The Life of George Borrow
by
Herbert Jenkins
Part 9 out of 9
{46c} It appeared on 19th March following.
{46d} Lavengro, page 210.
{47a} The picture was duly painted in the Heroic manner, the artist
lending to the ex-mayor, for some reason or other, his own
unheroically short legs. Haydon received his fee of a hundred
guineas, and the picture now hangs in St Andrew's Hall, Norwich.
{48a} Letter from Roger Kerrison to John Borrow, 28th May 1824.
{48b} Memoirs, C. G. Leland 1893.
{49a} Borrow himself gave the sum as "eighteen-pence a page." The
books themselves apparently did not become the property of the
reviewer.--The Romany Rye, page 324.
{49b} Borrow says that he demanded lives of people who had never
lived, and cancelled others that Borrow had prepared with great care,
because be considered them as "drugs."--Lavengro, pages 245-6.
{50a} "'Sir,' said he, 'you know nothing of German; I have shown
your translation of the first chapter of my Philosophy to several
Germans: it is utterly unintelligible to them.' 'Did they see the
Philosophy?' I replied. 'They did, sir, but they did not profess to
understand English.' 'No more do I,' I replied, 'if the Philosophy
be English.'"--Lavengro, page 254.
{50b} A German edition of the work appeared in Stuttgart in 1826.
{52a} This sentence is quoted in The Gypsies of Spain as a heading
to the section "On Robber Language," page 335.
{52b} Lavengro, pages 216-7.
{52c} Lavengro, page 271.
{53a} Faustus: His Life, Death and Descent into Hell. Translated
from the German. London: W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, 1825, pages
xxii., 251. Coloured Plate.
{53b} A letter from Borrow to the publishers, which Dr Knapp quotes,
and dates 15th September 1825, but without giving his reasons, was
written from Norwich, and runs:
Dear Sir, -
As your bill will become payable in a few days, I am willing to take
thirty copies of Faustus instead of the money. The book has been
BURNT in both the libraries here, and, as it has been talked about, I
may, perhaps, be able to dispose of some in the course of a year or
so.--Yours, G. BORROW.
{55a} Lavengro, page 310.
{55b} The Romany Rye, Appendix, page 303.
{57a} Probably it was only a portion of the whole amount of 50
pounds that Borrow drew after the completion of the work. One thing
is assured, that Sir Richard Phillips was too astute a man to pay the
whole amount before the completion of the work.
{58a} Dr Knapp's Life of George Borrow, i., page 141.
{60a} Dr Knapp gives the date as the 22nd; but Mr John Sampson makes
the date the 24th, which seems more likely to be correct.
{61a} The Athenaeum, 25th March 1899.
{61b} Lavengro, page 362.
{62a} Lavengro, page 362.
{62b} Lavengro, page 374.
{63a} Lavengro, pages 431-2.
{64a} Lavengro, page 451.
{64b} Mr Watts-Dunton in a review of Dr Knapp's Life of Borrow says
that she "was really an East-Anglian road-girl of the finest type,
known to the Boswells, and remembered not many years ago."--
Athenaeum, 25th March 1899.
{66a} Mr Petulengro is made to say the "Flying Tinker."
{66b} Dr Knapp sees in the account of Murtagh's story of his travels
Barrow's own adventures during 1826-7, but there is no evidence in
support of this theory. Another contention of Dr Knapp's is more
likely correct, viz., that the story of Finn MacCoul was that told
him by Cronan the Cornish guide during the excursion to Land's End.
{67a} It will be remembered that in The Romany Rye Borrow takes his
horse to the Swan Inn at Stafford, meets his postilion friend and is
introduced by him to the landlord, with the result that he arranges
to act as "general superintendent of the yard," and keep the hay and
corn account. In return he and his horse are to be fed and lodged.
Here Borrow encounters Francis Ardry, on his way to see the dog and
lion fight at Warwick, and the man in black.
{67b} The Gypsies of Spain, page 360.
{68a} Introduction to The Romany Rye in The Little Library, Methuen
& Co., Ltd.
{69a} The Romany Rye, page 162.
{69b} The Romany Rye, page 162.
{69c} The Romany Rye, page 50.
{69d} "Let but the will of a human being be turned to any particular
object, and it is ten to one that sooner or later he achieves it."--
Lavengro, page 16.
{73a} They appeared as Romantic Ballads, translated from the Danish,
and Miscellaneous Pieces, by George Borrow. Norwich. S. Wilkin,
1826. Included in the volume were translations from the Kiaempe
Viser and from Oehlenschlaeger.
{74a} Correspondence and Table-Talk of B. R. Haydon. London, 1876.
The position of the letter in the Haydon Journal is between November
1825 and January 1826; but it is more likely that it was written some
months later. Unfortunately, Borrow's portrait cannot be traced in
any of Haydon's pictures.
{75a} Lavengro, page 9.
{75b} There was a tradition that Borrow became a foreign
correspondent for the Morning Herald, and it was in this capacity
that he travelled on the Continent in 1826-7; but Dr Knapp clearly
showed that such a theory was untenable.
{75c} The Gypsies of Spain, page 11.
{75d} The Bible in Spain, page 219.
{75e} Letter to his mother, August 1833.
{75f} The Bible in Spain, page 172.
{75g} The Gypsies of Spain, page 31.
{76a} The Bible in Spain, page 703.
{76b} The Bible in Spain, page 67.
{76c} The Gypsies of Spain, page 19.
{76d} Excursions Along the Shores of the Mediterranean, by Lt.-Col.
E. H. D. E. Napier. London, 1842.
{76e} The Gypsies of Spain, pages 10-11.
{76f} Patteran, or Patrin; a gypsy method of indicating by means of
grass, leaves, or a mark in the dust to those behind the direction
taken by the main body.
{76g} The Gypsies of Spain, page 31.
{77a} If he went abroad, he certainly did so without obtaining a
passport from the Foreign Office. The only passports issued to him
between the years 1825-1840 were:
27th July 1833, to St Petersburg;
2nd November 1836 and 20th December 1838, to Spain,
as far as the F. O. Registers show.
{77b} Dr Knapp takes Borrow's statement, made 29th March 1839, "I
have been three times imprisoned and once on the point of being
shot," as indicating that he was imprisoned at Pamplona in 1826. The
imprisonments were September 1837, Finisterre; May 1838, Madrid; and
another unknown. The occasion on which he was nearly shot, which may
be assumed to be connected with one of the imprisonments (otherwise
he was more than "once nearly shot"), was at Finisterre, when he,
with his guide, was seized as a Carlist spy "by the fishermen of the
place, who determined at first on shooting us." (Letter to Rev. A.
Brandram, 15th September 1837.)
{78a} The incident is given in Lavengro under date of 1818, when
Marshland Shales was fifteen years old. It was not, however, until
1827 that he appeared at the Norwich Horse Fair and was put up for
auction. "Such a horse as this we shall never see again; a pity that
he is so old," was the opinion of those who lifted their hats as a
token of respect.
{79a} This and subsequent letters from Borrow to Sir John Bowring
not specially acknowledged have been courteously placed at the
writer's disposal by Mr Wilfred J. Bowring, Sir John Bowring's
grandson.
{81a} In The Monthly Review, March 1830, there appeared among the
literary announcements a paragraph to the same effect.
{83a} From the original draft of his letter of 20th May to Dr
Bowring, omitted from the letter itself.
{86a} Mr Thomas Seccombe in Bookman, February 1902.
{86b} It is only fair to add that Mr Seccombe wrote without having
seen the correspondence quoted from above. His words have been given
as representing the opinion held by most people regarding the Borrow-
Bowring dispute. It has been said that Bowring sought to suck
Borrow's brains; it would appear, however, that Borrow strove rather
to make every possible use that he could of Bowring.
{87a} Preface to The Sleeping Bard, 1860.
{87b} Ibid.
{88a} The Bible in Spain, page 201.
{88b} Dr Knapp gives the date as during the early days of September,
but without mentioning his authority.
{90a} The Romany Rye, page 362.
{91a} Lavengro, page 403.
{91b} Lavengro, page 446.
{92a} Vicar of Pakefield, in Norfolk, 1814-1830; Lowestoft, 1830-63.
He married a sister of J. J. Gurney of Earlham Hall.
{93a} Dr Knapp was in error when he credited J. J. Gurney with the
introduction. In a letter to the Rev. J. Jowett, 10th Feb. 1833,
Borrow wrote, "I must obtain a letter from him [Rev. F. Cunningham]
to Joseph Gurney."
{93b} T. Pell Platt, formerly the Hon. Librarian of the Society; W.
Greenfield, its lately deceased Editorial Superintendent.
