Dearest Editor: I Recently came upon a Most Ethereal and Wondrous Woman while out on my Customary Evening Ride on the Moors. She wore no Boots, and her Gown was a Beautiful White. She Sang, such that her Voice Carried upon the Wind, Ethereal and Wondrous just as She, but her Song Chilled me to the Deepest Recesses of my Soul. Verily, I was Spooked, yet Fascinated by her Enchanting Beauty. What, my dear Editor, could she have been? Yours &tc., Mr. E. L. Dritch

georgiansuggestion:

My Dear Mr Dritch–

Our Blessed Country, Small and Peopled as it is, remains Home to Any Number of Inscrutable Figures, Awesome Occurrences, and Terrible Sensations, found in those Wild, Windswept Landscapes–Much Akin to those Moors you tramp with Such Stunning Regularity–which remain Untouched by the Hand of Mankind and his Meddlesome Hand, so Keen to mar the Face of the Wilderness with Road and Shop-front and Monument! These Places are those possessed of the Spirit of Ancient England, of Celt and Druid, and the Obscure and Unnamed Folk known Only in the Yearning, Ensorcelled Hearts of Children and Poets, who are Inclined by Natural Compulsion to seek out the Thrum of their Hallowed and Fantastic Presence pressed Against their Breast.  Strange to think that Just Beyond the Borders of Manicured Parks and Bucolic Village Greens lie the Enchanted Wilds, Wherein All Manner of Spectre and Beast are Free to roam, and a Banshee, Sylph, Fairy, Witch, or Ghost of the Very Description which you have relayed makes her Home…

Or so I have read. In Truth the Direst Threat of the Moor is a Wetland of Greater Depth than one suspects, and, in no Small Measure due to the Superstitious Reputation of Forest, Moor, and Field, the Droves of Young Ladies and Poets drawn to Such Places for their Frolics and Languishing. It is my Firm Belief the Young Woman you encountered was Just as she appeared: a Maid Insufficiently Dressed for the Chills of Autumn, embracing the Mad Impulses of Youth. You ought to enquire in the Nearest Village about her, in the Dreadful Case she came to Some Misfortune for her Romantic, Foolhardy Ways.

Yours &tc.,

The Editor