I've dreamt in my life dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas: they've gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the color of my mind.
Emily Bronte
Wuthering Heights

donderdag 17 maart 2011

On this day Patrick Bronte was born at Emdale, Drumballyroney, County Down, Ireland.

On this day in 17-03-1777 Patrick Bronte was born at Emdale, Drumballyroney, County Down, Ireland.


Remains of Bronte cottage.


Church and school house in Drumballyroney.The school where Patrick taught still stands and has been restored and functions as a little museum. Next to it the old Church of Ireland church where his family attended and where he later preached.
bronte family blog


County Down is the place where Patrick, the father of the famous Bronte sisters, was born and raised. The family, including the aunts and uncles of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne, lived in and near the towns Banbridge and Rathfriland.
The father of these world famous sisters was born Patrick Brunty on March 17, 1777, Saint Patrick’s Day. The buildings and ruins of buildings that figured most prominently in Patrick’s life are included in the area of the Bronte Homeland Interpretative Centre:
•Drumballyroney Church and School – The buildings where Patrick first preached and taught school, they now form the heart of the interpretative centre, featuring displays that focus on the lives of the famous family.
•Bronte Homeland Picnic Site – the place where the family once picnicked remains, and is still used by today’s visitors. It is located near the ruins of a shebeen, or an old clandestine drinking house.
•Alice McClory’s Cottage – the birthplace and early home of Patrick’s mother.
•The birthplace Cottage – the place where Patrick Brunty was born.
•Glascar School – the site of the school where Patrick built his reputation as an innovative teacher in the 1790’s. He was reportedly dismissed from his position after a rumored romantic encounter with a student.
http://chooseireland.com/tag/historic-buildings/page/8/


Alice McClory’s Cottage – the birthplace and early home of Patrick’s mother.
http://www.preciousoil.com/gerry/articles.shtml

Patrick Brontë's father, Hugh, was living among a happy, if rather large family, somewhere in Ulster though the exact whereabouts of his home remains uncertain. He was visited by an Uncle Walsh and Aunt Mary. Walsh ingratiated himself with the child and the parents, spinning tales of the fine house he lived in and the ponies he kept. He offered to take Hugh and bring him up as his own, giving him a fine education and fitting him out as a gentleman. This seems to have been a common practice at the time. It benefited both parties, the gaining of a child on one hand, and on the other, alleviating the family of another mouth to feed. Money sometimes changed hands. So young Hugh parted from his family never to see them again.

There was no fine house awaiting him, no education or good living, no ponies, and no comfort. His new home proved to be a hovel, his 'kind' uncle a domineering bully, and as long as he remained there he was abused and ill-treated to such an extent that eventually he ran away. Making his way north he arrived in Dundalk where he found work in the lime kilns of Mount Pleasant. Used to hard labour on his uncle's farm he worked hard and prospered, and that Christmas met the love of his life, Eleanor (Alice) McClory of Ballynaskeagh.
It is a romantic tale — an elopement and marriage under the very noses of her family, and against their wishes. Setting up home in a tiny thatched cabin, their first child, Patrick, was born. Hugh and Eleanor were to be the grandparents of the Brontë children. read

PHOTOS old Irish houses
ireland.bronte-homeland.

woensdag 16 maart 2011

Brontë Parsonage Blog: ‘Saucy Pat’ exhibition opens at the Parsonage


Brontë Parsonage Blog: ‘Saucy Pat’ exhibition opens at the Parsonage:

He was father to three of the most famous authors in the world yet most of us know very little about Patrick Brontë. This year marks the 150th anniversary of his death in 1861 and the Brontë Parsonage Museum will be opening a new exhibition to celebrate the life and work of this ‘somewhat eccentrik’ Irish curate. The exhibition, Patrick Brontë: In His Own Right will open on 17 March.

