GEORGE BORROW.



Now with the achieved success of The Bible in Spain and the leisure of a happy home Borrow could for the moment think of the ambition of 'twelve years ago'—an ambition to put before the public some of the results of his marvellous industry. The labours of the dark, black years between 1825 and 1830 might now perchance see the light. Three such books got themselves published, as we have seen, Romantic Ballads, Targum, and The Talisman. The Sleeping Bard had been translated and offered to 'a little Welsh bookseller' of Smithfield in 1830, who, however, said, when he had read it, 'were I to print it I should be ruined.' That fate followed the book to the end, and Borrow was premature when he said in his Preface to The Sleeping Bard that such folly is on the decline, because he found 'Albemarle Street in '60 willing to publish a harmless but plain-speaking book which Smithfield shrank from in '30.' At the last moment John Murray refused to publish, but seems to have agreed to give his imprint to the title-page. Borrow published the book at his own expense, it being set up by James Matthew Denew, of 72 Hall Plain, Great Yarmouth. Fourteen years later—in 1874—Mr. Murray made some amends by publishing Romano Lavo-Lil, in which are many fine translations from the Romany, and that, during his lifetime, was the 'beginning and the end' of Borrow's essays in publishing so far as his translations were concerned. Webber, the bookseller of Ipswich, did indeed issue The Turkish Jester—advertised as ready for publication in 1857—in 1884, and Jarrold of Norwich The Death of Balder in 1889; but enthusiasts have asked in vain for Celtic Bards, Chiefs and Kings, Songs of Europe, and Northern Skalds, Kings and Earls. It is not recorded whether Borrow offered these to any publisher other than 'Glorious John' of Albemarle Street, but certain it is that Mr. Murray would have none of them. The 'mountains of manuscript' remained to be the sorrowful interest of Borrow as an old man as they had—many of them—been the sorrow and despair of his early manhood. Here is a memorandum in his daughter's handwriting of the work that Borrow was engaged upon at the time of his death:

Songs of Ireland. Songs of the Isle of Man. Songs of Wales. Songs of the Gaelic Highlands. Songs of Anglo-Saxon England. Songs of the North, Mythological. Songs of the North, Heroic. Songs of Iceland. Songs of Sweden. Songs of Germany. Songs of Holland. Songs of Ancient Greece. Songs of the Modern Greeks. Songs of the Klephts. Songs of Denmark, Early Period. Songs of Denmark, Modern Period. Songs of the Feroe Isles. Songs of the Gascons. Songs of Modern Italy. Songs of Portugal. Songs of Poland. Songs of Hungary. Songs and Legends of Turkey. Songs of Ancient Rome. Songs of the Church. Songs of the Troubadours. Songs of Normandy. Songs of Spain. Songs of Russia. Songs of the Basques. Songs of Finland.

These translations were intended to form a volume with copious notes, but were only completed a month before Mr. Borrow's death, which occurred at his residence, Oulton Cottage, Suffolk, July 26th, 1881, in the seventy-ninth year of his age. This grand old man, full of years and honour, was buried beside his wife (who had proved a noble helpmate to him), in Brompton Cemetery, August 4th.

And so what many will consider Borrow's 'craze' for verse translations remained with him to the end. We know with what equanimity he bore his defeat in early years. Did he not make humorous 'copy' out of it in Lavengro. It must have been a greater disappointment that his publisher would have none of his wares when he had proved by writing The Bible in Spain that at least some of his work had money in it. For years it was Borrow's opinion that Lockhart stood in his way, wishing to hold the field with his Ancient Spanish Ballads (1821), and maintaining that Borrow was no poet. The view that Borrow had no poetry in him and that his verse is always poor has been held by many of Borrow's admirers. The view will not have the support of those who have had the advantage of reading all Borrow's less known published writings, and the many manuscripts that he left behind him. But on the general question let us hear Mr. Theodore Watts-Dunton:—

It should never be forgotten that Borrow was, before everything else, a poet.... By poet I do not mean merely a man who is skilled in writing lyrics and sonnets and that kind of thing, but primarily a man who has the poetic gift of seeing through 'the show of things,' and knowing where he is—the gift of drinking deeply of the waters of life, and of feeling grateful to Nature for so sweet a draught.'[245]

Possibly Mr. Watts-Dunton did not contemplate his idea being applied to Borrow's verse translations, but all the same the quality of poetic imagination may be found here in abundance. The little Welsh bookseller of Smithfield said to Borrow in reference to The Sleeping Bard:

Were I to print it I should be ruined; the terrible description of vice and torment would frighten the genteel part of the English public out of its wits, and I should to a certainty be prosecuted by Sir James Scarlett. I am much obliged to you for the trouble you have given yourself on my account—but, Myn Diawl! I had no idea, till I had read him in English, that Elis Wyn had been such a terrible fellow.

And here the little Welsh bookseller paid Borrow a signal compliment. In the main Borrow provided a prose translation of The Sleeping Bard. In Targum however, he showed himself a quite gifted balladist, far removed from the literary standard of Romantic Ballads ten years earlier. Space does not permit of any quotation in this chapter, and I must be content here to declare that the spirit of poetry came over Borrow on many occasions. The whole of Borrow's Songs of Scandinavia will ultimately be published, although for eighty and more years[246] the pile of neatly written manuscript of that book, which is now in my possession, has appealed for publication in vain. There will be found, in such a ballad as Orm Ungerswayne, for example, a practical demonstration that Borrow had the root of the matter in him. It is true that Borrow's limited acquaintance with English poetry was a serious drawback to great achievement, and his many translations from his favourite Welsh bard Goronwy Owen that are before me are too much under the influence of Pope. In addition to the Songs of Scandinavia I have before me certain other ballads in manuscript—such portions of his various unpublished but frequently advertised works as did not fall to Dr. Knapp.[247] Of these I do not hesitate to say that whatever the difference of opinion as to their poetic quality there can be no difference of opinion as to their being well-told stories of an exceedingly interesting and invigorating character. But I must leave for another time and another opportunity any discussion of Borrow's poetic achievement of which at present the world has had little opportunity of knowing anything.[248] Of prose manuscript there is also a considerable quantity, including diaries of travel and translations of nine or ten stories from various languages. Of the minor books already published we have already spoken of Faustus, Romantic Ballads, Targum, and The Talisman, and Borrow's last and least interesting book Romano Lavo-Lil. There remains but to recall:—

The Sleeping Bard, published by John Murray, 1860 The Turkish Jester, " W. Webber, 1884 The Death of Balder, " Jarrold and Sons, 1889

These eight little volumes will always remain Borrow's least-read books. Only in Targum and The Sleeping Bard do we find much indication of those qualities which made him famous. It is not in the least surprising that the other work failed to find a publisher, and, indeed, from a merely commercial point of view, the late John Murray had more excuse for refusing Romano Lavo-Lil, which he did publish, than The Sleeping Bard, which he refused to publish—at least on his own responsibility. Such books, whatever their merits, are issued to-day only by learned societies. In a quite different category were those many ballads[249] from diverse languages that Borrow had hoped to issue under such titles as Celtic Bards, Chiefs and Kings, and Northern Skalds, Kings and Earls. These books would have had no difficulty in finding a publisher to-day were they offered by a writer of one half the popularity of Borrow.[250]



There is, I repeat, excellent work in these ballads. As to Targum let it not be forgotten that Hasfeld—really a good judge—said in The Athenaeum that 'the work is a pearl of genius,' and that William Bodham Donne declared that 'the language and rhythm are vastly superior to Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome.' As to The Sleeping Bard Borrow himself was able to make his own vigorous defence of that work. In emulation of Walter Scott he reviewed himself in The Quarterly.[251] His article is really an essay on Welsh poetry, and incidentally he quotes from his unpublished Celtic Bards, Chiefs and Kings a lengthy passage, the manuscript of which is in my possession. We are introduced again to all Borrow's old friends of Wild Wales: Hew Morris, Goronwy Owen, and finally Elis Wyn. Borrow quotes from The Romany Rye, but as becomes a reviewer of his own book, gives no praise to his achievement.

I find no plays among Borrow's 'mountains of manuscript' in my possession, and so I am not disposed to accept the suggestion that the following letter from Gifford to Borrow refers to a play which Borrow pretended to be the work of a friend while it was really his own. If it was his own he doubtless took Gifford's counsel to heart and promptly destroyed the manuscript:—

To George Borrow, Esq.

A Specimen of Gifford's criticism on a friend's play, which I was desired to send to him.

MY DEAR BORROW,—I have read your M.S. very attentively, and may say of it with Desdemona of the song—

'It is silly, sooth, And dallies with the innocence of love Like to old age.'

The poetry in some places is pretty, the sentiment is also excellent. And can I say more? The plot is petty, the characters without vigour, and the story poorly told. Instead of Irene the scene seems to be laid in Arcadia, and the manners are not so much confounded as totally lost. There are Druids—but such Druids! O Lord!

There is to be seen no physical, perhaps no moral lesson, though a Druid should not be a rogue—but it is not so set down in the bond. Is this the characterisation which we have been used to see there? To end an unpleasant letter, I must leave to your friendship for the author to contrive some mode of dissuading him from publishing. If, however, he is determined to rush on the world, let him do it, in the first place, anonymously. If it takes, he may then toss up his nose at my opinion, and claim his work.



Say nothing of me, for I would not be thought to offend so excellent and so able a man. He may be content with his literary fame, and can do without poetic praise.

Your answer is short. The play might have passed very well had it been published when written, and when the writer was yet young and little known, but it will be hazardous now, as the world is cross-grained, and will not see your master in the grave and learned author of so many valuable works; but judge him from his present attainments. But this, as Mrs. Quickly says, 'is alligant terms,' and it may do.—Ever yours,

WM. GIFFORD.

P.S.—I see the preface is already written, and do what you will, the play will be published.

One other phase of this more limited aspect of Borrow's work may be dealt with here—his mastery of languages. I have before me scores of pages which reveal the way that Borrow became a lav-engro—a word-master. He drew up tables of every language in turn, the English word following the German, or Welsh, or whatever the tongue might be, and he learnt these off with amazing celerity. His wonderful memory was his greatest asset in this particular. He was not a philologist if we accept the dictionary definition of that word as 'a person versed in the science of language.' But his interest in languages is refreshing and interesting—never pedantic, and he takes rank among those disinterested lovers of learning who pursue their researches without any regard to the honours or emoluments that they may bring, loving learning for learning's sake, undaunted by the discouragements that come from the indifference of a world to which they have made their appeal in vain.

FOOTNOTES:

[245] The Athenaeum, September 3, 1881.

[246] In the Monthly Magazine for March 1830 under the head of 'Miscellaneous Intelligence' we find the following announcement:—

'Dr. Bowring and Mr. George Borrow are about to publish The Songs of Scandinavia, containing a selection of the most interesting of the Historical and Romantic Ballads of North-Western Europe, with specimens of the Danish and Norwegian Poets down to the present day.'

[247] Dr. Knapp's Borrow manuscripts are now in the Hispanic Society's Archives in New York.

[248] I contemplate at a later date an edition of Borrow's Collected Writings, in which the unpublished verse will extend to two volumes.

[249] Certain of these have of late been privately printed in pamphlet form—limited to thirty copies each.

