Pomona's Travels

Pomona's Travels by Frank R. Stockton

Pomona and her husband Jone, an American couple visiting England, arrive in London and take lodgings near the Strand before deciding to see rural English life firsthand by renting a country house. Frustrated that letting agents seem to peg them as former servants rather than genteel tenants, Pomona resolves to affect grander airs, and the two move to the Babylon Hotel. There Jone's gruff manner impresses the staff, and at the hotel an elderly woman recommends a cottage near the village of Chedcombe, Somersetshire; Pomona insists on renting it sight unseen. They settle into the cottage with servants Miss Pondar and Hannah, enjoying rustic comforts like Devonshire clotted cream and the surrounding scenery. Mrs. Locky of the Bordley Arms asks them to lodge a displaced guest, Mr. Poplington, an elderly, well-off English gentleman who ends up staying on as a lasting companion. He takes them to a ruined abbey, to the village hay-making festival, and proposes a cycling tour of Exmoor. On the tour Pomona's runaway tricycle crashes through a cottage and into a clothesline, terrifying a young courting couple, Davy and his sweetheart, whom she then helps reconcile. The trio witnesses a stag hunt at Exford, and Pomona later stumbles alone into the middle of the chase, intervening to save the exhausted stag from the huntsman's knife before it escapes. Back at Chedcombe, an argument with a haughty young Englishwoman over hogs ruining sketches, encountered during a Wye River boat trip with boatman Samivel Jones, sparks a heated exchange about America versus England. The travelers visit Raglan Castle, Tintern Abbey, and Gloucester before Jone develops rheumatism, prompting a move to Buxton for the mineral baths. There Pomona overexerts herself taking the waters and develops rheumatism herself, while Jone recovers. In Buxton she engineers the elopement of two young lovers, Angelica and "Pomeroy," from her domineering father, misdirecting him with a fib so the couple can catch a train to Gretna Green; she later meets the newlyweds and advises them to return to finish their course of baths before departing. She also learns that the seemingly humble old woman who recommended Chedcombe is actually a countess. The couple then travels to Edinburgh, touring Holyrood Palace, John Knox's house, Melrose Abbey, and Abbotsford, reflecting on Mary Queen of Scots and Sir Walter Scott. They proceed into the Highlands to Kinloch Rannoch, where they learn about the customs and costs of Scottish deer-stalking, with Jone expressing distaste for trophy hunting compared to fishing.

By Frank R. Stockton · First published 1885 · Genre: Travel, Humor, Adventure · 67,591 words

First lines

LETTER I. LONDON

The first thing Jone said to me when I told him I was going to write about what I saw and heard was that I must be careful of two things. In the first place, I must not write a lot of stuff that everybody ought to be expected to know, especially people who have travelled themselves; and in the second place, I must not send you my green opinions, but must wait until they were seasoned, so that I can see what they are good for before I send them.

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adventure · fantasy · travel · exploration · imagination · whimsy · narrative · journey · self-discovery · friendship · humor · mythical

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Pomona's Travels is listed on Textopian as a novel by Frank R. Stockton, dated 1885 CE.

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