Included in the exhibition will be a very special letter on loan from the Brotherton Library in Leeds. Written by Maria Branwell before she married Patrick, it is addressed to ‘My Dear Saucy Pat’ and is one of the few surviving letters that exist by Mrs Brontë, giving a wonderful insight into their courtship.

http://www.preciousoil.com/gerry/articles.shtml
biography Patrick Bronte

wikipedia./Patrick Bronte

The shower is past, and the sky
O'erhead is both mild and serene,
Save where a few drops from on high,
Like gems, twinkle over the green:
And glowing fair, in the black north,
The rainbow o'erarches the cloud;
The sun in his glory comes forth,
And larks sweetly warble aloud.

dinsdag 15 maart 2011

Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell,

Life, believe, is not a dream,
So dark as sages say;
Oft a little morning rain
Foretells a pleasant day:
Sometimes there are clouds of gloom,
But these are transient all;
If the shower will make the roses bloom,
Oh, why lament its fall?
Rapidly, merrily,
Life's sunny hours flit by,
Gratefully, cheerily,
Enjoy them as they fly.

What though death at times steps in,
And calls our Best away?
What though Sorrow seems to win,
O'er hope a heavy sway?
Yet Hope again elastic springs,
Unconquered, though she fell,
Still buoyant are her golden wings,
Still strong to bear us well.
Manfuly, fearlessly,
The day of trial bear,
For gloriously, victoriously,
Can courage quell dispair!


Aylott and Jones:
publishers and booksellers of Paternoster Row.
28/ 01/1846: Charlotte wrote to them to see if they would publish a short collection of poetry, if necessary “on the Author’s account.” They agreed to publish it if the author covered the cost of paper and printing.
06/02/1846: Charlotte Bronte sent a manuscript of poems to Messrs. Aylott and Jones publishers. They used the pseudonym of Acton, Currer and Ellis Bell.
06/04/1846: Charlotte Bronte wrote to publisher Aylott & Jones:
"C.E & A Bell are now preparing for the Press a work of fiction - consisting of three distinct and unconnected tales which may be published together as a work of 3 vols. of ordinary novel-size, or separately as single vols - as shall be deemed most advisable."
07/05/1846: First printed copies of the Book of "Poems" by Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte arrived at the Parsonage. They had used the pseudonym of Acton, Currer and Ellis Bell.
04/07/1846: The published Bronte Poems using the pseudonym of Acton, Currer and Ellis Bell received favourable criticism.
Suppose the sisters could see this: Price: US$ 3724.83
Bookseller Image Poems, by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell.
BRONTË, Charlotte, Emily & Anne.]
Bookseller: Peter Harrington
(London, United Kingdom)
Bookseller Rating:
Quantity Available: 1
Bibliographic Details

Publisher: London, Smith, Elder & Co., 1846 [1848]
Publication Date: 1848
Binding:
Edition: 1st Edition

Book Description: London, Smith, Elder & Co., 1846 [1848], 1848. Octavo. Original olive green cloth, boards stamped in blind, titles to the spine gilt. With final advert leaf. Ownership inscription dated 1873 on front pastedown, with MS notes in the same attractive hand on both sides of front free endpaper, at head of contents page, on verso of errata slip, and to rear blank, with contemporary newspaper clipping about the Brontës tipped in to both sides of rear free endpaper. Spine and board edges faintly sunned as usual, inner hinges just cracked but holding firm, tiny stain (sealing wax?) at head of front board, a few trivial blemishes to the paper stock, but an excellent copy. First Edition, second issue with cancel title page (as usual). The first issue is extant in tiny numbers and is now virtually unobtainable. Published pseudonymously to forestall possible prejudice against female writers, this collection of verses contains 19 poems by Charlotte Brontë ("Currer Bell"), and 21 each by Emily ("Ellis") and Anne ("Acton"). First published by Aylott Jones in 1846 in an edition of 1000 copies, Poems was a resounding commercial flop, with only 39 copies sold. The remaining 961 copies were placed in storage and, following the success of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, were reissued in October 1848 by Smith, Elder, and Co. with a cancel title page showing their name as the publishers but with the date unaltered. Bookseller Inventory # 31938
abebooks.com

maandag 14 maart 2011

Steven Wood author of Haworth Through Time and THE UPPER WORTH VALLEY HISTORY GROUP’S WALKS.

THE UPPER WORTH VALLEY HISTORY GROUP’S WALKS FOR 2011
Steven Wood & Ian Palmer will again be leading a series of six history walks
This year we will be exploring the River Worth from its confluence with the Aire to its sources on the Oxenhope and Stanbury moors.
All the walks are on Wednesdays and are free.

