#Invernesshire

[scotianostra]

Memorial Cairn, Culoden Moor 1951.

[aimeedaisies]

✨ 15 days of Princess Anne ✨

August is Princess Anne’s birth month and her 73rd birthday is on the 15th so until then we will look at her fascinating life, one photo for every year!

The sixties

1960 Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother with her three grandchildren, Princess Anne, Prince Charles and newborn Prince Andrew, August 1960.

1961 Princess Anne at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in Berkshire on 13th May 1961.

1962 Prince Philip at the helm (in yellow sou'wester) with his daughter Princess Anne on board the Royal Yawl "Bloodhound" during a sailing holiday on Loch Oich, Invernesshire on 23rd August 1962.

1963 A portrait of Princess Anne wearing a girl guides uniform taken for her 13th birthday on 9th August 1963

1964 Princess Anne (bottom left) as a bridesmaid at King Constantine & Queen Anne-Marie’s wedding on 18th September 1964.

1965 One year old Prince Edward in his pram with his elder sister Princess Anne and their father Prince Philip which was taken at Frogmore on 13th April 1965.

1966 Princess Anne with Prince Charles and Prince Philip, behind the wheel arriving at a polo match in Kingston, Jamaica on 10th August 1966.

1967 Princess Anne’s first tiara appearance (the Cartier Halo tiara), at the 1967 state opening. She is travelling in a state coach with her mother, Queen Elizabeth II, her father, The Duke of Edinburgh and her brother, Prince Charles to the Houses of Parliament.

1968 Princess Anne (front, second from left) with members of the Danish and British royal families in the royal box at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, UK, 29th April 1968. From left to right, Prince George of Denmark, Princess Margaret, Queen Ingrid of Denmark, Queen Elizabeth II, King Frederick IX, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and Princess Anne of Denmark.

1969 Princess Anne at her first ever engagement where she launched Esso Northumbria in Newcastle on 02/05/1969

(50’s)

[maximumwobblerbanditdonut]

Who is General Simon Fraser on 'Outlander' Season 7?

General Simon Fraser is a character in Outlander seven season, portrayed by Angus Macfadyen, Scottish actor who was born in Glasgow. Educated in France, fluent in French.International Baccalaureate, Copenhagen. MA (Hons) in French and English, University of Edinburgh. He attended Central School of Speech and Drama in London.

Angus MacFadyen is a wonderful actor, it's a pity he's only got a small part, but showed he was perfect portraying General Simon Fraser, Angus played it to perfection.

Through coincidence he played Robert the Bruce in the film with the same title, where Angus not only reprised his role as the Bruce, he also co-wrote the film's screenplay, and in Braveheart, he narrated and played the Scottish noble.

Simon Fraser of Balnain, played by Angus Macfadyen is not the same Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat “The Old Fox” (Clive Russell), or his son Simon (James Parris) in Outlander Season 2.

Simon Fraser of Balnain

Simon Fraser of Balnain, from Invernesshire, Scotland, was born to a fighting culture. A Scottish Highlander, he was ushered into a rich heritage of Scottish warriors. The Fraser family of Balnain had supported Bonnie Prince Charles and, like many Highland families, suffered heavily after the Jacobite defeat at Culloden in 1746. After that conclusive battle, many of Prince Charles supporters were dealt with severely; several were executed and countless had their houses destroyed and their estates confiscated.

Battle of Culloden April 16, 1746

For decades prior to and even after the Jacobite Rebellion, the British had Scottish regiments within its ranks, such as the 64th Highlanders. Many Scots also sought mercenary service with the Dutch by enlisting in Holland’s Scottish Brigades. At age 18, in 1747, Simon did so, entering the newly formed Fourth Scottish Brigade under the Earl of Drumlanrig. He soon found himself embroiled in the final years of the Austrian War of Succession (1740-1748).

In an ironic twist, Highlander Simon Fraser (among the Dutch Scottish Brigade) fought alongside those who just the previous year, had killed many of his countrymen and destroyed and pillaged his family’s estates; these were Loudoun’s Highlanders, the 64th Highlander Regiment. During the Jacobite Rebellion, the 64th had remained loyal to the British army and fought against their fellow highlanders at the Culloden Battle. They now were employed by England in support of the Dutch.

