John Blackwood to GE, Thornhill, 25 December 1859
Title
John Blackwood to GE, Thornhill, 25 December 1859
Title
John Blackwood to GE, Thornhill, 25 December 1859
Sender
John Blackwood
Recipient
George Eliot
Date(s)
- 1859-12-25
Place
Thornhill
Letter Content
John Blackwood to GE, Thornhill, 25 December 1859
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Eccles | Thornhill | Dumfries
Christmas Day | 1859.
My Dear Madam
Your welcome note caught me as I passed through London. I am extremely glad to hear that you have abandoned the idea of publication in shilling numbers, and you will never I am sure have occasion to repent your acceptance of our offer. I must not write upon business matters today but will do so when I get home which I hope to do on Wednesday or Thursday at furthest.
This district is the very headquarters of the Scottish national game of curling, that is swinging huge stones at a mark about forty yards along the ice. Yesterday we had a glorious day and I wish you had been there to describe the scene. It was a lovely Loch among the snow clad hills where about sixty as hardy looking fellows as one could wish to have at one's back in a row began to muster immediately after breakfast. They were of all ranks from the laird my host 439 to the humblest farm labourer and all on a footing of the most perfect freedom and equality. Looking at the men lounging about before business began you might have thought them rather a lazy apathetic set of fellows, as unimpressionable as their hard rugged pastures. But when the play began my apathetic friends would have delighted you. With voices hoarse with emotion they rushed frantically about the ice watching their own stone or their adversary's as it slipped along to the goal, and the shouts that arose when a really first rate shot was made might have been heard miles off. I have seen plently of hustle and excitement among the French but their ebullitions are like those of children compared with the fierce enthusiasm of my friends yesterday.
Wishing Lewes and you a pleasant Christmas and much happiness, Believe me
always yours truly
John Blackwood.
Mrs. Lewes.
Look at the Press this week and you will see our friends of the Saturday Review as pleasantly flayed as you could wish for their insolent attack upon Dickens. 440
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Eccles | Thornhill | Dumfries
Christmas Day | 1859.
My Dear Madam
Your welcome note caught me as I passed through London. I am extremely glad to hear that you have abandoned the idea of publication in shilling numbers, and you will never I am sure have occasion to repent your acceptance of our offer. I must not write upon business matters today but will do so when I get home which I hope to do on Wednesday or Thursday at furthest.
This district is the very headquarters of the Scottish national game of curling, that is swinging huge stones at a mark about forty yards along the ice. Yesterday we had a glorious day and I wish you had been there to describe the scene. It was a lovely Loch among the snow clad hills where about sixty as hardy looking fellows as one could wish to have at one's back in a row began to muster immediately after breakfast. They were of all ranks from the laird my host 439 to the humblest farm labourer and all on a footing of the most perfect freedom and equality. Looking at the men lounging about before business began you might have thought them rather a lazy apathetic set of fellows, as unimpressionable as their hard rugged pastures. But when the play began my apathetic friends would have delighted you. With voices hoarse with emotion they rushed frantically about the ice watching their own stone or their adversary's as it slipped along to the goal, and the shouts that arose when a really first rate shot was made might have been heard miles off. I have seen plently of hustle and excitement among the French but their ebullitions are like those of children compared with the fierce enthusiasm of my friends yesterday.
Wishing Lewes and you a pleasant Christmas and much happiness, Believe me
always yours truly
John Blackwood.
Mrs. Lewes.
Look at the Press this week and you will see our friends of the Saturday Review as pleasantly flayed as you could wish for their insolent attack upon Dickens. 440
Signature
John Blackwood.
Citation
John Blackwood, John Blackwood to GE, Thornhill, 25 December 1859, Complete George Eliot Letters(2026), George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett. https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org, Accessed September 7, 2026. https://www.georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/95347