12 — To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot

Burgage Manor, August 29, 1804.

I

received the arms, my dear Miss Pigot, and am very much obliged to you for the trouble you have taken. It is impossible I should have any fault to find with them. The sight of the drawings gives me great pleasure for a double reason, — in the first place, they will ornament my books, in the next, they convince me that

you

have not entirely

forgot

me. I am, however, sorry you do not return sooner — you have already been gone an

age

. I perhaps may have taken my departure for London before you come back; but, however, I will hope not. Do not overlook my watch-riband and purse, as I wish to carry them with me. Your note was given me by Harry

, at the play, whither I attended Miss Leacroft

, and Dr. S — — ; and now I have sat down to answer it before I go to bed. If I am at Southwell when you return, — and I sincerely hope you will soon, for I very much regret your absence, — I shall be happy to hear you sing my favourite, "The Maid of Lodi."

My mother, together with myself, desires to be affectionately remembered to Mrs. Pigot, and, believe me, my dear Miss Pigot, I remain, your affectionate friend,

Byron

P.S. — If you think proper to send me any answer to this, I shall be extremely happy to receive it. Adieu.

P.S.2d. — As you say you are a novice in the art of knitting, I hope it don't give you too much trouble. Go on

slowly

, but surely. Once more, adieu.

Footnote 1:

Elizabeth Bridget Pigot lived with her mother and two brothers on Southwell Green, in a house opposite Burgage Manor. Miss Pigot thus describes her first meeting with Byron (

Life

, p. 32):—

"The first time I was introduced to him was at a party at his mother's, when he was so shy that she was forced to send for him three times before she could persuade him to come into the drawing-room, to play with the young people at a round game. He was then a fat, bashful boy, with his hair combed straight over his forehead, and extremely like a miniature picture that his mother had painted by M. de Chambruland. The next morning Mrs. Byron brought him to call at our house, when he still continued shy and formal in his manner. The conversation turned upon Cheltenham, where we had been staying, the amusements there, the plays, etc.; and I mentioned that I had seen the character of Gabriel Lackbrain very well performed. His mother getting up to go, he accompanied her, making a formal bow, and I, in allusion to the play, said, 'Good-by, Gaby.' His countenance lighted up, his handsome mouth displayed a broad grin, all his shyness vanished, never to return, and, upon his mother's saying, 'Come, Byron, are you ready?' — no, she might go by herself, he would stay and talk a little longer; and from that moment he used to come in and go out at all hours, as it pleased him, and in our house considered himself perfectly at home."

The character of "Gabriel Lackbrain," mentioned above, occurs in

Life

, a comedy by F. Reynolds. It was at Byron's suggestion that Moore, when preparing the

Life

, applied to Miss Pigot for letters. On January 22, 1828, he was taken to call on her and her mother by the Rev. John Becher. "Their reception of me most cordial and flattering; made me sit in the chair which Byron used to sit in, and remarked, as a singularity, that this was the poor fellow's birthday; he would to-day have been forty. On parting with Mrs. Pigot, a fine, intelligent old lady, who has been bedridden for years, she kissed my hand most affectionately, and said that, much as she had always admired me as a poet, it was as the friend of Byron she valued and loved me ... Her affection, indeed, to his memory is unbounded, and she seems unwilling to allow that he had a single fault ... Miss Pigot in the evening, with his letters, which interested me exceedingly; some written when he was quite a boy, and the bad spelling and scrambling handwriting delightful; spelling, indeed, was a very late accomplishment with him" (

Diary of Thomas Moore

, vol. v. p. 249). (See "To Eliza,"

Poems

, vol. i. pp.47-49; see also the lines "To M. S. G.,"

Poems

, vol. i. pp. 79, 80; see for the lines which Byron wrote in her copy of Burns,

Poems

, vol. i. pp. 233, 234.)

