annelisterstravelnotes

[annelisterstravelnotes]

Switzerland with Maria and Jane Barlow –Friday 12 October 1827

7 1/2

11

Breakfast at 9 –

Took a quick intelligent boy from the hotel as guide and all went out at 9 50/60 – cathedral – exterior plain except the stone bass relief over the great west door – in the porch of the people going to heaven on one side and hell on the other, one of the devils taking away 3 in a great basket on his back –  inter plain chaste gothic – the handsomest church in Switzerland to my mind and on account of the purity of its style, simplicity and freedom from frippery one of the churches I like best since leaving England – organ over the west door – the 2 pictures mentioned as good (vide Ebel) over the altar facing the aisles (no transept) and on each the choir – thence by the old Tilleul (4 stone worked square pillars forming square round it support its branches) which has began to decay at the top –

down the chemin court (singular town) to the Eglise de notre dame de Loretta and the porte de Bürglen or .  .  . rapid boulder stone paved ascent – only 1/2 a lieue of good broad road – the rest of the way to Gurnisch merely a road for a small char – fine view from the platform of the church or little chapel – very small and full of ex votos –

down across the covered wood bridge (48 of my common paces by 5 or 6 numbers), to the valley of Goteron – very picturesque wooded rock-gorge studded (near the town) with mills – returned by the nearest way very steep street up easy steps made for foot pass-ers, to our hotel –

Left Mrs. Barlow to get order the carriage and Jane and I went to the top of the cathedral tower – 365 steps 253 feet 6 inches (Swiss) high – had to wait at the top 10 minutes for the old man –  then 12 minutes Enjoying the fine view – quite perpendicular faces of rock along the river houses built on the brink; in the bottom, and along the steep ascent – most singular town – well worth seeing –

none of the Berne voituriers like to come – now obliged to wind round the town, cross 3 bridges and after mount long very steep slippery (boulder stone paved) street to get to the principal Hotel – (our Hotel des marchands, opposite the cathedral) – project avoiding all this by building bridge from the brink of the hill over the Berne road to the upper town, so that there will be very little rise to get to the cathedral – our boy said the plan was at the hotel – 5 or 9? piliers 548 Swiss feet high out of the ground – bridge to be en fer – actionnaires enough to build the bridge if the Bernois government will alter the road accordingly – what an enormous bridge! – on a clear day can see Mount Blanc from the top of the cathedral tower –

hasted down off from Fribourg Freyburg at 12 5/60 – at 2 1/4 just out of little village (villages dirtyish, not neat and beautifully picturesque like the Bernoise villages) look down up a fertile plain – nice –  working land – 3 horses and 2 men and 2 horses and 2 oxen and 2 men to wheel – plough – everywhere fine undulating richly wooded hill and vale, and beautiful green verdure – but not so fine and picturesque a drive as yesterday –

stop at the Berne arms, Payenne, at 2 50/60 – could not get what we wished for dinner so had none – went to see the church – neat church – shut – a large old building close by apparently an ancient church turned into wood stores etc. etc. walked about the town – partly pretty good – partly shabbyish – entered by a gate – and there is gate to the verdure – but no gate to Lausanne, and not a walled town – went back to the Inn dozed a little –

off from Payerne at 4 5/60 – every where today, tobacco leaves hung up under the projecting roofs of the houses to dry – at 5 50/60 pass stone bridge over the rather foamy rapidy river Broye and immediately pass close by Lucern a nice looking little town with good church, commanded by its castle partly modern – the old round tower built by Pepin the short – the newly rebuilt part apparently a good livable chateau – (vided Galignani article Vevay, where he says the castle of Gruyère is the most perfect old feudal castle in Switzerland) –

the drive today much finer from Payerne to Moudon than before – nearer to the Jura – a regular valley fertile not too wide – fine range of limestone wooded hill on each side – arrived at the cerf, Moudon, at 6 35/60 – found the clocks here 1/2 hour sooner than those at Freybourg – 5 German gents – one is desperately long at table d’hôte – the things are cold before one can taste them – this is the worst of their tables here –

came to my room at 9 20/60 – very fine day –

[annelisterstravelnotes]

Switzerland with Maria and Jane Barlow – Thursday 11 October 1827

6 1/2

10 50/60

Breakfast at 9 1/4 – after some ado agree with our coachman to take us by Fribourg to Lausanne for 45/. and 5/. bonne main –

all went out at 11 3/4 – some time at our chalet shop – then at the museum at 12 20/60 – would be open to the public at 2 – opened exprès for us as strangers – specimens of wood cut and arranged like books the bark forming the back – titled like a book – hollow and made to contain specimens of the seed and leaves of the tree – Remember this – 2 rooms below and above – remarkably nice and well kept – minerals and fossils etc below – animals birds, several of Müllers bas reliefs (small tho’ 1 of 150-60 napiers) above – the animals and birds reamarkably well stuffed – a gentleman lately asked the man if he would go to London to the new society forming a collection there – and is to let him know what salary they will give in a fortnight –

got back to the Inn at 2 – had soup and veal cutlets and off at 2 1/2 – had hardly got out of the town before it began to rain and continued more or less heavily (but soaking rain the whole way) till I went to bed – at 4 1/4 stop 1/2  hour to give the horses bread at Neuenek – off again (stayed in the carriage under cover of a broadly over hanging roof) at 4 3/4 – cross  stone bridge over the broad half of a bedding . . . very picturesque almost all white washed tho’ wooden village – fine drive all along from Berne thro’ beautifully hilly, rich, richly wooded country –

light our lamps at 6 3/4 – glad to alight safely at Fribourg at 8 – tremendous hills to descend – pass sentries and gateway then long covered wooden bridge – then 2 stone bridges and then mount tremendously steep, long hill (all boulder stone slippery pavement in the town, and the greater part of the way since lighting the lamps) – singularly irregular steep town – never saw any thing (in the dark) like it but the steep hill – sidedness of Bath –

[annelisterstravelnotes]

Switzerland with Maria and Jane Barlow – Wednesday 10 October 1827

11 3/4

11 38/60

Breakfast at 12 20/60 – went out at 3 3/4 – shopping – buying Swiss houses etc. etc. Dinner at 7 40/60 – very fine day –

[annelisterstravelnotes]

Switzerland with Maria and Jane Barlow – Tuesday 9 October 1827

6 40/60

11 3/4

Breakfast at 7 1/2 – sat talking to our aubergiste a civil well informed young man – recommends Tschokke’s history of Switzerland as the best 1 volume – a German but has got the bourgeoise of Aaron now and lives there – defender in France – too liberal – he said he would furnish good horses for a journey at 9/. per horse, 18/. 2 horses, and whenever one rested anywhere and did not use the horses 12/. – but it was usual to give the coachman 1/50 a day bonne main at least, and if content with him 2/. – tis therefore best to agree for the carriage at 18/. bonne main à volonté which gives one a little more influence over the coachman – asked the price of feeding one’s own horses – for a night and morning as much hay as one horse will eat, and 2 measure of oats i.e. a measure each time 16 batz – and when stopping to bait (i.e. for a dinner) one should pay 8 batz – one should give the garçon d’ecurie 16 to 18 sols per night and 1/2 that for a dinner – if one wanted anything very particular doing should give some thing extra – for a large English voiture cleaning from 4 to 5 francs – horses in Switzerland if heated during the day and then afterwards a little wet are very subject to a nervous fever for which bleeding is not good – a veterinary college at Berne – but horses are sent from Berne to Soleure to be cured by Sepp (i.e. Joseph) Purchi Aetatus about 60 not even able to read, a very ordinary sort of grossier man, but a sort of intuitive perception of the diseases of horses even on looking at them – a horse begins to be lame and sick – if the man finds the lungs not bad (not inflamed) and he presses against and squeezes them) he immediately knows that it is the nervous fever, and gives a particular sort of drink which cures them in 2 or 3 days –

Had an old man who could speak a little French, and all went out at 9 5/60 – to the church of St Ours, close by – Corinthian – west front very handsome white washed – the rest of the Exterior quite plain – stuccoed – interior handsome organ over west entrance – then 3 corinthian arcades of nave and 1 aisle on each side opening into the transept forming a lattice cross finished at each end in a segment of a circle – handsome little dome in the middle – well proportioned choir finished in a segment of a circle and segment of dome – no picture in the choir – several good pictures over the various altars along the side aisles and the 2 on each side the choir and at each end of the transept – the 3 Mary’s, and more especially the last supper? the best – frescos gilded round as if in frames, in the plafond - very well proportioned handsome church – the handsomest we have seen in Switzerland – the Jesuits church at St Gall more decorated with painting and gilded –

thence to the arsenal – near – the ground floor full of cannon etc. – 1st first floor a sentinel dressed up and made to Salute on pulling a little secret string by means of opening the door - here are musquets and modern arms – the 2d second floor full of old armour taken from the Austrians Burgundiers and French – several suits of women’s armour – the representatives of the 13 cantons in armour sitting round a council table – spears taken from Austrians at Sunpact 20 feet long – a Soleure banner of the time of the crusades - the duke of Wellington was an hour or 2 at the arsenal –

