Scotland, 1826, 1827, or both?
The destinations of the Ruskin family tours of
1826 and
1827 were established by
W. G. Collingwood in
Poems (1891);
and while the dates of those tours were revised, and the destinations refined, by subsequent editors and biographers, the broad assumptions have not been
challenged. Those assumptions rest, however, on confusing evidence in the
Red Books,
and it may be that evidence referring apparently to two separate northern journeys, of
1826 and of
1827, in fact refer
to a single tour of
1827.
Collingwood took as his first point of reference the poems
“On Scotland”
in
MS I,
and
“Glen of Glenfarg” (“Glen of Glenfarg thy beauteous rill”)
in
MS III.
The former, he declared, “record[s
Ruskinʼs] impressions received during a journey from
Scotland with his parents, after visiting his
aunt at
Perth”
in
1826. Specifically, he believed, the poem captured the return journey, given the poemʼs trope of changes: one
line “is no doubt a reminiscence of the
May sunshine in which they went northwards; for their start was usually made about the middle of May; and
[
Ruskin] contrasts the sunny anticipation of the arrival with the autumnal gloom of the departure”
(
Poems [4o, 1891],
1:xxii–xxiii;
Poems [8o, 1891], 1:ix). On the
strength of this interpretation,
Collingwood renamed this poem
“Farewell
to Scotland” (see
“To Scotland”: Title).
The latter portion of this interpretation, at the very least, has been disproved by
Van Akin Burd, who points out
that, in
May 1826,
John James Ruskin was on the road
beyond his
10 May birthday, as attested by his dated letters to
Margaret Ruskin extending through the end of the month.
Business had been lean that year, thus delaying a family holiday (
Burd, ed., Ruskin Family Letters,
137, 139 n. 1, 150 n. 5, 137).
Moreover, further upsetting the familyʼs routine, in
April and May 1826 they
coped with the consumptive decline and death of
Ruskinʼs
Perth cousin,
James Richardson, who had been living at
Herne Hill while working at
Ruskin, Telford, and Domecq.
By
April,
Jamesʼs health had declined so alarmingly that he returned to his family in
Perth, possibly escorted on this journey by
John James and
Margaret.
The youth died soon after his return, on
8 May, a few days before
John Jamesʼs birthday.
When
John James learned of his
nephewʼs death, he was traveling in the northwest, and he did not return home until
the end of May at the earliest
(see
Burd, ed., Ruskin Family Letters, 139 n. 1, 149; see also
James Richardson [1808–26]).
Burd states that “in
April the Ruskins took . . .
James
back to
Perth,” an inference that he presumably takes from
Margaretʼs
letter of 7–8 May, in which she reflects on
Jamesʼs
“journey up”.
Margaret is reminding her husband that, on this journey,
James “had none of that spirit which youths of his age usually have” so that
“both you & I had repeatedly asked him if he was quite sure he was happy and . . . he had assured us in the strongest terms he was”.
While
Margaretʼs comments leave some doubt about who made the trip with
James,
it seems unlikely that, even if both the elder Ruskins undertook this sad journey to
Perth,
they would have risked bringing
John. Considering that
Margaret
warned
Jamesʼs mother,
Jessie Richardson,
“that the children should not be much with . . . [
James] for fear
of infection” (referring to his brothers and sisters), it seems strange that she would have exposed her own
son
during a long journey.
John would also have stood a good chance of having to witness
Jamesʼs death, since
Margaret believed that
“worlds could not save him”. She concluded this much “when
James
was at
Croydon”, referring to the house of her sister,
Bridget Richardson.
Thus, perhaps
John was left with his
Croydon aunt, uncle, and cousins, while his parents
carried
James to
Perth
(
letter of 8 May 1826 [
Burd, ed., Ruskin Family Letters, 134 n. 3, 142]).
Did
Margaretʼs fears prevent the family from journeying north in
1826 altogether, even later in the year?
While
Burd corrects
Collingwoodʼs assumption that the Scottish journey occurred in
May,
he relies on the same evidence as does
Collingwood to affirm that “the family probably went in
September” 1826
to
Scotland
(
Burd, ed., Ruskin Family Letters, 150 n. 5).
