulage company indeed!

    March 26, 2008

  • Wait. How friggin' awesome is it that his name was John?

    March 27, 2008

  • Exactly!

    March 27, 2008