SENHORA SMALL FRY NOTES: PAGES 31-40
| Abbreviations- personal names: | Robert Southey hereafter "RS"; Mary Barker "MB"; William Wordsworth "WW"; Dorothy Wordsworth "DW"; Sara Hutchinson "SH" |
| Abbreviations- book titles: |
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| Page & topic | Notes |
| 30-31: DW visit to Keswick + news + advice | DW to SH at Hindwell, 8 Apr [1815], in W Letters. Although I have yet to find any reference to a school run by Mr Gritton- except for a Sunday School he helped to establish some years later according to George Bott in "Keswick: the Story of a Lake District Town" (1994)- there was a girls' school at Keswick run by Mrs and Miss Gritton, advertised in the Cumberland Pacquet, 22 Mar 1814, page 1. |
| 31: Shedaw's birthday | RS to Grosvenor C. Bedford Esq., from Keswick, 1 May 1815, in Warter. |
| 31: The printed poem | Hartley Coleridge's copy is reproduced in the "Nineteenth Century Microfiche Programme: Women Writers" (1988); the Southey copy was bought in the sale of Katherine Southey's property after her death in August 1864, and is now in Keswick Museum. |
| 31: L'Allegro | The comparison is made in JWordsworth. |
| 31: The Notes | Further information in notes to pages 62-64 |
| 31-32: Henry Crabb Robinson | Robinson's record of the meeting with Wordsworth, and his reaction to the poem, is reprinted in "Henry Crabb Robinson on Books and Their Writers" edited by Edith J. Morley (1938). Background information on Robinson from the Harmsworth Encyclopaedia. |
| 32: Byron & Jeffrey's reactions | Well, lets put it this way- I'd like to hear of a biography of either man, or a letter written by either, which so much as mentions "Lines..." |
| 32: The big But | I'm not sure that the Byron expert who alerted me to Ernest Coleridge's footnote would want to be associated with my presentation of the work- but many thanks. The footnote, which quotes the second half of stanza XV of "Lines...", is in Coleridge's full edition of Byron's Poetry, volume 3, page 488 (to line 896 of "The Siege of Corinth"). Why did Coleridge introduce the Southey / Byron feud into a footnote about the fashion for "renegade" characters, relating to a poem ("Siege...") which seems superficially unrelated to the feud, and even seems a less appropriate illustration of the "renegade" than something like "The Corsair"? Possibly, if events at Greta Hall in the spring of 1816 had been less untidy, we might have seen one or two letters commenting on the release of "Siege..." and speculating on its relationship to "Lines...", but as things turned out, I don't suppose Ernest would have been entirely keen on introducing old family gossip into his scholarly edition of Byron. A transcript of Byron's letter to Leigh Hunt, 30 Oct 1815, criticising WW's geography is online at http://engphil.astate.edu/gallery/byron.html (in chapter 4). Byron chronology at www.lordbyron.ds4a.com/chronology3.html |
| 32: Dora at school | DW to Catherine Clarkson at Bury St Edmunds, 15 Aug [1815- but posted Sep], in W Letters |
| 32-33: Southey's celebration idea | RS to Grosvenor C. Bedford, from Keswick, 8 Aug 1815, in Warter: ... "I wish you were here. I have set on foot a grand project; nothing less than that of rejoicing for the Battle of Waterloo and the capture of Bonaparte, by a bonfire on the top of Skiddaw, upon the Prince's birthday. It will be seen far into Scotland, and by all the country round, like Baly's cauldron in 'Kehama'. By the Lord, Grosvenor! if you were here" ... [etc.] |
| 33: Skiddaw weather | If you really need an illustration, you can follow this link to a photograph of the view of Skiddaw from the riverside by Greta Lodge. |
| 33: the bootleg bonfire | Cumberland Pacquet, 22 Aug 1815: "Saturday se'nnight, (the 12th inst.) being the birth day of his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, and also of the renowned Duke of Wellington [oh no it wasn't], several patriotic gentlemen, in Keswick and its vicinity proposed to distinguish it by some special marks of general festivity.- For this purpose, they had prepared every thing necessary for making a huge bonfire on the top of Skiddaw! to which place the materials had previously been conveyed; certainly at some expence as well as labour. Unfortunately, the weather proving very unfavourable for the display, the lighting of the pyre was postponed till a better opportunity offered. We are sorry the story does not end here. Will the remainder be credited?