Letters from Norman Griffiths Ellsworth to his Mother, 1916 - Part 17 of 28

[*P.S. 
All the Coles 
bear strong resemblance 
to the Late John Cole.    
 N. *] 
  
["Lusoden"?] 
Lannoweth Rd. 
Penzance. 
Cornwall. 
July 9^th. 
  
My Dearest Mother, & all at Home,  
Having
obtained 4 days Leave, I came
down here yesterday at the
kind invitation given me, &
I will give you a brief description  
of the Hays to you. 
I
left Tidworth, Salisbury, on
Saturday morning for Andover
Junction, where I caught the
Riviera Express for Penzance,
- We passed thro' Salisbury
town en route, & also some
very pretty country, & arrived
at Exeter at dinner time:-
Having to re-book here & also
an hour to wait; I went

2
& had a brief & hurryed look
around that ancient town, but
was not impressed very much
with the place or people who,
of course, stared very rudely at
me, & so we (the train) left there
at 1.45 p.m. & went via Plymouth
- passing down thro' Devonport,
the country was extremely pretty
& this was characteristic of the
country in Cornwall too, & at
7-10 pm. I arrived at Penzance
& found one of my (Lizzis) Cousins there
to meet me. She was awfully
nice, & we at once walked
home where Mr & Mrs Prideaux,
& Mrs Winship (nee Miss Fanny Cole)
were waiting for me. The three
cousins are middle aged people
& very jolly, but Mr Prideaux
is a very eccentric old Gent,
altho' very generous, kind, &
awfully good natured.

3
He is a retired Barrister & is
very well to do, & keeps all the
girls & pays all expenses, as
well as giving largely to charities
About the house, he is most
extraordinary, & talks about
Angels Estate & all that kind
of thing, & wanted to know all
our pedigree, & worked it all
out as to what chances we
hold etc, & what with his dates,
& descriptions, & questions, & all
that kind of thing, he has almost
driven me insane. At the dinner
table, he can't bear to see any
thing out of place, & he will
get up & walk around & put
my bread knife straight, or
my pudding spoon, or the
salt cellar, or pick up some
crumbs, & push ones tea cup
nearer, or further away, & in
fact, one feels most uncomfortable

4
He calls his wife, the dog, &
the other cousins, the cats, & his
"mangy" dog outside he calls, his
dear Son, - & me he calls, his
dear "bloke", & this morning
he came & woke me up at 5 a.m
to tell me a funny story. 
He
dresses in the shabbiest of clothes
but is not mean in other things.
He sits on the local bench
& punishes offenders etc, & is
fairly well known here. 
He
speaks several Languages
fluently, & has travelled
considerably with his wife,
including a trip thro' the
Dardanelles & a stay in
Constantinople, & has also
been to Italy, & also to France
since the war was on. 

5
The boat that he was on
on this latter voyage, was
mined, but the ship got
into Port alright altho' he
expected a trip to "Davy Jones"
locker", as he calls it.
He
had a magnificent house at
Marazion, (3 miles from here)
but left it on account of it
being too quiet.
They live in
London usually, but came
down here to live on account
of Zeppelins, & expect to return
to London for Xmas.
Penzance
is an old sea faring port, &
is not far from Lands end,
so you can see that I have
been North, South, East & West now 

6
One can get a fine view
of the bay from this house,
& in the distance stands
St Michaels Mount, an old
Castle situated on a rock
jutting out in the sea, & it
holds a dominating position
over all the place.
Of course
there is a promenade & all
that kind of thing, & this
morning when Jessie, & the
other cousin (Lizzy Hay) took me out
for a walk, all the people
on the promenade very rudely
stared at me, & made me
feel very uncomfortable &
embarrassed, & I hardly
knew which way to look. 

7
If I had been a devil
or some other peculiar
creature, I could not have
had people stare harder
at me, & I do not think
that I am a very peculiar
looking creature, am I.?
Tomorrow, they are
going to take me for an
all day motor trip thro'
Cornwall, but I will give
you that news in my next
letter as the mail closes
tomorrow for Australia. 
I
have not had a letter from
Melbourne for a month or
more, & I am awfully hard
up for news of you all. 

8 
The last letter which I got
from you referred to my visit
to Buckingham Palace, & also
the kind offer of money which
I am not in need of at present
thanks. I haven't had a
letter from Mab for a long time
altho' I know she writes. 
I am  
glad that Fred Rowe came to
see you. - He had a very
rough time of it at Anzac.
All
here, & at Gravesend send
the fondest love to you & want
you to come over here to see
them, so you can use any
money of mine if you care to
do so. Give my love to every 
one at home, & hoping that
you are all well 
I am
Your loving son
Norman.