| Title: | Archibald Earl of Ava to Lady Victoria Blackwood |
|---|---|
| ID | 950 |
| Collection | Irish Emigration Database |
| File | Earl of Ava, Archibald/31(2) |
| Year | 1893 |
| Sender | Archibald, Earl of Ava |
| Sender Gender | male |
| Sender Occupation | army officer |
| Sender Religion | unknown |
| Origin | Colorado, USA |
| Destination | London, England |
| Recipient | Lady Victoria Blackwood |
| Recipient Gender | female |
| Relationship | siblings |
| Source | D/1231/N/2/3: Deposited by Lady Hermione Blackwood |
| Archive | The Public Record Office, Northern Ireland |
| Doc. No. | 9809028 |
| Date | 29/07/1893 |
| Partial Date | |
| Doc. Type | EMG |
| Log | Document added by LT, 07:09:98. |
| Word Count | 582 |
| Genre | |
| Note | |
| Transcript | THEODORE WHYTE, BREEDER OF HEREFORD CATTLE Estes Park, Colo [Colorado?] 29th July 1893 My dear Victoria - Very many thanks for your long letter with all the news. I am so glad you have been enjoying yourself & had plenty of fun in London. I got a letter from Hermie too in which she said she expected to marry Miss Leitcliffe to a Swiss mountaineer, but I hope for the sake of the mountaineer that she will fail in her plans. This place Estes park is in the middle of extraordinary fine scenery. The park itself is covered with good grass & pine trees & surrounded by high mountains including Longs Peak. Mr Whytes Hereford cattle are dotted all about & the rest of the inhabitants are mostly individuals up here for their health. There is good trout fishing & some lovely rides. I left your pal Miss Lolly at Colorado Springs. She told me of a ryhme the girls used to sing at your school. no more water from the gutter no more nasty bread & butter etc. etc. ending up with something about spotted dog pie. You'll have to be careful when I come back or I shall reproduce some of the stories I have heard, but I hope you are getting more sedate & will have caught the bee by that time. I was amused at Terence being told to go & get collars like Bazils & am glad to hear the lawyer is so smart. Ask the latter from me if he has ever slept in the area again. So the bottle imp has gone soldiering & he will probably enjoy himself vastly. I hope they march him in slow time up & down the market square like they did me & that the milk girls will cheer him on his way to church. Ask him from me if there is an old soldier called Marley in the regt. [regiment?] & that if there is I should like him to present him with half a crown in my name, which debt I will repay. I should also like to hear who commands his company. From Denver I go to Salt Lake City & shall soon be bathing in Salt Lake with the Mormons & thin families. I believe it is impossible to swim & that one has to walk about in the water, but I will send you a full description later on. We are all wondering if we are going to war with France, but I have too much faith in His Ex's [Excellency's?] powers to think it possible. However I suppose they may insist on it & the popular cry of "a bas L'angleterre" may be too much for their government. If they do declare I shall come home & join Slattery's light horse or else establish myself with a long barrelled rifle at Walmer & perhaps the latter course would be the safest. I am delighted to hear you all like Flora & also Mrs Davis. Please tell Flora I got her letter just after she left New York or that I would have answered it & that I will write presently. I'll end up this dull letter by telling you a western story of a man who was asked by a glode trotter how many negroes he had shot. The man answered - "No Sir, By gad sir, I haven't killed a nigger since the war sir, except when I was in liquor sir, By gad sir". I remain your most humble & affectionate brother. Archibald James. |