- A set of miscreants assembled in the night, ascended the very summit of the mountain, and early the next morning (Sunday) dispersed, and burnt all the articles,- consisting of tar barrels, oil casks, peats, ling, &c. which had been collected for the purpose above mentioned.- Notwithstanding this temporary defeat of a loyal effusion, by a brutal act of malevolence, (we are credibly informed) the towering head of Skiddaw will yet shine, and with increased splendor the first clear evening." + Carlisle Patriot, Aug 26 1815: "...some malevolent spirit to gratify itself by the disappointment of others took the opportunity of setting fire to the combustibles which had been collected on the summit at considerable expence and labour, at a time when the sober part of mankind were at rest, and the mountain was so enveloped in vapour that this illumination which might have been anticipated to be visible over an extent of one hundred miles, was scarcely observed by the nearest inhabitants." ... + Westmorland Advertiser, 19 Aug 1815: much as in Cumberland papers, but ending "the bonefire is intended to be exhibited on the first favourable evening, when no doubt various conjectures will be formed respecting it, and as there can now be no reason to imagine it an alarm on the landing of an enemy, it may perhaps be supposed by some that Skiddaw has become a volcanic mountain." |
| 33-34: The bonfire revived | RS to Dr. [Harry] Southey, from Keswick, 23 Aug 1815, in Life & Corr.: ... "Monday, the 21st of August, was not a more remarkable day in your life than it was in that of my neighbour Skiddaw, who is a much older personage. The weather served for our bonfire, and never, I believe, was such an assemblage upon such a spot. To my utter astonishment, Lord Sunderlin rode up, and Lady S., who had endeavoured to dissuade me from going as a thing too dangerous, joined the walking party. Wordsworth, with his wife, sister, and eldest boy, came over on purpose. James Boswell arrived that morning at the Sunderlins. Edith, the Senhora, Edith May, and Herbert were my convoy, with our three maid-servants, some of our neighbours, some adventurous Lakers, and Messrs. Rag, Tag, and Bobtail, made up the rest of the assembly. We roasted beef and boiled plum-puddings there; sung 'God save the king' round the most furious body of flaming tar-barrels that I ever saw; drank a huge wooden bowl of punch; fired cannon at every health three times three, and rolled large blazing balls of tow and turpentine down the steep side of the mountain. The effect was grand beyond imagination. We formed a huge circle round the most intense light, and behind us was an immeasurable arch of the most intense darkness, for our bonfire fairly put out the moon. The only mishap which occurred will make a famous anecdote in the life of a great poet, if James Boswell, after the example of his father, keepeth a diary of the sayings of remarkable men. When we were craving for the punch, a cry went forth that the kettle had been knocked over, with all the boiling water! Colonel Barker, as Boswell named the Senhora, from her having had the command on this occasion, immediately instituted a strict inquiry to discover the culprit, from a suspicion that it might have been done in mischief, water, as you know, being a commodity not easily replaced on the summit of Skiddaw. The persons about the fire declared it was one of the gentlemen- they did not know his name; but he had a red cloak on; they pointed him out in the circle. The red cloak (a maroon one of Edith's) identified him; Wordsworth had got hold of it, and was equipped like a Spanish Don- by no means the worst figure in the company. He had committed this fatal faux pas, and thought to slink off undiscovered. But as soon as, in my inquiries concerning the punch, I learnt his guilt from the Senhora, I went round to all our party, and communicated the discovery, and getting them about him, I punished him by singing a parody, which they all joined in: ' 'Twas you that kicked the kettle down! 