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On headed notepaper for West Hackhurst, Abinger Hammer, Dorking, 'as from' Heytesbury House, Wiltshire [home of Siegfried Sassoon]. - Was about to ring her on 'a matter of slight public importance, when a private disaster overwhelmed' him: Agnes has given notice, as she 'doesn't like the cooking'. His mother has 'borne it better' than he has so far: he does not see how they can stay on at West Hackhurst. Will talk it over when he returns from the long weekend with Sassoon already arranged. If Bessie is 'driving alone' near his mother, knows she would like to see her. Must post this letter (in Dorking) and board the train.

Tells her to look at the Times, he thinks from last Saturday, announcing that the Dorking town councillors 'propose to cut a chalk cock on Box Hill in honour of the Coronation!'. Wonders if she could contact 'eg some V[aughan] Williamses, find out whether it is true, and join in a protest if it is'.

The White Gates. - Has been reading through the '1947 Xmas book' ["From the Shiffolds"]: thinks it a 'very fine collection'; names the poems he particularly likes. Adeline wants him to tell Bob 'how much she likes "Dandelions"'. Bob may have heard that their friend Raynor has been given a hundred pounds by the Musician's Benevolent Fund. They send love to Bessie.

The White Gates. - He and Adeline send thanks for Bob's 'Xmas Poem' ["A Dream"]; has read it twice and is 'getting into it'; does not yet 'follow the end of the whole matter', but a third reading may put him right. Sends his 'latest small thing' [perhaps "England, My England"] in return. Sends love to Bessie. Ursula [Wood] is in 'raptures [?] about her weekends at the Shiffolds'.

Seatoller. - Expects Bob is enjoying himself abroad. Is having a good time at Seatoller with [Maurice?] Amos, [Ralph] Wedgwood and [George] Moore; Vaughan Williams left a few days ago; he and Wedgwood 'bathe in Cambridge pool every morning'; Amos and Wedgwood work hard for their triposes, while Moore chiefly reads "Jane Eyre" and other novels, and George 'all sorts of jolly books', none for his tripos. They are all getting on well, even better than at Stye since there is not the 'slight distance between Moore and Wedgwood'. They go up the mountains in the afternoon; he and Moore, as 'the Wordsworthians of the party' went over to Grasmere and Rydal; describes Dove Cottage, de Quincey's extension to it, and S.T.C. [Samuel Taylor Coleridge]'s house. Declares that there were 'men in England then', also naming Scott, Shelley, Byron and Keats. George got his scholarship; does not seem fair that Wedgwood has not, while they give one to someone like Charlie Buxton 'of very ordinary ability' in their first year; thinks this is 'bolstering up classics'. It is however a sign that the college is doing 'their duty to history' that there is now an entrance scholarship for it. Is glad at a personal level that Buxton has a scholarship: he and George will have plenty of money to go abroad in the long vacation now. Elliott has not got a scholarship, but is spoken of as 'certain' next year. Had a nice letter from Bowen; German measles is active in [Grove] house. Asks Bob to write to him about the novel if he needs someone to discuss it with: he knows the plan and beginning, and will keep it secret. Wedgwood is a really good rock climber. Notes in postscript that he will be seeing Moore's brother [Thomas] in London again next week, so Bob should write there.

The White Gates, Dorking. - Thanks Bob for his 'generous gift' and appreciation; it [presumably a piece performed at Dorking] is a 'beautiful work', and he knows all the performers loved it 'even if they could not give full expression to their love'.

The Master's Lodge, Trinity College, Cambridge. - Glad Bessie likes Veronica Wedgwood's "William [the Silent]". Bertie Russell is currently living at the Clifton Place Hotel, Sidmouth with his wife and son , who has not been well but is now recovering. Russell himself will be at Trinity for three nights this week, but George advises Bessie to write to Sidmouth since the posts are slow. Very much interested in Ralph Vaughan Williams' offer [of Leith Hill Place] to the National Trust.

W[est] H[ackhurst]. - Asks Trevelyan to 'find 8 lines of Dirge for the death of a Squire' to be set to music [for the pageant "England's Pleasant Land"]. V[aughan] W[illiams] recommends that the lines be about "In Memoriam" length. Also quotes an ode [Horace 2.14] in Latin, asks for the reference and whether there is a good translation.

The Shiffolds. - Hopes his parents have had a good Christmas, and better weather than he and Bessie have - though they are both 'quite well', and Bessie recovered from her cold a while ago. Very kind of his mother to say she will 'come here later on' [near the time that Elizabeth is due to give birth]: would like it very much, if it can be arranged without inconvenience to his parents. Thanks her for the 'little diary', if it is meant for him as Bessie says: is sure it will be useful.

They hope Roger Fry will visit this week: Robert has 'hardly seen him this past year'. Fry has moved into his new house at Guildford [Durbins]. The wood below the house has 'all been cut, and it is a great improvement, being much more airy' and he expects less damp. She will have heard that Ruby [their horse] has had an accident, but perhaps not that Ruby had to be put down, as 'her knees were so badly cut'. They have a horse from Noel at the moment, and are looking out for a better. Is going canvassing tonight with 'Ralph V. Williams, the musician'; they will go to Coldharbour first.

