Spring Bank, | Over Darwen, | Lancs. | Nov. 27, 1851.
Son1 Tyndall,
Hearken – and be sure thou pay’st2 attention now,
For I’m a loving father, but a rebel son art thou;3
By far too fond of star-dust and too much attached to rags
and tatters that are hardly worth the gathering into bags.
Nor know I how to purge thee, John, of all the atrocious stubble
thou gatherest and heapest up with such a world of trouble.
And when I think upon it, John, my heart, alas! doth ache,
that thou should’st fill thy belly with the husks that swine4 should take.
But patience, John, I know indeed that thou art far above
my little skill to mend thee, or my feeble power to move.
So I try to take the wise advice that Jesse’s son5 has given,
and fret not, John, when naughty men desert the road to Heaven.
Still, still one truth remains, dear John, when all is said and done,
That I’m thy loving father, and tho’ naughty, thou’rt my son.
And the wish to see thee once again before I pass away,
springs warmer in my bosom, John, with each returning day.
So come at Christmas, John, my boy, and with my best I’ll treat thee,
and now and then, as chance occurs, most probably may beat thee.
For sure, son John, it’s always safe in such a way to greet thee,
And thrash away with conscience clear whenever one may meet thee.
For if thou’rt not in mischief now, it matters little, John,
Thou art plotting to begin it soon, or else it’s just been done.
But notwithstanding, come, old boy, we’ll kill the fatted calf,6
And if we do not dance we’ll sing, and many a time we’ll laugh.
And on the fattest of the land we’ll live, son John, you’ll see,
For I’ve two Irishmen7 to kill and jolly ones they be.
And though no puddings black8 you’ll find, nor such unchristian food,
No doubt we’ll please your carnal mind with what will be as good.
So come, old fellow, and we’ll try if ‘Tris’9 we can’t persuade
to join us and to help the fun with his most potent aid.
And if we don’t kick up a shine and merry merry be,
I think that you’ll acknowledge, John, that sadly changed are we.
And furthermore, to M.Haas my kind remembrance bear;
And tell him that we wish he’d prove our welcome and our fare.
It is but little that we have, we’re neither great nor gay.
But never fear we’ll manage, John, to keep the wolf away.
And if an English welcome warm can make him feel at home,
He shall not wish himself away nor sorrow that he’s come.
And now I do not know, my son, that further much remains,
Than to wish you may have pleasure from this sample of my pains.10
We’re as we were when last I wrote, in all essential things,
And though Christmas takes away some boys, yet others Christmas brings.
We’ve got some colds, and chilblains some, and some are coughing badly,
And some are working very hard, and some are idling sadly.
And some grow fat but I grow thin, and some are restless ever;
And some are dull and thick i’ th’ skull, and some are very clever.
And little wife and little son are both of them but ailing,
For Mistress coughs most dreadfully11 and baby’s often wailing.
But as I’ve fetched the doctor I suppose they’ll soon get well,
Although it needs a ‘prophet’, John, the very day to tell.
And so you see of ups and downs we get a decent share,
And like our neighbours we are made to taste of ‘neighbours fare.’
But more I need not tell you; it’s a waste of pains and time,
To prolong a tedious twice-told tale and turn it into rhyme.
For a ‘Martyr’ and a ‘Prophet’ as you’ve been for many a year,
will see as well at Queenwood as a common man would here.
And now farewell again, my son, your mother sends her love,
And hopes you’ll mind the good advice I’ve given you above:
And thinks as I’m so busy now ‘tis time I made an end.
So believe me yours, | J. Singleton, | Your father and your friend.
Dr John Tyndall, | Queenwood College, | Stockbridge, Hants.
P.S. Write soon – say Yes,12 and may your soul repose in bliss. But if you don’t, I wouldn’t be where you’ll be sure to go,13 you’ll see.
RI MS JT/1/TYP/11/3861–3862
LT Transcript Only
Son: Singleton had been a good friend of Tyndall and Frankland when they taught at Queenwood in 1847–8. They had called Singleton ‘father’ and, as this letter demonstrates, he called them his sons, in an affectionate and humorous style.
thou pay’st: for ‘you pay’. Unlike the rest of his family, Singleton was not a Quaker, but he uses Quaker forms of expression here (see letter 0478, n. 3).
Harken … now, For … thou: this entire letter is written in rhyming couplets and we present it here in verse format. The LT transcript is not in verse format.
fill thy belly . . . swine should take: a near-quotation from the New Testament parable of prodigal son who was so hungry that he ate pig food (Luke 15:11-32; Singleton draws on 15:16: ‘And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him’). Singleton’s style is shaped by the language and cadences of the King James version of the Bible.
Jesse’s son: Jesus Christ in Christian tradition.
kill the fatted calf: another allusion to the parable of the prodigal son. When the son returned, his wealthy father ‘killed the fatted calf’ (Luke 15:23) and held a feast.
two Irishmen: this seems to be an allusion to pigs. Pig farming was an important export industry in nineteenth-century Ireland, but we can find no source which supports this meaning.
no puddings black: some Christians followed Jewish food prohibitions and did not eat black pudding because it was made with blood.
Tris: nickname for Edward Frankland, given after he discussed alchemy and Hermes Trismegistus in a lecture on the history of chemistry.
sample of my pains: allusion to writing the letter in rhyming couplets.
coughs most dreadfully (and above, coughing badly): when consumption/tuberculosis was a common cause of death, allusions to bad coughing could be ominous.
Yes: this may be a continued rhyme, although with shorter lines, compare Yes/bliss and be/see.
where you’ll . . . go: a joking allusion to hell, in contrast to the bliss of the previous sentence.
Please cite as “Tyndall0574,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on 28 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/tyndall/letters/Tyndall0574