[250] The works of Dr. George Sigerson, Dr. Douglas Hyde and Dr. Kuno Meyer in Irish Literature are an evidence of this. Dr. Sigerson's Bards of the Gael and Gaul and Dr. Hyde's Love Songs of Connaught have each gone through more than one edition and have proved remunerative to their authors.

[251] The Quarterly Review, January 1861, pp. 38-63.



CHAPTER XXXVI

HENRIETTA CLARKE

Borrow never had a child, but happy for him was the part played by his stepdaughter Henrietta in his life. She was twenty-three years old when her mother married him, and it is clear to me that she was from the beginning of their friendship and even to the end of his life devoted to her stepfather. Readers of Wild Wales will recall not only the tribute that Borrow pays to her, which we have already quoted, in which he refers to her 'good qualities and many accomplishments,' but the other pleasant references in that book. 'Henrietta,' he says in one passage, 'played on the guitar[252] and sang a Spanish song, to the great delight of John Jones.' When climbing Snowdon he is keen in his praises of the endurance of 'the gallant girl.' As against all this, there is an undercurrent of depreciation of his stepdaughter among Borrow's biographers. The picture of Borrow's home in later life at Oulton is presented by them with sordid details. The Oulton tradition which still survives among the few inhabitants who lived near the Broad at Borrow's death in 1881, and still reside there, is of an ill-kept home, supremely untidy, and it is as a final indictment of his daughter's callousness that we have the following gruesome picture by Dr. Knapp:

On the 26th of July 1881 Mr. Borrow was found dead in his house at Oulton. The circumstances were these. His stepdaughter and her husband drove to Lowestoft in the morning on some business of their own, leaving Mr. Borrow without a living soul in the house with him. He had earnestly requested them not to go away because he felt that he was in a dying state; but the response intimated that he had often expressed the same feeling before, and his fears had proved groundless. During the interval of these few hours of abandonment nothing can palliate or excuse, George Borrow died as he had lived—alone! His age was seventy-eight years and twenty-one days.

Dr. Knapp no doubt believed all this;[253] it is endorsed by the village gossip of the past thirty years, and the mythical tragedy is even heightened by a further story of a farm tumbril which carried poor Borrow's body to the railway station when it was being conveyed to London to be buried beside his wife in Brompton Cemetery.

The tumbril story—whether correct or otherwise—is a matter of indifference to me. The legend of the neglect of Borrow in his last moments is however of importance, and the charge can easily be disproved.[254] I have before me Mrs. MacOubrey's diary for 1881.

I have many such diaries for a long period of years, but this for 1881 is of particular moment. Here, under the date July 26th, we find the brief note, George Borrow died at three o'clock this morning. It is scarcely possible that Borrow's stepdaughter and her husband could have left him alone at three o'clock in the morning in order to drive into Lowestoft, less than two miles distant. At this time, be it remembered, Dr. MacOubrey was eighty-one years of age. Now, as to the general untidiness of Borrow's home at the time of his death—the point is a distasteful one, but it had better be faced. Henrietta was twenty-three years of age when her mother married Borrow. She was sixty-four at the time of his death, and her husband, as I have said, was eighty-one years of age at that time, being three years older than Borrow. Here we have three very elderly people keeping house together and little accustomed overmuch to the assistance of domestic servants. The situation at once becomes clear. Mrs. Borrow had a genius for housekeeping and for management. She watched over her husband, kept his accounts, held the family purse,[255] managed all his affairs. She 'managed' her daughter also, delighting in that daughter's accomplishments of drawing and botany, to which may be added a zeal for the writing of stories which does not seem, judging from the many manuscripts in her handwriting that I have burnt, to have received much editorial encouragement. In short, Henrietta was not domesticated. But just as I have proved in preceding chapters that Borrow was happy in his married life, so I would urge that as far as a somewhat disappointed career would permit to the sadly bereaved author he was happy in his family circle to the end. It was at his initiative that, when he had returned to Oulton after the death of his wife, his daughter and her husband came to live with him. He declared that to live alone was no longer tolerable, and they gave up their own home in London to join him at Oulton.

A new glimpse of Borrow on his domestic side has been offered to the public even as this book is passing through the press. Mr. S. H. Baldrey, a Norwich solicitor, has given his reminiscences of the author of Lavengro to the leading newspaper of that city.[256] Mr. Baldrey is the stepson of the late John Pilgrim of the firm of Jay and Pilgrim, who were Borrow's solicitors at Norwich in the later years of his life. One at least of Mr. Baldrey's many reminiscences has in it an element of romance; that in which he recalls Mrs. Borrow and her daughter:

Mrs. Borrow always struck me as a dear old creature. When Borrow married her she was a widow with one daughter, Henrietta Clarke. The old lady used to dress in black silk. She had little silver-grey corkscrew curls down the side of her face; and she wore a lace cap with a mauve ribbon on top, quite in the Early Victorian style. I remember that on one occasion when she and Miss Clarke had come to Brunswick House they were talking with my mother in the temporary absence of George Borrow, who, so far as I can recall, had gone into another room to discuss business with John Pilgrim.

'Ah!' she said, 'George is a good man, but he is a strange creature. Do you know he will say to me after breakfast, "Mary, I am going for a walk," and then I do not see anything more of him for three months. And all the time he will be walking miles and miles. Once he went right into Scotland, and never once slept in a house. He took not even a handbag with him or a clean shirt, but lived just like any old tramp.'

Mr. Baldrey is clearly in error here, or shall we say that Mrs. Borrow humorously exaggerated? We have seen that Borrow's annual holiday was a matter of careful arrangement, and his knapsack or satchel is frequently referred to in his descriptions of his various tours. But the matter is of little importance, and Mr. Baldrey's pictures of Borrow are excellent, including that of his personal appearance:

As I recall him, he was a fine, powerfully built man of about six feet high. He had a clean-shaven face with a fresh complexion, almost approaching to the florid, and never a wrinkle, even at sixty, except at the corners of his dark and rather prominent eyes. He had a shock of silvery white hair. He always wore a very badly brushed silk hat, a black frock coat and trousers, the coat all buttoned down before; low shoes and white socks, with a couple of inches of white showing between the shoes and the trousers. He was a tireless walker, with extraordinary powers of endurance, and was also very handy with his fists, as in those days a gentleman required to be, more than he does now.

Mr. John Pilgrim lived at Brunswick House, on the Newmarket Road, Norwich, and here Borrow frequently visited him. Mr. Baldrey recalls one particular visit:



I have a curious recollection of his dining one night at Brunswick House. John Pilgrim, who was a careful, abstemious man, never took more than two glasses of port at dinner. 'John,' said Borrow, 'this is a good port. I prefer Burgundy if you can get it good; but, lord, you cannot get it now.' It so happened that Mr. Pilgrim had some fine old Clos-Vougeot in the cellar. 'I think,' said he, 'I can give you a good drop of Burgundy.' A bottle was sent for, and Borrow finished it, alone and unaided. 'Well,' he remarked, 'I think this is a good Burgundy. But I'm not quite certain. I should like to try a little more.' Another bottle was called up, and the guest finished it to the last drop. I am still,' he said, 'not quite sure about it, but I shall know in the morning.' The next morning Mr. Pilgrim and I were leaving for the office, when Borrow came up the garden path waving his arms like a windmill. 'Oh, John,' he said, 'that was Burgundy! When I woke up this morning it was coursing through my veins like fire.' And yet Borrow was not a man to drink to excess. I cannot imagine him being the worse for liquor. He had wonderful health and digestion. Neither a gourmand nor a gourmet, he could take down anything, and be none the worse for it. I don't think you could have made him drunk if you tried.

And here is a glimpse of Borrow after his wife's death, for which we are grateful to Mr. Baldrey:

After the funeral of Mrs. Borrow he came to Norwich and took me over to Oulton with him. He was silent all the way. When we got to the little white wicket gate before the approach to the house he took off his hat and began to beat his breast like an Oriental. He cried aloud all the way up the path. He calmed himself, however, by the time that Mr. Crabbe had opened the door and asked us in. Crabbe brought in some wine, and we all sat down to table. I sat opposite to Mrs. Crabbe; her husband was on my left hand. Borrow sat at one end of the table, and the chair at the opposite end was left vacant. We were talking in a casual way when Borrow, pointing to the empty chair, said with profound emotion, 'There! It was there that I first saw her.' It was a curious coincidence that though there were four of us we should have left that particular seat unoccupied at a little table of about four feet square.[257]

But this is a lengthy digression from the story of Henrietta Clarke, who married William MacOubrey, an Irishman—and an Orangeman—from Belfast in 1865. The pair lived first in Belfast and afterwards at 80 Charlotte Street, Fitzroy Square. Before his marriage he had practised at 134 Sloane Street, London. MacOubrey, although there has been some doubt cast upon the statement, was a Doctor of Medicine of Trinity College, Dublin, and a Barrister-at-Law. Within his limitations he was an accomplished man, and before me lie not only documentary evidence of his M.D. and his legal status, but several printed pamphlets that bear his name.[258] What is of more importance, the letters from and to his wife that have through my hands and have been consigned to the flames prove that husband and wife lived on most affectionate terms.

It is natural that Borrow's correspondence with his stepdaughter should have been of a somewhat private character, and I therefore publish only a selection from his letters to her, believing however that they modify an existing tradition very considerably:

To Mrs. MacOubrey

DEAR HENRIETTA,—Have you heard from the gentleman whom you said you would write to about the farm?[259] Mr. C. came over the other day and I mentioned the matter to him, but he told me that he was on the eve of going to London on law business and should be absent for some time. His son is in Cambridge. I am afraid that it will be no easy matter to find a desirable tenant and that none are likely to apply but a set of needy speculators; indeed, there is a general dearth of money. How is Dr. M.? God bless you!

GEORGE BORROW.

To Mrs. MacOubrey

DEAR HENRIETTA,—I have received some of the rent and send a cheque for eight pounds. Have the kindness to acknowledge the receipt of same by return of post. As soon as you arrive in London, let me know, and I will send a cheque for ten pounds, which I believe will pay your interest up to Midsummer. If there is anything incorrect pray inform me. God bless you. Kind regards to Miss Harvey.

GEORGE BORROW.

To Mrs. MacOubrey

DEAR HENRIETTA,—As soon as Smith has paid his Michaelmas rent I will settle your interest up to Midsummer. Twenty-one pounds was, I think, then due to you, as you received five pounds on the account of the present year. If, however, you are in want of money let me know forthwith, and I will send you a small cheque. The document which I mentioned has been witnessed by Mrs. Church and her daughter. It is in one of the little tin boxes on the lower shelf of the closet nearest to the window in my bedroom. I was over at Mattishall some weeks ago. Things there look very unsatisfactory. H. and his mother now owe me L20 or more. The other man a year's rent for a cottage and garden, and two years' rent for the gardens of two cottages unoccupied. I am just returned from Norwich where I have been to speak to F. I have been again pestered by Pilgrim's successor about the insurance of the property. He pretends to have insured again. A more impudent thing was probably never heard of. He is no agent of mine, and I will have no communication with him. I have insured myself in the Union Office, and have lately received my second policy. I have now paid upwards of twelve pounds for policies. F. says that he told him months ago that the demand he made would not be allowed, that I insured myself and was my own agent, and that as he shall see him in a few days he will tell him so again. Oh what a source of trouble that wretched fellow Pilgrim has been both to you and me.

