[1]1
Dear Herbert2
As I plainly see
By your last letter unto me
That you have 'taen [taken] to Poesy
I'll try to get my pen to go
And write away a page or so
And tell you what I've seen
And all about this wondrous place3
And of the ancient Cambrian race
With whom I've lately been[.]
You know it is a good long time4
Since I have left Cold Radnors line
From thence unto this place we came
By many a spot of ancient fame
But now of small renown
O'er many a mountain dark & drear
And vales whose groves the parting year
Had tinged with mellow brown —
And as the morning sun arose
new beauties round us to disclose
we reached fair Brecons town
Then crossed the Usk my native stream5
A River fair & bright
From which the suns bright morning beam
Reflected back the light
And shewed a fair & beauteous scene
Unto my lingering sight —
Then rose before us up on high
Like Giant reaching to the sky
The beacons6 double head
Around whose summits mist & cloud
Were hanging like a gloomy cloud7
The wary travellers dread —
Thence by a mountain road we came
Unto a place well known to fame
And Merthyr Tydfil is its name
A place where men from stones & earth
Cause Iron bars to take their birth8
Where rushing fires forever roar
And mighty blasts increase then more9
when fire & air and steam combine
With the rough ore raised from the mine
To make this metal which we see
Spread round us universally10
A metal of far greater worth
Than all the jewels of the earth
And metal which fore every use
The arts & sciences produce
Exceeds in value gems & gold
more than by words can e[']er[?] be told.11
[2] From thence we passed o[']er mountain bare[?]
And down a valley long & fair
Into this place which now I[']ll try
Unto you to describe [1 letter struck through?]
And tell you what we've been about
And many things beside —
This Parish Cadaxton [Cadoxton] by name12
Is just 16 miles long
In a straight line o'er Hill and dale
O[']er rocks and torrents strong
And though perhaps you'll think this length
In every way is plenty
yet if you go along the road
The miles will come to 20 —
O[']er all this Parish we must go
Each field & house & garden shew
In proper size & place
And every river streams & brook
with every turn & bend and crook
Correctly we must trace —
The land upon the surface here is very poor & bad13
And as the folks round here do say none good is to be had
The fields are mostly all about
With rushes overgrown
The hay so bad you'd hardly think
It worth while to be mown
About 3 inches 'tis in length
and very coarse and brown
About September when they think
It time to cut it down —
Tis underneath the surface that
Its value all does lay
In beds of coal and ironstone
which famously do pay
And all about the country here
Are large pits dark & deep
From which the men at work appear
Much blacker than a sweep
A wild & savage race are they
Who work far from the light of day
A race whose minds are dark
Who have[?] no intellectual ray
Whose only joy is drunken fray
Or dangerous midnight lark[.]
[3] Steam Engines at every pit
Which bring the coal up every bit
And pump the water out of it
Which otherwise would drown the men
Unless they soon came up again
From every pit a railroad's made
To take the coal away
Some to the town is ta'en [taken] for trade
Some to the place where iron's made
To purge the dross away —
'Twas but the other day I saw14
A sight would strike your mind with awe
And fill you with such sweet surprise
'Twould make you loth to turn your eye
Away from such a scene to see
But Barren hills or open lea
'Twas a waterfall15 as fine a one
As 'ere was shone on [MS damaged] the sun
The river rushed along its bed
With rocks16 of mighty size 'oerspread [overspread]
Now dashing down some rugged rock
The white foam rising with the shock
Now eddying through some deep recess
Amidst a rocky17 wilderness
Till come unto the accustomed18 place
When it must take its its19 desperate leap
Like racehorse20 rushing in the race
It poured its waters down the steep
Down down into the mighty deep
Clear of the rock behind it fell
Till from the bottom of the dell
It rose in clouds of mist & foam
Once more to fall and seek its home[?]
By rushing on its rock ground course
With undiminished <strength> [MS damaged] & force
[4] Untill[sic] its foaming waves are seen
To lose themselves in Tawe's stream21 —
(NB. The fall is about 100 ft. perpendicular)
Dear Herbert now I hope you'll write
A good long letter telling me
Of every fair & wondrous sight
You've seen at your Academy
Tell me all that you see or do
And all that you are learning too
Have you yet Algebra begun
If not I hope you quickly will full soon
As I am sure the day will come
When you will think it a great boon
Having now no more room I must remain[?]
Your Brother ever dear & sign my name | A R Wallace [signature]
To Mr. H. E Wallace
[5]22
Prepaid
Mast[e]r. Herbert Wallace
at Mr Perry's Academy
Shenfield
near Brentwood
Essex.
Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Lettersheet (WCP339.339)]
For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon
"From Kington to this place we came
By many a spot of ancient fame,
But now of small renown,
O'er many a mountain dark and drear,
And vales whose groves the parting year
Had tinged with mellow brown;
And as the morning sun arose
New beauties round us to disclose,
We reached fair Brecon town;
Then crossed the Usk, my native stream,
A river clear and bright,
Which showed a fair and much-lov'd scene
Unto my lingering sight."
Status: Draft transcription [Published letter (WCP339.7527)]
For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon
Please cite as “WCP339,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 29 October 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP339