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Address:
Major Birtwhistle
32nd Regiment
Skipton
Yorkshire
Gatehouse
27th Feby 1839
My Dear Sir,
I am this morning in receipt of your much
esteemed favour of the 24th instant and
your two other favors from
Canada which you allude to were also duly received and the only apology for my not writing you to that
part of the
world was because I had nothing
particular to communicate to
you, and my knowledge that you were weekly getting the Dumfries Courier in which the occurrences that
could at all be interesting
to you as regards local news are more circumstantially described than could be done in the compass
of even a regular series of letters
incurring postage.
Your commission as regards Dundeuch shall
be immediately attended to,
and from that short time which I have had to consider as regards a proper and correct valuation of what the annual rent should be I think to obtain
that
through the knowledge and skill of Mr
Ramage and whom I may
probably accompany when he goes there in order to form an estimate of its value; the last time that I
was at Dundeuch was in 1810
when I accompanied you Uncle Robert
to it and over it all, and I remember that it was then estimated to be worth £150" P. annum
though I am not sure but it
was afterwards let for more than that sum.
There is a Land Surveyor who resides here
and whom I will get to go up
and measure and make a plan of it,
and when the same is completed I will as you desire send to Mr Robinson of Skipton.
I am
sorry that we are not to have the pleasure of
seeing you here at this time for I have been expecting you to pop in upon us for sometime past
from what you said to Thomas
when he had the pleasure of meeting you in Liverpool, and
who regretted he could have so little of your company there.
I
will have occasion to be in both Bradford and Leeds about the middle of April, and if you
propose to sojourn in Skipton till about
that time I would arrange to
go a week or two sooner on purpose to go over to Skipton and see you. I should like exceedingly
to spend a week with you at
Skipton to talk over your family matters and to see the place where your father and the other
members of your grandfathers family
figured with such high reputation
and honour there would be much to enjoy and feast the mind with were I to be there with you and to
tell and be told incidents
within my recollection. It is 36 years next month since I went from this to Skipton with the
remains of your late Aunt
Mrs. Thomas B. who was one of the best ladies that ever lived, she requested upon her death bed that I
should accompany her remains to the place of interment and which your
Uncle Alex. complied with by taking me
with him on that mournful
occasion.
I had
a letter from Avranches from your Cousin in the month
of December, and my only reason for my not having written him since is just the apology
which I have given you that
he gets the Dumfries paper which is far better than any letter unless there be business in
the question; I am truly
happy to hear from you that you have had advice so recently that they still continue all well,
please make my best respects
when you get there. I expect to be in Kirkudbt. next week when I shall let all your friends know
what you have stated and that
you are well, they will be like me greatly disappointed that you do not find it convenient to come
and see us at this time.
You
would have observed by the Dumfries Courier that the
dreadful hurricane of the 7th Octo. had done very great damage in Gatehouse as well as other places
and I am sorry to say that
your property suffered very severely, some of the houses entirely unroofed, and not one of them
but what suffered more or
less. I have had slaters at them ever since and and has not half finished the repairs, indeed some of the worst
is un-
repairable, and it puzzles me what to do
for the best. I cannot say as
yet what the expence will be but I fear it will not be short of £70" & when done but imperfectly. I did
not trouble Mr Alcock with writing
him about it but sent him a Dumfries Courier. When you are in Skiptn you should speaking seriously to Mr
Alcock about selling the
Houses. I have often written him the ruinous state they are in, the
poverty of the tenants, and the impossibility of getting
the rents, and I find it always
the longer the worse.
I may
take this opportunity to acquaint you that Mr Stewart
leaves Barharrow at Whitsunday first and it was consequently recently to let. I was an offerer for
it for my son James and was
flattered by Mr W. Gordon fro sometime that I would get a preference, and I
had written also to Mr Alcock for his friendship in the matter who returned
me a very polite reply, and saying that he should be glad that my son would get it; but Mr Gordon in the end wrote
me that it was let to a Mr
Gifford, and without giving me a chance to had in a second offer as he had promised.
I
dined with D. Credie and Ramage yester day, and we,
as an absent friend remembered you over our cup of punch; and your letter arrived opportunely today.
I am
My Dear Sir Yours always very truly
Ja
Kirpatrick
P.S. I had a letter from brother Robert a
day or two go and him and family
were well. I had thought if you came to
Gatehouse from Ireland
you would
have stopped a few days with him in
passing.
P.S. When you have finished reading the
Dumfries Courier you might
put a new cover on it and send it to
Avranches Dep. La Manche by
which means one paper would do you both.
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