Killough,
Dec 20 1849

Dear Mr James,

I received your kind letter and present and am much obliged for both. I was very sorry to hear that you will not be in Killough at Christmas as I am sure that you will not be favoured with the same kind of meetings as we will. However it is well to know that the Lord can bless you any place if you seek him. I trust you and myself will find him precious to us at that time knowing as we do that the fault will be ours if not blessed. I suppose by some of the your expressions in your letter that you could join with the pact? In that old and beautiful Hymn the first verse of which is

How tedious and useless the hours,
When Jesus no longer I see,
Sweet prospects, sweet birds and sweet flowers,
Have all lost their sweetness to me
The midsummer sun shines but dim
The fields strive in vain to look gay
But when I am happy in him
December’s as pleasant as May

Mrs Parkinson can learn you to sing this if she has not forgotten the tune. She used to sing it sometimes since up [the] street. We were all surprised last night by the appearance of a vessel on fire off Killough. The night was so dark we could see but little. 4 of the Scordin boats went off to her and about an hour after the coast guards (after brings their boat on ….. from the quay to Scordon) but she returned in 2 hours saying the vessel was too far off and drifting faster than they could pull. They went 5 or 6 miles and they supposed the fire to be 15. This is all we could learn at 11 o’clock. On this morning we learned that Capt. Gelpie Don Juan of Dundalk had the sailors on board 6 in number (but I should say that she came in to Killough after we went to bed). One of the sailors is a black. She left Liverpool and was put into Belfast with bad weather and left that port for the Meditteranean with a general cargo. The vessel belongs to the Capt. and worth £1600 and only partly insured. No one can tell how the fire begun. It became visable at 6 oclock and she sank at 12 oclock. This is all I can learn respecting the thing. Excuse the bad writing. I am in a hurry and Bess is calling me to the shop. Believe me dear James, your truly etc.

Joseph Surch