In 1756, Fraser ended his pension service with the Dutch and joined the British army, enlisting in the 62nd Royal American Regiment of Foot. The 62nd Regiment of Foot, renumbered the 60th in February 1757, was better known under its later name, The King’s Royal Rifle Corps. The Seven Years War, also known as the French and Indian War, necessitated new battle tactics for British forces in America.

Royal American Regiment of Foot, Kings Rifle Corps

The Scottish name of Simon Fraser was quite common because of the frequent use of the name Simon Fraser in military lists, there has been much confusion and misinformation. The 63rd Highlanders, later the 78th Highland Regiment of Foot, was commanded by Simon Fraser’s cousin, Lt. Colonel Simon Fraser, who was the 19th Chief of the Clan Fraser of Lovat. Lovat’s father, the 11th Chief of the Clan Fraser of Lovat, who also named Simon Fraser, was a Jacobite and subsequently executed after Culloden. King George II reinstated the lands of Lord Lovat to Colonel Simon Fraser in 1757 with the understanding he would raise a regiment of Highlanders which were labeled ‘Fraser’s Highlanders’.

The 78th Highlanders not only had a Lt. Colonel Simon Fraser as its commanding officer, but so too a captain, a lieutenant, and an ensign. The younger Simon Fraser was known as Lieutenant Simon Fraser Junior, being the youngest subaltern by that name and was listed in the regiment’s 1757 return as Ensign Simon Fraser.

Fraser’s (Lord Lovat) 78th Highlanders

Simon Fraser of Balnain, a character in Outlander 7 season, is the historical figure who would serve in the American Revolution under British Lieutenant General John Burgoyne's command.

By 1768, he had risen to Lieutenant Colonel of the 24th Regiment of Foot. Along with his regiment, Fraser was sent to Quebec in 1776.

Not long after his service at Quebec, Simon Fraser was promoted to Brigadier General, and Fraser's command was in the vanguard during the taking of Fort Ticonderoga. This meant that he was responsible not only for his 24th Regiment of Foot but also for the Grenadier battalion, the light infantry battalion, a company of marksmen, as well as members of the Canadian militia and Native American soldiers, and Fraser helped dislodge the retreating Americans.

When General John Burgoyne organised his Saratoga campaign in the autumn of 1777, Fraser was chosen to command the advanced unit. He saw many successes in battle, but his fatal day on the battlefield came on October 7th, 1777 when he was hit with rifle fire at Second Saratoga, or the Battle of Bemis Heights.

General Simon Fraser of Balnain

#SimonFraserofBalnain #AngusMacfadyen #FortTiconderoga #AmericanRevolution #HighlandRegiments #BritishArmy #outlander

[duty-calls-for-booty]

Stratherrick, Invernesshire man claims there is a ‘necromancer’ living in the forest outside Manchester.

A Scottish man who went on an illegal wild boar hunt with pals in the forest outside Manchester, claims that there is a ‘necromancer’ living in the woods.

Semi-professional demolitionist Johnny MacTavish explained, “We stumbled across the necromancer’s lair after a white deer caused the Captain to crash his Bedford Rascal.

The ‘Captain’ refused to comment on record. Their third companion ‘Gaz’ could be heard muttering, “Big fucking cunt in a skull mask,” and “House was covered in bones like some sort of serial killer,” during Mr. MacTavish’s exposition.

big things happening in england

[jaimealbertonicolau]

Culloden. Scotland. July 2023 (at Culloden Battlefield, Invernesshire.) https://www.instagram.com/p/CoutraPo_HV/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[bluesman56]

Sunrise in the Scottish Highlands by Tony

[wardlawmausoleum]

After quite a few incredibly dreich days, this was a welcome sight tonight 😍. Hopefully this is a good omen for dry weather for everyone at @thegathering_scotland tomorrow 🤞🍀 . . . #sunset #sky #inverness #kirkhill #highlands #ScottishHighlands #invernesshire #dreich #redsky #outlander #jamiefraser #theoldfox #clanfraser #scottishscenery #scotlandsbeauty #scotland_explore #scotland #scotland_insta #scotlandphotography #scottishweather (at Kirkhill) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByJElvzhevr/?igshid=165xxxx4ypwqp

[tinyfrenchowl]

Scottish tumblr, I need your help

My gran has always been a huge lover of family history and genealogy. She put together that her dad’s family must have emigrated to France from the Highlands, probably after Culloden. There is, in fact, a small village near Inverness that is named Daviot, which is her maiden name. I’m going to Inverness next week and now that I know it’s this Daviot (and not the one in Aberdeenshire) I want to go there, maybe get her a souvenir or something... And I’m wondering what clan the Daviots would have been affiliated to. Looking at clan maps on Google seems to suggest Clan MacIntosh... Any thoughts, or tips on how to work this out?

