"We arrived in England, and went to our country seat, but the peace and
tranquillity of the family had been marred, and I no longer found my
place the pleasant one which it had formerly been; there was nothing but
gloom in the house, for the youngest daughter exhibited signs of lunacy,
and was obliged to be kept under confinement. The next season I attended
my master, his son and eldest daughter to London, as I had previously
done. There I left them, for hearing that a young baronet, an
acquaintance of the family, wanted a servant, I applied for the place,
with the consent of my masters, both of whom gave me a strong
recommendation, and being approved of, I went to live with him.
"My new master was what is called a sporting character, very fond of the
turf, upon which he was not very fortunate. He was frequently very much
in want of money, and my wages were anything but regularly paid;
nevertheless, I liked him very much, for he treated me more like a friend
than a domestic, continually consulting me as to his affairs. At length
he was brought nearly to his last shifts, by backing the favourite at the
Derby, which favourite turned out a regular brute, being found nowhere at
the rush. Whereupon, he and I had a solemn consultation over fourteen
glasses of brandy and water, and as many cigars--I mean, between us--as
to what was to be done. He wished to start a coach, in which event he
was to be driver and I guard. He was quite competent to drive a coach,
being a first-rate whip, and I dare say I should have made a first-rate
guard; but to start a coach requires money, and we neither of us believed
that anybody would trust us with vehicles and horses, so that idea was
laid aside. We then debated as to whether or not he should go into the
Church; but to go into the Church--at any rate to become a dean or
bishop, which would have been our aim--it is necessary for a man to
possess some education; and my master, although he had been at the best
school in England, that is, the most expensive, and also at College, was
almost totally illiterate, so we let the Church scheme follow that of the
coach. At last, bethinking me that he was tolerably glib at the tongue,
as most people are who are addicted to the turf, also a great master of
slang, remembering also that he had a crabbed old uncle, who had some
borough interest, I proposed that he should get into the House, promising
in one fortnight to qualify him to make a figure in it, by certain
lessons which I would give him. He consented; and during the next
fortnight I did little else than give him lessons in elocution, following
to a tittle the method of the great professor, which I had picked up
listening behind the door. At the end of that period, we paid a visit to
his relation, an old gouty Tory, who, at first, received us very coolly.
My master, however, by flattering a predilection of his for Billy Pitt,
soon won his affections so much that he promised to bring him into
Parliament, and in less than a month was as good as his word. My master,
partly by his own qualifications, and partly by the assistance which he
had derived, and still occasionally derived, from me, cut a wonderful
figure in the House, and was speedily considered one of the most
promising speakers; he was always a good hand at promising. He is at
present, I believe, a Cabinet minister.
"But as he got up in the world, he began to look down on me. I believe
he was ashamed of the obligation under which he lay to me; and at last,
requiring no further hints as to oratory from a poor servant like me, he
took an opportunity of quarrelling with me and discharging me. However,
as he had still some grace, he recommended me to a gentleman with whom,
since he had attached himself to politics, he had formed an acquaintance,
the editor of a grand Tory Review. I lost caste terribly amongst the
servants for entering the service of a person connected with a profession
so mean as literature; and it was proposed at the Servants' Club, in Park
Lane, to eject me from that society. The proposition, however, was not
carried into effect, and I was permitted to show myself among them,
though few condescended to take much notice of me. My master was one of
the best men in the world, but also one of the most sensitive. On his
veracity being impugned by the editor of a newspaper, he called him out,
and shot him through the arm. Though servants are seldom admirers of
their masters, I was a great admirer of mine, and eager to follow his
example. The day after the encounter, on my veracity being impugned by
the servant of Lord C--- in something I said in praise of my master I
determined to call him out, so I went into another room and wrote a
challenge. But whom should I send it by? Several servants to whom I
applied refused to be the bearers of it; they said I had lost caste, and
they could not think of going out with me. At length the servant of the
Duke of B--- consented to take it; but he made me to understand that,
though he went out with me, he did so merely because he despised the
Whiggish principles of Lord C---'s servant, and that if I thought he
intended to associate with me, I should be mistaken. Politics, I must
tell you, at that time ran as high amongst the servants as the gentlemen,
the servants, however, being almost invariably opposed to the politics of
their respective masters, though both parties agreed in one point, the
scouting of everything low and literary, though I think, of the two, the
liberal or reform party were the most inveterate. So he took my
challenge, which was accepted; we went out, Lord C---'s servant being
seconded by a reformado footman from the Palace. We fired three times
without effect; but this affair lost me my place, my master on hearing it
forthwith discharged me; he was, as I have said before, very sensitive,
and he said this duel of mine was a parody of his own. Being, however,
one of the best men in the world, on his discharging me he made me a
donation of twenty pounds.
"And it was well that he made me this present, for without it I should
have been penniless, having contracted rather expensive habits during the
time that I lived with the young baronet. I now determined to visit my
parents, whom I had not seen for years. I found them in good health,
and, after staying with them for two months, I returned again in the
direction of town, walking in order to see the country. On the second
day of my journey, not being used to such fatigue, I fell ill at a great
inn on the north road, and there I continued for some weeks till I
recovered, but by that time my money was entirely spent. By living at
the inn I had contracted an acquaintance with the master and the people,
and become accustomed to inn life. As I thought that I might find some
difficulty in procuring any desirable situation in London, owing to my
late connection with literature, I determined to remain where I was,
provided my services would be accepted. I offered them to the master,
who, finding I knew something of horses, engaged me as a postillion. I
have remained there since. You have now heard my story.
"Stay, you sha'n't say that I told my tale without a per--peroration.
What shall it be? Oh, I remember something which will serve for one. As
I was driving my chaise some weeks ago, on my return from L---, I saw
standing at the gate of an avenue, which led up to an old mansion, a
figure which I thought I recognised. I looked at it attentively, and the
figure, as I passed, looked at me; whether it remembered me I do not
know, but I recognised the face it showed me full well.
"If it was not the identical face of the red-haired priest whom I had
seen at Rome, may I catch cold!
"Young gentleman, I will now take a spell on your blanket--young lady,
good-night."
[_End of Vol. III._, 1851.]
THE EDITOR'S POSTSCRIPT.
_Lavengro_ and _The Romany Rye_ (properly _Romano Rai_) were terms
applied to George Borrow in his youth by the Norfolk Gypsy, Ambrose
Smith, better known in these volumes as Jasper Petulengro. The names
signify respectively "Philologist" and "the Gypsy Gentleman". The two
works thus entitled constitute a more or less exact autobiography of the
writer of them, from the date of his birth to the end of August, 1825.
The author himself confesses in his Preface that "the time embraces
nearly the first quarter of the present century".
_Lavengro_ was written at Oulton, in Suffolk, slowly and at intervals,
between the years 1842 and 1851. The MSS. exist in three varieties: 1.
The primitive draft of a portion, found scattered through sundry
notebooks and on isolated scraps of paper, as described in the letter to
Dawson Turner (_Life_, i., p. 394). 2. The definitive autograph text in
one thick quarto volume. 3. The transcript for the printers, made by
Mrs. Borrow, in one large folio volume, interlarded with the author's
additions and corrections.
The text of the present edition reproduces with fidelity the first issue
of 1851. Occasionally a verbal alteration, introduced by the author
himself into his second edition of 1872, has been adopted in this,
whenever it seemed to improve the reading. In general, however, that
reprint was in many respects a defective one. Not only words, but even
whole sentences, which had escaped the printers, remained undetected by
the editor, and, as a consequence, were lost to later impressions, based,
as they all have been, on that issue. We should have preferred to alter,
quietly and without remark, certain errors in the text, as we did in the
documents published in the _Life_; but save in a single instance, we have
left such inaccuracies intact, reserving all corrections for the place
where we might be supposed to exercise a free hand. {553}
The insertion, with brackets of course, of the promised inedited
episodes, caused in two cases some embarrassment. In removing them from
the final form of his MS., Mr. Borrow closed up the gap with a few
fitting lines which concealed the withdrawal. These words had to be
suppressed on the restoration of the passages.
