Chapter 100

"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.