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Sonnet written by George and dedicated to Ruth Turner and her sister Marjorie

Letter to Ruth Turner, written from Charterhouse School on headed notepaper [Ruth was in Ireland with her family]

He had written to his mother but did not understand her reply until Mary [his sister] explained to him that it was usual for a bride-groom’s parents to provide house linen. He had slept out the previous night and felt glorious and now had to prepare his history lessons.

Letter to Ruth Turner, written from Charterhouse School [Ruth was in Ireland with her family]

Had finished reading William Morris and was delighted and much moved by it. He associated her family with William Morris and there was a very nice reference to her father’s work in the book. He would send the book on to her. He wanted to look up some of William Morris’s poetry as he knew very little of it.

He had been writing poetry but had to stop and go to the Headmaster’s house [Frank Fletcher]. He couldn't talk seriously to anyone as it was always time for tennis. Tennis was irritating because when he hit the ball hard it always went out.

His last letter was ridiculous which he didn't mind as it was good for her to have someone to laugh with as she appeared to be deliciously solemn at moments. He was much too conceited ever to envy a cricketer. He only envied the poets. He was glad that the sonnet he wrote [See: PP/GM/1/1/1914/2] meant something to her.

The boys were being jolly. He describes Miss Pollock by practising a literary parody of Henry James. He describes a thunderstorm which occurred during the night and was still on his mind as he read the great third act of King Lear to his Form. Explains his interest in Lear and asks her to read some of John Keats’ letters.

Was expecting his friend Lytton Strachey to arrive and stay the night. He was very queer to the world but not to him as they were friends but he must be very irritating to many people. He had a profound respect for his intellect and passion with which he held the doctrine of freedom. His love for him as a man of intense feeling and fine imagination helped him put up with much that he wouldn't tolerate in others.

He had borrowed a copy of Poems by the Way by William Morris from the Clutton-Brocks. He thought they should buy the same edition as a wedding present. He loved what she said about money but he had only been about 1% serious in his previous letter which she would have known if she could have seen him talking. Money was comic and wholly irrelevant to him.

Wonders what wedding presents they might receive. The idea of possessions didn’t interest him unless he had some part in producing a beautiful whole with them. Avie and Harry [his sister and her husband Harry Longridge] had received 300 wedding presents, and his sister Mary would receive more. He had suggested to Mary that she could have all the ones they received that they didn’t want but she had refused the offer so he would have to get her a present.

Letter to Ruth Turner, written from Charterhouse School [Ruth was in Ireland with her family]

He had spent a very lazy morning talking with Lytton [Lytton Strachey, a friend of Mallory’s who was staying with him at Charterhouse], reading poetry, particularly The Menage of the March Wind by William Morris. He was visited by Alan Goodfellow who had been ill and stayed to talk during Chapel [he had climbed with Mallory in the Lakes the previous year]. Breakfast and lunch were trying as Lytton didn't like boys. He was very shy because he talked in a falsetto voice. In this sort of company he would say very little and yet look very striking. He was a man you couldn't ignore.

Ruth’s life didn't sound all joy and he hoped the fishermen appreciated how good she was [Ruth and her sisters Marjorie and Mildred spent much of the time rowing the men in the party including their Uncles Lawrence and Hawes out onto the Lochs to fish]. She had a dangerously unselfish disposition but she wouldn't spend her life doing little jobs for him.

Time was a rude limitation on their existence and they would have to find more of it by being more organised. It was only a week and a half until they would see each other.

Postscript - asks if they can make a new vocabulary of love words.

Letter to Ruth Turner, written from Charterhouse School [Ruth was in Ireland with her family]

Was longing to be with her. What was the use of writing about the little things he had done and thought when one thing was so much greater than the rest.

[Letter is continued later that day] - He had spent a glorious evening in her canoe with two boys and had a successful picnic. He describes the different garden flowers he had seen. Asks her where they should meet the following Wednesday. Upcoming week would be spent correcting the English papers of scholarship candidates and seeing pupils. His mother wanted them to visit her in Birkenhead, and that she was delighted with his letter. He hoped she got up that mountain on Saturday.

