January 4th, Wednesday
At 9.15 I started off with Poggy for a ride and as all the officers were going over to the Curragh riding schools I rode with them. We were quite a gay cavalcade and had a jolly gallop across the downs.
I have had a very busy day having allowed Annie and Nanny to go to Dublin. I was fully occupied looking after the two monkeys.
Jan 5th
This being mail day my only airing consisted of a walk to the Canteen where I ordered stores, complained of potatoes and eggs and trotted home again. Wrote many letters and read a foolish book by George Moore.
Jan 6th
After lunch I went women visiting and got through 8 but there are about 30 to do, oh!oh!!oh!!!. When shall I ever do so many. They were all a decent lot and received me civilly. One or two of the men were in and whom I am always glad to meet. Many had colds and all the rooms were boiling so I shall probably develop one shortly!
Jan 7th, Saturday
We had planned to ride again but on looking out of the window we gave up. I had a good deal to do so perhaps it was as well that I should not go gallivanting. To tea came the new subaltern, a man of 33 possessing a wife and child, a bald head and false teeth. Fancy a subaltern with all these additions! Nevertheless he was quite pleasant. Capt Winter called to sell me a leg of mutton. Of all odd little creatures he is the oddest, very nice and amusing and his character is adequately described if I say his joys are “Paris, Omar Khayyam, Hichens, Aspic, Punch a la Romaine and Sheffield Plate”!! (Roast beef, rice puddings etc are of the Philistines).
Jan 8th
Such a day of wind and rain but nothing daunted we marched to church in the morning and over to the Curragh to lunch at the Mortons. As we could hardly walk going to church our journey across the Curragh would have been impossible if we had not had the Kildare brougham. I looked like a ragbag that had been dragged through a hedge backwards on my arrival at home.
Jan 12th
To tea came the General, Capt Micklejohn, Mr Bowles and Mr Lyster who had come down to spend the day with us. The trains ran so awkwardly for P.G.L (Lyster) that he had to come by one arriving at 11. However we went up the tower and after lunch went forth again and got the verger to escort us down the tunnel but unfortunately it has fallen in close to the entrance so we could not get any way but even this was interesting. There are evidences of the wattle frame on which they built the tower and in the tunnel niches built of stone made for burial purposes. In one of these I found some bones crusted with earth and wish it had not fallen in so that we could have got along it. In the vestry the verger had a box of bones which had been buried in a vault in the chancel. Why they don’t bury them I cant think.
Jan 13th, Friday
At 10 we started off and went for a long ride of 15 or 16 miles round by the Hill of Allan as H proposes having a Field Day there on Monday. Our road took us over a corner of the Curragh, then along endless dull roads and eventually out on to the brown bog land. It looked indeed a place of desolation, miles of flat sodden-looking earth upon which nothing grew but brown rushes and only a few goats grazing gingerly here and there, Occasionally a tiny whitewashed cabin came in view with one chimney and one hole a foot square for a window. Pigs, fowls, dogs shared it with a dirty family who came and stood at their door with open mouths as we passed as if we were a wild beast show. At length we left this peaty district and turned on our way home. At once the horses knew and though we had come a long way, made off home as fast as possible.