Camp [Cuttagh1] | Jan. 28th 1853
My dear Tyndall,
Am I not a negligent fellow not to have written to you since we last met in London. My only hopes of pardon are derived from the idea, that as I write now, you will understand that I have not forgotten you, no indeed my old friend I have not and many times wished you were with me to enjoy the many scenes I have visited since we last met. Your love of the picturesque would have been fully gratified in viewing the beautiful places in the United States – Niagara2 &c. &c. – I have visited within the last two years, but here I am again returned to old Ireland and located in a bleak spot3 of the auld4 country I do not grumble as others do at the misery of such habitations as these little huts make, because I have been in much worse. Still I find it difficult to keep out old Boreas,5 he will pop his cold nose in no matter what you can do. There is some probability of our going to England next year, so I hope to have another shake of your auld fist. I hope this will find you as well as could be wished by.
Your very sincere friend | T. C Higginson | 16th Rgt
RI MS JT/1/TYP/2/599
LT Typescript Only
Cuttagh: this appears to be a typographical error by Louisa Tyndall and should read, Curragh. During this period the British Army had a makeshift base on Curragh Plain in County Kildare, Ireland.
Niagara: three waterfalls that are in New York State on the border between the United States and Canada. Tyndall would visit Niagara in 1873, and gave a discourse on ‘Some Observations on Niagara’.
a bleak spot: the Curragh is a flat, open plain with little cover.
auld: old (OED).
Boreas: the Greek god of the north wind.
Please cite as “Tyndall0709,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on