Ford’s article on “Cob Walls” well illustrates his literary methods. The mass of miscellaneous learning, which is concentrated on an unpromising subject, is so humorously handled as to be entirely free from pedantry. He traces the use of the material from the time of Cain to that of modern peasants in France and Spain, from the walls of Babylon to the white villages of Andalusia. Finally he hazards the bold speculation that it was introduced into the West of England by Phœnician traders. But, interspersed with doubtful theories and historical and classical lore, are clear directions and practical rules for the composition and employment of a material which is almost indestructible, if it is protected from damp above and below, or has, to quote the Devonshire saying, a good hat and a pair of shoes.
Encouraged by his success, Ford was already engaged on other literary subjects, when his work was interrupted by the death of his wife, who had long been in delicate health. The news is communicated to Addington in the following letter:—
Monday [15 May, 1837], 123, Park Street [London].
You will be sadly shocked with the melancholy import of this letter; indeed I am so overwhelmed that I hardly know how to express myself. My poor wife died yesterday morning! She, as you know, never was well, and latterly has suffered from excruciating headaches which deprived her entirely of rest. Last Sunday week she was seized
Emery Walker Ph Sc.
Harriet Ford
first wife of Richard Ford
1830.