HAM/1/20/162
Letter from Francis Napier, 8th Lord Napier, to Mary Hamilton
Diplomatic Text
Wilton Lodge
9th. Novr. 1801.
My Dear Sister,
As you seem to
be conscience checked, I hasten to
relieve You, and to repeat the
Absolution formerly given You
on the subject of Epistolising. There-
fore, be it known to You, that
I bear You no ill will, hatred,
or Malice whatever; but, that
You and Yours, are, as you ever
have been, high in my gracious
favour and esteem, and will
continue to enjoy the same hap-
py distinction, whether You write
to me, or not. I hope, that this am-
ple, categorical, and sincere Decla-
ration will set your Mind at
rest on the subject.
Not having a penny in
my Purse, nor any likely to come
into it, I have very prudently
determined to let the Lords squabble
about the Peace, without person-
ally aʃsisting at their deliberations.
But, that I may have a finger in
Pye, I have sent my Proxy to the Mag-
nanimous, Magnificent, and Courtly
Baron of Cathcart, (who expreʃses the
great sense he entertains of the
honour & confidence, I have re-
posed in him, in the most amiable
Style you can poʃsibly imagine.
This being the case, I cannot have
the satisfaction of beating up your
Quarters,[1] at this time, and I am
determined never to say to You,
or to Archy Cathcart, when, I mean
to see You, as I have had my plans
so constantly deranged. So you must
content yourself with the hopes,
that the Chapter of Accidents may
lead me to Leighton Buzzard, when
you least expect me.
We have had a most
delightful Summer, and plentiful
Crops of Grain, Potatoes &c, which has
reduced our Markets to reasonable
terms. This plenty, followed by Peace,
seems to have made everybody here,
very happy. The joy of the Neighbouring
Village was testified by illuminations
&c. If we can but keep Frenchmen,
Frenchwomen, & French Principles out
of this Country, and keep our own Men
& Women out of France, all may go
well. But, although I love, and approve
of Peace, yet, I shall feel much sorrow,
when the Alien Bill is repealed. The
French Princes are to return this
Month to Edinburgh, which will be
a very dull residence for them, and
will not (I think) be any advantage
to the Society there. I always was a
great Antigallican, and grow more
and more so, every day.
My Seven home Brats
have been laid up with
the Blibes,[2] Water Jags,[3] or
Chicken pox, whichever
You please to call it. My eldest
Girl is still confined to her Room.
As this is not a dangerous disorder,
it has not affected their Spirits, but
their bodies are perfect Leopards, (not
Lepers). A cargo of them go out this fore-
noon, for the first time since their
confinement, the idea of which seems
to transport them mightily.
Maria joins me in Love
& best wishes to You, Mr. Dickenson, &
the fair Louisa. Ever My Dear Sister
Yours very Affectionately
Napier
▼
Is my Countrywoman married, or
dead, for you dont mention her?[4]
Hawick, Ninth Novr. 1801
Mrs. Dickenson[5]
Leighton Buzzard
Beds
Napier.[6]
[7]
7”3
1”3
8”6[8]
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Notes
1. ‘To arouse, disturb; colloquial to visit unceremoniously’ (OED s.v. beat v.1 28 ‘to beat up the quarters of’. Accessed 25-01-2022).
2. ‘A blister’ (Dictionaries of the Scots Language s.v. blab, bleb, blabe, bleib, bleeb, v.1, n.2 (2). Accessed 25-01-2022). The term is also listed in the English Dialect Dictionary as a Northern English word (s.v. bleb. Accessed 25-01-2022).
3. ‘“Watter jags” is the term used for a complaint most children have, and which is in the nature of a large rash’ (English Dialect Dictionary s.v. jag sb.1; northern English. Accessed 25-01-2022).
