·        Italy queues to hear Patti, the crowds sleeping in the streets  “One cannot imagine the enthusiasm that the Italians displayed towards the diva; it sounds more fairylike than real…. In the towns which Patti passed through the hotels were crowded to excess; the people from the country round about simply rushed to hear her; they slept literally in the streets and in the public places. However vast the theatres in which she sang, the stage every night was completely strewn with flowers. The price of entrance alone cost 20 francs; it might be impossible to see Patti, but she could be heard from a corridor, and that was enough – the public were delighted. Stalls cost 50 francs and private boxes any price up to 2,000 francs (£80.00). The average receipts always exceeded 40,000 francs (£1,600).” If the average receipts were £1,600 this was almost HALF what Patti paid for the castle – in ONE performance!  The purchase of Craig y Nos Castle took place in 1878.