Letter to <persName ref="#Haydon">[B. R. Haydon]</persName>, November 4, 1820. Mary Russell Mitford Eric Hood Mary Russell Mitford Society: Digital Mitford Project University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg Elisa Beshero-Bondar Transcription and coding by Eric Hood Date last checked: 2014-06-02. Proofing and corrections by Kellie Donovan-Condron Elisa Beshero-Bondar Lisa M. Wilson First digital edition in TEI, date: 1 July 2013. P5. Digital Mitford: The Mary Russell Mitford Archive Greensburg, PA, USA 2013

Reproduced by courtesy of the Reading Central Library.

Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License Digital Mitford Letters: The Mary Russell Mitford Archive Reading Central Library The letters of Mary Russell Mitford, vol. 4, 1819-1823 qB/TU/MIT Vol. 4 Horizon No.: 1361550 ff. 421 Letter from Mary Russell Mitford to [B. R. Haydon], November 4th 1820.

Paper. Letter is written on a single octavo sheet folded in half.

 Letter incomplete. No address leaf, envelope, or postmark.

Missing seal.

 Someone, apparently other than Mitford, perhaps cataloging letters and describing them. An unknown person, presumably not Mitford, who wrote what appears to be an illegible name at the top of this letter, followed by Mitford's initials.

Mitford’s spelling and punctuation are retained. Where Mitford’s spelling and hyphenation of words deviates from the standard, in order to facilitate searching we are using the TEI elements “choice,” “sic,” and “reg” to encode both Mitford’s spelling and the regular international standard of Oxford English spelling, following the first listed spelling in the Oxford English Dictionary. The long s and ligatured forms are not encoded.
20 Nov. 4th 1820. Three Mile Cross My dear Sir

The puppy is arrived & will be taken great care of--What a beauty it is! Papa says he never saw one more promising.--Daphne has not yet been tried--partly because my Father has been much engaged lately & has had little coursing--but chiefly I really believe because he thinks her delicate & is so afraid of injuring her. She shall be tried soon though--for I will take her coursing myself. In the meantime we walk out together every day, & I tell her your messages, & exhort her to earn her collar. I do think Daphne has sense enough to understand that it is a high honour to belong to Mr. Haydon. By the by you have fallen into a very natural mistake for a young sportsman in fancying that killing the hare first is the criterion of excellence in a greyhound. It has very little to do with the matter--When a hare is put up before two dogs the one nearest to her generally turns her towards the other, who comes up & turns her back again--& so they go on if evenly matched for many minutes until at last the hare is exhausted & caught by either as it happens. Now the great proof of superior speed, is, to pass the nearest dog (which in technical terms is called a go by go-bye ) & take two turns together--& this is what I am sure Daphne will do by any greyhound of my acquaintaince acquaintance . I am afraid my explanation is not very clear--It seems to me that nobody could understand it that did not know the whole mystery beforehand--but if you wish to get a thorough insight into coursing look at the rules drawn up by the Duke of Norfolk in Queen Elizabeth's day which you will find in Daniell's Rural Sports. They are the authority to all Coursers to this hour.

And your picture is really going to Edinburgh! What an answer to Blackwood's Magazine! Mitford refers to Haydon's painting, Christ's Entry Into Jerusalem which he exhibited in Edinburgh in December 1820. See Haydon's letter to George Beaumont of 26 December 1820 in Benjamin Robert Haydon: Correspondence and Table-Talk 1 of 2 350 . The mention of Blackwood's likely recalls the August 1818 issue in which Haydon was attacked by the anonymous Z. who had been lambasting the Hunt and Keats circle as the Cockney School. The August 1818 article had described Haydon as that clever, but most affected artist, who as little resembles Raphael in genius as he does in person, not-withstanding the foppery of having his hair curled over his shoulders in the old Italian fashion. Will the Scotch have taste enough to find out its exquisite beauty? I hope they will--for I have a sneaking kindness for the Countrymen of Hume & Smollett & Burns & Scott & Wilkie--in spite of their sins--& in spite of our being Borderers on the English side. My Father had an AuntThis aunt of George Mitford's has not yet been identified. who bred him up & with whom I liked to spend a good deal of my time whose national prejudice against her Scottish neighbors realised all that has been told of the old border hatreds. She could not bear a Scotchman in her sight--nor one who had a drop of Scotch blood in his veins. Oh how she would have gloried in such a Champion as you! Miss James is just such another--albeit unused to the hating mood--she quite detests them. I had a letter from her the other day, & she expressed very strongly her regret at missing you--I can well believe that poor Richmond looked like a faded beauty. There is no place that requires so much fine weather, bright sunshine, blue sky, & white robed ladies, as Richmond. For Richmond, charming place as it is, with its rosy gardens & its brimmming river is not that fresh homely delightful thing the Country. It is rather a holiday spot for ladies & gentleman where they lead a happy out-of-door life like the gay folks in Watteau's pictures & have nothing to do with the work a day world. But I should have thought the view from the hill would have been improved by the rich tints of Autumn which would break the uniformity of those heavy masses of foliage--since to confess the truth I have often been tempted to agree with the American criticism & to think the view wanted clearing. Nevertheless it is a charming place--full of quiet elegance--& of Miss James--its greatest attraction in my eyes.I am hoping & expecting to see her here--She threatens not to come--but she cannot have the heart to disappoint me.

Ever yours, MRM.The last word of the letter, together with the closer and signature are written across the top of the letter's first page. Address leaf is missing.