{94a} S. V. Lipovzoff (1773-1841) had studied Chinese and Manchu at
the National College of Pekin, and had lived in China for 20 years;
belonged to the Russian Foreign Office (Asiatic section); head of
Board of Censors for books in Eastern languages printed in Russia:
Corresponding member of Academy of Sciences for department of
Oriental Literature and Antiquities. "A gentleman in the service of
the Russian Department of Foreign Affairs, who has spent the greater
part of an industrious life in Peking and the East."--J. P.
H[asfeldt] in the Athenaeum, 5th March 1836.
{94b} Asmus, Simondsen & Co., Sarepta House.
{95a} Borrow's report upon Puerot's translation, 23rd September 5th
October, 1835.
{96a} The Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society, vol. i., July 1888 to
October 1899. In the MS. autobiographical note he wrote later for Mr
John Longe, Borrow stated that he walked from London to Norwich in
November 1825. He may have performed the journey twice.
{96b} Letter from Borrow to the Rev. Francis Cunningham, to whom he
wrote on his return home, circa January, acquainting him with what
had transpired in London, assuring him that "I am returned with a
firm determination to exert all my energies to attain the desired end
[the learning of Manchu]; and I hope, Sir, that I shall have the
benefit of your prayers for my speedy success, for the language is
one of those which abound with difficulties against which human skill
and labour, without the special favour of God, are as blunt hatchets
against the oak; and though I shall almost weary Him with my own
prayers, I wish not to place much confidence in them, being at
present very far from a state of grace and regeneration, having a
hard and stony heart, replete with worldy passions, vain wishes, and
all kinds of ungodliness; so that it would be no wonder if God to
prayers addressed from my lips were to turn away His head in wrath."
{97a} Borrow always writes Mandchow, but, for the sake of uniformity
his spelling is corrected throughout.
{98a} Letter to Rev. Francis Cunningham, circa January 1833.
{99a} Dr Knapp ascribes the translation to Dr Pazos Kanki, who
undertook it at the instance of the Bishop of Puebla, but gives no
authority. Dr Kanki was a native of La Paz, Peru, and translated St
Luke into his native dialect Aimara. He had no more connection with
Mexico than "stout Cortez" with "a peak in Darien."
{99b} Life of George Borrow, by Dr Knapp, i., page 157.
{100a} Letter to Rev. J. Jowett, 18th March 1833.
{100b} Letter to Rev. J. Jowett, 18th March 1833.
{100c} Letter to Rev J. Jowett, 18th March 1833.
{101a} Caroline Fox wrote in her Memories of Old Friends (1882):
"Andrew Brandram gave us at breakfast many personal recollections of
curious people. J. J. Gurney recommended George Borrow to their
Committee [!]; so he stalked up to London, and they gave him a hymn
to translate into the Manchu language, and the same to one of their
own people to translate also. When compared they proved to be very
different. When put before their reader, he had the candour to say
that Borrow's was much the better of the two. On this they sent him
to St Petersburg, got it printed [!] and then gave him business in
Portugal, which he took the liberty greatly to extend, and to do such
good as occurred to his mind in a highly executive manner [22nd
August 1844]."
{102a} Mr Lipovzoff's unfortunate name was a great stumbling-block.
Borrow spelt it many ways, varying from Lipoffsky to Lipofsoff. It
has been thought advisable to adopt Mr Lipovzoff's OWN spelling of
his name, in order to preserve some uniformity.
{104a} Minutes of the Editorial Sub-Committee, 29th July 1833.
{105a} Harriet Martineau's Autobiography.
{106a} Letter to his mother, 30th July 1833.
{107a} Letter to Rev. J. Jowett, 4th August 1833.
{107b} Letter to Rev. J. Jowett, 4th August 1833.
{108a} Borrow is always puzzling when concerned with dates. He
writes to his mother telling her that he left on the 7th, and later
gives the date, in a letter to Mr Jowett, as 24th July, O.S. (5th
August). The 7th seems to be the correct date.
{108b} Letter to his mother.
{109a} "If I had my choice of all the cities of the world to live
in, I would choose Saint Petersburg."--Wild Wales, page 665.
{110a} Letter to Rev. J. Jowett, undated: received 26th September
1833.
{111a} In a letter dated 3rd/15th August, the Prince wrote to Mr
Venning at Norwich, "On returning thence, your son came to introduce
to me the Englishman who has come over here about the translation of
the Manchu Bible, and who brought with him your letter."--Memorials
of John Venning, 1862.
{112a} Best known for his Grammar, written in German.
{112b} Nephew of J. C Adelung, the philologist.
{113a} Letter to Rev. J. Jowett, undated, but received 26th
September 1833.
{114a} Letter to Rev. J. Jowett, 20th January/1st February 1834.
{114b} Letter to Rev. J. Jowett, 20th January/1st February 1834.
{114c} Letter to Rev. J. Jowett, 20th January/1st February 1834.
{115a} Letter to Rev. J. Jowett, 20th January/1st February 1834.
{115b} Letter to Rev. J. Jowett, 20th January/1st February 1834.
Probably this means the New Testament only, as there was no intention
of printing the Old Testament at that date.
{116a} In a letter to his mother, dated 1st/13th Feb., Borrow
writes: "The Bible Society depended upon Dr Schmidt and the Russian
translator Lipovzoff to manage this business [the obtaining of the
official sanction], but neither the one nor the other would give
himself the least trouble about the matter, or give me the slightest
advice how to proceed."
{117a} Letter to Rev. J. Jowett, 4th/16th February 1834.
{118a} Letter to the Rev. J. Jowett, 20th Jan./1st Feb. 1834.
{118b} Letter to the Rev. J. Jowett, 20th Jan./1st Feb. 1834.
{118c} Letter to the Rev. F. Cunningham, 17th/29th Nov. 1834.
{119a} 1st/13th May 1834.
{121a} This spelling is adopted throughout for uniformity. Borrow
writes Chiachta.
{121b} Letter to the Rev. J. Jowett, 4th/16th February 1834.
{121c} Letter to the Rev. J. Jowett, 4th/16th February 1834.
{121d} Letter to the Rev. J. Jowett, 4th/16th February 1834.
{123a} Letter to the Rev. J. Jowett, 15th/23rd April 1834.
{123b} In a letter dated 1st/13th May 1834.
{123c} A suburb of Norwich.
{126a} Mrs Borrow eventually received from Allday Kerrison 50
pounds, 11s. 1d., the amount realised from the sale of John's
effects.
{126b} This was partly on account of the Bible Society for storage
purposes. In the minutes of the Sub-Committee, 18th August 1834,
there is a record of an advice having been received from Borrow that
he had drawn "for 400 Roubles for one year's rent in advance for a
suitable place of deposit for the Society's paper, etc., part of
which had been received."
{126c} Letter to John P. Hasfeldt from Madrid, 29th April 1837.
{129a} In the minutes of the Sub-Committee, 18th August (N.S.) 1834,
there is a note of Borrow having drawn 210 roubles "to pay for
certain articles required to complete the Society's fount of Manchu
type."
{132a} "My letters to my private friends have always been written
during gleams of sunshine, and traced in the characters of hope."
{132b} "You may easily judge of the state of book-binding here by
the fact that for every volume, great or small, printed in Russia,
there is a duty of 30 copecks, or threepence, to be paid to the
Russian Government, if the said volume be exported unbound."
{135a} John Hasfeldt.
{135b} Letter to Mr J. Tarn, Treasurer of the Bible Society,
15th/27th December 1834.
{136a} Letter to the Rev. Joseph Jowett, 3rd/15th May 1835.
{138a} Letter from Borrow to the Rev. J. Jowett, 20th Feb./4th March
1834. In his Report on Puerot's translation, received on 23rd Sep.
1835, Borrow writes: "To translate literally, or even closely,
according to the common acceptation of the term, into the Manchu
language is of all impossibilities the greatest; partly from the
grammatical structure of the language, and partly from the abundance
of its idioms." The lack of "some of those conjunctions generally
considered as indispensable" was one of the chief difficulties.
{138b} Letter, 31st Dec. 1834.
{139a} Letter, 31st Dec. 1834.
{139b} Letter, 20th Feb./4th Mar. 1835.
{139c} Letter, 20th Feb./4th Mar. 1835.
{139d} Letter to the Rev. J. Jowett, 3rd/15th May 1835.
{139e} Ibid.
{140a} Letter to the Rev. J. Jowett, 3rd/15th May 1835.
{141a} Letter to Mr J. Tarn.