'twas you, Sir, you!' The consequences were, that we took all the cold water upon the summit to supply our loss. Our myrmidons and Messrs. Rag and Co. had, therefore, none for their grog; they necessarily drank the rum pure; and you, who are physician to the Middlesex Hospital, are doubtless acquainted with the manner in which alcohol acts upon the nervous system. All our torches were lit at once by this mad company, and uor way down the hill was marked by a track of fire, from flambeaux dropping the pitch, tarred ropes, &c. One fellow was so drunk that his companions placed him upon a horse, with his face to the tail, to bring him down, themselves being just sober enough to guide and hold him on. Down, however, we all got safely by midnight; and nobody, from the old Lord of seventy-seven, to my son Herbert, is the worse for the toil of the day, though we were eight hours from the time we set out till we reached home." + Cumberland Pacquet 29 Aug 1815: "Illumination of Skiddaw!" [Starts with summary of previous report] "Had the Bard of congenial name, who once addressed the luminary of day, in strains which will not cease to be admired,- had he witnessed the Spectacle alluded to, we might have had a poetical view of nature assisted by her handmaid, art, of 'SKIDDAW in midnight SPLENDOR!' On the night of Monday the 21st instant, (fresh combustibles having been collected on the summit of the mountain) fire was set to the different heaps, which were arranged in a manner the best calculated for a display. It was not long before the flames began to rise, which, assisted by a fine breeze, soon spread, and set the whole on a blaze that was truly astonishing!- far exceeding in grandeur the expectation even of those who had projected this loyal effusion of respect and gratitude. It is, we presume, generally known that the top of Skiddaw is 3270 feet,- one thousand and ninety yards, above the level of the sea.- The atmosphere was dusky, but free from mists; of course the season was as favourable to the purpose as could be wished.- The illumination began about nine, and, in less than half-an-hour (as we learn from various accounts) it spread no common alarm in all directions- and to the distance of many miles. One of our correspondents, who witnesses it at a distance of thirty miles, says that it reminded him of a passage in THOMSON.- "A blaze of meteors shoots!- Ensweeping first The lower skies, they all at once converge High to the crown of Heaven, and all at once, Relapsing quick, as quickly reascend, And mix, and thwart, extinguish, and renew, All Ether coursing in a maze of light!" The idea of its being a comet- with a long fiery tail- was prevalent in many places.- And another correspondent assures us that many sagacious remarks were made on it in his hearing, "And as they scann'd the visionary scene, On all sides swell'd the superstitious din. From look to look, contagious, through the crowd The panic ran, and into wond'rous shapes The appearance threw!" It continued the "regent of the scene" for about three hours,- shewing itself in uncommon majesty and splendor the greater part of that time.- It is impossible to say from what distances it was visible; or rather which was the greatest distance from which it was distinctly seen- Notwithstanding the intervention of so many lofty hills, in the line of vision, it was clearly distinguished, and for a considerable time, from within a mile of Whitehaven,- and to the westward, as far as Broughton in Lancashire. + Carlisle Patriot, 2 Sep 1815: "SKIDDAW.- In our last we mentioned that it was intended to illuminate the top of this mountain (postponed from the Prince Regent's birth day)- and it accordingly took place on the night of Monday se'ennight. The top of this majestic mountain is 1090 yards above the surface of the sea. The combustibles collected for the purpose were lighted about nine o'clock, and in less than half an hour it was in full blaze, and had a singularly fine effect.- One of our correspondents, who witnessed it at a distance of thirty miles, says" ... [etc. as previous article] "It continued to burn for about three hours; but it having been known to the greater portion of the surrounding inhabitants that such a circumstance would take place, the only effect produced was admiration. It was observed as far as Broughton, in Lancashire.- This novel illumination took place at the suggestion of R. Southey, Esq. the Poet Laureate. Mr Southey and Mr Wordsworth, as well as Sir George Beaumont, took an active part in the whole business. Lord Sunderlin (the brother of the late Mr Malone), and his Lady, notwithstanding their advanced age ascended the mountain on this occasion, and the whole was a scene of festivity till 12 o'clock at night." + Westmorland Advertiser, 9 Sep 1815 (same report in Cumberland Pacquet, 5 Sep 1815- so identical that the Advertiser even refers to the previous week's report, which it had not carried): "Amongst other things worth noticing, incident to the grand display on the night of the 21st ult, were the following:- a great concourse of people ascended to the mountain, upon which several pieces of beef were roasted and plum-pudding boiled, of which all present eat,or