JDH describes the grounds of Cragside in Rothbury. He calls it a beautiful 'wilderness' rather than a garden & compares it to the Rhododendron region of the Himalayas & the Alleghenies of South Carolina. The owner Sir William Armstrong plants 650,00 plants a year, prominent species JDH mentons incl: Rhododendrons, Gaultheria, Ramie[?] Callunas, Ericas, Kalmias, Sedum Vaccinium myrtillus, Arbuti, Pernettyas, Polygonum sffine, Berberis & Cornel. Armstrong has offered to exchange plants with RBG Kew. There is a rock garden with [Eucalyptus?] nitens trees caulked by rock plants & a profusion of procumbent Cotoneasters. The gardener reports that the area is untroubled by weeds & JDH saw none. Was surprised by the presence of Cisti [Cistus] in such a cold place. JDH describes Cragside house as 'large & awkward' but admires the collection of paintings & extraordinary marble fire surround created by Richard Norman Shaw, who's work JDH does not generally admire. He criticises Shaw's design of the interior, commenting that is dark; even the [hydro] electric lighting being unable illuminate some areas. The house is isolated, an hour and a half from Morpeth. Describes Lady [Margaret] Armstrong as a cheery old lady who is her own housekeeper. Sir William is an wealthy ex solicitor with no family. John Hancock is at Cragside & JDH visited Newcastle Museum with him, where JDH admired the arrangement of the birds, which were superior to Landseer's & Hecknel's. A soldier Captain Salvin, relative of Osbert Salvin, is also at Cragside & has with him an otter & cormorants trained to fish.
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in such places. I forgot procumbent Cotoneasters which are in masses over the rocks like the waves of the sea & threaten to smother everything. I am surprised to find several Cisti in this cold place, & have asked for cuttings to bring away. The House is very large & awkward with several very large rooms & a charming collection of modern pictures water & oil. On the whole the most pleasing collection of the kind that I ever saw. In the gigantic drawing room is a wonderful marble erection that projects at one end & reaches from the floor to the ceiling -- it is an extraordinary[?] & rich design in marble & alabaster forming a cave for the fire place, which is superb as to marble -- but somehow the thing projects most awkwardly and to my mind spoils the room. I shall ask for a photograph of it, for it is exceedingly beautiful, though the work of [Richard] Norman Shaw.*5 who I do not love. He built the house & for internal arrangements it does not do him credit in my judgement. No doubt he had obstacles. The conservatory is excellent, but even the electric light will not illuminate a curved wainscot ceiling. The passages are gloomy, the distances enormous.
The country is wild & sparsely populated, & you have a mauvais 1½ hours from
Cragside.*1,
Rothbury
Monday*1a
My dear Dyer.*2
This is a wonderful place & in some ways were[sic] exceeded my expectations. It is not so much either a garden or a plantation, as a wilderness blooming like a rose -- & more comparable to the Rhodod[endron] region of the Himalaya than anything known to me. Possibly the Alleghenies.*3 of S[ou]t[h] Carolina may present similar features of clothing & colour. I hardly know how to portray it to you -- fancy a long rather steep slope of craggy hillside, 1000 f[ee]t high, dropping down to a roaring torrent the whole clothed from top to bottom for nearly 2 miles with planted verdure -- in primis Rhododendron & Kalmia Gaultheria interspersed on the slopes with clumps of Oak, Scotch fir, Birch, Douglasfir, Aucuparia, & Raime[sic?] & in the ravine with these & all sorts of conifers but these not in clumps. Along the paths cut in every direction, & which above wind amongst very fine rocks & cliffs, are great areas of Callunas & Ericas of all species & varieties, Kalmias, Sedum & these sorts of
things innumerable -- great masses of Vaccinium myrtillus colouring gloriously -- Arbuti & Pernet[t]yas with a number of rarer things here & there. But above all Polygonum affine (alias Brunonis) cover paths 20 to 40 yards square[?] with the most brilliant scarlet for the colouring of its leaves -- Berberis purple & green, Cornel & other deciduous shrubs all help to make up a scene more fit for the stage than a Northumberland moor. Sir W[illiam Armstrong].*4 propagates these heaths[?] by the million -- for several years past he has planted annually 650,000 plants of sorts, & he offers us any quantity from his very extensive nurseries. I am sure you will be glad of a lot for your beds of coloured shrubs. & I have offered to exchange with him for the purpose, & that his gardener, a very superior great[?] man should come to Kew and select from our Cultivat. nursery. Just round the house which stands some 200 f[ee]t from above the Gorge, is 100 f[ee]t of rock-work, covered with a profusion of smaller rock plants which literally caulk the nitens trees everywhere in a reticulated pattern. Many interesting plants are growing here quite wild & what is odd to me is that there appear no weeds, no grass, or groundsel. The gardener says weeds do not trouble here
in such places. I forgot procumbent Cotoneasters which are in masses over the rocks like the waves of the sea & threaten to smother everything. I am surprised to find several Cisti in this cold place, & have asked for cuttings to bring away. The House is very large & awkward with several very large rooms & a charming collection of modern pictures water & oil. On the whole the most pleasing collection of the kind that I ever saw. In the gigantic drawing room is a wonderful marble erection that projects at one end & reaches from the floor to the ceiling -- it is an extraordinary[?] & rich design in marble & alabaster forming a cave for the fire place, which is superb as to marble -- but somehow the thing projects most awkwardly and to my mind spoils the room. I shall ask for a photograph of it, for it is exceedingly beautiful, though the work of [Richard] Norman Shaw.*5 who I do not love. He built the house & for internal arrangements it does not do him credit in my judgement. No doubt he had obstacles. The conservatory is excellent, but even the electric light will not illuminate a curved wainscot ceiling. The passages are gloomy, the distances enormous.
