2672. Robert Southey to William Wordsworth [fragment], 1 December 1815

2672. Robert Southey to William Wordsworth [fragment], 1 December 1815 ⁠* 

Leicester. Friday Dec 1. 1815

My dear Wordsworth

Thus far into the bowels of the land – have we advanced on our return, & I write with this abominable pen (which I cannot mend by candle light) to say that if you can lodge us on Tuesday night, I shall hope & endeavour to reach Rydale. If your house is full, leave a note for me at Wilcoxs. [1]  We shall halt tomorrow with Mrs White at Nottingham, [2]  & start again early on Sunday morning by way of Halifax.

My journey (tho with much anxiety on Edith May’s account) [3]  has been very interesting & well repaid all trouble & expence. The last day which I past in town I met Mina [4]  at Goodens [remainer of MS missing]

Notes

* MS: Wordsworth Trust, WL MS A Southey. AL; 1p.
Unpublished. BACK

[1] William Wilcock (dates unknown) was the landlord of the Salutation Inn, Ambleside and part-owner of the Good Intent and Volunteer stagecoaches that served the Kendal-Whitehaven and Penrith-Keswick routes. BACK

[2] Mary White, née Neville (1755–1833), mother of Southey’s friends Neville and James White, and of Henry Kirke White. BACK

[3] Edith May Southey had been seriously ill during the Southeys’ recent tour of France and Belgium; see Southey to John May, 20 October 1815, Letter 2662. BACK

[4] Either Francisco Javier de Mina (1789–1817), guerrilla leader in Navarre 1808–1810; or his uncle, General Espoz de Mina (1781–1836). Both had fled Spain after a failed rising in Pamplona on 25–26 September 1814. BACK

Addressee

Wordsworth, William (1770–1850)

People mentioned

Southey, Edith May (1804–1871) (mentioned 1 time)
Gooden, James (1773–1851) (mentioned 1 time)

Places mentioned

Rydal Mount (mentioned 1 time)
The Collected Letters of Robert Southey, Part Four
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