I wish very much to come up to London. But I cannot leave the country under present circumstances. There is not a person in these parts in whom I can place the slightest confidence. I most inform you that at our interview F. said not a word about the matter in Chancery. God bless you. Kind remembrances to Dr. M.

GEORGE BORROW.

To Mrs. MacOubrey

DEAR HENRIETTA,—I wish to know how you are. I shall shortly send a cheque for thirteen pounds, which I believe will settle the interest account up to Michaelmas. If you see anything inaccurate pray inform me. I am at present tolerably well, but of late have been very much troubled with respect to my people. Since I saw you I have been three times over to Mattishall, but with very little profit. The last time I was there I got the key of the house from that fellow Hill, and let the place to another person who I am now told is not much better. One comfort is that he cannot be worse. But now there is a difficulty. Hill refuses to yield up the land, and has put padlocks on the gates. These I suppose can be removed as he is not in possession of the key of the house. On this point, however, I wish to be certain. As for the house, he and his mother, who is in a kind of partnership with him, have abandoned it for two years, the consequence being that the windows are dashed out, and the place little better than a ruin. During the four years he has occupied the land he has been cropping it, and the crops have invariably been sold before being reaped, and as soon as reaped carried off. During the last two years there has not been a single live thing kept on the premises, not so much as a hen. He now says that there are some things in the house belonging to him. Anything, however, which he has left is of course mine, though I don't believe that what he has left is worth sixpence. I have told the incoming tenant to deliver up nothing, and not permit him to enter the house on any account. He owes me ten or twelve pounds, arrears of rent, and at least fifteen for dilapidations. I think the fellow ought to be threatened with an action, but I know not whom to employ. I don't wish to apply to F. Perhaps Dr. M.'s London friend might be spoken to. I believe Hill's address is Alfred Hill, Mattishall, Norfolk, but the place which he occupied of me is at Mattishall Burgh. I shall be glad to hear from you as soon as is convenient. I have anything but reason to be satisfied with the conduct of S. He is cropping the ground most unmercifully, and is sending sacks of game off the premises every week. Surely he must be mad, as he knows I can turn him out next Michaelmas. God bless you. Kind regards to Dr. M. Take care of this.

GEORGE BORROW.

To Mrs. MacOubrey

DEAR HENRIETTA,—I was glad to hear that you had obtained your dividend. I was afraid that you would never get it. I shall be happy to see you and Dr. M. about the end of the month. Michaelmas is near at hand, when your half-year's interest becomes due. God bless you. Kind remembrances to Dr. M.

GEORGE BORROW.

OULTON, LOWESTOFT, November 29th, 1874.

DEAR HENRIETTA,—I send a cheque for L15, which will settle the interest account up to Michaelmas last. On receipt of this have the kindness to send me a line. I have been to Norwich, and now know all about your affair. I saw Mr. Durrant, who, it seems, is the real head of the firm to which I go. He received me in the kindest manner, and said he was very glad to see me. I inquired about J.P.'s affairs. He appeared at first not desirous to speak about them, but presently became very communicative. I inquired who had put the matter into Chancery, and he told me he himself, which I was very glad to hear. I asked whether the mortgagees would get their money, and he replied that he had no doubt they eventually would, as far as principal was concerned. I spoke about interest, but on that point he gave me slight hopes. He said that the matter, if not hurried, would turn out tolerably satisfactory, but if it were, very little would be obtained. It appears that the unhappy creature who is gone had been dabbling in post obit bonds, at present almost valueless, but likely to become available. He was in great want of money shortly before he died. Now, dear, pray keep up your spirits; I hope and trust we shall meet about Christmas. Kind regards to Dr. M.

GEORGE BORROW.

Keep this. Send a line by return of post.

To Mrs. MacOubrey

DEAR HENRIETTA,—I thought I would write to you as it seems a long time since I heard from you. I have been on my expedition and have come back safe. I had a horrible time of it on the sea—small dirty boat crowded with people and rough weather. Poor Mr. Brightwell is I am sorry to say dead—died in January. I saw Mr. J. and P. and had a good deal of conversation with them which I will talk to you about when I see you. Mr. P. sent an officer over to M. I went to Oulton, and as soon as I got there I found one of the farm cottages nearly in ruins; the gable had fallen down—more expense! but I said that some willow trees must be cut down to cover it. The place upon the whole looks very beautiful. C. full of complaints, though I believe he has a fine time of it. He and T. are at daggers drawn. I am sorry to tell you that poor Mr. Leathes is dying—called, but could not see him, but he sent down a kind message to me. The family, however, were rejoiced to see me and wanted me to stay. The scoundrel of a shoemaker did not send the shoes. I thought he would not. The shirt-collars were much too small. I, however, managed to put on the shirts and am glad of them. At Norwich I saw Lucy, who appears to be in good spirits. Many people have suffered dreadfully there from the failure of the Bank—her brother, amongst others, has been let in. I shall have much to tell you when I see you. I am glad that the Prussians are getting on so famously. The Pope it seems has written a letter to the King of Prussia and is asking favours of him. A low old fellow!!! Remember me kindly to Miss H., and may God bless you! Bring this back.

GEORGE BORROW.

To Mrs. MacOubrey

March 6, 1873.

DEAR HENRIETTA,—I was so grieved to hear that you were unwell. Pray take care of yourself, and do not go out in this dreadful weather. Send and get, on my account, six bottles of good port wine. Good port may be had at the cellar at the corner of Charles Street, opposite the Hospital near Hereford Square—I think the name of the man is Kitchenham. Were I in London I would bring it myself. Do send for it. May God Almighty bless you!

GEORGE BORROW.

To Mrs. MacOubrey

NORWICH, July 12, 1873.

DEAR HENRIETTA,—I shall be glad to see you and Dr. M. as soon as you can make it convenient to come. As for my coming up to London it is quite out of the question. I am suffering greatly, and here I am in this solitude without medicine or advice. I want very much to pay you up your interest. I can do so without the slightest inconvenience. I have money. It is well I have, as it seems to be almost my only friend. God bless you. Kind regards to Dr. M.

GEORGE BORROW.

Here I find a letter from Mrs. MacOubrey to her stepfather:

To George Borrow, Esq.

SOUTHGATE HOUSE, BURY ST. EDMUNDS, Novbr. 25th, 1873.

MY BELOVED FRIEND,—I sincerely trust that you are well, and received my letter which I sent about ten days ago. Miss Harvey is pretty well and very kind, and it really is a great pleasure to be here during the dark foggy month of November, the most disagreeable in London. I saw Miss Beevor the other day; she is confined to the house with rheumatism and a strain; she was so pleased to see me, and talked about the Images of Mildenhall. They now set up for the great county gentry; give very grand entertainments, dinners, etc., and go also to grand dinners, so their time is fully taken up going and receiving; they never scarce honour the little paltry town of Bury St. Edmunds. Bloomfield, the old butler, is gone to service again; he could not bear himself without horses, so he is gone to the Wigsons, near Bury, where he will have plenty of hunters to look after; he wished to live with Miss Harvey.

Poor Miss Borton died about a week ago; she did not live long to enjoy the huge fortune her brother left. Bury seems very much changing its inhabitants, but there are still some nice people. I shall always like it while dear Miss Harvey lives; she is so very kind to me. It is extremely cold, but we keep tremendous fires, which combats it.

I do sincerely trust, dear, that you are well. I should like to have a line just to say how you are. I return to London the 6th of Decbr., not later, but you see Miss Harvey likes to keep me as long as she can, and I am very happy with her, but at that time I shall be sure to be at home. If you were going up to London I would leave sooner. If you want any medicine or anything, only let me know and you shall have it.

Accept my most affec. love, and believe me ever, your attached daughter,

HENRIETTA MACOUBREY.

P.S.—Miss Harvey desires her kind regards. May God bless you.

To Mrs. MacOubrey, 50 Charlotte Street, Fitzroy Square, London

OULTON, LOWESTOFT, April 1, 1874.

DEAR HENRIETTA,—I have received your letter of the 30th March. Since I last wrote I have not been well. I have had a great pain in the left jaw which almost prevented me from eating. I am, however, better now. I shall be glad to see you and Dr. M. as soon as you can conveniently come. Send me a line to say when I may expect you. I have no engagements. Before you come call at No. 36 to inquire whether anything has been sent there. Leverton had better be employed to make a couple of boxes or cases for the books in the sacks. The sacks can be put on the top in the inside. There is an old coat in one of the sacks in the pocket of which are papers. Let it be put in with its contents just as it is. I wish to have the long white chest and the two deal boxes also brought down. Buy me a thick under-waistcoat like that I am now wearing, and a lighter one for the summer. Worsted socks are of no use—they scarcely last a day. Cotton ones are poor things, but they are better than worsted. Kind regards to Dr. M. God bless you!

Return me this when you come.

GEORGE BORROW.

To Mrs. MacOubrey, 50 Charlotte Street, Fitzroy Square, London

OULTON, Nov. 14, 1876.

DEAR HENRIETTA,—You may buy me a large silk handkerchief, like the one you brought before. I shall be glad to see you and Dr. M. I am very unwell.

GEORGE BORROW.

To Mrs. MacOubrey

DEAR HENRIETTA,—I shall be glad to see you and Dr. M. as soon as you can make it convenient. In a day or two the house will be in good repair and very comfortable. I want you to go to the bank and have the cheque placed to my account. Lady Day is nigh at hand, and it must be seen after. Buy for me a pair of those hollow ground razors and tell Dr. M. to bring a little laudanum. Come if you can on the first of March. It is dear Mama's birthday. God bless you! Kind regards to Dr. M.

GEORGE BORROW.

To Mrs. MacOubrey, 50 Charlotte Street, Fitzroy Square, London

MRS. CHURCH'S, LADY'S LANE, NORWICH, Feb. 28, 1877.

DEAR HENRIETTA,—I received your letter this morning with the document. The other came to hand at Oulton before I left. I showed Mr. F. the first document on Wednesday, and he expressed then a doubt with regard to the necessity of an affidavit from me, but he said it would perhaps be necessary for him to see the security. I saw him again this morning and he repeated the same thing. To-night he is going to write up to his agent on the subject, and on Monday I am to know what is requisite to be done—therefore pray keep in readiness. On Tuesday, perhaps, I shall return to Oulton, but I don't know. I shall write again on Monday. God bless you.

GEORGE BORROW.

Borrow died, as we have seen, in 1881, and was buried by the side of his wife in Brompton Cemetery. By his will, dated 1st December 1880, he bequeathed all his property to his stepdaughter, making his friend, Elizabeth Harvey, her co-executrix. The will, a copy of which is before me, has no public interest, but it may be noted that Miss Harvey refused to act, as the following letter to Mrs. MacOubrey testifies[260]:

To Mrs. MacOubrey

BURY ST. EDMUNDS, August 13th.

MY DEAREST HENRIETTA,—I was just preparing to write to you when yours arrived together with Mrs. Reeve's despatch. You know how earnestly I desire your welfare—but because I do so I earnestly advise you immediately to exercise the right you have of appointing another trustee in my place. I am sure it will be best for you. You ought to have a trustee at least not older than yourself, and one who has health and strength for discharging the office. I know what are the duties of a trustee. There's always a considerable responsibility involved in the discharge of the duties of a trustee—and it may easily occur that great responsibility may be thrown on them, and it may become an anxious business fit only for those who have youth and health and strength of mind, and are likely to live.

