TARLETON (SIR BANASTRE) – COMMONPLACE BOOK
Autograph poem signed 'Banastre Tarleton' and dated 'January 1825' entitled 'Susan's Abode', comprising eight lines on his house in Lintwardine beginning 'The young, the old, the poor combine, To welcome thee to Lintwardine...' and illustrated by a pen and ink sketch of the house, written in a commonplace book dedicated to 'To/ The Lady Willoughby/ from/ Banastre & Susan Tarleton', with ownership inscription 'Priscilla Tarleton', containing poems and other writings in several hands including that of Susan Tarleton and Banastre Tarleton, a number of verses and illustrations initialled 'B.T.' including a tribute to the late Robert, 4th Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven ('...An eye witness of his conduct in America submits this inadequate testimonial to the noble family of Grimsthorpe Castle...'), also including tributes to Lady Willoughby and the Marchioness of Cholmondeley, 'An acrostic written in a storm on the 8th of February 1816... to the Baroness Willoughby de Eresby, on her birthday...', 'Lines supposed to be written at Waterloo', 'To Lady Tarleton', 'On Women', interspersed with historical notes on the great deeds of the Willoughby family and copies of verses by Byron, Burns, Lady Caroline Lamb, Moore, Scott, Mary Tighe and others; illustrated throughout with some 50 pen, ink and watercolour illustrations and delicate vignettes by the Tarletons to complement the verses, including a decorative floral and foliate frontispiece dedicated to Lady Willoughby depicting her portrait surrounded by putti holding the accoutrements of the Arts, c.130 leaves (c.40 blank), watermark W Turner & Son, a few minor tears and offsetting, contemporary russia blindstamped and gilt with etched brass clasp, silk endpapers, g.e., rebacked preserving original spine, 4to (225 x 180mm.), c.1820's
Footnotes:
'THE YOUNG, THE OLD, THE POOR COMBINE, TO WELCOME THEE TO LINTWARDINE': A fine commonplace book of verses and drawings, a joint collaboration between Sir Banastre Tarleton (1754-1833), notorious army officer and politician, made infamous through his exploits in the American Revolutionary Wars as leader of the 'Tarleton Raiders', and his wife Priscilla Susan Bertie Tarleton (1778-1864), fondly dedicated to Priscilla Tarleton's aunt Lady Willoughby,

Banastre Tarleton married Priscilla Bertie, the wealthy illegitimate daughter of his friend Robert Bertie, 4th Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven and 20th Baron Willoughby de Eresby (1756-1779), after a whirlwind romance in 1798. After having gambled away his inheritance, Tarleton had purchased a commission in the 1st Dragoon Guards and served with Bertie during the occupation of Philadelphia in the American Wars of Independence, where his ruthless reputation earned him the sobriquet 'Bloody Ban'.

When Bertie died young at the age of 22, the young Susan was taken in by her paternal grandmother, Mary Bertie the dowager Duchess of Ancaster and Kesteven at Grimsthorpe Castle. A sketch of the castle accompanied by a verse titled 'An Epilogue' comprises the first item in the book. The couple met in 1798 at Houghton Hall in Norfolk then, as now, the seat of Lord Cholmondeley, Susan's uncle by marriage, and were married three months later. Well-educated, pretty, accomplished in drawing, music and languages, reckless in many ways but disapproving of drinking and gambling, she was a vivacious and popular member of London society. Her marriage to the virtually penniless soldier older than her own father and with a notorious reputation raised many eyebrows at the time but their thirty-five year marriage stood the test. She accompanied him to Portugal, Ireland and throughout postings in England until his retirement and they ended their married life at Leintwardine in Herefordshire, which features several times in our book as an earthly paradise ('...A ray of heav'nly light is thine, Seen in thy works at Lintwardine...'). Their fondness for each other is also evident in several of the verses –- in 'To Lady Tarleton' he writes 'By ambition tormented, by fortune sore crossed/ Without little Sue, I had paradise lost/ Although deep sunk in debt, yet my fame was unstained/ And winning Sweet Susan, I paradise gained/ B.T.', but a flash of the old rake is still evident in his verse 'On Women' - 'You are stars of the night, you are gems of the morn... Her smile is our need, or her bosom our pillow' he writes.

As the ownership inscription shows, Susan Tarleton often varied the use of her names. Whilst official documents, including the parish records of her birth and marriage, give it as Susan Priscilla, she also used Susan or Priscilla, as in this volume. Her drawings are highly accomplished and she is also known to have contributed illustrations to be engraved for an anthology of Romantic poetry The Wild Wreath (1804) by Mary Elizabeth Robinson, the daughter of her husband's ex-mistress Mary (Perdita) Robinson. Despite losing two fingers from a musket ball received in his right hand during the Battle of Guildford Courthouse in North Carolina, Banastre Tarleton also appears to have lent his artistic talents to our volume, with many illustrations initialled 'B.T.'.

Our volume would appear to be presented to Susan's aunt, Priscilla Barbara Elizabeth Bertie (1761-1828) who became 21st Baroness Willoughby de Eresby in 1780 after her brother Robert's death. It contains many historical tributes to the Willoughby and Bertie families and references the family name in a finely-drawn frontispiece. Susan's other aunt Georgiana Charlotte Bertie (1764-1838) married George Cholmondeley, 1st Marquess of Cholmondeley at whose country seat she met her future husband. It was through this marriage that the Cholmondeleys acquired the hereditary office of Lord Great Chamberlain which had been previously been held by Robert Bertie.

Provenance: Private UK Collection.
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