The insertions will be met with as follows:--
The Poet Parkinson, pp. 119-25.
The Wake of Freya, pp. 128-33.
Cromwell's Statue and the _Dairyman's Daughter_, pp. 196-98.
Portobello or the Irish Patriot, pp. 231-39.
Thomas d'Eterville, in the _Notes_, pp. 558-59.
Thus we have made a full statement as regards the text of the present
reprint. Any one who takes up this edition will discover no visible
name, or preface, or introduction, save only those of George Borrow, from
the title to the close. The book is, therefore, "all Borrow," and we
have sought to render the helping hand as inconspicuous as possible.
Should, however, the prejudiced stumble at the _Notes_, we can say in the
language of the fairy smith of Loughmore: _is agad an t-leigheas_, you
have the remedy in your own power.
Speaking of the _Notes_, they have been drawn up on the unimpeachable
testimony of contemporaneous record. Especially have we sought the works
which Mr. Borrow was accustomed to read in his younger days, and at times
with curious results. A list of these is given at the close of _The
Romany Rye_, and is referred to in these notes as "Bibliography" for the
sake of concision. What is not here explained can be easily looked up in
our _Life_, _Writings_, _and Correspondence of George Borrow_, London,
1899, which of itself furnishes a sufficient and unalterable exhibition
of the facts concerning the man and his work.
W. I. KNAPP.
HIGH ST., OXFORD,
_November_, 1899.
NOTES TO _LAVENGRO_,
WITH
CORRECTIONS, IDENTIFICATIONS AND TRANSLATIONS.
Page 1. East D---: East Dereham, a small town in Norfolk, 16 miles W. of
Norwich, and 102 N.E. of London. Here Capt. Thomas Borrow, the father of
George, was often stationed from 1792 to 1812.--1. East Anglia: This
Anglo-Saxon kingdom comprised the present counties of Norfolk, Suffolk
and Cambridge.--1. Tredinnock, read _Trethinnick_; Parish of St. Cleer,
Cornwall.--2. Big Ben: Benjamin Brain or Bryan was born in 1753. Some of
his most severe "battles" were fought between 1780 and 1790--one on the
30th of August in the latter year, with Hooper at Newbury, Berks. A few
days after this exploit, he picked a quarrel with Sergeant Borrow of the
Coldstream Guards, which resulted in the Hyde Park encounter. Some four
months later, _i.e._, 17th January, 1791, the decisive fight for the
championship came off between Brain and Johnson. It was an appalling
spectacle, and struck dumb with horror, even in that day, the witnesses
to the dreadful conflict. Big Ben was the victor, and remained champion
of England from that date until his death _three years_ (not "four
months") later--8th April, 1794. "Lavengro," carried away by the
enthusiasm of early reminiscence, allowed himself to declare that his
father read the Bible to Brain in his latter moments. But in 1794 Thomas
Borrow was busy recruiting soldiers in Norfolk, one hundred miles from
the scene of the dying pugilist. However, the error was probably one of
date merely, and during the year 1791 Thomas doubtless read the Bible to
him in London, since we learn from Pierce Egan that "Ben derived great
consolation from hearing the Bible read, and generally solicited those of
his acquaintance who called upon him to read a chapter to him". {555}--3.
Captain: The West Norfolk Militia was raised in 1759 by the third Earl of
Orford. He died in December, 1791, when the regiment was _reorganised_
(not "raised") under the new Colonel, the Hon. Horatio Walpole,
subsequently the sixth Earl of Orford. Thus in February, 1792, Thomas
was transferred from the Guards to be Sergeant-major in the W.N.M., and
stationed at East Dereham. He married the following year, became Quarter-
master (with the rank of Ensign) in 1795, and Adjutant (Lieutenant) in
February, 1798. This his final promotion doubtless gave him the
_honorary_ rank of Captain, since in the _Monthly Army List_ for 1804 we
read: "Adjutant, Thomas Borrow, _Capt._". But a letter before me dated
18th April, 1799, from his Major, is officially addressed to him as
"Lieut. Borrow, Adjutant," etc., etc.--3. Petrement: Our author knew very
well that his mother's maiden name was Ann _Perfrement_, pronounced and
written _Parfrement_ at the present day by those of the family we have
met. The correct spelling is found on the tombstone of her sister,
Sarah, at Dereham (1817), and on that of her brother, Samuel, at
Salthouse near Holt (1864).--3. Castle of De Burgh: A fanciful Borrovian
epithet applied to Norwich Castle. Nor did the exiles _build_ the Church
of St. Mary-the-Less, in Queen Street, Norwich; it was a distinct parish
church long before Elizabeth's reign, and in her time the parish was
consolidated with the neighbouring one of St. George's, Tombland, while
the church became municipal property. But the French exiles of the Edict
of 1685 _did_ worship there, even as did the Dutch refugees from Alva's
persecution a century before (1565-70).--4. Middle Age: Borrow's father
was thirty-four, and his mother twenty-one, at the date of their
marriage. John was born seven years after the marriage, and George ten.
The mother was, then, thirty-one at George's birth.--4. Bishop Hopkins:
Sermons.--4. Angola: More correctly _Angora_.--5. Foreign grave: Lieut.
John Thomas Borrow died at Guanajuato, Mexico, 22nd November, 1833.
Pages 12-13. "Snorro" Sturleson: Poet and historian of Iceland (1178-
1241). Harald (not _Harold_) III., called "Haardraade". Battle of
Stamford Bridge, A.D. 1066, same year as Norman Conquest. See Mallet's
_Northern Antiquities_, pp. 168-71 and 194; Snorro's _Heimskringla_, ii.,
p. 164, and his _Chronica_, 1633, p. 381, for the quotation; also
_Bibliog._ at end of _Romany Rye_.--13. Winchester: Rather _Winchelsea_,
according to the Regimental Records.--14. A gallant frigate: A
reminiscence of Norman Cross gossip in 1810-11. "Ninety-eight French
prisoners, the crew of a large French privateer of eighteen guns called
the _Contre-Amiral Magon_, and commanded by the notorious Blackman, were
captured 16th October, 1804, by Capt. Hancock of the _Cruiser_ sloop, and
brought into Yarmouth. They marched into Norwich, 26th November, and the
next morning proceeded under guard on their way to Norman Cross
barracks"--_Norwich Papers_, 1804.--15. Lady Bountiful: Dame Eleanor Fenn
(1743-1813).--15. Bard: William Cowper (1731-1800).--16. Some Saint:
Withburga, daughter of Anna, king of the East Angles, was the "saint" and
the "daughter" at the same time.--19. Hunchbacked rhymer: Alexander
Pope.--20. Properties of God, read _attributes_.--20. Rector: The Rev. F.
J. H. Wollaston.--20. Philoh: James Philo (1745-1829).--21. Tolerism,
read _toleration_.--24. Mere: Whittlesea Mere, long since drained.--31.
Bengui: See the vocabulary at the end for all Gypsy words in this
volume.--34. Jasper: The change from _Ambrose_ to Jasper was made in
pencil in Mrs. Borrow's transcript at the last moment in 1849, before
handing it to the printers.--38. Three years: Included in the subsequent
narrative, _not_ excluded from it as his Norwich school days (1814-15,
1816-18) were. They extend from July, 1811, to April, 1813--from Norman
Cross to Edinburgh. The chronology, according to the Regimental Records,
was as follows: George was at East Dereham from 22nd July to 18th
November, 1811, at J. S. Buck's ("_Dr. B.'s_") school; 30th November,
1811, to February, 1812, at Colchester; 28th February to 5th March, 1812,
at Harwich; 15th to 19th March, at Leicester; 21st to 30th March, at
Melton Mowbray; 2nd to 25th April, at Leicester again; 28th April to 3rd
May, at Tamworth (_Lavengro_, pp. 367-68); 8th to 26th May, at
Macclesfield; 28th May to 2nd August, at Stockport; 3rd to 23rd August,
at Ashton; 24th August to 15th December, at Huddersfield (_W. W._, p. 64,
and _Lavengro_, pp. 39-41); 16th December, 1812, to 19th March, 1813, at
Sheffield; 20th and 21st March, 1813, at Leeds; 22nd March, at Wetherby;
23rd March, Boroughbridge; 24th March, Allerton; 25th March, Darlington;
26th March, Durham (_W. W._, pp. 258-59); 27th and 28th March, Newcastle;
29th March, Morpeth; 30th March, Alnwick; 3rd and 4th April, at Berwick-
upon-Tweed; 6th April, 1813, Edinburgh Castle.--38. Lilly: See _Bibliog._
Page 42. Bank of a river: The Tweed. The scene here described occurred
on a Sunday, 4th April, 1813, near Berwick, where they "arrived the
preceding night" (p. 44).--42. Elvir Hill: See Borrow's _Romantic
Ballads_, Norwich, 1826, pp. 111-14. This piece entitled "Elvir Hill,"
one of the old Danish ballads of Vedel's collection, 1591, represents the
dangers attending a youth who "rested" his "head upon Elvir Hill's side"
where he was so charmed in his sleep by a brace of seductive fairies,
that
"If my good luck had not managed it so
That the cock crew out then in the distance,
I should have been murder'd by them on the Hill,
Without power to offer resistance.