My dear friend, you do not like to realise the old age of your dear friends, but you must consider that I am quite past the age for such an office, and my invalid state often prevents my attending to my own small affairs. I have no relation or confidential friend who can act for me. My executors were Miss Venn and John Venn. Miss Venn departed last February to a better land. John is in such health with heart disease that he cannot move far from his home—he writes as one ready and desiring to depart. I do not expect to see him again. So you see, my dearest friend, I am not able to undertake this trusteeship, and I think the sooner you consult Mrs. Reeve as to the appointment of another trustee—the better it will be—and the more permanent. Had I known it was Mr. Borrow's intention to put down my name I should have prevented it, and he would have seen that an aged and invalid lady was not the person to carry out his wishes—for I am quite unable.

I pray that a fit person may be induced to undertake the business, and that it may please God so to order all for your good. It is indeed the greatest mercy that your dear husband is well enough to afford you such help and such comfort. Pray hire a proper servant who will obey orders.—In haste, ever yrs. affectionately,

E. HARVEY.

Another letter that has some bearing upon Borrow's last days is worth printing here:

To Mrs. MacOubrey

YARMOUTH, August 19, 1881.

MY DEAR MRS. MACOUBREY,—I was very sorry indeed to hear of Mr. Borrow's death. I thought he looked older the last time I saw him, but with his vigorous constitution I have not thought the end so near. You and Mr. MacOubrey have the comfort of knowing that you have attended affectionately to his declining years, which would otherwise have been very lonely. I have been abroad for a short time, and this has prevented me from replying to your kind letter before. Pray receive the assurance of my sympathy, and with my kind remembrances to Mr. MacOubrey, believe me, yours very truly,

R. H. INGLIS PALGRAVE.

Three years later Dr. MacOubrey died in his eighty-fourth year, and was interred at Oulton. Mrs. MacOubrey lived for a time at Oulton and then removed to Yarmouth. A letter that she wrote to a friend soon after the death of her husband is perhaps some index to her character:

OULTON COTTAGE, OULTON, NR. LOWESTOFT, Sept. 3rd, 1884.

MY DEAR SIR,—I beg to thank you for your kind thought of me. On Sunday night the 24th Augst., it pleased God to take from me my excellent and beloved husband—his age was nearly 84. He sunk simply from age and weakness. I was his nurse by night and by day, administering constant nourishment, but he became weaker and weaker, till at last 'The silver cord was loosed.' My dear father died about this time three years since, which makes the blow more stunning. I feel very lonely now in my secluded residence on the banks of the Broad—the music of the wild birds adds not to my pleasure now. Trusting that yourself and Mrs. S—— may long be spared.—Believe me to remain, yours very truly,

HENRIETTA MACOUBREY.

The cottage at Oulton was soon afterwards pulled down, but the summer-house where Borrow wrote a portion of his Bible in Spain and his other works remained for some years. That ultimately an entirely new structure took its place may be seen by comparing the roof in Mrs. MacOubrey's drawing with the illustration of the structure as it is to-day. Mrs. MacOubrey died in 1903 at Yarmouth, and the following inscription may be found on her tomb in Oulton Churchyard:

Sacred to the memory of Henrietta Mary, widow of William MacOubrey, only daughter of Lieut. Henry Clarke, R.N., and Mary Skepper, his wife, and stepdaughter of George Henry Borrow, Esq., the celebrated author of The Bible in Spain, The Gypsies of Spain, Lavengro, The Romany Rye, Wild Wales, and other works and translations. Henrietta Mary MacOubrey was born at Oulton Hall in this Parish, May 17th, 1818, and died 23rd December 1903. 'And He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.'—Psalm xci. 11.

The following extract from her will is of interest as indicating the trend of a singularly kindly nature. The intimate friends of Mrs. MacOubrey's later years, whose opinion is of more value than that of village gossips, speak of her in terms of sincere affection:

I give the following charitable legacies, namely, to the London Bible Society, in remembrance of the great interest my dear father, George Henry Borrow, took in the success of its great work for the benefit of mankind, the sum of one hundred pounds. To the Foreign Missionary Society the sum of one hundred pounds. To the London Religious Tract Society the sum of one hundred pounds. To the London Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the sum of one hundred pounds.

FOOTNOTES:

[252] Henrietta's guitar is now in my possession and is a very handsome instrument.

[253] Henrietta MacOubrey put every difficulty in the way of Dr. Knapp, and I hold many letters from her strongly denouncing his Life.

[254] The stories against Henrietta MacOubrey have received endorsement from that pleasant writer Mr. W. A. Dutt, who has long lived near Lowestoft. It is conveyed in such a communication as the following from a correspondent: 'After Borrow's death Mr. Reeve, Curator of Norwich Castle Museum, visited the Oulton house with the Rev. J. Gunn (died 28th May 1890), having some idea of buying Borrow's books for the Colman collection. Mrs. MacOubrey wanted L1000 for them, but Mr. Reeve did not think them worth more than L200. They were, however, bought by Webber of Ipswich, who soon afterwards entered into the employment of Jarrold of Norwich. Mr. Reeve described the scene as one of rank dilapidation and decay—evidences of extreme untidiness and neglect everywhere.'

[255] Mr. Herbert Jenkins has drawn a quite wrong conclusion—although natural under the circumstances—from a letter he had seen in which Borrow asked his wife for money. Mrs. Borrow kept the banking account. Moreover, it is not generally known that Borrow completed the possession of his wife's estate, including Oulton Hall farm and some cottage property, with the money that came to him from The Bible in Spain.

[256] 'George Borrow Reminiscences' in The Eastern Daily Press, July 31, 1913.

[257] Mr. Baldrey also gives us reminiscences of Borrow's prowess as a swimmer:

'It was one of the signs of his perfect health and vigour that he was a fine swimmer. On one occasion George Jay and John Pilgrim were out for a sail in Jay's old yacht, the Widgeon. Becalmed, they were drifting somewhere down by Reedham, when suddenly Borrow said, "George, how deep is it here?" "About twenty-two feet, sir," said George Jay. The partners always called him "sir." "George," said Borrow, "I am going to the bottom." Straightway he stripped, dived, and presently came up with a handful of mud and weeds. "There, George," he said, "I've been to the bottom," Some time in 1872 or 1873, for Borrow was then sixty-nine, my mother and I were walking on the beach at Lowestoft, when just round the Ness Light we met Borrow coming: towards us from the Corton side. He got hold of my shoulder, and, pointing to the big black buoy beyond the Ness, he said, "There! Do you see that? I have just been out there. I have not been back many minutes." At the age of nearly seventy he had been round the Ness Buoy and home again—a wonderful performance if, in addition to his age, you remember the dangerous set of the currents thereabouts.'

There is also a story, which comes to me from another quarter, of Borrow skating upon the ice of Oulton Broad a few months before his death, and remarking that he had not skated since he was in Russia. The following passage from Mr. Baldrey's narrative is interesting as showing that Borrow did not in later life quite lose sight of his birthplace:

'Apparently I interested him in some way, for twice while I was at school at East Dereham he came over specially to take me out for the afternoon. He had ascertained from my mother which were the school half-holidays, and purposely chose those days so that I might be free. We would start off at half-past twelve and return at bedtime. Where we went I could not tell you for certain, but I know that once we went through Scarning and once through Mattishall. What we talked about of course I cannot recall, for I was then a boy between 13 and 15 years of age, and I had no sort of inkling that my companion was even then a celebrity and destined to be a still greater one in the future. But I do remember that sometimes I could not get a word out of him for an hour or more, and that then suddenly he would break out with all sorts of questions. "I wonder if you can see what I can," he once remarked. "Do you see that the gypsies have been here?" "No," I replied. "And you are not likely to," said he. And then he would tell me no more. He was rather prone to arouse one's curiosity and refuse to pursue the subject. I do not mean that he was morose. Far from it. He was always very kind to me. After I had left school and returned to Norwich he frequently called for me and took me out with him. Once or twice I went with him to Lowestoft.'

[258] One of them is entitled The Present Crisis: The True Cause of Our Indian Troubles, by William MacOubrey of the Middle Temple. There are also countless pamphlets in manuscript. MacOubrey was an enthusiastic and indeed truculent upholder of the Act of Union.

[259] The farm referred to was Oulton Hall farm, often referred to as Oulton Hall.

[260] Another letter from Miss Harvey, dated 1st August, is one of sympathy, and there are passages in it that may well be taken to heart when it is considered that Miss Harvey was the most intimate friend of Borrow and his stepdaughter:

'BURY, August 1st, 1881.

'DEAREST FRIEND,—Though I cannot be with you in your trouble I am continually thinking of you, and praying that all needful help and comfort may be sent to you as you need and how you need it. I have no means of hearing any particulars, and am most anxious to know how you do, and how you have got through the last painful week. Whenever you feel able write me a few words, I await them with much anxiety. When you are able to realise the reality of his eternal gain—you will feel that all is well. A great spirit, a great and noble spirit, has passed from the earth, his earthly tabernacle is taken down to be raised again—glorious and immortal, a fitting abode for a spirit of the just made perfect. How wonderful are those words, "made perfect." We are even now part of that grand assembly where they dwell. "We are come to the general assembly and church of the first born which are written in heaven. To God the judge of all, to Jesus the Mediator, to an innumerable company of angels, etc., to the spirits of the just made perfect." Let us realise our communion with them even now, and soon to meet them on the Resurrection Morn—when they who sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him ... and so we shall be ever with the Lord.

Ever with the Lord, Amen, so let it be, Life from the dead is in that word, 'Tis immortality.

Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, their works do follow them. Your beloved father's work in Spain will follow him. His efforts to spread the word of God in that benighted land, ever has and ever will bring forth blessed fruits. Dearest Henrietta, be comforted, you have been a most devoted daughter to him, and latterly his greatest earthly comfort; your dear husband also; and together you have tended him to the last. He now rests in peace. All the sufferings of mind and body are over for ever. You will have much earthly business on your hands. I pray that you may be directed in all things by true wisdom. The time is short, we must set our houses in order, that we may not be unnecessarily burdened with earthly cares. Having food and raiment, let us be therewith content.

'Let us be without carefulness, and so quietly and piously spend the remnant of our days—ever growing in the knowledge of Christ, and finding in Him all our comfort and all our joy, and when our own time of departure shall arrive may we be ready and able to say, "I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better." The path of the just is as the shining light which shineth more and more unto the perfect day. May our path be so lighted up—until the day break and the shadows flee away. Dearest friend, do write soon. I am so anxious to hear how Dr. MacOubrey is.—Your most affect. friend,

E. HARVEY.



CHAPTER XXXVII

THE AFTERMATH

'We are all Borrovians now.'—AUGUSTINE BIRRELL.

