TALBOT4077

Lanelay ¹
May 20^th.

Thank you my dear Henry for the likeness of your breakfast table ² it seems a very comfortable one & only wants you all to be sitting at your places, but I suppose the impossibility of remaining quite as quiet as a tea pot for a sufficiently long time prevents your taking likenesses of your self & friends – Charlotte and M^r Traherne ³ are here, in about 3 weeks they migrate to Llanwrtyd⁴ & wish they could persuade you to go there too, the County is so wild & the place altogether so completely different from any in South Wales, you would certainly be repaid for the trouble of getting there; for I must confess there are no railroads to transport you over some miles of bad road after you quit the regular Turnpike road, the nearest town is 12 miles from Llanwrtyd and there are many discomforts for which no remedies have hitherto been found: but still Charlotte says the place agrees so well with every body that they are ready to put up with any thing & contented with what they can get! – Builth or Brecon⁵ would be your nearest mark to steer for I should think but C. is gone to bed and I am not sure, I will make her write you word if I am mistaken, I am sure it would do you worlds of good & I daresay the waters would agree with you too. – I think our journey to Town totters and as the Roses blow it gradually loses ground I can’t believe, unless there was an absolute necessity, that Mamma ⁶ could go in the Summer, but I dare not say such a thing! –

You must find Lacock very pleasant after the heat & noise of London tho’ now the fine weather is gone and we are glad to recommence fires in the Drawing room. –

I have a number of seeds from Russia come up many resemble weeds but I intend to have a great deal of patience and to let them flower before I [text missing]⁷ them over the hedge. I hope one is the old fashioned Browaliad of which we are very fond. The had no names but were carefully stamped with numbers, 2315 one is!! Pray give my kind love to my Cousins great & small I wish they would come here again. –

I am your aff^ate Cos
Mary

Mamma is pretty well. –

We are going to make an expedition to the top of the great Garth such a view! How you would enjoy it. The other day we took Susan & Fanny ⁸ to Caerphilly that is post house distance but not too much for a fine day & we also went to Newbridge⁹ to show them Pont y pridd & the Chain cable [ma]¹⁰ factory with which they were very much pleased. George went otter hunting so we sent him to see these sights by himself next day –

H. Fox Talbot Esqre
Lacock Abbey
Chippenham

P.^d.d