"'Tis therefore I counsel each young Danish swain
Who may ride in the forest so dreary,
Ne'er to lay down upon lone Elvir Hill
Though he chance to be ever so weary."
43. Skaldaglam: The _barditus_ of Tacitus, or the "din" made by the Norse
"bards" (skalds) on shields and with shouts as they rushed into battle.
It is not in Molbech, but Snorro frequently uses it in his _Chronica_,
1633.--43. Kalevala: Title of the great Finnish epic, of which the hero
is Woinomoinen.--43. Polak: Polander or Pole.--43. Magyar (pron.
_Madjr_): Hungarian.--43. Batuscha: An erratum of the author for his
_Batuschca_ (161)--better _Batyushca_, "father Tsar"--but generally
applied by Borrow to his friend the _Pope_.--45 to 55: See _Life_, i.,
pp. 39-43.--46. Bui hin Digri: The Jomsburg Viking, A.D. 994. See
Borrow's _Romantic Ballads_, p. 136, and _Once A Week_, ix., p. 686. The
account is given in Snorro's _Chronica_, 1633, p. 136 (see _Bibliog._),
but a more accessible version of it is found in Mallet's _Northern
Antiquities_ (Bohn's ed.), pp. 144-45.--46. Horunga Vog, read _Hjorunga
Vagr_ in Icelandic, or _Vaag_ in Danish. In _Romany Rye_ (p. 359) it is
Englished as "Horinger Bay".--50. Hickathrift: A Norfolk worthy of the
eleventh century, whose prodigious exploits with the axle of his cart as
an offensive weapon, and the wheel as a shield, are handed down in the
chap-books of the last three centuries. See p. 63; also _Bibliog._ at
the end of _Romany Rye_.--51. Elzigood: William E., of Heigham, Norwich,
enlisted October, 1789, became Drum-major in the regiment, 22nd October,
1802; called facetiously or maliciously _Else-than-gude_ on p. 54.--55.
O'Hanlon: Redmond O'Hanlon (d. 1681), a proprietor of Ulster,
dispossessed under the Cromwellian settlement, and afterwards leader of a
band of outlaws.--56. Disbanded: The W.N.M. regiment left Edinburgh in
July, 1814, and was disembodied at Norwich, 19th July. It was again
called out, 10th July, 1815, and sent to Ireland. John Borrow was
appointed Ensign, 29th May, 1815, and Lieutenant, 13th December of the
same year. The regiment sailed from Harwich ("port in Essex") 31st
August, reaching Cork harbour ("the cove") about 9th September, 1815. 63.
Wight Wallace (story book of): See _Bibliog._
Page 63. Shorsha: The Irish for _George_, properly written _Seors_, but
the author usually wrote his Irish by sound.--64. Saggart, read _sagart_:
(Lat. _sacerdos_), a priest.--64. Finn-ma-Coul: In Irish
Fionn-mac-Cumhail, the father of Ossian.--64. Brian Boroo: In Irish,
Brian Boroimhe, a king of Ireland (926-1014).--65. Saggarting: Studying
with reference to the priesthood.--65. Mavourneen: Properly _mo
mhuirnin_, my darling.--65. Hanam mon Dioul: Wrongly given for _M'anam
o'n Diabhal_ [God preserve] my soul from the devil! See _Romany Rye_, p.
286, where it is quite correct--from _sound_.--66. Christmas over: 1816.
Regiment quartered at Templemore. John, now a lieutenant (not "ensign"),
is sent with a detachment to Loughmore, three miles away. Sergeant Bagg,
promoted to that rank, 10th July, 1815, accompanies him.--66. Mountain:
Called locally, "Devil's _Bit_," and not Devil's _Hill_ or _Mt._, as in
the text.--68. Fine old language (add: _which_):
"_A labhair Padric 'nninse Fail na Riogh_
_'San faighe caomhsin Colum naomhtha 'n I_."
(which) "Patrick spoke in Innisfail to heathen chiefs of old,
And Columb, the mild prophet-saint, spoke in his island-hold."
So Borrow gives the Irish and his version in _Romantic Ballads_, p. viii.
The Erse lines were taken from Lhuyd's _Archaeologia Britannica_, Oxford,
1707, sign. _d._--69. The Castle: Loughmore Castle.--71. Figure of a man:
Jerry Grant, the Irish outlaw. See the _Newgate Calendars_ subsequent to
1840--Pelham. Griffith, etc.--72 and 83. "Sas" and "Sassanach," of
course mean Englishman or English (Saxon).--74. Clergyman of the parish:
The Rev. Patrick Kennedy, vicar of Loughmore. His name is also on the
list of subscribers to the _Romantic Ballads_, Norwich, 1826, as J.
Kennedy, by mistake.--76. Swanton Morley: A village near East
Dereham.--82. Arrigod yuit (Irish), read _airgiod dhuit_: Have you any
money?--82. Tabhair chugam (pron. _tower khoogam_): Give (it) to me.--83.
Is agam an't leigeas (read _an t-leigheas_): I have the remedy.--83.
Another word: _deaghbhlasda_: See _Romany Rye_, p. 266, and _Notes and
Queries_, 5th May, 1855, p. 339, article by George Metivier.
Page 84. Old city: Norwich. The regiment having returned to
head-quarters, 11th May, 1816, was mustered out 17th June. The author
describes the city from the "ruined wall" of the old Priory on the hill
to the east.--85. The Norman Bridge: is Bishop's Bridge.--85. Sword of
Cordova, in Guild Hall, is a mistake for the sword of the Spanish General
Don Xavier Winthuysen.--90. Vone banished priest: Rev. Thomas
d'Eterville. The _MS._ gives the following inedited account of
D'Eterville. I omit the oft-recurring expletive _sacre_ (accursed):--
[_Myself_. Were you not yourself forced to flee from your country?
_D'Eterville_. That's very true. . . . I became one vagabond--nothing
better, I assure you, my dear; had you seen me, you would have said so. I
arrive at Douvres; no welcome. I walk to Canterbury and knock at the
door of one _auberge_. The landlord opens. "What do you here?" he says;
"who are you?" "Vone exiled priest," I reply. "Get you gone, sirrah!"
he says; "we have beggars enough of our own," and he slams the door in my
face. _Ma foi_, _il faisoit bien_, for my toe was sticking through my
shoe.
_Myself_. But you are no longer a vagabond, and your toe does not stick
through your shoe now.
_D'Eterville_. No, thank God, the times are changed. I walked and
walked, till I came here, where I became one _philologue_ and taught
tongues--French and Italian. I found good friends here, those of my
religion. "He very good man," they say; "one banished priest; we must
help him." I am no longer a vagabond--ride a good horse when I go to
visit pupils in the country--stop at _auberge_--landlord comes to the
door: "What do you please to want, sir?" "Only to bait my horse, that is
all." _Eh bien_, landlord very polite; he not call me vagabond; I carry
pistols in my pocket.