[kafkaonthecats]

the view from the top of the waterfall 🌬

[dailyunsolvedmysteries]

Archibald Hall aka The Monster Butler

Hall's criminal career began as a thief at the age of 15. He soon progressed to house breaking. Capitalizing on his bisexuality, he then infiltrated the gay scene in London, after moving there with profits of his criminal ventures. He served his first jail sentence for attempting to sell jewellery in London that he had stolen in Scotland. During his sentence he studied antiques and learned the etiquette of the aristocracy, as well as taking elocution lessons to soften his Scottish accent.

Upon his release he began using the name Roy Fontaine, after the actress Joan Fontaine, and worked as a butler, occasionally returning to prison for further jewel thefts. He married and divorced during this time.

In 1975, Hall was released from prison and returned to Scotland. He began working as butler to Margaret ('Peggy') Hudson, a dowager (widow of Sir Austin Hudson, 1st Baronet, a Conservative member of parliament)  who lived at Kirtleton House, Dumfriesshire. Hall had initially planned to steal her valuables but he never carried this out when he realized that he liked both his job and employer too much.

When David Wright, an acquaintance from his last prison term, was also given a job on the estate as a gamekeeper in 1977, the two had an altercation after Wright stole some of Lady Hudson's jewellery and threatened to tell her about Hall's own criminal past if Hall reported him.

Hall took Wright on a rabbit hunt in a trick attempt at coming to an amicable solution. Once out in the fields, he shot Wright dead and buried him next to the stream in the Kirtleton House grounds.

Hall soon left his job after Lady Hudson discovered his criminal past. Based in London again, he combined more thieving and racketeering with working as a butler to the 82-year-old Walter Scott-Elliot and his 60-year-old wife Dorothy. Scott-Elliot had been the Labour MP for Accrington from 1945 to 1950, was wealthy and from an aristocratic Scottish background. Hall's plan was to rob the couple of their money and retire, but in the end he killed both of them after Dorothy Scott-Elliot walked in on Hall and an accomplice, Michael Kitto, as the two men were discussing their plans.

Kitto's first murder was when he immediately put a pillow over her mouth and suffocated her.

Hall and Kitto then drugged her husband and drove them both up to Scotland, helped by the Scott-Elliots' housekeeper Mary Coggle. After they buried Dorothy in Braco, Perthshire, they strangled and beat her sedated husband with a shovel and buried him in woods near Tomich, Invernesshire.

Their next victim was Coggle, who had taken to wearing Dorothy's expensive clothes and jewellery, and was drawing too much attention to herself. After she refused to dispose of a fur coat which was potentially incriminating evidence, Hall and Kitto killed her with a poker and left her body in a stream near Middlebie, Dumfriesshire, where she was discovered on 25 December 1977 by a shepherd.

The final victim of the pair was Hall's half-brother Donald, a paedophile recently released from prison, whom Hall hated. Hall and Kitto found Donald at Hall's holiday home in Cumbria, and, telling him that their next robbery was going to be a tie-up job, tricked him into letting them practice on him. Once Donald was tied up, Hall used chloroform to incapacitate him before drowning him in the bath. The abortive effort to dispose of his body led to Hall and Kitto's downfall.

Hall and Kitto placed Donald's body in the boot of a car and again drove to Scotland to carry out another burial. However, Hall had made Kitto replace the car's number plate which contained three 9s, because he believed it was unlucky: this meant the tax disc and the number plate did not match. The wintry weather made driving hazardous, and so on reaching North Berwick in East Lothian, they decided to check into the Blenheim House Hotel on the north side of the High Street overnight to lessen their chances of being in an accident.