{141b} None of these translations ever appeared, owing to the
refusal of the Russian Government to grant permission. John Hasfeldt
wrote to Borrow, June 1837, apropos of the project: "You know the
Russian priesthood cannot suffer foreigners to mix themselves up in
the affairs of the Orthodox Church. The same would have happened to
the New Testament itself. You may certainly print in the Manchu-
Tartar or what the d-l you choose, only not in Russian, for that the
long-bearded he-goats do not like."
{142a} Letter to Rev. F. Cunningham, 27th/29th Nov. 1834.
{142b} The principal interest in Targum lies in the number of
languages and dialects from which the poems are translated; for it
must be confessed that Borrow's verse translations have no very great
claim to attention on account of their literary merit. The "Thirty
Languages" were, in reality, thirty-five, viz.:-
Ancient British. Gaelic. Portuguese.
" Danish. German. Provencal
" Irish. Greek. Romany.
" Norse. Hebrew. Russian.
Anglo-Saxon. Irish. Spanish.
Arabic. Italian. Suabian.
Cambrian British. Latin. Swedish.
Chinese. Malo-Russian. Tartar.
Danish. Manchu. Tibetan.
Dutch. Modern Greek. Turkish.
Finnish. Persian. Welsh.
French. Polish.
{143a} A copy was presented by John Hasfeldt to Pushkin, who
expressed in a note to Borrow his gratification at receiving the
book, and his regret at not having met the translator.
{143b} These two volumes were printed in one and published at a
later date by Messrs Jarrold & Son, London & Norwich.
{143c} 5th March 1836.
{143d} From a letter to Borrow from Dr Gordon Hake.
{143e} Borrow's Report to the Committee of the Bible Society,
received 23rd September 1835.
{144a} Borrow's Report to the Committee of the Bible Society,
received 23rd September 1835.
{144b} Ibid.
{145a} Kak my tut kamasa.
{145b} Borrow's Report to the Committee of the Bible Society,
received 23rd September 1835. He gives an account of the episode in
The Gypsies of Spain, page 6.
{146a} The Thirty-First Annual Report.
{146b} Athenaeum, 5th March 1836.
{147a} Borrow's Report to the Committee of the Bible Society,
received 23rd September 1835.
{148a} 18th/30th June 1834.
{149a} 27th October 1835.
{150a} His salary was paid continuously, and included the period of
rest between the Russian and Peninsula expeditions.
{150b} Letter to Rev. J. Jowett, 26th October 1835.
{150c} In a letter dated 27th October 1835.
{151a} Minutes of the General Committee of the Bible Society, 2nd
Nov. 1835.
{153a} In his first letter from Spain, addressed to Rev. J. Jowett
(30th Nov. 1835), Borrow tells of this incident in practically the
same words as it appears in The Bible in Spain, pages 1-3.
{154a} The Bible in Spain, pages 73-4.
{154b} Letter to the Rev. J. Jowett, 30th Nov. 1835.
{155a} Dr Knapp states that upon this expedition he was accompanied
by Captain John Rowland Heyland of the 35th Regiment of Foot, whose
acquaintance he had made on the voyage out.--Life of George Borrow,
i., page 234.
{155b} Letter to Rev. J. Jowett, 30th Nov. 1835.
{155c} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 15th Dec. 1835.
{159a} Letter to Dr Bowring, 26th December 1835.
{159b} The Bible in Spain, page 67.
{159c} Dated 8th and 10th January 1836, giving an account of his
journey to Evora.
{160a} The Bible in Spain, page 78.
{160b} The Bible in Spain, pages 77-8.
{161a} The Bible in Spain, page 87.
{161b} The Bible in Spain, page 88.
{162a} The Bible in Spain, page 99.
{162b} Lavengro, page 191.
{162c} The Bible in Spain, pages 97-8.
{162d} Not 5th Jan., as given in The Bible in Spain.
{162e} The Bible in Spain, page 103.
{164a} The Bible in Spain, Preface, page vi.
{164b} The Gypsies of Spain, page 179.
{164c} "Throughout my life the Gypsy race has always had a peculiar
interest for me. Indeed I can remember no period when the mere
mention of the name Gypsy did not awaken within me feelings hard to
be described. I cannot account for this--I merely state it as a
fact."--The Gypsies of Spain, page 1.
{165a} The Gypsies of Spain, pages 184-5.
{165b} The Gypsies of Spain, page 186.
{166a} The Bible in Spain, page 109.
{166b} Dr Knapp states that the wedding described in The Gypsies of
Spain took place during these three days.--Life of George Borrow, by
Dr Knapp, i., page 242.
{167a} The Bible in Spain, page 162.
{167b} "I am not partial to Madrid, its climate, or anything it can
offer, if I except its unequalled gallery of pictures."--Letter to
Rev. A. Brandram, 22nd March 1836.
{167c} 24th February 1836.
{167d} Letter to his mother, 24th February 1836.
{168a} Letter to his mother, 24th February 1836
{168b} Ibid.
{168c} Ibid.
{168d} Ibid.
{169a} The Bible in Spain, page 173.
{170a} Born 1790, commissariat contractor in 1808 during the French
invasion, he was of great assistance to his country. In 1823 he fled
from the despotism of Ferdinand VII.; he returned twelve years later
as Minister of Finance under Toreno. He resigned in 1837, was again
in power in 1841, and died in 1853.
{170b} George William Villiers, afterwards 4th Earl of Clarendon,
born 12th Jan. 1800; created G.C.B., 19th Oct. 1837; succeeded his
uncle as Earl of Clarendon, 1838; K.G., 1849. He twice refused a
Marquisate, also the Governor-generalship of India. He refused the
Order of the Black Eagle (Prussia) and the Legion of Honour. Lord
Privy Seal, 1839-41; Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, 1840-1,
1864-5; Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, 1847-52. Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs, 1853-8, 1865-6, 1868-9. Died 27th June 1870.
{171a} The Bible in Spain, page 165.
{173a} Extracts accompanying letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 22nd March
1836.
{173b} Ibid.
{173c} Ibid.
{174a} Letter of 22nd March 1837.
{175a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 22nd May 1836.
{175b} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 22nd May 1836.
{175c} Letter dated 6th April 1836.
{175d} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 20th April 1836.
{175e} Ibid.
{176a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 20th April 1836.
{176b} Ibid. Borrow's destitution was entirely accidental, and
immediately that his letter was received at Earl Street the sum of
twenty-five pounds was forwarded to him.
{177a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 20th April 1836.
{178a} Letter of 9th May 1836.
{178b} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 30th June 1836.
{178c} Ibid.
{178d} Ibid.
{179a} The Duke's secretary who had shown so profound a respect for
the decrees of the Council of Trent.
{179b} Late of the Royal Navy, who for sheer love of the work
distributed the Scriptures in Spain, and who later was to come into
grave conflict with Borrow.
{180a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 30th June 1836.
{181a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 7th July 1836.
{181b} Ibid.
{181c} Ibid.
{181d} Ibid.
{182a} Dr Usoz was a Spaniard of noble birth, a pupil of Mezzofanti,
and one of the editors of El Espanol. He occupied the chair of
Hebrew at Valladolid. He was deeply interested in the work of the
Bible Society, and was fully convinced that in nothing but the
reading of the Bible could the liberty in Spain be found.
{182b} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 25th December 1837.
{182c} La Granja was a royal palace some miles out of Madrid, to
which the Queen Regent had withdrawn. On the night of 12th August,
two sergeants had forced their way into the Queen Regent's presence,
and successfully demanded that she should restore the Constitution of
1812. This incident was called the Revolution of La Granja.
{183a} The Bible in Spain, pages 197-206.
{183b} 30th July 1836.
{183c} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 10th August 1836.
{184a} 17th October 1836.
{185a} The Bible in Spain, pages 209-11.
{185b} Ibid., page 211.
{186a} The Rev. Wentworth Webster in The Journal of Gypsy Lore
Society, vol. i., July 1888-Oct. 1889.
{187a} Letter from Rev. A. Brandram, 6th Jan. 1837.
{188a} Isidor Just Severin, Baron Taylor (1789-1879), was a
naturalised Frenchman and a great traveller. In 1821 he, with
Charles Nodier, wrote the play Bertram, which was produced with great
success at Paris in 1821. Later he was made Commissaire du Theatre
Francais, and authorised the production of Hernani and Le Mariage de
Figaro. Later he became Inspecteur-General des Beaux Arts (1838).
When seen by Borrow in Seville he was collecting Spanish pictures for
Louis-Philippe.
{189a} The Bible in Spain, page 221.
{190a} The Bible in Spain, page 237.
{190b} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 26th Dec. 1836.