_Myself_. I know you do; I have often seen them. But why do you carry
pistols?
_D'Eterville_. I ride along the road from the distant village. I have
been to visit my pupil whom I instruct in philology. My pupil has paid
me my bill, and I carry in my purse the fruits of my philology. I come
to one dark spot. Suddenly my bridle is seized, and one tall robber
stands at my horse's head with a very clumsy club in his hand. "Stand,
rascal," says he; "your life or your purse!" "Very good, sir," I
respond; "there you have it." So I put my hand, not into my pocket, but
into my holster; I draw out, not my purse, but my weapon, and--bang! I
shoot the English robber through the head.
_Myself_. It is a bad thing to shed blood; I should be loth to shoot a
robber to save a purse.
_D'Eterville_. _Que tu es bete_! _mon ami_. Am I to be robbed of the
fruits of my philology, made in foreign land, by one English robber?
Shall I become once more one vagabond as of old? one exiled priest turned
from people's doors, my shoe broken, toe sticking through it, like that
bad poet who put the Pope in hell? Bah, bah!
By degrees D'Eterville acquired a considerable fortune for one in his
station. Some people go so far as to say that it was principally made by
an extensive contraband trade in which he was engaged. Be this as it
may, some twenty years from the time of which I am speaking, he departed
this life, and shortly before his death his fellow-religionists, who knew
him to be wealthy, persuaded him to make a will, by which he bequeathed
all his property to certain popish establishments in England. In his
last hours, however, he repented, destroyed his first will, and made
another, in which he left all he had to certain of his relations in his
native country;--"for," said he, "they think me one fool, but I will show
them that they are mistaken. I came to this land one banished priest,
where I made one small fortune; and now I am dying, to whom should I
leave the fruits of my philology but to my blood-relations? In God's
name, let me sign. Monsieur Boileau left the fruits of his verses to his
niece; _eh bien_, I will bequeath the fruits of my philology to my niece
and nephew. There, there! thanks be to God, it is done! They take me
for a fool; I am no fool. Leave to the Pope the fruits of my philology!
Bah, bah! I do no such thing. I do like Monsieur Boileau."]
Page 93. Earl's Home: Earlham Hall, the residence of Joseph John Gurney
(1788-1847), the Norwich banker and famous Quaker. The "tall figure"
mentioned on the next page was Mr. Gurney, then twenty-eight years of
age.--95. Only read Greek: This is a mistake. Mr. Gurney was an early
student of Italian. See Braithwaite's _Life_, i., pp. 25 and 49.--Zohar:
Very correct. Braithwaite, i., p. 37.--Abarbenel, read Abarb_a_nel or
Abrabanel: A Spanish Jew driven from Spain in 1492. See p. 282.--97.
Castle Hill: Norwich.--97. Fair of horses: Tombland Fair, held on Maundy
Thursday every year.--100. Heath: Mousehold Heath, near Norwich. See
also pp. 106, 161, etc.--112. "Gemiti, sospiri ed alti guai" (compare
Dante, _Inf._, iii., 8: "_Quivi sospiri_, _pianti_, _e alti guai_"):
Groans, sighs, and deep lamentations.--114. Ab Gwilym: See _Bibliog._ at
the end of _Romany Rye_.--114. Cowydd: A species of Welsh poetry.--114.
Eos (W.); Nightingale.--114. Narrow Court: Tuck's Court, St. Giles,
Norwich.--115. Old master: William Simpson of the law firm of Simpson &
Rackham, Norwich.--115. Bon jour: read "_Bonjour_ . . . ! _bien des
chases de ma part a Monsieur Peyrecourt_ or _Pierrecourt_". "Expressions"
in this sense (kind regards) is the Spanish _expresiones_, disguised as
French.--118. Bwa Bach: The "little hunchback". See p. 114.--119 to 125.
Parkinson the poet: This character, who appears for the first time among
the inedited episodes of _Lavengro_, was a real one, although his true
name (Parkerson) is given somewhat veiled, as usual with Mr. Borrow. He
seems to have been the poet-laureate of farmers, corn-merchants, drovers
and publicans, selling his muse to the highest bidder, at first in
printed sheets of eight pages, and subsequently gathered into pamphlets
of thirty or more pages which he offered for one or two shillings each.
They were printed by R. Walker, "near the Duke's Palace, Norwich," and
sold by "Lane and Walker, St. Andrew's". They are without date, but
cannot range far from 1818. Here are some specimens of his style: "The
Norwich Corn Mart. By J. Parkerson, Junior."
_At one o'clock the busy scene begin_,
_Quick to the hall they all are posting in_;
_The cautious merchant takes his stand_,
_The farmer shows the produce of his land_,
etc., for sixty-six lines. "On Mr. L . . . taking leave of his wife and
children, who was sentenced to transportation for fourteen years" (!):--
_Hannah_, _farewell_, _I'm bound to go_,
_To taste the bitter draught of woe_,
134 lines. "A Description of the Pine-Apple at Trowse":--
_Both Beauty and Art have exerted their skill_,
_You will find on a spot near the brow of a hill_;
_The hill is near Norwich and call'd Bracondale_,
_I stept into Vince's myself to regale_,
etc., four pages of that.--124. Mr. C.: Thomas William Coke, Esq., of
Holkham, Earl of Leicester in 1837, and died in 1842.
Pages 128-133. The Wake of Freya: This incident must have occurred to
Mrs. Borrow at her home, Dumpling Green, East Dereham, on a Friday night,
5th December, 1783, when she was twelve (not "_ten_") years old. Her
eldest sister, Elizabeth, would be in her seventeenth year. _Friday_ was
then, as now, market day at Dereham. The place was the Blyth farm about
one and a half miles (not "_three_") from "pretty D". The superstition
referred to in this episode is, or was, a very common one in Norfolk, and
even other countries. See the _Norfolk Chronicle_ for 14th May, 1791;
Glyde's _Norfolk Garland_, pp. 13-14, and George Borrow in the _Quarterly
Review_ for January, 1861, p. 62.--130. Freya: The Venus of the North was
the _sister_ of Frey, according to Mallet (p. 94), and the original
sources.--136. To London: Crome (John's teacher) died at Norwich, 22nd
April, 1821; but John could not leave until after the Regimental
Training, which closed that year on 26th June; hence his departure may be
set down for the last of June, 1821.--136. Rafael: Note spelling here
(also pp. 223 and 225) and _Raphael_ on p. 352.--137. Corregio, read
_Correggio_.--139. Murray and Latroon, the Scotch outlaw and the "English
Rogue". See _Bibliog._ at the end of _Romany Rye_.--142. "Draoitheac,"
magic, read _draoidheachd_ (Ir.).--144. Muggletonians: Evidently a
Borrovian slip here. See _Notes and Queries_ for 3rd April, 1852, p.
320.--145. Vedel: Anders Sorensen Vedel, first collector of the
_Kiaempeviser_, or Heroic Ballads of the Danes, Copenh., 1591.--146.
Chapter xxiii.: Interview between William Taylor (21 King Street,
Norwich) and George Borrow.--151. Orm Ungarswayne: "Orm the youthful
Swain," _Romantic Ballads_, p. 86. But see the Danish ballad "Birting"
in Borrow's _Targum_, St. Petersb., 1835, pp. 59-61, commencing:--
"It was late at evening tide,
Sinks the day-star in the wave,
When alone Orm Ungarswayne
Rode to seek his father's grave".
--151. Swayne Vonved: See this piece in _Romantic Ballads_, pp.
61-81.--151. Mousha, read _Muca_, in Arabic or _Moshe_ in Hebrew; both
represent our _Moses_. But the Jew's name was _Levi_, according to the
MS.--153. The Fight: Between Painter and Oliver, near North Walsham, 17th
July, 1820. This chapter xxiv. relates the author's call on Mr. Petre of
Westwick House, which must have been after 20th May, when it was decided
that the "battle" should take place within twenty miles of Norwich.--155.