MARCH 16th
FOLLOWS THE WORTH VALLEY THROUGH HAINWORTH TO HAWORTH AND RETURNS VIA CACKLESHAW AND DAMEMS, 6½ miles.
Meet at the corner of Ingrow Lane and Halifax Road at 10 a.m.
MARCH 23rd
FOLLOWS THE BRIDGEHOUSE BECK TO OXENHOPE AND VISITS THE RAG CLOUGH AND LEESHAW BECKS, 6½ miles
Meet at Haworth Railway Station at 10 a.m.
MARCH 30th
EXPLORES LEEMING BECK AND ITS TRIBUTARIES, 5 miles.
Meet at Oxenhope P.O. at 10.30 a.m.

APRIL 13th
THE RIVER WORTH FROM HAWORTH TO PONDEN RESERVOIR, 6 miles.
Meet at Haworth TIC at 10 a.m.

APRIL 20th
FOLLOWS THE WORTH FROM PONDEN RESERVOIR TO WATERSHEDDELS AND RETURNS VIA THE WOLF STONES, 6½ miles.
Meet at Ponden Reservoir at 10.30 a.m.
You will need sturdy footwear and waterproofs. Fetch a packed lunch and a hot drink.
Participants are expected to be responsible for their own safety - we can accept no liability!
Contact Steven Wood 01535-645735 if you need further details.
Steven Wood is the author of Haworth Through Time.
An illustrated book has been published showing the changing face of Haworth from the 19th century to the present day. “Haworth through time” is the work of Steven Wood and Ian Palmer, who have both lived in the village for many years.
The 96-page paperback contains 180 photographs. These directly compare modern colour images with older black and white photographs of the same locations. The modern pictures were taken by Mr Palmer, who as well as being a keen photographer is a painter and sculptor who has exhibited his work nationally.

In the book’s introduction, Mr Wood states: “Ian Palmer has taken great pains to reproduce the views in the old pictures but this has not always been possible.
“New buildings and the growth of trees were significant problems. Traffic was a constant difficulty got over only with much patience — and some daring.
“New street furniture has made many of Ian’s photographs less pleasing than they might have been.
“But the old photographs, rather than aesthetic considerations, dictated what had to be taken.”
Mr Wood has been studying the history of the Haworth area for more than 20 years and has accumulated an extensive collection of old local maps and photographs.

I bought this book and it is great. I didn't know he is leading this kind of walks. I would love to make one of these walks.
New_book_traces_history_of_village/

The Parlour

The Parlour

Parsonage

Parsonage

Charlotte Bronte

Presently the door opened, and in came a superannuated mastiff, followed by an old gentleman very like Miss Bronte, who shook hands with us, and then went to call his daughter. A long interval, during which we coaxed the old dog, and looked at a picture of Miss Bronte, by Richmond, the solitary ornament of the room, looking strangely out of place on the bare walls, and at the books on the little shelves, most of them evidently the gift of the authors since Miss Bronte's celebrity. Presently she came in, and welcomed us very kindly, and took me upstairs to take off my bonnet, and herself brought me water and towels. The uncarpeted stone stairs and floors, the old drawers propped on wood, were all scrupulously clean and neat. When we went into the parlour again, we began talking very comfortably, when the door opened and Mr. Bronte looked in; seeing his daughter there, I suppose he thought it was all right, and he retreated to his study on the opposite side of the passage; presently emerging again to bring W---- a country newspaper. This was his last appearance till we went. Miss Bronte spoke with the greatest warmth of Miss Martineau, and of the good she had gained from her. Well! we talked about various things; the character of the people, - about her solitude, etc., till she left the room to help about dinner, I suppose, for she did not return for an age. The old dog had vanished; a fat curly-haired dog honoured us with his company for some time, but finally manifested a wish to get out, so we were left alone. At last she returned, followed by the maid and dinner, which made us all more comfortable; and we had some very pleasant conversation, in the midst of which time passed quicker than we supposed, for at last W---- found that it was half-past three, and we had fourteen or fifteen miles before us. So we hurried off, having obtained from her a promise to pay us a visit in the spring... ------------------- "She cannot see well, and does little beside knitting. The way she weakened her eyesight was this: When she was sixteen or seventeen, she wanted much to draw; and she copied nimini-pimini copper-plate engravings out of annuals, ('stippling,' don't the artists call it?) every little point put in, till at the end of six months she had produced an exquisitely faithful copy of the engraving. She wanted to learn to express her ideas by drawing. After she had tried to draw stories, and not succeeded, she took the better mode of writing; but in so small a hand, that it is almost impossible to decipher what she wrote at this time.