Letter to Ruth Turner, written from Charterhouse School [Ruth was in Ireland with her family]

He was concerned about where they would live mentioning two places that they had considered but were no longer possible. They would get a house somehow and he wanted her all to myself next holiday.

He had been back to Westbrook [Ruth’s family home which was close to Charterhouse] as they had left the hook behind [see: PP/GM/1/1/1914/13]. She was very much in the air and he had picked some flowers. He was due to dine at Brooke Hall with his guest Mr Becker [a former music master], and feared he would have to play Bridge.

Letter to Ruth Turner, written from Charterhouse School [Ruth was in Ireland with her family]

Regrets that she did not receive his long letter sent on Saturday. He was glad she went on her walk. Compared her 10 hour climb to a 15 hour climb in the Alps.

Explained what he meant when he said she was true.

The following day would be busy as he would have to take another master’s English class and still had scholarship papers to mark.

He ought to go to Mary's wedding [his sister] but it could be difficult leaving school. There was bad news in relation to a prospective house and hoped something else would turn up.

Letter to Ruth Turner, written from Charterhouse School [Ruth was in Ireland with her family]

Asks if she had received Sunday's letter [24 May] as well as Saturday’s letter [23 May]. Expected her letter to be in the humblest vein or even remorse that she had thought he could be anything but the most virtuous and punctual of correspondents.

Supposes it’s the walk that made her feel jiggish, skippish, skittish, spriggish, snappish and frolicsome and not his beautiful long letter which was the longest he'd ever written. The real worry about her being in Ireland was that it took so long to get an answer and they often seemed to have the same thoughts.

Discusses plans for meeting on Wednesday. He planned to go to Oxford for the weekend and asks her to send her letter to him on Saturday c/o F. Urquhart, Balliol College. He spent the afternoon with some boys at the Jenkinsons’ but could not play with them as he had a bad toe.

She shouldn't begin worrying about what she could or could not say to him.

The weather was changing and he was looking forward to visiting Oxford which was the most beautiful place of it’s kind. His mother was very keen for them both to visit. Wishes he had her help choosing Mary’s wedding present. Must attend a meeting at the Headmasters [Frank Fletcher] to elect the Junior Scholars.

Letter to Ruth Turner, written from Charterhouse School [Ruth was in Ireland with her family]

He had received a lovely long letter from her and was sorry she had hurt her hand and was not in very good health. He had a bad toe which caused him to limp. Discusses possible houses they could take and plans for the rooms asking if they were to have a piano. Arthur Benson had written to ask what he should give as a wedding present and asks what he should give as an answer - a Persian rug or a bath towel?

Letter to Ruth Turner, written from Balliol College, Oxford [Ruth was in Ireland with her family]

He had been in Oxford where the book shops were the best in the world. This would be the last letter before her journey to see him and he longed for Wednesday.

Letter to Ruth Turner [Ruth was in Ireland with her family]

An affectionate letter looking forward to their meeting on Wednesday which filled him with delight.

Sonnet written by George and headed To Ruth

Letter to Ruth Turner, written from Charterhouse School [Ruth was in Ireland with her family]

14 May - Had done very little pining as he wanted to keep all thoughts of her to be a positive experience. Spent the morning in school, teaching King Lear and Carlyle, who was a bore, and Heroes and Hero-Worship which would be a good book if it were shorter. Had finished teaching Cromwell much to his relief.

He wouldn't think about talking to his friends about the things he writes to her about. Had spent the afternoon chaperoning students on the river towards Somerset Bridge and was due to have a pupil at 9:15.

15 May - The weather was nice and he wished she was there. The weather wouldn't be nice with her as she was in Ireland. Hopes she has been sick on the boat as when he is sick it does him good. He had to see Rendall about an entrance English paper and asks if Ruth's father knows Rendall.

Letter to Ruth Turner, written from Charterhouse School [Ruth was in Ireland with her family]

She must be in another continent at least as he had not yet received a letter from her.