Is glad that Charles and Aunt Annie both seem to be recovering. Sends his and Bessie's love to his parent.

Garden Corner, West Road, Cambridge. - The "Abinger Chronicle" is 'quite delightful'; V.W.'s piece [Ralph Vaughan Williams "Local Musicians", Vol 1. No 3] was 'first class and so characteristic of him'. Sends on a magazine he has received with a review of Bob's ["Collected"?] works. He and Janet are going to Hallington for a fortnight on Thursday. Molly [and Humphry]'s new baby, Mary Harriet, 'seems quite a success'.

Garden Corner, West Road, Cambridge. - Thinks the "Abinger Chronicle" is keeping up well: likes Bob's poem and V[aughan] W[illiams]'s prose best so far, though the 'story about [John?] Churton Collins was very well told'.

Welcombe, Stratford on Avon - Very sorry for Elizabeth's 'fresh trouble'; it is a 'slight complaint', so even if Julian does catch it he will soon recover, but it is still a nuisance. Mrs V[aughan] W[illiams] is a 'real "friend in need"'. Hopes it will not spread among Elizabeth's children; Elizabeth is right to get Miss Evans away. She herself has been ill since Saturday, with a bad attack of shingles, which is very painful. Hopes Elizabeth's trouble soon resolves itself; thinks '"other people's children" [in this case the Abercrombies] are always a bother'. Asks to be remembered to Mrs Vaughan Williams and Margaret; was hearing news of 'Mr Ralph V.W. in Khakhi'.

The Shiffolds, Holmbury St. Mary, Dorking. - Thanks his parents for their letters; will write to his father soon, but today is 'really writing... for Bessie, who is very busy': she has to look after Julian 'a good deal now', since the nurse has had a 'bad cold, and is rather upset'; it is not 'the same thing as last time' and they hope not as bad, but she is 'not at all well, and it is very discouraging'. The doctor has seen her and will come again in a few days. Bessie takes Julian out in the pram, as the nurse is 'really not well enough to go out in this damp weather'; they may have to 'think seriously whether she will be able to go on through the winter', but that is not an immediate concern. The nurse is 'quite nice about it herself, and tries not to be depressed' though Robert fears she is not successful. Luckily Julian is 'very well'. Sure Bessie will write herself soon.

They read his father and Charles' speeches 'in a paper Gussie sent to his mother [Gussie Enticknap, son of Robert and Bessie's housekeeper, currently working as a gardener's boy for Sir George and Caroline at Wallington]. They seemed very good'. [Donald] Tovey came last Monday; he has been 'rather unwell', so has not yet done much work, but seems to be 'getting under way now'. His 'fellow composer' Ralph Vaughan Williams is coming over from Leith Hill Place this evening'.

Has a better ending for his short poem, which she can add if she likes: gives three lines to read ('I shiver in the chilling wind: the clouds whiten...') instead of the last two she has; it may not be quite right yet, but thinks this is an improvement.

Newnham Grange, Cambridge. - Thanks Bob for letting her 'share with Bernard [his] delightful sheaf of poems' ["From the Shiffolds"]; already knew "Philip Erasmus"; thinks she especially likes "Rarely rarely comest thou", while the one about spectacles talks about what she herself has 'so often realised with passion - the beauty of the world... with myopic eyes'. She never wore spectacles until she went to the Slade, and 'most of the value of the... good drawing' she did before she was seventeen was 'due to the simple short sighted vision' she had then; wishes she could go back to the 'simple vision of a child'. "Valentine" should be a song; tells him to give it to R.V.W. [Ralph Vaughan Williams] to set. Was lovely to see Julian, Ursula, and 'that little "varmint" [Philip Erasmus]', who is 'really adorable'.

13 Cheyne Walk. - Very sorry that Bessy cannot play for them this year. Hopes to come to Edinburgh for the 'Trevelyan-Tovey opera' ["The Bride of Dionysus", performed on 23 April]. Asks if she and Bob would like to come and see his 'thing at the R.C.M. ["Sir John in Love", at the Royal College of Music] and gives her dates of performances; will send invitations if they do.

The White Gates, Westcott Road, Dorking. - Good of Bessy to write; values her opinion 'very much (not only when favourable!'. Got to like [his 4th Symphony] himself by the end; the 'first rehearsal was unimaginable chaos' but the orchestra and Adrian [Boult] 'worked like Trojans'. Glad that Bessy is well enough to go home tomorrow, and hopes she is 'really better'; she must have had a 'trying time'

The White Gates, Westcott Road, Dorking. - Thanks Bob for "Beelzebub", which was 'a great solace' on a journey from London the other day; other poems he likes [in Bob's new "Beelzebub and Other Poems"] are 'P.A. and Maya'; already knew some such as the "Trojan Captives".

