Letter from Edward Thomas to the poet Gordon Bottomley. Sent from British Museum, London. Archival ref: 424/1/1/1/10/61
British Museum
3. vii. 06

My dear Gordon. It was good & surprising hear that
you were down & much better again. I was fearing
you might be helpless & Emily too trying to let us know.
And I did not write because I had not nearly recovered
from the Heart of England (which I sent in yesterday)
and was more stupidly melancholy, weak, & in-
capable of work, rest, or pleasure than ever
before. Now I think I am going to return to the old
lofty level by the help of iron, quinine & Strychnine,
though I know I shall soon be bald, impotent & finally
precipitated at the bottom of the tumbler for all to admire.
Yet I have a chance of editing a collection of folk
songs etc for the 'open air' which a publisher asked
me to prepare on the strength of a Chronicle article,
I shall accept 'if the price is tolerable.
Dalmon has not written to me for months &
I have not met him. If I remember I will write to
ask him for the poem. I am glad the anthology
increases & pleases you. Whom are you including that
I do not know. Miss Buckton's 'Starling'?
There is a goodish new man named Gerald Gould.
Davis Nutt published his 'Lyrics' a month or so
back & there is one nice impetuous illusive
piece called "Romance' & one or two good things
in which I have perhaps mistaken neatness &
freshness for beauty - I often do, being jaded
& down at heels myself.
It is not astonishing but very pleasant that
Margaret Ity looks unhurt, & I dare say she really
is. When is she to be married, for I suppose she
will not sacrifice the minister of God.
Here I am interrupted by books to be read. Goodbye
7.vii
Since I began I have had not time, as you can
guess. For Monday Ernest Rhys suddenly asked me
for an introduction to Borrow' "Bible in Spain' &
I have been re-reading it and reading large piece
of Knapp's life. Also I have been negotiating with
Grant Richards, a long troublesome business. As
the result of a review of mine he asked me to
edit an anthology of songs for the open air.
So I am in 6 months to produce a collection
of ballads & songs, not especially
folk songs, to a large number of which
I shall give melodies. It will be mainly English
but will include some Latin & some french. I
like the idea: at least I should like to possess such
a book. Of course I must avoid the Golden
Treasury obviousness, but that will mean
hard work if I am to produce something very good.
Probably I shall include no one living unless
his work has some excellent music to it which is
unlikely. All the pieces will not be about
the country of course, tho many will be. A
large number will be such things as I like
to think about when sitting down or walking in
the country. When anything strikes you as
good & not obvious I do wish you would
jot down the title or first line & let me know.
Also, will you ask Rathbone if he can let
me have the music & words of a song in
the last Westmoreland festival book, beginning
'As I was a walking one Midsummer morning
A viewing the meadows & to take the air'
I should be grateful if you would.
At last I have, I think, got a house at
Petersfield. We shall go to it about November
& so have 2 months existence in other
people's houses after Michaelmas.
Alas! I have overestimated what I
did for Dent & I have to set to work to
do another 3000 words. Yet I have a
feeling in my head as if a bullet had got
into each temple. Two years ago an
Oxford friend of mine & I were talking about a
contemporary who had gone mad & got
homicidal mania & we (sentimentally)
wondered who else would to the same
way. A year ago my friend married
Margaret Halstan & now he is going
out of his mind.
Give my love to Emily.
I am ever yours
Edward Thomas

P. S. I am in town for 10 days
or so, until the 12th because our
house is invaded by a friend of
Helen's, 2 children & a maid.

I write to Dalmon-