Parr: There were _two_ Parrs, one, Thomas, called "English" or "Old" Parr
(1483-1635) who lived 152 years, and Samuel, called the "Greek" Parr
(1747-1825,) who had been Head Master of the Norwich Grammar School from
1778 to 1785. This Dr. Samuel Parr was the one referred to by Mr.
Petre.--155. Whiter: Rev. Walter Whiter, author of the _Commentary on
Shakespeare_, Lond. 1794, and _Etymologicum Magnum_, Camb., 1800, 4to;
enlarged ed., Camb., 1822-25, 3 vols. 4to.--156. Game Chicken: Henry
Pierce, nicknamed Game Chicken, beat Gulley, 8th October, 1805 (Egan's
_Boxiana_, i., p. 145).--156. Sporting Gentlemen: John Thurtell and
Edward Painter ("Ned Flatnose").--158. Harmanbeck: Slang for
_constable_--word taken from the _English Rogue_.--161. Batuschca (read
_Batyooshca_): See p. 43.--161. Priberjensky, read _Preobrazhenski_:
Crack regiment of the Russian Imperial Guard, so called from the barracks
situated near the Church of the Transfiguration (_Preobrazhenie_).
Page 166. The Fight of 1820, chapter xxvi. We will here give a
condensed portion of a chapter which we suppressed from the _Life_.
On the 20th of May, 1820, an eager crowd might have been seen pressing up
to a card displayed in the Castle Tavern, Norwich. The card was signed
_T. C._ and _T. Belcher_; but every one knew that the initials stood for
the Champion of England, Thomas Cribb. The purport of the notice was
that Edward Painter of Norwich was to fight Thomas Oliver of London for a
purse of 100 guineas, on Monday, the 17th of July, in a field within
twenty miles of the city.
A few days after this announcement, George Borrow was charged by his
principals to convey a sum of money to a country gentleman by the name of
John Berney Petre, Esq., J.P., residing at Westwick House, some thirteen
and a half miles distant on the North Walsham road. The gentleman was
just settling the transfer of his inheritance, his father having died
eight months before. Borrow walked the entire distance, and while he
tarried with the magistrate, the interview took place between him and
Thurtell who desired to secure a field for the fight. Mr. Petre could
not accommodate them, and they drove on to North Walsham. There they
found the "pightle" which suited them in the vicinity of that town, on
the road leading to Happisburgh (Hazebro).
Norwich began to fill on Saturday, the 15th of July, as the stage-coaches
rolled in by the London (now Ipswich) and Newmarket roads. The Inn
attached to the Bowling Green on Chapel-Field, then kept by the famous
one-legged ex-coachman Dan Gurney (p. 167), was the favourite resort of
the "great men" of the day. Belcher, not old Belcher of 1791, but the
"Teucer" Belcher, and Cribb, the champion of England, slept at the Castle
Tavern, which like Janus had two faces--backed on the Meadows and fronted
on White-Lion. The Norfolk in St. Giles and the Angel on the "Walk,"
housed other varieties of the sporting world.
At an early hour on Monday, the 17th, the roads were alive with
pedestrians, equestrians, Jews, Gentiles and Gypsies, in coaches,
barouches and vehicles of every sort. From Norwich they streamed down
Tombland into Magdalen street and road, out on the Coltishall highway,
and thence--sixteen and one half miles in all--to North Walsham and the
field. One ancient MacGowan (the Scotch for Petulengro) stood on
Coltishall bridge and counted 2050 carriages as they swept past. More
than 25,000 men and thieves gathered in concentric circles about the
stand.
I do not propose to attempt the description of this celebrated _pugna_ or
"battle with the fists". Those who crave such diversions will find this
one portrayed fittingly in the newspapers of the time. The closing
passage of one of them has always seemed to me to be a masterpiece of
grim brutality: "Oliver's nob was exchequered, and he fell by heavy right-
handed blows on his ears and temple. When on his second's knee, his head
dangled about like a poppy after a shower."
A second fight, this time between Sampson, called the "Birmingham boy,"
and Martin the "baker," lost much of its interest by reason of the storm
described in _Lavengro_. "During the contest," says the _Norfolk
Chronicle_, "a most tremendous black cloud informed the spectators that a
rare sousing was in preparation for them." And the _Mercury_ states that
"the heavy rain drenched the field, and most betook themselves to a
retreat, but the rats were all drinkled". Thus the "cloud" was no
fiction, by which the Gypsy foretold the dreadful fate awaiting John
Thurtell before Hertford gaol, 9th January, 1824. Ned Painter never
fought again. He was landlord of the White Hart Inn from 1823 to 1835.
The present proprietor still shows his portrait there, with the above
fact duly inscribed on the back of the frame.
Page 168. Public: The Castle Tavern, Holborn, kept by Tom Belcher--the
"Daffy Club".--169. "Here's a health to old honest John Bull:" The verses
were taken from a rare old volume entitled: _The Norwich Minstrel_, p.
30, (See _Bibliog._):--
"HONEST JOHN BULL."
"Here's a health to 'Old honest John Bull';
When he's gone we shan't find such another;
With hearts and with glasses brim full,
We'll drink to 'Britannia, his mother';
For she gave him a good education,
Bade him keep to his God and his King,
Be loyal and true to the nation,
And then to get merry and sing.
"For John is a good-natured fellow,
Industrious, honest and brave;
Not afraid of his betters when mellow,
For betters he knows he must have.
There must be fine lords and fine ladies,
There must be some little, some great;
Their wealth the support of our trade is,
Our trade the support of the State.
"Some were born for the court and the city,
And some for the village and cot;
For it would be a dolorous ditty,
If we were born 'equal in lot'.
If our ships had no pilots to steer,
What would come of poor Jack on the shrouds?
Or our troops no commanders to fear,
They would soon be arm'd robbers in crowds.
"The plough and the loom would stand still,
If we were made gentlefolks all;
If clodhoppers--who then would fill
The parliament, pulpit or hall?
'Rights of Man' makes a very fine sound,
'Equal riches' a plausible tale;
Whose labourers would then till the ground?
All would drink, but who'd brew the ale?
"Half naked and starv'd, in the streets
We should wander about, _sans culottes_;
Would Liberty find us in meats,
Or Equality lengthen our coats?
That knaves are for levelling, don't wonder,
We may easily guess at their views;
Pray, who'd gain the most by the plunder?
Why, they that have nothing to lose.
"Then away with this nonsense and stuff,
Full of treason, confusion and blood;
Every Briton has freedom enough
To be happy as long as he's good.
To be rul'd by a glorious king,
To be govern'd by jury and laws;
Then let us be happy and sing,
'This, this, is true Liberty's cause'."
Page 174. Haik, read _Haik_: Armenian.--178. Conqueror of Tippoo Sahib:
General Harris (1791).--181. March: The exact date was discovered by me
in private letters in Norwich. See _Life_, i., p. 91. George left
Norwich on the evening of 1st April, 1824, and consequently reached
London early on the morning of 2nd April.--182. Lodging: No. 16 Millman
Street, Bedford Row.--185. The publisher: Sir Richard Phillips.--185. Mr.
so-and-so: Taylor of Norwich.--186. The Magazine: _The Monthly Magazine_;
_or_, _British Register_.--187. The Oxford Review: _The Universal
Review_; _or_, _Chronicle of the Literature of all Nations_. No. 1,
March, 1824, to No. 6, January, 1825. See also pp. 190, 203 and ff.--191.
Red Julius, called elsewhere by Borrow _Iolo Goch_: A Welsh bard of the
fifteenth century.--193. Caesar's Castle: The Tower of London.--194 and
423. Blessed Mary Flanders: Defoe's _Moll Flanders_, See _Bibliog._ at
the end of _Romany Rye_.--197. Booksellers' shop: The shop was a
depository of the Religious Tract Society, the publishers of Legh
Richmond's _Annals of the Poor_, of which the first section was the
_Dairyman's Daughter_ (pp. 101).--203. Newly married: Richard, Jr., m.
Feb., 1823.--204. "Newgate Lives": The true title was: _Celebrated
Trials_, _and Remarkable Cases of Criminal Jurisprudence_, _from the
earliest records to the year_ 1825, Lond., 1825 (February), 6 vols.
