Love Letters Between Lady Susan Hay and Lord James Ramsay 1835
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LOVE LETTERS BETWEEN LADY SUSAN HAY AND LORD JAMES RAMSAY 1835 Edited by Elizabeth Olson with an introduction by Fran Woodrow in association with The John Gray Centre, Haddington I II Contents Acknowledgements iv Editing v Maps vi Family Trees viii Illustrations xvi Introduction xxx Letters 1 Appendix 102 Further Reading 103 III Acknowledgements he editor and the EERC are grateful to East Lothian Council Archives Tand Ludovic Broun-Lindsay for permission to reproduce copies of the correspondence. Thanks are due in particular to Fran Woodrow of the John Gray Centre not only for providing the editor with electronic copies of the original letters and generously supplying transcriptions she had previously made of some of them, but also for writing the introduction. IV Editing he letters have been presented in a standardised format. Headers provide Tthe name of the sender and of the recipient, and a number by which each letter can be identified. The salutations and valedictions have been reproduced as they appear in the originals, but the dates when the letters were sent have been standardised and placed immediately after the headers. Due to the time it took for letters from England to reach Scotland, Lord James Ramsay had already sent Lady Susan Hay three before she joined the correspondence. This time lapse, and the fact that thereafter they started writing to each other on a more or less daily basis, makes it impossible to arrange the letters sensibly in order of reply. They have instead been arranged chronologically, with the number of the reply (where it can be identified) added to the notes appended to each letter. Anyone wishing to read the letters in order of reply without having to scroll back and forth through the document can do so by opening the document in two separate windows. It should be noted that not all of the letters have survived and that there are gaps in the correspondence, especially towards the end. The original spelling has been retained. Words that have been misspelled but are readily recognisable have not been annotated. Missing letters have been inserted in [ ] only when the meaning of the word would otherwise be unclear or hinder easy reading. Sic has been used sparingly, mainly to indicate irregular or archaic spellings that might otherwise be mistaken for transcribing or typographical errors. For misspelled words that are not immediately obvious, or that might be confused with another word, the correct form is provided in [i.e. ]. Where necessary for sense, missing words are supplied in [ ]. In addition, superior numbers and letters have been lowered, and abbreviated words (including ampersands) have been silently expanded. In the interests of clarity and readability, punctuation throughout the current edition has been modernised and further punctuation introduced. Paragraphing has also been introduced. V Map 1. A map of the county of Haddington by John Thomson, 1822. Yester House and Coalstoun (Colstoun) House have been circled. (Reproduced courtesy of the National Library of Scotland. http://maps.nls.uk) VI Map 2. A detail from Fowler’s Map of the County of Haddington, 1844. Yester House and Coalston (Colstoun) House have been circled. Other places mentioned in the letters, such as Eaglescairnie, Gifford and Lennoxlove, can also be seen. (Reproduced courtesy of the National Library of Scotland. http://maps.nls.uk) VII George Ramsay (1730-1787) 8th earl of Dalhousie m. Elizabeth Glen Elizabeth (1769-1848) George (1770-1838) William (1771-1852) James (1772-1837) John (1775-1842) Mary (1780-1866) m. Thomas Moncreiffe m. Christian Broun m. Patricia Gordon m. Mary Delise m. James Hay David (1788-1830) George (1806-1832) Patricia (1796-1859) William (1804-1871) Elizabeth (1802-1828) Georgina (1790-1842) Charles (1807-1817) Elizabeth (1797-1852) George (1806-1880) William (b.1805) m. George Bridgeman 2nd James (1812-1860) Lusinda (1799-1806) James (1808-1868) Helen (b.1806) earl of Bradford Mary (1799-1864) John (1811-1856) Mary (1807-1886) Fox (1801-1874) Anne (1815-1891) Anne (1809-1884) Georgiana (1803-1833) Henry (1816-1893) Georgiana (b.1810) Christian (1805-1888) Robert (1820-1897) Lucy (b.1813) Lauderdale (1807-1854) Jemima (b.1816) William (1809-1859) James (b.1817) Catherine (1819-1915) Caroline (1820-1911) Orlando (1819-1898) George (1823-1895) Georgiana (1825-1843) Lucy (1826-1858) Charlotte (1827-1858) Mary (1830-1889) John (1831-1897) Table 1. A simplified family tree showing the descendants of George Ramsay, 8th earl of Dalhousie. VIII IX George Hay (1753-1804) 7th marquis of Tweeddale m. Hannah Maitland George (1787-1876) James (1788-1862) Dorothea (1789-1875) Hannah (1790-1878) Elizabeth (1792-1868) John (1793-1851) Jane (1796-1879) Julia (1797-1835) Edward (1799-1862) Thomas (1800-1890) m. Susan Montagu m. Elizabeth Forbes m. John Henry Ley m. John Sharp m. James Hope-Vere