{191a} In letter to the Rev. A. Brandram (26th Dec. 1836), Borrow
gives the quantity of brandy as two bottles. This letter was written
within a few hours of the act and is more likely to be accurate.
{191b} The Bible in Spain, page 254.
{191c} Borrow's letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 14th Jan. 1837.
{191d} He was authorised to purchase 600 reams at 60 reals per ream,
whereas he paid only 45 reals a ream for a paper "better," he wrote,
"than I could have purchased at 70."
{192a} Author of La Historia de las Cortes de Espana durante el
Siglo XIX. (1885) and other works of a political character. He was
also proprietor and editor of El Espanol. Isturitz had intended
raising Borrego to the position of minister of finance when his
government suddenly terminated.
{192b} General report prepared by Borrow in the Autumn of 1838 for
the General Committee of the Bible Society detailing his labours in
Spain. This was subsequently withdrawn, probably on account of its
somewhat aggressive tone. In the course of this work the document
will be referred to as General Report, Withdrawn.
{192c} To Rev. A. Brandram, 14th Jan. 1837.
{193a} To Rev. A. Brandram, 14th Jan. 1837.
{194a} 27th January 1837.
{194b} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 27th Feb. 1837.
{195a} Letter from Rev. A. Brandram to Borrow, 22nd March 1837.
{195b} Letter from Borrow to Rev. A. Brandram, 25th Dec. 1837.
{195c} Letter from Borrow to Rev. A. Brandram, 27th February 1837.
{195d} Rev. Wentworth Webster in The Journal of the Gypsy Lore
Society, vol. i., July 1888-October 1889.
{196a} General Report withdrawn.
{196b} General Report, withdrawn.
{196c} Borrow to Richard Ford. Letters of Richard Ford 1797-1858.
Ed. R. E. Prothero. Murray, 1905.
{197a} Letter from Borrow to Rev. A. Brandram, 7th June 1837.
{197b} Ibid.
{197c} Ibid.
{198a} Letter from Borrow to the Rev. A. Brandram, 27th February
1837.
{199a} As the method adopted was practically the same in every town
he visited, no further reference need be made to the fact, and in the
brief survey of the journeys that Borrow himself has described so
graphically, only incidents that tend to throw light upon his
character or disposition, and such as he has not recorded himself,
will be dealt with.
{200a} Via Pitiegua, Pedroso, Medina del Campo, Duenas Palencia.
"I suffered dreadfully during this journey," Borrow wrote, "as did
likewise my man and horses, for the heat was the fiercest which I
have ever known, and resembled the breath of the simoon or the air
from an oven's mouth."--Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 5th July 1837.
{200b} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 5th July 1837.
{201a} The Bible in Spain, pages 352-4.
{202a} The Bible in Spain, page 364.
{203a} This is the story particularly referred to by Richard Ford in
report upon the MS. of The Bible in Spain.
{203b} In the Report to the General Committee of the Bible Society
on Past and Future Operations in Spain, November 1838.
{204a} The Bible in Spain, page 409.
{204b} In The Bible in Spain Borrow says he was arrested on
suspicion of being the Pretender himself; but in a letter to Rev. A.
Brandram, 15th September 1837, he says that he and his guide were
seized as Carlist spies, and makes no mention of Don Carlos.
{205a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 15th September 1837.
{205b} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 29th September 1837.
{205c} By way of Ferrol, Novales, Santa Maria, Coisa d'Ouro,
Viviero, Foz, Rivadeo, Castro Pol, Navaia, Luarca, the Caneiro, Las
Bellotas, Soto Luino, Muros, Aviles and Gijon.
{205d} To the Rev. A. Brandram, 29th Sept. 1837. The story also
appears in The Bible in Spain, pages 479-480.
{206a} Borrow's original idea in printing only the New Testament was
that in Spain and Portugal he deemed it better not to publish the
whole Bible, at least not "until the inhabitants become
christianised," because the Old Testament "is so infinitely
entertaining to the carnal man," and he feared that in consequence
the New Testament would be little read. Later he saw his mistake,
and was constantly asking for Bibles, for which there was a big
demand.
{207a} To Rev. A. Brandram, 29th September 1837.
{208a} George Dawson Flinter, an Irishman in the service of Queen
Isabella II., who fought for his adopted Queen with courage and
distinction, and eventually committed suicide as a protest against
the monstrously unjust conspiracy to bring about his ruin, September
{209a} By way of Ontaneda, Ona, Burgos, Vallodolid, Guadarrama.
{209b} General Report, withdrawn.
{209c} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 1st November 1837.
{210a} The Bible in Spain, page 507.
{211a} He was created G.C.B. 19th Oct. 1837.
{212a} Letter from Borrow to the Rev. A. Brandram, 20th Nov. 1837.
{212b} To the Rev. A. Brandram, 20th Nov. 1837.
{213a} History of the British and Foreign Bible Society, W. Canton.
{213b} Letter from Borrow to Rev. A. Brandram, 30th March 1838.
{214a} Mr Brandram wrote to Graydon (12th April 1838): "Mr Rule
being at Madrid and having conferred with Mr Borrow and Sir George
Villiers, it appears to have struck them all three that a visit on
your part to Cadiz and Seville could not at present be advantageous
to our cause."
{214b} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 20th November 1837.
{214c} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 28th November 1837. The comment
on the badness of the London edition had reference to the
translation, which Borrow had condemned with great vigour; he
subsequently admitted that he had been too sweeping in his
disapproval.
{215a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 28th November 1837.
{215b} Sir George Villiers to Viscount Palmerston, 5th May 1838.
{215c} Ibid.
{216a} The Gypsies of Spain, page 241.
{216b} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 25th Dec. 1837.
{216c} These Bibles fetched, the large edition (Borrow wrote "I
would give my right hand for a thousand of them") 17s. each, and the
smaller 7s. each, whereas the New Testaments fetched about half-a
crown.
{216d} Letter dated 16th Jan. 1838.
{217a} In The Bible in Spain he says "the greater part," in The
Gypsies of Spain he says "the whole."
{217b} The Gypsies of Spain, page 275.
{218a} The Gypsies of Spain, page 280.
{218b} Ibid.
{218c} Ibid., page 282.
{219a} On 25th December 1837.
{219b} It is strange that Borrow should insist that he had Sir
George Villiers' approval; for Sir George himself has clearly stated
that he strongly opposed the opening of the Despacho.
{220a} 15th January 1838.
{221a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 30th March 1838.
{221b} In The Gypsies of Spain Borrow gives the number as 500 (page
281); but the Resolution, confirmed 20th March 1837, authorised the
printing of 250 copies only. In all probability the figures given by
Borrow are correct, as in a letter to Mr Brandram, dated 18th July
1839, he gives his unsold stock of books at Madrid as:-
Of Testaments . . . . . . . 962
Of Gospels in the Gypsy Tongue . 286
Of ditto in Basque . . . . . 394
{222a} Original Report, withdrawn.
{222b} The Gypsies of Spain, pages 280-1.
{224a} Letter from Borrow to Rev. A. Brandram, 17th March 1838.
{224b} The History of the British and Foreign Bible Society, by W.
Canton.
{225a} Mr Canton writes in The History of the British and Foreign
Bible Society: "His [Graydon's] opportunity was indeed
unprecedented; and had he but more accurately appreciated the
unstable political conditions of the country, the susceptibilities,
suspicious and precarious tenure of ministers and placemen, the
temper of the priesthood, their sensitive attachment to certain
tenets of their faith, and their enormous influence over the civil
power, there is reason to believe that he might have brought his
mission to a happier and more permanent issue."
{226a} [11th] May 1838.
{227a} Letter from George Borrow to Rev. A. Brandram [11th] May
1838.
{227b} 23rd April 1838.
{227c} The Marin episode is amazing. The object of distributing the
Scriptures was to enlighten men's minds and bring about conversion,
and a priest was a distinct capture, more valuable by far than a
peasant, and likely to influence others; yet when they had got him no
one appears to have known exactly what to do, and all were anxious to
get rid of him again.
{228a} The Bible in Spain, page 536.
{228b} Ibid.
{229a} Original Report, withdrawn.
{229b} Original Report, withdrawn.
{231a} Sometimes this personage is referred to in official papers as
the "Political Chief," a too literal translation of Gefe Politico.
In all cases it has been altered to Civil Governor to preserve
uniformity. Many of the official translations of Foreign Office
papers can only be described as grotesque.
{232a} This is the official translation among the Foreign Office
papers at the Record Office.
{232b} The Bible in Spain, page 539.
{233a} There is an error in the dating of this letter. It should be
1st May.
{234a} In a letter to Count Ofalia, Sir George Villiers states that
"George Borrow, fearing violence, prudently abstained from going to
his ordinary place of abode."