However, the shifty movements of Hall and Kitto made the hotelier suspicious and, worried about whether he would be paid for their stay, he called the police as a precaution. When they arrived, they realized the tax disc and number plate did not match and took Kitto and Hall in for questioning. They then took the car to the police station (only 200 yards away, and on the same side of the High Street) where they made the discovery of Donald's body in the boot.

Kitto was arrested but Hall escaped through a lavatory window. He was captured at a police roadblock in nearby Haddington.

The police then made a connection between Hall's car and the registration number of a vehicle noted by a suspicious antiques dealer in Newcastle-under-Lyme, to whom two men had offered silver and china at a price well below its true value. The police traced the car to the Scott-Elliots' address in London and found the apartment robbed of many valuables and spattered with blood. This also linked with the murder of Coggle, whose body had already been found and who had been previously registered as a housekeeper for the Scott-Elliots. The police had evidence that three men (including a drugged Scott-Elliot) and a woman had stayed at a Scottish hotel for one night, but the following night only two men – Hall and Kitto – returned.

Hall tried and failed to commit suicide while in custody, before revealing the whereabouts of the three buried victims. In deep snow and bitterly cold weather, and with the media watching, police teams dug up the bodies of David Wright and Walter and Dorothy Scott-Elliot. They charged Hall and Kitto with five murders.

[grandmaster-anne]

Prince Philip at the helm with Princess Anne and Prince Charles on board the Royal Yawl "Bloodhound" during a sailing holiday on Loch Oich, Invernesshire on 23rd August 1962.

[scotianostra]

March 3rd 2014 was flag day at Urquhart Castle, these five girls, three Russians and two from France couldn't resist my Saltire. 

[artsof]

Peacock and Peacock Butterfly | Archibald Thornburn | 1917

“Archibald Thorburn was a Scottish artist that specialised in wildlife, painting mostly in watercolour. He regularly visited Scotland to sketch birds in the wild, his favourite haunt being the Forest of Gaick near Kingussie in Invernesshire. His widely reproduced images of British wildlife, with their evocative and dramatic backgrounds, are enjoyed as much today as they were by naturalists a century ago.”

[mediaevalmusereads]

When A Scot Ties the Knot. By Tessa Dare. New York: Avon Books, 2015.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Genre: historical romance

Part of a Series? Yes, Castles Ever After #3

Summary: On the cusp of her first London season, Miss Madeline Gracechurch was shyly pretty and talented with a drawing pencil, but hopelessly awkward with gentlemen. She was certain to be a dismal failure on the London marriage mart. So Maddie did what generations of shy, awkward young ladies have done: she invented a sweetheart. A Scottish sweetheart. One who was handsome and honorable and devoted to her, but conveniently never around. Maddie poured her heart into writing the imaginary Captain MacKenzie letter after letter … and by pretending to be devastated when he was (not really) killed in battle, she managed to avoid the pressures of London society entirely. Until years later, when this kilted Highland lover of her imaginings shows up in the flesh. The real Captain Logan MacKenzie arrives on her doorstep—handsome as anything, but not entirely honorable. He’s wounded, jaded, in possession of her letters… and ready to make good on every promise Maddie never expected to keep.

***Full review under the cut.***

Content Warnings: graphic sexual content, blood, violence

Overview: I came across this book while doing research for a blog post on Scottish fetishization in romance. While writing the post, I encountered YouTuber Jean Bookishthoughts’s video “ An Actual Scot Reads Highlander Romances,” and she gave this novel a fairly positive review. So I decided “why not? I’ve got nothing better to do.” Overall, the premise of this book was really enticing - the idea of a woman writing letters to a fictional sweetheart only to have a flesh-and-blood man show up at her door is quite the setup. I also think Dare does a good job of writing humor and moving the narrative along. But I ultimately couldn’t give this book more than 3 stars for a number of reasons: for one, the main crux of the plot felt like it could have been a bit more robust. Two, I didn’t find Logan to be a very interesting character. And three, some of the random “Highlander” references felt cheesy.

Writing: Dare writes prose that is quick, witty, and humorous. I very much enjoyed the jokes and the banter between our protagonists, and I appreciated that Dare didn’t get bogged down in some of the details of day-to-day life. If I had any criticisms, it would be that I think Dare moves almost too quickly at times. Some of the more emotional moments could have used some room to breathe or some more description of how the characters’ emotions are faring. But it wasn’t so bad that I felt like I was being rushed through the novel. Another way of putting is may be that sometimes Dare told where she could have shown, but the balance of telling vs showing didn’t feel egregiously off.