His Form were dong a paper on the First Act of King Lear. He had been to a tennis party and dinner party at the Headmaster's House where Mrs Fletcher [wife of the Headmaster] had referred to Ruth as very pretty. Mrs Fletcher had asked about their arrangements for the future and what colour their rooms would be. Suggests they should be high toned and have an emerald, sapphire or amethyst room; or be romantic and have a room like Monte Cristo’s cave; or like the bottom of the sea; or, should he take Orders and adopt mid Victorian culture?

Had been to a dinner party at Prior’s Field with the Clutton-Brocks. Sets out his plans for the weekend.

Letter to Ruth Turner, written from Charterhouse School [Ruth was in Ireland with her family]

Was delighted her letter had arrived. The country sounded lovely and he wished he could walk the hills with her. Glad she loved the hills and was interested in Whymper’s ‘Scrambles’. They ought to have a proper climbing season that year in the Alps.

Had spent the morning altering the second four lines of the sonnet he was writing [See: MCPP/GM/3/1/1914/2] and gives her instructions on the metre and how best to read it. He hopes she will like it. He had been correcting Shakespeare papers and was behind with his correspondence. He had an aversion to the military and would like to discuss the subject more with her. He was a doubter in life with enough firm views for a firm foundation but liked to think and change his mind. Mary's [his sister] man Ralph Brooke was an instructor at Woolwich, and therefore both a school-master and a solider.

She wouldn't be lonely now she had the sonnet. He adds to the letter the next day asking her to date her letters.

Letter to Ruth Turner, written from Charterhouse School [Ruth was in Ireland with her family]

Teases her about misspelling the word 'glacier' [Ruth had dyslexia]. Misses and loves her. Is frightened when she says their life will be perfect together and warns her to expect downs as well as ups but thinks it will turn out at least as good or even better than she imagines.

Would send her a letter from his mother and asks her opinion. He describes the previous day when he had been walking with Hilton Young [Geoffrey Young’s brother]. They had met another Cambridge friend was was now a doctor and a man he knew slightly. His friends were nicer now than when they were at Cambridge. Puts it down to having a job. He lunched with the Clutton-Brocks and played cricket with the boys.

He was behind with work and worried about the Shakespeare papers which he had been correcting - the boys didn’t appreciate Cordelia. They didn't have the necessary emotional experience. He wanted to write an article about Cromwell. Clutton-Brock had given him his book about William Morris which he would read and send on.

He had received a cheque for £100 as a wedding present. It was a serious annoyance to him that she was rich and he was poor.

Letter to Ruth Turner, written from Charterhouse School [Ruth was in Ireland with her family]

He had started the letter once already ragging her for not writing [he had not received a letter that day] but had torn it up as he was afraid she would take it too seriously. He assumes there was no Sunday post. His sister Mary and Ralph Brooke were in the room talking and it was distracting him. Ralph had played in a cricket match against the school and made a century. Would she like him to be a hero like that? Mary and Ralph were talking about their wedding service plans and about cricket.

Letter to Ruth Turner, written from Charterhouse School [Ruth was in Ireland with her family]

He had no pupil that evening. The boys were being taught to fight on the other side of the pergola so it wasn't quiet. Agrees that other people seemed dull and it was all wrong and annoying but it would all be alright once they are married.

His day had started with a pupil before breakfast followed by two hours in school. One class contained some exceptionally irritating people and he was quite annoyed. He had a more enjoyable afternoon teaching history to his form and then English with the smallest boys. He had read poetry with them and they seemed enchanted. He was in quite a good humour.

He hadn't known how important her letters would become to him. He had found a photograph of himself taken in Wales which he hoped was agreeable. He provides an address for Avie [his sister Annie Victoria known as Avie]. He was delighted with a map Ruth had sent as it made him think of her in beautiful surroundings. He hoped she would get up the mountain and warned her not to be deceived by Whymper as things had changed a lot since his day [late 1800s]. They knew much more now and climbed much better.

Letter to Ruth Turner, written from Charterhouse School [Ruth was in Ireland with her family]

It was a wonderful that she loved him and wanted to know him and that his letters had meaning to her.

She mustn’t depend too much on him as he might affect her growth and she his. There must be separate individual growths. He was not perfect and didn't wish to be because it would be very dull. She was so disturbing to his balance that he didn't now whether he was on his head or his heels.