Miss

Pigot died at Southwell in 1866, her brother John (see

letter

of August 9, 1806, p. 100,

note

3) in 1871. Her brother Henry, whom Byron used to call his grandson, died October 28, 1830, a captain in the 23rd Native Infantry in the service of the East India Company.

[cross-reference: return to Footnote 2 of Letter 12]

The following undated note (1810) from Mrs. Pigot to Mrs. Byron illustrates the enthusiastic interest with which the Pigots followed Byron's career:—

"Indeed, my dear Mrs. Byron, you have given me a very great treat in sending me English Bards to look at; you know how very highly I thought of the first edition, and this is certainly much improved; indeed, I do not think anybody but Lord Byron could (in these our days) have produced such a work, for it has all the fire of ancient genius. I have always been accustomed to tell you my thoughts most sincerely, and I cannot say that I like that addition to the part where Bowles is mentioned; it wants that brilliant spirit which almost invariably accompanies Lord B.'s writings. Maurice, too, and his granite weight of leaves, is in truth a heavy comparison. But I turn with pleasure from these specks in the sun to notice 'Vice and folly, Greville and Argyle;' it is most admirable: the same pen may equal, but I think it is not in the power of human abilities to exceed it. As to Lord Carlisle, I think he well deserves the Note Lord B. has put in; I am very much pleased with it, and the little word Amen at the end, gives a point indescribably good. The whole of the conclusion is excellent, and the Postscript I think must entertain everybody except Jeffrey. I hope the poor Bear is well; I wish you could make him understand that he is immortalized, for, if four-leg'd Bears have any vanity, it would certainly delight him. Walter Scott, too (I really do not mean to call him a Bear), will be highly gratified: the compliment to him is very elegant: in short, I look upon it as a most highly finished work, and Lord Byron has certainly taken the Palm from all our Poets ... A good account of yourself I assure you will always give the most sincere pleasure to my dear Mrs. Byron's very affectionate friend, Margt. Pigot. Elizabeth begs her compts."

return to footnote mark

cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 52

Footnote 2:

Henry Pigot. (See p. 33 [above],

note

1.)

Footnote 3:

Miss Julia Leacroft, daughter of a neighbour, Mr. John Leacroft. (See lines "To Lesbia,"

Poems

, vol. i. pp. 41-43.) The private theatricals in September, 1806 (see p. 117,

note

3), were held at Mr. Leacroft's house. Later, Captain Leacroft expostulated with Byron on his attentions to his sister, and, according to Moore, threatened to call him out. Byron was ready to meet him; but afterwards, on consulting Becher, resolved never to go near the house again. —

Prose and Verse of Thomas Moore

, edited by Richard Herne Shepherd (London, 1878), p. 420. (But see Letters

cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 62

Footnote 4:

By Dibdin, set to music by Shield. (See Moore's

Life

, p. 33.) Byron's love for simple ballad music lasted throughout his life. As a boy at Harrow, he was famous for the vigour with which he sang "This Bottle's the Sun of our Table" at Mother Barnard's. He liked the Welsh air "Mary Anne," sung by Miss Chaworth; the songs in

The Duenna

; "When Time who steals our Years away," which he sang with Miss Pigot; or "Robin Adair," in which he was accompanied by Miss Hanson on her harp.

"It is very odd," he said to Miss Pigot, "I sing much better to your playing than to any one else's."

"That is," she answered, "because I play to your singing."

Moore (

Journal and Correspondence

, vol. v. pp. 295, 296), speaking of "Byron's chanting method of repeating poetry," says that "it is the men who have the worst ears for music that

sing

out poetry in this manner, having no nice perception of the difference there ought to be between animated reading and

chant

." Rogers (

Table-Talk, etc.

, pp. 224, 225) expresses the same opinion, when he says, "I can discover from a poet's versification whether or not he has an ear for music. To instance poets of the present day:— from Bowles's and Moore's, I should know that they had fine ears for music; from Southey's, Wordsworth's, and Byron's, that they had no ears for it."

List of Letters