5 Cliff Terrace | Black Gang Chine2 | Isle of Wight | 11th. Oct. 1862
My dear Friend,
Surely you deserve my blessing—I have been here a solitary hermit for some days at times obliged to fly to a novel to kill the hankering after work which I was unable to satisfy in any other way. I went to Cambridge on the morning of my lecture3—I had among other things a hundred-weight of ice in a sack. I set my assistants to take it out, looking on at the time, and imagining that I could do the work quicker myself, I suddenly seized the sack, lifted it and tried to shake out the ice. I strained my back4—probably tore some of the muscular fibres. The pain grew very bad and took half my heart away. Nevertheless I must get through the lecture and I did get through it; but it was more an escape than a victory.
I could not remain in Cambridge, so came away. Stewed myself in a Turkish Bath, which did me great good, and to finish matters came down here. I was getting on famously when, in an evil hour, I ventured in among the high rolling waves of Niton Bay.5 As long as I kept out among the rollers the pendulous swing as they passed under me was extremely pleasant and exciting—but on returning to the shore one of them overtook me, and just as it reached me and as I looked up at its crest thinking of Merlin and Vivien,6 the villainous mass broke and pitched itself with all its weight upon my half disabled loins. All the mischief done at Cambridge was renewed and it was augmented by a 10 mile walk which I unwisely took afterwards.
Yesterday I was very stiff and sore—in bed till noon. Today I am better—able to be up and spurred by the inspiration of your letter, able to write. I read your letter with delight—it is perfectly charming, giving me hill dale and streamlet tinged with the sun and beauty of your own soul.
I will remain here for two or three days longer. Once I was on the point of surprising you at Keswick.7 I wanted a bag of perfectly fresh air and the thought occurred to me to bring it from the top of Skiddaw.8 Had a railway passed Keswick9 I should surely have done so, but on consulting Bradshaw10 I found there were 15 miles of coach work: this was too much for my patience so I furnished myself in the Isle of Wight.
I am proud of you and Walter:11 it is really a fact worth remembering—could we only cap the performance one summer in the Alps!
Ever | J. Tyndall
RI MS JT/1/T/1140
RI MS JT/1/TYP/6/1999–2000
[Juliet Pollock]: recipient indicated by content and relation to letter 1936.
Black Gang Chine: now Blackgang Chine, an amusement park and holiday resort on the south coast of the Isle of Wight.
my lecture: see letter 1932, n. 6.
I strained my back: see letter 1933.
Niton Bay: also known as Reeth’s Bay, Niton Bay is a small curved bay on the southernmost tip of the Isle of Wight.
Merlin and Vivien: ‘Merlin and Vivien’ is one of the poems that make up Alfred Tennyson’s narrative poem Idylls of the King (1859–85).
Keswick: a small English town in Cumberland, present-day Cumbria.
Skiddaw: a mountain just north of the town of Keswick, the sixth highest peak in England.
Had a railway passed Keswick: a line was built from Penrith to Keswick, which opened in 1865.
Bradshaw: colloquial designation of ‘Bradshaw’s Railway Guide’, a timetable
of all railway trains running in Great Britain (OED); published by W. J. Adams of London from 1839–1961.
I am proud of you and Walter: Walter Pollock, the second son of William Frederick and Juliet Pollock, had been elected a King’s Scholar at Eton (see letter 1923, n. 1).
Please cite as “Tyndall1937,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on