My Dear Brother
I received yours’ and Charles’s letter of y^e
10^th July very safe, as I hope you did my last directed to
Bourdeaux. I am glad to hear you find your situation there
pleasant, I feared it would have been too hot, in England
we suffered much from heat & drought til the end of june.
Little Hay (except seeds) made this year, we amongst others
have not yet mowed but let it stand till y^e Autumn to
see if it would increase. There being a good deal of
old hay in the Kingdom has kept down the price, and I
have not heard of any except in particular places sold
for more than from four to five pounds; {^^{a ton & dear enough too you will say}} nothing to what
it must now be with you. We had no rain till the
seventh of June nor from thence {^^again} till the middle of July
after that frequent showers & on the seventh of august a settled
thorough days rain, since which it has hardly ceased till
to day, very bad harvest weather the wheat and barly much
damaged, & if it does not now continue fair, we must expect
a scarce year. I have not heard any thing from Witham
or Datchford, so conclude all well. You have possibly
heard of the fate of M^r Pitts’ propositions in Ireland, they
were rejected and himself scouted; what will be the
consequence no one can foresee, but it is generally
supposed the Duke of Rutland must come home.
About a month ago we were agreeably surprised by a visit

[f.110]

of m^r and M^rs Ingliss, she looks much improved in her constitution
by matrimony, & he seems to be a very good humoured sensible
man, they made but a short stay which we all much regretted
Since they left us, the Craven’s have spent a fortnight here
the Girls are now grown women, the eldest very attractive
and much like her mother, the second more quiet and
steady, and the boy one of the most amiable, engaging
youths I ever met with. M^rs Johnson was last week
taken very ill and we were in some degree allarmed for
her, but it fortunately ended in a miscarr{^^a}ge, she
still continues very low and weak, but as there is no
danger of fever or any other serious consequences, I
trust she will shortly recover her usual share of good
health & spirits again. Our Races ended yesterday, the
meeting was very poorly attended, & the weather uncommonly bad
I never was more thoroughly soaked in my life than in coming
home from the course. We have lately been much amused
xxx, with a sale of Lady Boughton’s goods at Lawford Hall
Her Ladyship attended in person till she was hooked away by
the croud who scouted her very thoroughly, While she staid in
the house she had a faithful emissary to bring her an
account how the lotts {^^{went of}} & people whose curiosity led
them to peep through the key hole; declare she shed tears
whenever a lot was ill sold. Palmer’s plan of the
mail coaches is now established throughout the kingdom
and the expedition they travel with is astonishing, we

[f.111]

have the evening papers {^^here} the morning after they are
printed. Sir Thomas Shipwoth xxx has at length after
much consideration determined to take unto him a
wife, Miss Shirley a most amiable woman is the Lady
he has fixed upon, and we are vastly happy in y^e thoughts
of having so agreeable a neighbour. Reports here say
much of the great scarcity of food for the cattle in France,
and Parliament has passed an act to prevent y^e exportation
of hay, pray say in how great a degree this is true, and what
price corn & hay bear with you. It has been a bad y[damaged]
y^e graziers, they bought in lean cattle dear in the [damaged]
the summer the scarcity of grass obliged them to send [damaged]
possibly could to y^e Butcher’s, Smithfield was overstocked and
consequently the markets low, and from the great scarcity of
winter keep they will have no opportunity of buying in any
quantity of stock to help themselves the next winter.
We expect the Wadhulls and my sister the weeks after
next to spend a few days with us at Combe, I was sorry
to learn from her than M^r Tryon had left your party &
returned to England, as he seemed agreeable, his absence must
be a loss to your party. I much wanted to know what
Charles thinks of the French men and the French women,
how he comes on in the campane, how he dresses &c &c
of which neither of you say syllable. We have been

[f.111v]

much plagued with bad fevers in this neighbourhood all our
servants have had them which has distressed us greatly, but ourselves
& the children have hitherto escaped them & are all very well.

[change of orientation]

P.S. Our papers give an account of a terrible hail storm at
Bourdeaux that happened the second of August, in which they describe
the largest hail-storms to have been as big as hens eggs & the smaller
the size of hazel nuts. How much of it is true?

