July 24, 1849

Frances Rolleston had been living in Keswick of the Lakes District for a year. Already she knew the names of all the mountains. Even some long time residents asked her for information. She wrote in this letter that she amused herself by talking to tourists, telling them not only the names of the mountains, but the stories associated with them as well.

One such story was that of the mountaineer Mary Green. Mary at age seventy-seven had never been in a church nor heard the name of Christ except as a curse. But at this advanced age she began to think that she had heard of having a soul. The missionary from Keswick was able to lead her to faith in Christ, and she died soon after, happy. 

IN 1859 Frances published a book called Lights and Shadows on the Sunny Side of Skiddaw. It is a guide to the Lakes District, written in verse—one I would  like to have. A copy is in the British Library, but want to find one I can buy. I saw one when I was in England in 2002(?), and if I had known how hard it was to find one later, I would have bought it then.

July 18, 1848

FR has just received a magazine in which an article has caught her attention. She immediately writes a rebuttal and encloses it in a letter to her friend Cary Dent.

"It is floundering for the want of Hebrew," she writes, "so do not lose a post in sending the enclosed to Mr. ___." In other words, get this in the mail to him immediately. 

I suppose Mr. ___ is the editor of the magazine. Perhaps Cary had clout with him, or perhaps FR just wanted her to have the benefit of reading the correction first.

FR did engage in a number of debates by means of journals and newspapers. In this case, she is not content to inform the editor of the error, she comments further: 

"It is a pity to waste so much good paper and printing on the conjectures of a blind man about light, for such must always be, tampering with translations without knowing the original."

FR, as we already know, was enthusiastic about Hebrew, having read and studied it since the age of 14. Reading her Hebrew Bible was a daily habit.

July 9, 1835

FR is installed at Watnall Cottage. She would like to have her London friend S____ come for a visit, but can't have the cruelty to ask her. Why? Because FR's living situation is just what Londoners hate.

Ivy and roses cover beautiful Watnall Cottage which stands surrounded by hawthorns in bloom. Ashes, hollies and hawthorns top a hill on which sheep graze. The gorse is in bloom and a stream chatters at the bottom of the hill. Opposite is a church with the distant hills of Matlock behind it. There's no neighbor within a mile and "draughts enough to blow you out of window, so fresh, so wild, so airy, so lonely, so every thing that I love and Londoners hate." It is all "So sweet, so soothing! but S___ would be miserable."