1819-1823] Singing-lessons at the Darwins 139 



Marianne and Caroline took charge of the household on 

 the death of their mother, and Caroline taught her little 

 brother and sister, Charles and Catharine, who were eight 

 and seven years old. 



The following letter tells of a gathering of girls to take 

 singing-lessons at Dr Darwin's, the Mount, Shrewsbury. 

 The Miss Owens of Woodhouse, mentioned in the following 

 letter, were the daughters of a Shropshire squire living some 

 miles from Shrewsbury. My father kept up a warm friend- 

 ship for Sarah, the eldest Miss Owen (afterwards Mrs Hali- 

 burton), and many were the stories we heard about his visits 

 to Woodhouse. 



Elizabeth Wedgwood to her aunt Fanny Allen. 



MY DEAR FANNY SHREWSBURY, 30 Nov., 1820. 



When we came here we found the Dr at Berwick 

 where Lady Hill is very ill after her confinement, so we had 

 a quiet dinner with nobody but Erasmus. The next day 

 Caroline was very busy scrattling 1 and making a gown 

 which was to be done in one day, and having her hair cut 

 and the rooms arranged. Sunday we dined at half-past 

 one, drest afterwards, and sat about 3 hours expecting the 

 tide to come in about dark, and rather stiff and awful the 

 evening was. I now like Mrs Owen very much, but her 

 manners are at first very grave and cold. Miss Owen is a 

 very little girl of 16, a most prodigious friend of Susan's, 

 and Mr Sor is constantly making fun of their friendship, for 

 which Susan hates him heartily, but Miss Owen does not 

 mind. They sit by one another, and then Mr Sor quizzes 

 them, then they sit asunder, but all in vain; he says such 

 entertaining things with such amusing looks that it is im- 

 possible not to laugh. Miss Owen began the Mysteries of 

 Udolpho when first she came, but Mrs Owen thought it 

 would take her up so much that she would not be able to 

 attend to her singing, so she first tried to reason her out of 



1 " Scrattle," a north-country word. It means, as used by 

 the Wedgwoods and Darwins, tidying up, arranging and seeing to 

 things generally. Other meanings are also given in the Dialect 

 Dictionary. 



