Dear Sir,
I heard you last Spring express a wish for roots of the pretty blue Anemone Appenina to plant about your grounds, so I begged a friend in Ireland where the plant grows freely to send me some; I have packed a small box full of the roots, & have now the pleasure of sending them to you by Rail. I trust they will arrive safe & prove acceptable.
We have the happiness of having the Ricearton party at home again. They are full of the very great enjoyment they had in their visit to Laycock Abbey, of the kindness they received, & of all the wonders of that most interesting old place & which the young people are never tired of relating to us. We were rejoiced to receive a good account of the health of all the family, but sorry that Madmoiselle Petit still continues so delicate Mrs Talbot will like to hear that Mrs Marshall of Currie hill has made an extraordinary rally, and is now expected to recover.
Please to give our kindest regards to all our friends at Laycock, and believe me Dear Sir,
Yours sincerely
Margaret Gibson Craig <1>
Hermiston House
17th August, /66
Notes:
1. Miss Gibson-Craig may have met the Talbots through photographic connections. In the 1856 Photographic Society of Scotland exhibition in Edinburgh, she exhibited two portraits by a photographer by the name of Wagner.