Lacock Abbey
March 17. -
My dear Henry
We came in so late from our walk yesterday that I had not time to tell you that I searched in vain for information respecting the longevity weight of Pike. - The Cyclopædia notices their history very slightly merely saying where they are found & what number of feet the largest of them commonly measure - viz 3 or 4 - but sometimes as much as eight feet. - the latter size always found in northern regions. - by which I suppose he the author means Lapland or Siberia, as those countries are mentioned as being frequented by them, as well as our own shores. - I searched in the Catalogue & glanced at the titles of many of the books in the Library, but met with no treatise on Ichthyology, so I fear I can be of no use in helping to discover about it. - I did not look in your Library because I conclude you would have told me had there been any book of the kind there. - I hope you will take me with you some day to see the new rooms in the British Museum, as I should it like it extremely.
The seeds look very florishing, & I think I may venture to pronounce that several new kinds have raised their heads above ground since you went away - but among so many it is difficult to know them exactly. - The Allium Triquetrium is in blossom. - the Lachenalia not yet quite come to perfection. - The Eccremocarpus, (forgive me if I do not spell it right, for I am not sure whether it has one c or two) against the south wall has quantities of blossoms - & everything appears to me a good deal advanced, so that I expect you will observe great improvements when you return. - All the weeds have been cleared away off the terrace & the grass has been mowed. - you have no idea how nice it all looks. - I am anxiously hoping the sun will be shining between the hours of 11 & 12 tomorrow, which is the time my Mother <1> mentioned in her letter, they would probably be here. - I have not heard anything more of them, though my Mother said she would write from Estcourt. <2> - but I suppose I may expect them tomorrow all the same & attribu[te her] <3> silence to the slowness of the Post. - I am sorry today is so [illegible deletion] cold & gloomy on their account - nothing could be finer than yesterday however. - Horatia, <4> Mlle Amélina, <5> Mr Montgomerie <6> & I profited by it to the full extent of our strength, in scrambling about the woods at Lackham. <7> - It was the first time I had seen the place & I was enchanted with it. - I do not mean the house itself for nothing certainly can be much uglier than it is, but I think it is very well placed & has a pretty view whichever way one looks and the road is charming - I never saw such quantities of wild hyacinths. - the ground was literally blue with them, & besides there were a number of primroses, wild anemones, & white violets. -
Lady Elisabeth <8> advises you to look for the history of the Pike, or Esox Lucius, in Isaac Walton <9> who was a celebrated Fisher. - I hope you are aware he exercised his art in some of our pretty streams in Derbyshire. - His memory is still cherished there & his name given to the little Inn at Ilam, Mr Watts Russells place.<9> -
Mr Montgomerie [left] us early this morning, I fancy [you] will see him in Sackville St. soon.
Yr affecte
Constance
Henry Fox Talbot Esqr M.P. -
31. Sackville Street
London.
Notes:
1. Sarah Leaper Mundy, née Newton (d. 1836), WHFT's mother in law.
2. Family home of Thomas Henry Sutton Sotheron Bucknall Estcourt (1801-1876), MP at Tetbury, Goucestershire.
3. Text torn away under seal.
4. Henrietta Horatia Maria Gaisford, née Feilding (1810-1851), WHFT's half-sister.
5. Amélina Petit De Billier, 'Mamie', 'Amandier' (1798-1876), governess and later close friend of the Talbot family [See Amélina's journal].
6. Rev George Stephen Molyneux Montgomerie (1790-1850), artist, Norwich.
7. Lackham House, Wiltshire, 2 mi NW of Lacock: Awdry family home.
8. Lady Elisabeth Theresa Feilding, née Fox Strangways, first m Talbot (1773-1846), WHFT's mother.
9. Izaak Walton, The Complete Angler (London: 1653). There is presently an Izaac Walton Hotel, Dovedale, Ilam, Derbyshire.