{234b} Borrow pays a magnificent and well-deserved tribute to this
queen among landladies. (The Bible in Spain, pages 256-7.) She was
always his friend and frequently his counsellor, thinking nothing of
the risk she ran in standing by him during periods of danger. She
refused all inducements to betray him to his enemies, and, thoroughly
deserved the eulogy that Borrow pronounced upon her.
{234c} It was subsequently stated that the arrest was ordered
because Borrow had refused to recognise the Civil Governor's
authority and made use "of offensive expressions" towards his person.
The Civil Governor had no authority over British subjects, and Borrow
was right in his refusal to acknowledge his jurisdiction.
{235a} The Bible in Spain, page 547.
{238a} Dispatch from Sir George Villiers to Viscount Palmerston, 5th
May.
{238b} Ibid.
{239a} Despatch from Sir George Villiers to Viscount Palmerston,
12th May 1838.
{239b} Ibid.
{240a} Despatch from Sir George Villiers to Viscount Palmerston.
{240b} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 17th May 1838.
{241a} Despatch from Sir George Villiers to Viscount Palmerston, 5th
May 1838.
{241b} In a letter to the Rev. A. Brandram, 17th May 1838.
{242a} The Official Translation among the Foreign Office Papers at
the Record Office.
{242b} Mr William Mark's (the British Consul at Malaga) Official
account of the occurrence, 16th May 1838.
{243a} Mr William Mark's (the British Consul at Malaga) Official
account of the occurrence, 16th May 1838.
{243b} Ibid.
{243c} Despatch to Viscount Palmerston, 12th May 1838.
{243d} Ibid.
{244a} Despatch to Viscount Palmerston, 12th May 1838.
{244b} Ibid.
{244c} Sir George Villiers' Despatch to Viscount Palmerston, 12th
May 1838.
{246a} The Official Translation among the Foreign Office Papers at
the Record Office.
{246b} The Bible in Spain, page 578.
{247a} The Gypsies of Spain, page 241.
{247b} The Bible in Spain, page 579.
{249a} History of the British and Foreign Bible Society. By W.
Canton.
{252a} On [11th] May 1838.
{253a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 17th May 1838.
{254a} Letter from Borrow to Rev. A. Brandram, 25th May 1838.
{255a} The Official Translation among the Foreign Office Papers at
the Record Office.
{255b} Sir George Villiers to Count Ofalia, 25th May 1838.
{255c} Letter to Mr A. Brandram, 25th May 1838.
{256a} At the time of writing Borrow had not seen any of these
tracts himself; but Sir George Villiers, who had, expressed the
opinion that "one or two of them were outrages not only to common
sense but to decency."--Borrow to the Rev. A. Brandram, 25th June
1838.
{256b} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 14th June 1838.
{257a} Letter from Borrow to Rev. A. Brandram, 14th June 1838.
{257b} Ibid.
{259a} The quotations from Lieut. Graydon's tracts were not sent by
Borrow to Mr Brandram until some weeks later. They ran:- A True
History of the Dolorous Virgin to whom the Rebellious and Fanatical
Don Carlos Has Committed His Cause and the Ignorance which It
Displays.
EXTRACTS.
Page 17. You will readily see in all those grandiose epithets
showered upon Mary, the work of the enemy of God, which tending
essentially towards idolatry has managed, under the cloak of
Christianity, to introduce idolatry, and endeavours to divert to a
creature, and even to the image of that creature, the adoration which
is due to God alone. Without doubt it is with this very object that
on all sides we see erected statues of Mary, adorned with a crown,
and bearing in her arms a child of tender years, as though to
accustom the populace intimately to the idea of Mary's superiority
over Jesus.
Page 30. This, then, is our conclusion. In recognising and
sanctioning this cult, the Church of Rome constitutes itself an
idolatrous Church, and every member of it who is incapable of
detecting the truth behind the monstrous accumulation of impieties
with which they veil it, is proclaimed by the Church as condemned to
perdition. The guiding light of this Church, which they are not
ashamed to smother or to procure the smothering of, by which
nevertheless they hold their authority, to be plain, the word of God,
should at least teach them, if they set any value on the Spirit of
Christ, that their Papal Bulls would be better directed to the
cleansing of the Roman Church from all its iniquities than to the
promulgation of such unjust prohibitions. Yet in struggling against
better things, this Church is protecting and hallowing in all
directions an innumerable collection of superstitions and false
cults, and it is clear that by this means it is abased and labelled
as one of the principal agents of Anti-Christ."
{262a} The History of the British and Foreign Bible Society, by W.
Canton.
{265a} This letter reached Borrow when his "foot was in the
stirrup," as he phrased it, ready to set out for the Sagra of Toledo.
He felt that it could only have originated with "the enemy of mankind
for the purpose of perplexing my already harrassed and agitated
mind"; but he continues, "merely exclaiming 'Satan, I defy thee,' I
hurried to the Sagra. . . . But it is hard to wrestle with the great
enemy." General Report, withdrawn.
{265b} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 14th July 1838.
{265c} Mr Brandram informed Borrow that the General Committee wished
him to visit England if he could do so without injury to the cause
(29th June).
{266a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 14th July 1838.
{269a} The Bible in Spain, page 602.
{269b} Ibid., page 606.
{269c} Ibid., page 606.
{270a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 27th July 1838.
{270b} This would have been impossible. If his age were seventy-
four, he would of necessity have been four years old in 1838.
{271a} By Mr A. G. Jayne in "Footprints of George Borrow," in The
Bible in the World, July 1908.
{271b} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 17th July 1838.
{273a} This letter, in which there was a hint of desperation,
disturbed the officials at Earl Street a great deal. Mr Brandram
wrote (28th July) that he was convinced that the Committee would
"still feel that if you are to continue to act with them THEY MUST
SEE YOU, and I will only add that it is UTTERLY FOREIGN TO THEIR
WISHES that you should EXPOSE YOURSELF IN THE DARING MANNER YOU ARE
NOW DOING. I lose not a post in conveying this impression to you."
{273b} The Translation of this communication runs:- "Madrid, 7th
July 1838--I have the honour to inform your Excellency that according
to official advices received in the first Secretary of State's
Office, it appears that in Malaga, Murcia, Valladolid, and Santiago,
copies of the New Testament of Padre Scio, without notes, have been
exposed for sale, which have been deposited with the political chiefs
of the said provinces, or in the hands of such persons as the chiefs
have entrusted with them in Deposit; it being necessary further to
observe that the parties giving them up have uniformly stated that
they belonged to Mr Borrow, and that they were commissioned by him to
sell and dispose of them.
"Under these circumstances, Her Majesty's Government have deemed it
expedient that I should address your Excellency, in order that the
above may be intimated to the beforementioned Mr Borrow, so that he
may take care that the copies in question, as well as those which
have been seized in this City, and which are packed up in cases or
parcels marked and sealed, may be sent out of the Kingdom of Spain,
agreeably to the Royal order with which your Excellency is already
acquainted, and through the medium of the respective authorities who
will be able to vouch for their Exportation. To this Mr Borrow will
submit in the required form, and with the understanding that he
formally binds himself thereto, they will remain in the meantime in
the respective depots."
{275a} General Report, withdrawn.
{277a} Borrow's letter to the Rev. A. Brandram, 1st Sept. 1838.
{277b} To Lord William Hervey, Charge d'Affaires at Madrid (23rd
Aug. 1838).
{278a} To Rev. G. Browne, one of the Secretaries of the Bible
Society, 29th Aug. 1838.
{279a} To Rev. A. Brandram, 19th September 1838.
{279b} The Bible in Spain, page 621.
{279c} Letter to Dr Usoz, 22nd Feb. 1839.
{279d} Ibid.
{279e} Ibid.
{280a} The Report has here been largely drawn upon and has been
referred to as "Original Report, withdrawn."
{282a} History of the British and Foreign Bible Society.
{284a} On the publication of The Bible in Spain the Prophetess
became famous. Thirty-six years later Dr Knapp found her still
soliciting alms, and she acknowledged that she owed her celebrity to
the Ingles rubio, the blonde Englishman.
{285a} The Bible in Spain, page 627.
{285b} To Rev. A. Brandram, 25th Jan. 1839.
{286a} On 6th Feb. 1839.
{288a} Letter to Mr W. Hitchin of the Bible Society, 9th March 1839.
{288b} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 26th March 1839.
{290a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 10th April 1839.
{293a} Letter to the Rev. A. Brandram, 2nd May 1839.
{294a} Excursions Along the Shores of the Mediterranean, by Lt.-Col.