He was reading Clutton-Brock’s book on William Morris whom he admired. Morris was the foundation of all their present revolt against the heritage of Victorian ugliness. He had also read two new sonnets by Keats which expressed exactly his own feeling. That was what the great poets did for us.

Letter to Ruth Mallory written from Pen y Pass [no date]

Had arrived in Pen y Pass but instead of a car there was a little trap to meet them. They were expected but when they arrived the hall was dark as the current had been turned off due to a thunderstorm. They were staying in the lower shack and his bed was too short. Hugh was excited about the prospect of climbing. There was one other guest in the hotel, a man called O’Malley who would climb with them that day. Weather was clearing and they planned to go toward Tryfan. He had been sorry to leave her but was glad to be there.

Letter to Ruth Mallory written from Ripon on Sunday

He was currently sitting at a large open sash window on the first floor of a Georgian house looking out over a square in Ripon which was pleasant and quiet. This was very different to the previous day as there were 40-50,000 troops stationed in the neighbourhood and the street seemed a scene of barbaric turmoil after the quiet of the mountains. It had rained so they had been unable to go to the surrounding countryside as planned. Trafford was supposed to have arrived with a sidecar and he [Mallory] brought a bike from Birkenhead. However, Trafford had not arrived in Ripon and the soldiers had taken all the bikes in the town so their mobility was limited. They had a huge pile of luggage but no power of mobility. He hoped they could find a place to stay in the country until Wednesday when his father had to leave him.

Trafford had obtained his father’s consent to his marriage and had gone to London to make arrangements, but they had received no wire from him. All the troops that had been in the cathedral had now left and were marching in columns in the square and he couldn’t work out how they didn’t run into each other. He had enjoyed his time in Wales and had left it with many regrets.

Letter to Ruth Mallory written from Castlestead, Pateley Bridge on Monday

They had left Ripon and were in Nidderdale staying in a railway carriage in the gardens of a country house which were used as an overflow for guests from the main house. He and his father had been cycling in the countryside around Ripon. His father often amused him and often shocked him by saying outrageous things but he never talked about family matters. He was a terrible snob.

He regrets not having seen Fountains Abbey again and but hoped to stay a couple of extra days after his father had left so that he could visit it along with Bolton Abbey and Skipton Castle. Trafford would probably get married on 19th and he would tell her the full story later. He was sitting near lots of wild raspberries which reminded him of Exmoor and says lots of little things remind him of Devonshire.

Letter to Ruth Mallory written from Castlestead, Pately Bridge

Asks her to send a nightshirt to Magdalene College as he was planning on going there on Friday and also the coat and waistcoat from his wedding suit to Mr Barnet Beales, Sidney Street, Cambridge. He had received three letters from her which was a great joy. It was great news about Mildred’s engagement. She wouldn’t have consented if she hadn’t been sure herself that he was the man for her and he was a very good man [Ruth’s sister Mildred married Robert Morgan].

[He starts to write an account of the previous day but the letter ends abruptly mid sentence and there is no sign off].

Letter to Ruth Mallory written from Pateley Bridge

Hopes she wasn’t disappointed by the scrap he wrote that morning [see MCPP/GM/3/1/1915/12]. The more he thinks about Mildred’s engagement the better hopes he has and thinks that a few years difference in age shouldn’t matter [Ruth’s sister Mildred married Robert Morgan].

He was enchanted by his visit to Fountains Abbey which stirred his imagination and made him ask questions about the daily life of the monks and wish he were a poet. He took twelve photos and his camera had lain unused in his rucksack whilst he was in Wales. He had been talking with a French girl who was a teacher in a girls’ school in Scarborough and was waiting for a permit to cross to friends in Ireland. She absolutely refused to believe that he was married. He might go to Bolton Abbey or Wensleydale and Jervaulx Abbey the following day.

Letter to Ruth Mallory written from the train to Cambridge, Friday

He was on the train ½ hr from Hitchin where he would change for Cambridge. He had taken part in a whist drive which had been a great amusement. He had the opportunity to inspect a remarkable collection of women, and a few less men, commenting on the stupidity, utter banality, and depth of spiritual emptiness of middle class provincial England. He was pleased to win first prize of a hundred cigarettes.

