| Title: | Stewart, Frances to Beaufort, Louisa, 1861 |
|---|---|
| ID | 4769 |
| Collection | Revisiting Our Forest Home, The immigrant letters of Frances Stewart [J. L. Aoki] |
| File | stewart/51 |
| Year | 1861 |
| Sender | Stewart, Frances |
| Sender Gender | female |
| Sender Occupation | housewife |
| Sender Religion | unknown |
| Origin | Douro Township, Newcsatle District, Upper Canada |
| Destination | Ireland |
| Recipient | Beaufort, Louisa |
| Recipient Gender | female |
| Relationship | friends |
| Source | |
| Archive | |
| Doc. No. | |
| Date | |
| Partial Date | |
| Doc. Type | |
| Log | unknown |
| Word Count | 366 |
| Genre | anecdote |
| Note | |
| Transcript | 1861: August 6 To Louisa Beaufort, Ireland Tuesday Night 12 oclock 6 Aug't 1861 My dearest Louisa Though so late I must add a few lines to tell you a little incident which took place lately. Kate who is passionately fond of flowers & gardening took me one evening last month to a nursery near Peterboro to see the varieties of Roses & Peonies &c all in bloom. So we walked and wandered about to our hearts content & examined all the Fuschias & other plants in the houses & were just coming away when the old gardener said, Oh Mrs. Brown, come here & I will give you a nice flower that smells delightful. So he took us to a little bushy shrub & plucked off some dark colored flowers which certainly did smell "delightful" & I saw it was the old Pimento or allspice tree you used to have at Collon & I had never seen one since those dear old days. So I said I had not seen one of them for 50 years nearly!! & that I saw it in Ireland. And were you ever in Ireland? said he. I said yes, I had been. Did you ever know a place called Dundalk, said he? Oh yes, said I, did you ever hear of a place called Collon for it was there I last saw the Allspice shrub. Well now, said the old money, sure, thats where I lived! & served my time in Lord Oriel's gardens under one John Rourke! Did you ever hear of Lord Oriel? Oh yes, said I, I once knew him & have often been in his gardens & have seen Rourke too. So the poor old man seemed quite astonished that I had seen or heard of "John Rourke" and no doubt I do remember him well & you may suppose how many old recollections came to my mind from the poor old Allspice tree & old Rourke. But I must go to bed. It has struck One & I am nearly blind. My pen is bad & my hand painful from rheumatism but my heart love with you dear Louisa. Your affect' old F. Stewart |
