Diplomatic Text
[1]
3. 3.
Journal continued
Story of the Nun -- &c -- -- [2]
that in Case any Nun who has attempted to
escape -- & is pursued can catch hold of the Rail
that surrounds ye. altar -- she is secure & can never
again be placed in the Convent -- unleʃs she par-
ticularly desires it -- This poor unfortunate
Young Woman -- who our Guide told us was “Jeune
et belle a manger -- she was so very beautiful
-- ran into the Chapel -- & was within a few Yards
of the Rail when ye. Soldiers -- who weare always
there upon guard -- caught her & she was delivered
to ye Lady Abeʃs -- she was immediately confined
between four Walls & allowed a small piece of
bread & a little Water every day -- She lived eight
months in this cruel confinement -- continually
praying to God to release her by Death, -- when
her Lover heard of th --- her being dead, he
ran to the River & drowned himself -- this
happen'd only two Years ago -- I could not learn
what became of the wretched parents. -- we
supt & Slept at Aire[3] the beds good & every thing
clean, -- we had all kinds of game as Hare
Partridge &c. as it in this part of the World
there is no Game act & - Yet there is
enough for every body -- Claret, Burgundy
Vin de Grave -- Frontiniac is the common liquors
-- no Beer or Port Wine --
[4]Monday 5th. left Aire -- Breakfasted at Lilliers -- 1 Post
chang'd Horses at Bethune a very imposing Woman
who keeps ye Inn & every thing extravagantly Dear
-- 1 Post. changed Horses à la Waquet a Single House
House -- like a neat English Farm -- very civil People
-- the Weather oppreʃsively Hot, -- chang'd Horses again
at Lisle -- this is a very large & strongly fortified
City -- we did not stop to see any of the Curiosities
Buildings, Pictures &c -- we are to see them on
our return to England -- near Lisle I counted 200
Windmills -- changed Horses at Menin 1 post
here we were drove only by four Horses & obliged to pay
for 6 -- the Custom in this Country, -- The King[5] has
his profit in this extortion & we had only to
these four Horses one Postilion they never use
more with that number of Horses he rides
upon one nearest ye Carriage & guides the
Others wth. long ------ reins wch. are generally nothing
more than a very slender rope -- The
traces are very long -- I thought we went faster
in this Maner than with Six. -- we paʃsed thro
a pretty Village where at almost every door
we saw women neatly dreʃs'd -- all wooden
Shoes -- spinning Cotton -- at 8 in ye Evening
arrived at Courtray ye Gates are shut at ½
an hour after -- we went to the Hotel Damier
very clean House -- supper was served up in
clean scowerd Pewter -- I must just give You
an Idea of living in this Country -- we paid
five Escalins a head wch. is 2S. 11d. English & we
had -- 2 fowls -- Larded Hare -- a dish of Quails
-- Ragoo of Sweet Breads -- Veal à la Mode -- Tarts
-- Peas Stew'd -- Kidney beans à la Harrico -- and
7 Dishes of fruit & biscuits for the Desert --
what would such a Supper have cost at an
English Inn? good Beds & Civil People --
The Dreʃs of the People still continue ye. same as
at Calais -- I do not think I have yet described it
If I have -- you will excuse my sending it again -- I wld.
rather write any thing twice over than lose any
circumstance that I thought wld. afford you any
amusement -- The dreʃs of the Maid Servants
& all the Common People of the Town is a short
Casaquin or Jacket -- or Short Sacque made
of very Coarse Strip'd Stuff of different colors
remarkable short petycoats ye upper one
sedom ye. same to the Casaquin -- clean white
Stockings and Slippers made only to cover ye.
end of the foot wth. quarters -- a Colourd or
wt. bib (Square & wide bib) & apron no stays
is worn -- the Neck modestly cover'd by ye.