Both conclusions go back to the evidence of
Ruskinʼs poem,
“Glen of Glenfarg” (“Glen of Glenfarg thy beauteous rill”),
and to
Collingwoodʼs belief that
Ruskin wrote it, like
“On Scotland”, either
“during the journey home” from a
spring tour to
Scotland (which
certainly did not occur), “or on his return [to
London], in
September”
(
Poems [4o, 1891], 1:xxiii;
Poems [8o, 1891], 1:x).
The
September 1826 date for
“Glen of Glenfarg” (“Glen of Glenfarg thy beauteous rill”)
(even though contained in
MS III)
comes from an annotation to that effect by
Margaret Ruskin in the manuscript.
(
Burd, like
Collingwood, attributes the gloss to
John James, but the hand appears to be
Margaretʼs.) It is
possible that a
September 1826 journey resulted in this poem along with the entirety of
MS I
(including the
MS I Poetry Anthology,
which contains
“On Scotland”), since in
MS I
Margaret noted her
son as having started
MS I at about that time, in
September or October 1826
(see
“The Needless Alarm”: Date; and
MS I: Date). The
available evidence does fit together tidily enough.
Nonetheless, the evidence can also be read as supporting
only a northern tour of
1827,
and not tours of both
1826 and 1827. The problem is
that the only evidence of a northern journey contained in
MS I (the manuscript dated by
Margaret
as
September or October 1826 through January 1827)
is
“On Scotland”—and that poem might be interpreted as
Ruskinʼs elegy on
his cousin,
James, rather than as a topographical poem based on eyewitness
travel. The contents of
MS I are principally taken up by
“Harry and Lucy . . . Vol I”,
and that tale is set entirely at
Herne Hill except for a holiday at
Hastings. That the family actually sought such a
holiday on the
Sussex coast in
summer 1826 is logical,
given
Margaretʼs concerns over her
husbandʼs overwork
and his distress about his
sisterʼs children, and given
Margaretʼs recommendation of summer sea bathing for health on previous occasions
(see
letter of 5 May 1826,
letter of 7 May 1826,
letter of 8 May 1826, and
letter of 23 June 1819
[
Burd, ed., Ruskin Family Letters, 138, 141, 95]).
Ruskinʼs trope of “change” in
“On Scotland” might then
be read in terms of a number of disorientations that he learned about, following that
summer holiday on the coast,
including his deceased
cousin in
Perth.
(Another change, which may have occurred in
Perth at this time, was the removal of his
auntʼs family from
Bridge End House on the east bank of the
Tay River,
a house that was sold in
May 1826 in settling the estate of
Johnʼs uncle, the late
Patrick Richardson, leaving the family with
Rose Terrace on the west side of the river, a house overlooking the
North Inch.
This move may have occurred earlier, however, following
Patrickʼs death in
1824;
see
Burd, ed., Ruskin Family Letters, 48 n. 1, 101 n. 2, and plates VIII, IX.)
In the introduction to
Burd and Dearden, eds., Tour of the Lakes,
Burd rehearses the same set of poems not only as evidence for an
1826 Scotland journey, but also
a visit to the
Lake District annexed to the same trip (“by way of
Coniston and
Keswick”)
on the evidence of
“On Skiddaw and Derwentwater”.
That poem, however, as
Burd himself points out, was misdated as
1828 by
Ruskinʼs earlier editors, belonging in fact to
1829. The poem may not even have derived from travel, but from the extensive print and visual culture associated with the
Lake District.
“On Skiddaw and Derwentwater” proves nothing, therefore,
about the case for an
1826 northern tour;
nor does the remark
Burd quotes by
John James in a
21 February 1827 letter to
Margaret, referring to “our delightful Journey together”, which may
refer—not to
Scotland and the
Lake District, as
Burd
assumes—but merely to the
Hastings visit indicated in
“Harry and Lucy . . . Vol I”
(the remark does seem to refer to a journey taken in the previous year,
1826;
see
Burd, ed., Ruskin Family Letters, 152; and
Burd and Dearden, eds., Tour to the Lakes, 7).
All of this is to say that some skepticism is warranted about the dates and destinations of the Ruskin familyʼs earlier tours, evidence for which has,
for more than a century, turned on the dating of a few poems. Ultimately, the case hinges on
Margaretʼs gloss of
“Glen of Glenfarg” (“Glen of Glenfarg thy beauteous rill”)
as
September 1826, and we cannot know precisely what she intended by that date. We also lack firm evidence about the itinerary:
even supposing that
John Jamesʼs remark to his
wife about “our delightful Journey together”
does refer to a northern journey in
September 1826—for which there is slender and ambiguous evidence—on what evidence would we conclude that this journey included the
Lake District as well as
Scotland?
