4121. Robert Southey to Charles Cuthbert Southey, 14[–15] January 1824

 

Address: To/ Charles Cuthbert Southey/ Keswick/ Cumberland
Stamped: TAUNTON / 161 
Postmark: JA 15/ 1824
Seal: red wax
Watermark: 1823 
Endorsement: Jan 14th 1824/ R Southey to C C. Southey
MS: Department of Rare Books, Special Collections and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester, Robert Southey Papers A.S727. ALS; 4p.
Unpublished.

Taunton. Wednesday. 14 Jany. 1824
My dear little good boy

I am writing to you from Aunt Mary’s lodgings. Your kind Aunt talks a great deal about you. She has given me a seven shilling piece for you, to buy a pair of half boots when you are breeched & she sends also a very pretty broche for Bertha, of garnets & pearls; & two desert spoons for Kate & Bel; & a garnet necklace for E May, which was Madam Lethbridges,

(1)

Mary Lethbridge, née Southey (1704–1789) married the landowner Christopher Lethbridge of Westaway House, Devon (1685–1746). As a child, Southey’s aunt, Mary Southey, had spent much time with Mary Lethbridge, who was an older cousin.

& upon her death was given to my Aunt by Lord Somerville.

(2)

John Southey Somerville, 15th Lord Somerville (1765–1819; DNB), grandson of Mary Lethbridge and heir of Mary Lethbridge’s brother, John Cannon Southey (d. 1768).

She sends her love to you, & will be very glad to see you & your mother & sisters, & Betty,

(3)

Elizabeth Thompson (c. 1777–1862), the Southey family’s long-standing servant. She was buried in the Southey family grave.

& Anne,

(4)

A servant in the Southey household at Greta Hall, Keswick.

& every body & every thing about the house when she comes in the early part of the summer.

Here are two pretty birds here in two cages, children of a canary bird & a goldfinch. They sing very sweetly. And here is a very comical small frisking whisking Cupn dog, whose name is Tippoo Saib. That was the name of a terrible Sultan in the East Indies,

(5)

Tipu Sultan (1750–1799; Sultan of Mysore 1782–1799) killed while defending the fort of Seringapatam against the East India Company.

who used to throw men to his tygers & xxxxxxxx He was a very cruel tyrant, but at last the English beat him & killed him in battle.

I received the comical verses signed by Rumpel & Hurlyburlybuss,

(6)

The most likely author of these verses signed by two of Southey’s cats at Greta Hall was John Marriott (1780–1825; DNB), a clergyman, poet and friend of Walter Scott. He was Curate of St James, Exeter, St Lawrence, Exeter, and St John, Broadclyst. The patron of the latter church was Sir Thomas Acland, who was also a friend of Marriott. Southey had stayed with Marriott on 6 January 1824 on his visit to the West Country. While he was on this trip, Southey received the poem ‘The Poetic Epistle to Southey from his Cats’, which he liked and kept; it was later printed in The Doctor, 7 vols (London, …

at Sir Thomas Aclands.

(7)

Acland’s house at Killerton Park, Devon.

Every body there was much amused by them. I came from thence yesterday morning to this place. Tomorrow I go to visit my old schoolfellow Combe; but my next movements depend upon the chance of the coaches, so that I can say nothing certain about them; only that I hope to be in London again on this day week.

It is not certain that I shall see Mr Poole. There was a foolish report told him that I was not coming till Thursday, & he is at the sessions at Wells.

(8)

Poole, who was a Justice of the Peace, had gone to a sitting of the Court of Quarter Sessions for the county of Somerset in the city of Wells.

My dear little boy I was very sorry indeed to hear you had had the toothache. When a tooth aches it should be drawn, because tooth drawing hurts for a minute, & then the pain is over: & it is better to have a short pain than a long one, tho the short one be worse xxx while it lasts. Good boys always bear pain bravely, like men. I told you how your god-brother

(9)

Sir Charles John Herries (1815–1883; DNB), the eldest son of J. C. Herries, and in later life a financier; see Southey to Cuthbert Southey, [18 December 1823], Letter 4102.

behaved when he had that sad fall, which knocked his teeth out. It is a great grief to your Mamma & to me when any thing is the matter with you: but it would be a greater not to have you a good boy. You know we are both very fond of you, tho your Mamma does not tell you quite so often as I do. The greatest pleasure I have while I am away is to think of getting home again, that I may see your dear mother & Bertha & Kate & Bel & you, & have my books about me, & live in my own study, & sleep in my own bed, & see the lake & the mountains, & be very happy, & make a noise sometimes, & be a very nonsensical Pappa, as all good Pappas ought to be.