Jacket coming up very high in ye. neck & a Small
Handkerchief -- The laps all of the same form
made of very white linnen -- fine Cambrick
Lawns or Muslin -- the Cap is small & round
at the ears wth. a double border of the smallest
neatest plaits you can imagine, ineach plait kept
in form wth. a manikin pin -- ye. hair all hid
except part upon ye top of ye. forehead wch. is
combed quite flat to ye. Head & powder'd no
ribbandribbon[6] of any kind -- only ty'd on wth. ye. bobbin
that draws it close -- these white ch caps I was
quite charm'd wth. I wish it was ye. custom for
ym. to be wore in England -- they give such an
air of cleanlineʃs to the Person -- & look so modest
& unpresuming. -- People of all conditions and
particularly those when they go to Maʃs wear
What they call English Riding Hoods -- of
different colourd very light kind of Stuff
chiefly light Brown -- the Hood wch is seperate
from ye. Cloak -- shades the face & the Cloak
reaching down to the feet disguises the whole
figure -- others wear a long square piece of
Black Stuff -- Silk or serge wch. is thrown over
ye Head & comes half way down ye. body -- this
is still worn in Spain -- & in some parts of
Ireland -- for those people I think I've been told or read
came from Spain & are ye only People at
this day free of that Country -- no Hats are
worn here by ye Women. -- [7]Tuesday ye. 6th.
After Breakfast we saw L'Eglise Collegiate -- richly
ornamented wth. Marble and over the great
Altar a fine Picture by Van Dycke --
the Subject, the Elevation of the Croʃs, --
it is between two Windows and has a bad
light -- but in itself it is a Picture with-
out faults -- another Picture by Crayer
of the Trinity & The Virgin Mary, --
We then went to the Chanoineʃses, -- saw
4. 4.
Tuesday 6th. continued
Saw a good Picture of the Nativity by
Jourdains -- The Chanoineʃse very polite & shewd us a pret
4.-ty private Chapel. -- we could not get Horses, & were obliged
to stay to dinner -- they told us there was un table D'Hôte
-- or publick table that day for travellers -- we agree'd for
the Jokes sake to dine at it -- our Company consisted
of two Silent Priests -- a very talking impertinent
Dutchman -- a well bred genteel Man who spoke very good
French & five or Six strange Ill looking people shabbily
Dreʃs'd -- we was glad to ------ leave our Companions -- wch. we did
before they rose from table as our Horses were by that
time ready -- to shew how natural it is for every set of
people to take advantage when in their power & neglect
that rectitude by wch. alone we ought ever to be guided. --
the frenchman told Ld D. he was shamefully imposed upon
wth. regard to our Horses -- & that no Person of that Country
or those used to travel in that in it ever submitted to these
impositions -- the Dinner too wch. we had this day at only
2 Escalins or 14d English a Head was as good as when we pay
bespeak it at 6 Escalins a Head -- I think Clara I see you
Smile at my taking noticee of what you may think un-
interesting -- the reason of my doing so, is that in case
fortune should ever send me or any of my friends to this part of the World
where I or they may chance to have the management of the
Journey I may not be at a loʃs -- indeed if I was to
travel to Egypt I should continue to make ye. most minute
observations. -- Here we had, a Brick floor in ye. eating Room
but no Beds, -- soon after we got into this Town there was a
Storm of Thunder & Lightning & heavy Rain -- I never heard
any thing more awful than one clap -- & the Servt. told
us there was a Ball of fire seen to fall in the Inn Yard
-- Courtray is Subject to the House of Austria -- Situated
on ye River Lys in ye. Austrian Netherlands -- 14 Miles E. of
Ypres -- 23 M. S. W. of Ghent -- left Courtray after Dinner
changed Horses at Vive St. Eloy -- again at Betghent
& got to Ghent or Gand by five oClock -- a very large & stongly
fortified Town -- we lodged at the Hotel St. Sebastian
Mr Buʃso -- on ye. Place de Parade -- a very large House
remarkable good Beds -- wch. are all in the eating Rooms
-- the best attendants since we left Calais -- the Master
always ready & attentive himself -- the Rooms very
large -- those on ye ground floor chiefly Brick floors
cover'd wth. ragged fine Tapestry -- a large Glaʃs Lustre
hanging in ye Middle of ye Room -- High Canopy Silk beds &
a Fire Place reaching from one side of the Room to the