It is a curious fact that of only two men of distinction in English letters in these later years can it be said that they lived to a good old age and yet failed of recognition for work that is imperishable. Many poets have died young—Shelley and Keats for example—to whom this public recognition was refused in their lifetime. But given the happiness of reaching middle age, this recognition has never failed. It came, for example, to Wordsworth and Coleridge long after their best work was done. It came with more promptness to all the great Victorian novelists. This recognition did not come in their lifetime to two Suffolk friends, Edward FitzGerald with Omar Khayyam and George Borrow with Lavengro. In the case of FitzGerald there was probably no consciousness that he had produced a great poem. In any case his sunny Irish temperament could easily have surmounted disappointment if he had expected anything from the world in the way of literary fame. Borrow was quite differently made. He was as intense an egoist as Rousseau, whose work he had probably never read, and would not have appreciated if he had read. He longed for the recognition of the multitude through his books, and thoroughly enjoyed it when it was given to him for a moment—for his Bible in Spain. Such appreciation as he received in his lifetime was given to him for that book and for no other. There were here and there enthusiasts for his Lavengro and Romany Rye. Dr. Jessopp has told us that he was one. But it was not until long after his death that the word 'Borrovian'[261] came into the language. Not a single great author among his contemporaries praised him for his Lavengro, the book for which we most esteem him to-day. His name is not mentioned by Carlyle or Tennyson or Ruskin in all their voluminous works. Among the novelists also he is of no account. Dickens and Thackeray and George Eliot knew him not. Charlotte Bronte does indeed write of him with enthusiasm,[262] but she is alone among the great Victorian authors in this particular. Borrow's Lavengro received no commendation from contemporary writers of the first rank. He died in his seventy-eighth year an obscure recluse whose works were all but forgotten. Since that year, 1881, his fame has been continually growing. His greatest work, Lavengro, has been reprinted with introductions by many able critics;[263] notable essayists have proclaimed his worth. Of these Mr. Watts-Dunton and Mr. Augustine Birrell have been the most assiduous. The efforts of the former have already been noted. Mr. Birrell has expressed his devotion in more than one essay.[264] Referring to a casual reference by Robert Louis Stevenson to The Bible in Spain,[265] in which R. L. S. speaks well of that book, Mr. Birrell, not without irony, says:

It is interesting to know this, interesting, that is, to the great Clan Stevenson, who owe suit and service to their liege lord; but so far as Borrow is concerned, it does not matter, to speak frankly, two straws. The author of Lavengro, The Romany Rye, The Bible in Spain, and Wild Wales is one of those kings of literature who never need to number their tribe. His personality will always secure him an attendant company, who, when he pipes, must dance.

This is to sum up the situation to perfection. You cannot force people to become readers of Borrow by argument, by criticism, or by the force of authority. You reach the stage of admiration and even love by effects which rise remote from all questions of style or taste. To say, as does a recent critic, that 'there is something in Borrow after all; not so much as most people suppose, but still a great deal,'[266] is to miss the compelling power of his best books as they strike those with whom they are among the finest things in literature.[267] In attempting to interest new readers in the man—and this book is not for the sect called Borrovians, to whom I recommend the earlier biographies, but for a wider public which knows not Borrow—I hope I shall succeed in sending many to those incomparable works, which have given me so many pleasant hours.

FOOTNOTES:

[261] A word that is very misleading, as no writer was ever so little the founder of a school.

[262] Although this fact was not known until 1908 when I published The Brontes: Life and Letters. See vol. ii. p. 24, where Charlotte Bronte writes: 'In George Borrow's works I found a wild fascination, a vivid graphic power of description, a fresh originality, an athletic simplicity, which give them a stamp of their own.'

[263] Theodore Watts-Dunton, Augustine Birrell, Francis Hindes Groome, and Thomas Seccombe. Lionel Johnson's essay on Borrow is the more valuable in its enthusiasm in that it was written by a Roman Catholic. Writing in the Outlook (April 1, 1899) he said:

'What the four books mean and are to their lovers is upon this sort. Written by a man of intense personality, irresistible in his hold upon your attention, they take you far afield from weary cares and business into the enamouring airs of the open world, and into days when the countryside was uncontaminated by the vulgar conventions which form the worst side of "civilised" life in cities. They give you the sense of emancipation, of manumission into the liberty of the winding road and fragrant forest, into the freshness of an ancient country-life, into a milieu where men are not copies of each other. And you fall in with strange scenes of adventure, great or small, of which a strange man is the centre as he is the scribe; and from a description of a lonely glen you are plunged into a dissertation upon difficult old tongues, and from dejection into laughter, and from gypsydom into journalism, and everything is equally delightful, and nothing that the strange man shows you can come amiss. And you will hardly make up your mind whether he is most Don Quixote, or Rousseau, or Luther, or Defoe; but you will always love these books by a brave man who travelled in far lands, travelled far in his own land, travelled the way of life for close upon eighty years, and died in perfect solitude. And this will be the least you can say, though he would not have you say it—Requiescat in pace Viator.'

[264] In Res Judicatae 1892 (a paper reprinted from The Reflector, Jan. 8, 1888), in his Introduction to Lavengro (Macmillan, 1900), in an essay entitled 'The Office of literature,' in the second series of Obiter Dicta, and in an address at Norwich; on July 5, 1913, reprinted in full in the Eastern Daily Press of July 7, 1913.

[265] There are but three references to Borrow in Stevenson's writings, all of them perfunctory. These are in Memories and Portraits ('A Gossip on a novel of Dumas''), in Familiar Studies of Men and Books ('Some aspects of Robert Burns'), and in The Ideal House.

[266] The Spectator, July 12, 1913.

[267] On July 6, 1913, Dr. H. C. Beeching, Dean of Norwich, preached a sermon on Borrow in Norwich Cathedral, which in its graceful literary enthusiasm may be counted the culminating point of recognition of Borrow so far, when the place is considered. The sermon has been published by Jarrold and Sons of Norwich.



INDEX

A

Aikin, Dr., quarrels with Phillips, 90.

—— Lucy, 90; on Mrs. John Taylor, 64; on William Taylor, 66.

Ainsworth, Harrison, Lavengro criticised by, 278.

Ancient Poetry and Romances of Spain, by Bowring, 140.

Andre, Major, trial of, included in Borrow's volumes, 113.

Annals of the Harford Family, reference to Borrow in, 245.

Apologia pro Vita Sua, by J. H. Newman, 345.

Arden, F., 111.

Athenaeum, The, founding of, 90; Hasfeld's letter on Russian literature and Borrow in, 165-166; friendly review of The Zincali in, 227; publishes letters from Borrow, 240; severely criticises Lavengro, 278, 347 and Romany Rye, 347; reminiscences of Borrow contributed to, 315-316; contemptuous notice of Romano Lavo-Lil in, 361; obituary of Borrow in, 391.

Austin, John, 64.

—— Sarah, 55.

Autobiographical Recollections of Sir John Bowring, 139.

Autobiography of Harriet Martineau, quoted, 65.

B

Baldrey, S. H., reminiscences of the Borrows published by, 416-420.

Barbauld, Mrs., 67, 90.

Barclay, Mrs. Florence, addresses Bible Society meeting, 183-184.

Bards of the Gael and Gaul, by Dr. Sigerson; editions published of, 408.

Baretti, Joseph, witnesses at trial of, 114.

Barron, James, on Borrow's itinerary in Scotland, 330, 331.

Bathurst, Bishop, 57, 110.

Beeching, Dr., 184; graceful recognition of Borrow in sermon of, 437.

Belcher, pugilist, 130, 131.

Bell, Catherine, 55.

Benjamin Robert Haydon; Correspondence and Table Talk, by F. W. Haydon, 25.

Benson, A. C., verses on 'My Poet,' 312.

Best, Mr. Justice, his 'Great Mind,' 123.

Bible in Spain, The, 180, 201, 202, 289; much sheer invention in, 136, 313; quoted, 182-183, 210, 238-239; episode of the blind girl, 192; brings fame to Borrow, 227, 243-244; the title of, 237-238; criticisms of Mr. Murray's reader on copy of—number of copies sold—referred to in House of Commons, 243; reviews of, 243, 250, 278; how written, 279; Gladstone's admiration of, 313, 397; Cowell's opinion of, 356.

Birrell, Augustine, 237, 238; story told by, 128; introduction to Lavengro by, 435, 436.

Blackwood's Magazine, condemns Lavengro, 278.

Borrow, Ann, mother of Borrow 2, 6, 10, 139, 219; life in Norwich of, 12-17, 71; correspondence of, 17, 33-35, 188, 193-196, 220; death—inscription on tomb of, 314.

Borrow, Elizabeth, 293.

—— George Henry, biographical drafts and family history of, 1-7; wandering childhood of, 36-53; schooldays and schoolfellows at Norwich of, 71-78; struggles and failure in London, 96-102; Celtic ancestry of, 364; characteristics of, 14, 15, 161, 285, 312-313, 316-317, 350, 361, 393, 405-412, 434; agent for Bible Society, 159, 191; facsimile of an account of the Society with, 190; work for the Society in —Portugal, 184-185 —Russia, 162-178 —Spain, 179-214; imprisonments of, 134, 191, 198, 222; correspondence of, with —Bowring, 142-151 —Brackenbury, 198-200 —Ford, 250-259 —Haydon, 25 —Jerningham, 198 —Henrietta MacOubrey, 421-428 —publishers of Faustus, 108 —Secretary at War, 28-32 —his wife, 223-225, 261-268, 272-273, 319, 325-335, 340; Darwin asks information from, 317-318; handwriting of, 275; fails to become a magistrate, 214, 313-314; feeling of, as regards people and language of Ireland, 50, 296-297; friends of later years, 389-400; life of, in London, 379-388 —in Oulton Broad and Yarmouth, 304-320; attainments of, as a linguist, 3, 4, 51, 68, 138-139, 412; advertisement of, as a Professor of Languages, 409; his ignorance of philology, 357; literary tastes of, 2, 11, 38, 135, 344-346, 390; literary methods of, 240-243, 285; attitude towards literary men of, 317, 347, 393; marriage of, 3, 198-199, 220-223, 225; personal appearance of, 226, 260-261, 293, 309-311, 316-317, 339, 385, 397-398; physical vigour of, 383, 419-420; political sympathies of, 181; existing portraits of, 382; pugilistic tastes of, 126-132; on a phase of folklore, 235-236; on theory of Jewish origin of the Gypsies, 308-309; on Spiritualism, 386; translations by, 82, 133-137, 187, 247, 404-405; travels in —Austria-Hungary, 261-268 —Greece and Italy, 272-273 —Ireland, 339-340 —Portugal, 184-185 —Russia, 162-178 —Scotland, 321-330 —Spain, 179-214 —Wales, 364-366, 374-378; unfounded reports as to neglect of, when dying, 414-415; unrecognised genius and growing fame of, 312-313, 435-436; Yarmouth rescue episode, 290-293.

Borrow, Henry, 293.

—— John, grandfather of George Henry, 3-5.

—— John Thomas, 4, 6, 49, 50; Captain Borrow's love of, 8, 19; described in Lavengro, 18-19; pictures by, 21; career and death of, 19-35.

—— Mary, 218, 219, 222, 277, 278; correspondence with —Ann Borrow, 365-366 —G. H. Borrow, 157-158, 246, 261-274, 294, 374-376, 379-382 —Clarke, 216-217 —Hake, 394-396; epitaph written for, by Borrow, 215; family history of, 214-217; housekeeping genius of, 415; marriage of, 157-158, 225; unpublished works of, 295; death of, 383, 387.

—— Captain Thomas, 19, 20, 36, 49, 87, 293; descent of, 2-5; military career of, 5-7; references to, in Lavengro, 8-11; prejudiced against the Irish, 50, 52; pensioned off, 70; his fight with Big Ben Brain, 126, 129.