Wales and Scotland, 1827
That the family did make a northern journey in
1827—whether in reality the same as the alleged
1826 journey, or a second one—is
attested by
Ruskinʼs detailed prose account in
“Harry and Lucy . . . Vol 2”, and by the complementary anthology of topographical poetry,
“Poetry Discriptive”, contained in the same
Red Book,
MS III. The highlights of that journey included
the
Wye Valley in southern
Wales,
followed by the ride north to
Perth in
Scotland.
Since
Ruskinʼs
cousin from
Perth,
Mary Richardson (1815–49),
had been staying with the Ruskins at
Herne Hill, and was still living in the house in
May,
it seems likely that she traveled with the family for a return visit home to
Scotland
(
letter of 28 April 1827 [
Burd, ed., Ruskin Family Letters, 156–57]).
As in the preceding year,
John James Ruskin was occupied by his business travels for orders well beyond his
10 May birthday,
so the family could not have departed on holiday at that time—
Margaret
advising her
husband on
May 15 against “coming home” too early only “to have to go away”
again on business and thereby “increase your fatigue by bringing you twice over the same ground” before he could consider work completed
(
letter of 15 May 1827 [
Burd, ed., Ruskin Family Letters, 157 n. 1, 166–67]).
Meanwhile,
John expressed his wanderlust with poems sent to his
father in a letter of
May 1827,
prior to the holiday—the poems,
“Wales” and
“Spring: Blank Verse”,
indicating that the itinerary was already planned.
In
John Jamesʼs household accounts ledger, the “Sundries” for
June 1827 include “Northcotes visit 25/”. If this means a visit to
Herne Hill by the painter,
James Northcote (1746–1831), then the family was at home during that month; and the entry for the following month,
July, includes
“Gown my sister £4.4”, presumably a gift for
Jessie Richardson to be carried north.
August has an entry
“chaise Perth
M.t[?] £2.18”,
an expense related to arranging for the post‐chaise to carry the family to
Perth
(see
Traveling Carriages).
There are no entries for
September and
October, the accounts resuming in
November with items suggesting a departure from
Perth: “postage Perth £3.15/”;
“Freights
prest[?] 47/7”;
“Servants Perth 5/ £6.6”; and
“Travellers Oracle 12/”, a book comprising songs and other diversions for road travel by
William Kitchiner,
along with his revision of “Horse and Carriage Keeperʼs Oracle” by an “Old Coachman”,
John Jervis.
It appears, then, that the
Perth visit in
1827 took place mainly in
September and October, with departure from
London probably in
August and return in
November.
Confirming these parameters, the “House Expenses” (i.e., groceries and other household consumables) in
John Jamesʼs accounts for that year skip from an entry for
July
to one for
December, the latter including the items “At Perth Aug.
t £5 Perth £12 £4”.
The “Expenses Travelling” for the year lists an item under
December, “To Scotland & back £215”
(
John James Ruskin, Account Book [1827–45], 2r, 2v, 5v).
According to the prose account of the journey in
“Harry and Lucy . . . Vol 2”,
the itinerary took the Ruskins first to
Salt Hill, a major stage west of
London, opening to the
Great West Road;
however, rather than heading west toward
Bristol,
the Ruskins turned northwest to
Oxford,
where they stayed briefly to view the colleges. They proceeded through
Gloucester, presumably on a straight path to
Ross‐on‐Wye,
an established launching place for a tour of the
Wye Valley, but
Ruskinʼs account next mentions
Monmouth. It is not clear, therefore, whether the prose account accurately describes the sequence of the itinerary.
Ruskin describes
Tintern Abbey at length, followed by a reference to
Windcliff—one of the eminences surrounding the dramatic bend in the river that
encloses the peninsula of
Lancaut—but the narrative neglects to mention
Raglan Castle, which figures prominently as the subject of
Ruskinʼs poem
in
“Poetry Discriptive”.
