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March 1808. I left London March 17, 1808 (Thursday) . I travelled in the Liverpool Mail as far as Stilton, from whence I proceeded to Oundle _ I found the road very dull after we left Highgate, all around which is a most beautiful country, interspersed with hills, valleys, woods & Country seats _ 19th On Saturday I went thro’ Northampton & Daventry to Coventry, thence to Lichfield and Chester _ which latter is a very singular-old place 21st I walked on the wall which surrounds the City, & is about 3 miles in circumference, & went to see the Cathedral which is a very bad one _ from thence I
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March 23, 1808 proceeded to Holyhead, which I left at 2 o’clock in the morning, & arrived at Dublin at 8, after a very fine & short passage _ it is 60 miles across _ The scenery travelling over the North Wales was very grand & beautiful _ All the public buildings I saw in Dublin are very handsome _ The Phoenix Park is about 8 miles in circumference, it is beautiful and lies very high _ the scenery very grand _ You look down upon the city of Dublin & have a beautiful view of the River Liffey _ you see the Dublin & Wicklow mountains at a distance covered with snow.
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April, 1808 I left Dublin on Saturday April 9th & arrived at Enniskillen on the 10th, after a very tiresome & fatiguing journey _ 10th I went in the mail which never travels above 4 miles an hour _ we were 22 hours going 80 miles Irish, which is nearly 100 English. The roads are very tolerable, but hilly ; _ until within 10 or 20 miles of Enniskillen the road is very dull & uncultivated, but then it puts on quite a different aspect _ you find the lands well cultivated, & the scenery very beautiful, with the prospect of Lake of Lough Earn _ the town is entirely surrounded with water _ beautiful hills on the top of which are very fine views & communicate with the land by 2 large bridges _ It is thought to be one of the finest
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1808 inland towns in Ireland; but I assure you that Honiton (though this town is much cleaner) is in some respects a London to it _ about a mile from Enniskillen is a beautiful seat of Ld Belmore’s & about 7 m. is a magnificent seat of Ld Enniskillen’s_ my lodgings here are pretty tolerable though not very cheap. Coals are not known here _ turf is burned instead which makes very good fires _ there are not many good fish in the lake _ the Pike which some people like very much, I think extremely bad _ the Perch are very nice _ the Salmon which comes from Ballyshannon is as fine as any I ever tasted. Here I first joined the 3d Battalion of the 27th Regiment _ as 2d Ensign, so that I have not
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map of Ireland showing route of Simcoe, with textbox – image
The MARCH of ENSIGN SIMCOE in the 3d Battalion of the 27th Reg.t from Enniskillen to the Curragh Camp and thence to the Cove of Cork where the Reg.t embarked for CORUNNA August 25th,1808