Dick Ramage of Scotston Park, West Lothian, was Robert Liston's nephew. He looked after the Listons’ home, Millburn Tower, and their estate on their behalf while they were in Turkey. He died, aged thirty-eight, in Lisbon in December 1815. This, and the death of his brother Sandy (Alexander Liston Ramage) in 1814, may have contributed to the extended period of time the Listons were on leave from Constantinople (October 1815 to July 1817). Liston recorded that both ‘amiable young men’ died of consumption, adding that when she returned to Scotland, she ‘felt to be sure those blanks death had made’ (NLS MS 5711 f. 11). There are about twenty letters from Dick Ramage to the Listons (most addressed to Henrietta) during their Turkish embassy. They tend to cover news of his own and Sandy's health, information about friends and neighbours, the Listons’ safety from the plague, the condition of Henrietta's plants, improvements on the Listons’ estate, family finances, and politics.

Liston drafted this letter, replying to Dick's of 7 July 1812, on 25 February 1813. The draft is also in the Liston Papers (NLS MS 5640 ff. 43–46). The letter printed below is the one Liston actually sent. The fold marks are still evident, and it is addressed on the back of the final sheet to ‘Dick Ramage Esq | Scotston Park | near Queensferry’ (NLS MS 5640 f. 58v). The letter is also pierced through by a number of cuts or slits (see Plates 9 and 10). In a letter of this period such slits are often a sign that it has been secured, or ‘locked’ against unauthorised readers. While it is possible that the slits in Liston's letter were for this purpose, the National Library of Scotland's recreation of the letter in facsimile showed that it is more likely these cuts were made in order to fumigate or ‘perfume’ the letter against the plague, a process Liston herself describes in her journal (see p. 135, above). The discoloured and slightly stained paper further indicates that it was exposed to smoke.