En passent saw the old clocher said to be Roman – waited a moment or 2 and heard the clock strike 10 – the man, chevalier, beats on his breast the quarters and death waves his horn glass and a little man below strikes with sceptre the horns – built of largeish regularly hewn oblong stones – little stone in the cement of the seams –

a little further on, went into the book-shop of Arniet-Lütiger bought a german copy of Tschokke’s history of Switzerland etc – a shop, tho’ the best, of no great appearance –

thence to the hospital – a gray nun shewed us over it – 17 beds in each of the 2 rooms (1 for men 1 for women) mat with green curtains all round very clean and orderly – more rooms upstairs – 40 patients at present – very nice neat pharmacy, and a sort of little laboratory laboratory kitchen – all very nice – very neat chapel close by the hospital –

thence to the prison – 3 stories of cells – 5 sells on each floor all opening into a little corridor, looking into a little square court – 12 prisoners at present the man must have mean in the maison de force close by for almost all these cells seemed empty each cell about 2 1/2 yards square, the top finished and covered rather to a point – little low entrance door lined with iron - little place to put their soup in at (soup and bread and potatoes twice a day), a little necessary place – a little place cut out of the wall for a table and light and air admitted by an opening in the outside wall about 1 1/2 feet broad by 2 1/2  inches high – the staircases darkish but the cells well enough lighted and aired – very strong – of large regularly hewn oblong stone – impossible to escape – just looked into the maison de force –

then went to the orphan – only 3 or 4 children there – the rest ‘ en vacance’ – not in the house – at play? –

then saw the collection of Jura petrifactions etc. – very fine specimens of fossil tortoise – a very fine impression of a very large leaf – very large ammonites – several hairy balls taken from the stomach of cows –

went to the Inn for a few minutes – could not just then see the hotel de ville – the members sitting in council –

at 12 25/60 off to the hermitage – beautiful walk – got there at 1 5/60 – very very pretty – 1/4 hour there – returned by the chapel of the Sainte croix and by the quarries where all these petrifactions were found – very picturesque – return by the pavillion and new making public walks – indescribably fine view of the range of alps (vide Ebel) – the lare capital looking white built last year upon the Weisenstein just behind us on the very top of the hill – can easily imagine what the view must be – regret not having time and weather clear enough – weisenstein 2 1/2 leagues from the town – one mountain with 3 horses and a little char in 3 hours for 24 francs de France – Delighted with the view and with Soleure –

at the hermitage 1/4 hour and off from there at 1 20/60 and got back  to the Inn at 2 20/60 – then had some veal cutlets and a little mutton and off from Soleure at 3 20/60 –

at 4 1/2 passed little small place like a toll house and enter the territory to the canton of Berne – our road had lain chiefly thro’ a forest of beech and pine wood – open upon the fine, rich, green, orchard covered plain of Berne – Rumpless fowls at Soleure as also at Betterkinden, at which last place arrived at 4 3/4 – nothing so clean and picturesque as Berne’s villages – at 5 25/60 stop at Franbrunnen (very picturesque little village as all the Bernois villages are – off again at 5 3/4 – too dark to see much –

alight at the abbaye des Gentilhommes at Berne at 8 1/4 – very fine day except a few drops between 11 and 12, and again afterwards occasionally in the afternoon -

[annelisterstravelnotes]

Switzerland with Maria and Jane Barlow –Monday 8 October 1827

6 10/60

10 3/4

+

should have noted yesterday that our guide from Lucerne, a steady, attentive, sober man, who understands his business is ‘Alonis Elmliger sur la place du blad á Lucerne’ –

Breakfast in the public room at 9 – read in the Journal des Débats of 17 September last a good article on the merits of historians referring to a previous article on Walter Scott’s Life of Napoleon – the little, round, clay bass reliefs of the history of William Tell, etc. made and perhaps only to be had at Zuric – pretty enough but I did not admire so much as did Mrs. and Miss Barlow – after all the rowe about beds Mrs. Barlow had last night, we have been very comfortable here, at the Homme Sauvage – excellent supper good beds – very good coffee and bread and butter at breakfast, and our breakfast only 1/20 each –

off from Aarau, (good walled neat town -large good church – fine habitable and immediately our eyes rested on the magnificent line of snowy alps gilded by the setting sun and closing the horizon (left) – lovely evening –

enter the 1st first gateway and then immediately on winding a little to the left pass a 2d second singular low round tower on each side) and pass the fine church of St Ours, and alight at the Couronne (a large handsome looking Inn) close by at 5 20/60 –

off in 10 minutes with a poor old man for guide, to the Belle vue – rather too late – we had had our enjoyment of the snow mountains – the sun was just gone and all he left with them was mist - beautiful shaded walk we went along – back at 6 35/60 –

arrange with our coachman to take us to Berne tomorrow afternoon for 21 francs – we certainly do not manage ill – supper at 8 5/60 to 9 50/60 in the public room – a german Captain only 1 who supped with us a gentlemanly pleasant man – very fine day –

[annelisterstravelnotes]

Switzerland with Maria and Jane Barlow – Sunday 7 October 1827

6 1/2

11 5/60

at 9 go to the post office – and take places there for Aarau - back and at breakfast at 9 1/4 –

all off at 10 1/2 to Gesner’s monument – quite plain – bust on side, inscription (short and simple mere the days of birth and death) on another surmounted by urn – beautiful and appropriate situation for it – along side beautiful walk along the Limmat –

In returning went to St Peter’s church to see the monument of Lavater –  a plain slab in the wall, close to a little side door in a little sort of retired chapel – merely an inscription as for Gesner – no other monument to his memory – at the cemetery of St Anne where he was buried merely a slab over him recording his name obit and aetatis – he himself particularly requested the magistrates not to put up any fine monument for him –

went back to the Inn (the Epée quite near to the cicogne does not make so handsome an appearance as we fancied) to send off our baggage – very well satisfied – very good breakfast – the most decidedly clean sheets I have observed during the whole of our journey and what is extraordinary in Switzerland tolerably long enough and broad to be comfortable –

at and in the diligence at 11 50/60 – 2 Swiss Gents with us – and a young man with the conductor in the coupé – I tried it – but too small and close – the drivers back – too full in one’s nose – off from Zuric at 12 12/60 – ‘Tis a good town – beautifully situated at the end of the lake in a fine green country – good road – (or inquiring about having our passports visaed this morning, no! said a gentleman at the Inn – we are free in Switzerland –  as they let you come in last night – you can go out again and so where you like and without giving yourself any trouble about passports) – the situation of the convent of wettingen very pretty – the castle of Baden fine object –

stop at the Balance at baden to change horses (small goodish walled town) at 2 40/60 – walk up one street and down another for a few minutes – off again at 3 5/60 – all along fine country – fine green grass and corn plain closed in the distance by beautiful undulating and well wooded hill rather too many vines on the hills – particularly on the banks of the river – at 4 5/60 cross good covered wooden bridge over the Reuss and pass thro’ the little walled town of Mellingen – fine country all round – at 5 25/60 enter the pretty picturesque good little walled town of Lenzberg – some time before at a little distance right the castle of Bruneg the residence of Gesler on the top of high isolated comical hill very fine – close to the town the large white castle of Lenzberg, and the Staufberg topped by white church very fine - nice shaded walk (rampart walk or boulevard?) round Lenzberg – butcher’s shop open there and boy eating meat – several eatable shops open at Zuric this morning –

off again from Lenzberg at 5 40/60 – stopt at the post-house at Aarau at 6 55/60 – had to wait there to get our luggage – pay post boy and conductor – get to the Inn at 7 1/4 – Had taken up 2 officers at Lenzberg – a Swiss captain had 3 Swiss francs per day – avec ‘le retraite’ = 5 francs French – goverment finds them lodging – they have an agreement with the aubergistes – pay 7 batz for dinner and supper and 4 batz for breakfast café au lait 3 or 4 cups of coffee and as much milk including bread and butter – I observed 5 francs were not much pay for an officer of that rank – he said it was enough – the French were not better paid –

supper in the public room 9 or 10 of us – at 9 – came upstairs to bed at 10 10/60 – very fine day and evening – agreed before supper for our carriage to Solure tomorrow the man #asked 36/. for the day and day of return and 6/. bonne main – I quietly said my price was 15/. a day and 5 batz bonne main and piage for going but not returning – if he chose to agree it was well – if not I had nothing more to say and there was an end of the thing – the man ended by agreeing