Other like those in our worst Old Farm Houses in England --
those things I mention as striking in their inconsistency --
-- there was a most Elegant dinner ready for us at 6 Escalins
a Head 2 Courses -- & a large Desert with Ices &c &c -- the
Supper almost equally good at 5 Escalins -- fine wines --
here we again met Ld. P. & family he was very Ill & not able to
leave his Room -- Ldy. C. F. & her governeʃs went wth. us to see
the Abbey of St. Piere -- I wish my dear I could transport
You thither -- for I fear my description will give Yo. but a
poor Idea of what is in itself very great -- The Salle
à Manger the finest I ever saw -- the Ceiling painted in a master
-ly manner by Simon (a painter now living at Bruʃsels)
it is painted upon Linnen -- & they told us it was finish'd in
47 days -- this expedition is to me very astonishing for the
Room in 300 feet long -- the sides of this Room are coverd
with beautiful Landscapes painted by Artois a Man now
living[8] -- but I could not learn his place of residence -- it was
near ye Abbè's dinner time & their tables were laid ready
I believe these good People live in a very different
Stile from their Brothers ye. poor Monks -- for a most
Savory smell of made dishes & ragoos exhal'd on all
sides -- we were obliged to give place to them & left this
room sooner than we wish'd -- The Abbè de St. Piere
is Comte de Flandre, there are only 32 Abbès enjoy
this Magnificant residence -- from this Room we went
to ye Library wch. in 97 feet Long ye sides of wch. fill'd
wth. Books -- werech. were in ye most regular oder -- there
were some partitions wch. had open wire doors lockd
up over wch. was wrote Hell or purgatory -- I forget wch.
these were fill'd wth. those Books not proper to be read
-- I believed they containd im̄odest, Deistical & contro
versial Books -- I was not a little surprised to see
a large Old Bible wch. from ye largeneʃs of the Letter
catchd my Eye in paʃsing -- we enquird why that
Book was plac'd there, & they told itus it was a bad Edition
-- Over ye. Doors in ye. Library were paintings in
Clair-obscur wch. had a most astonishing Effect
for Itill I was told, I actually took them for carved
figures -- & after an examination one can hardly
be persuaded that ye. figures are not Substantial
-- they were painted by one Girard Girard who lives
at Antwerp -- The Chapel or Church belonging &
wch. forms one part of this Building -- is Elegant &
rich to a great degree & is likewise excesively
neat -- the High Altar all Solid Silver the Candles
sticks of wch. there are a great number above 6 feet high -- ye Lamps
&c. of the same metal. --
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Notes
1. This journal letter was originally catalogued as two separate items: HAM/1/8/7/23 (pp.1-3) and HAM/1/8/7/24 (pp.4-5).
2. The following section relates to events that occurred on 4 August 1776 and can also be found in Mary Hamilton's diary (HAM/2/1 pp.9-11, entry of 4 August 1776), albeit worded differently.
3. Aire-sur-la-Lys.
4. The following section relates to events that occurred on 5 August 1776 and can also be found in Mary Hamilton's diary (HAM/2/1 pp.13-15, entry of 5 August 1776), albeit worded differently.
5. It is unclear which king Mary is referring to here. Menen, now part of Belgium near the border with France, was part of the Austrian Netherlands from 1715 onwards, but the ruler of the Habsburg Monarchy at the time Mary was travelling through Menen was Maria Theresa (1717-1780), who was the Queen of Bohemia, Hungary and Croatia, as well as the Archduchess of Austria until her death. Perhaps Mary here refers to William V (1748-1806), since the States-General (the supreme authority of the Dutch Republic until 1795) ‘obtained the right to occupy the town as part of the Dutch barrier’ against the French until 1781 (Augustus J. Veenendaal Jr., Menen (Menin in French), in Frey & Frey (eds). The Treaties of the War of the Spanish Succession. An Historical and Critical Dictionary, p.282). William V, as the last Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, was in charge of the Dutch army. However, he was never a king but only a prince of Orange (it was his son William VI who became the first Dutch monarch from the House of Orange in 1813). It is also possible that Mary was not in Menen yet and changed horses in France, thus referring to King Louis XVI here.