at least tasted, through curiosity. The health of the Prince Regent, the Duke of Wellington, and Prince Blucher, were drunk three times over an immense bowl of punch-royal, each of the toasts being announced to the world below, by the discharge of cannon;- and God save the King, and Rule Britannia, were sung in full chorus, accompanied by a band of music. Amongst the company present, were Lord and Lady Sunderlin, Sir George Beaumont, Miss Barker, Mr. Southey, (the poet-lawreat) and Mr. Wordsworth, with their families; Mr. James Boswell, Mr. Ponsonby, Mr. Fryer, and several others of distinction. They quitted the summit of the mountain at ten o'clock, descending by torch-light, and reached Keswick about midnight, where the festivities closed with fire-works and the ascent of a balloon, on which were inscribed the words "Wellington and Waterloo." It is not known that carts were ever drawn up to the top of this gigantic mountain before this occasion;- and it is certain that numers of the neighbouring inhabitants now ascended it for the first time, never having been induced to climb its awful height before- It was observed last week that its summit is one thousand and ninety yards above the sea,- something more than half-a-mile! but the track, which must be pursued, in order to gain its summit, makes the journey from Kendal not less than five miles. |
| 33: Biographical notes | Sunderlin & Boswell jnr: Dictionary of National Biography entries for Edmund Malone & J.B. jnr. Also footnote in Curry, to letter of 28 Sep 1813, states that JB jnr. (1778-1822) was remembered by Southey as a contemporary at Westminster School. |
| 35: Greta Lodge viewpoint & finale | Mrs Coleridge to Thomas Poole, from Keswick, 20 Sep 1815 (in "Minnow Among Tritons") and in H.D. Rawnsley "Literary Associations of the English Lakes" (1894): ..."Have you heard, my dear Sir, of the rejoicings we have had on top of our great mountain Skiddaw; most likely you have seen an account of it in the papers, of a bonfire upon the highest summit of that high mountain; Wordsworth & Southey & their families ascended, besides a very large party of ladies & gentlemen among whom were Lord and Lady Sunderlin, the former seventy-six & the latter upwards ofsixty years old. Sir G. Beaumont had imprudently walked to the summit in the morning, so could not go at night, so he, with his lady- and the Misses Malone with a great many others were content to view the sight from our windows, and a splendid thing it was to behold; and seeing the company descend by the light of torches had a most uncommon and beautiful effect; they reached the vale at half past twelve, at midnight, after which we sent up a fire-balloon and a number of small fireworks. All Mr. Dawes's boys came over from Ambleside, but not in time enough to ascend the hill, which vexed poor Derwent much, so that no one of our name was there, for I am not equal to a walk of ten miles mountain road, and Sara is much too delicate to be permitted such a thing. She saw her cousins Edith and Herbert set out, with tears in her eyes, protesting she could perform the thing with the greatest ease, but all set a face against her attempting it. I had a very anxious time during the nine hours of their absence for I feared lest the mists should come on, and so keep them on the heights all night; but not a cloud came to distress them, and not one of the party were any worse for the expedition. On the following week we had illuminations, transparencies, and a balloon at Ld. S.'s on the other side the Lake, with elegant refreshments and a great deal of good company. We took all the dear ["Minnows" reads this word as "older"] children, and on these occasions his Lordship always sends his carriage to fetch and carry us home." ... |
| 35: Derwent Bank celebration | Westmorland Advertiser, 9 Sep 1815 (same report in Cumberland Pacquet, 5 Sep 1815):
On the 26th ult. was most brilliantly illuminated in commemoration of the battle of Waterloo, the temporary residence of Lord Sunderlin. In front of the house were three transparencies;- the first representing the great bonfire on Skiddaw; by an eminent female artist;- the second, John Bull seated on a cask, with a can of ale in his hand, viewing the Devil with Bonaparte on his shoulders; the third, the Devil in the act of dropping Bonaparte into the Lake,- not into Derwent Lake, but into another kind of a Lake, which is described as abounding- not with trout, perch, or pike, but with fire and brimstone!- This is said to have been designed by one of the first artists in the kingdom. A grand display of rockets, wheels, Roman candlesticks, &c. &c. with some aquatic fire-works, were exhibited to several hundreds of people, collected from all the neighbouring places, to view the festive scene, which closed with the ascent of a fire-balloon, ten feet high and eighteen feet in circumference, ---Which in the midst of loud hussas, Majestically rose, and soar'd along In trackless paths: Some supposed that it dropped about the top of Skiddaw; but none of the materials were to be found the next day, although diligent search was made for them.- There is a report that the iron-hoop, &c. were found near Wigton." |
