Books: The Life of George Borrow

H >> Herbert Jenkins >> The Life of George Borrow

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37

Yours sincerely,

GEORGE BORROW.

In his account of how he first became acquainted with Haydon, Borrow
shows himself as anything but desirous of appearing in a picture.
When John tells of the artist's wish to include him as one of the
characters in a painting upon which he is engaged, Borrow replies:
"I have no wish to appear on canvas." It is probable that in some
way or other Haydon offended his sitter, who, regretting his
acquiescence, antedated the episode and depicted himself as refusing
the invitation. Such a liberty with fact and date would be quite in
accordance with Borrow's autobiographical methods.

Borrow wrote in Lavengro, "I have been a wanderer the greater part of
my life; indeed I remember only two periods, and these by no means
lengthy, when I was, strictly speaking, stationary." {75a} One of
the "two periods" was obviously the eight years spent at Norwich,
1816-24, the other is probably the years spent at Oulton. Thus the
"Veiled Period" may be assumed to have been one of wandering. The
seven years are gloomy and mysterious, but not utterly dark. There
is a hint here, a suggestion there--a letter or a paragraph, that
gives in a vague way some idea of what Borrow was doing, and where.
It seems comparatively safe to assume that after the publication of
Romantic Ballads he plunged into a life of roving and vagabondage,
which, in all probability, was brought to an abrupt termination by
either the loss or the exhaustion of his money. Anything beyond this
is pure conjecture. {75b}

After he became associated with the British & Foreign Bible Society,
his movements are easily accounted for; but all we have to guide us
as to what countries he had seen before 1833 is an occasional hint.
He casually admits having been in Italy, {75c} at Bayonne, {75d}
Paris, {75e} Madrid, {75f} the south of France. {75g} "I have
visited most of the principal capitals of the world," he writes in
1843; and again in the same year, "I have heard the ballad of Alonzo
Guzman chanted in Danish, by a hind in the wilds of Jutland." {76a}
"I have lived in different parts of the world, much amongst the
Hebrew race, and I am well acquainted with their words and
phraseology," {76b} he writes; and on another occasion: "I have seen
gypsies of various lands, Russian, Hungarian, and Turkish; and I have
also seen the legitimate children of most countries of the world."
{76c} An even more significant admission is that made when Colonel
Elers Napier, whom Borrow met in Seville in 1839, enquired where he
had obtained his knowledge of Moultanee. "Some years ago, in
Moultan," was the reply; then, as if regretting that he had confessed
so much, showed by his manner that he intended to divulge nothing
more. {76d}

"Once, during my own wanderings in Italy," Borrow writes, "I rested
at nightfall by the side of a kiln, the air being piercingly cold; it
was about four leagues from Genoa." {76e} Again, "Once in the south
of France, when I was weary, hungry, and penniless, I observed one of
these last patterans {76f} [a cross marked in the dust], and
following the direction pointed out, arrived at the resting-place of
'certain Bohemians,' by whom I was received with kindness and
hospitality, on the faith of no other word of recommendation than
patteran." {76g} In a letter of introduction to the Rev. E. Whitely,
of Oporto, the Rev. Andrew Brandram, of the Bible Society, wrote in
1835: "With Portugal he [Borrow] is already acquainted, and speaks
the language." This statement is significant, for only during the
"Veiled Period" could Borrow have visited Portugal.

It may be argued that Borrow was merely posing as a great traveller,
but the foregoing remarks are too casual, too much in the nature of
asides, to be the utterances of a poseur. A man seeking to impress
himself upon the world as a great traveller would probably have been
a little more definite.

The only really reliable information as to Borrow's movements after
his arrival in London is contained in the note to Haydon. In all
probability he went to Paris, where possibly he met Vidocq, the
master-rogue turned detective. {77a} It has been suggested by Dr
Knapp that he went to Paris, and thence on foot to Bayonne and
Madrid, after which he tramped to Pamplona, where he gets into
trouble, is imprisoned, and is released on condition that he leave
the country; he proceeds towards Marseilles and Genoa, where he takes
ship and is landed safely in London. The data, however, upon which
this itinerary is constructed are too frail to be convincing. There
is every probability that he roamed about the Continent and met with
adventures--he was a man to whom adventures gravitated quite
naturally--but the fact of his saying that he had been imprisoned on
three occasions, and there being only two instances on record at the
time, cannot in itself be considered as conclusive evidence of his
having been arrested at Pamplona. {77b}

In the spring of 1827 Borrow was unquestionably at Norwich, for he
saw the famous trotting stallion Marshland Shales on the Castle Hill
(12th April), and did for that grand horse "what I would neither do
for earl or baron, doffed my hat." {78a} Borrow apparently remained
with his mother for some months, to judge from certain entries (29th
September to 19th November) in his hand that appear in her account
books.

In December 1829 he was back again in London at 77 Great Russell
Street, W.C. He was as usual eager to obtain some sort of work. He
wrote to "the Committee of the Honourable and Praiseworthy
Association, known by the name of the Highland Society . . . a body
animate with patriotism, which, guided by philosophy, produces the
noblest results, and many of whose members stand amongst the very
eminent in the various departments of knowledge."

The project itself was that of translating into English "the best and
most approved poetry of the Ancient and Modern Scoto-Gaelic Bards,
with such notes on the usages and superstitions therein alluded to,
as will enable the English reader to form a clear and correct idea of
the originals." In the course of a rather ornate letter, Borrow
offers himself as the translator and compiler of such a work as he
suggests, avowing his willingness to accept whatsoever remuneration
might be thought adequate compensation for his expenditure of time.
Furthermore, he undertakes to complete the work within a period of
two years.