6. It is interesting that the form ribband is corrected to ribbon here. Those spellings would come under different headwords in the OED, which has separate entries for riband, ribbon and ruban, each with multiple spelling variants (OED s.vv. Accessed 22-04-2022). Hamilton uses both spellings in HAM/1/8/7/22 p.2, and it is unclear whether the distinction is significant for her. For simplicity, however, we have provisionally normalised ribband to ribbon there and elsewhere in this edition (HAM/1/14/22, GEO/ADD/3/82/65 p.5); cf. also the past participle ribband (GEO/ADD/3/82/36 p.4).
7. The following section can also be found in Mary Hamilton's diary HAM/2/1 pp.15ff, entry of 6 August 1776, albeit worded differently.
8. If the painter referred to by Mary Hamilton is indeed Jacques d'Arthois (1613-1686), it appears that she is mistaken here. She does not comment on the painter being alive in the original entry in her diary (HAM/2/1 p.16), from where she appears to have copied this journal-letter.
Normalised Text
that in Case any Nun who has attempted to
escape -- & is pursued can catch hold of the Rail
that surrounds the altar -- she is secure & can never
again be placed in the Convent -- unless she particularly
desires it -- This poor unfortunate
Young Woman -- who our Guide told us was “Jeune
et belle a manger -- she was so very beautiful
-- ran into the Chapel -- & was within a few Yards
of the Rail when the Soldiers -- who are always
there upon guard -- caught her & she was delivered
to the Lady Abbess -- she was immediately confined
between four Walls & allowed a small piece of
bread & a little Water every day -- She lived eight
months in this cruel confinement -- continually
praying to God to release her by Death, -- when
her Lover heard of her being dead, he
ran to the River & drowned himself -- this
happened only two Years ago -- I could not learn
what became of the wretched parents. -- we
supped & Slept at Aire the beds good & every thing
clean, -- we had all kinds of game as Hare
Partridge &c. in this part of the World
there is no Game act & Yet there is
enough for every body -- Claret, Burgundy
Vin de Grave -- Frontignac is the common liquors
-- no Beer or Port Wine --
Monday 5th. left Aire -- Breakfasted at Lilliers -- 1 Post
changed Horses at Bethune a very imposing Woman
who keeps the Inn & every thing extravagantly Dear
-- 1 Post. changed Horses à la Waquet a Single
House -- like a neat English Farm -- very civil People
-- the Weather oppressively Hot, -- changed Horses again
at Lisle -- this is a very large & strongly fortified
City -- we did not stop to see any of the Curiosities
Buildings, Pictures &c -- we are to see them on
our return to England -- near Lisle I counted 200
Windmills -- changed Horses at Menin 1 post
here we were driven only by four Horses & obliged to pay
for 6 -- the Custom in this Country, -- The King has
his profit in this extortion & we had only to
these four Horses one Postilion they never use
more with that number he rides
upon one nearest the Carriage & guides the
Others with long reins which are generally nothing
more than a very slender rope -- The
traces are very long -- I thought we went faster
in this Manner than with Six. -- we passed through
a pretty Village where at almost every door
we saw women neatly dressed -- all wooden
Shoes -- spinning Cotton -- at 8 in the Evening
arrived at Courtray the Gates are shut at ½
an hour after -- we went to the Hotel Damier
very clean House -- supper was served up in
clean scoured Pewter -- I must just give You
an Idea of living in this Country -- we paid
five Escalins a head which is 2S. 11d. English & we
had -- 2 fowls -- Larded Hare -- a dish of Quails
-- Ragout of Sweet Breads -- Veal à la Mode -- Tarts
-- Peas Stewed -- Kidney beans à la Harrico -- and
7 Dishes of fruit & biscuits for the Dessert --
what would such a Supper have cost at an
English Inn? good Beds & Civil People --
The Dress of the People still continue the same as
at Calais -- I do not think I have yet described it
If I have -- you will excuse my sending it again -- I would
rather write any thing twice over than lose any
circumstance I thought would afford you any
amusement -- The dress of the Maid Servants
& all the Common People of the Town is a short