[change of orientation]

a Monsieur
Mons:^r Johnson
Chez Mess^rs Skinner & Fenwick
a Bourdeaux
France

[change of orientation]

Adieu my dear Brother, M<sup>rs,/sup> Craven and Mrs Johnson write
in best wishes to yourself and Charles with
your faithful & affectionate
RA Johnson

Combe Abbey
28th Augst: 1785
An excellent year for game more Partidges & Pheasants than I
have the heard of for many seasons past.</sup>

My Dear Brother
I received yours’ and Charles’s letter of y^e
10^th July very safe, as I hope you did my last directed to
Bourdeaux. I am glad to hear you find your situation there
pleasant, I feared it would have been too hot, in England
we suffered much from heat & drought til the end of june.
Little Hay (except seeds) made this year, we amongst others
have not yet mowed but let it stand till y^e Autumn to
see if it would increase. There being a good deal of
old hay in the Kingdom has kept down the price, and I
have not heard of any except in particular places sold
for more than from four to five pounds; {^^{a ton & dear enough too you will say}} nothing to what
it must now be with you. We had no rain till the
seventh of June nor from thence {^^again} till the middle of July
after that frequent showers & on the seventh of august a settled
thorough days rain, since which it has hardly ceased till
to day, very bad harvest weather the wheat and barly much
damaged, & if it does not now continue fair, we must expect
a scarce year. I have not heard any thing from Witham
or Datchford, so conclude all well. You have possibly
heard of the fate of M^r Pitts’ propositions in Ireland, they
were rejected and himself scouted; what will be the
consequence no one can foresee, but it is generally
supposed the Duke of Rutland must come home.
About a month ago we were agreeably surprised by a visit

[f.110]

of m^r and M^rs Ingliss, she looks much improved in her constitution
by matrimony, & he seems to be a very good humoured sensible
man, they made but a short stay which we all much regretted
Since they left us, the Craven’s have spent a fortnight here
the Girls are now grown women, the eldest very attractive
and much like her mother, the second more quiet and
steady, and the boy one of the most amiable, engaging
youths I ever met with. M^rs Johnson was last week
taken very ill and we were in some degree alarmed for
her, but it fortunately ended in a miscarr{^^a}ge, she
still continues very low and weak, but as there is no
danger of fever or any other serious consequences, I
trust she will shortly recover her usual share of good
health & spirits again. Our Races ended yesterday, the
meeting was very poorly attended, & the weather uncommonly bad
I never was more thoroughly soaked in my life than in coming
home from the course. We have lately been much amused
xxx, with a sale of Lady Boughton’s goods at Lawford Hall
Her Ladyship attended in person till she was hooked away by
the crowd who scouted her very thoroughly, While she staid in
the house she had a faithful emissary to bring her an
account how the lotts {^^{went of}} & people whose curiosity led
them to peep through the key hole; declare she shed tears
whenever a lot was ill sold. Palmer’s plan of the
mail coaches is now established throughout the kingdom
and the expedition they travel with is astonishing, we

[f.111]

have the evening papers {^^here} the morning after they are
printed. Sir Thomas Shipwoth xxx has at length after
much consideration determined to take unto him a
wife, Miss Shirley a most amiable woman is the Lady
he has fixed upon, and we are vastly happy in y^e thoughts
of having so agreeable a neighbour. Reports here say
much of the great scarcity of food for the cattle in France,
and Parliament has passed an act to prevent y^e exportation
of hay, pray say in how great a degree this is true, and what
price corn & hay bear with you. It has been a bad y[damaged]
y^e graziers, they bought in lean cattle dear in the [damaged]
the summer the scarcity of grass obliged them to send [damaged]
possibly could to y^e Butcher’s, Smithfield was overstocked and
consequently the markets low, and from the great scarcity of
winter keep they will have no opportunity of buying in any
quantity of stock to help themselves the next winter.
We expect the Wadhulls and my sister the weeks after
next to spend a few days with us at Combe, I was sorry
to learn from her than M^r Tryon had left your party &
returned to England, as he seemed agreeable, his absence must
be a loss to your party. I much wanted to know what
Charles thinks of the French men and the French women,
how he comes on in the campane, how he dresses &c &c
of which neither of you say syllable. We have been

[f.111v]

much plagued with bad fevers in this neighbourhood all our
servants have had them which has distressed us greatly, but ourselves
& the children have hitherto escaped them & are all very well.

[change of orientation]

P.S. Our papers give an account of a terrible hail storm at
Bourdeaux that happened the second of August, in which they describe
the largest hail-storms to have been as big as hens eggs & the smaller
the size of hazel nuts. How much of it is true?

[change of orientation]

a Monsieur
Mons:^r Johnson
Chez Mess^rs Skinner & Fenwick
a Bourdeaux
France

[change of orientation]

Adieu my dear Brother, M<sup>rs,/sup> Craven and Mrs Johnson write
in best wishes to yourself and Charles with
your faithful & affectionate
RA Johnson

Combe Abbey
28th Augst: 1785
An excellent year for game more Partidges & Pheasants than I
have the heard of for many seasons past.</sup>