By the Rev. W. H. Hitchcock, 



247 



loyal than the then Marquis and Marchioness of Lansdowne. 

 And in 1817 Lord Lansdowne invited Moore to inspect three houses 

 in the neighbourhood of Bowood, with a view to permanent residence 

 in Wiltshire. According to Lord Byron, " Tommy, who dearly 

 loves a lord/" was only too ready to oblige his lordship. " Bessy " 

 was not only satisfied but delighted with one of the three, a 

 small thatched cottage, furnished, and rented from Mrs. Goddard 

 for £40 per annum. Many characteristic letters from both Mr. 

 and Mrs. Moore on the subject of the house and rental are in the 

 possession of Nelson Goddard, Esq., of Clyffe Manor. Accordingly 

 from November 19th, 1817, the greater portion of Moore's published 

 correspondence is dated from Sloperton. A description is given by 

 Gerald Griffin, in the Irish Quarterly, of a visit to Sloperton. 

 " Arrived at Devizes, we asked the waiter the distance to Sloperton 

 Cottage. ' Sloperton, Sir, that's Mr Moore's place, Sir. He is a 

 poet, Sir. We do all Mr. Moore's work, Sir/ What ought I to 

 have done ? To have flung my arms round his neck for knowing 

 so much about Moore ? Or to have knocked him down for knowing 

 so little ? Well, we found it — a cottage of gentility, with two 

 gateways, and pretty grounds around it in a delightful country : 

 the poet's study upstairs, in which close and hard work was done : 

 and in the garden a raised walk running its whole length, and bounded 

 by a hedge of laurel — the favourite walk of the poet." 



The Diary gives us an insight into the social condition of Bromham 

 and its neighbourhood at that time : — 



" There never was such wretchedness in any place where we have been : and 

 the better class of people, with but one or two exceptions, seem to consider their 

 contribution to the poor rates as abundantly sufficient, without making any 

 further exertions towards the relief of the poor wretches." 



Moore himself was open-handed almost to recklessness; and on 

 more than one occasion persuaded his friends to send to Bessy con- 

 fidentially, as if from themselves, " £5 for the poor of Bromham " ! 

 "It makes her happy/' is his comment, " without the drawback of 

 knowing that it comes from my small means ; and, in the way she 

 manages it, does a world of good ! " 