E. Napier, 46th Regt. Colburn, 1842, 2 vols.
{294b} Ibid.
{295a} Excursions Along the Shores of the Mediterranean, by Lt.-Col.
E. Napier, 46th Regt. Colburn, 1842, 2 vols.
{297a} A reference to Charles Robert Maturin's Melmoth the Wanderer,
4 vols., 1820. This book was republished in 3 vols. in 1892, an
almost unparalleled instance of the reissue of a practically
forgotten book in a form closely resembling that of the original.
Melmoth the Wanderer was referred to in the most enthusiastic terms
by Balzac, Thackeray and Baudelaire among others.
{298a} The Bible in Spain, page 663.
{299a} Maria Diaz had written on 24th May: "Calzado has been here
to see if I would sell him the lamps that belong to the shop [the
Despacho]. He is willing to give four dollars for them, and he says
they cost five, so if you want me to sell them to him, you must let
me know. It seems he is going to set up a beer-shop." It is not on
record whether or no the lamps from the Bible Society's Despacho
eventually illuminated a beer-shop.
{300a} Letter from Borrow to the Rev. A. Brandram, 28th June 1839.
{301a} 28th June.
{302a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 18th July 1839.
{307a} Letter from Borrow to Rev. A. Brandram, 29th Sept. 1839.
{307b} Ibid.
{307c} Mr John M. Brackenbury, in writing to Mr Brandram, made it
quite clear that he had no doubt that the "inhibition was assuredly
accelerated, if not absolutely occasioned, by the indiscretion of
some of those who entered Spain for the avowed object of circulating
the Scriptures, and of others who, not being Agents of the British
and Foreign Bible Society, were nevertheless considered to be
connected with it, as they distributed your editions of the Old and
New Testaments. Our objects were defeated and your interests
injured, therefore, when the Spanish Government required the
departure from this country of those who, by other acts and deeds
wholly distinct from the distribution of Bibles and Testaments, had
been infracting the Laws, Civil and Ecclesiastical."
{307d} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 29th Sept. 1839.
{308a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 29th Sept. 1839.
{308b} Ibid.
{309a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 25th Nov. 1839.
{310a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 25th Nov. 1839.
{313a} From the Public Record Office.
{315a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 25th Nov. 1839.
{316a} Rev. Wentworth Webster in The Journal of the Gypsy Lore
Society.
{317a} The phrasing of the official translation has everywhere been
followed.
{319a} The Official Translation among the Foreign Office Papers at
the Record Office.
{320a} 28th Dec. 1839.
{321a} Henrietta played "remarkably well on the guitar--not the
trumpery German thing so-called--but the real Spanish guitar."--Wild
Wales, page 6.
{322a} Wild Wales, page 6.
{323a} Letter to Rev. A. Brandram, 18th March 1840.
{323b} Ibid.
{328a} The Romany Rye, page 312.
{328b} Ibid., page 313.
{328c} Wild Wales, page 289.
{329a} Lavengro, page 261.
{329b} The Romany Rye, page 22.
{329c} The Journals of Caroline Fox.
{330a} The Letters of Richard Ford 1797-1858.--Edited, R. E.
Prothero, M.V.O., 1905.
{330b} Ibid.
{331a} The Gypsies of Spain, page xiv.
{331b} E[lizabeth] H[arvey] in The Eastern Daily Press, 1st Oct.
1892.
{331c} The Gypsies of Spain, page 238.
{332a} E[lizabeth] H[arvey] in The Eastern Daily Press, 1st Oct.
1892.
{332b} Ibid.
{332c} Ibid.
{332d} Ibid.
{333a} E[lizabeth] H[arvey] in The Eastern Daily Press, 1st Oct.
1892.
{333b} Ibid.
{333c} The Bible in Spain, page 41.
{334a} E[lizabeth] H[arvey] in The Eastern Daily Press, 1st Oct.
1892.
{334b} In The Eastern Daily Press, 1st Oct. 1892. She also tells
how "at the Exhibition in 1851, whither we went with his step-
daughter, he spoke to the different foreigners in their own
languages, until his daughter saw some of them whispering together
and looking as if they thought he was 'uncanny,' and she became
alarmed, and drew him away."
{334c} Ibid.
{334d} The Gypsies of Spain, page vii.
{335a} A Publisher and His Friends. Samuel Smiles.
{335b} Richard Ford, 1796-1858. Critic and author. Spent several
years in touring about Spain on horseback. Published in 1845, Hand-
Book for Travellers in Spain. Contributed to the Edinburgh,
Quarterly, and Westminster Reviews from 1837.
{335c} The Letters of Richard Ford, 1797-1858. Ed. R. E. Prothero,
M.V.O., 1905.
{336a} Dr. Knapp points out that the title is inaccurate, there
being no such word as "Zincali." It should be "Zincale."
{336b} The Letters of Richard Ford, 1797-1858. Ed. R. E. Prothero,
M.V.O., 1905.
{337a} The Gypsies of Spain, page 1. As the current edition of The
Zincali has been retitled The Gypsies of Spain, reference is made to
it throughout this work under that title and to the latest edition.
{337b} The Gypsies of Spain, page 32.
{338a} The Gypsies of Spain, page 81.
{338b} Ibid., page 186.
{338c} Ibid., page 283.
{339a} The Gypsies of Spain, page 274.
{340a} Introduction to Lavengro. The Little Library, Methuen, 2
vols., 1, xxiii.-xxiv. C. G. Leland expressed himself to the same
effect.
{340b} Academy, 13th July 1874.
{340c} Wild Wales, page 186.
{340d} The Bible in Spain, page 64.
{341a} Lavengro, page 81.
{343a} Ford to John Murray. The Letters of Richard Ford, 1797-1858.
Ed. R. E. Prothero, M.V.O., 1905.
{344a} Ford to John Murray. The Letters of Richard Ford, 1797-1858.
Ed. R. E. Prothero, M.V.O., 1905.
{347a} Dr Knapp's Life of George Borrow.
{349a} The Letters of Richard Ford, 1797-1858. Edited, R. E.
Prothero, M.V.O., 1905.
{352a} Times, 12th April 1843, Hansard's summary reads: "It might
have been said, to Mr Borrow with respect to Spain, that it would be
impossible to distribute the Bible in that country in consequence of
the danger of offending the prejudices which prevail there; yet he, a
private individual, by showing some zeal in what he believed to be
right, succeeded in triumphing over many obstacles."
{353a} This is obviously the letter that Borrow paraphrases at the
end of Chapter XLII. of The Bible in Spain.
{354a} In the Appendix to The Romany Rye Borrow wrote, "Having the
proper pride of a gentleman and a scholar, he did not, in the year
'43, choose to permit himself to be exhibited and made a zany of in
London." Page 355.
{355a} Letters to John Murray, 27th Jan. and 13th March, 1843.
{355b} Letters to John Murray, 27th Jan. and 13th March, 1843.
{355c} Borrow wrote later on that he was "a sincere member of the
old-fashioned Church of England, in which he believes there is more
religion, and consequently less cant, than in any other Church in the
world" (The Romany Rye, page 346). On another occasion he gave the
following reason for his adherence to it: "Because I believe it is
the best religion to get to heaven by" (Wild Wales, page 520).
{356a} No trace can be found among the Bible Society Records of any
such translation.
{357a} This portrait has sometimes been ascribed to Thomas Phillips,
R.A., in error.
{360a} Memories of Old Friends (1835-1871). London 1882.
{360b} Memories of Eighty Years, page 164.
{360c} E[lizabeth] H[arvey] in The Eastern Daily Press, 1st Oct.
1892.
{360d} E[lizabeth] H[arvey] in The Eastern Daily Express, 1st Oct.
1892.
{361a} Journals and Correspondence of Lady Eastlake, ed. by C. E.
Smith, 1895.
{362a} The Romany Rye, page 344.
{362b} Dr Knapp's Life of George Borrow, ii. 44.
{362c} Hungary in 1851. By Charles L. Brace.
{363a} Mrs Borrow to John Murray, 4th June 1844.
{364a} Memoirs, C. G. Leland, 1893.
{365a} Both these MSS. were acquired by the Trustees of the British
Museum in 1892 by purchase. The Gypsy Vocabulary runs to fifty-four
Folios and the Bohemian Grammar to seventeen Folios.
{365b} 24th April 1841.
{365c} Dr Knapp's Life of George Borrow, ii. page 5.
{367a} As late even as 13th March 1851, Dr Hake wrote to Mrs Borrow:
"He [Borrow] had better carry on his biography in three more
volumes."
{372a} Mr A. Egmont Hake in Athenaeum, 13th Aug. 1881.
