Eighteen Forty-One

Betty Downie, Blackhillock, George, John, Robert Forsyth, Morris, Mrs. Beattie, Frank.

Blackhillock was in Fyvie. A village on the River Ythan in Aberdeenshire, Fyvie is situated 7 miles (11 km) south-east of Turriff.

James would have been 30 when this letter was written to him.

Ampersand is used a lot by the authors of the letters. The & is used for "and" but in places stands for "and also" or "etcetera"

Written in 1912 "Texas fever is also commonly known as Spanish fever, Splenetic, or Murraine fever. It is a specific fever communicated by cattle which have recently been moved northward from the infected district, or which is contracted by cattle taken into the infected district from other parts of the world."

http://ag.smsu.edu/motick6.htm MURRAIN (A DISEASE OF LIVESTOCK) A plague of Egypt - Ex 9:3,6; Ps 78:50 Texas Fever is caused by an organism which lives within a red-blood corpuscle and breaks them up. It is therefore simply a blood disease.

According to Robert Charles Begg who e-mails me Charles' father was James Begg, and his mother was Rachael Ried

THIS LETTER IS NOT FINISHED -- MORE TO TYPE

circular postage stamp PAID APR 12 M 1841 W
in handwriting Pd 1/21/2

Mr. James H. L. Begg
Saint Thomas
London District
Upper Canada

Milltown of Towie 7th April 1841

My Dear Nephew

          Yours of 11th January I duly acknowledge. We were all glad to hear that you and all friends in Canada were in good health. And also that your family and domestick affairs were prospering. Your friends here & Glenbucket are all well. My father is still alive & in good health (but dead to the world). He is now become so feeble and helpless that he

requires to be lifter from chair to chair & fed like a child. For eight or nine months past he has been in the helpless condition & since Whitsunday ¹40 he has been with us, as we were not able to endure the fatigue of waiting upon him in his own house. And his nurse Betty Downie was little better, therefore I discharged her, and took charge of him ourselves ­ I may add that Betty Downie had got him to give her a Bill for £21 Sterling besides a great many other items of no inconsiderable value, equal to nine or ten pounds more, independent of the privilege of working for her own behoof to the neighbour s, spinning, weaving & [&c stands for and also or etcetera] for years, all which was kept secret from us untill a notice reached this [us] from the Bank that the Bill was due three days thereafter. I had no alternative but take the coach and post on to Aberdeen and pay

the Bill. And upon returning I give her her leave. You will readily see that we are fixed here for a time, & untill it please God to liberate us from our present charge we are & must remain for a time & indeed it is a very great consolation to us that he [father] is so well pleased. He cannot suffer my wife to be absent. He is equally attached to the whole of the family & some of the younger children is always fondling about him. The rest of my friends in Glenbucket has not been very solicitous in enquiring after his wellfare. Blackhillock [I think Charles is using a place to describe a person he¹d rather not name] in particular has only been once or twice seeing him since he removed & his wife never and George only once. John & his family has been several times. I have not bee able to learn any particular reason and can only suppose that they dont expect to come by a

fortune or they would have been oftener ­ I may mention that I advertised the house in Huntly for sale & hitherto I have been unsuccessful ­ I believe that Blackhillock has looked upon it as his, however soon my father failed, and indeed he had made frequent inquiries how to come by the rights, none of them however has spoke to me upon the subject. [Here too Charles is telling the story but being secretive] Therefore I can only suppose ­ enough
Your Grandfather T.F‹[T. Forsyth] died in January last and the storm was so deep that Robert Forsyth could not attend the funeral, Morris resides in Aberdeen and he was also prevented ­ all of them well ­ Mrs. Beattie dropped off in a fit of apoplexy about 4M/ds ago [4 months and so many days ago]. Frank has been very unfortunate, got an excellent position in the Old England Bank‹London & misbehaved ­ remains at home ­ no marriages of consequence none of your friends in Glenbucket ­ Fine spring weather all the seeds sown in the best of order, Good sell for cattle, horses, sheep, & grain 20/ to 23/ per Tn ­ Oats, beer 25/for 52ti P.B. Meal 32/ to 34/ per sack of 280ti -- All my land is rolled, & Potatoes ready to be planted. Vegetation making a rapid progress, plenty of fodder. Expect an early crope. The Murraine an Egyptian distemper prevalent amongst the cattle upon the border has got North to Aberdeenshire last year.