Casaquin or Jacket -- or Short Sacque made
of very Coarse Striped Stuff of different colours
remarkable short petticoats the upper one
seldom the same to the Casaquin -- clean white
Stockings and Slippers made only to cover the
end of the foot with quarters -- a Coloured or
white (Square & wide bib) & apron no stays
is worn -- the Neck modestly covered by the
Jacket coming up very high in the neck & a Small
Handkerchief -- The laps all of the same form
made of very white linen -- fine Cambric
Lawn or Muslin -- the Cap is small & round
at the ears with a double border of the smallest
neatest plaits you can imagine, each plait kept
in form with a manikin pin -- the hair all hidden
except part upon the top of the forehead which is
combed quite flat to the Head & powdered no
ribbon of any kind -- only tied on with the bobbin
that draws it close -- these white caps I was
quite charmed with I wish it was the custom for
them to be worn in England -- they give such an
air of cleanliness to the Person -- & look so modest
& unpresuming. -- People of all conditions and
particularly when they go to Mass wear
What they call English Riding Hoods -- of
different coloured very light kind of Stuff
chiefly light Brown -- the Hood which is separate
from the Cloak -- shades the face & the Cloak
reaching down to the feet disguises the whole
figure -- others wear a long square piece of
Black Stuff -- Silk or serge which is thrown over
the Head & comes half way down the body -- this
is still worn in Spain -- & in some parts of
Ireland -- for those people I think I've been told or read
came from Spain & are the only People at
this day free of that Country -- no Hats are
worn here by the Women. -- Tuesday the 6th.
After Breakfast we saw L'Eglise Collegiate -- richly
ornamented with Marble and over the great
Altar a fine Picture by Van Dycke --
the Subject, the Elevation of the Cross, --
it is between two Windows and has a bad
light -- but in itself it is a Picture without
faults -- another Picture by Crayer
of the Trinity & The Virgin Mary, --
We then went to the Chanoinesses, --
Saw a good Picture of the Nativity by
Jourdains -- The Chanoinesse very polite & showed us a pretty
private Chapel. -- we could not get Horses, & were obliged
to stay to dinner -- they told us there was un table D'Hôte
-- or public table that day for travellers -- we agreed for
the Jokes sake to dine at it -- our Company consisted
of two Silent Priests -- a very talking impertinent
Dutchman -- a well bred genteel Man who spoke very good
French & five or Six strange Ill looking people shabbily
Dressed -- we was glad to leave our Companions -- which we did
before they rose from table as our Horses were by that
time ready -- to show how natural it is for every set of
people to take advantage when in their power & neglect
that rectitude by which alone we ought ever to be guided. --
the frenchman told Lord Dartrey he was shamefully imposed upon
with regard to our Horses -- & that no Person of that Country
or those used to travel in it ever submitted to these
impositions -- the Dinner too which we had this day at only
2 Escalins or 14d English a Head was as good as when we
bespeak it at 6 Escalins a Head -- I think Clara I see you
Smile at my taking notice of what you may think uninteresting
-- the reason of my doing so, is that in case
fortune should ever send me or any of my friends to this part of the World
where I may chance to have the management of the
Journey I may not be at a loss -- indeed if I was to
travel to Egypt I should continue to make the most minute
observations. -- Here we had, a Brick floor in the eating Room
but no Beds, -- soon after we got into this Town there was a
Storm of Thunder & Lightning & heavy Rain -- I never heard
any thing more awful than one clap -- & the Servant told
us there was a Ball of fire seen to fall in the Inn Yard
-- Courtray is Subject to the House of Austria -- Situated
on the River Lys in the Austrian Netherlands -- 14 Miles East of
Ypres -- 23 Miles South West of Ghent -- left Courtray after Dinner
changed Horses at Vive St. Eloy -- again at Betghent
& got to Ghent or Gand by five o'Clock -- a very large & strongly
fortified Town -- we lodged at the Hotel St. Sebastian
Mr Busso -- on the Place de Parade -- a very large House