{374a} There is something inexplicable about these dates. On 6th
November Borrow agrees to alter a passage that in the 14th of the
previous July he refers to as already amended.
{375a} Vestiges of Borrow: Some Personal Reminiscences, The Globe,
21st July 1896.
{376a} Mr A. Egmont Hake in Athenaeum, 13th Aug. 1881.
{376b} The Gypsies of Spain, page 287.
{376c} "His sympathies were confined to the gypsies. Where he came
they followed. Where he settled, there they pitched their greasy and
horribly smelling camps. It pleased him to be called their King. He
was their Bard also, and wrote songs for them in that language of
theirs which he professed to consider not only the first, but the
finest of the human modes of speech. He liked to stretch himself
large and loose-limbed before the wood fires of their encampment and
watch their graceful movements among the tents" (Vestiges of Borrow:
Some Personal Reminiscences, Globe, 21st July 1896).
{376d} This was said in the presence of Mr F. G. Bowring, son of Dr
Bowring.
{378a} Mr F. J. Bowring writes: "I was myself present at Borrow's
last call, when he came to take tea AS USUAL, and not a word of the
kind [as given in the Appendix], was delivered."
{378b} There is no record of any correspondence with Borrow among
the Museum Archives. Dr F. G. Kenyon, C.B., to whom I am indebted
for this information, suggests that the communications may have been
verbal.
{379a} Memoirs of Eighty Years. By Dr Gordon Hake, 1892.
{380a} Annals of the Harford Family. Privately printed, 1909. Mr
Theodore Watts-Dunton, in the Athenaeum, 25th March 1899, has been
successful in giving a convincing picture of Borrow: "As to his
countenance," he writes, "'noble' is the only word that can be used
to describe it. The silvery whiteness of the thick crop of hair
seemed to add in a remarkable way to the beauty of the hairless face,
but also it gave a strangeness to it, and this strangeness was
intensified by a certain incongruity between the features (perfect
Roman-Greek in type), and the Scandinavian complexion, luminous and
sometimes rosy as an English girl's. An increased intensity was lent
by the fair skin to the dark lustre of the eyes. What struck the
observer, therefore, was not the beauty but the strangeness of the
man's appearance."
{380b} Memoirs of Eighty Years. By Dr Gordon Hake, 1892.
{381a} E[lizabeth] H[arvey] in The Eastern Daily Press, 1st Oct.
1892.
{381b} The story is narrated by Dr Augustus Jessopp in the
Athenaeum, 8th July 1893.
{381c} Wild Wales, page 487.
{381d} Wild Wales, page 36 et seq.
{382a} Memoirs of Eighty Years. By Dr Gordon Hake, 1892.
{383a} Memoirs of Eighty Years. By Dr Gordon Hake, 1892.
{383b} Memoirs of Eighty Years. By Dr Gordon Hake, 1892.
{384a} George Borrow in East Anglia. W. A. Dutt.
{384b} Memoirs of Eighty Years. By Dr Gordon Hake, 1892.
{385a} William Bodham Donne and His Friends. By Catherine B.
Johnson.
{385b} William Whewell (1794-1866), Master of Trinity College,
Cambridge, 1848-66; Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University, 1843-56;
secured in 1847 the election of the Prince Consort as Chancellor;
enlarged the buildings of Trinity College and founded professorship
and scholarships for international law. Published and edited many
works on natural and mathematical science, philosophy, theology and
sermons.
{386a} Mr John Murray in Good Words.
{390a} To John Murray; the letter is in Mrs Borrow's hand but
drafted by Borrow himself, 29th Jan. 1855.
{391a} 16th April 1845.
{391b} See post.
{393a} The Romany Rye, page 338.
{393b} Life of Frances Power Cable, by herself.
{393c} Borrow goes on to an anti-climax when he states that he
believes him [Scott] to have been by far the greatest [poet], with
perhaps the exception of Mickiewicz, who only wrote for unfortunate
Poland, that Europe has given birth to during the last hundred
years."
{393d} The Romany Rye, pages 344-5.
{393e} Romano Lavo-Lil, page 274.
{393f} The Romany Rye, page 134.
{394a} Letter from Borrow to Dr Usoz, 22nd Feb. 1839.
{394b} Macmillan's Magazine, vol. 45.
{396a} "Notes upon George Borrow" prefaced to an edition of
Lavengro. Ward, Lock & Co.
{398a} Mr W. Elvin in the Athenaeum, 6th Aug. 1881.
{399a} John Wilson Croker (1780-1857): Politician and Essayist;
friend of Canning and Peel. At one time Temporary Chief Secretary
for Ireland and later Secretary of the Admiralty. Supposed to have
been the original of Rigby in Disraeli's Coningsby.
{399b} Mr Theodore Watts-Dunton, "Notes upon George Borrow" prefaced
to an edition of Lavengro. Ward, Lock & Co.
{400a} The Rt. Hon. Augustine Birrell in Obiter Dicta, and Series,
1887.
{400b} Francis Hindes Groome in Bookman, May 1899.
{404a} "Swimming is a noble exercise, but it certainly does not tend
to mortify either the flesh or the spirit."--The Bible in Spain, page
688.
{404b} Mr John Murray in Good Words.
{404c} In The Eastern Daily Press, 1st October 1892.
{405a} Borrow's reference is to the county motto, "One and All."
{407a} The Life of George Borrow, by Dr Knapp, ii., 79-80.
{407b} George Borrow, by R. A. J. Walling.
{407c} George Borrow, by R. A. J. Walling.
{408a} George Borrow, by R. A. J. Walling.
{409a} The Life of George Borrow, by Dr Knapp.
{411a} This is rather awkwardly phrased, as Mrs Borrow was alive at
that date.
{412a} The first reference to the famous Appendix is contained in a
letter to John Murray (11th Nov. 1853) in which Borrow writes: "In
answer to your inquiries about the fourth volume of Lavengro, I beg
leave to say that I am occasionally occupied upon it. I shall
probably add some notes."
{412b} The Life of George Borrow, by Dr Knapp.
{413a} The Life of George Borrow, by Dr Knapp.
{415a} Wild Wales, page 6.
{415b} There appears to have been a slight cast in his (Borrow's)
left eye. The Queen of the Nokkums remarked that, like Will Faa, he
had "a skellying look with the left eye" (Romano Lavo-Lil, page 267).
Mr F. H. Bowring, who frequently met him, states that he "had a
slight cast in the eye."
{416a} E[lizabeth] H[arvey] in The Eastern Daily Press, 1st Oct.
1892.
{417a} Ellen Jones actually wrote -
Ellen Jones
yn pithyn pell
i gronow owen
{417b} Wild Wales, pages 227-8.
{418a} This was the mason of whom Borrow enquired the way, and who
"stood for a moment or two, as if transfixed, a trowel motionless in
one of his hands, and a brick in the other," who on recovering
himself replied in "tolerable Spanish."--Wild Wales, page 225.
{418b} Wild Wales, page 5.
{418c} These particulars have been courteously supplied by Mr George
Porter of Denbigh, who interviewed Mrs Thomas on 27th Dec. 1910.
Borrow's accuracy in Wild Wales was photograph. The Norwich jeweller
Rossi mentioned in Wild Wales (page 159 et seq.) was a friend of
Borrow's with whom he frequently spent an evening: conversing in
Italian, "being anxious to perfect himself in that language." I
quote from a letter from his son Mr Theodore Rossi. "There was an
entire absence of pretence about him and we liked him very much--he
always seemed desirous of learning."
{419a} This story is told by Mr F. J. Bowring, son of Sir John
Bowring. He heard it from Mrs Roberts, the landlady of the inn.
{419b} Wild Wales, page 274.
{419c} Wild Wales, page 130.
{419d} Wild Wales, page 130.
{420a} Wild Wales, page 150.
{420b} These carvels were written by such young people as thought
themselves "endowed with the poetic gift, to compose carols some time
before Christmas, and to recite them in the parish churches. Those
pieces which were approved of by the clergy were subsequently chanted
by their authors through their immediate neighbourhoods."
(Introduction to Bayr Jairgey, Borrow's projected book on the Isle of
Man.)
{422a} Painted by H. W. Phillips in 1843.
{423a} Vestiges of Borrow: Some Personal Reminiscences. The Globe,
21st July 1896.
{423b} The Anglo-Saxon scholar (1795-1857), who though paralysed
during the whole of her life visited Rome, Athens and other places.
She was the first woman elected a member of the British Association.
{423c} To judge from Borrow's opinion of O'Connell previously
quoted, "notoriety" would have been a more appropriate word in his
case.
{424a} Given to the Rev. A. W. Upcher and related by him in The
Athenaeum, 22nd July 1893.