He had enjoyed Wensleydale very much and had tried to take a photograph of it to show her as he thought they should go back there together. He describes the countryside, colours, buildings and views.

[He changes onto the Cambridge line and continues the letter]. He expected to feel like a stranger in Cambridge as it would have changed and be unfamiliar but Benson [his former tutor and the Master of Magdalene College, 1915-1925] and Gaselee would be there.

He had sent a pile of dirty clothes from Pately Bridge and asks her to have them washed. He would write again from Cambridge.

Letter to Ruth Mallory, written from the train between Birkenhead and Chester

He had received her undated letter which he assumes was written on Christmas Day. Assumes many of those there with her for Christmas would be staying on for Mildred’s marriage [Ruth’s sister]. He did not care about the symbols of marriage, burial, repentance or forgiveness. A good ceremony could be quite amusing but a bad one would do worse than merely loosing him.

He had quite a happy visit to Birkenhead and Avie and Harry had arrived after two burst tyres in the wind and rain in tremendous spirits. On Monday night he planned to stay at Mobberly and then on Tuesday he would be home with her. Suggests she go down whilst he was at Weymouth and stay nearby with his mother or a female friend for company and then he could see her at weekends.

Letter to Ruth Mallory written from Pen y Pass on Wednesday

He and Reade had spent the day climbing on Lliwedd. The mist was thick and there was snow around. He lead and was in quite good form. He had worn two shirts which was an excellent way of clothing himself.

Conor O’Brien did not arrive last night as the steamers from Ireland were not running in daylight for fear of submarines. He had arrived that morning after they had left for the day. The fourth member of the party couldn’t come at all.

Alan was more responsible and soberer. The constant need for control, thought and care had matured him. This meant he was less interesting than usual. He would stick at his job after the war and it was a shame he hadn’t gone to the Varsity. He would always be one of the nicest of people.

Is concerned about her health and asks if the reason for her high temperature was milk fever and whether Clare was now taking a bottle. Hopes she will enjoy her part in Mildred’s wedding and asks who will cook for her guests at the Holt. Hopes Mildred took his letter to her well as he feared it might have come across as rather a lecture. Asks her to date her letters.

Postscript - the clouds had lifted and the glass had gone up so they ought to have a fine day, rather windy and cold.

Letter to Ruth Mallory written from Pen y Pass, Friday

He had received her letter so understood her unwellness. Hoped to hear that day that she was better.

Had a glorious climb which was new to the others. Their luck with the weather hadn't continued as it was blowing and raining like fury. H. V. R. wasn't in best form yet and Conor came sailing up third in his bluff, breezy manner.

They had no papers there and he wanted to know what was going on in the world so asks her to get the Times Weekly and keep it for him.

Letter to Ruth Mallory written from Pen y Pass

Thanks her for sending on his silk socks which he had forgotten. They had a strenuous first day climbing different variations of routes on the South Buttress of Tryfan. He had rescued a lamb and carried it to safety in his rucksack. They had gone to Ogwen for tea as he wanted to persuade Mrs Jones to take the O’Malley party after their week in their current hotel. Hugh was a better walker than he expected but he hadn't got the hang of climbing yet and he was worried he didn't like it. O’Malley was a nice gentle person but wasn't very interesting. Their next objective was Lliwedd but the road had been closed by the military. They were going to invite Lieutenant Fisher (the officer in command) to dinner. The previous night he had sat with a mug of beer by the fire, played picquet with Hugh and read a chapter of The Ambassadors in bed.

Letter to Ruth Mallory written from Pen y Pass [no date]

He hadn’t received a letter from her. They had an amusing adventure getting passed the soldiers who were guarding the pipes running from the lake to the power station and so on to LLiwedd. He had managed to get hold of the newspapers and he was beginning to back the Russians as the Germans were taking too long to get through. Hoped she was well and wasn't bored. Changes were a blessing at times which men want more than women. Did she have any news of Trafford.

Friday - they were going to make an early start, take things gently and he wouldn't attempt anything that was not within his powers.