Letters of Henry Holiday to Helen Patuffa Hood
Scope and Contents
All three letters are on the letterhead of 'Wansfell', 18 Chesterfield Gardens, Hampstead NW 3, and dated 17 January 1921, 8 February 1921, and 17 February 1922. Each open with the salutation, 'My dear Patuffa'.
The letter of 17 January 1921 begins, 'I have just found, to my much delight, Mrs Kennedy Fraser's invitation to your wedding, wh. reached me at Betty-Fold, our house at the Lakes'. Holiday had hoped to attend, 'but when I unpacked the invitation had disappeared'. He continues by talking about the church. 'I was christened in All Souls Church and my parents were married there about 90 years ago. He goes on to say that he 'felt some hesitation in addressing you as patuffa, knowing as i do that marriage alters much in peoples relations to their friends [...] Please tell Mr. Hood that June 17th was my 81st birthday [...] and when he hears what a very old fogey I am I hope he will think that the friendship is a safe one'. he asks, 'Are you keeping up your beautiful singing and yr. cultivation of the Songs of the Hebrides'.
In the letter of 8 February 1921, Holiday writes that he is 'afraid to seem like pestering' her, but wants to tell her how pleased he is to be back in touch, and how much he is looking forward to seeing the Hoods when they are in London. 'How amusing to hear that you came across my book. Did you really get all through it without fainting in the effort. It was brave of you to tackle it'.
The third letter of 17 February 1922, Holiday apologises for forgetting her married name, and thanks her for the invitation to a concert. 'I am so busy that I consider it almost criminal to indulge in a daytime concert but I can't help that - I'm coming with my friend Miss Scott'.
Dates
- Creation: 1921-1922
Creator
Language of Materials
English
Conditions Governing Access
Open to bona fide researchers, but please contact repository for details in advance of visit.
Biographical / Historical
Helen Patuffa Hood (born 1889) was the daughter of Marjory Kennedy-Fraser. She had married John Charles Fulton Hood - the Rev. Canon John Charles Fulton Hood - in 1920. Marjory Kennedy-Fraser and her daughter Patuffa used to present the mother's collected songs in recitals which took them to New York, London and Berlin in the 1920s.
Extent
3 letters
Physical Location
CLX-A-622
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The letters were acquired by purchase in June 2014. Accession no: E2014.47.
Processing Information
Catalogued by Graeme D. Eddie 19 June 2014
Creator
Subject
- Title
- Letters (3), 1921-1922, from Henry Holiday (1839-1927) to Helen Patuffa Hood (b.1889)
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
Repository Details
Part of the University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections Repository
Centre for Research Collections
University of Edinburgh Main Library
George Square
Edinburgh EH8 9LJ Scotland
+44(0)131 650 8379
heritagecollections@ed.ac.uk