Editing Ladies of Llangollen (section)

==Personal lives==
[[File:Extraordinary Female Affection.webp|thumb|Town & Country Magazine article on the "Ladies in the Vale"]]
Butler and Ponsonby lived together for 50 years. Their books and glassware carried both sets of initials and their letters were jointly signed. Towards the end of their lives, they both dressed in black [[riding habit]]s and men's top hats; some visitors thought it was eccentric and outdated – especially the hair powder – but neighbours thought the clothes were practical for living outdoors.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />

Rumours that they were in a sexual relationship floated around during and after their lives.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Coyle|first=Eugene|date=2015|title=LIFESTYLES: THE IRISH LADIES OF LLANGOLLEN: 'the two most celebrated virgins in Europe'|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43598746|journal=History Ireland|volume=23|issue=6|pages=18–20|jstor=43598746|issn=0791-8224}}</ref> In 1791, a magazine described them and implied that they were in a sexual relationship.<ref name=":1" /> According to [[Patricia Hampl]], they were appalled by this idea, and objected to the magazine's characterisation to the point of consulting [[Edmund Burke]] over the possibility of suing the magazine for [[libel]].<ref name=":1" />

In sharp contrast to the writings of their contemporary [[Anne Lister]], there is nothing in their extensive correspondence or diaries that indicates a sexual relationship.<ref name=":2" /> Some consider Butler's and Ponsonby's relationship to be a [[Boston marriage]], or a romantic relationship between two women who chose to live together and have "marriage-like relationships".<ref name=":0" /> Others conclude that the two had a non-sexual [[romantic friendship]].<ref name=":3" /> [[Norena Shopland]] says that modern attitudes designed to distinguish same-sex relationships from a romantic friendship indicate they had a sexual relationship.<ref>{{cite book|last=Shopland|first= Norena|chapter=Extraordinary Female Affection|title=Forbidden Lives: LGBT stories from Wales|publisher=Seren Books |year=2017}}</ref> According to [[Fiona Brideoake]], the description of [[queer]] is more appropriate than the specific label of [[lesbian]], particularly as queerness is a broad concept and significantly defined by its difference from typicality.<ref name=":2" /> Brideoake writes that their relationship was celebrated by the poet Anna Seward as a form of mourning the relationships that she could not form.<ref name=":2" />

Eugene Coyle recounts that a "succession of their pet dogs were named '[[Sappho]]'."<ref name=":3" />