snuff-boxes, stuck in their starched neckcloths. … They returned home last night, 14 miles, after 12 o'clock! They have not slept one night from home for 40 years. I longed to put Lady Eleanor under a bell-glass. … "
The orders worn by Lady Eleanor were chiefly presented to her through the Duke of Orleans, but one (which she prized most) was the Harp and Crown of Ireland, her native country, a loyal badge presented to her by a Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. This order, attached by a light blue ribbon, formed a striking feature in fat little Lady Eleanor's appearance. When she lost her sight, the glory of her orders became somewhat dimmed by a coating of melted butter and hair-powder. Among the Irish visitors to "the ladies" was no less a personage than Edmund Burke. In a stately letter to them, he alludes "to the polite and hospitable reception you gave us in your elegant retirement at Llangollen."
William Wilberforce, too, was among their guests, and Wordsworth not only visited them, but wrote a sonnet in their honour, which was composed in the grounds of Plas Newydd. It is as follows:
"A stream to mingle with your favourite Dee,
Along the "Vale of Meditation," flows;
So styled by those fierce Britons, pleased to see
On Nature's face th' expression of repose;