Plot: This plot mainly follows our heroine, Maddie, and our hero, Logan, as they try to work out an agreement. Maddie, in the attempt to avoid going on the marriage mart, invented a sweetheart at age 16 and wrote letters to a “fictional” Scottish captain in the army for years. Unbeknownst to her, the letters were actually being received by Logan, and when he and his men come home from the war, Logan is determined to marry Maddie in order to get her land in Invernesshire.

Personally, I found this setup to be quite intriguing and whimsical. I liked the embarrassment that arose from Maddie’s letters actually being received and read. I liked that Logan secretly looked forward to the letters from a stranger. I even liked the dilemma of negotiating a marriage of convenience. But I think where this plot fell apart for me was the whole challenge of consummating the marriage. Logan and Maddie agree to marry and live separate lives (it’s early on, so this isn’t really a spoiler), but Logan is adamant about consummating the marriage so that there’s no possibility of an annulment. Maddie, for her part, wants to avoid consummating the marriage because she finds that marriage will threaten her career prospects; as an illustrator, she finds that men will not hire her for work if they think household or parenting duties will interrupt her work schedule. To be completely honest, this challenge was quite good; I thought there was a real opportunity here for Dare to explore the sexist challenges women face in the workplace. Where I thought the challenge was weak was in the whole obsession with consummation. Unless there was such hostility between the Scottish and the English that an Englishwoman’s word would always be taken over a Scotsman’s, I found the question of “did they actually have sex or not” to be quite trivial. From what I know, annulments were notoriously difficult to obtain, so it wouldn’t matter much if Maddie and Logan had consummated the marriage. It seems like Logan could just say they did and an annulment would be near impossible. Nor do I think the law would care much if they only had non-penetrative sex. It seems like the whole plot hinging on whether or not they had “real sex” was a non-issue for me.

Instead, I would have liked to see more conflict in Maddie between balancing her desires for romance and a family with her career aspirations. Once Logan enters the picture, it seems like her career takes a backseat (except for a couple of scenes), and I would have rather seen it be more front and center. Either that or I think Maddie’s story could have mirrored her aunt’s more closely. Maddie’s Aunt Thea was long ago caught up in a scandal that ruined her, but later, Thea reveals that she had enjoyed the freedom. I think having Maddie be independent and struggle with the idea of being “tied down” by marriage could have also been good, and while there’s a little of that, I think it could have been more apparent to the reader.

In terms of small-scale narrative points, I think a lot of the scenes Dare writes are very funny and entertaining. I liked, for instance, the scene where Maddie falls into a bog, or when Maddie shows kindness to Logan’s friend, Grant. The scenes that truly did bother me, however, were some of the more “fluffy” ones that were a bit too cheesy for my tastes. For example, there’s a scene in which Maddie finds Logan reading Pride and Prejudice and he’s wearing spectacles. She makes a big deal about him being a reader and I had to roll my eyes. There’s also a scene towards the end in which Maddie attempts to make haggis, and I hated it because it felt like it was inserted so Dare could check off a “Scottishism” in a list. Tartan? Check. Brogue? Check. Haggis? Check. The scene also erupted in random violence, too, which felt out-of-place and inserted for pointless drama towards the end of the novel.

But I will admit, I did like the scenes that were very self-aware about what Dare was doing. For example, there’s a scene in which Logan is debating about what to do to get Maddie into bed. His friends give him suggestions like “offer your heart to her on a platter” or “throw in a lot of oochs and bonny lasses when you speak” or “dive into the loch and have her go looking for you. Then, when she’s found you, pretend you don’t notice her and have her watch you bathe for a while. Then emerge from the lock all dripping wet.” This self-awareness was a nice stab at romance cliches, though I wish Dare had done a better job herself at avoiding them.

Characters: Maddie, our heroine, is fairly likeable in that she’s bookish, generous, and a bit clumsy at times. I liked that there was a juxtaposition between her confidence and her social anxiety: while she wasn’t afraid to assert herself in some situations, big crowds made her nervous, and I think navigating those two scenarios made for some interesting characterization. The main thing I didn’t like about Maddie was how quickly she seemed to give up her career ambitions for Logan. There’s a point where she has to make a choice between letting Logan go and following her dreams, and she claims that she’s choosing Logan even though the choice is really made for her based on sexist norms of the day. I would have liked to see her wrestle with her ambitions a little more.

