The Devil Comes to Dartmoor by Laura Quigley

Author:Laura Quigley
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780752489803
Publisher: The History Press
Published: 2012-08-22T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

Declarations of War

Many story-tellers criticise Mary as a ‘bad mother’, neglecting her children at Fitzford1, but during Sir Richard’s five-year absence, Mary did try to spend time with her family, travelling frequently between Devon, Dorset and London2 while running the Fitz estates, all the time writing to George Cutteford.

In her letters to George, Mary would affectionately address him as ‘Honest Guts’ or ‘Good Guts’3. She would also teasingly call him ‘Froward Guts’, froward meaning obstinate, contrary or disobedient. ‘Guts’ may seem a strange nickname, but Mary was prone to using childish nicknames. She called her uncle Alexander Courtenay ‘Sandr’, for example. There is something about her name for George Cutteford that suggests she knew him from early childhood. ‘Guts’ is the kind of teasing epithet a child would use to a trusted friend, suggesting again, as other documents indicate, that George Cutteford had always been there for her, working with the family since she was born.

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