8vo.--205. Translator of "Faustus": _Faust_, _a Drama by Goethe_, _and
Schiller's Song of the Bell_; _translated by Lord Francis Leveson Gower_,
Lond., J. Murray, 1823, 8vo; 2nd ed., enlarged, _ibid._, 1825, 2 vols.
8vo.--208. Translator of Quintilian: I doubt whether this was John Carey,
LL.D. (1756-1826), who published an edition of Quintilian, 1822, but no
_translation_. My information is positive that it was Wm. Gifford,
translator of Juvenal, 1802, 3rd ed. 1817.--215. Oxford: This constant
satirising of the great English university in connection with the
publisher's theory, doubtless grew out of a series of articles printed in
the Magazine during the years '23 and '24, and which may be summarised by
this notice in vol. lvi., p. 349: "In a few days will appear a series of
Dialogues between an Oxford Tutor and a Disciple of the new Commonsense
Philosophy; in which the mechanical principles of matter and motion will
be accurately contrasted with the theories of occult powers which are at
present cherished by the Universities and Royal Associations throughout
Europe".--220. Churchyard: St. Giles churchyard where Capt. Borrow was
buried on the 4th of March previous.--220. A New Mayor: Inexact. Robert
Hawkes was mayor of Norwich in 1822. Therefore he was now
_ex_-mayor--220. Man with a Hump: Thomas Osborn Springfield, was not a
watchmaker so far as is known in Norwich, but "carried on the wholesale
silk business, having almost a monopoly of the market" (Bayne's
_Norwich_, p. 588).--221. Painter of the heroic: Benjamin Robert Haydon
(1785-1846).--224. Norman Arch: The grand entrance and exit to the
Norwich Cathedral, west side.--225. Snap: The Snap-Dragon of Norwich is
the _Tarasque_ of the south of France, and the _Tarasca_ of Corpus day in
Spain. It represents a Dragon or monster with hideous jaws, supported by
men concealed, all but their legs, within its capacious belly, and
carried about in civic processions prior to the year 1835; even now it is
seen on Guy Fawkes' day, the 5th of November.--Whiffler: An official
character of the old Norwich Corporation, strangely uniformed and
accoutred, who headed the annual procession on Guildhall day, flourishing
a sword in a marvellous manner. All this was abolished on the passage of
the Municipal Reform Act in 1835. As a consequence, says a
contemporaneous writer, "the Aldermen left off wearing their scarlet
gowns, _Snap_ was laid up on a shelf in the 'Sword Room' in the
Guildhall, and the _Whifflers_ no longer danced at the head of the
procession in their picturesque costume. It was a pretty sight, and
their skill in flourishing their short swords was marvellous to behold."
See _Romany Rye_, pp. 349-50.--Billy Blind and Owlenglass (Till
Eulenspiegel): See _Bibliography_.--228. Brandt and Struensee: For High-
Treason in Denmark, 1772. See _Celebrated Trials_, iv., p. 465; and for
Richard Patch ("yeoman Patch"), 1805, vol. v., p. 584.--229. Lord Byron:
The remains of the poet lay in state from Friday 9th July, 1824, in Sir
Edward Knatchbull's house, Great George Street, to Monday the 12th when
they were conveyed to Hucknall-Torkard in Nottinghamshire. On that day
(12th July) Borrow witnessed the procession as described in the
text.--233. Carolan's Receipt: Torlough (_i.e._, Charles) O'Carolan, the
celebrated Irish harper and bard, was born at Nobber, Co. Meath, in 1670,
and died in 1738. See Alfred Webb's _Compendium of_ _Irish Biography_,
Dublin, 1878, p. 372; J. C. Walker's _Irish Bards_, 1786, App., pp. 86-
87, and _Dict. of Nat. Biog._, xli., p. 343. The "Receipt" in _Irish_ is
in Walker, and at the end of Vallancey's Irish Grammar, second ed.,
Dublin, 1781. {565} Here is the translation given in Walker:--
"When by sickness or sorrow assail'd,
To the mansion of Stafford I hie'd
His advice or his cordial ne'er fail'd
To relieve me--nor e'er was denied.
"At midnight our glasses went round,
In the morning a cup he would send;
By the force of his wit he has found
That my life did on drinking depend.
"With the spirit of Whiskey inspir'd,
By my Harp e'en the pow'r is confess'd;
'Tis then that my genius is fir'd,
'Tis then I sing sweetest and best.
"Ye friends and ye neighbours draw near,
Attend to the close of my song;
Remember, if life you hold dear,
That drinking your life will prolong."
Curiously enough among the subscribers to the _Romantic Ballads_,
Norwich, 1826, we find these names: (p. 185) "F. Arden, Esq., London,
five copies," "T. G. O'Donnahoo, Esq., London, five copies;" (p. 187)
"Mr. J. Turner, London".
Page 244. The Review: The Review actually ceased January, 1825, with its
sixth number.--268. Laham: In Heb. bread is _lehem_; but our author
probably wrote it by sound. _Z'hats_ is the acc. of _hats_, the Arm. for
bread; for as Borrow's source, old Villotte (1714), says: "_Accusativus
praefigit nominativo literam z_".--270 and 286. Mesroub, read _Miesrob_,
who, about A.D. 450 introduced the Armenian alphabet. 271. Sea in Arm.
is _dzow_. See _Romany Rye_, p. 356--281. Adelante (Span.): Come
in.--281. Bueno (Span.): Good. This sound of the word _bueno_, heard in
1825 from the Jew Manasseh, was brought to Borrow's memory in 1836 when
he met the Jew Abarbanel on the roads in Spain. See _B. in S._, p. 65,
sm. ed.--282. Una vez, etc. (Span.): On one occasion when he was
intoxicated.--282. Goyim (Heb.): Nations, Gentiles.--282. Lasan akhades,
read _Lashon haqqodesh_: Sacred language, _i.e._, Hebrew.--282. Janin:
Wine in Heb. is _yayim_ (not _yanin_), but our author quoted correctly
from the _Dialoghi di Amore composti per Leone Medico_, Vinegia, 1541,
and the Span. ed. (which I use): _Los Dialogos de Amor de mestre Leon
Abarbanel medico y Filosofo excelente_, Venetia, 1568, sm. 410
(Bodleian). The passage is: "And he (Noah), after the flood, was called
_Janus_ on account of his invention of wine, for _Janin_ in Hebrew
signifies wine, and he is represented with two faces turned in opposite
directions, because he saw before the flood and after it". {566} G. B.
always writes Abarb_e_nel for Abarb_a_nel. His true name was Leo
Abrabanel.--282. Janinoso (Judaeo-Span.) meaning _vinosus_,
intoxicated.--283. Epicouraiyim: Christians, as below, the "Epicureans,"
for so the rabbis of the East call us in the West--properly,
"unbelievers". But Borrow's form is not found in Buxtorf (1869)--read
[unknown Hebrew text] _Epikurosin_ and (pop.) _Epikurin_.--285.
Sephardim: Spanish and Portuguese Jews, as the _Ashkenazim_ are the
German Jews.--290 to 301. I am at . . .: Greenwich, Blackheath and
Shooter's Hill (301).--304. Colonel B. . . .: Col. Blood. See
_Celebrated Trials_, vol. ii., pp. 248-354: "Thomas Blood, generally
called Colonel Blood, who stole the crown from the Tower of London,
1671".--317. Got fare to . . ., read Amesbury, Wilts.--323. City of the
Spire: Salisbury.--325. From . . ., read Bristol.--330. Stranger: Could
not be William Beckford (1759-1844) of Fonthill Park, three miles from
Hinton, a dozen or fifteen miles from Salisbury. Besides the place was
sold in 1822 and George Mortimer occupied it in 1825. Borrow had been
walking _five_ days in a N.W. direction from Salisbury, and all his
narrative harmonises with the places and dates that bring him to
Horncastle in August, 1825--362. Abedariums, read _abecedariums_.--363.
