I dined at Burley <1> on Saturday, & stayed there all Sunday. We have settled that I am to go to Cambridge next Monday. Tell Horatia <2> that I have received her letter, & shall soon dispose myself to answer it. William <3> has sent me a great parcel of plants from Caucasus, Georgia, Circassia, the Crimea, Sarepta <4> &c. &c. of which I am to take some & forward the rest to the Botanical Professor at Oxford. I received les jarretiéres que vous m'avez envoyé <5> - & shall keep them till wanted. Miss Feilding <6> is not at all well at present: she did not make her appearance all Sunday. Mr Bonney <7> & I went to see Crowland Abbey <8> the other day. Did you ever see it?
Turn Over
It is a long way, but my poney [sic] carried me extremely well. I thought it a beautiful structure: but it is sadly ruinous, & looks as if it wd tumble down every minute. We went up to the top, & I pulled out my pocket telescope & looked at the view. It is a very extensive one indeed, but we had not a very clear day for it. You see into Norfolk very near Lynn: <9> & over a considerable part of Cambridgeshire - in which Thorney Abbey <10> is very conspicuous, & I think Ely <11> might be seen. Peterborough Cathedral <12> is very distinctly seen - but the most extensive part of the prospect lies [illegible deletion] across the deal level lands of Lincolnshire towards Coningsby, <13> Mr Bonney's other living; - You see in this direction until the objects are quite lost in the distance. Crowland Bridge <14> is very curious - It is triple, that is, three roads diverge from the center [sic] of it. - There is on it a very old statue of a very old Saxon King - sine <15> nose, so may be anything or anybody. The following charade is for fear you should be dull. You will guess directly, & send me word how you like it.
My first's a biped without feathers;
My next's a feathered biped:
This wears a waistcoat in all weathers
Now black, now white, now striped -
The other bounteous Nature has supplied
With coat of feathers fitted to his back:
With oary feet he stems the crystal tide,
And ever & anon, he crieth, Quack!
My whole's the root whose hideous splitting, tears
The stubborn rind of Hecate's <16> leathern ears - <17>
I am sorry not to see you - for I should like to hear your account of France - As to a Journal, you know I kept one.
Yr Affte Son,
W. H. F. Talbot.
The Lady Elisabeth Feilding
31 Sackville St
London
1/7 <18>
Notes:
1. Burley, near Oakham, Rutland.
2. Henrietta Horatia Maria Gaisford, née Feilding (1810-1851), WHFT's half-sister.
3. William Thomas Horner Fox Strangways, 4th Earl of Ilchester (1795-1865), botanist, art collector & diplomat.
4. Caucasus, Georgia, Russia; Circassia, the area between the Black Sea, the Kuban River, and the Caucasus, now largely the Krasnodar Territory of South East European Russia; Crimea, South East Ukraine; Sarepta, Lower Volga Region, Russia.
5. He means 'the garters that you sent me'.
6. Matilda Feilding (1775-1849), WHFT's 'aunt' - sister of Charles Feilding, his stepfather.
7. Thomas Kaye Bonney (1782-1863), Archdeacon of Leicester.
8. Crowland Abbey, Cambridgeshire.
9. He probably means 'King's Lynn, Lynn Regis', or 'Lynn, West Norfolk'.
10. Thorney Abbey, Cambridgeshire.
11. Ely Cathedral, Cambridgeshire.
12. Peterborough Cathedral, Peterborough.
13. Coningsby, Lincoln.
14. Crowland Bridge, Lincolnshire.
15. Without.
16. Goddess in Greek mythology associated with darkness and witchcraft.
17. The answer to this riddle is the mandrake.
18. Written at the back of address panel in another hand.