I asked her whether she had ever taken opium, as the description given of its effects in Villette was so exactly like what I had experienced, - vivid and exaggerated presence of objects, of which the outlines were indistinct, or lost in golden mist, etc. She replied, that she had never, to her knowledge, taken a grain of it in any shape, but that she had followed the process she always adopted when she had to describe anything which had not fallen within her own experience; she had thought intently on it for many and many a night before falling to sleep, - wondering what it was like, or how it would be, - till at length, sometimes after the progress of her story had been arrested at this one point for weeks, she wakened up in the morning with all clear before her, as if she had in reality gone through the experience, and then could describe it, word for word, as it had happened. I cannot account for this psychologically; I only am sure that it was so, because she said it. ----------------------She thought much of her duty, and had loftier and clearer notions of it than most people, and held fast to them with more success. It was done, it seems to me, with much more difficulty than people have of stronger nerves, and better fortunes. All her life was but labour and pain; and she never threw down the burden for the sake of present pleasure. I don't know what use you can make of all I have said. I have written it with the strong desire to obtain appreciation for her. Yet, what does it matter? She herself appealed to the world's judgement for her use of some of the faculties she had, - not the best, - but still the only ones she could turn to strangers' benefit. They heartily, greedily enjoyed the fruits of her labours, and then found out she was much to be blamed for possessing such faculties. Why ask for a judgement on her from such a world?" elizabeth gaskell/charlotte bronte



Poem: No coward soul is mine

No coward soul is mine,
No trembler in the worlds storm-troubled sphere:
I see Heavens glories shine,
And faith shines equal, arming me from fear.


O God within my breast.
Almighty, ever-present Deity!
Life -- that in me has rest,
As I -- Undying Life -- have power in Thee!


Vain are the thousand creeds
That move mens hearts: unutterably vain;
Worthless as withered weeds,
Or idlest froth amid the boundless main,


To waken doubt in one
Holding so fast by Thine infinity;
So surely anchored on
The steadfast Rock of immortality.


With wide-embracing love
Thy Spirit animates eternal years,
Pervades and broods above,
Changes, sustains, dissolves, creates, and rears.


Though earth and man were gone,
And suns and universes ceased to be,
And Thou wert left alone,
Every existence would exist in Thee.


There is not room for Death,
Nor atom that his might could render void:
Thou -- Thou art Being and Breath,
And what Thou art may never be destroyed.


--
Emily Bronte

Family tree

The Bronte Family

Grandparents - paternal
Hugh Brunty was born 1755 and died circa 1808. He married Eleanor McClory, known as Alice in 1776.

Grandparents - maternal
Thomas Branwell (born 1746 died 5th April 1808) was married in 1768 to Anne Carne (baptised 27th April 1744 and died 19th December 1809).

Parents
Father was Patrick Bronte, the eldest of 10 children born to Hugh Brunty and Eleanor (Alice) McClory. He was born 17th March 1777 and died on 7th June 1861. Mother was Maria Branwell, who was born on 15th April 1783 and died on 15th September 1821.

Maria had a sister, Elizabeth who was known as Aunt Branwell. She was born in 1776 and died on 29th October 1842.

Patrick Bronte married Maria Branwell on 29th December 1812.

The Bronte Children
Patrick and Maria Bronte had six children.
The first child was Maria, who was born in 1814 and died on 6th June 1825.
The second daughter, Elizabeth was born on 8th February 1815 and died shortly after Maria on 15th June 1825. Charlotte was the third daughter, born on 21st April 1816.

Charlotte married Arthur Bell Nicholls (born 1818) on 29th June 1854. Charlotte died on 31st March 1855. Arthur lived until 2nd December 1906.

The first and only son born to Patrick and Maria was Patrick Branwell, who was born on 26th June 1817 and died on 24th September 1848.

Emily Jane, the fourth daughter was born on 30th July 1818 and died on 19th December 1848.

The sixth and last child was Anne, born on 17th January 1820 who died on 28th May 1849.

Top Withens in the snow.

Top Withens in the snow.

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