—— William, 293.

Bowring, Sir John, collaboration with Borrow, 136; correspondence of, with Borrow, 142-152, 184-186, 235, 401-402; described by Borrow, 141-142; Borrow's misunderstanding with, 290; Borrow's relations with, 138-152.

Boyd, Robert, 249.

Brace, Charles L., 264.

Brackenbury, Mr., letter from, to Borrow, 198-200.

Brain, Big Ben, supposed fight between Captain Borrow and, 8, 9, 10; career of, 129, 130.

Brandram, Rev. Mr., 159; correspondence of, with Borrow, 171-173, 180-182, 189-192, 221-222; letter from, to Mrs. Borrow, 188; reproduction of portion of Borrow's letter to, 187.

Brightwell, Cecilia, letter from, to Mary Borrow, 16.

British and Foreign Bible Society, aided by the Gurneys, 62; Borrow's connection with, 3, 133, 153-196; growth and procedure of, 155-157; sanctioned in Russia by the Czar, 156-157; number of bibles issued in Spain for three years up to 1913, 184; work of, in Spain, 182-200; facsimile of an account with Borrow of the, 190; breezy controversy between Borrow and the, 191.

Brodripp, A. A., 90.

Bronte, Charlotte, writes of Borrow with enthusiasm, 435.

Brontes, The, by Clement Shorter, quoted, 435.

Brooke, Rajah, 17, 71, 72.

Brown, Rev. Arthur, 40, 41.

Browne, Sir Thomas, 54.

Browning, Robert, 114.

Buchini, Antonio, Borrow's attendant in Spain, 189.

Bunsens, the invitation given to Borrow by, 245.

Bunyan, what Borrow owed to, 346.

Burcham, Thomas, 81; letter from, to The Britannia on Lavengro, 17.

Burke, Edmund, 114.

Bury Post, The, account in, of lifesaving by Borrow at Yarmouth, 290.

Buxton, Sir T. F., 56.

—— Lady, 56, 58.

C

Cagliostro, trial of, included in Borrow's volumes, 113.

Caius, John, 71.

Campbell, Thomas, 82, 111.

Cannon, Sergeant, 5.

Canton, William, 156.

Carlyle, Thomas, 154, 163; point of similitude between Borrow and, 377; on Edward FitzGerald, 351; prejudiced against Scott, 67, 108.

Celebrated Trials, Borrow's first piece of hack-work, 97; payment made to Borrow for, 113; distinguishing feature of, 114; dramatic episodes in, 114-116.

Celtic Bards, unpublished work of Borrow, 294, 404; merits of, 408.

Chiefs and Kings, unpublished work of Borrow, 404; merits of, 408.

Christ's Entry into Jerusalem, picture by Haydon, 24.

Clarendon, Earl of, 289; befriends Borrow in Spain, 140, 186; career of, and services to Borrow, 210-214; facsimile of letter to Borrow from, 211.

Clarke, Lieutenant Henry, 216, 219.

—— Dr. Samuel, 71.

Cobbe, Frances Power, 344; her opinion of Borrow, 154; her story of Borrow and James Martineau, 77; unkindly glimpses of Borrow given by—her character and works, 383-385; Borrow's rudeness to, 388.

Cobham, Lord, trial of, included in Borrow's volumes, 113.

Cockburn, Lord, on David Haggart, 46.

Coke, Lord Chief Justice, 71.

Collins, Mortimer, his appreciation of Wild Wales, 372-373; works of, 373.

Collinson, Robert, 383.

Combe, George, phrenological observations of, regarding David Haggart, 46.

Cooke, Robert, 361.

Cornhill Magazine, The, reviews Wild Wales unfavourably, 367.

'Corporation Feast, The,' plate of, borrowed for Life and Death of Faustus, 103.

Cowell, Professor E. C., friendship of, with FitzGerald, 354-355; describes interview with Borrow, 355-357.

Cowper, poet, Borrow's devotion to, 2, 38.

Cozens-Hardy, A., 309.

Crabbe, Mrs., 419.

—— George, FitzGerald's letter to, 360.

Cribb, pugilist, 130, 131.

Croft, Sir Herbert, 115.

Crome, John, 21, 22, 56, 70.

Cunningham, Mrs., 56.

—— Allan, writes introduction in verse to Romantic Ballads; correspondence with Borrow, 107; encourages Borrow, 108-109.

Cunningham, Rev. Francis, befriends Borrow with the Bible Society, 56, 62, 156, 158; his praise of Borrow, 179, 218.

—— Rev. John W., 156, 217.

D

Dairyman's Daughter, The, extraordinary vogue of, 97; Borrow's failure to appreciate, 155.

Dalrymple, Arthur, on schooldays of Borrow, 73-74; on Borrow and his wife, 225; ridicules story of lifesaving by Borrow at Yarmouth, 291.

—— John, joins Borrow in a schoolboy escapade, 73, 75.

Darwin, Charles, facsimile of letter from, asking for information, regarding the dogs of Spain, from Borrow, 317-318.

Death of Balder, The, translation by Borrow, 142, 295; issued by Jarrold, 404.

Deceived Merman, The, versions by Borrow and Matthew Arnold compared, 109-110.

Defoe, Daniel, Borrow's master in literature, 40, 135, 346.

Denniss, Rev. E. P., acrid correspondence between Borrow and, 313.

D'Eterville, Thomas, Borrow's teacher, 72-73.

Diaz, Maria, Borrow's tribute to, 201.

Dickens, Charles, 345.

Dictionary of National Biography, article on Borrow in, 392.

Donne, W. B., letters to Borrow, 347, 361-362; awards high praise to Romany Rye and Lavengro, 347-348.

Drake, William, description of Borrow by, 80.

Duff-Gordon, Lady A., 64.

Dumpling Green, birthplace of Borrow, 1, 2, 37.

Dutt, W. A., on Borrow and James Martineau, 75-76; on state of Oulton house after Borrow's death, 414.

E

East Dereham, described in Lavengro, 1, 38.

Eastern Daily Press, The, 'George Borrow Reminiscences' published in, 416-420; Miss Harvey's letter on Borrow in, 309-311.

Eastlake, Lady, her description of Borrow, 260-261.

Edinburgh, childhood of Borrow in, 45-49.

Edinburgh Review, reviews Borrow's works, 227.

Egan, Pierce, 121.

Elwin, Rev. Whitwell, his estimate of Lavengro, 281, 283; his interview with, and impressions of, Borrow, 284-285; letters to Borrow from, 286-287; reviews Romany Rye in Quarterly Review, 347; writes obituary of Borrow in Athenaeum, 391.

Enghien, Duc d', trial of, included in Borrow's volumes, 113.

English Gypsies, The, by Charles G. Leland, 233.

Essays Critical and Historical, by J. H. Newman, quoted, 345.

Examiner, The, at one time only paper read by Borrow, 402.

Excursions along the Shores of the Mediterranean, attractive glimpse of Borrow in, 202-207.

F

Fauntleroy, Henry, trial of, included in Borrow's volumes, 114-115.

Faustus, translated by Borrow, 101-106, 112, 139, 140; burned by libraries of Norwich, 105; criticisms on, 106.

Fell, Ralph, compiles memoirs of Phillips, 88.

Fenn, Lady, commemorated by Cowper, and in Lavengro—books for children by, 38.

—— Sir John, author of Paston Letters, 38.

Fielding, what Borrow owed to, 346.

Fig, James, 128.

Findlater, Jane H., on the title of The Bible in Spain, 238.

FitzGerald, Edward, parallel between Borrow and,—works of, 350-351; character and gifts of, 351; marriage of, 352; letters to Borrow, 351-355, 359-362; criticises Borrow's expressions, 360.

Footprints of George Borrow, by A. G. Jayne, 202.

Ford, Richard, 227, 289; family history and fortune of, 248-249; anti-democratic outlook of, 249; his tribute to Borrow—reviews The Bible in Spain, 250; correspondence with the Borrows, 133, 250-259; odd sentence referring to Borrow, in a letter of, 254; advice given to Borrow by, 148, 276; his ideas about Lavengro, 277; on The Zincali, 228, 229; his work, 133, 255, 257, 258.

—— Sir Richard, creator of mounted police force of London, 248.

Fox, Caroline, 159.

Francis, John Collins, 400.

Frazer's Magazine, Lavengro condemned by, 278.

French Prisoners of Norman Cross, The, by Rev. Arthur Brown, 40.

Fry, Elizabeth, 65-66; connection of, with Bible Society, 155; the courtship of, 56-57.

G

Garrick, David, 114.

'George Borrow Reminiscences,' by S. H. Baldrey, quoted, 416-420.

George Borrow's Letters to the Bible Society, 162-163.

George Borrow; The Man and his Work, account of Borrow's Cornish journey in, 294.

Gibson, Robin, 47.

Gifford, William, 99; letter from, to Borrow, criticising a friend's play, 410-412.

Gill, Rev. W., letter to Borrow from, 301.

Gypsies, language of, studied by Borrow, 3, 4; Borrow's description of Hungarian, 265.

Gladstone, W. E., his admiration of The Bible in Spain, 313.

Glen, William, Borrow's friendship with, 162-163.

Gould, J. C., 85.

Graydon, Lieutenant, a rival of Borrow in Spain, 189; Borrow's attack upon, 191.

Groome, Archdeacon, his memories of Borrow's schooldays, 80.

—— F. H., gipsy scholar, 43; writes introduction to Lavengro, 435; reviews Romano Lavo-Lil, 232, 233-234; works of, 234.

Grundtvig, Mr., Borrow's translations for, 147, 149.

Gully, John, career of, 131.

Gunn, Rev. J., 414.

Gurdons, the, subscribe to Borrow's 'Romantic Ballads,' 110.

Gurney, Miss Anna, letter from, to Mrs. Borrow, 240-241; Borrow cross-examined in Arabic by, 316.

—— Daniel, 58.

—— John, 55-56.

—— Joseph John, connection of with great bank, 56-58; and with Bible Society, 155; his praise of Borrow, 179.

Gurneys, the, at Norwich, 55-62; subscribe to Borrow's 'Romantic Ballads,' 110.

Gurneys of Earlham, The, by A. J. C. Hare, quoted, 56.

Gypsies of Spain, The. See Zincali, The.

H

Hackman, Parson, trial of, in Borrow's volumes, 115.

Haggart, David, 20; story of, 45-48; trial and execution of—verses written by, 49.

Hake, Egmont, article of, in Dictionary of National Biography, on Borrow, 392; his reminiscence of Borrow, 397.

—— Dr. T. G., 74, 291; on Lavengro, 278, 389, 390-391; his intimacy with Borrow, 389-397; relations of, with the Rossetti family, 389; asperities of, when speaking of Borrow, 391, 392, 393; memoir of, in the Athenaeum, 391.

Hamilton, Duke of, 129.

Handbook for Travellers in Spain, by Richard Ford, 133; Borrow's blundering review of, 255, 257; Maxwell's praise of, 258.

Hare, Augustus J. C., 56.

Hares, the, 110.

Harper, Lieutenant, 32.

Harvey, Miss Elizabeth, her impressions of Borrow, 309-312; letters to Mrs. MacOubrey from, 429-431.

Harveys, the, 110.

