The photo on the right is the inside leaf with I presume her own neat hand writing. I also presume that she would have been dressed similarly to this woman in the picture found at the back of the book advertising more exciting stories!
How difficult then would it have been to traipse around the tracks and lanes of that area, following her husband in his work. Most of her travelling appears to have been either on a cart or riding a pony.
Isabelle took notice of every thing that she saw and every situation she encountered.
She spoke to the people in their language often surprising those who bad-mouthed her by answering their accusations, and stayed in the same hostels as the rest of the party.She observed the way that the buildings were constructed and watched what the people planted, listing the various fruit and vegetables which were the locals every day fare.Music,especially the unusual instruments that the Chinese played was all carefully written about. One page reminded me of Gilbert and Sullivan's work, The Mikado, as it was for girls and they had to sing in a high pitched voice. It could have been a bit like those kids on Idol who screech to get their top notes! As the passage says "screaming trebles".
How difficult then would it have been to traipse around the tracks and lanes of that area, following her husband in his work. Most of her travelling appears to have been either on a cart or riding a pony.
The vehicle without wheels would have been agony for both the woman and the man and I don't think the cart much better.As we would say in the family, "mind your derriere"! Is the top one the precursor to the sand buggies that we see on the long beaches of our west coast? It would be fun to think so, but this was no fun for Isabelle. Yet in the telling of her story she didn't grumble.
The area she was travelling in was Shan Tung. Now how often had I heard mum and Aunt Helen talk about "a nice shantung frock", without having the slightest idea that it was silk coming all the way across the world, and a world that was much less available than our one today.
Isn't this fantastic! A wedding couple dressed in their absolute best, just like any couple today, except that these garments had most probably been passed down the generations along with the beautiful jewellry. I suppose that the nearest I got to this was my daughter wearing my wedding veil and my mum's pearls on her day.
Isabelle took notice of every thing that she saw and every situation she encountered.
She spoke to the people in their language often surprising those who bad-mouthed her by answering their accusations, and stayed in the same hostels as the rest of the party.She observed the way that the buildings were constructed and watched what the people planted, listing the various fruit and vegetables which were the locals every day fare.
These landscape prints are etchings I think, showing streets,buildings markets. I wonder if she collected these as she travelled. If so then she was thinking ahead in order to let folk in the west see the life of those she met.
School taught me that the Chinese invented gunpowder and here is a cannon for firing it. Da Vinci eat your heart out.
Here is an officer to fire the cannon.
And this merchant sells his silk and other goods on the silk route out of China.
While the official keeps a beady eye on them all!
So there we have it . The real story of my ancestor Isabelle Williamson. She actually existed. Aunt Helen was a Williamson as was mum and therefore I'm not at all surprised that they were as fiesty as they were, although actually there was none of Isabelle in their blood as she died without giving birth. However there is not a single reference to her Dr.Williamson having walked the Wall so that may be just a great big family tale. And just like a pig's is really curly!