| 35: Southey's opinion of the bonfire | RS to C.W.W. Wynn, from Keswick, 5 Sep 1815, in Warter. |
| 36: Belgian holiday | RS to Miss Barker, from Brussels, 1 Oct 1815, in Warter: "DEAR SENHORA, We have been wishing for you every hour of every day since we set foot in this country- a country which art seems to have endeavoured to render picturesque in proportion as it has been made otherwise by nature. Bruges is, beyond all comparison, the most interesting place I have ever seen." ... "We met there, at the table d'hote, Mr. Locker and his wife, whom Miss Alms [?=Alne] sent to you; they were on their return to England, and my route has been much influenced by the information which he gave me." ... ... "On Thursday we came to Brussels"... "Tell Glover that I have been to the hospital, where they informed me that Richard Cartmell died on the 14th of August." ... "You must certainly come to this country, and practice a little arhitectural drawing before you come." ... "Remember me to Mrs. Croker, and kiss the children in my name. Yours affectionately, R.S." [letter also mentions meeting ,shortly after seeing Bruges, with some other English tourists, one of whom was a "deformed" artist Edward Nash (1778-1821); the two parties merged, and, according to notes in Curry, Nash's pictures of the battlefield at Waterloo, which they visited on 3 Oct, were later used as illustrations for Southey's "The Poet's Pilgrimage to Waterloo". Southey's party included Edith and Edith May, Henry Koster, Harry with his new wife Louisa, and Louisa's mother & sister] |
| 36: SH proposed visit to MB | SH at Kendal to Miss J. Hutchinson, Radnor, 24 Nov 1815, in Coburn: describes Miss Fletcher as "so deaf that Music is the only way in which you can hold communion with her". |
| 36: Southey at work | RS to Grosvenor Charles Bedford, from Keswick, 19 Dec 1815, in Curry. |
| 36: SH travel problems | DW to Catherine Clarkson, Playford Hall near Ipswich, 23 Dec [1815], in W Letters. |
| 36: SH & Dora at Greta Lodge | DW to Mrs Catherine Clarkson, Ipswich, 4 Apr [1816], in W Letters, + Mrs Coleridge to Thomas Poole, c22 Apr 1816, in "Minnow Among Tritons" |
| 36: Lord Sunderlin death | "The Complete Peerage" (vol 12, 1953) |
| 36: Byron farewell | Byron chronology at www.lordbyron.ds4a.com/chronology3.html |
| 36-37: Herbert's illness | RS to C.W.W. Wynn, 30 Mar 1816, in Curry: "Herbert is unwell enough to give me much uneasiness". + RS to Sharon Turner (historian Mr Turner was one of the "living remarkables" RS met at Charlotte Smith's in 1801-2), 2 Apr 1816, in Warter: "You will shortly, I trust, receive my Pilgrimage, the notes and title-page to which would have been at this time in the printer's hands, if I had not been palsied by the severe illness of my son." |
| 37: MB and Herbert's end | Footnote by MB (writing as Mary Slade) in Warter, partly quoted by Edward Dowden in "English Men of Letters: Southey" (1909). The notice of Herbert's death in the "Westmorland Advertiser" 11 May 1816 (appraently copied from the previous week's issue of one of the Cumberland papers) is: "DIED. On Wednesday se'nnight, at Greta-hall, Keswick, Herbert, the only son of Robert Southey, Esq. Poetlaureat, aged nine years, a boy of uncommon promise, having (at that early age) obtained, in a great degree, a proficiency in the following languages, viz. English, Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, and German." |
| 37: RS's reaction to Herbert's death | RS to Henry Herbert Southey [the day of the death, 17 Apr 1816], in Curry, + RS to Grosvenor C. Bedford, 26 Apr 1816, in Warter: "Edith May returned from Wordsworth's this morning,- we missed her greatly, and yet her return was a renewal of sorrow." (according to Mrs Coleridge's letter of c22 Apr, in "Minnow Among Tritons", Edith May Southey and young Sara Coleridge had been sent off to Rydale with Dora Wordsworth immediately after the death). |
