TO WILLIAM NICOL, ESQ.
[This visit to Auchtertyre produced that sweet lyric, beginning “Blythe, blythe and merry was she;” and the lady who inspired it was at his side, when he wrote this letter.]
Auchtertyre, Monday, June, 1787.
My dear Sir,
I find myself very comfortable here, neither oppressed by ceremony nor mortified by neglect. Lady Augusta is a most engaging woman, and very happy in her family, which makes one’s outgoings and incomings very agreeable. I called at Mr. Ramsay’s of Auchtertyre as I came up the country, and am so delighted with him that I shall certainly accept of his invitation to spend a day or two with him as I return. I leave this place on Wednesday or Thursday.
Make my kind compliments to Mr. and Mrs. Cruikshank and Mrs. Nicol, if she is returned.
I am ever, dear Sir,
Your deeply indebted,
R. B.