TALBOT148

[written on the same sheet as a note from his other cousin, Jane Nicholl - see ]

Penrice Castle ¹
June 11 1824

My dear Henry,

I have been a long while without fulfilling my promise of writing you an account of your plants but I hope now to make up for my silence. – Both Mary Isabella and Charry ² have written to you an account of your seeds and the primula which you brought from the Alps, which has been blowing most beautifully but is now gone out of blow. – Jane’s ³ other Orchis is now in blow, it is a great beauty and has lilac wings I do not know its name, no more does Mamma ⁴ – she says it is very like ⁵ the Bee orchis except in one very essential particular which is that the little lip at the lower part of the flower always turns back in the Bee orchis and that it turns very much up and forwards in this one. [illustration] this is the lip. – here is as good a picture of it as I can make and I hope it will convey some idea of it to you. – Two fine young plants of Styrax are come up which Mamma says you will be glad to hear. – Two or Three sorts of your mixed seeds are come up, and I dare say we should have a great many more, if we could but have a little rain, but we have had very warm and very dry weather, for a long time now. – the Vicia Gracilis is now in blow it has one purple blossom at each joint but it is not very showy. – One of your Irises, is coming to blow I mean one of the roots which you gave Mamma. – Charlotte has received your letter ⁶ from Venice – it amused us very much indeed; we could not make out all Petrarch’s Epitaph but we must ask somebody who knows Latin to translate it for us – Christopher ⁷ is gone in his Yatcht [sic] to Southampton – he is going to sail a race with M^r Weld’s Yatcht, the Julia⁸ I think. – Jane is in London and she write us word that Johnny ⁹ has left off his cap and can lift himself off the ground by himself. – He was put into short frocks before Kit’s Birthday. – Isabella has written you an account of the proceedings on that day but she forget to say that we had 21 guns fired from Prospect Rock which were answered by as many from the Yatcht in the Bay. – There was a Bonfire on Cefn Bryn & 3 or 4 on Oxwich Point. – M^r Knight ¹⁰ sent us a Song which was composed and sung by one of the Margam ¹¹ Tenants – all the verses had a Chorus which was “Talbot for ever” but the song itself was in Welsh. – We longed for you on Kit’s birthday and I could not help thinking that it was a day which will never come again. – We are going to Malvern this summer. – Aunt Charlotte is there and M^r Lemon ¹² is much better – he has quite recovered his voice again. – Charles and Augusta ¹³ are both well and much improved since we saw them, according to Sir Christopher’s ¹⁴ report. – Uncle Harry and his children ¹⁵ are in London and so is Aunt Louisa ¹⁶ – Kerry ¹⁷ has been very ill but is now recovering and Henry & Louisa ¹⁸ are getting quite well – they have all three had the Measles. – I received Caroline and Horatia’s ¹⁹ amiable letter some time ago, but I have never heard since of the Drawing which Caroline says she has sent me, and I am very anxious to know how it was to come to England – I hope it is not lost – pray thank her for it and for her kind promise of another. – Mamma has got a most beautiful Cactus Speciosa in blow at present. – You cannot think how gay the garden is now, and so are our Gardens also. – I think you will be glad to hear that M^r Bowen has got some situation in an Iron foundery [sic] which he hopes will be worth £100 a year to him, it is a very excellent thing for him, and will help them very much for they have such a large family. – I am sorry to say Charlotte continues very poorly, and is not able to bear the warm weather, but I am in hopes that Malvern ²⁰ will do her much good and I am sure the company of Aunt Charlotte ²¹ and M^r Lemon will be highly beneficial to her. –

Pray give my love to Aunt Lily and Mr Feilding ²² and Caroline & Horatia whom I long to see, and do not let them stay away from England longer than they intended when you were here. –

I am your very affectionate cousin
Emma T. Talbot

Isabella desires her love to you and Caroline & Horatia. –
Pray remember always to tell us the next place we are to direct our letters to, whenever we write, because when you tell us only the Places you are going to, we do not know how long you may stay there. –

à Monsieur
Monsieur Talbot
Poste Restante
Baden Baden
Radstadt
Germany
[readdressed in another hand:]
Munich

London
June 15^th 1824