Flaming Tinman: He is also called by Borrow, Blazing Tinman, Flying
Tinker, Blazing Bosville or Boswell, and finally Anselo Herne, his true
clan-name.--367. Ten years ago, _i.e._, thirteen, when he was at Tamworth
in April or May, 1812.--377. The Romany chi, etc.: See p. 387 for the
translation.--379. Answer to the gillie: The Rommany churl and the
Rommany girl love thieving and spaeing and lying and everything but
honesty and truth.--390. Peth yw, etc. (W.): What is that lying there on
the ground? _Yn wirionedd_, in truth, surely.--390. Gwenwyn: Poison!
Poison! the lad has been poisoned!--394. Hanged the mayor: The suppressed
name of the Welshman and the whole account of the affair is given in
_Wild Wales_, p. 7 (chapter iii).--404. Bardd Cwsg: The Sleeping Bard, by
Ellis Wynn. See _Bibliog._--421. Merddin Wyllt (_Myrddin_): _i.e._, Wild
Merlin, called the Wizard.--423. Found written: See _Moll Flanders_ by
Defoe, p. 188, ed. 1722: "Oh! what a felicity is it to mankind," _said
I_, "that they cannot see into the hearts of one another!" I have
carefully re-read the whole volume of _Moll Flanders_, and find no such
passages as those referred to here, save the one above. Hence, we may
justly infer that Borrow quoted the _spirit_, rather than the words, of
his author. See _Romany Rye_, pp. 305-6.--431. Catraeth, read
_Cattraeth_. The reference is to Aneurin's book, the _Gododin_, or
Battle of Cattraeth. See _Bibliog._--432. Fish or flesh: See Borrow's
_Targum_, St. Petersb., 1835, p. 76, under the "History of Taliesin,"
ending:--
"I saw the end with horror
Of Sodom and Gomorrah!
And with this very eye
Have seen the [Trinity];
I till the judgment day
Upon the earth shall stray:
_None knows for certainty_
_Whether fish or flesh I be_."
The original Welsh of the "Hanes Taliesin" is in the _Gorchestion Beirdd
Cymru_, 1773--_Bibliog._ at the end of _Romany Rye_.--432. Take this:
This Bible, with Peter Williams' name in it, was sold in London in 1886
out of Geo. Borrow's collection.--443. Mumpers' Dingle: Near Willenhall,
Staffordshire. The place is properly _Momber_ or _Monmer Lane_, and is
now occupied by the "Monmer Lane Ironworks," hence totally
obliterated.--444. Volundr (_Volundr_): The Wayland Smith of Northern
legends. See in the _Bibliog._ under "Wayland Smith," and Mallet, p.
570.--456. Ingeborg: The lines are from the _Romantic Ballads_ of 1826,
p. 58, entitled the "Heroes of Dovrefeld. From the old Danish."--456.
"As I was jawing:" Text and translation of the whole eight lines are
found on pp. 182-83 of the _Lavo-Lil_, 1874:--
_As I to the town was going one day_
_My Roman lass I met by the way_.
The _MS._ is somewhat different--"Rommany" instead of _Roman_, and the
last line, "If you will share my lot with me".--469. The man in black:
This priest seems to have been a Fraser of Lovat. See _Romany Rye_, p.
25, and "Arbuthnot" in the _Bibliog._--481. Armenian: It must be
remembered that Borrow's Armenian was limited to the Introduction,
Grammar and Lat.-Arm. Dict. of the Jesuit Joseph Villotte, 1714, fol.,
which he picked up at Norwich in 1822-23 as he tells us on p. 175, and
_Romany Rye_, p. 92. Hence all his examples are taken from that
book--_mi_, one; _yergou_, two; _yerek_, three, and those in _Romany
Rye_.--482. Buona sera (It.): Good evening.--482. Per far visita, etc.:
To pay your lordship a call, that is my motive.--486. Che io non, etc.,
read _ch' in_, etc.: That I do not believe at all.--488. Addio:
Farewell.--497. Pulci: See the _Bibliog._ This version is rather free
and _local_. Here is the original (canto xviii., f. 97, ed. 1546):--
_Rispose allhor Margutte_: "_A dirtel tosto_,
_Io non credo piu al nero ch' a l'azzurro_,
_Ma nel cappone_, _o lesso_, _o_, _vuogli_, _arrosto_,
_E credo alcuna volta anco nel burro_,
_Nella cervogia_, _e_, _quando io n'ho_, _nel mosto_,
_E molto pui nell' aspro che il mangurro_,
_Ma sopra tutto nel buon vino ho fede_,
_E credo che sia salvo chi gli crede_."
503. O Cavaliere, etc.: Oh, Sir Walter, ye have wrought much in behalf of
the Holy See!--504. Poveri frati: Poor friars!--508. One fellow I met:
See the postillion's story on pp. 536-48.--513. Master in Arm. is
_d'yer_; of a master, _d'yearn_; pl., _d'yeark_.--515. Koul Adonai, read
_Kol A_. The next quotation is from part of verse 4 of the xxixth Psalm,
which he gives according to the prayer-book version.
LIST OF GYPSY WORDS IN _LAVENGRO_
Adrey, in.
Ambrol, pear.
Ande, in, into.
Andre, in, within.
Angar, charcoal, coals.
Apopli, again.
Aukko, here is.
Ava, yes.
Avali, yes.
Avella, comes, is coming.
Baro, large, big.
Bawlor, swine.
Bebee (aunt), grandmother.
Bengui, devil.
Bitchadey, pl. sent.
Bitchadey pawdel (p. 300), an error for _bitchado pawdel_, sing.
Boro, great.
Borodromengro, highwayman.
Boro foros, London.
Cafi, horse-shoe nail.
Cana, when.
Caulor, shillings.
Chabe, pl. of
Chabo, child, lad, Gypsy.
Chachipen, truth.
Chal, lad, Gypsy.
Chal Devlehi, go with God, farewell.
Chavo, _i.q. chabo_.
Chi, girl, lass, Gypsy.
Chinomescro, chisel.
Chipes, pl. tongues.
Chive, to throw; pass (bad money).
Chivios, he or it is cast.
Chong, hill.
Chong gav, Norwich.
Churi, knife.
Coor, to strike, hammer.
Cooromengro, boxer.
Covantza, anvil.
Dearginni (Hung. G.), it thunders.
Dinelo, a fool, silly.
Divvus, day.
Dloovu, money (for _lovo_).
Dook, to bewitch, to spirit away.
Dook, spirit, soul, divining spirit, demon, ghost.
Dosta, enough.
Dovey odoi, that there, up yonder.
Drab, herb, poison.
Drab, to poison.
Drom, road, way.
Drow (often pl.), drugs; poison.
Dui, two.
Dukker_in_ (the _in_ is Eng. "ing"), any one's fortune, or fortunes,
fate, fortune-telling.
Dukker_in_ dook, the fortune-telling or divining spirit or demon.
Dukkeripen, fortune-telling.
Duvel, God.
Duvelskoe, divine.
Engro (mere _ending_), Borrovian for "master," "fellow," "chap".
Foros, city, town.
Gav, village, town.
Gillie, song, ditty.
Gorgio, non-gypsy, stranger, somebody, police. G. avella, some one is
coming. G. shunella, some one is listening. G.'s welling, the police
are about.
Gorgious, adj. formed from _gorgio_.
Grandbabee, see _bebee_.
Grondinni (_Roumanian_ G.), it hails.
Gry, horse, pony.
Harkomescro, tinker.
Hinjiri, executioner.
Hir mi Devlis, by my G---.
Hokkeripen, falsehood.
Jaw, to go. Jaw-ing, going.
Jib, tongue, language.
Juggal, dog.
Juwa, woman.
Kauley, f. of
Kaulo, black, dark.
Kaulomescro, blacksmith.
Kaured, stole.
Kekaubi, kettle.
Ker, house.
Kosko, good.
Kral or Krallis, king.
Lachipen, honesty.
Lavengro, "word-master," "philologist".
Leste, him.
Lil, book.
Loovu, coin, money.
Lundra, London.
Luripen, theft, robbery.
Mailla, donkey.
Manricli, cake.
Manro, bread.
Manus, man.
Marel (read _merel_), dies.