{425a} Lavengro, page 361.
{425b} The Romany Rye, page 309.
{425c} Wild Wales, page 285.
{425d} The Eastern Daily Press, 1st Oct. 1892.
{427a} Garcin de Tassy. Note sur les Ruba'iyat de 'Omar Khaiyam,
which appeared in the Journal Asiatique.
{428a} Letters and Literary Remains of Edward FitzGerald, 1889.
{428b} Songs of Europe, or Metrical Translations from All the
European Languages, With Brief Prefatory Remarks on Each Language and
its Literature. 2 vols. (Advertised as "Ready for the Press" at the
end of The Romany Rye. See page 438.)
{429a} Rev. Whitwell Elwin, editor of The Quarterly Review. See
post, p. 431.
{431a} Elwin could not very well have known Borrow all his, Borrow's
life, as Dr Knapp states, for he was fifteen years younger, being
born 26th Feb. 1816.
{432a} Some XVIII. Century Men of Letters. Ed. Warwick Elwin, 1902.
{432b} Some XVIII. Century Men of Letters. Ed. Warwick Elwin, 1902.
{433a} Some XVIII. Century Men of Letters. Ed. Warwick Elwin, 1902.
{435a} Entitled Roving Life in England. March 1857.
{436a} Elwin had already testified, also in The Quarterly Review, to
the accuracy of Borrow's portrait of B. R. Haydon in Lavengro, as
confirmed by documentary evidence, and this after first reading the
account as "a comic exaggeration."
{437a} Letters and Literary Remains of Edward FitzGerald, 1889.
{437b} Mr A. Egmont Hake in Athenaeum, 13th Aug. 1881.
{438a} Works by the Author of The Bible in Spain, ready for the
Press.
In Two Volumes, Celtic Bards, Chiefs, and Kings.--In Two Volumes,
Wild Wales, Its People, Language, and Scenery.--In Two Volumes, Songs
of Europe; or, Metrical Translations From all the European Languages.
With brief Prefatory Remarks on each Language and its Literature.--In
Two Volumes, Koempe Viser; Songs about Giants and Heroes. With
Romantic and Historical Ballads, Translated from the Ancient Danish.
With an Introduction and Copious Notes.--In One Volume, The Turkish
Jester; or, The Pleasantries of Cogia Nasr Eddin Efendi. Translated
from the Turkish. With an Introduction.--In Two Volumes, Penquite
and Pentyre; or, The Head of the Forest and the Headland. A Book on
Cornwall.--In One Volume, Russian Popular Tales, With an Introduction
and Notes. Contents:- The Story of Emelian the Fool; The Story of
the Frog and the Hero; The Story of the Golden Mountain; The Story of
the Seven Sevenlings; The Story of the Eryslan; The Story of the Old
Man and his Son, the Crane; The Story of the Daughter of the Stroey;
The Story of Klim; The Story of Prince Vikor; The Story of Prince
Peter; The Story of Yvashka with the Bear's Ear.--In One Volume, The
Sleeping Bard; or, Visions of the World, Death, & Hell. By Master
Elis Wyn. Translated from the Cambrian British.--In Two Volumes
(Unfinished), Northern-Skalds, Kings, and Earls.--The Death of
Balder; A Heroic Play. Translated from the Danish of Evald.--In One
Volume, Bayr Jairgey and Glion Doo: The Red Path and the Black
Valley. Wanderings in Quest of Manx Literature.
{439a} "She was a lady of striking figure and very graceful manners,
perhaps more serious than vivacious."--Mr A. Egmont Hake in The
Athenaeum, 13th August 1881.
{440a} She bequeathed to her son by will "all and every thing" of
which she died possessed, charging him with the delivery of any gift
to any other person she might desire.
{440b} Wild Wales, page 548.
{442a} These particulars have been kindly supplied by Mr D. B. Hill
of Mattishall, Norfolk.
{445a} Mr. A. Egmont Hake in The Athenaeum, 13th Aug. 1881.
{445b} The Life of Frances Power Cobbe, by Herself, 1894.
{446a} The Life of Frances Power Cobbe, by Herself, 1894.
{447a} "In Defence of Borrow," prefixed to The Romany Rye. Ward,
Locke & Co.
{447b} Vestiges of Borrow; Some Personal Reminiscences. The Globe,
21st July 1896.
{448a} The Athenaeum, 13th August 1881.
{449a} Mr A. Egmont Hake in Macmillan's Magazine, November 1881.
{449b} Mr A. Egmont Hake in The Athenaeum, 13th August 1881.
{449c} Memoirs of Eighty Years, by Dr Gordon Hake, 1892.
{450a} The Athenaeum, 10th September 1881.
{451a} The Athenaeum, 10th September 1881.
{451b} The Athenaeum, 13th August 1881.
{453a} "Sherry drinkers, . . . I often heard him say in a tone of
positive loathing, he DESPISED. He had a habit of speaking in a
measured syllabic manner, if he wished to express dislike or
contempt, which was certainly very effective. He would say: 'If you
want to have the Sherry TANG, get Madeira (that's a gentleman's
wine), and throw into it two or three pairs of old boots, and you'll
get the taste of the pig skins they carry the Sherry about in."--Rev.
J. R. P. Berkeley's Recollections. The Life of George Borrow, by Dr
Knapp.
{456a} Life of Frances Power Cobbe, by Herself, 1894.
{459a} The Geologist, 1797-1875.
{459b} The Life of Frances Power Cobbe, by Herself, 1894.
{460a} Charles Godfrey Leland, by E. R. Pennell, 1908
{460b} Memoirs, by C. G. Leland, 1893.
{461a} In her biography of Leland, Mrs Pennell states that an
American woman, a Mrs Lewis ("Estelle") introduced Leland to Borrow
at the British Museum and that they talked Gypsy. "I hear he
expressed himself as greatly pleased with me," was Leland's comment.
The correspondence clearly shows that Leland called on Borrow.
{461b} Memoirs of C. G. Leland, 1893.
{461c} Memoirs of C. G. Leland, 1893.
{462a} Leland's annoyance with Borrow did not prevent him paying to
his memory the following tribute:-
"What I admire in Borrow to such a degree that before it his faults
or failings seem very trifling, is his absolutely vigorous,
marvellously varied originality, based on direct familiarity with
Nature, but guided and cultured by the study of natural, simple
writers, such as Defoe and Smollett. I think that the 'interest' in,
or rather sympathy for gypsies, in his case as in mine, came not from
their being curious or dramatic beings, but because they are so much
a part of free life, of out-of-doors Nature; so associated with
sheltered nooks among rocks and trees, the hedgerow and birds, river-
sides, and wild roads. Borrow's heart was large and true as regarded
English rural life; there was a place in it for everything which was
of the open air and freshly beautiful."--Memoirs of C. G. Leland,
1893.
{462b} Romano Lavo-Lil. Word-Book of the Romany, or English Gypsy
Language. With Specimens of Gypsy Poetry, and an Account of Certain
Gypsyries or Places Inhabited by Them, and of Various Things Relating
to Gypsy Life in England.
{462c} "There were not two educated men in England who possessed the
slightest knowledge of Romany."--F. H. Groome in Academy,--13th June
1874.
{463a} F. H. Groome in Academy, 13th June 1874.
{463b} Ibid
{464a} The Athenaeum, 17th March 1888.
{466a} The Bookman, February 1893.
{466b} The Athenaeum, 10th Sept. 1881.
{467a} William Bodham Donne and His Friends. Edited by Catherine B.
Johnson, 1905.
{469a} Mr T. Watts-Dunton, in The Athenaeum, 3rd Sept. 1881.
{469b} Mr A. Egmont Hake, in The Athenaeum, 13th Aug. 1881.
{470a} The Life of George Borrow, by Dr Knapp.
{470b} East Anglia, by J. Ewing Ritchie, 1883.
{470c} George Borrow in East Anglia
{473a} W. E. Henley.
{474a} The Athenaeum, 25th March 1899.
{474b} Many attacks have been made upon Borrow's memory: one well-
known man of letters and divine has gone to lengths that can only be
described as unpardonable. It is undesirable to do more than deplore
the lapse that no doubt the writer himself has already deeply
regretted.
{474c} Memoirs of Eighty Years, 1892.
{475a} Mr A. Egmont Hake in The Athenaeum, 13th August 1881.
{475b} In The Bible in Spain. "Next to the love of God, the love of
country is the best preventative of crime." (Page 53.)
{475c} The Bible in Spain, page 97.
{476a} Mr Thomas Seccombe in The Bookman, Feb. 1892.
{477a} Wild Wales, page 628.
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