The country is wild & sparsely populated, & you have a mauvais 1½ hours from
Morpeth here after the long journey from London. Sir W[illiam] does every thing himself -- Lady A[rmstrong]*6 upwards of 80 is a cheery old lady very clever & well informed she is up every day at 6 & is her own housekeeper! Sir W[illiam]'s income is said to be £100,000 per annum, he was a solicitor till 40, he is 74 or 75 I think. He has no family.
John Hancock*7 has been staying, a most interesting man, full of intelligence -- I spent this morning in the Newcastle Museum.*8 with him -- the birds are marvels of setting up & good arrangement. His modelling beats Landseer.9 hollow[?], & comes up to Hecknel[?]. A Captain (Militia) Salvin (distant relative of O[sbert] S[alvin].*10) has been here with an otter & 2 cormorants all trained to fish, the o[tter] follows him like a dog. We had 2 dishes of trout from the beast and birds.
We leave on Wednesday, we I shall be glad to get back -- these big houses bore me, though there is the very nicest company & not too much of it. & a paradise of nice things to see outside & in -- there is no pleasing some people!
With united love to Harriet*11
Ever affectionately yours | J.D. Hooker [signature]
1. Cragside, Rothbury, Northumberland. The home of Sir (later Lord) William Armstrong, engineer and arms manufacturer. The house, designed by Richard Norman Shaw in the arts and crafts style, has extensive wooded grounds and is now owned by the National Trust.
1a. A date has been added to the letter in pencil, written in another hand. It reads 'Oct 12 1885'.
2. Sir William Thiselton-Dyer (1843--1928). British botanist and third Director of the Royal Botanic gardens, Kew (1885--1905). He succeeded Joseph Hooker in the role after serving as his Assistant Director for ten years. He also married Hooker's eldest daughter Harriet in 1877.
3. Alleghenies, South Carolina, USA. Part of the Appalachian mountain range of North East USA and South East Canada.
4. Sir William George Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong (1810--1900). English industrialist and founder of Armstrong Whitworth on Tyneside. He was an engineer, scientist, inventor and philanthropist. In collaboration with the architect Richard Norman Shaw, he built Cragside in Northumberland, the first house in the world to be lit by hydroelectricity. He is regarded as the inventor of modern artillery.
5. Richard Norman Shaw (1831--1912). British architect working from the 1870s to the 1900s, known for his country houses and for commercial buildings and suburban dwellings for artists.
6. Lady Armstrong née Ramshaw. Married Sir William Armstrong in 1835, when he was still working as a solicitor.
7. John Hancock (1808--1890). British naturalist, ornithologist, taxidermist and landscape architect. He is considered the father of modern taxidermy. He introduced the style of dramatic preparation in taxidermy.
8. The collection of the Hancock Museum can be traced to about 1780 when Marmaduke Tunstall started accumulating ethnographic and natural history material from around the world. In 1790 Tunstall died, and George Allan of Darlington purchased Tunstall's collection; later in 1823 it was acquired by the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne. In 1829 the Natural History Society of Northumberland, Durham and Newcastle upon Tyne (now the Natural History Society of Northumbria) was formed as a scientific offshoot of the Literary and Philosophical Society. Amongst the founding and early members of the Natural History Society were Joshua Alder, Albany Hancock, John Hancock, Prideaux John Selby and William Chapman Hewitson
9. Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (1802--1873). English painter and sculptor, best known for his paintings of animals; particularly horses, dogs and stags. His best known works of sculpture are the Trafalgar Square lions at the foot of Nelson's column.
10. Osbert Salvin (1835--1898). English naturalist, ornithologist, and co-author of Biologia Centrali-Americana (1879--1915) with Frederick DuCane Godman, a 52 volume encyclopedia on the natural history of Central America.
11. Harriet Anne Thiselton--Dyer née Hooker (1854--1945). Oldest child of Joseph Hooker and his first wife Frances. Harriet was a botanical illustrator. She married William Turner Thiselton-Dyer who was Assistant Director of RBG Kew (1875--1885) and later Director (1885--1905), succeeding Harriet's father.
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