| 37: RS to remain at Greta Hall | RS to Grosvenor C. Bedford, 3 May 1816, in Life & Corr.: ... "I begin to think that change of place would not be desirable, and that the pain of leaving a place where I have enjoyed so many years of such great happiness, is more than it is wise to incur without necessity. Nor could I reconcile either Edith or myself to the thought of leaving poor Mrs. Wilson, whose heart is half broken already, and to whom our departure would be a death-stroke"... |
| 37: Wordsworth troubles | Biographies |
| 37: Henry Crabb Robinson visit | Entry for 9 Sep 1816 in "Diary, Reminiscences and Correspondence of Henry Crabb Robinson, Barrister at Law, F.S.A." edited by Thomas Sadler (1872) + same day in "Blake, Coleridge, Wordsworth..." edited by Edith J. Morley from Robinson's notes (1922). |
| 38: MB's claimed reason for building house | DW's "Scafell" letter, 7 Oct 1818, reprinted as an appendix to "Journals of Dorothy Wordsworth", edited by E. de Selincourt (1941). |
| 38: Sarah Youdale freehold | In Carlisle Record Office D/Law/1/174, transaction date 23 Dec 1815: property involved was a messuage/tenement at Rosthwaite, plus "Parrock-How-Gate" (1 acre 2 roods) and "Stangs Dale" (1 rood) |
| 38: Youdale to MB sale | In the 1808 Land Tax records at Carlisle Record Office, QRP 1/AA 1808, Sarah Youdale's name is given, as in the following extract [fractions converted to decimals]: Mary Woodall (owner)/John Jackson (occupier)/6.75d (assessment) William Bankes/do. do./5.25d Mary Birkett/ John Fisher/9.25d Sarah Youdale/blank/9.25d John Birkett/blank/8s 3.75d Unfortunately, Carlisle Record Office does not have Land Tax records for the next eight years, but in the 1817 listing (QRP 1/AA 1817), the following entries appear: Mary Woodle/John Jackson/6.25d [executors of] late Wm. Bank + Robert Wren etc./selves/5.25d Mary Birkett/John Wilson/9.25d Miss Barker/self/9.25d Joseph Birkett/self/8s 3.75d |
| 38: Plan | topographical base, 1st edition Ordnance Survey 1:2,500 (rescaled). Details from Keswick tithe award map, c1840 (original in Carlisle Record Office, Crosthwaite tithe awards, ref. DRC 8/55). |
| 38: Identification of MB's house | The name "Parrock How-Gate" for Sarah Youdale's small field would be a very good description of the site shown on the plan, which is about the right size, and is bounded by the cutting for the valley road ("gate" in local dialect) round the side of the little hill called the How. William Green, in "The Tourist's New Guide..." [to the Lake District] volume II (1819) describes MB's house at Rosthwaite and its surroundings: "On the banks of the Stonethwaite arm of the Derwent, there has recently been erected, by Miss Barker, an excellent house, commanding a fine view over the river, and of the rocky elevations, called Hay Stacks. There is scarcely amongst these northern vallies, a place, in which an equally valuable collection of painters' studies may be so speedily collected, as from the environs of Rosthwaite. Two public houses are found at Rosthwaite; a circumstance greatly in favour of such artists, as, for the pleasure and improvement of the eye and mind, will there repose, rather than return each night to Keswick. From the top of a green hill, near Rosthwaite, the three vallies of Rosthwaite, Stonethwaite, and Seathwaite, with their screening acclivities, present a series of singular, but grand associations. The mountains observed from this stand, beginning with those environing the village of Stonethwaite, (the southern of these three vallies) are, on the left, the Knotts, a hill covered with trees, and on the right, the High Knott, which rises abruptly from Borrowdale Chapel. Joining the High Knott, on the left, is the Hay Stacks, and farther off, the Hanging Hay Stacks. Succeeding the latter, and over Stonethwaite, are Blake How Crag, and Bull's Crag, with Eagle Crag, towering majestically, beyond them." ... A later guide-book shows the view towards Eagle Crag from the road at the south end of the probable MB property; follow this link for my interpretation of the picture, with its wilder exaggerations toned down. Note how even at that date the road was cut into the bank at right. In the Tithe Award [details as above], neither Mary Barker nor Sarah Youdale is named (the latter is not mentioned as a property owner in any document I have found later than the 1815 freehold conversion mentioned above). The property most closely fitting Green's description (plot 176 on the Tithe Award map) is owned by Lawrence Harrison and occupied by Thomas Simpson. The only other land in Rosthwaite owned by Harrison is a small meadow (1 rood 30 perches) called "Stangs", just east of the valley road and north of Rosthwaite bridge. In the Borrowdale Chapel account book (Carlisle record Office, ref. PR 174/39) one of the two churchwardens for 1843 is Thomas Simpson, whose address is given as Miss Barker's, Rosthwaite (directories show that he later lived at Hazel Bank, across the river, which was probably built for him). |
