Lacock Wedny Janry 8th
My Dear Constance
I received today your letter of the 1st, returned from Dabton.<1> I had a very pleasant visit at Dabton and left it on the 2d January – Charles<2> will stay till the 10th when he comes here. I wrote to Monie<3> the day after Tilly<4> wrote to her. I hope my letter was received. The children were all well and merry. William<5> begins to speak, but it is very difficult to understand what he says – He calls himself Tot – One day he said Tot’s grandpapa is come, but Jack’s grandpapa<6> is not come yet! There was no snow at Dabton – The weather here was bitterly cold for several days especially I think on last Saturday – It is also very dark and gloomy and cheerless
There are a good many flowers in the Stove considering the season. The Strelitzia Reginæ is splendid just now one spike has 3 expanded flowers and a second spike is just opening. Two very pretty Orchids are in flower – the scarlet Euphorbia Jacquiniflora &c &c. In the conservatory is a very fine plant in flower of Luculia gratissima very sweet – It stands in the ground. Why does it not rather flower in the summer? – I opened some letters that came for you as you wished – They proved to be begging letters with the exception of one from Mrs Vardon<7> which I enclose. the post mark is Decr 19th. – If you find San Remo cold you must remember that the severity of the season is quite extraordinary – At Florence there is much snow, and Times correspondent has seen the ice 2 and 3 inches thick. At Paris people cross the Seine on the ice on foot. at Marseilles the paper reports much snow. There is none at Lacock, but when I crossed the “black country” last Thursday evening it was quite white with snow and illuminated by the flaring of the iron furnaces – pussy arrived here quite safe and recognized the Abbey immediately and set out to look for you all in your rooms – She was very happy at Dabton where she was so kindly treated. But she seems quite comfortable here –
Charley Edgcumbe<8> is at Naples. He was so afraid of losing Vesuvius that he only stayed one day at Rome. The volcano has not been so fine for many years.<9> It was dormant when I was at Naples, and I walked round the edge of the crater (2 miles) and measured its depth – It was impossible to descend, the cliffs were perpendicular and 640 feet high. I collected yellow brimstone on its edges – my guide was the celebrated Salvatore, and my companion was Mr Nicholl.<10> I hope the new Eruption will not injure Pompeii. Matilda liked the wood carvings very much. She has commissioned me to pay you 9 shillings – please to put me in mind when I come. I forget what it is for. Direct to me here for the present. Todays papers give fresh accounts of the severity of the Southern winter, especially at Lyons and Montpellier. The snow began to fall at Florence at 10 PM on New Years day, and continued till the afternoon of the following day. No one cleaned the streets and the depth of the snow reached the middle of the leg, of the Times own correspondent
Your affte
Henry
Notes:
1. Dabton, Dumfriesshire: home of WHFT’s daughter Matilda.
2. Charles Henry Talbot, 'Charlie' or 'Tally' (2 Feb 1842 - 26 Dec 1916), antiquary & WHFT's only son.
3. Rosamond Constance Talbot (16 Mar 1837 - 7 May 1906), died & buried at San Remo, Italy, with a memorial at Lacock; 'Monie', artist & WHFT's 2nd daughter.
4. Matilda Caroline Gilchrist-Clark, née Talbot (25 Feb 1839-1927), 'Tilly', WHFT's 3rd daughter.
5. 'Bab' (Baby), William ‘Willie’ Gilchrist-Clark, later Rev William Clark-Maxwell (1865-1935).
6. Did he mean the grandfather of his own father, John Henry Gilchrist-Clark (1830-1881), 'Jack', Scottish JP; WHFT's son-in-law?
7. The wife of Alfred Thomas Vardon (1811-1892), artist & teacher, Grasmere, later Bath.
8. Charles Ernest Edgcumbe (1838-1915), JP, WHFT's nephew.
9. Lava flows had started at Vesuvius in early 1867 and in November and December they increased, with enormous rumblings heard as far away as Capri. The volcano was spectacularly active through the first part of 1868.
10. Dr John Nicholl (1797-1853), MP.