[annelisterstravelnotes]

Switzerland with Maria and Jane Barlow – Saturday 6 October 1827

6 40/60

12 10/60

Breakfast at 8 1/4 –

did not gain much by coming to the carf instead of going to the couronne – our host a butcher and knows how to Ecorchar – blue and white checked pillow and bolster covers and counterpane (I had no blanket) and for the 1st first time brown parts, yet after all we paid 1/50 per bed, the same for breakfast and 4 bathen for the jug of hot water last night that Mrs Barlow had – the man would have it we had hot water in the bains de pied –

off from Wadenschwyl at 8 55/60 – neat white- washed and studded, good village – little gardens before the houses – good church – then pass 2 or 3 neat white washed studded villages and at 10 5/60 reach Horgen, large, good, village a goodish little town – large stuccoed, oval, singular looking church – houses white washed generally – or white studded as at and all the way from Richterschwyl – all the way from there here still orchards, but great many vines – continental vineyard all along on each side of the lake – the banks all along studded with white villages and cottages –

between Wadenschwyl and Horgen (25 minutes from the former) Au, very pretty and wooded (beech and oak hereabouts) but too much a vineyard – at a little distance beyond Horgen see pictturesquely situated on the hill the pretty little white village and pretty little white church with red painted steeple as is common hereabouts) of Oberried where Lavater was curé – Do not go so far, but at 10 20/60 turn left up the hill (the little Albis or Husliberg) to Silkbrug and Zug – all up the hill fine views of the lake – from one point, its whole extent from Zuric taking in the bridge of Rapperschwyl – the hilly banks too low, and gradual and populous, and viny for me – morning damp – time to leave Switzerland – never tra vel with her again –

Au (according to our coachman Hochten Au) as looked down upon from the acsent is certainly a very pretty wood-covered little round hill jutting into the lake – at 10 3/4 steepish – asked us to walk – we did so to the top of the hill, and got into the carriage again at 11 3/4 – and almost immediatelly fine view down upon the lake of Zug – see the church of Charms – finely wooded hills – forest timber – very little fir – beech and oak – fine view certainly, but the morning hazy and muggy –

Sehlburg at 12 1/4 – ‘tis a covered wooden bridge – 2 neat looking auberges – the crown on the Zuric side and golden lion on the Zug side – just before getting on to the bridge look down (right) along the forest of the Sihl – no village hereabouts – (vide Ebel Albis) – at 12 40/60 cross covered wooden bridge over the Lostre – at 12 3/4 pass thro’ Baar, niceish little town – goodish church – Hotel de ville, as generally in Switzerland, a very common looking place –

alight at the Cerf at Zug at 1 1/2 – go to see the cathedral (an altar against every pillar) not thinking much of the plates and prints – went down to the little pier jutting into the lake, and looking at the outside of pretty lake – Rigi very fine at the bottom –

our host at the cerf speaks German French, Italian and English – intelligent sort of honest man – on the subject of travelling with one’s own horses said a horse would cost about 3 francs a day – 1 franc per meal, night and morning and stopping to bait – if one gave a horse bread generally gave him 2 batzen-worth and then gave 1/2 batz to the ostler – a coachman generally paid better than a gentleman, tho’ of course not always, and generally gave 4 batz a night to the ostler – if one wanted anything very particular doing, might give a little more –

off from Zug (little walled town – towers on the wall – pretty good little town – the cerf a large excellent Inn, at 3 25/60 after having delayed 10 minutes at the place where we got an additional horse to help us up the Albis – Baar nice little place – soon after (at 4) cross covered wooden bridge over the Lostze, turn right and begin to mount – at 4 40/60 Cappel with it. Short thick-set, cathedral like dirty white washed church, formerly a convent – straggling white-washed studded and partly wooden village – having a second church – well wooded all around – mile-post marked 1 1/2 stund from Zug to Cappel and 4 stund from Cappel to Zuric – at 5 5/60 pretty good village of Huson – fine view from the high part of the road beyond – at a little distance high on the hill to the right a very fine station for view – at 5 40/60 the parting of the Zug and Lucerne roads and almost immediately the little lake of Turler see, surrounded by hills everywhere richly wooded (beech and oaks – have passed 2 or 3 steep places –

at 5 3/4 get out to walk up the longest steep part and get to the Inn at the top or just on the turn down) at 6 10/60 – quite an auberge – looking place – glad not to sleep there Louis said it would have been necessary to marchander – send back the extra horse -  walk 10 minutes down the hill and all get into the carriage again - at 6 20/60 – a few traverses and very steep descent as steep as the steepest we had mounted – should have walked longer had we known the road better – all along good road – often thro’ wood or on approaching the lake thro’ vineyards – at une forte heure et demie from Zuric pass covered wooden bridge over the broad Sihl thro’ the good village of (according to pronunciation) addischwyl – fine moonlight but not quite so clear as last night –

at 8 1/2 alight at the cicogne Zuric, the wish of Mrs Barlow who would not go again to the Epée – the look of this place would have rather frightened me – smell of tobacco – good double bedded room on the lake 5/. – not taking this have beds at 1/50 –

fine October day – damp and hazy, but very fine for Switzerland and the season -

[annelisterstravelnotes]

Switzerland with Maria and Jane Barlow – Friday 5 October 1827

6 40/60

12 50/60

Breakfast at 7 50/60 – a good large boat worth said Louis when new 500 francs only allowed to be used 3 years and 3 rowers and Embarked

at 7 55/60 – go along the north side – at 9 35/60 1st first fall, Ammon’s bach – no great body of water but great height and very pretty and picturesque – at 9 50/60 pass close under small ruins of old castle – at 9 55/60 sight of Baierbach

at 10 7/60 land – narrow foot path – walk up the green wooded hill – steep – 3 or 4 wood cottages on the little almost flat –  back by high perpendicular hoary rock – orchards – a few vines – very picturesque – fine view over the lake and on the opposite village mountains and their green alps –  thought I could spend a little while here as well as anywhere in Switzerland – about 20 minutes walk from the landing place to the foot of cascade – from the very top of the mountain – 3 fine steps (the 2d second very deep) and a 4th fourth at the bottom – beautiful lake – fine rock – wherever covered with soil studded with orchards and forest timber and bushes – altogether very fine –

reembarked at 11 – at 11 20/60 the Bairebach seen from the midlake has 4? falls – see a little bit of the 5th fifth, and the 6th sixth is hidden in the bottom – at this distance seems a mere rill-fall – the other little fall seems very small – at 11 1/2 Filzbach, pretty little mountain fente or gorge and 3 or 4 rills seen falling as down a grotto – the wood cottages (300 houses said Louis, in the commune) scattered over the green alp of Ammon and the neat little white washed church very pretty as also the green wooded alps on the other side the lake – this lake tho’ 4 leagues long crossed from wesen to wallenstadt in 3 hours – charfursten range closes in the lake at the Eastern extremity and wiggis at the western – almost always wind on this lake – 2 little vineyards at 2 little white washed houses on the lake east of wesen – (one little vineyard yesterday (right, in passing thro’ Mollis) – neat pisturesquely situated at the foot of the woody Oberspitz little church and village of wesen (the large dominant white house a little chateau belonging to a baron) and a little beyond little white washed church a few cottages - lovely day – sunny on the lake –

land at 12 – in the carriage and off at 12 1/4 – at 12 35/60 mountain right shews fine face of breccia, and all along side the road (right) where it cut out of the rock, one sees large-stoned breccia – at 1 pass thro’ good new (burnt down 3 years ago) white washed village of Schanis- neat white – washed church and the tower remaining of a church that was burnt down – at the end of this village enter largeish roundish plain, bounded by hills and opening into other valleys – very pretty – valley between the 2 lakes marshy and sedgy, yet with still better draining (the Lintt canal has done much) be made rich and fine – full of cocks of rough seedy stuff for cattle – bedding - brackens in cock up and down and every where used for bedding – all the villages and cottages embossed in orchards (the man told us at Lungern there were old families there who had cheeses in their family 5 or 6 centuries old – kept in leaden cases only brought out and looked at on very great occasions) – at 1 1/4 little shabby scattered village –

at 1 50/60 alight for 10 minutes to see the very neat and handsome new church at Kaltbrun – the old one burnt down with the village 10 years ago -  white washed with in roof vaulted – plafonds covered with fresco painting – handsome high altar and pulpit in different marbles – new looking, neat white washed houses – good village – fine drive all the way from Schanis –

