My Dear Miss, I now take up my pen to write to you hoping these few lines will find you well as it
leaves me at present. Thank God for it. You will perhaps be surprised that I should make so bold as
to write to you who is such a lady and I hope you will not be vex at me for it. I hardly dare say
what I want, I am so timid about ladies, and my heart trimmels like a hespin. But I once seed in a
book that faint heart never won fair lady, so here goes. I am a farmer in a small way and my age is
rather more than forty years and my mother lives with me and keeps my house, and she has been very
poorly lately and cannot stir about much and I think I should be more comfortable with a wife. I
have had my eye on you a lone time and I think you are a very nice young woman and ine that would
make me happy if only you think so. We keep a servant girl to milk three cow and do the work in the
house, and she goes on a bit in the summer to gadder wickens and she snags a few turnips in the
back end. I do a piece of work on the farm myself and attends Pately Market, and I sometimes show
a few sheep and I feeds between 3 $ 4 pigs agen Christmas, and the same is very useful in the house
to make pies and cakes and so forth, and I sell the hams to help pay for the barley meal. I have
about 73 pound in Naisbro Bank and we have a nice little parlour downstairs with a blue carpet, and
an oven on the side of the fireplace and the old woman on the other side smoking. The Golden Rules
claimed up on the walls above the long settle, and you could sit all day in the easy chair and knit
and mend my kytles and leggums. And you could make the tea ready again I come in, and you could make
butter for Pately Market, and I would drive you to church every Sunday in the spring cart, and I
would do all that bees in my power to make you happy. So I hope to hear from you. I am in desprit
and Yurnest, and will marry you at May Day, or if my mother dies afore I shall want you afore. If
only you will accept of me, my dear, we could be very happy together. I hope you will let me know
your mind by return of post. And if you are favourable I will come up to scratch. So no more ar
present from your well wisher and true love. P.S. I hope you will say nothing about this. If you
will not accept of me, I have another very nice woman in my eye, and I think shall marry her if
you do not accept of me, but I thought you would suit me mother better, she being very crusty at
times.