The White Gates, Westcott Road, Dorking. - Saw the 'lady conductor of Forest Green' yesterday, who says what Bessie was told about the hut [village hall] being taken over by the W[ar] O[ffice] and empty was 'quite untrue'; the village is still using it in the 'ordinary way', with the sole proviso that 'in the (unlikely) event of troops coming to the neighbourhood the YMCA would then take it over for the troops'. Hopes Bessy will put this right if she has told anyone else: the 'poor W.O. has so many true [emphasised] accusations' it is important no false ones are made. Regarding their conversation about the BBC and German music, he thinks that 'many musical and sensitive people who love German people and German music' might therefore 'find it an unbearable pain' to hear it due to the contrast between Germany's past and potential and its present state. Doubts that the BBC 'deliberately abjured German music for a week or so', but if they did perhaps that was the reason. Stresses that 'we English are not always [underlined] quite so stupid and so evil intentioned as our candid friends in the New Statesman and elsewhere try to make out'.

The White Gates, Dorking. - '[V]ery dear' of Bessy to write; wishes she could hear [his new 5th Symphony, to be performed that evening at the Albert Hall]; it is 'very quiet & not at all like the one before'. Thinks [Hubert] Foss did 'an almost impossible job very well'. They have had 'happy letters' from the Löwenbachs, who are in New York; [Jan] is 'quite well again', and writing for a Czech newspaper published there.

The White Gates, Dorking. - Thanks them for their 'dear letters'; they and Hervey [his brother, who lived at Leith Hill Place near the Trevelyans and had recently died] were 'lucky in [their] neighbours' and realised that, for which he is 'very glad'.

The White Gates, Westcott Road, Dorking. - Thanks Bob for the new poems [ his yearly 'Christmas card' "From the Shiffolds"]; likes them very much, especially the Catullus, Finds none of them 'quite up to the poem to Ursula last year' but perhaps this is because they are translations.

The White Gates, Dorking, Surrey. - Had 'not seen anything about the proposed closing down of the [BBC] Third Programme'. Thinks it must 'improve a lot' before they make 'serious efforts' to save it; finds almost as much music he wants to listen to on the Home Service, and even sometimes on the Light [Programme]. The 'Third Programme people are much too fond of dreary 17th and 18th century music' which may interest 'the antiquarian and the musicologist but has no real artistic value', while their speakers need to 'learn the elements of English elocution': they should 'take lessons from Desmond McCarthy [sic] or Gilbert Murray'. Very interested to know that Bessy also used to play Raff's "Cavatina" when young.

The White Gates, Dorking, Surrey. - Would like to see Bessie one day when she comes into Dorking; very sorry to hear she has been ill. Went to see "Billy Budd" twice and also listened to it; is 'still quite unmoved by it', though recognises its 'great skill'.

The White Gates, Dorking, Surrey. - Thanks Bessy for letting him know about the Röntgen [Quartet] concert. Humphrey Searle is 'one of the "Wrong note" young men' whose music Vaughan Williams does not understand, but is 'well thought of by many people'. Asked Miss Cullen [secretary of the Leith Hill Music Festival] about tickets for the 11th, very sorry that there are none left.

The White Gates, Westcott Road, Dorking, Surrey. - Very glad that 'things are progressing with regards to the books' [the purchase of Robert Trevelyan's books by London University, for which Vaughan Williams had started a subscription list]. Sorry he could not hear the Röntgen Quartet, but could not get to London that night. Explains that the "Sinfonia Antarctica" [original spelling] gets its name as it is derived from something he wrote for the film "Scott of the Antarctic".

The White Gates, Dorking, Surrey. - Thanks Bessie for her letter; sends Christmas and New Year best wishes. Listened in to [Daniel Jones's Third] Symphony, but 'did not make much of it'; found it 'very long and rather in coherent', but was tired when he listened and thinks he 'fell asleep over part of it!'

The White Gates, Dorking, Surrey. - Thanks Bessie for her letter, 'wishes and... blessings' [in response to the news of his forthcoming marriage to Ursula Wood, see 16/217]; sends love from them both.

The White Gates, Dorking. - Very 'dear' of Bessie to write 'such an affectionate letter'. Is still in Dorking, as 'Ursula will not have [him] in London till all is ready!' The removal men will take him 'and the rest of the moveables on Tuesday!' They have not had an invitation to Birkbeck yet [in connection of the presentation of Robert Trevelyan's books to the library?], and hopes they will get one.

10, Hanover Terrace, Regent's Park, London, N.W.1. - Good to hear from Bessie; they hope they will see Bessie here at their new house; they love it and 'Ursula has made it beautiful'. Is sending a copy of one of his arrangements of "Greensleeves", from which he thinks Philip Erasmus can 'pick out the tune'; confesses it is a '"cento". There are several versions of the tune, and [he] took the best bits' from each', but feels he is 'quite justified'.

The White Gates, Westcott Road, Dorking. - Originally enclosing [Kenneth] Wright's letter, which is 'absolutely confidential'. Is himself a 'very bad judge of playing', but did wonder after Bessie left whether 'this young man is more than competent', with 'dozens' of others 'in England & on the Continent' equally so. Also wrote to the Belfast BBC, but they say they can do nothing without a recommendation from headquarters.