Martin-Hall. Westbury.
Wed. 27 June.
My dear Tom,
Here we are, & you see have christened the house, properly I
assure you as the Martins have colonized all round it, & doubly lucky must
the house be on which they so build & bemire. We hesitated between the
appropriate names of Rat-Hall, Mouse Mansion, Vermin Villa, Cockroach Castle,
Cobweb Cottage & Spider Lodge – but as we routed out the spiders, brushd
away the cobwebs, stoppd the rat holes, & found no cock-roaches, we
bethought us of the animals without & dubbed it Martin-Hall.
I am sorry Tom you could not see us settled. you would like the
old house, & the view from the drawing room &
garden is delightful. we have turned too most notably. but once the house was an
inn or alehouse, & we have had applications to sell beer, & buy a stock
of tobacco pipes. Much has been done & much is yet to do; the rooms are
large, the garden well-stocked, we cut our own cabbages, live upon currant
puddings & shall soon be comfortably settled.
We got your letter from Taunton, there is perhaps another at Cottles, my mother is going to Bristol
& will see. We are just beyond the two miles stone. I wish you had been
here, you might have been up to your eyes in filth & rubbish.
We are anxious to hear what is become of you. money ran short –
& it was well I had a bank to draw upon. We have put up a bed in the
Admirals [1] room, opposite my
mothers, Margery (now
recovering) stews between the two. had her room been built on purpose it could
not have suited better; being small & a compleat hothouse, & the Martins
under the window. moreover she has bespoke a cat, a great carroty cat.
You & Lloyd
ornament the great room. I have bespoke some shelves there for my books, &
we are about to colour the white-limed walls in watercolours, a pale green, then
up go the prints. the shelves are just arrived – – –
[section in Margaret Southey’s hand begins]
My dear Child I long to know how you will proceed so write as
soon as you have any thing to tell us – I am now going to see your Aunt.
God Bless you
yours affectionately
M Southey
