HAM/1/20/153
Letter from Francis Napier, 8th Lord Napier, to Mary Hamilton
Diplomatic Text
My Dear Sister,
I arrived here on
Tuesday, and this being the first
post day, I condescend to tell You
that I am well, and comfortably
seated in my own Arm Chair, after
having been well jumbled croʃsing
Carter Fell. I picked up my Son
William at Newcastle, so that the
whole Covey is now collected, and
in Addition, my Uncle Patrick Na-
pier is with me. I found Maria
entirely free from a Cough, which
had been very troublesome to
her for some MonthsWeeks. But, it
has pulled her down very much.
My sovereign remedy, Aʃses Milk,
removed the Cough, and, I trust, the
warm weather will bring her
to look like herself again. Maria
and my Daughter Mary, have com-
miʃsioned me to return you ma-
ny thanks for your kind re-
membrance of them. Your Books
are deposited in their collections,
and form a very smart addition
to them. Maria has transferred the
Hannah More, I gave her, to her
daughter.
Our Cousins behaved very well,
and very friendly. With the Cathcarts
I dined frequently, and should have
done the same with the Greville
Mansfields, had She been able to see
much company. I did dine with
them once, and was always admitted
when I called in a forenoon. She
was looking delicate, and was not
well. Perhaps, there might be a
reason for it. They left London, some
time before I did. Lord & Lady Mansfield
were not living in Town. He, at his
Regiment, and She, at Ken Wood. She
is in a thriving way, but, apprehensive
that she may not be able to carry
her burden, as long as she ought to
do. I hope, she may be fortunate,
and produce a Son.
Our friend Archibald was
made a Churchman, contrary to
his own wish. Had his father lived,
he probably might have procured
some decent provision for him.
The Military spirit he exhibits might
be very well, if there was any ne-
ceʃsity for it. I am not one of those
who like to see Parish Priests, be-
sworded, and be-Helmeted. Poor
fellow, I am convinced he thought
he was acting laudably, when he
entered on the drilling of a Troop. The
opinion of Bishops, will probably
be different.
I must now go to my Hay
Field, where they are very busy.
Present my Love and best wishes
and those of my
Household, to your
Guid Man, your Brat,
and my Countrywoman. Ever
My Dear Sister,
Your Affectionate
Friend & Brother
Napier
Hawick, Tenth July 1800
[1]
Mrs- Dickenson[2]
Leighton House
Leighton Buzzard
Beds.
Napier.
[3]
[4]
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Normalised Text
Wilton Lodge
10th. July 1800.
My Dear Sister,
I arrived here on
Tuesday, and this being the first
post day, I condescend to tell You
that I am well, and comfortably
seated in my own Arm Chair, after
having been well jumbled crossing
Carter Fell. I picked up my Son
William at Newcastle, so that the
whole Covey is now collected, and
in Addition, my Uncle Patrick Napier
is with me. I found Maria
entirely free from a Cough, which
had been very troublesome to
her for some Weeks. But, it
has pulled her down very much.
My sovereign remedy, Asses Milk,
removed the Cough, and, I trust, the
warm weather will bring her
to look like herself again. Maria
and my Daughter Mary, have commissioned
me to return you many
thanks for your kind remembrance
of them. Your Books
are deposited in their collections,
and form a very smart addition
to them. Maria has transferred the
Hannah More, I gave her, to her
daughter.
Our Cousins behaved very well,
and very friendly. With the Cathcarts
I dined frequently, and should have
done the same with the Greville
Mansfields, had She been able to see
much company. I did dine with
them once, and was always admitted
when I called in a forenoon. She
was looking delicate, and was not
well. Perhaps, there might be a
reason for it. They left London, some
time before I did. Lord & Lady Mansfield
were not living in Town. He, at his
Regiment, and She, at Ken Wood. She
is in a thriving way, but, apprehensive
that she may not be able to carry
her burden, as long as she ought to
do. I hope, she may be fortunate,
and produce a Son.
Our friend Archibald was
made a Churchman, contrary to
his own wish. Had his father lived,
he probably might have procured
some decent provision for him.
The Military spirit he exhibits might
be very well, if there was any necessity
for it. I am not one of those
who like to see Parish Priests, besworded
, and be-Helmeted. Poor
fellow, I am convinced he thought
he was acting laudably, when he
entered on the drilling of a Troop. The
opinion of Bishops, will probably
be different.
I must now go to my Hay
Field, where they are very busy.
Present my Love and best wishes
and those of my
Household, to your
Guid Man, your Brat,
and my Countrywoman. Ever
My Dear Sister,
Your Affectionate
Friend & Brother
Napier
Hawick, Tenth July 1800
Mrs- Dickenson
Leighton House
Leighton Buzzard
Bedfordshire
Napier.
quotations, spellings, uncorrected forms, split words, abbreviations, formatting)
Notes
Metadata
Library References
Repository: John Rylands Research Institute and Library, University of Manchester
Archive: Mary Hamilton Papers
Item title: Letter from Francis Napier, 8th Lord Napier, to Mary Hamilton
Shelfmark: HAM/1/20/153
Correspondence Details
Sender: Francis Scott Napier, 8th Lord
Place sent: Roxburghshire
Addressee: Mary Hamilton
Place received: Leighton Buzzard
Date sent: 10 July 1800
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from Francis Napier, 8th Lord Napier, to Mary Hamilton. He writes
that he has collected his son from Newcastle and is back at Wilton Lodge.
His wife and eldest daughter pass their thanks to Hamilton for sending them
books and Napier notes that his wife has now passed a work by Hannah More on
to her daughter.
He writes of his cousins the Cathcarts and the Mansfields and notes that our
‘friend Archibald [Cathcart?] has been made a churchman contrary to his own
wish’. Had his father lived, Napier expects that he would have procured
himself a place in the military.
Dated at Wilton Lodge [Roxburghshire].
Length: 1 sheet, 430 words
Transliteration Information
Editorial declaration: First edited in the project 'Unlocking the Mary Hamilton Papers' (Hannah Barker, Sophie Coulombeau, David Denison, Tino Oudesluijs, Cassandra Ulph, Christine Wallis & Nuria Yáñez-Bouza, 2019-2023).
All quotation marks are retained in the text and are represented by appropriate Unicode characters. Words split across two lines may have a hyphen on the first, the second or both fragments (reco-|ver, imperfect|-ly, satisfacti-|-on); or a double hyphen (pur=|port, dan|=ger, qua=|=litys); or none (respect|ing). Any point in abbreviations with superscripted letter(s) is placed last, regardless of relative left-right orientation in the original. Thus, Mrs. or Mrs may occur, but M.rs or Mr.s do not.
Acknowledgements: Transcription and XML version created as part of project 'Unlocking the Mary Hamilton Papers', funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council under grant AH/S007121/1.
Transliterator: Christine Wallis, editorial team (completed 24 November 2021)
Cataloguer: Lisa Crawley, Archivist, The John Rylands Library
Cataloguer: John Hodgson, Head of Special Collections, John Rylands Research Institute and Library
Copyright: Transcriptions, notes and TEI/XML © the editors
Revision date: 7 March 2022