Coleridge, Sara (1802-1852). - Letter, from Greta Hall, to Dora Wordsworth (1804-1847), at Rydal Mount, dated 23 May 1818. WLMS A / Coleridge, Sara / 1

Greta-hall

May 23. 1818

Vile Doro!

Your base neglect of me is intolerable, and I can endure it no longer, but no! I will not waste ink and paper in vain upbraidings; I will deliver you up to your own conscience, which will be a tormentor fierce as ten furies! but alas I fear you have none! seriously though Doro you do behave very ill in not writing, especially as I'm sure you must have a great deal of news, with a sharply contested election going on close under your nose; here am I as busy as a bee, having just finished one letter & got two more on my hands, with scarcely any news, sitting down to write to you when I ought to receive, instead of write a let-ter. here's a contrast between you & me: if you don't grow more epistolary I shall certainly give you up as I did Eliza Kennedy; but she, poor thing, has more excuse than you for she does school all day - according to her own account at least.

Miss Fletcher spent 3 weeks or a month at Gretalodge and dined with us every day she taught us music while she staid, we used those lovely duets in Don Juan every evening. she and I used to read latin together I daresay you would not have wished to have been of the party when she went away I agreed to write her a french

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letter every Saturday and she said she would correct them and send them back. I've written but have not yet re-ceived an answer except that Miss B. said that Miss Fletcher was very well pleased with them and would write sometime.

When Miss Fletcher returned to Borrowdale Miss Barker came here for a day or two; we drank tea on the lake and Edith and I were busily employed in picking orchises for our expected May pole; we found a pret-ty bird's nest we have also discovered a bir wren's nest at home with pr sweet little white eggs speckled with brown. there's where the birds are hatched and ugly little brutes they are too. On Sunday we walked to the chapel in Newlands but were un-luckily too late for Church. Edith was very much tired our Mamas didn't go.

We've been trimming up our gardens and they look very nice the little round bed is stuffed with flowers as full as ever it will hold; we have not sowed our seeds yet but intend to do so soon.

Mr. Senhouse was here a week or two ago. he brought me a letter from Elizabeth also he brought from London a very curious toy called a Kaleidoscope. you look through a hollow tube and see at the end little pieces of glass in all sorts of beautiful forms these forms vary as often as you shake the tube.Mr Mrs and if you were to shake for a hundred years you'd never see exactly the same again. Mr: Senhouse says eve-ry body's mad after them in London. we showed it to Mrs. Crothers and left it at her house for a day

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or two and we came to fetch she said she had nearly blinded herself with looking at it. she has a very beautiful collection of auriculas which we went one day to see.

Miss Barker is so delighted with the Kaleidoscope that she has ordered Glover to make her one by the bye Edith and I intend to skin Glover for not up our see saw which he had promised to do he ought to have done it a week ago.

Mr: Senhouse has taken a house in Buckinghamshire to be near the Norrises a lady and gentleman with a large family. we saw them and their two eldest daugters at generall Peachey's last year and I played at chess with one of them.

Yesterday we had our May pole. Mary came early and we employed almost all th e m orning in making garlands of broom blue [ei][] & c.c. for ou r f east we had first fish and soup then [hot][] beaf and hash mutton with four side dishes. pies puddings we ha[d] without number and a most elegant desert with more wine than we drank ourselves for we gave a full bumper to Betty who had been our cook and waiter and well deserved after the toils of the day.

We have got ten new pieces of music from Mr: [Parrin]. some of it is very difficulty especially the "Tout ensemble" which I am learning. don't you hate to play demisemi quavers with the left hand or octaves with the right?

Excuse this furious scrawl for I'm in a desperate hurry as I've very little time to write this in for mama wants me and I beg you'll write soon and copiously and believe me your affectionate Scrawler

Sara Coleridge.

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I've just time enough to add that the head of Horace with which this is sealed was a present from kind Mr: Nash to whom I had to write, oh agonies, to thank him for it Edith had a head of Sappho. somewhat smaller he was also k good tured enough to send us each a little book of [wle] waltzes & reels like those he gave us last year. [Oh] he's a nice man. I fo I forgot whether I told you in my last that I sent Louisa R. a workbox of cardpaper and red ribbons with little prints stuck about it. Mr Bedford sent us each a pocket book this year. Show to nobody.

Miss D. Wordsworth

Rydal Mount.

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Object summary: WLMS A / Coleridge, Sara / 1