Logan, our hero, has some admirable qualities, but in the end, I found him rather uninteresting. He’s your basic roguish Scotsman with a tragic past, and though I liked the loyalty he showed to his men, I ultimately though he was a little too jealous and a little too used to his orders being obeyed. I would have liked to see him be a little less dictatorial so that his romantic appeal would shine through a bit more brightly.

Side characters are charming but, in my opinion, underutilized. I liked all of Logan’s army buddies and appreciated that all of them had disabilities in some way (and those disabilities were important but didn’t define them). I really appreciated Maddie’s relationship with Grant, the soldier whose memory resets every hour or so. She was kind to him and he was sweet to her; I just didn’t think his random violent outburst towards the end was necessary or in-character. Maddie’s Aunt Thea could have also been used more effectively, but I did like that Thea had this quirk of making a lot of cosmetics and remedies that were, ultimately, rubbish. It was charming.

Romance: Logan and Maddie’s romance was... ok. The premise started out really interesting, but over time, I lost some enthusiasm because I felt like I was being told that they had feelings for each other (rather than being shown). Sure, Logan does some things that challenge Maddie’s assumptions and vice versa, but I wanted them to have a stronger basis for a romance than just “they’re hot and I’m horny oh wait they were nice to me and aren’t exactly what I expected.” Part of the reason I wasn’t super enthused might also be the focus on sex and sexual attraction as well as Maddie feeling pity for Logan on account of his past. I prefer romances where the focus is on each person lifting the other up emotionally, and while there was a little of that, I think I would have liked to see it be more of a centerpiece within the plot.

TL;DR: When a Scot Ties the Knot is a funny, light, historical romance, but ultimately doesn’t have a “meaty” enough plot for my personal tastes. Some readers might enjoy the banter and the heroine’s determination, while others might be turned off by the cheesiness and lack of a complex hero.

[whatdoesshedotothem]

Tuesday 10 April 1838: SH:7/ML/E/21/0074

7 25

12 10

finish morning – high wind – F41° at 8 40 – somehow I think more of A- than she deserves I wish I was well rid of her – Looking into Backwell and De la Beche (Geology) till 9 – then breakfast and sat downstairs talking till 10 – soon afterwards sat down at my desk and wrote 3pp. and under seal (of ½ sheet) to Lady S. de R- and wrote over again (to date my letter today) what I wrote to Lady S- on Sunday writing it now in 4pp. of ½ sheet and 1 p. of envelope – then wrote 4pp. (letter paper) to Lady V.C- chitchat to Lady S- and thanks for her letter and congratulations on the birth of the little Sibbella – delighted and exulting to have waited till practice has made perfect that my Sibbella may not be behindhand with the little people her predecessors – Lady S- writes ‘tho a daughter she is the finest child she has’ – offer to put myself at Lady S-‘s disposal for 2 or 3 weeks anytime after the end of this month – shall want only my maid – will send my carriage to the coach maker to have what done may be necessary for a longer journey and will send my manservant home – wrote the substance of all this to Lady S. de R- adding that a very unexpected circumstance but not  a windfall had upset my plans and that I now thought I should not be able to get quite off before near or after Xmas – wrote congratulations to Lady V.C- hope she did not feel the effects of her fall (just before her confinement) beyond the moment – mention having purchased the 2 books she recommended (Combe and Dr. Birgham) ‘much for us all to profit by, especially your mothers, whose olive-branches spring up, and thrive so pleasurably’ – ‘Surely you will condole with me on my being still here – I had arranged a plan of northern tour, and fixed the day for being in London; but a very unexpected circumstance upset my schemes once more; and I am waiting as patiently as I can – But I shall never go far without telling you – at this moment, I fear I cannot be absent for long together of some months to come – nous verrons – but I think I could manage a short while, and have just written to dear Lady Stuart, and offered to put myself at her disposal for 2 or 3 weeks’ then mention Breadalbanes’ asking my subscription to Mr. Robertsons’ work of travels and her ‘alluding with regret to his having published some foolish history of the Mclean family – of this I, of course, took no notice, as I really knew nothing about it – but considered Breadalbane’s request a sufficient reason for my taking two copies – she told me, too, of York being thought of as a place of residence for the Hugh Macleans, and that she herself, and the premier-lit girls were to spend the summer at her cottage, and talked of living together – why York for the Hugh Macleans? Is any part of England particularly cheap? Give a kiss for me to my little Sibbella, and to little Louisa, too, who behaved so beautifully at Leamington, and believe me always affectionately yours A. Lister’ – at 1 40 had just written so far of today and copied my letter to Lady S. de R- - then A- came to me all in the dolefuls about a handkerchief frill tried to get her right she had been very hardly used twice by me and now by her aunt  never thought of going to Cliff hill as she had done   could not bear    when she came here thought of going abroad and when I said I had offered her to go away to any friends or do anything I could she said she did not like to go with my servants  I said she had the whole management    I said I had nobody to advise with might I write to her sister  no it would be very hard  well said if I could but have my own way I should not fear  indeed but she did not like to be an automation I was very calm and quiet and said by and by she must forgive me if I did not forget the word automation I would not break her heart nor use her hardly nor make her an automaton  these things could be easily settled but every sensible kept up appearances as well as they could – she sat all the while on my knee  I begrudged the time and said I must seal my letters and go out she had before declined reading them she now said as she had waited so long she might as well read them her curiosity got the bette[r]  she made no remark nor did I – I hope I shall be rid of her by and by had I not be better remain a little with Lady Stuart if I can with any comfort? – at least I had best not return to A- sealed my letters (A- with me till 2 40) and wrote the last 17 lines till 3 – then in about ¾ hour wrote 3 pp. and ends to M- ‘Shibden hall. Tuesday 10  April 1838. It pothers me, my dearest Mary, to see amid my