at 2 30/60 peep of the lake of Zurich – at 2 25/60 enter by the gateway and go out by ditto to and from Uznach pretty good white washed town – ditto church – tower of old castle just before entering – and just out of the town another white washed church – at 2 1/2 another largeish white washed church – and little village or hamlet, and cross little covered wood bridge over little stream – at 2 40/60 another covered wooden bridge over stream and little stuccoed hamlet – at 2 50/60 picturesque pretty white washed partly wood village and white washed church – of .  . . at the head of the lake and 2 or 3 vineyards among the orchards (right) along the hill side – wooded banks of the lake very pretty – about 3 good free stone quarries by the road side and little white washed solitary church on the border of the lake – and (right – beyond) more vines – at 3 20/60 white washed church and little village –

at 3 35/60 leave little white village and church – a little to the left – at 3 3/4 dirty white washed little church of Ionen? (4 oxen and 2 men to wheeled plough), pulpit outside under the porch near the west door , and 2 or 3 wood cottages – wooden peat-houses (and turfs about – more vines on the hill (right) – at 4 covered wooden bridge over broadish stream, and little white washed hill-seated church and little scattered white washed village – at a little distance (right) 2 of the handsomest most like good English country houses I have observed in Switzerland – at 4 50/60 white washed village, and pieces of white cotton? drying – hanging down as at Constance from a wood gallery round a high square wooden? square building – all the drying houses on this plan –

at 4 10/60 enter the gateway of Rapperschwyl (the nice, neat, large, white washed Inn at a little distance right before entering the town) and stop immediately at the Stoile d’or – a very little bit warmed up roast veal, a dozen fried eggs, a little strong gruyère, and a little butter, and bread and a bottle of sour white wine we could not drink 5/. – do not try this close, tobacco smelling, auberge again – the girl on being asked said the beds were at 20 sols – good enough little walled round town, - not very clean looking – old castle with towers at each of the 4 corners –

off at 5 20/60 – get out at the gate to walk over the bridge – 17 minutes walking over it quickish pace it must be about an English mile long – Louis said 5000 Swiss feet a Swiss foot being 1/2 inch shorter than a French foot – 12 of my foot broad – 10 years ago as Ebel says, the boards not nailed down – now confirmed crosstimbers screwed down along the edges – boards should be renewed every 2 years, said Louis, some of the present ones have been down 6 years – look rotten – one of Lady Byron’s horses fell thro’ (had taken 2 out of the 5) to his middle –

lovely sunset over the lake – gradually succeeded by beautiful moonlight – pass thro’ several villages – beautiful drive? but too late to see it well – Richterschwyl largeish (white washed and studded houses very neat and picturesque trading town – woolen manufactory – dying houses – stop at Wadenschwyl at 8 1/4 – the woman asked 6/. for our beds – Mrs Barlow took up the matter – said we should go to another house and away we came to the carf, evidently not accustomed to English – but very confortable beds for 3/. – very fine day –

[annelisterstravelnotes]

Switzerland with Maria and Jane Barlow –Thursday 4 October 1827

61/4

12

Breakfast at 7 5/60 – in inquiring for a char our coachman offered us his shabby vehicle, calêche, at 15/. a day – took it at this price instead of 18/. should pay 12/. a day for a char and one horse) –

off from Lachen (comfortable beds and good supper last night and honest people at 8 10/60 –larger village good handsome 2 towered white washed church – at 9 10/60 village of Reichenberg – goodish white washed church – have passed 2 or 3 little villages before – all much alike with goodish churches – villages partly wood, partly white washed – at 10 40/60 Urnen, protestant, so goodish village, and poorish church – village partly wood partly white washed orchards all around – fine wooded rock and hill – 1st first sight of the lake of wallenstatt – bottom of the valley all along rather wet and swampy – at 11 the dirty shabby largeish village of Nafels – great battle here anciently and latterly – 2 white washed churches 1 of them large and good looking, a cathedral according to our guide Hafels being the Roman catholic capital of the canton – at a short distance on the other side the Linth canal, the nice neat large looking (protestant) village of Mollis where are several mills for making the Schasziegher cheeses pass thro’ the good village of Netsall – the huge mountains Wiggis and Glarnitch close on our right very fine –

alighted at the golden Eagel, glaris, at 12 – beautifully situated good town – populous and commercial here – the valley from Lachen wet, and rather swampy till turning into valley of Glaris (valley of the Linth?) and then very fine – admire Glaris and its valley exceedingly – the valley very fine – one of the finest we have seen – regret the not having been able to cross the Bragel, and long to go to the Pantenbrücke 6 lieuas from Glaris – but impossible – have not time – Pantenbrücke page 190 vide Ebel much the same sort of thing according to our guide Louis, as we have seen along the Via mala –  

at about 12 3/4 go to see Monsieur Brunner’s Schabziegher cheese manufactory – his and another here – his the principal one – several at Mollis – an undershot water wheel turns a solid stone wheel round a large round stone tray in which is the curd to which the very fine powder (chiefly ‘mehilot blue’ according to Ebel, called according to Monsieur Brunnern’s pronunciation cleffe) is added and the rolling of the stone mixes it sufficiently in about 4 hours – the powder a dirty yellow green smelling very strong tasted rather like liquorice – salt is added to it – the curd is sent from the chalets in large square bags and left to drain 2 or 3 days – the sacks piled 1 on another drain each other by their own weight and do not smell well at the last – but the taste of the mass that the wheel was mixing was not bad – the cheese should be old – perfectly dry – and grated for soup or for bread and butter – very wholesome – I tasted and liked it, and bought 2 little cheeses of about 3 lb pounds each - all sizes – conveyance is the worst part  of the story –

then went to the shabby looking hotel de ville – nothing to see but 2 pairs of horses of the Steinbock goat extirpated many years ago – and a very very moderately good, low, largeish room for the council to assemble in – then to the white washed cathedral church used equally by catholics and protestants –  smallish – curious enough as being well enough adapted for both worships – nothing handsome about it – then to the place du bourg a little white washed church beautifully situated on a little isolated rather comical hill from which very good views of the town and valley – the large village of Ennada so near almost seems part of Glaris – the valley very fine – the mountains finely divided – not forming one unintereupted paroi of rock but seeming to stand on their own legs and shew their enormous masses – must visit Glaris again –

the aubergiste a fair dealing man – Inn uncomfortable – got back about 2 – an excellent dish of mutton cutlets and good bread and a bottle of pleasant vin ordinaire blanc from the canton de Vand, for 3/75 – Norcliffe and Mrs Shepherd and Miss Bury and Captain Caulfield there in August or September 1822 – some one had made 2 pencil references to Miss Bury and Captain Caulfield and written ‘Herrings and Grog’ – probably alluding to the trades of their families? Norcliffe praises highly the Inn and the civility and attention of the Innkeeper – so does Mrs Bilton afterwards – many complaints of Wesen – Our guide (Louis), said the aubergiste at Wesen used to say if strangers did not complain he always thought he had not charged enough – this was the father – the son is said to be better – on leaving Glaris wrote our names x ‘exceedingly satisfied w ith this hotel; and they have had experience enough to be tolerably good judges’ –

off from Glaris at 2 55/60 – at 3 1/4 pass thro’ the very neat village of netsall – neat white washed church – cross uncovered? wooden bridge over the Lintt and at 3 35/60 large, good, very neat pretty village of mollis – the older houses of wood -  the newer and better very neat white washed houses with green window shutters or green jalousies – neat white washed church – but saw here as also at Glaris what I have never seen in any town before a large beast just slaughtered and cut open – hanging up by the legs in the great stone at Glaris a large pig hung up by the beast which was skinned while we were there – at Mollis cross uncovered wooden bridge towards Nafels but kept close along the xxx walled up on each side, handsome wide linth canal – again be it observed the valley of Glaris very fine – the opening towards the lake of Zurich tanner, and border and finer again at the lake of wallenstatten – see the houses of wallenstatten – wesern pretty good village –

got out at the swords 4 3/4 – make our baring as usual, and all goes right – dampish morning but fine day or the whole -

[annelisterstravelnotes]

Switzerland with Maria and Jane Barlow – Wednesday 3  October  1827

5

11 1/2

Breakfast at 6 1/4 – Had ordered horses last night to cross the Bragel (vide Pragel Ebel) but rainy morning – hoping it would clear – ought to have been off at 6 – waited till 7 1/2 – then ordered a calèche and determined to go direct to Einsiedeln and thence to Glarus –