m. Mary Cameron m. John Cam m. Harriet Kinloch Hobhouse Susan (1817-1853) James (1815-1883) Frances (d.1885) Hannah (1816-1868) Julia (1829-1849) Hannah (1818-1887) Louis (1820-1890) Sophia (1818-1878) Charlotte (1831-1914) Louisa (1819-1882) Jane (1820-1890) Sophia (1832-1916) Elizabeth (1820-1904) Georgina (1821-1894) George (1822-1862) Harriet (1822-1883) Millicent (1823-1826) William (1824-1872) Arthur (1824-1878) Henrietta (1828-1863) William (1826-1911) Charles (1828-1900) John (1827-1916) Jane (1830-1904) Julia (1831-1915) Charles (1833-1912) Frederick (1835-1912) Emily (1836-1924) Table 2. A simplified family tree of Lady Susan’s family, as descended from George Hay, 7th marquis of Tweeddale. His eldest daughter, Mary (1786-1860), has been omitted from the tree in the interests of space. X XI William Montagu (1771-1843) 5th duke of Manchester m. Susan Gordon Jane (1794-1815) Susan (1797-1870) George (1799-1855) William (1800-1842) Georgiana (1803-1892) Elizabeth (d.1857) Caroline (1804-1892) Emily (1806-1827) m. George Hay m. Millicent Sparrow m. Emily Dupré m. Evan Baillie m. Thomas Steele m. John Calcraft Susan (1817-1853) William (1823-1892) Emily (d.1848) Evan (1824-1874) Thomas (1820-1890) Georgiana (d.1915) Hannah (1818-1887) Robert (1825-1902) Louisa (d.1901) William (1827-1902) Susan (1833-1892) Louisa (1819-1882) Frederick (1828-1854) Francis (d.1854) Caroline (d.1913) William (1834-1901) Elizabeth (1820-1904) Olivia (1830-1922) Georgiana (d.1918) Henry (1836-1896) George (1822-1862) Mary (d.1923) Millicent (1823-1826) Arthur (1824-1878) William (1826-1911) John (1827-1916) Jane (1830-1904) Julia (1831-1915) Charles (1833-1912) Frederick (1835-1912) Emily (1836-1924) Table 3. A simplified family tree of Lady Susan’s family, as descended from William Montagu, 5th duke of Manchester. XII XIII Alexander Gordon (1743-1827) 4th duke of Gordon m. Jane Maxwell Charlotte (1768-1842) George (1770-1836) Madelaine (1772-1847) Susan (1774-1828) Louisa (1776-1850) Georgiana (1781-1853) Alexander (1785-1808) m. Charles Lennoxi m. Robert Sinclair m. William Montaguii m. Charles Cornwallisiii m. John Russelliv Charles (1791-1860) John (1790-1863) Susan (1797-1870) Jane (1798-1856) Wriothesley (1804-1886) Mary (1792-1847) m. George Hay Louisa (1801-1872) Edward (1805-1887) John (1793-1873) Jemima (1803-1856) Charles (1807-1894) Sarah (1794-1873) Mary (1804-1872) Francis (1808-1869) Georgiana (1795-1891) Elizabeth (1807-1874) Georgiana (1809-1867) Henry (1797-1812) Louisa (1812-1905) William (1799-1881) Henry (1816-1842) Jane (1800-1861) Cosmo (1817-1875) Frederick (1801-1829) Alexander (1821-1907) Sussex (1802-1874) Susan (1817-1853) Rachel (1826-1898) Louisa (1803-1900) [see Table 2] Charlotte (1804-1833) Arthur (1806-1864) Sophia (1809-1902) i 4th duke of Lennox and 4th duke of Richmond; ii 5th duke of Manchester; iii 2nd Marquess Cornwallis; iv 6th duke of Bedford. Table 4. A simplified family tree showing Lady Susan’s descent from Alexander Gordon, 4th duke of Gordon. It highlights the number of dukes and others of high aristocratic rank among her extended family, as she mentions in Letter 37. XIV XV Fig. 1 Lady Susan Hay. (From Baird, J G A, ed. Private Letters of the Marquess of Dalhousie, London, 1910) XVI Fig. 2 Lord James Broun Ramsay. (Reproduced courtesy of the National Galleries of Scotland) XVII Fig. 3 Lady Susan’s father, George Hay, 8th marquess of Tweeddale. (Reproduced courtesy of the National Galleries of Scotland) XVIII Fig. 4 Lord Ramsay’s father, George Ramsay, 9th earl of Dalhousie. (Reproduced courtesy of the National Gallery of Canada) XIX Fig. 5 Lord Ramsay’s mother, Christian Broun, countess of Dalhousie. (Reproduced courtesy of the National Galleries of Scotland) XX Fig. 6 Lord Ramsay dressed in the uniform of the Royal Company of Archers. (Reproduced courtesy of the National Galleries of Scotland) XXI Fig. 7 Lady Susan’s sister Elizabeth. (Reproduced courtesy of the National Galleries of Scotland) XXII Fig. 8 Members of the wider Dalhousie and Tweeddale families mentioned in the letters. Clockwise from top left: Lord John Hay; Fox Maule; John Cam Hobhouse; John Hay Mackenzie. (All reproduced courtesy of the National Galleries of Scotland) XXIII Fig. 9 Lord Ramsay’s friend James Robert Hope (‘Black Jem’). (Reproduced courtesy of the National Galleries of Scotland) Fig. 10 Lady Susan’s friend Lady Alicia Spottiswoode. (Reproduced courtesy of the National Galleries of Scotland) XXIV Fig. 11 A page from Lady Susan Hay’s letter of 7 November 1835 (Letter 16). Cross writing such as this was one way in which a correspondent could save money, as it not only economised on paper, but also reduced postage costs (which were calculated by the page). In this instance, however, Lady Susan admits that she was simply too lazy to find a new sheet of paper. XXV Fig. 12 A page from Lady Susan Hay’s letter of 9 November 1835 (Letter 20), showing the message written at the top of the page by her brother, Lord Gifford.