My dear Henry
Your note yesterday has given rise to this missive, as you talk of going to Bowood <1> &cc which are comparatively near us & do not say a single word about visiting us, or Melbury or Abbotsbury <2> – Mama <3> sends her Auntish Commands to you & desires you will come & see us all, & if you write beforehand & say when you are coming, she has no doubt of being at home long enough together to receive you – & I am sure you would come, if you knew how extremely we all enjoyed your last visit here –
I am very glad you have found made some botanical discoveries at Clifton, <4> pray impart them to Uncle William <5> as he delights in anything new being found in England. I cannot help you in decyphering the name of the place from which he dates his letter as the only place he mentions having visitted [sic] in his letter to me is Prato fiorito, where he went to see the view – & the peasants were so astonished at his bravery in not minding a hard storm & fog in which he was caught that after persuading him in vain to go into shelter they said [illegible] Rosso, [illegible] Coraggio [sic]<6> –
Yours affly with love to all
Harriot F.
H. Talbot Esqr
Notes:
1. Bowood House, nr Calne, Wiltshire, 5 mi NE of Lacock: seat of the Marquess of Lansdowne.
2. Melbury, Dorset: one of the Fox Strangways family homes; WHFT was born there and Abbotsbury, Dorset: home of William Thomas Horner Fox Strangways.
3. Lady Harriet Frampton, née Fox Strangways (1778-1844) .
4. Clifton, Bristol, on the Avon Gorge.
5. William Thomas Horner Fox Strangways, 4th Earl of Ilchester (1795–1865), botanist, art collector & diplomat.
6. A misspelling of ‘coraggio’, that is, ‘courage’.