Looked over the stranger–book – high praises of our lanlord (hotel des clefs) at Sarnen – added our confirmation and wrote that, after our long tour in Switzerland, we had found our hosts at Schwytz and at Sarnen the 2 most honest aubergistes –

went into the church, large and handsome – fresco – painted plafonds – white – washed within – stuccoed and stone colloured without – just under the church this wall large sort of shed or archade or porch with a bench to sit on – picturesque nice, goodish town –

off at 8 at 8 50/60 stopt at the little chapel built on the site of Werner Staufacher’s house – then almost immediately the good village of Steinen – good white washed church and ossuary – long porch as at Schwytz – all here abouts orchards – fine country – well wooded beech and fir – fine green rounded wooded hills below the high mountains – began to ascend –

at 9 50/60 Eccehomo, little hamlet of 2 or 3 neat scattered wood cottages and very neat little stuccoed church …. All up hill, occasionally steepish, all the way from Steinen – at 10 20/60 picturesque good wooded village of Sattel – large good white - washed church – descended from Sattel into the valley of Mogartz – in 1/4 hour at the little chapel built in commemoration of the battle of mogarten – at a little distance an old square tower that existed before the time of the battle – in 25 minutes more at the lake – dirtyish wettish (the valley rather marshy in the bottom) walk past 2 or 3 wood cottages to the lake of Egeri -  pretty little lake enough – saw how unfavourable the ground for the austrians assailed from the hills above – on our right Rossberg well wooded with beech and fir – breccia extending into the valley – the road in parts places paved with it –

got back to the carriage at 11 40/60 and off directly – much heated – very sultry in the bottom of the valley – It had rained all the morning till just before our getting to Sattel and then was fair and sunshiny and close and hot – at 12 40/60 Rothenthurm – good village – good white washed church – old square tower and very small remains of old castle existing during the times and reign of the austrians – at 1 on a complete turbary, numberless little turf stacks and numberless wood sheds for keeping turf in looking like a large scattered village - cross covered wooden bridge and a little after (at 1 1/4) cross handsome new 1 arch stone bridge over Eihl another river (Betenack?) meet it, and leaving the Zurick road turn (right) up the hill up the Panalp to Einsiedeln – very uninteresting road from Rothenthurm or even from Sattel all the way to Einsiedeln at 1 3/4 look down upon Einsiedeln and its fine large benedictine convent from the top of Panalp –

alight at the Bouf at Einsiedeln (so abused in the book at Schwytz) at 2 1/4 – the man was surprised that we should marchander – would give us a dinner at 4/. a head no! would go to the Eagle – asked for 6 veal cutlets soup, bread and cheeses and a bottle of vin ordinaire blanc – to have this at 30 each – agreed – the man asked if we were English told Mrs Barlow we were the 1st first who had so began to marchander – shewed Mrs and Miss Barlow into the cocher’s room –

off to the convent church at 2 25/60 – Large and handsome (a few corinthian pilasters) exterior – on entering the great west door, the gate chapelle or shrine of the black- faced miraculous of the virgin and child – behind the chapel – the black marble the following inscription ‘Deiparce virgini Gaspasus comes in Altaembs, Gallara et Vadutz, perfecit, anno salutis 1632’. 3 large arcades of nave, and 2 aisles, (1 on each side) and then little chapels with bodies of saints, dressed up like women (reclining) save that each had a sword and his name written under neath – ‘no pillars’ says Galignani but huge masses that I should call pillars supporting the arcades – domed roofing, painted in fresco – much gilding a – white washed within and without – with in as fine as fresco painting and gilding can make it – looking at the picture – said to be the best in Switzerland peeped at the  Magdalene in the confessional, a long chapel of an aisle? a boy to a priest – the priest peeped out to look at us – circular arcades of shop meeting the grand flight of steps up the the church – nothing to be seen but wax dressed up virgins wax twisted tapers – rosaries – beads – wax legs and arms for Ex votos - the town full of shops of these things – the whole trade of the place seems to be in these superstitions gewgaws – Buy a little account in French of the convent –

get back to the Inn at 3 10/60 and dinner immediately – the cutlets of stinking veal – he did not like being made to taste them but declared they were very good – Insolent would have been very much so, had my manner been less quiet and decided – asked if I thought he would poison us (the wine was hot and bad and almost poison) if I meant to ‘caillouer’ him – said I really did not know what he meant by this word – he must explain it – the most insolent cheat we have met with –

off at 4 5/60 – at 4 55/60 Teufel’s brüg over the Sihl. 1 arch, new stone from built by the monks in place of the wooden one destroyed by the French on at that time (1798 or 1789) – flagged – handsome large hewn stone parapet walls and square stone pillars to the support the good tiled roof – mount the hill, the Etrel, and at 5 1/4 at the top from the Convent which is also an auberge, fine view of the lake of Zuric and of the bridge of Rapperschwyl this road began 47 years ago and finished 29 years ago by the monks who are obliged to keep it in repair – at 5 35/60 fine view in ascending the Estrel of the lake, the village on its shores and thelittle lake to the East of it – at 6 Pfaffikon – pretty good village – good white washed church –

at 6 3/4 (ought not now to be out later than 6 for view and comfort in this fitful damp climate) alight at the Ours (Bear) at Lachen – honest seeming people –  comfortable souper at 7 1/2  to 8 1/4 – before and afterwards writing – thoroughly rainy morning from 6 (and small gentle rain) to about 2 or 3 little showers afterwards and beginning to rain fast as we arrived at Lachen –

[annelisterstravelnotes]

Switzerland with Maria and Jane Barlow – Tuesday 2 October 1827

9

11 35/60

Breakfast at 10 – ordered 1 horse char not having this at home let us have calishe and 2 horses at the same price –

at 11 40/60 off to Altorf – at 12 went into altorf church white washed within and wit out – large and handsome beds of pinks over the graves – went ito the chapelle des morts close by – ‘ tis here when the graves are opened, that the bones of the rich (made up in little black painted boxes) are arranded – a parcel of skulls on shelves above – on each side the altar a remarkably large crystal –

walked up to pretty a little house in a garden for the sake of the  view - very pretty - came down upon the tower – the inside burnt in the conflaguration of 1799, just after the French had been there, accidental – the top part of the tower, 2 top stories and roof, new since the fire – the walls below ancient the history of William Tell painted there on in fresco – close to this the fountain of Gesler built on the spot where stood the tilleul against which Tell’s child was placed – 300 feet back the fountain of Tell where he stood to take aim (the Swiss foot about 1/2 inch shorter than the French foot) – several of the houses still unrebuilt – as the fire left them in 1799 – yet still a goodish largeish white washed town –

off from there at 12 1/2 – at the square tower of Gesler’s castle at Bürglen at 1 1/4 – covered with ivy now converted into a dwelling – went  in – on the 2nd (second) floor – goodish room – a large picture in oils? of some priest and another of Tell copied  from the original likeness at Seedorf (painted on the wood wainscot) and bearing the same inscription –

Set off to see the original – returned to the end of Fluelen then turned left across the green sward to the convent at Seedorf – got there at 2 2/3- only 14 minutes there now – pay some thing on entering – nor poor nor rich – the capucin convent at Altorf very rich – saw a sister and some other woman – very civil to us – shewed us the original picture of Tell, bearing the following inscription ‘Genuina Guil. Telli affigies auct. Theueto ‘Gosmograhegio perguil. Tugginar Transmissa’ – amiable and mild but determined dark brown complexion – black eyes and black shorn beard with a little turn-up Schwytz hat or cap – a very little full throated – shewed us into the prettyish chapel – asked us to take some thing to eat which we civily declined –

off back again at 3 1/4 – at Huelen at 3 3/4 – surbarked at 3 50/60 – 3 rowers – at 3 10/60 singularly contorted strata of the Achsenberg – rather windy – glad to get past Tell’s Chapel – when wind no where else, wind here all the boatmen not allowed to keep their boats to more than 3 years old – a new boat, cerecloth covering and all complete costs about 290 francs –

at 5 1/2 land at Grütli – 5 minutes steepish ascent past a little cottage or building to the cottage and near there to the shed built over the 3 spring conducted by 3 wooden channels into the shed – tasted all the 3 – the women of the cottage keeps the door of the shed –

reembarked at 5 35/60 – like the view here best from the Grütli side – the Froon (according to Louis’s pronunciation) Alp and Achsenberg (between these 2 the hamlet and valley of Eissigen and both of them contorted by stralified limestone) very fine – before us the white washed village of brunnen very pretty – the lake behind closed by high mountains in the midst the many peaks of Brishtenstock (according to pronunciation) or as it is some times not so properly called Steigerberg – row close along the foot of Seelisberg of stratified limestone – high – perpendicular – very fine – wooded (beech all here abouts) at the top – close at its foot, at the turn of the lake towards Lucerne, curved pyramidal mass of rock – very fine here looking down the lake towards Lucerne and upon Brunnen the mountains deeply shadowed along the water –