SH:7/ML/E/21/0075

heap of unanswered letters one from you received Tuesday 27 February’ six weeks ago – not long compared with the term of my delinquencies to many other people, but longer than my custom is to youwards [towards you]– I let you take your own time, of late generally eked out to many weeks; but it is never my intention to let my pen be dilatorily to you, and I think it seldom is so, in fact – one reason of my waiting, I meant my date to have been from elsewhere – all was arranged and the day fixed for our begin off, when a very unexpected circumstance upset all; and here we are, and are likely to be off, at this moment, I cannot guess how much longer – I do not pretend to enter into any sort of explanation on paper – it would be too tiresome to say, or, rather to write, more than that poor Mrs. Walker imagines herself within some short while of that bourne from which no traveller returns; and we are lookers on – if you chance to come this way, you will, of course, come and see us – if not, you will take it for granted, as I do, that ‘all things work together for good’ ..... glad to hear so good an account of her mother no wonder at M-‘s bad cold..... ‘when is Lawton to be finished? your comfort is at stake; and therefore I am anxious for the completion – as far as Shibden is concerned, I have got over all impatience – my care about the finishing is reduced is reduced to very comfortable dimensions – I am so engrossed with other things, I have little time for musing about my house – but, I do assure you, I seriously meditate making my escape by and by – your account of Mr. Lawton is so excellent, it seems as if he, like many others who have been ailing for many years, may survive many of the stronger and junior ones of our day – what you allude to, may, with his own common care, be of little nuisance or danger – I cannot help hoping you might slip away for 5 or 6 weeks well enough, if such should be recommended by your own inclination, and more especially by your medical advisers – I have not time to run into the minutiae of Rhine expense – my rough calculation was 25fr. ie. one pound English sterling per day – taking very little luggage – no servant (you and Mrs. M- would not want one) and travelling by steam – the fares are very moderate – I dare not say I myself ever travelled exactly at this rate; but I know that it has been done – there is no difficulty or disparagement in dining for 3fr. having breakfast and supper for 3fr. and bed for 2fr. = 8fr. and one fr. for the servants will suffice, leaving 16fr. out of the 25fr. for steaming and etc. quite enough si les voyageurs le veulent – It is travelling en milord that is expensive – 4 horses and 2 postboys not only entail your own expense but double everything else’ – as M- regrets gently leaving Leamington ‘I abate my own sorrow – I still however wish you well backed out of all your scholastic troubles’ – conclude she is still at Moreton – no doubt I should much approve all your alterations – your description vivâ voce would be more agreeable than any other means of bringing them before me, except in situ – I hope the prince with a long name has along enough purse’........who has just married Mr. W. Crewes’ cousin – ‘Perhaps  you are busier than I – it may be so – but it does not take long to write me enough to inform me how you are, and where you are – However, I am always satisfied – come what may, there ought to be a never failing spring of happiness within us all – as touching those I am interested about, I always believe all right, till I am credibly informed to the contrary – I anticipate no [disagrees] – I dream but little – yet the little is carefully selected from what is pleasantest – I never saw any good in moody musings – God bless you Mary! you or your letters will find me here, and always faithfully and affectionately yours AL’ – at 4 10 had just written the last line of p. 137, the whole of the last p. and so