From William Ginty   Friday Nov. 11th 1842.

Kirkby Lonsdale1 | Co.2 Westmoreland | Friday Nov. 11th 1842.

My dear Tyndall

Your exquisite and genuine Irish sentiment3 I received yesterday evening just as I was returning from work wearied and drenched to the skin ‘My eyes!’ cried I as I opened its folds ‘here’s a God-send to amuse me while my coat is drying’ – it did amuse me. You touched the happy chord when you said:

‘The tulip Bill in splendour glows

But wants the perfume of the rose’

Tis a good sentiment – and more – tis most admirably applied! I subscribe to the whole of that with all my soul. I too meet with some and could meet with many – but oh! my thoughts are Erin-ward4 I love bright eyes! they are here! I love the clustering ringlets and the snowy breast! They too are here! But ah! I must go further Westward for the ‘faithful feeling heart’ without which all is insipid – foul and worthless. Thoughts of diagram5 and her numerous stereotypes6 places an insurmountable barrier between me and them and so to the devil with the whole of them (and they are going to him fast) They’re not worth so much scribbling.

With regard to the ‘Crimson glow’ the ‘glorious blush’ and the reverse ‘Pale haggard and emaciated’ all I have to say is that I’m sorry it is not a fact for your own sake.

I will quote the concluding sentences of your letter and then make a comment on the logic of it. ‘The streaks of morn appear in the East – the Ghosts are vanishing – I too must away’ ‘What the devil d’ye mean’ ‘The Ghosts are vanishing You too must away’ – you must imagine me very stupid by this repetition of yours

I ‘lit my tapèr’7 last night about an hour after I received your hint about Windermere8 and to work I went. You will find 46 lines of my ‘bladdering’9 on the 3rd side. A kind of a preface to the main design. At some short future period you shall have the rest, on these conditions: you must send me ‘a summat’10 in return for this, and as your muse is mounted on a thoro’bred, it will not clip much off your sleep. My poor pegasus is broken winded11 and so must take his time – particularly going up a hill.

Confound that old bothered Captain,12 I often offer up a few prayers for his future welfare. What a hard-hearted old wretch he must be. Jack13 and Dick14 were here last Sunday – or properly speaking from Saturday evening to Monday evening. We of course felt happy whilst together. We will meet tomorrow (Saturday) evening in a village called Ingleton.15 Monday morning of course will find us together – its the only pleasure we have. We still form the equilateral triangle in our relative positions. I had a letter from Ormskirk16 which contained an introduction to a host of fair ones – how Jim17 would seize the opportunity of getting so numerously ‘acquainted’. Holmes got a letter from Higginson with all his adventures, he sent it to me but unfortunately it was lost or mislaid, I begged him to repeat it. I have not seen Sinnett since I came here. We arrange all matters thro’ the post. Tell George that William18 received his letter. Last Saturday we four bought a ‘Glengarry’19 each. The natives dont know what to make of us – we look so very martial. Dont forget the ‘Summat’

Yours as usual | Ginty

‘Well I will dream that we may meet again

And woo the vision to my vacant breast’20

(My best respects to the Miss – Jack is thinking of writing to Miss G.21 about Jim – sarve him right.) | W,G,

You need not send my letters to Clapham22

Kirkby Lonsdale, | Co.Westmoreland will find me out.

Fast towards the West th’untiring sun

Was hurrying just as I began

To wind my way up thro’ the dell

To thy dark summit ‘Berkenfell’.23

To work went both my hands and feet

And many a briar my nose did greet

The dell once past I stood to view

What I had done and yet to do

Pulled out my pipe and struck a light

When two dear friends hove into sight

Yelept24 Sublimity and Reason

I bowed and said ‘you’ve come in season’.

‘I want advice, so give it now

You live above? and you below?’

‘Yes!’ cried the pair, ‘we’ll calmly chat

‘The matter oer’, so down we sat.

Then came the struggle – Reasons cause

Was that called ‘first of nature’s laws’.

With serious accents first he spoke

And said ‘this freak may prove no joke’

‘Oft will thy wearied limbs bespeak

‘A swift retreat adown that brake.

‘A Chamoise Goat – a North Wales sheep

‘Would shudder at yon craggy steep,

‘Beware! beware! with me descend

‘I’ve always been and am your friend’

He ceased – Sublimity sprang to his feet

And pointing upwards – cried in sweet

Voluptuous accents ‘come! come! with me

‘I’ll nerve – thy fragile feeble knee

‘Is there a being with a soul

‘Who would not dare to reach that goal’

_ ‘There is! there is! I will!’ I cried

And jumped exulting by his side!

On – on – still onwards – upwards flew!

Poor Ginty – Jack and so would you!

O’er rock – crag – heath alike pell-mell

To thy dark summit – ‘Berkenfell’!

------------------------------------

_ ‘Twas even when I was seated there

The earth seemed mingled with the air

A torrent leaped beneath my feet

And tumbled down a steep retreat

Wraped in a cloud – astride a crag

Propped by my pole – (I lost the flag!!)

‘Here let me’ cried I ‘scan – peruse

‘Dame Natures glories’ – Hail my muse!

To be continued (?)25

RI MS JT 1/11/3585

LT Transcript Only

Kirkby Lonsdale: a town in Westmoreland (now Cumbria).

Co.: County.

Your exquisite and genuine Irish sentiment: possibly the poem ‘To Ginty’ composed in October 1842 (RI MS JT 8/2/1/7).

Erin-ward: towards Ireland, Erin being a romantic name for the country.

Ellen: from Kinsale.

stereotypes: duplicate prints from the original printing plate.

tapèr: wax candle with a long wick (OED).

your hint about Windermere: It is not known what Tyndall’s hint was, but Windermere is the largest lake in England, set amid picturesque scenery in Westmoreland.

‘bladdering’: blathering; talking foolishly or nonsensically (OED).

‘a summat’: a something.

your muse is mounted on a thoro’bred … My poor pegasus is broken winded: In Greek mythology the Muses were three goddesses of literary inspiration. They were born as three sacred springs, which burst forth when the winged horse Pegasus touched the ground on Mount Helicon with his hooves. Later, Athena tamed Pegasus and presented him to the Muses.

Captain: Captain Henry Tucker.

Jack: John Tidmarsh.

Dick: Richard Hunter.

Ingleton: a village in the Yorkshire Dales, close to Lancashire.

Ormskirk: see letter 0169, n. 2.

Jim: Phillip Evans.

George … William: George and William Latimer.

‘Glengarry’: a military cap worn by Scottish and Irish regiments (OED).

‘Well I will dream …to my vacant breast’: Lord Byron, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (1812–18), II.ix.5–6.

Miss G.: not identified.

Clapham: not identified.

thy dark summit ‘Berkenfell’: this seems to be an imaginary mountain.

Yelept: an archaic poetic term for friend.

To be continued (?): the poem is continued in letter 0176.

Please cite as “Tyndall0174,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on 28 March 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/tyndall/letters/Tyndall0174