Land at Brunnen at 6 went into the chapels – the char Driver not to be found and no 1 horse char – get a porteur to carry our portmanteau and all set off to walk at 6 1/4 – got to our Inn at Schwytz at 7 25/60 – supper from 8 20/60 to 9 35/60 – very fine day -

[annelisterstravelnotes]

Switzerland with Maria and Jane Barlow – Monday 1 October 1827

5 40/60

9 40/60

were awakened to see the sun rise – the bell rang for a considerable time – it had blown and rained hard all night – such a banging of window shutters almost impossible to sleep – 2 women came into Mrs Barlows room in the dead of night to fasten the shutter and frightened her exceedingly –

my feet were very cold – watched the sun as I dressed – rose beautifully – very fine effect on the high alps of the Berne Oberwald – Jungfrau Wetterhorn, (Eiger) Fulhorn just over Grindelwald etc. (Louis thinks the 3 finest views in Switzerland from the Rigi, the Fulhorn and the Salève at Geneva –

Dressed and all packed and ready, and out of doors at 6 35/60 – very cold, but well worth going out – Louis waited to point the different mountains – saw the lake of Zuric pretty plainly – breakfast at 7 –

off at 8 all on foot – instead of returning to the Rigistaffel, straight direct down a sentier and saved 1/2 a league (out of 3 leagues) in going to the hospice – a good path but steepish and steppy just down upon the hospice, a picturesque looking wooden house with a little garden before it – 3 auberges and close by the neat little white chapel of notre dame de la neige – got there at 8 50/60 – 5 minutes in the chapel – about a dozen people there  then priest administering the sacrement – gave the people white wine – the chapel full of little of little ex votos pictures etc. – so many pelerins, all the auberges sometimes over flowing –

beautiful descent along beatifully wooded (fir and beech beautifully mixed) traverse valley with a ruisseau from the Rigi running down it – in 1/4 hours from notre dame, a little chapel (left) our saviour in plaster, bending under the cross, and 2 or 3 more figures –

at 9 3/4 after descending several steps, at the ‘maison couverte’ or the shelter-house, a nice enough little wooden auberge at the meeting of the roads from road Rigi to Goldau and Ast, 1 lieue from each and these places – (Had we ridden down and had have had to pay 5 batz per horse at Goldau) – turn right and down to Goldau – from here to the bottom of the hill (got there at 10 10/60) that is into the valley of Goldau, steps almost all the way – don’t ride up or down, -the road from the shelter house down to Ast no better, and narrow – good road sentier or mule road) afterwards to Goldau – the range of Rigi beautiful wooded (fir and much beech) – the highest breccia mountain (vide Ebel) in the known world – fine view all along of the Rossberg (the very summit called SptizElibuhl?) and its fearful chute – not so tremendous looking now as at 1st first – some verdure up it – (vide Ebel article Rigi) – a little harmless fall last July 12 month – 8 days before the great fall or shepherd had made a little hole he could get his hand in at the top and on throwing stone down heard them fall into water – Rossberg a breccia mountain – huge masses of it lying all along –

got to Goldau at 10 3/4 – 2 or 3 good wooden cottages and the cheval blanc a nice little auberge where being thirsty we had 1/2 bottle vin ordinaire blanc and hot and cold water - lovely sunny day – got into a charabanc and off from Goldau at 11 1/4 – at 11 3/4  Lowertz -  very neat, pretty, new white washed church (the old one destroyed by the inundation of the lake at the great fall of the mountain), and 3 or 4 cottages – the Breccia range seems to end about here, and the calcareous range to begin – hight towering over the pretty little lake of Lowertz) Louis says it is not ‘riche en poisson’), and picturesquely wooded where a tree can fasten itself – tremendous over the road cut along its foot close upon and unguarded from the lake at 6 or 8 feet below – 1st and longest little island a cottage or 2, and then square tower (the rest hid by fine beech-cover) of the one of the Chateaus of Gesler, where his ‘intendant’ lived – the other little island very near to it, a mere speck with one or 2 little trees on it.

at 12 20/60 Seewen – mineral baths there – and about a dozen scattered neat white washed houses and neat church with red topped (painted boards?) steeple – at 12 1/2 leave (left) road to Einsidlen 5 lieues, and get to Schwytz at 12 50/60 picturesque pretty little white -washed ville with large very handsome church, and largish convent of Capucins Stop at the white horse – sent out things to the wash – engage rooms for tomorrow night, and all get a good dinner for 6/. on good egg soup, roast veal, bread and cheese, excellent pruneaux of last year warmed up in butter? and plums and peas and left 2 little cakes untouched.

off from Schwytz in one char (Schwytz very prettilly situated among green grass and orchards and picturesque scattered white houses), at 2 20/60 a pretty drive and in 35 minutes got to the large, good, white-washed village of Brunnen at 2 55/60 –

there was a cowfair at Schwytz, and a fête at Brunnen stalls about – went into the auberge to see the people dance (all waltzes) – the boat not being ready, stood watching the dances – the bateliers ouvriers and domestiques of the village really danced very well - particularly the land lady who civily stood up for our amusement – the land lord very civil – wanted me to dance – said I would with all my heart but could not dance in that way and besides had not time – 2 parties were shooting at different ends of the village at targets à la William Tell – the good people here and at Schwytz not yet spoilt by the English –

off, per boat, 3 rowers, from Brunnen at 3 40/6- - the green lake smooth hemmed in on both sides by high perpendicular, fine, wooded (chiefly beech wood) mountains – just beyond Sissigen – a little mountain fall into the lake in 1801 did considerable damage – Sittingen merely 3 or 4 cottages and a picturesque little church –

at 4 3/4 landed for 5 minutes at Tell’s chapel – oblong – 14 my common paces by 8 – open towards the lake, with a railing about a pace from the edge of the chapel floor and from the lake – 6 steps up to it – the history of William Tell painted on the walls within – just beyond the chapel (could not make the Chapel) Lady Byron and party (left her daughter 15 days with a femme de Chambre and valet at Küshnacht while she herself went across the Bruring to Meringen etc – carried in chaise) landed and stood for an hour till the wind abated and the lake was calm – on doubling the point of Tell’s chapel Fluelen white washed village 2 good Inns and Good church) and large white washed nunnery at the head of the other corner of the lake) in sight – landed there at 5 1/2 –

very comfortable at the Croix blanche – afterwards writing – very fine day -

[annelisterstravelnotes]

Switzerland with Maria and Jane Barlow – Sunday 30 1827

7 1/4

9 20/60

from 8 1/2 to 8 3/4 at church – quite full and people crowding round the door – very orderly clean–looking congregation – the women with their stiff clean white caps all along the middle of the head and flowers or gold work between the 2 stickups – large, good church –

Breakfast from 8 50/60 to 9 40/60 – off from Kusnacht (goodish little town) at 9 3/4 - mounted on 2 heavy black horses and 1 little bay for Jane, and 3 men besides Louis our new guide – 20 minutes along the good (made 34 yeard ago, by Goldan and Lowerz to Schwytz) new road to Ast then stop a moment (do not dismount -  at Tell’s chapel (his history painted in fresco over the door with in the porch) peep into the inside, small, an altar, - nothing to see – and turn right up the Rigi – about 1/2 way between Kusnacht and Toll’s chapel see a little to the right among the wood the small remains of Gesler’s castle – about such another ruin as neu Habsbourg en passant from Lucerne –

very good mule road all the way, partly this a pretty cover of beech and fir, but 3 or 4 steep baddish places – lively views all the way up – almost at the Staffel, pass a little cross – a batelier widower his children grown ups – gathering flowers just above about 27 years ago, slipped, fell down the rock and was killed on the spot – his legs and arms broken in several places - his head crushed to atoms –

got to Rigistaffel at 12 40/60 – leave our portmanteau, etc and send back my horse – Mrs and Miss Barlow ride to the Rigi and have to pay 6 batz per horse péage (toll) – for the road made to the top – delayed a little at the Staffel – behind the rest- but walked from there to the Kulm in 25 minutes from 12 55/60 to 1 20/60 (en passant look down into the hole and down the perpendicular)- hottish walk and cold at the top – good wooden Inn auberge – larger salle à  manger – tolerably good bed rooms above – but small – just room for 2 beds – the rooms (40 beds – sometimes 100 people – sleep in the salle à manger as they can) on each side a corridor – like an hospice – evidently of higher rank than the Staffel which is more of an auberge and where one might be à meilleur marché- but every one must be at the Culur, to see the sun set, and rise – the views most extensive (vide Ebel, article Rigi) – see 8 lakes, then 2 more little ones, out of the 14 mentioned by Ebel – fine view of the mountain fall over Goldau (2 September 1806) – a man about 8 days before had observed a hole on the top of the mountain and one throwing a stone down heard it fall into water – great rain had filled the hole undermined a portion of the mountain and down it went –