Thus, it seems likely that the travel narrative and poetry anthology are governed less by concerns for accuracy, like a memoir,
than by the high points of picturesque viewing (indeed,
Ruskinʼs
“Harry and Lucy” purports to be a fictionalized lesson in the manner the
Edgeworthsʼ series of lessons,
and not autobiographical; see
MS III: Discussion).
Windcliff, for example, was known primarily as a picturesque spot—one
of the elevated views over the river from the
Piercefield estate,
famous for its picturesque walks developed during the age of
Capability Brown (
1716–83)
(
Andrews, Search for the Picturesque, 105–7).
Wearied with another challenging year for his business,
John James perhaps welcomed an excursion through the
Wye Valley which offered provisions for easy travel
that had been honed to commercial efficiency by three‐quarters of a century of popular picturesque viewing.
From the
1760s through the turn of the century, the preferred modes for experiencing the dramatic features
along the craggy banks of the river were by water or by foot
(
Andrews, Search for the Picturesque, 84–107).
By the
1820s, however, the Ruskins would have benefited from easier carriage access
owing to road improvements, including a new turnpike from
Chepstow and a carriageway from
Monmouth to
Raglan Castle;
and in the year of their journey, the Ruskins could have observed an industrial‐age iron bridge under construction at
Bigsweir,
midway between
Tintern and
Monmouth. If they left their carriage for a water excursion,
they could have embarked on one of the steam packets that had been operating throughout the
1820s
(
Matheson, “Charles Heath and the Historical and Descriptive Accounts of the Ancient and Present State of Tintern Abbey”, 141).
Insofar as the sequence of landmarks in
“Harry and Lucy . . . Vol 2”, can be trusted,
the family took the length of the
Wye Valley excursion at least from
Monmouth to
Tintern Abbey
(the tour normally departing from
Ross‐on‐Wye and ending at
Chepstow).
At
Monmouth, a short ride would have brought the visitors to
Raglan Castle,
prompting
Ruskinʼs
poem of that name.
MS III includes a drawing entitled
“Picture of the Bristol Channel”,
showing open water crowded with both large ships under full sail and smoking steamboats, so it appears likely that the Ruskins continued
to
Chepstow and even beyond into the
Bristol Channel.
To guide them on the
Wye tour, the Ruskins are likely to have used an edition of the guidebook,
Historical and Descriptive Accounts of the Ancient and Present State of Ragland Castle
by the
Monmouth printer,
Charles Heath (
1761–1830),
and possibly also his
Historical and Descriptive Accounts of the Ancient and Present State of Tintern Abbey.
Not only were these guidebooks popular and widely available, but there is also evidence of
Ruskinʼs close attention to
Heathʼs
approach to interpreting the castle and abbey ruins. A drawing in
MS III is entitled
“Ragland Castle When Newly Built”, an idea that
Ruskin
may have borrowed from
Historical and Descriptive Accounts of the Ancient and Present State of Ragland Castle,
in which
Heath organizes information under the two heads,
“The Castle in Its Present State, as It Is Now Shewn” and “The Castle in Its Splendor”—the latter
reconstructing the castleʼs past state, “when newly built”, as
Ruskin puts it.
The travel narrative in
“Harry and Lucy . . . Vol 2”, next jumps to
Perth in
Scotland,
without explaining how the Ruskins traveled there from
Wales—except, “
Harry” says, that they went by sea on a steamboat.
Unless the sea voyage is fanciful, it is quite possible that the Ruskins traveled by sea from
Wales to
Glasgow,
and then west to east on the
Clyde River, through the
Forth and Clyde Canal,
and then on the
Forth River to
Leith. For details concerning this route,
see
Tours of 1822–24,
in which the Ruskins may previously has used this water passage to reach
Perth.
The passage from
Wales to
Scotland could also have presented an opportunity
to turn south on the mainland and visit some portion of the
Lake District before heading to
Glasgow.
Places mentioned in Scotland are Kinross,
Lochleven, and Perth. Returning south, the Ruskins crossed at
Queensferry for Edinburgh;
and they continued south along the Great North Road to Haddington, Berwick‐upon‐Tweed,
Alnwick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Durham,
Darlington, Boroughbridge, Ferrybridge,
and Doncaster. There the narrative is sliced off, with the promise: “But I will put them on to scarthing moor [near Newark‐on‐Trent] in another chapter”.