Correspondence with Mrs Forbes

Name of traveller

Louis Antoine Philippe d'Orléans, duc de Montpensier (1775-1807)

Reason for travel

  • in exile in Twickenham
  • seems to be in Wales to make sketches

Date of travel

1806

At the moment I am writing this letter, my ears are delighted with the sounds of a Welsh harp played by a blind harper. (d'Orleans MS2358)

Content

  • series of letters to a friend, Mrs Forbes
  • art:
    • mentions own habit of producing sketches from landscape
    • enjoys Welsh harp music, but finds Welsh musician inferior to 'a certain Scottish harper'
    • memorises a number of Welsh tunes to teach to a friend in Scotland
  • diet: claims Wales is 'not the land of cakes'
  • people:
    • intends to visit the Ladies of Llangollen, , Eleanor Charlotte Butler (1739-1829) and Sarah Ponsonby (1755-1831), but decides against it because of a horse-racing event held by Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn (1772-1840), and he wishes to avoid society visits
    • meets Lord and Lady Penrhyn at their inn in Capel Curig, but does not realise who they are until afterwards
  • recreation: impressed by Lord Penrhyn's inn in Capel Curig; compares it favourably to inns in London area
  • terrain:
    • summit of Snowdon only glimpsed through clouds
    • Snowdon compared to Ben Nevis
    • claims he avoids speaking of the beauties of nature becuase he detests affectation
    • mentions rainy weather; this makes him draw or colour his sketches indoors
  • transport:
    • modes of travel: on foot, horseback, horse carriage
    • description of own road accident with the horse carriage and near accident involving a woman on a donkey
    • poor quality of roads and the general danger af travelling on them
  • extracts of the collection of letters published in: Hay, Malcolm. Prince in Captivity: Based on the Memoirs and Unpublished Letters of Antoine Phillipe d'Orléans duc de Monpensier, 1775-1807. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1960. Print.

Nationality of traveller

French

Language of publication

English

Gender of traveller

Male

Type of publication

letters

Citation

d'Orléans, Antoine Philippe. Correspondence to Mrs Forbes, Seaton House, Aberdeen. MS 2358 University of Aberdeen. MS.

Entry created: 17 July 2014
Entry last updated: 23 September 2016