Penny Magazine

No. 220 - THE PENNY MAGAZINE - Sep. 5, 1835

JOHN KYRLE--"THE MAN OF ROSS."

[IN our last Supplement we have an account of the principal works of this eminent benefactor to the town of Ross, and we now add a few notices of his Personal habits and character, which we trust will not be uninteresting.]

THE Rev. T. D. Fosbroke, in a local guide-book, which is superior to the generality of such works, has collected several little particulars concerning the hearty social old bachelor, which are the more interesting from their naivete and homeliness. It appears that honest John was entered a gentleman commoner of Baliol College, Oxford, in 1654, that he was intended for the Bar, but soon relinquished all thoughts of that profession, and returning to Ross gave himself up to agriculture and building, and the improvement of his native town. An old maiden cousin, of the not very euphonous name of Bubb, kept house for him many years. In his person John was tall, thin, and well-shaped: his health was remarkably good, and he scarcely knew any of the frailties of old age until within a very short time of his death. His usual dress was a suit of brown dittos, and a king William's wig, all in the costume of his day. He disliked crowds and routs, but was exceedingly fond of snug social parties, and "of dinnering his friends upon the market and fair days." He was also exceedingly pleased with his neighbours dropping in without ceremony, loved to make a good long evening of it, enjoyed a merry story, and always seemed sorry when it was time to break up. His dishes were generally plain and according to the season, but he dearly loved a goose, and was vain of his dexterity in carving it, during which operation, which he invariably took upon himself, he always repeated one of those old sayings and standing witticisms that seem to attach themselves with peculiar preference to the cooked goose. He never had roast beef on his table save and except on Christmas day; and malt liquor and good Herefordshire cider were the only beverages ever introduced. At his kitchen fire there was a large block of wood, in lieu of a bench, for poor people to sit upon; and a piece of boiled beef, and three pecks of flour, made into loaves, were given to the poor every Sunday. The number he chose at his "invitation dinners" was nine, eleven, or thirteen, including himself and his kinswoman, Miss Bubb; and he never cared to sit down to table on such occasions till he had as many as made one of those numbers. He not only superintended the labours of the road-makers, planters, and gardeners, but commonly took an active part in them himself, delighting above all things in carrying a huge watering pot to water the trees he had newly set in the earth. "With a spade on his shoulder, and a glass bottle of liquor in his hand, he used to walk from his house to the fields and back again several times a day."