George Heath page 6a
In a handwritten preface prepared for one of his publications, Heath sets the scene at his parents' lowly cottage where he lived:
"Picture a quiet little village; and in the midst an ancient straw-thatch'd farmhouse, with dark, low-hanging eaves, massive masonry, huge oaken beams, and sombre heavy-mullioned windows: and, within, in a quiet nook, by the side of the fire, a sickly dreamer, with chin, as yet, unshaven, and who has but just entered within the pale of manhood.
Around him other members of the family are busy at work; and the patter of feet, the hum of the churn, the clink of pales, and the cackle of poultry fall on his ear; but do not disturb him: for they have grown as familiar, that, if heard at all they only mix up and coalesce with the burden of his dreams.
His inward eyes are strained far backward - conjuring up vague half forgotten scenes from the store-house of prolific memory: and this is an outline of the visions that dimly pass before him..."
He refers to his youth "when days glided into weeks, and weeks into months, and months into years, with their accompanying, ever changing panorama of sunrises, sunsets, twilights, starlights, dews, frosts, glooms, tempests and calms."
© Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Archive Service, 2010
Staffordshire Record Office, 6857/1/6
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