Men, we.
Mensar (read _mensa_), with us.
Miro, my.
Morro, bread.
Muchtar, tool-box.
Nashkado, lost, hanged.
Nashky, gallows.
O, the.
Odoi, there; dovey o., yonder.
Pa, over, for.
Pal, brother, friend, mate.
Palor, brothers.
Parraco, I thank.
Pawdel, on the other side, across; bitchadey p., transported.
Pen, to say, to tell; penning, telling.
Peshota, pl. bellows.
Petul, horse-shoe.
Petulengro, smith.
Pindro, hoof, foot.
Pios, health (in toasting).
Plaistra, pincers.
Plastramengro, runner, detective.
Poknees, magistrate.
Prala (_voc._). brother.
Pudamengro, blower, bellows.
Puro, old, ancient.
Puv, earth, ground.
Ran, stick, cane.
Rati, blood, stock.
Rikkeni, f. of
Rikkeno, pretty, fine.
Rin, file.
Rom, husband; Gypsy.
Roman, Borrovian for Gypsy.
Romaneskoenaes, in Gypsy fashion.
Romanly (Bor.), in Gypsy, G.-like.
Romano, Gypsy.
Rome and dree (Rom andre?) Gypsy at heart.
Romi, wife.
Rommanis, in Gypsy.
Rommany, Gypsy.
Rommany Chal, Eng. Gypsy.
Rommany Chi, f. Eng. Gypsy-girl.
Rovel, weeps.
Rye, gentleman; farming r., farmer.
Sap, snake.
Sapengro, snake-catcher.
Sastra, iron.
Sastramescro, worker in iron, smith.
Scoppelo, ninny.
Sherengro, head man.
Shoon, to hear, to listen.
Shukaro, hammer.
Shunella, is listening.
Si, is, are.
Sore, all (who).
Ta, and.
Tacho rommanis, faithful wife.
Tan, tent.
Tasaulor (ta-sorlo), to-morrow.
Tatchipen, truth.
Tawno Chickno, "Shorty".
Tu, thy.
Tute, thee.
Vagescoe chipes, tongues of fire.
Villaminni (Hung. G.), it lightens.
Wafodo, bad, false.
Welling (corruption of _avella_), coming. G.'s welling, "the hawks are
abroad".
Wesh, forest.
Yag, fire.
Yeck, one.
Zigan (_Slavic_), Gypsy.
Zingaro (_Italian_), Gypsy.
PRINTED BY
HAZELL, WATSON AND VINEY, LD.,
LONDON AND AYLESBURY
Footnotes:
{0a} We are all relations, all alike; all who are with us are ourselves.
{0b} _Chal_ is simply the contraction of _chaval_, a form cognate with
_chavoro_ the diminutive of _chavo_, a lad. _Chaval_ is still common in
Spain, both among the Gypsies and the lower orders of Spaniards.--ED.
{1a} _MS._, "On the fifth day of July, 1803, at East D---, a beautiful
little town in the western division of Norfolk, I first saw the light".
{1b} "In Cornwall are the best gentlemen."--_Corn. Prov._
{2a} _MS._, "after being insulted by him".
{2b} So in _MSS._; "manly," an erratum.
{3} _MS._, "Orford".
{13} Norwegian ells--about eight feet.
{23} _MS._, "in regimental slang".
{34} _MS._, "Ambrose" throughout the book.
{81} _MS._, "like the philologist Scaliger, who, though acquainted with
the exact value of every word in the Latin language, could see no beauty
in the 'Enchantments of Canidia,' the masterpiece of the prince of Roman
poets. What knew he," etc.
{112} _MS. note_: "Written in 1843".
{115} _MS._, "a Monsieur Peyrecourt" or "Pierrecourt".
{126} _MS._, "Simpson".
{137} Klopstock.
{158} _MS._, "John Thurtell".
{185} _MS._, "Bartlett".
{187} _MS._, "Saviour".
{190} _MS._, "High Tory principles".
{201} _MS._, "_Arden_" throughout.
{210} The _MS._ develops this paragraph as follows:--
So Francis Ardry called upon me, and right glad I was that he did so; and
after we had sat conversing for some time, he said, "Did you ever see
Kean?"
"No," said I, "but I have heard both of him and of Belcher. I should
like to see either, especially the latter. Where are they to be found?"
"I know nothing of the latter," said Frank, "but if you wish to see Kean,
you had better come with me where he will appear to-night after a long
absence. The public are anxiously waiting for him, intending to pelt him
off the stage."
"And what has he done," said I, "to be pelted off the stage?"
"What is very naughty," said Frank; "breaking one of the commandments."
"And did he break the commandment on the stage?"
"No," said Frank, "I never heard that he broke it on the stage, except in
the way of his profession."
"Then, what have the public to do with the matter?"
"They think they have," said Frank.
And then we went out together to see Shakespeare's "Richard," or rather
we went to see the man who was to personate Shakespeare's "Richard"--and
so did thousands; we did not see him, however. There was a great tumult,
I remember, in the theatre. The man who was to perform the part of
Richard, and who it was said was the best hand for interpreting the
character that had ever appeared on the stage, had a short time before
been involved in a disgraceful affair, and this was to be his first
appearance on the stage since the discovery. The consequence was that
crowds flocked to the theatre with the firm intention of expressing their
indignation. "We will pelt his eyes out," said a man who sat beside me
in the pit--for we sat in the pit--and who bore the breach of all the
commandments in his face. The actor in question, however, who perhaps
heard the threats which were vented against him, very prudently kept out
of the way, and the manager coming forward informed the public that
another would perform the part--whereupon there was a great uproar. "We
have been imposed upon," said the individual who sat beside me. "I came
here for nothing else than to pelt that scoundrel off the stage." The
uproar, however, at length subsided, and the piece commenced. In a
little time there was loud applause. The actor who had appeared in place
of the other was performing. "What do you clap for?" said I to the
individual by my side, who was clapping most of all. "What do I clap
for?" said the man. "Why, to encourage Macready, to be sure. Don't you
see how divinely he acts? why, he beats Kean hollow. Besides that, he's
a moral man, and I like morality." "Do you mean to say," said I, "that
he was never immoral?" "I neither know nor care," said the man; "all I
know is that he has never been found out. It will never do to encourage
a public man who has been found out. No, no! the morality of the stage
must be seen after."
{212} _MS._ "Charlie" and "Charlie's" throughout.
{222} The _MS._ adds: "'It will, perhaps, be as well, first of all, to
go to the exhibition of British art, which is at present open. I hear he
has a picture there, which he has just finished. We will look at it, and
from that you may form a tolerable estimate of his powers.' Thereupon my
brother led the way, and we presently found ourselves in the Gallery of
British Art."
{231} _Arden_ throughout the _MS._
{232} The text is: "_Malheur_, as the French say, _that_ it is so
choked".
{235} "Bishop Sharpe," a pugilist of that name and time.
{236} _Three are after my death_.
{249} _MS._ (apparently) "L---," but see p. 276.
{250a} _MS._, "is quite as rational an amusement as politics".
{250b} _Le Noir_ in MS. _A_, and in _Rom. Rye_, app.
{251a} _MS._, "L---," or "T."
{251b} _MS._, "Canning".
{350} _MS._, "The Times".
{484} _MS._ "Lord A[berdeen]".
{553} The one sole emendation consists in substituting the masc.
_cheval_ for the fem. _jument_, on p. 314. _Le_ jument est _beau_ was a
solecism that could not longer be tolerated.
{555} _Boxiana_, ii., 497.
{565} Beginning--
_Mas tinn no slan atharlaigheas fein_,
_Do ghluais me tra_, _agus bfheirde me_,
_Air cuairt an Seoin le socal dfhaghail_,
"_An Stafartach saimh_, _nach gnath gan cheill_."
{566} "El qual (Noe) despues del diluuio, por su inuencion del uino, fue
lhamado lano, porque Ianin en ebraico quiere dezir uino, y lo pintan con
dos caras boltadas, porque tuuo uista antes del diluuio y despues"
(_Foja_ 71, _verso_).