The Mary Hamilton Papers : Letter from Francis Napier, 8th Lord Napier, to Mary Hamilton

Napier, Francis Scott, 8th Lord

The Mary Hamilton Papers

<p style='text-align: justify;'>Letter from Francis Napier, 8th Lord Napier, to Mary Hamilton, describing a potential wife. Napier light-heartedly informs Hamilton that he will be in her part of the country shortly to be introduced to the seventeen-year-old Miss H. who he describes as having a fortune of £70,000, a house and park and a ‘face better than one in three you meet with’. He proposes to ‘make a very brisk attack’ and he believes that he will be successful as he writes the lady ‘wants a Title, Master wants her Cash’. He asks Hamilton, as a poet, to forward him some of her compositions that he can ‘warble’ to his ‘mate’ with a ‘proper portion of flame, Darts, Loves, Graces, cupids, sighs [...]’ and so on. Napier continues with examples of the types of poetry he has in mind. He intends to sing the verses to his prospective wife and as long as ‘her heart is not made of Marble’ he thinks she will ‘surrender’.</p>

Letter from Francis Napier, 8th Lord Napier, to Mary Hamilton (HAM/1/20/8)

Letter from Francis Napier, 8th Lord Napier, to Mary Hamilton, describing a potential wife. Napier light-heartedly informs Hamilton that he will be in her part of the country shortly to be introduced to the seventeen-year-old Miss H. who he describes as having a fortune of £70,000, a house and park and a ‘face better than one in three you meet with’. He proposes to ‘make a very brisk attack’ and he believes that he will be successful as he writes the lady ‘wants a Title, Master wants her Cash’. He asks Hamilton, as a poet, to forward him some of her compositions that he can ‘warble’ to his ‘mate’ with a ‘proper portion of flame, Darts, Loves, Graces, cupids, sighs [...]’ and so on. Napier continues with examples of the types of poetry he has in mind. He intends to sing the verses to his prospective wife and as long as ‘her heart is not made of Marble’ he thinks she will ‘surrender’.

Information about this document

Physical Location: John Rylands Research Institute and Library
Collection: Mary Hamilton Papers
Classmark: HAM/1/20/8
Title: Letter from Francis Napier, 8th Lord Napier, to Mary Hamilton
Language(s): English
Author(s): Napier, Francis Scott, 8th Lord
Origin Place: Aldenham
Date of Creation: 3 January 1779
Date of Sending: 3 January 1779
Recipient(s): Hamilton, Mary
Destination: London
Extent: 1 sheet; 403 words
Condition: Not stated.
Script:
Hand of writer of the main text, Francis Napier.
Project Information:
Editing supervised by David Denison and Nuria Yáñez-Bouza.
Acknowledgements:
Cataloguer: Crawley, Lisa
Cataloguer: Hodgson, John
Transliterator: Wallis, Christine (completed 2021-09-07)
Last Revised: 2021-12-03

First edited in the project 'Unlocking the Mary Hamilton Papers' (Hannah Barker, Sophie Coulombeau, David Denison, Tino Oudesluijs, Cassandra Ulph, Christine Wallis & Nuria Yáñez-Bouza, 2019-2023).

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Information about this document

Physical Location: John Rylands Research Institute and Library
Collection: Mary Hamilton Papers
Classmark: HAM/1/20/8
Title: Letter from Francis Napier, 8th Lord Napier, to Mary Hamilton
Language(s): English
Author(s): Napier, Francis Scott, 8th Lord
Origin Place: Aldenham
Date of Creation: 3 January 1779
Date of Sending: 3 January 1779
Recipient(s): Hamilton, Mary
Destination: London
Extent: 1 sheet; 403 words
Condition: Not stated.
Script:
Hand of writer of the main text, Francis Napier.
Project Information:
Editing supervised by David Denison and Nuria Yáñez-Bouza.
Acknowledgements:
Cataloguer: Crawley, Lisa
Cataloguer: Hodgson, John
Transliterator: Wallis, Christine (completed 2021-09-07)
Last Revised: 2021-12-03