Hasfeld, John P., 244, 289; Borrow's correspondence with, 163-168; high praise of Targum by, 408.

Hawkes, Robert, 25, 111; painting of, 23-24.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel, suggestion of, as to gypsy descent of Borrow, 6, 12, 13.

Haydon, Benjamin, 111; career of, 24-27; correspondence of, with Borrow, 25, 135-136.

Hayim Ben Attar, Moorish servant of Borrow, 197, 222; Borrow's precautions in repatriating, 306-309.

Hazlitt, William, on prize-fighting, 126-127.

Heenan, pugilist, 128.

Herne, Sanspirella, second wife of Ambrose Smith, 42-43.

Hester, George P., writes to Borrow on possible connection between Sclaves and Saxons, 348-349.

Highland Society, the, Borrow's proposal to, 136-137.

Hill, Mary, 48.

Historic Survey of German Poetry, by William Taylor, 68.

History of the British and Foreign Bible Society, by William Canton, 156.

Hooper, James, letter from Professor Cowell to, 355-357.

Howell, State Trials of, 112, 113.

Howitt, Mary, her appreciation of Wild Wales, 369.

Hudson, pugilist, 130.

Hungary in 1851, glimpse of Borrow in, 264.

Hunt, Joseph, trial and execution of, 121-123.

Hyde, Dr. Douglas, Irish scholar, 51; success of Love Songs of Connaught by, 408.

I

Ida of Athens, judgment of Phillips on, 93.

Illustrated London News, The, 94; Borrow's contribution to, on Runic stone, 301-303.

Image, W. E., last survivor of Borrow's schoolfellows, 77.

In Gipsy Tents, by F. H. Groome, 43.

Ireland, Borrow's early years in, 49-53; his feelings as regards people and language of, 296-297.

Iris, The, editing of, 67.

J

Jackson, John, pugilist, 127.

Jane Eyre, cruelly reviewed by Lady Eastlake, 260.

Jay, Elizabeth, on happy married life of the Borrows, 225.

—— George, Borrow on yacht of, 419-420.

Jenkins, Mr. Herbert, 136, 148, 378, 387, 415.

Jerningham, Sir George, letter from, to Borrow, 198; Borrow's complaints to, 212.

Jessopp, Dr., on Borrow as a pupil at the Grammar School, 72; his admiration of Borrow, 314-315.

Joan of Arc, trial of, included in Borrow's volumes, 113.

Johnson, publisher, his offers for The Wild Irish Girl, 92.

—— Catharine B., 361.

—— Dr. Samuel, 114; on Ireland and Irish Literature, 51; his kindness for pugilists, 127.

—— Tom, his fight with Brain, 129.

—— Lionel, his essay on Borrow, 435.

Jones, Ellen, on Borrow's pronunciation of Welsh, 378.

Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society, 41, 44.

Jowett, Rev. Joseph, Secretary of the Bible Society, 62; correspondence of, with Borrow, 162, 170-171, 175.

Judgment of Solomon, painting by John Borrow, 21.

K

Kaempe Viser, translation by Borrow, 143-144.

Keate, Dr., 174.

Kerrison, Alladay, 84; invites John Borrow to join him in Mexico, 27.

—— Roger, 84, 101; Borrow's correspondence with, 85, 153.

—— Thomas, 84.

Kett, Robert, 54.

Kings and Earls, unpublished work of Borrow, 404; merits of, 408.

Kingsley, Charles, 345.

King, Thomas, owner of the Borrow house in Willow Lane—descent of, from Archbishop Parker, 16-17.

—— —— junior, career of—marries sister of J. S. Mill,—Burcham's allusion to, 16-17.

—— Tom, conqueror of Heenan, 128.

Klinger, F. M. von, responsible for Borrow's first book—works of, 104.

Knapp, Dr., Life of Borrow by, 5 and passim; purchases half the Borrow papers, 241.

L

Lambert, Daniel, gaoler of Phillips, 89.

Lamplighter, racehorse, Borrow's desire to see, 316.

Lang, Andrew, his onslaught on Borrow, 391.

Laurie, Sir Robert, 17.

Lavengro, appreciations of, 228-230, 278, 389, 391; autobiographical nature of, 1, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 52, 58-62, 81, 83-84, 96-97, 279, 285-286, 379; copies of, sold, 279, 287-288; criticisms and reviews of, 278-279, 281, 347; Donne on some reviewers of, 361-362; facsimile of first manuscript page of, 282; greatness of, unrecognised in Borrow's lifetime, 312-313; original manuscript title-page of, 280; preparation of manuscript of, 276-277, 397; Thurtell referred to in, 116-117.

Leicester Herald started by Phillips, 88-89.

Leland, Charles Godfrey, correspondence of, with Borrow, 230-232; his books—tribute to Borrow, 233.

Letters from Egypt, by Lady A. Duff-Gordon, 64.

Letters from George Borrow to the Bible Society, 159, 162, 163, 169; valuable information in, 180-181; interesting facts revealed in, 241-242; quoted, 174, 175.

Letters of Richard Ford, 248, 249; Borrow's mistake in reviewing, 255.

Life and Adventures of Joseph Sell, Borrow's story of the writing of, 102.

Life of Borrow, by Dr. Knapp, 5, 6, 8, and passim; glimpse of Ann Perfrement's girlhood in, 13; gruesome picture of circumstances of Borrow's death—strongly denounced by Henrietta MacOubrey, 414.

Life of B. R. Haydon, by Tom Taylor, 24, 25.

Life of David Haggart, by himself, 46.

Life of Frances Power Cobbe as told by Herself, glimpses of Borrow in, 383-384.

Life of George Borrow, by Herbert Jenkins, 387, and passim; valuable information in, 180-181; quoted, 261, 378.

Life of Howard, 90.

Life of Sir James Mackintosh, quoted, 64-65.

Lights on Borrow, by Rev. A. Jessopp, D.D., quoted, 72.

Lipoftsof, worker for Bible Society, 169, 173.

Literary Gazette, The, reviews of Borrow's works in, 106, 227.

Lloyd, Miss M. C., 383.

Lofft, Capell, 90.

Lopez, Eduardo, 202.

—— Juan, Borrow's tribute to, 201-202.

Love Songs of Connaught, by Dr. Hyde, success of, 408.

M

Macaulay, Zachary, connection of, with Bible Society, 155.

MacColl, Mr., 392.

Mace, Jem, 128.

Mackay, William, his impressions of Borrow related by, 316-317.

MacOubrey, Dr., 335, 414, 415; status and accomplishments of, 420; pamphlets issued by, 421; illness and death of, 431-432.

MacOubrey, Henrietta, 155, 195, 216, 363, and passim; on Borrow, 81; Borrow's tribute to, in Wild Wales—her devotion to Borrow, 413; unfounded stories of her neglect of Borrow, 414-416; correspondence of, 421-431; death of—inscription on tomb of, 432; charitable bequests of, 431-432.

Man, Isle of, Borrow's expedition to, 296-303; his investigations into the Manx language, 298-299; the Runic stone, 300-303.

Marie Antoinette, trial of, included in Borrow's volumes, 113.

Martelli, C. F., his memories of Borrow, 86.

Martineau, David, 63.

—— Dr. James, on supposed gypsy descent of Borrow, 12-13; impressions of, as schoolfellow of Borrow, 62, 71, 74-77.

—— Gaston, 63.

—— Harriet, 63; on Borrow's connection with the Bible Society, 153-154.

Matthew, Father, 66.

Mavor, Dr., school-books issued by, 94.

Maxwell, Sir W. S., praises Ford's book, 258; criticises Lavengro, 278.

Meadows, Margaret, 63.

—— Sarah, 63.

Memoir of the Life and Writings of William Taylor of Norwich, A, by J. W. Robbards, 66.

Memoirs of Fifty Years, by T. G. Hake, 166, 390.

Memoirs of John Venning, 160.

Memoirs of Lady Morgan, quoted, 62.

Memoirs of the Public and Private Life of Sir Richard Phillips, 88.

Memoirs of Vidocq, translated by Borrow, 136.

Mendizabal, Borrow's interview with, 186, 214.

Men of the Time, biographical drafts drawn up by Borrow for, 3-5.

Meyer, Dr. Kuno, Irish scholar, 51; work of, in Irish literature, 408.

Mezzofanti, 209.

Miles, H. D., his defence of prize-fighting, 127.

Mill, John Stuart, Thomas King marries sister of, 16-17.

Mitford, Miss, 25.

Moira, Lord, 89.

Mol, Benedict, 202, 239.

Montague, Basil, his reference to Mrs. John Taylor, 64-65.

Monthly Magazine, The, 67, 69, 90, 113; Borrow's work on, 97.

Moore, Thomas, 91.

More Leaves from the Journal of a Life in the Highlands, visit to gypsy encampment described in, 43.

Morgan, Lady, works of, published by Phillips, 91-93.

Morrin, killed by David Haggart, 48.

Morris, Lewis, Welsh bard, 371.

—— Sir Lewis, letter to Borrow, 371-372.

Mousehold Heath, historical and artistic associations of, 42, 54.

Mousha, introduces Borrow to Taylor, 83; figures in Lavengro, 83-84.

Murray, John, publishes The Zincali, 226-227; Borrow's relations with, 342-343; correspondence of Borrow with, 313, 342-343.

—— Hon. R. D., 200.

Murtagh, Irish friend of Borrow—figures in Lavengro, 49-52.

Museum, The, 89.

N

Nantes, Edict of, Borrow's ancestors driven from France by Revocation of, 4, 12, 63.

Napier, Admiral Sir C., 202.

—— Col. E., 138; interesting account of Borrow by, 202-207.

Nelson, Lord, a pupil of Norwich Grammar School, 71.

Newgate Calendar, edited by Borrow, 5, 112, 113.

Newgate Lives and Trials, Borrow's work on, 100.

Newman, Cardinal, influenced towards Roman Catholicism by Scott, 345.

New Monthly Magazine, The, 126.

New Testament, edited by Borrow in Manchu and Spanish, 3.

Ney, Marshal, trial of, included in Borrow's volumes, 113.

Nicholas, Thomas, 293.

Norfolk, Duke of, 89.

Norman Cross, French prisoners at, 7, 45; Borrow's memories of, 40-45.

Northern Skalds, unpublished work of Borrow, 404; merits of, 408.

Norwich, 54, 86; Borrow's description of, 82-83; satirised by Borrow, 103.

Novice, The, favourite book of William Pitt, 91-92.

O

O'Connell, Daniel, Borrow's desire to see, 316.

Oliver, Tom, pugilist, 131.

Once a Week, Borrow contributes to, 387.

Opie, Mrs., 56.

Oracle, The, quoted, 129.

Orford, Col. Lord, 27, 31; Ann Borrow's letter to, 33-34.

Outlook, The, Lionel Johnson on Borrow in, quoted, 435-436.

Overend and Gurney, banking firm, 57-58.

Owen, Goronwy, Borrow's favourite Welsh bard, 377-378, 407.

Owenson, Sydney. See Morgan, Lady.

P

Pahlin, 209.

Painter, Edward, pugilist, 131.

Palgrave, Sir Francis, letter to Borrow from, 108.

—— R. H. I., letters to Mrs. MacOubrey from, 431.

Palmer, Professor E. H., gypsy scholar, 232.

Park, Mr. Justice, 123.

