86 A Century of Family Letters [CHAP, vi 



done she may be cross herself, as she says she is indeed. 

 But whether she is or not, Bessy must put up with it. I am 

 reserving a sledge-hammer for her the next opportunity she 

 gives me by pertness to Brodie. . . . 



Brodie, our old Scotch nurse, was an invaluable treasure 

 to my mother and a perfect nurse to the children. Her 

 marked features were deeply pitted with smallpox; she 

 had carrotty hair, china-blue eyes, and a most delightful 

 smile. Her father, the owner, I think, of a small ship at 

 Port soy, had been one of Napoleon's detenus. I have the 

 impression that they heard nothing of him for ten long years. 

 She stayed with us till my sister died in 1851, and then 

 through grief quite lost her self-control, and, indeed, almost 

 her reason, and insisted on leaving. She made a little home 

 for herself in Port soy in Scotland, from which she paid us 

 long visits, and remained our dear friend till her death in 

 about 1873. I can still see her almost as if she was before 

 my eyes, sitting in the little summer-house at the end of the 

 Sand- walk, and hear the constant click-click of her knitting- 

 needles. She did not need to look at her stocking, knitting 

 in the Scotch fashion with one of the needles stuck into a 

 bunch of cock's feathers, tied at her waist, to steady it. 

 There she sat hour after hour patiently and benevolently 

 looking on, whilst we rushed about and messed our clothes 

 as much as we liked. 



Charles Darwin to Emma Darwin in London. 



Wednesday [SHREWSBURY, probably Oct., 1843]. 



. . . Why did you not tell me how your old self was ? be 

 sure and tell me exactly next letter. As for myself I am 

 very brisk and have just been paying a call upon Nancy, 

 and have been admiring her chateau, which really is very 

 nice. She showed me a letter from Aunt Bessy which came 

 with crockery, and Mme de Sevigne could not, I should 

 think, have written more prettily on such an occasion. . . . 



I got into a transport over the thought of Doddy and 

 talked, like an old fool, for nearly an hour about nothing 

 dse, and I really believe the girls sympathized with it all. 