4. This postscript appears below the address.
5. Postmark ‘HAWICK’ in brown ink. Circular ‘FREE’ frank in red ink, dated 13 November 1801.
6. Moved address here from middle of page, written vertically.
7. Postmark ‘HAWICK’ in brown-black ink, partially obscured by a seal in red wax.
8. This annotation is written upside down in the right-hand margin of the page.
Normalised Text
Wilton Lodge
9th. November 1801.
My Dear Sister,
As you seem to
be conscience checked, I hasten to
relieve You, and to repeat the
Absolution formerly given You
on the subject of Epistolising. Therefore
, be it known to You, that
I bear You no ill will, hatred,
or Malice whatever; but, that
You and Yours, are, as you ever
have been, high in my gracious
favour and esteem, and will
continue to enjoy the same happy
distinction, whether You write
to me, or not. I hope, that this ample
, categorical, and sincere Declaration
will set your Mind at
rest on the subject.
Not having a penny in
my Purse, nor any likely to come
into it, I have very prudently
determined to let the Lords squabble
about the Peace, without personally
assisting at their deliberations.
But, that I may have a finger in
Pie, I have sent my Proxy to the Magnanimous
, Magnificent, and Courtly
Baron of Cathcart, (who expresses the
great sense he entertains of the
honour & confidence, I have reposed
in him, in the most amiable
Style you can possibly imagine.
This being the case, I cannot have
the satisfaction of beating up your
Quarters, at this time, and I am
determined never to say to You,
or to Archy Cathcart, when, I mean
to see You, as I have had my plans
so constantly deranged. So you must
content yourself with the hopes,
that the Chapter of Accidents may
lead me to Leighton Buzzard, when
you least expect me.
We have had a most
delightful Summer, and plentiful
Crops of Grain, Potatoes &c, which has
reduced our Markets to reasonable
terms. This plenty, followed by Peace,
seems to have made everybody here,
very happy. The joy of the Neighbouring
Village was testified by illuminations
&c. If we can but keep Frenchmen,
Frenchwomen, & French Principles out
of this Country, and keep our own Men
& Women out of France, all may go
well. But, although I love, and approve
of Peace, yet, I shall feel much sorrow,
when the Alien Bill is repealed. The
French Princes are to return this
Month to Edinburgh, which will be
a very dull residence for them, and
will not (I think) be any advantage
to the Society there. I always was a
great Antigallican, and grow more
and more so, every day.
My Seven home Brats
have been laid up with
the Blibes, Water Jags, or
Chicken pox, whichever
You please to call it. My eldest
Girl is still confined to her Room.
As this is not a dangerous disorder,
it has not affected their Spirits, but
their bodies are perfect Leopards, (not
Lepers). A cargo of them go out this forenoon
, for the first time since their
confinement, the idea of which seems
to transport them mightily.
Maria joins me in Love
& best wishes to You, Mr. Dickenson, &
the fair Louisa. Ever My Dear Sister
Yours very Affectionately
Napier
▼
Is my Countrywoman married, or
dead, for you don't mention her?
Hawick, Ninth November 1801
Mrs. Dickenson
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/1/20/162
Correspondence Details
Sender: Francis Scott Napier, 8th Lord
Place sent: Roxburghshire
Addressee: Mary Hamilton
Place received: Leighton Buzzard
Date sent: 9 November 1801
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from Francis Napier, 8th Lord Napier, to Mary Hamilton, concerning
the peace with the French. He notes that as he has not a penny in his purse
and as he is not likely to get any very soon he has decided to stay away
from the Lords and let them 'squabble about the Peace' without his
assistance. He sent his Proxy to the 'Magnanimous, Magnificent, and Courtly
Baron of Cathcart'. Napier writes that he approves of peace but he will be
sorry when the alien Bill is repealed. The French princes are to return to
Edinburgh this month which will be dull for them and he doubts that it will
be of any benefit to Edinburgh society. He describes himself as a 'great
antigallican'.
The letter continues with news of Napier's family.
Dated at Wilton Lodge [Roxburghshire].
Length: 1 sheet, 513 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 25 January 2022)
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: 16 March 2022