Markeaton <1>
Monday evening
Janry 12th
My dear Papa,
I arrived here on Saturday quite safely and comfortably, having left Dumfries at 7 in the morning, when it was quite dark. Tilly <2> accompanied me to the station. We had been the evening before to a harp concert – Aptommas <3> being the solo performer, but the audience was not numerous – only about half a dozen benches full. We dined with Mr & Mrs Hope = he, you probably know, is under sheriff of Dumfries. Every body was well at Dabton, <4> except Mimay <5> who had an attack of nettle rash, which had kept her 2 days in bed, but I have since heard from Tilly that she is better. – The two last days at Dabton were very fine: it is far colder and more wintry-looking here, and the house is very cold – Noel & Emily <6> are very busy preparing for a village ball which they are going to give in the school room tomorrow and I have been assisting to make paper flowers &c, for decorations – I shall start for London tomorrow at 12.30, and hope to arrive at half past four, & I shall post this at the station that you may know that I have reached my journey’s end in safety.
I find all the guards and people so remarkably civil, especially when they see a lady travelling alone, & I have no trouble at all with my luggage.
The guard of the Carlisle train volunteered most useful advice when he found the train I ought to have caught at Crewe was gone, and pointed out the best road for me, a very odd one, that I should not have discovered for myself; first to Stafford, and then to Lichfield & Derby, which though it looks so round-about, really saved an hour, instead of waiting for the next direct train.
I hope you do not find it so cold at Lacock this time, at least there is no post.
My pen is so bad that I am afraid you will hardly be able to read, so I will say goodbye, as it is very late.
Your affectionate daughter
Rosamond
Notes:
1. Markeaton Hall, Derbyshire, NW of Derby: home of the Mundy family.
2. Matilda Caroline Gilchrist-Clark, ‘Tilly’, née Talbot (1839–1927), WHFT’s 3rd daughter.
3. Ap Thomas (1829–1913), distinguished harpist born in Glamorganshire who settled in America in 1895. His older brother, John Thomas, was appointed harpist to Queen Victoria in 1872.
4. Dabton, Dumfriesshire: home of WHFT’s daughter Matilda.
5. Mary Emily ‘Mimay’ Gilchrist-Clark, WHFT’s Scottish granddaughter.
6. Francis Noel Mundy (1833-1903), WHFT's nephew, and his wife, Emily Maria Georgiana, née Cavendish (1845-1929).