from 1 55/60 to 2 12/60 on the look-out, mounted by a high ladder tremendous enough – the most extensive view I ever beheld – By the way, on looking down the perpendicular I thought of (vide Ebel) above 3000 feet found it not so perpendicular as to be able to look down it as one does down the roch Mulham  Cove – but it is tremendous – about 2 years ago little below this a Prussian gentleman in spite of his guide would go too near the edge fell and tho’ the body stopped on a little flat green spot very very far from the bottom, was quite dead – burried at Lucerne – his heart and brain sent to berlin – his wife was a few paces from him when it happened – they had had some disagreement during the day – he had ‘beaucoup de chagrin’ – they thought he did it on purpose –

off from Rigi Kulm at 2 35/60 2 25/60 – 20 minutes descending to the Staffel – a little bread and gruyères cheese there and 1/2 bottle common wine – had meant to sleep at Schwytz –  determined to return to the Kulm to sleep for the chance of seeing sunset and sunrise –

at 3 35/60 all set off to back again – arrived at 4 14/60 – our 2 rooms east and west – sat in patient expectation – some times at 1st first we had hope – but the clouds were against us – yet in walking up again struck with the difference made by the evening light – the clouds (tho’ we had a good clear day) shifted and with them our points of view – the scene more sombre – perhaps more  pleasing –  at 5 20/60 can hardly see a dozen yards before us to the westward – soon afterwards the clouds seem to envelop us on all sides and we have a little rain – in the midst 2 or 3 arrivals of ladies and gents. – damp if not wet and shivering – at 6 1/2 clouds cleared off a little- to the westward see a lit lense of fiery red resting on the mountain top, the parting reflection from the sun gone down – this was fine – a fir sunset here must indeed be fine –

now at 7 1/2 p.m. the wind is whistling – but ‘tis fair, and we have had a beautiful day for the ascent – finding it cold and some what comfortless ordered hot soup and fried eggs and boiled ditto and bread and butter, and sat down at 8 and made a tolerable meal tho’ the egg-soup was very bad and we kept the hard boiled eggs for Mrs and Miss Barlow tomorrow –

[annelisterstravelnotes]

Switzerland with Maria and Jane Barlow – Saturday 29 1827

8 35/60

9

Went down to breakfast in the public salle at 10 50/60 –

at 11 1/2 went to the Post Office short letter from Isabella Norcliffe – lately written none from Mrs Norcliffe the young man very civil – let me look over

the letters myself – an elderly large man said I ought to have taken the young man’s word and not tossed over the letters myself – he should reprimand the young man for letting me do so – this is the 1st first instance of grossièrete I have met with at Lucerne; but our new guide, Jones, says it is this man’s custom to every one – He is an exception – we have never met with a people so civilized – no unpleasant staring – no laughing – the commonest people strikingly the most polite we have met with – on going to a shoemaker’s yesterday for Jane and finding no shoes to suit her, we inadvertedly went out by a wrong door – the man came down absolutely like a gentleman to shew us thro’ the court yard – the chamber maid this morning was looking at my casquette this morning – instead of putting it down hastily on my entering the room she came up in the best bred way possible holding it in her hand and saying she was admiring it, it must be so convenient for traveling – never saw the very boys in the streets so civil –

 engaged another guide, Louis .  .  . a good sort of, civil looking man, who was 15 days with lady Byron and party, last August – took him with us at 12 20/60 to see General Pfyffer’s fine bas relief of the 4 cantons – his grand daughter Mademoiselle Pfyffer shewed it – her brother (a captain in the Austrian? service being absent – (vide Ebel Article Lucern) –  very intersting – stayed there from 12 40/60 to 1 1/2 – the Lucernois Travel very little – Mademoiselle Pfyffers had never been even at Schywbe – General Pfyffer was 50 when be began his admeasurements for this great work – or might have gone on and done all Swiz? – no cover over it – nothing hurts it – dusted twice a year – 30 sols per person admission – saw the general’s stick-seat a small desk fixing on to the top, and one of the wood sandals (such as we saw on the Satesche) in which he traversed the mountains – the captain Pfyffer had made a pretty little oval xxxx relief of all Switzerland – government would not buy it – now arranged for the top of a table – to be sold – perhaps 40 Napoleons Mademoiselle knew not – Monsieur Müller, of Edelberg, (vide Ebel) is the man who now makes these things – made that at Zurich – good charabanc road to Engelberg – fine valley – conveneint there Louis tells me Monsieur Müller sells these reliefs – from 20 to 200 Napoleons – 1 of the whole of  Switzerland at 200 Napoleons in 4 pieces, altogether about 1/2 the size of general Pfyffer’s –

 went to see if the lake was smooth enough for us – determine to be off for Küsnacht – got home at 1 40/60 – change my dress – all packed and paid – (a very good hotel – the best – next the cheval blanc then the Balance best situated upon the river) and in spite of the rain embarking and off at 2 3/4 – 4 rowers (men) – clouds lowish – mount Pilate enveloped – but the outline of the nearer mountains discernible enough – very fine – at 3 40/60 pass the ruins (very scanty-

looking like a high point or chimney in the distance) of Habsburg – at 4 pass a little vineyard, the only one in the canton – lovely row from Lucerne to Kusnacht – not dangerous – can land anywhere – Rigi beautifully wooded with forest timbers – the undulating, verdant, fir topped hills close on our left beautifully studded with orchard and walnut trees – the Slight tints of autumn very lovely – pretty white washed church and village of Kushnac Küsnacht picturesquely situated at the head of the gulph – disembarked at the comfortable little Inn of the eagle at 4 40/60 – rained all the way –

wrote the above of today – dinner (very good) from 5 55/6- to 7 5/60 – Lady Byron and family and Mrs and Miss Siddons, Miss Chaloner and Miss Montgomery were here 3 weeks – dated 5 August – a physician a painter from Turin, were of her ladyship’s party as well as her kinsman Mr Noel aetatis  about 24 – 2 femmes de chambre – an English courrier and footman – 15 said our guide – passed the Susten and the Bruring – the 5 ladies carried in chaises, 4 men per chaise at 6/. a day – Feather-bed Travelers! Dull but fair till noon – then began to rain a little and continued more or less till some time after our landing at Küsnach –

[annelisterstravelnotes]