far of this – then sealed my letter to ‘Mrs. Lawton hall, Lawton, Cheshire’ and left also ready for the bad tonight my letter to ‘the honourable Lady Stuart Whitehall’ and to ‘The Lady Stuart de Rothesay undercover to ‘Lord Stuart de Rothesay, Carlton terrace, London’ and my letter to ‘The Lady Vere Cameron Achnacarry Fort William Invernesshire’ went out at 4 20 – a few minutes with Robert Mann + 5 levelling at the meer in the morning and in the afternoon in the garden George Naylors’ horses carting clay from the flower garden to the great sycamore, and my own cart bringing clay from the Laundry road side to cover over the turret passage – the 2 teams carts in the morning bringing necessary stuff from Hx- on to the land – then to Listerwick pit walked there with Joseph Mann – told him the engine would be a £700 business – I had no choice – I must either let the colliery or settle about it someway – then to John Oates – laid up with an inflammation in his right hand and about the wrist – Mr. Swallow came and I went out while he was there – then returned and was an hour at John’s told him about the engine – he still inclines to an endless chain – and thinks the engine will cost little more working their ginning with horses would have done for 2 horses could hardly have done the work – said what I had said to Holt about knowing what the coal would make me clean per acre – said I only wanted £150 per acre for the coal (very fair said John) and 10pc. on outlay – but this would be near £6000 – say £5500 at the least – say 3 acres per annum £450 + £550 = £1000 – John thought it could not clean so much – but said he thought it really would clear me £300 per acre - .:. if 4 acres – could be sold per annum it would pay – there will be a deal of straight work but this will leave something – In fact, John says, I must go on now – and only wait a little and the Dove house coal will be bought reasonably and then I can go on without incurring any more expense in looses as long as I live – John says he thinks we can sell 3 acres if the coal is as good as that got at [Ship] Inn pit, the quality will sell – none like it hereabouts – well! I must go on, and if I can weather out [of] the storm a little longer perhaps I shall do pretty well at last – I think I can manage – at all rates, I will not despair – came in at 6 ¾ - gave A- my letter to M- to read – went into the cellar – 1 port 1 marsala – dinner at 7 10 – A- poorly – could not see Joseph Mann who came at 8 about Landymere – went to bed at 8 ½ - I made my own coffee and sat reading

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the h-x Guardian till 10 ½ - then 5 minutes in the west tower – the cupboard above the stairs ceiling put up – then wrote the last 25 lines till now 10 55 pm at which hour F50° finish afternoon and evening dampish in the morning with highish wind – and whistling wind tonight – I looked very grave at dinner A- had a headache temper-sick so I let her go off to bed and have taken no notice  I must be rid of her be it as it may hear bad temper vulgar pride and littleness of mind   would be an insupportable drag upon me for the rest of my life – surely I shall get some way I dread the loneliness most but heaven will provide me even against this in some way  had A- been barely tolerable I could have go ton perhaps I am obliged to her aunt for making me this opportunity of getting off does A- suspect my thought of not returning to her?  cunning and suspicious as she is does she think that I hope not to trouble her long? – had Booth tonight till near 7 – told him JO. was still for the endless chair – that Garforth was to send plans of with and without; and we would all meet at John Oates’s at 3pm on Friday instead of here – has A- thought much of losing the forget-me-not ring I gave her? then read Bakewells’ geology for 10 minutes till 11 35

[vathsansri]

Looking for the #Monster in #lockness #invernesshire #scotland (at Loch Ness)