Skip to main content

The Letter

So it's the middle of May, and Derby Museum doesn't seem in any hurry to announce the winners of their writing competition, which were supposed to have been decided by the end of April.  I wish I could present this as the winning entry, but hey, I'm proud of it anyway.  This is the letter I wrote for the 1001 Words competition.

Letter from White Watson to his nephew William



Inspired by the White Watson tablet of Ecton Hill


Bakewell
January 9th, 1799

My dear William

I take up my pen to write, hoping this finds you in good health and safely established in London.  Bookselling is a fine profession; I am sure you will soon excel in it.  If you should happen across Priestley’s Passages of Scripture send it to me, I would be most grateful of it.  Your father & sister & brother are all well & send their love.

I enclose £1 in thankful recognition of & payment for your kind help with the fossils, and  beg that you would also receive with the appreciation it was given this tablet of the Ecton Hill strata.  You will remember how pleased I was with the valuable information from the copper and lead miners there; which combined with my own observations of the area, have made it an easy matter to construct an accurate representation of the rock layers. 

A brief explanation, if I may: I have rendered the limestone in our own Ashford Black Marble, carefully marked to show the direction of the strata.  Points of interest are marked A, B and C along the base, as you will notice; and these correspond as follows.  A is a vein of copper ore, of the kind which have caused these hills to be worked so profitably from ancient times; and indeed in our own time the Duke of Devonshire is adding to his fortune from these very mines.  B shows what is termed a lum; that is a species of different stone injected between the strata, I believe through volcanic activity.  Finally C represents a quantity of refuse drawn out of the mine; this corresponds closely in structure to B.  The whole gives an instant impression of the beds of limestone and of their various inclinations.

These tablets I believe are a most ideal way of showing the landscape under ground, being both decorative and durable, and having the facility to incorporate real specimens of the rocks found in the area.  I hope eventually to make a number of tablets delineating sections across Derbyshire, for the use of those engaging in mining, botany, chemistry and other fields of study in the county.

The grotto at Chatsworth is coming on admirably & I am in hopes of having it finished by the end of this month.  You will have to see it, Will!  Placing the great sandstone boulders to form the structure was a week’s work for many men; once that was achieved we lined the whole with crystals of copper ore to give a most brilliant and scintillating effect of green & gold.  The stalactites and stalagmites look most natural, if I say so myself, and I am affixing the last of the fossils and specimens from Her Grace the Duchess’ fine collection.  Truly it will be a scientific delight as well as a feast for the senses.

The Duke of Rutland celebrated his birthday Friday last, and we had a pleasant party at Haddon Hall.  I had a most interesting conversation with His Grace about the care and breeding of racehorses.  Sir James asked after you particularly and was gratified to learn that you had a good place in London.

I hope to be in London this summer for a meeting of the Linnaean Society.  Be sure I will look you up during my stay.  It has certainly been an honour to become Fellow of this Society, new though it is.  I am much interested in perusing their collection of botanical specimens; over 14 000 plants alone, acquired by the great Linnaeus himself.  My own collections are meagre by comparison; yet I flatter myself that I have made some small contribution to the sum of human knowledge.

It will soon be warm enough to be out in the garden again.  I plan to sow carrots and onions again as they did so well last year; the lettuce suffered from the heat, but it may be that we do not have such a warm spell this year.  I am engaged to draw a profile of Mr Bossley tomorrow, though I don’t know if he will want it in marble; I rather think it will just be an ink sketch this time.

With all good wishes for your continued health and employment, I remain, dear William, your affectionate Uncle,

White Watson
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dove Valley Walk: Going round the bend

Somewhere between Marchington and Uttoxeter, the wiggles of the River Dove stop wiggling west to east, and start wiggling north to south. If it went in straight lines, it would make a right-angled bend. As I'm following the river upstream, this was my last section walking west. After this it's north to the Peak District and Dovedale. here the Dove swings north The main walk of this section was all on the south side of the river. But I also did a separate, shorter walk, to explore the village of Doveridge, and the old Dove Bridge which is tantalisingly glimpsed from the A50. Walk 1: Marchington to Uttoxeter I liked Marchington even more as I arrived there for the second time. I parked opposite the village shop - noting the "ice cream" sign outside for later - and near the brick-built St Peter's Church, with a war memorial built in above the door.  A few streets took me to the other side of the village, where I found a path alongside a stream, then across some hay m
Post a Comment
Read more

Dove Valley Walk: Meeting the Limestone Way

At Uttoxeter my route along the Dove Valley met some official long-distance trails. First the Staffordshire Way north to Rocester, then the Limestone Way continuing up towards Dovedale. Graham joined me on today's walk, which included the Staffordshire Way section and the first part of the Limestone Way. Unusually, it was a one-way hike; we got the bus back.   Uttoxeter to Ellastone Graham and I parked at Uttoxeter train station. It's very cheap for the day if you park after 10am, but I was worried about getting back in time for the school run, so we got there at 9:20 and paid the more expensive rate (still only £3).  We started off across flat fields towards the A50 and Dove Bridge. A group of young cattle gave us hard stares as we walked past. I posted a photo of a wonky gate on the Gate Appreciation Society with the caption "Parallelogate" and it quickly accumulated 200 likes - many more than this post will get!   Passing the old Dove Bridge again , we ploughed t
1 comment
Read more

San Antonio

San Antonio is towards the south of Texas and feels very much more Mexican than American. The balmy evenings, the colourful Mexican market, the architecture of the buildings, and the number of people speaking Spanish around us all added to the impression. The city, in fact, grew out of a Spanish mission and presidio (fort), built in 1718 as part of Spain's attempt to colonize and secure what was then the northern frontier of the colony of Mexico. Texas was then a buffer zone between Mexico and the French-held Louisiana, and Spain was keen to cement her hold on the area by introducing settlers and converting the natives to Catholicism and loyalty to the Spanish government. The missions in general had no great effect, but the San Antonio area was the exception to the rule, growing into an important city with five missions strung out along the San Antonio river. The first of these, San Antonio de Valero, later became well-known as the Alamo, where 182 Texans died in 1836
3 comments
Read more