Week 2: Seldom Perfectly Sober

"Do you find it easy to get drunk on words?"
"So easy that, to tell you the truth, I am seldom perfectly sober."
― Dorothy Sayers, Gaudy Night

Twin cultures of bookishness and bibulousness might be said to characterise a university town; reading and drinking were the themes of the letters I read in my second week at the Bodleian. 

I wrote in my first post about how much I enjoyed the style of early twentieth century letter-writers. Here is a wonderful example of what I was talking about--the following is a transcript of a letter from Sir Roper Lethbridge (1840-1919), a British civil servant and Conservative MP, to George Parker, Senior Assistant at the Bodleian Libraries, regarding research into the local history of Devon and Cornwall.

May 23, 1900

Dear Sir,

Mr Nicholson of the Bodleian Library has been so good as to give me your address, and to say that you will be able to do some type-writing (or copying) for me from 2 vols. of Mss in the Bodleian. Will you kindly tell me if you can do it for me, and your charge?

I want to get all the answers (not the questions) copied, to some four questions relating apple-orchards and cyder (beginning with High Bickington--I have done the preceding parishes from A), for each of the remaining parishes (they are in alphabetical order). The reference is Ms. Top. Devon b.1, 2. (beginning at Bickington High).

Wanted, the answers in each parish, to the following questions beginning with the parish of High Bickington.

1. What is the quantity of acres under Orchard?
2. What sort of apples are planted or are found to agree best with the soil?
3. What quantity of cyder is generally made yearly?
4. Is it remarkable for its goodness? Is it of the rough or sweet sort?
5. And what is the general value of it per hogshead at the Pounds/month?

I should think that a day or two would be sufficient to take out the replies from the 2 volumes, but if not, I should be glad for you to send on to me each day what you have done, as I am very anxious to at once set to work on the information.

Kindly let me know how soon you can let me have the copy--I enclosed an envelope for favour of reply.

Yours truly,

Roper Lethbridge

[Library Records, d. 400. Courtesy of Bodleian Libraries.]

The combination of polite urgency and precise detail make for a memorable letter. You are perhaps wondering, as I was, how George Parker was supposed to find out the orchard acreage, varieties of apples grown, and quality of cyder in Bickington, High (not to mention the rest of the alphabet)--but thanks to the Reverend Jeremiah Milles (1714-1784), an early pioneer of the research questionnaire, these specific questions could indeed be answered by referring to copies of the information Milles collected in the 1750s. The manuscripts Lethbridge wished Parker to consult can still be found at the same shelfmark he refers to his letter, Mss. Top. Devon b. 1-2.

I'm tempted to request to see it, just so I too might know whether the cyder in High Bickington is remarkable for its goodness.

"Devon Cider 1984" by Rockman of Zymurgy is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Typically, when the Parker family received correspondence that resulted in commissions for research, translation, or transcription, these interactions played out over several weeks or months (Sir Lethbridge's enquiry sparked a flurry of letters which carried on until the information had been copied to his satisfaction, in mid-July 1900). One of the delights watching the conversations play out over time is seeing small personal comments start to slip in--wishes for speedy recovery from illness, congratulations on the birth of a child, messages to pass along to mutual acquaintances, and so on.

One such exchange where we can see a research commission become a social connection was George Parker's efforts to help lawyer and noted social figure Alexander Meyrick Broadley (1847-1916; do read that Wikipedia article if you've never heard of him), track down information about two of his ancestors, William Hayes (1708-1777) and his son Phillip (1738-1793), who successively held the Heather Professorship of Music at Oxford. 

Their music was performed at The Hayes Church Restoration and Grand Concert, which celebrated the restoration of the parish church of St Mary, Bridport, where Broadley's father had been the reverend. George Parker or his family evidently wished to remember the concert, for they made a small scrapbook of newspaper clippings about the event.

Broadley, in turn, seems to have wished to celebrate the occasion with his friends; the last item in Parker's booklet is a menu from the "Diner Hayes" held in the Restaurant Buol, Oxford.

Menu from 13 June 1900. Library Records, d. 400. Photo: Hope Williard, Courtesy of Bodleian Libraries

As someone who loves to cook and eat, I immediately started trying to find out more about the food--the recipes below give a sense of what the dinner may have been like.

• Côtelettes de Saumon en Aspic Bodleian. Just what would an 'Aspic Bodleian' would taste like? Here is a recipe for cotelettes froides de saumon, which includes an aspic element, and would seem to give an approximate idea.
  
• Jambon aux Epinards, Mode Magdalen College. Sauce Mus. Doc. Here is a recipe for jambon aux epinards 
• Salade aux Fruits á la Doctor William Hayes. Bombe Bumpus Glacee. A bombe glacee is, apparently, Queen Elizabeth's favourite desert.

I have not been able to find out anything about the Soupe Phil Chaise Claire but perhaps it is out there somewhere in an Edwardian cookbook...

Restaurant Buol is long gone and its location at 15 Broad Street is currently vacant, but the memory of fine food and drink lived on. The menu was signed by all the guests and the Parkers carefully preserved it among their papers.

Menu from 13 June 1900. Library Records, d. 400. Photo: Hope Williard, Courtesy of Bodleian Libraries

While cold fish in aspic might not be coming back any time soon, one hopes that occasions like the Diner Hayes will be making a comeback.