remarkable good Beds -- which are all in the eating Rooms
-- the best attendants since we left Calais -- the Master
always ready & attentive himself -- the Rooms very
large -- those on the ground floor chiefly Brick floors
covered with ragged fine Tapestry -- a large Glass Lustre
hanging in the Middle of the Room -- High Canopy Silk beds &
a Fire Place reaching from one side of the Room to the
Other like those in our worst Old Farm Houses in England --
those things I mention as striking in their inconsistency --
-- there was a most Elegant dinner ready for us at 6 Escalins
a Head 2 Courses -- & a large Dessert with Ices &c &c -- the
Supper almost equally good at 5 Escalins -- --
here we again met Lord Pomfret & family he was very Ill & not able to
leave his Room -- Lady Charlotte Fermor & her governess went with us to see
the Abbey of St. Piere -- I wish my dear I could transport
You thither -- for I fear my description will give You but a
poor Idea of what is in itself very great -- The Salle
à Manger the finest I ever saw -- the Ceiling painted in a masterly
manner by Simon (a painter now living at Brussels)
it is painted upon Linen -- & they told us it was finished in
47 days -- this expedition is to me very astonishing for the
Room in 300 feet long -- the sides of this Room are covered
with beautiful Landscapes painted by Artois a Man now
living -- but I could not learn his place of residence -- it was
near the Abbè's dinner time & their tables were laid ready
I believe these good People live in a very different
Style from their Brothers the poor Monks -- for a most
Savoury smell of made dishes & ragouts exhaled on all
sides -- we were obliged to give place to them & left this
room sooner than we wished -- The Abbè de St. Piere
is Comte de Flandre, there are only 32 Abbès enjoy
this Magnificent residence -- from this Room we went
to the Library which in 97 feet Long the sides of which filled
with Books -- which were in the most regular order -- there
were some partitions which had open wire doors locked
up over which was written Hell or purgatory -- I forget which
these were filled with those Books not proper to be read
-- I believed they contained immodest, Deistical & controversial
Books -- I was not a little surprised to see
a large Old Bible which from the largeness of the Letter
caught my Eye in passing -- we enquired why that
Book was placed there, & they told us it was a bad Edition
-- Over the Doors in the Library were paintings in
Clair-obscur which had a most astonishing Effect
for till I was told, I actually took them for carved
figures -- & after an examination one can hardly
be persuaded that the figures are not Substantial
-- they were painted by one Girard who lives
at Antwerp -- The Chapel or Church belonging &
which forms one part of this Building -- is Elegant &
rich to a great degree & is likewise excessively
neat -- the High Altar all Solid Silver the Candles
sticks of which there are a great number above 6 feet high -- the Lamps
&c. of the same metal. --
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: Journal-letter from Mary Hamilton to Ann Litchfield
Shelfmark: HAM/1/8/7/23
Correspondence Details
Sender: Mary Hamilton
Place sent: unknown
Addressee: Ann Litchfield
Place received: unknown
Date sent: between 4 August 1776 and 23 October 1776
notBefore 4 August 1776 (precision: high)
notAfter 23 October 1776 (precision: medium)
Letter Description
Summary: Journal-letter from Mary Hamilton to Ann Litchfield. It concerns a story she
had been told of a young woman being kept prisoner and whose lover
thought her dead, then killed himself. This was said to have happened
only two years ago. She writes of her travels in France and of their
being plenty of food. Hamilton writes that although that part of the
World had 'no Farm act', there was still enough food for all. She
continues her letter with descriptions of the places she visits and
includes a description of the style of dress of the people.
Previously catalogued as two separate items, HAM/1/8/7/23 and HAM/1/8/7/24.
Original reference Nos. 3 and 4.
Length: 2 sheets, 1958 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: Tino Oudesluijs, editorial team (completed 21 April 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: 25 April 2022