Switzerland with Maria and Jane Barlow – Friday 28 1827

6 1/4 12 Breakfast at 7 35/60 – our bill very moderate – very well satisfied – wrote in the book as follows ‘Mrs and Miss Barlow and Mrs Lister from Interlacken to Lucerne – a quiet, comfortable hotel, and the aubergiste a civil, honest man. At Lauterbrunnen, and at Interlacken, it is neccessary to make their bargain – at the former diminutive trout, about 3 English inches long, are valued at 3 sols each by the aubergiste, and 6 sols each by the waiter when questioned us to their price; at the latter, a small decanter of ordinairy white wine is charged a franc – The English who are rich, would do their best service in their power to those who are less so, if they would some times take a little more trouble to avoid trifling impositions – Madame and Mademoiselle Barlow and Madame Lister sont très contentes de cet hôtel. Monsieur l’aubergiste est des plus braves hommes de la Suisse. Il nous a bien dit ‘Il faut vivre, et laisser vivre’ – Anne Lister – Sarnen Friday 27 September 1827’ – off from Sarnen at 8 55/60 – immediately mount the hill – good road – so very good oaks – neat, good, white – washed church of Kerns and picturesque neat, good, paved village surrounded by green grass and orchard and plum in particular, and fine walnut trees – beautiful hereabouts – at 9 25/60 alight for 5 minutes to see the church (of Kerns) – large, neat, plain, good saw the five pictures mentioned by Ebel – the graves in the church yard covered with with pink–roots 2 neat looking auberges the crown and another – finely wooded hills – great deal of beech topped with firs – very fine drive – at 10 20/60, according to the pronunciation and information of our guide, Trachurn moss where a great battle fought between the Swiss and Austrians – fine wooded rock and undulating hill – pretty hill, and behind the Conical Rotzberg close the valley in front of us – about 10 pass the little church or chapel of St Jacob – at 10 1/2 beautiful little gorge in front to the left – good/2 picturesque/1 house scattered round – at the top of the little hill at Trachen cappel (according to pronunciation) at 10 35/60 and pay toll – the little church neat, white washed – little auberge, and 2 or 3 cottages and first peep of the lake of Lucerne – well wooded rock and hill – neat white washed and white washed founded cottages – very pretty here – Sarnen said our guide the capital of Oberwald, Stantz of Unterwald, and itis the valley of Unterwald from Kerns to Stanz – at 10 55/60 very picturesque white washed, good town of Stanz – according to our guide, the inhabitants resisted so bravely, the revolutionary French burnt it to the ground – did he mistake Stanz in this case to Stanzstad? – alighted to go into the church – large and good inside white washed – 5 arcades includeing that at the west door over which the the black and white–washed organ, supported by black marble Tuscan? pillars –pinks again over the graves, and stuck up against the church wall, or against the heads of some of the crosses, pictures of the persons burried beneath – bones peeping out from the graves – 3 chapels round the church yard – pretty-looking town finely and closely surrounded by high finely wooded mountains – off at 11 1/4 – very pretty drive to Stanzstad – got there at 11 37/60 – windy – lake a little roughish – beautiful undulating wooded shores – the tower - gutted – a woman drying and heckling hemp in it – Embarked at 12 – 4 women rowers – Rozberg, Renk, Pilate, gradualy sloping Rigi very fine – at 1 10/60 after musing long, I exclaim to myself what a lovely lake! As we turn up the gulph towards Lucerne, right (behind) Rigi and closing the circle to the left (behind) peaky snow-streaked tops of the Uri mountains and near the high rock wooded range towards Stanz – on each side of us undulating wooded hill forest timber chiefly beech? few firs here and there – very little of the autumnal tint – How lovely! Como and Lucerne are the 2 lakes for me – 6 birds on the water (several close to Lucerne – the people forbidden to kill them) like teal – the lake more tranquil than at 1st first – on every little corner of rock a little chapel – some times not more than a couple of feet high and a foot broad – charmant – charmant – no vines to spoil the picture – neat white washed houses scattered up and down – at 1 35/60 fine first view of Lucerne – singular looking line of towers – white washed – 8 of them – and towered chateau and churches – the 2 pointed steeples of the great church or cathedral (right) and the long line of pont de la cour 1380 feet long – towers, houses all of darling white xxx at the foot of the fresh verdure of the undulating hills – the forest timber slightly tinged with autumn – very lovely – land at 2 – get to the Inn (l’aigle) at 2 10/60 – order dinner at 6, arrange about rooms wait for Jane to dress – all go out at 2 55/60 – mean to take our passports to the police – our guide knows not much about it – go to the arsenal – nothing worth seeing – the banner still stained with blood from the battle of Sampach (vide Ebel) not to be seen – but we had a stupidish old man to shew us – our guide a little tipsy – annoyed about it – cross 3 or 4 bridges – could not have made out the Dance of Death with out Ebel – our guide good for nothing here and today – Mrs Barlow first observed it went to see general Pfeffer’s famous model of part of Switzerland – the house shut up – nobody there for the moment – at the cathedral at 4 1/4 - partly white washed with out and altogether so with in – arcaded, large clean – plain, but a staring virgin in crimson and blue foil very glaring – a few pictures along the walls and 1 tolerable over the back altar under the east window -  the small church yard quite full –completely surrounded by an arcade (like a cloister) where seems to be the  burying vaults of the better families – Had desired our guide to wait for us – he was gone – (to get more wine?) – went to see the lion to the memory of the Swiss who fell on the 10th August – little boy directed us – found our guide en route there – the lion very fine – good print shop close to it – but all our pleasure destroyed by our tipsy guide – determine to pay him off tonight – got home at 5 1/4 – spoke to our aubergiste – advises us not to set off with out guide, but if we part with this can get us a good one – Does not wish his name to be mentioned – Dinner in the large handsome public salle à manger from 6 10/60 to 7 1/4 – pay off our guide –  say nothing of the reason but decline giving recommendation or bonne main – said I was the 1st first who had refused the latter – civil enough but apparently suspects what was the matter – send for the washing woman but not choosing to pay after the rate of 3 sols per pocket handkerchief give her nothing to wash – from about 8 to 10 1/2 (take a nap between) wrote out traveling journal of today – very fine day –

[annelisterstravelnotes]

Switzerland with Maria and Jane Barlow – Thursday 27 September 1827

6 1/4 12 Breakfast at 8 – off at 9 (the wind very high all last night but did not prevent me from sleeping) – good Inn – walked to the celebrated fabrique a self taught genius, in 10 minutes – 2 beautifully cut singular dishes which Mrs Barlow bought – nothing scarcely to shew something so bought up – going to make a large maison about 2 1/2 feet? long, and about 1 1/2 high, price 60/. for Hofwijk – all had things dearer? Then at Unterseen, but better made - musical clock chiefly of wood – take his address – may probably give him an order in the winter – a very pretty little maison at 6/. ditto chalet and tollerable sized house 6 inches? square 9/. – pretty baskets that Mrs Barlow admired at 4/. – off from Fisher’s at 10 20/60 all mounted our horses and off to cross the Brunig – at 11 1/4 Scattered village wooden village of (according to our guide’s pronunciation) Brientswheeler – then at 11 25/60 begin to mount – capitol mule road as far as here- then a few rough steepish precipity places – at the top of the pass at 12 10/60 – all along the hill side en montant, fine view down into the valley of Meyringen and again upon the picturesque wooden village of Brunnigen placed on a sort of step or little plain high above the Meyringen valley – fine view of the 2 torrent cascades into the Meyringen valley and peeps of the lake – at 12 1/4 at the Berne boundary stone, dismount and enter the canton of unterwalden – (the government going to make a good carriage road from Brientz to Interlacken alongside the lake and ditto across the Bruring) – see very little fir-wood today – some fine oaks – a very few ash – chiefly beach – all the richest tints of early autumn – strong wind on the hillside – very fine day – at 1 (Mrs Barlow and I having a little while ago left Jane and the mules and struck into the foot path to the right) at a little chapel on the top of the hill over looking the picturesque scattered wooden village of Lungern sits very pretty little green lake – from the chapel 2 or 3 minutes steep very slippery descent down steps rudely cut into the rock – 2 or 3 little bits of bad afterwards otherwise pretty good mule road skirting down thro’ and aloingside a beech and fine forest - (beautiful descent), upon the neat good, wooden valley of Lungern – nice looking good auberge – stop there to send back our horses and ter a char and have Brientzline  cheese and bread and butter and wine and water – very picturesque of railing – between them the very rough stick-out sort which has so often incommoded us in riding along the narrow mule roads down to Airolo, etc. etc. – like every thing in and about the valle de Sarnen but the back view upon the snowy (according to our guide’s pronunciation Aliastock – alighted at the Inn at Sarnen at 5 50/60 – a little talkation about having 9/. to pay for the return char from Lungern here – only meant to have 1 horse and the return would be 6/. 2 horses 12/. and had to pay 9/. tho’ the 2 horses were not to please us – Ebel says 3 times our guide 4 ditto from Lungern to Sarnen – Mrs Barlow and I went out about 6 1/4 to see the church – largeish – white washed – on a hill a little way from the town – handsome neat and clean with in – 2 or 3 churches besides this, of 1 sort or other in the town – Roman catholic – the neatest Roman catholic town we have had seen – from the church walked down to the arsenal – white washed a very small affair, like an English cottage attached to a church – nice little town – got back to the Inn at 7 – Had warm wine (blanc ordinaire) and water and a mouthful of bread – then wrote – very fine day –

[annelisterstravelnotes]

Netherlands with Mariana - Bawtry to Shibden Hall, 23 August 1831

Thursday 23

9 3/4

12

no kiss all ready to be off Mariana

by the York mail to Tadcaster and I by

the Leeds ditto to Leeds at 12 1/2 –

breakfast at 11 – Fahrenheit 70° at 10 and very fine

morning – Mariana wrote to Mr Martin

Cheltenham for onyx ring for me

to give Miss H £2.10.0 – Mariana off at

at 12 50/.. I in chaise at 1 5/.. – at Doncaster

under 50 minutes – mail gone – galloped

after it and in it and off again at 2, so

gave the man 5/. – 27 miles from Doncaster to

Leeds – just nodded to Mariana as they

changed horses at the Robin Hood Inn

and we separated from the Ferrybridge

road at 2 40/.. the post marking 19 miles

from Leeds – saw the other mail passing along

the other road a minute or 2 after –

at Pontefract at 3 17/.. – change at the Star

in the grande Place – pretty good one with

oblong 3 arcaded and one at each end

market place in the middle – at

Leeds at 4 35/.. – horses changed – would

make the man ride his horses – off

at 4 42/.. (from the hotel Leeds) –

Birstall at 5 36/.. to water the horses

for 5 minutes – at 6 was 10 miles from

Leeds and 5 1/2 from Halifax – came into the

Wakefield road at the top of archhead moor –

at home at 6 55/.. – tea – talk with Marian – cannot

will stay long or have Cam[eron] – 1/2 hours talk with

{margin: my aunt and came to my room at 10 1/2 – very fine day

Fahrenheit 72 1/2° now at 11 p.m. -}