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 EBENEZER ELLIOTT
(1781 - 1849)



Three Letters of 1849 to James Wilson 




In 1849, James Wilson of Sheffield and his friend, Edward Birks, paid a visit to the elderly Elliott at his residence on Hargate Hill. The visit was described in three articles which appeared in the Sheffield Daily Telegraph.  Part 1 appeared on August 10th 1899, Part 2 on August 11th & Part 3 on August 12th.  The intent of these web pages is not to give the text of the three articles, but rather to feature three letters which appeared in the articles. Other items of interest to be seen here include a seal used by the Poet of the Poor & a  good description of the failing bard.



The three letters, which have not been published before, were discovered by Diane Gascoyne, a Sheffield researcher.  The letters were written late on in the Corn Law Rhymer's life since he died in December 1849, just a few months after Wilson & Birks made their visit. The letters are revealing of Elliott's state of mind at this time.





Hargate Hill    3rd  July  1849


Dear Sir,   -   A great accession  of pain alone prevented me from sooner answering your esteemed letter.  I  am better this morning. Your letter is full of consolation and blessed hope.  It does me good to re-peruse it.  When I come to Sheffield, I seldom spend more than four hours there, (railway and other necessities forbid me).   I have never slept in Sheffield since I left it, but if ever I have an hour or two to spare, I will hunt you out.  My visitors come in clusters and we have but one spare bed, but do not let that thought prevent you from coming.  We will contrive to sleep you.  The Devil would be welcome here if he would come in your guise.  -  I am, dear sir, yours very truly


EBENEZER ELLIOTT




The letter above shows that Elliott is suffering in his last six months of life but is still fairly optimistic, although this does appear to be one of his better days. Where the Corn Law Rhymer observes that the railway & other necessities restrict his time in Sheffield, he is very likely referring to his fragile health.  Living out in a rural area, Elliott often invites people to visit, since he feels neglected in his remote retreat.  He always  qualifies the invitation by pointing out they have only one spare bed. This indicates the size of his retirement home: it is little more than a cottage. That was all the hard-up poet could afford. The reference to the devil occurs frequently in Elliott's letters of this period. He was desperate for company and could be very upset if his visitors declined to stay overnight - as did Messrs Wilson & Birks.

In his article, James Wilson gives us a good sketch of Elliott:-

"His face beamed with intelligence and good nature on that day, at least, though the prevailing expression was that of a man cast in a mould of sorrow, due to whom melancholy was the most familiar spirit.  But he was easily quickened into animation by anything that either pleased or offended him.  His appearance was rather uncouth, though doubtless when "trimmed up" he would have been more presentable at an evening party than he was on the occasion under notice.  His appearance was even singular.  He wore a dressing gown and slippers, the former fastened up nearly to his chin, but not so high as to conceal the fact that he wore no collar or tie of any kind on his neck; his idea, no doubt, was to be frequently comfortable.  In character with his attire was his head, his hair being cut short, and did not seem to receive much of his attention. His chin showed the stubble of two day's growth and his whiskers were on a limited scale."

All three letters quoted on these web pages appeared in Part 3 of Wilson's article in the Sheffield Daily Telegraph. Elliott's second letter appears below:-




 Hargate Hill  20th  August  1849


Dear Sir  -  Really you manage the metre of Burns so well that you had no occasion to use his dialect. You have only got three rhymes for it,  and one of them  is a bad one.  Immense as his advantage was in rhyming in two languages he used his sweet doric  as a good and wise man uses a trusty friend: he never became a slave to it. Could you not make all the short lines double ended or single-sided?  The letter is so good that I would like it to be perfect.  You tell your tale clearly and if your wish that

"Joy may be my fount of tears"

is not poetry, I know not what poetry is.

We have a stranger's bed that will hold two comfortably  if they are "cuddlers."  So when you come again this way I trust you will bring Mary with you.



                                                                 I am, dear sir,

                                                                         Yours very truly

                                                                                     EBENEZER ELLIOTT




This letter, like the earlier, must have been written on a day the poet was not depressed or feeling poorly. He plunges almost discourteously to his subject: literary criticism; an area which always fascinated the bard & for which he had some repute. Note, too, in his haste how he runs his "Dear Sir" straight into his first line of text; something which oozes the poet's impatience to get his thoughts down in writing.  Elliott firstly compliments Wilson for his lines of verse before adding a word of criticism - a good tactic! The Corn Law Rhymer always made a point of being positive about any work sent to him.  Again, the letter ends with a plea for Wilson to come out to Hargate Hill & stay for a time.
The third letter (see below) to James Wilson is much different to the two letters already discussed. The third letter is very informal unlike the two others.  It is also very brief; something not much seen with Elliott. If the needy poet was to pay for his letter to be posted, you would think he would want to gain good value from it. As would any Yorkshireman!  Perhaps Elliott's note was taken by an acquaintance and not posted, as the bard often railed about the cost of using the post.  "The poor dying old man" does not ring true in comparison with the tone of the rest of the letter - Elliott seems to be angling for some sympathy, although he would be dead in three months time.



 


Hargate Hill  
17th  Sptember  1849



Dear James  -  How  kind of you to think of the poor dying old man here.

                  Your lines addressed to    _______  are glorious.  I know not whatt you call them.  But you must change a word or two.

                  Remember me to Mr Birks.  We were all greatly pleased with him.



                                                                   I am dear James

                                                                                 Yours very truly

                                                                                        EBENEZER ELLIOTT


 



It is unfortunate that the  name in the letter was omitted. Whether James Wilson dropped the name or whether the editor of the Sheffield Daily Telegraph excluded the name for some reason is not known.


James Wison concludes his article thus:-


"As it is, the poet lives in his works.  And though some of them are of a kind that could only have a temporary or historical interest, he has left other poems that deserve a place in the English classics.  His labours in opposition to the Corn Laws long before Cobden and Bright were heard of entitle him to the greatful remembrance of the British people.  He was always proud of his title, the Corn Law Rhymer; sealing his letters with a large seal - "


The seal is reproduced here as shown in the Sheffield Daily Telegraph; it's actual size & colour have to be imagined. It is notable that Wilson does not make any mention of Elliott signing his letters "Ebenezer Elliott, CLR" - possibly the poet's  use of the seal is confused with the CLR signature myth. However, the seal shown below is a first for the literature surrounding the Corn Law Rhymer.


 

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