Parker, Archbishop., pupil at Norwich Grammar School, 71.

—— Archbishop (temp. Queen Elizabeth) descent of Thomas King from, 16.

Paterson, John, work of, for Bible Society in Russia, 156.

Pennell, Mrs. Elizabeth Robins, her biography of Leland, quoted, 230-231.

Perfrement, Mary, grandmother of Borrow, 2, 13.

—— Samuel, grandfather of Borrow, 2, 12-13.

Personal and Family Glimpses of Remarkable People, by E. W. Whately, quoted, 385.

Peter Schlemihl, translated by Bowring, 141.

Petrie, George, correspondence of Borrow with, 336-338.

Phillips, Lady, 90.

—— H. W., portrait of Borrow by, 382.

—— Sir Richard, 27, 69, 100; early days of, 87-88; imprisonment of, 88-89; knighted, 94; books published by, 90-95; relations of, with Borrow, 96-100.

Phrenological Observations, etc., by George Combe, 46.

Picts, the, Borrow on, 336-337.

Pilgrim, John, Borrow's visits to, 417-420.

Pinkerton, literary hack, 88.

Pischel, Professor Richard, criticises Borrow's etymologies, 344.

Playfair, Dr., 387.

Pope, influence of, on Borrow, 407.

Pott, Dr. A. F., gypsy scholar, 232, 233.

Prayer Book and Homily Society, Borrow's correspondence with, 176-177.

Prize-fighting, Borrow's taste for, 11, 82, 126-132.

Probert, witness against Thurtell, 121.

Prothero, Rowland E., 248, 249.

Purcell, pugilist, 130-131.

Purland, Francis, companion of Borrow in schoolboy escapade, 73-75.

—— Theodosius, 73-75.

Pushkin, Alexander, Russian poet, translated by Borrow, 178.

Q

Quarterly Review, The, review of Lavengro in, 281; of Romany Rye in, 347.

R

Rackham, Tom, 79.

Rackhams, the, 110.

Raising of Lazarus, picture by Haydon, 24.

Randall, pugilist, 130.

Reay, Martha, murdered by Hackman, 115.

'Recollections of George Borrow,' by A. Egmont Hake in Athenaeum, quoted, 397.

Reeve, Mr., on scene in Oulton house after Borrow's death, 414.

—— Henry, 64.

Res Judicatae, by Augustine Birrell, 436.

Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 114.

Richmond, pugilist, 130.

—— Legh, connection of, with Bible Society, 155.

Rights of Man, Phillips charged with selling, 89.

Robbards, J. W., writes memoir of William Taylor, 65-66.

Robertson, George, 47.

Romance of Bookselling, by Mumby, 87.

Romano Lavo-Lil, manuscript of, 295; published by Murray, 404; reviews of, 232, 233, 234, 361.

Romantic Ballads, translation from the Danish by Borrow, 106-111, 112, 139, 140.

Romany Rye, The, 4, 125, 141-142, 305; appreciations of, 228-230, 234-235, 349, 354, 391; autobiographical nature of, 279-280, 285-286; Borrow embittered by failure of, 347; characters in, 343; defects of Appendix, 344-345; facsimile of page of manuscript of, 346; identification of localities of, 343-344; philological criticism of, 344; preparation of manuscript of, 341; quoted, 189; reviews of, 347, 349.

Ross, Janet, 64.

Rowe, Quartermaster, 17.

Rubaiyat, Fitzgerald's paraphrase, 350; quoted in original and translated, 353-354; Tennyson's eulogy of, 358.

Rye, Walter, 119.

S

St. Petersburg, Borrow in, 162-178.

Sampson, John, eminent gypsy expert—extraordinary suggestion, of, regarding Borrow, 343; criticises Borrow's etymologies, 344.

Sam the Jew, pugilist, 130.

Samuel, A. M., Lord Mayor of Norwich—presents Borrow house to Norwich, 16.

Sayers, Dr., 64.

—— Tom, pugilist, 130.

Scott, Sir Walter, 68; Borrow's prejudice against, 19, 108, 344; influence of, on J. H. Newman, 345; Taylor's influence on, 66; interest of, in Thurtell's trial, 121; writings of, admired by Borrow, 344.

Scroggins, pugilist, 130.

Seccombe, Thomas, introduction to Lavengro by, 125, 435.

Servian Popular Poetry, by Bowring, 140.

Sharp, Granville, connection with Bible Society of, 155.

Shaw, G. B., his kindness for the pugilist, 127.

Shelton, pugilist, 130.

Sidney, Algernon, trial of, included in Borrow's volumes, 113.

Sigerson, Dr., Irish scholar, 51; success of Bards of the Gael and Gaul, by, 408.

Simeon, Charles, connection with Bible Society of, 155.

Simpson, William, Borrow articled to, 79-81; described by Borrow, 80-81.

Skepper, Anne, 157, 215, 216, 219.

—— Breame, 156, 157, 219.

—— Edmund, 215, 219.

—— Edward, 157.

Sleeping Bard, The, translation by Borrow, 137; his mistakes in, 357; refused by publishers, 322, 402, 404, 406, 408, 410; printed at his own expense, 322.

Smiles, Samuel, on publication of The Zincali, 226-227.

Smith, Ambrose, the Jasper Petulengro of Lavengro, 41-45.

—— Fāden, 42.

—— Thomas, 44.

Songs from Scandinavia, translation by Borrow, 136; prospectus of, 145; future publication of, 406-407; page of manuscript of, 411.

Songs of Europe, metrical translation by Borrow, 294, 404.

Songs of Scotland, by Allan Cunningham, Borrow's appreciation of, 109.

Southey, Robert, affection of, for William Taylor, 66; on death of Taylor, 69.

Spalding, Frederick, 351.

Spectator, The, point of view of criticism of Borrow of, 437; reviews Wild Wales, 367.

Sphere, The, article on Borrow and Martineau in, 75-76.

State Trials, 112-113.

Stephen, Sir J. Fitzjames, 217.

—— Sir Leslie, 99.

Stevenson, R. L., perfunctory references to Borrow in writings of, 436.

Stoddard, Mr., Burcham's reference to, 17.

Story, A. T., reminiscences of Borrow by, 385-387.

Struensee, Count, trial of, included in Borrow's volumes, 113.

Stuart, Mrs. James, 73.

Suffolk, Duke of, 64.

Summers, William, 184.

Swan, Rev. William, 169.

T

Talisman, The, translation by Borrow, 178.

Targum, translation by Borrow, 3, 297; high praise of, 165-166, 177, 178, 408; facsimile of a poem from, 403.

Taylor, Anne, describes Borrow's appearance, 293.

—— Baron, Borrow's meeting with, 210.

—— Dr. John, 63.

—— John, 63.

—— Mrs. John, 55; Basil Montague on, 64-65.

—— Richard, 63.

—— Robert, 293.

—— Tom, author of Life of B. R. Haydon, 24, 25.

—— William, 55, 70; dialogue in Lavengro between Borrow and, 8-9, 83-84; gives Borrow lessons in German, 81-82; gives Borrow introductions to Phillips and Campbell, 84; his love of paradox, 75; influence of, on Borrow, 65; Harriet Martineau on, 65-66; his friends and literary work, 66-69; correspondence with Southey, 67-68; his testimony to Borrow's knowledge of German, 101.

Taylors, the, at Norwich, 55, 63-69.

Tennyson on enthusiasm for Lycidas, 278; his eulogy of FitzGerald's translation of the Rubaiyat, 358.

Thackeray, W. M., Borrow's attitude towards, 347, 393; on Edward FitzGerald, 351; Hake's severe reference to, 393.

Theodore Watts-Dunton: Poet, Novelist, Critic, by James Douglas, quoted, 394.

Thompson, T. W., article of, on Jasper Petulengro, 44.

—— W. H., 357.

Three Generations of Englishwomen, by Janet Ross, 64.

Thurtell, Alderman, 120, 125.

—— John, 82, 111; trial of—glimpses of, in Borrow's books, 116-125; great authors who have commented on crime of, 118.

Timbs, John, 111; stories told by, 94, 95.

Tom of Bedford, pugilist, 131.

Treve, Captain, 17.

Turkish Jester, The, by Borrow, 295; issued by Webber, 404.

Turner, Dawson, 243, 279.

—— Ned, pugilist, 130.

Twelve Essays on the Phenomena of Nature, Phillips anxious to produce in a German dress, 96.

Twelve Essays on the Proximate Causes, Borrow unable to translate into German—published in German, 99.

U

Universal Review, The, 99; Borrow's work on, 97.

Upcher, A. W., contributes reminiscences of Borrow to the Athenaeum, 316.

Usoz y Rio, Don Luis de, letters from, to Borrow, 207-209.

V

Valpy, Rev. E., Borrow's schoolmaster—story of Borrow being flogged by, 73-78.

Venning, John, work of, in Russia—befriends Borrow, 160-161.

Victoria, Queen, visits gypsy encampment, 43.

Vidocq, 261; memoirs of, translated by Borrow, 136.

W

Wahrheit und Dichtung, opening lines of, compared with those of Lavengro, 1.

Walks and Talks about London, 94; story told of Phillips in, 95.

Walling, R. A. J., biography of Borrow by, 294-295.

Walpole, Horace, on Mr. Fenn, 39.

Wanton, S. W., letter to Borrow from, 299-300.

Waterfield, Mrs., 64.

Watts-Dunton, Theodore, criticism of Borrow's work, 347, 392; description of personal appearance of Borrow, 397-398; friendship with Borrow, 317; on intimacy between Borrow and Hake, 389-391; introduction to Lavengro by, 435, 436; on Borrow's loyalty in friendship, 312; on poetic gifts of Borrow, 406; reminiscences of Borrow, 398-400; sonnet written by, 400.

Weare pamphlets, 120-121.

—— William, murder of, 121, 122.

Webber, Borrow's books bought by, 414.

Westminster Review, 140.

Whately, Archdeacon, description of Borrow by, 385.

Whewell, Dr., 285.

Wilberforce, William, connection of, with Bible Society, 155.

Wilcock, Rev. J., his impressions of Borrow, 338-339.

Wild Irish Girl, The, the publication of, 91, 92.

Wild Wales, 4, 6, 221, 383, 413; appreciations of, 356, 360, 369, 372-373; comparative failure of, 367, 373; comparison of, with Borrow's three other great works, 376-377; facsimiles of two pages from Borrow's pocket-books, and of title-page of manuscript, 365, 368; high spirits of, 378; Lope de Vega's ghost-story referred to in, 369; reviews of, 367; time taken to write, 366.

Wilhelm Meister, quoted, 154.

William Bodham Donne and his Friends, Borrow described in, 361.

Williams, Lieutenant, 32.

—— J. Evan, letter from Borrow to, on similarity of some Sclavonian and Welsh words, 369-371.

Wolcot, Dr., 90.

Woodhouses, the, 111.

Wordsworth, Borrow's estimate of, 346-347.

Wormius, Olaus, 82.

Wright, Dr. Aldis, 357, 363.

Y

Young Cottager, The, by Legh Richmond, extraordinary vogue of, 97.

Z

Zincali, The, work by Borrow, 3, 4, 42, 118; reference to Borrow's travels in, 135; criticisms of, 227-229; number of copies of, sold, 244; editions of, issued, 226-227.

THE END