| 38: Pearson finance | see Pearson note to page 45 |
| 38: Hard winters | William Gilpin "Observations, relative chiefly to picturesque beauty, made in the year 1772..." (1786):
"We were now in that part of the valley which is properly called the valley of Borrowdale- ... In this deep retreat lies the village of Rosthwait; having at all times, little intercourse with the country; but during half the year, almost totally excluded from all human commerce."; this was also sneakily adapted by John Robinson for "A Guide to the Lakes" (1819): "ROSTHWAITE, about a mile from Bowdar Stone, is a romantic village, shadowed by impending mountains, and in some degree excluded from all intercourse with the surrounding country, particularly during the months of winter. At this place, the road divides, one branch leading to the wad mines and Ravenglass, the other, on the left, to Hawks-head." Sarah Youdale's account is in "Borrowdale in the Old Time; as gathered from the conversation of the late Sarah Yewdale, Queen of Borrowdale, who died February 1869, in her 101st year." compiled by the Rev. James Dixon (1869). See note to page 42 on Borrowdale life. The "Cumberland Pacquet" of 2 March 1869 reported the death of Sarah Youdale (familiarly "Old Sally Youdale"), born Xmas day 1768. See also letter from DW to Jane Marshall, 25 June 1817 (in W Letters) in which she describes seeing "masses of snow" on a climb up Helvellyn. |
| 39: progress report | SH letter from Greta Lodge to John Monkhouse at Stow, near Hay, 7 Feb 1817, in Coburn. |
| 39: footnote | RS at Keswick to Sir George Beaumont, 10 Jul 1824, in "Memorials of Coleorton", edited by William Knight (1887): "You will have seen by the papers that the Floating Island has made its appearance. It sunk again last week, when some heavy rains had raised the lake four feet. By good fortune, Professor Sedgwick happened to be in Keswick, and examined it in time. Where he probed it a thin layer of mud lies upon a bed of peat which is six feet thick, and this rests upon a stratum of fine white clay, the same I believe which Miss Barker found in Borrowdale when building her unlucky house. Where the gas is generated remains yet to be discovered, but when the peat is filled with this gas, it separates from the clay, and becomes buoyant." |
| 39: Robert Owen visit, Aug 1816 | RS to John Murray, 24 Aug 1816, in Curry, + RS to Sir John Richman [?Rickman], 25 Aug 1816, in Warter: observes that Owen is "neither more nor less than such a Pantisocrat as I was in the days of my youth"... "not knowing anything about him, good part of the time elapsed before I could comprehend his views." ... "but his address to his people there has much that is misplaced, injudicious, and reprehensible." |
| 39: Greta Hall writ | RS to Henry Herbert Southey [Harry] Easter Sunday [6 Apr 1817], in Curry. |
| 39-40: Wat Tyler | Cuthbert Southey provides an appendix at the end of Volume 6 of Life & Corr., about the raising of the matter in Parliament by William Smith MP, and RS's subsequent position statement. In addition, there are numerous general references in RS's letters of the period. |
| 40: RS visits Homfrays & Baudouins | RS to Edith S., from Calais, 11 May 1817 + 17 May 1817 (both in Curry). Note that in these "second hand" references, Southey always refers to MB as "Miss Barker", never as the Senhora. Note also the lack of surviving letters to MB from this long continental trip. |
| 40-41: Greta Hall estate adverts | The first advertisement is copied from the Cumberland Pacquet, 17 Jun 1817. Howe and Woof, in "Greta Hall: Home of Coleridge and Southey" by H.W. Howe (1977) state that the estate was also advertised in the London Courier, 5 Jun 1817. The revised version appeared in the Cumberland Pacquet, 1 Jul 1817. It also appeared in the Carlisle Patriot, 5 Jul 1817, and possibly other local papers (as possibly did the first version, which I have not checked). Both the "Pacquet" and "Patriot" versions state that the Lodge was built four years ago. The revised sale date appears in the Carlisle Patriot on 12 Jul 1817 (again, probably also in the Pacquet and others which I have not checked). |