Thursday morning

So many persons called in upon me yesterday that I could not finish this letter. If I were to go to all the houses whither I am invited, I should never get to Keswick; so I say no to every body. There came a letter last night from my old tutor at College, Mr Sweet,

(10)

Charles Sweet (c. 1754–1833), Rector of Kentisbury, Devon 1776–1833. Sweet received his BA from Wadham College, Oxford, in 1775. He married Jane Sweet, née Barter (dates unknown) in Exeter in 1777.

asking me to visit him & his wife & his twelve children, & offering to send his coach for me. But I cannot go. On Saturday I hope to see Miss Bowles, & Rover her dog, & Donna her cat. & there I shall have a little quiet, & be able to answer some of the letters which follow me wherever I go.

O Cuthbert I have seen such beautiful cats in Devonshire that it was a pleasure to look at them. There was a Lady

(11)

Unidentified.

at Sir John Kennaways

(12)

Sir John Kennaway, 1st Baronet (1758–1836), made a fortune in the East India Company and became a landowner in Devonshire. Southey knew him through his son, Charles Edward Kennaway, who had visited Southey in the Lake District in 1819–1820. His home was Escot House, near Ottery St Mary, Devon.

who loves cats; & I wrote in her Album this Triad. “The Three sweet sounds of the Fireside: the chirping of a Cricket: the singing of a Tea-kettle, & the purring of a Cat.” – This is a Triad. The ancient Britons used to put most of their wise sayings in Triads,

(13)

A rhetorical form in medieval Welsh that grouped objects in threes.

& I will make some wise sayings for you in the same manner one of these days, & some comical ones. In the time of the Britons there was no printing & no books, & indeed no paper, so they recorded things in Triads because they could easily be remembered in that form.

I shall hope to receive a letter from home, in London, & if I hear that you are fond of your books it will please me much. I shall bring down some very nice ones for you & your sisters to read. Give my love to all at home, & xxx offer it to Rumpelstilzchen in the shape of a piece of meat, or a little milk. The same also to Hurlyburlybuss.

Good by my dear Cuthbert. Say your prayers regularly, do your lessons well, always do as you are bid, & never be in a passion; & then you will always be good & happy. God bless you.

your dutiful father
Robert Southey.

Notes

1. Mary Lethbridge, née Southey (1704–1789) married the landowner Christopher Lethbridge of Westaway House, Devon (1685–1746). As a child, Southey’s aunt, Mary Southey, had spent much time with Mary Lethbridge, who was an older cousin.[back]
2. John Southey Somerville, 15th Lord Somerville (1765–1819; DNB), grandson of Mary Lethbridge and heir of Mary Lethbridge’s brother, John Cannon Southey (d. 1768).[back]
3. Elizabeth Thompson (c. 1777–1862), the Southey family’s long-standing servant. She was buried in the Southey family grave.[back]
4. A servant in the Southey household at Greta Hall, Keswick.[back]
5. Tipu Sultan (1750–1799; Sultan of Mysore 1782–1799) killed while defending the fort of Seringapatam against the East India Company.[back]
6. The most likely author of these verses signed by two of Southey’s cats at Greta Hall was John Marriott (1780–1825; DNB), a clergyman, poet and friend of Walter Scott. He was Curate of St James, Exeter, St Lawrence, Exeter, and St John, Broadclyst. The patron of the latter church was Sir Thomas Acland, who was also a friend of Marriott. Southey had stayed with Marriott on 6 January 1824 on his visit to the West Country. While he was on this trip, Southey received the poem ‘The Poetic Epistle to Southey from his Cats’, which he liked and kept; it was later printed in The Doctor, 7 vols (London, 1834–1847), VII, pp. 580–582.[back]
7. Acland’s house at Killerton Park, Devon.[back]
8. Poole, who was a Justice of the Peace, had gone to a sitting of the Court of Quarter Sessions for the county of Somerset in the city of Wells.[back]
9. Sir Charles John Herries (1815–1883; DNB), the eldest son of J. C. Herries, and in later life a financier; see Southey to Cuthbert Southey, [18 December 1823], Letter 4102.[back]
10. Charles Sweet (c. 1754–1833), Rector of Kentisbury, Devon 1776–1833. Sweet received his BA from Wadham College, Oxford, in 1775. He married Jane Sweet, née Barter (dates unknown) in Exeter in 1777.[back]
11. Unidentified.[back]
12. Sir John Kennaway, 1st Baronet (1758–1836), made a fortune in the East India Company and became a landowner in Devonshire. Southey knew him through his son, Charles Edward Kennaway, who had visited Southey in the Lake District in 1819–1820. His home was Escot House, near Ottery St Mary, Devon.[back]
13. A rhetorical form in medieval Welsh that grouped objects in threes.[back]
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