Lavengro by George Borrow (read me a book txt) 📕

Monsieur Boileau left the fruits of his verses to his niece; eh bien, I will bequeath the fruits of my philology to my niece and nephew. There, there! thanks be to God, it is done! They take me for a fool; I am no fool. Leave to the Pope the fruits of my philology! Bah, bah! I do no such thing. I do like Monsieur Boileau.”

—⁠Knapp ↩

Earl’s Home: Earlham Hall, the residence of Joseph John Gurney (1788⁠–⁠1847), the Norwich banker and famous Quaker. The “tall figure” mentioned on the next page was Mr. Gurney, then twenty-eight years of age. —⁠Knapp ↩

Only read Greek: This is a mistake. Mr. Gurney was an early student of Italian. See Braithwaite’s Life, I. —⁠Knapp ↩

Zohar: Very correct. Braithwaite, I. —⁠Knapp ↩

Abarbenel, read Abarbanel or Abrabanel: A Spanish Jew driven from Spain in 1492. —⁠Knapp ↩

Castle Hill: Norwich. —⁠Knapp ↩

Fair of horses: Tombland Fair, held on Maundy Thursday every year. —⁠Knapp ↩

Heath: Mousehold Heath, near Norwich. —⁠Knapp ↩

Gemiti, sospiri ed alti guai, (compare Dante, Inferno, III, 8: “Quivi sospiri, pianti, e alti guai.”): Groans, sighs, and deep lamentations. —⁠Knapp ↩

MS. note: “Written in 1843.” ↩

Barddoniaeth Dafydd ab Gwilym. O grynhoad Owen Jones, a William Owen. [The Poetical Works of David ap Gwilym (son of William), edited by O. J. and W. O.] Llundain, 1789.

Translations into English Verse from the Poems of Davyth ap Gwilym, a Welsh Bard of the Fourteenth Century by Arthur J. Johnes. London, 1834. —⁠Knapp ↩

Cowydd: A species of Welsh poetry. —⁠Knapp ↩

Bwa Bach: The “little hunchback.” —⁠Knapp ↩

Narrow Court: Tuck’s Court, St. Giles, Norwich. —⁠Knapp ↩

Old master: William Simpson of the law firm of Simpson & Rackham, Norwich. —⁠Knapp ↩

Bon jour: read Bonjour⁠ ⁠… ! bien des chases de ma part à Monsieur Peyrecourt or Pierrecourt. “Expressions” in this sense (kind regards) is the Spanish expresiones, disguised as French. —⁠Knapp ↩

MS., “à Monsieur Peyrecourt” or “Pierrecourt.” —⁠Knapp ↩

Parkinson the poet: This character, who appears for the first time among the inedited episodes of Lavengro, was a real one, although his true name (Parkerson) is given somewhat veiled, as usual with Mr. Borrow. He seems to have been the poet-laureate of farmers, corn-merchants, drovers and publicans, selling his muse to the highest bidder, at first in printed sheets of eight pages, and subsequently gathered into pamphlets of thirty or more pages which he offered for one or two shillings each. They were printed by R. Walker, “near the Duke’s Palace, Norwich,” and sold by “Lane and Walker, St. Andrew’s.” They are without date, but cannot range far from 1818. Here are some specimens of his style: “The Norwich Corn Mart. By J. Parkerson, Junior.”

At one o’clock the busy scene begin,
Quick to the hall they all are posting in;
The cautious merchant takes his stand,
The farmer shows the produce of his land,

etc., for sixty-six lines. “On Mr. L⁠ ⁠… taking leave of his wife and children, who was sentenced to transportation for fourteen years” (!):⁠—

Hannah, farewell, I’m bound to go,
To taste the bitter draught of woe,

134 lines. “A Description of the Pineapple at Trowse:”⁠—

Both Beauty and Art have exerted their skill,
You will find on a spot near the brow of a hill;
The hill is near Norwich and call’d Bracondale,
I stepped into Vince’s myself to regale,

etc., four pages of that. —⁠Knapp ↩

Mr. C.: Thomas William Coke, Esq., of Holkham, Earl of Leicester in 1837, and died in 1842. —⁠Knapp ↩

MS., “Simpson.” —⁠Knapp ↩

Freya: The Venus of the North was the sister of Frey, according to Mallet (p. 94), and the original sources. —⁠Knapp ↩

The Wake of Freya: This incident must have occurred to Mrs. Borrow at her home, Dumpling Green, East Dereham, on a Friday night, 5th December, 1783, when she was twelve (not “ten”) years old. Her eldest sister, Elizabeth, would be in her seventeenth year. Friday was then, as now, market day at Dereham. The place was the Blyth farm about one and a half miles (not “three”) from “pretty D.” The superstition referred to in this episode is, or was, a very common one in Norfolk, and even other countries. See the Norfolk Chronicle for 14th May, 1791; Glyde’s Norfolk Garland, pp. 13⁠–⁠14, and George Borrow in the Quarterly Review for January, 1861, p. 62. —⁠Knapp ↩

To London: Crome (John’s teacher) died at Norwich, 22nd April, 1821; but John could not leave until after the Regimental Training, which closed that year on 26th June; hence his departure may be set down for the last of June, 1821. —⁠Knapp ↩

Rafael: Note inconsistent spelling with “Raphael” later in the book. —⁠Editor ↩

Corregio, read “Correggio.” —⁠Knapp ↩

Klopstock. ↩

Murray and Latroon, the Scotch outlaw and the “English Rogue.” English Rogue: Life of Meriton Latroon, a Witty Extravagant. Being a Compleat History of the Most Eminent Cheats of Both Sexes. London, 1665⁠–⁠80. —⁠Knapp ↩

Draoitheac, magic, read “draoidheachd” —⁠Knapp ↩

Muggletonians: Evidently a Borrovian slip here. See Notes and Queries for 3rd April, 1852, p. 320. —⁠Knapp ↩

Vedel: Anders Sörensen Vedel, first collector of the Kiaempeviser, or Heroic Ballads of the Danes, Copenhagen, 1591. —⁠Knapp ↩