Warminster
17 Janry 1832
My Dear Mr F.
I hope there will be no mistake in sending the pheasants to my friends at Chippenham <1> – I daresay Mr Awdry <2> would point out to the groom (if they are sent by him) where the people live, as there are several in the town that have the same names – And I wish you would ask Mr A. where Mr Witts lives as I think I heard he had left the Town, but if he has not, I should like a brace of birds to be sent to him.
If you like to amuse yourself in rural matters, the plantation by the cascade (beyond the brook) wants thinning: and so does the one by the wall in front of the house. In the latter it is chiefly the black poplars, one half of which might be spared – The trees that come away, to be planted at Nethermore <3> along with some others that Fitzsimmons <4> is going to plant there. If you have not time for this affair, consign it to Awdry
Yours affly
Henry Talbot
Captain Feilding
Lacock Abbey
Notes:
1. Chippenham, Wiltshire: largest town near Lacock, 3 miles N.
2. Probably William Henry Awdry (1778–1847), solicitor, Chippenham.
3. Nethermore Farm and Wood, Lacock, Wiltshire.
4. Cornelius Fitzsimmons, Scottish gardener at Lacock Abbey.