Description | "Hitt or miss Luck is all" appears in a letter of 3 June 1742, from Horace Walpole to Sir Horace Mann (source: Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University) Tells the story of Ilay, a nobleman, who has trees cleared from his garden. At first a pleasing view of a ruined church is revealed followed by a view of a gibbett, so fresh trees are planted 15 lines.
"Wrote on a window at Wetherby" is a scathing verse comparing he who likes a treeless landscape to vermin. 10 lines. The heading appears to be the title of the verse, but it may also indicate that the writer copied it from a window in a house in Wetherby |
Administrative History | The lines entitled "Hitt or miss Luck is all" are an apparent reference to Whitton Place, Twickenham, the house of Lord Ilay [sometimes Islay] (1682-1761) and were written by Rev. James Bramston (c1694-1744), poet and author of 'The Art of Politics'. |
Administrative History Sources | W.S. Lewis, et al., Eds (1954) 'Horace Walpole's Correspondence with Sir Horace Mann Yale Edition', Volume 17, p. 441, fn. 4. Available online from the Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University, https://libsvcs-1.its.yale.edu/hwcorrespondence/ |