On 7th December he wrote to Dr Bowring, recently returned from
Denmark:-

"Lest I should intrude upon you when you are busy, I write to enquire
when you will be unoccupied. I wish to show you my translation of
The Death of Balder, Ewald's most celebrated production, which, if
you approve of, you will perhaps render me some assistance in
bringing forth, for I don't know many publishers. I think this will
be a proper time to introduce it to the British public, as your
account of Danish literature will doubtless cause a sensation." {79a}

On 29th December he wrote again:-

"When I had last the pleasure of being at yours, you mentioned that
we might at some future period unite our strength in composing a kind
of Danish Anthology. Suppose we bring forward at once the first
volume of the Danish Anthology, which should contain the heroic
supernatural songs of the K[iaempe] V[iser]."

It was suggested that there should be four volumes in all, and the
first, with an introduction that Borrow expressed himself as not
ashamed of, was ready and "might appear instanter, with no further
trouble to yourself than writing, if you should think fit, a page or
two of introductory matter." Dr Bowring replied by return of post
that he thought that no more than two volumes could be ventured on,
and Borrow acquiesced, writing: "The sooner the work is advertised
the better, FOR I AM TERRIBLY AFRAID OF BEING FORESTALLED IN THE
KIAEMPE VISER BY SOME OF THOSE SCOTCH BLACKGUARDS, who affect to
translate from all languages, of which they are fully as ignorant as
Lockhart is of Spanish."

Borrow was full of enthusiasm for the project, and repeated that the
first volume was ready, adding: "If we unite our strength in the
second, I think we can produce something worthy of fame, for we shall
have plenty of matter to employ talent upon." A later letter, which
was written from 7 Museum Street (8th January), told how he had "been
obliged to decamp from Russell St. for the cogent reason of an
execution having been sent into the house, and I thought myself happy
in escaping with my things."

He drew up a prospectus, endeavouring "to assume a Danish style,"
which he submitted to his collaborator, begging him to "alter . . .
whatever false logic has crept into it, find a remedy for its
incoherencies, and render it fit for its intended purpose. I have
had for the two last days a rising headache which has almost
prevented me doing anything."

It would appear that Dr Bowring did not altogether approve of the
"Danish style," for on 14th January Borrow wrote, "I approve of the
prospectus in every respect; it is business-like, and there is
nothing flashy in it. I do not wish to suggest one alteration . . .
When you see the foreign Editor," he continues, "I should feel much
obliged if you would speak to him about my reviewing Tegner, and
enquire whether a GOOD article on Welsh poetry would be received. I
have the advantage of not being a Welshman. I would speak the truth,
and would give translations of some of the best Welsh poetry; and I
really believe that my translations would not be the worst that have
been made from the Welsh tongue."

The prospectus, which appeared in several publications ran as
follows:-

"Dr Bowring and Mr George Borrow are about to publish, dedicated to
the King of Denmark, by His Majesy's permission, THE SONGS OF
SCANDINAVIA, in 2 vols. 8vo, 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.

Price to Subscribers, 1 pound, 1s.--to Non-Subscribers 1 pound, 5s.
The First Volume will be devoted to Ancient Popular Poetry; the
Second will give the choicest productions of the Modern School,
beginning with Tullin." {81a}

The Songs of Scandinavia now became to Borrow what the Celebrated
Trials had been four years previously, a source of constant toil. On
one occasion he writes to Dr Bowring telling him that he has just
translated an ode "as I breakfasted." What Borrow lived on at this
period it is impossible to say. It may be assumed that Mrs Borrow
did not keep him, for, apart from the slender proportions of the
income of the mother, the unconquerable independence of the son must
be considered; and Borrow loved his mother too tenderly to allow her
to deprive herself of luxuries even to keep him. He borrowed money
from her at various times; but he subsequently faithfully repaid her.
Even John was puzzled. "You never tell me what you are doing," he
writes to his brother at the end of 1832; "you can't be living on
nothing."

Borrow appears to have kept Dr Bowring well occupied with suggestions
as to how that good-natured man might assist him. Although he is to
see him on the morrow, he writes on the evening of 21st May regarding
another idea that has just struck him:

"As at present no doubt seems to be entertained of Prince Leopold's
accepting the sovereignty of Greece, would you have any objection to
write to him concerning me? I should be very happy to go to Greece
in his service. I do not wish to go in a civil or domestic capacity,
and I have, moreover, no doubt that all such situations have been
long since filled up; I wish to go in a military one, for which I am
qualified by birth and early habits. You might inform the Prince
that I have been for years on the Commander-in-Chiefs list for a
commission, but that I have not had sufficient interest to procure an
appointment. One of my reasons for wishing to reside in Greece is,
that the mines of Eastern literature would be accessible to me. I
should soon become an adept in Turkish, and would weave and transmit
to you such an anthology as would gladden your very heart. As for
the Songs of Scandinavia, all the ballads would be ready before
departure, and as I should have books, I would in a few months send
you translations of the modern Lyric Poetry. I hope this letter will
not displease you. I do not write it from FLIGHTINESS, but from
thoughtfulness. I am uneasy to find myself at four and twenty
drifting on the sea of the world, and likely to continue so."

On 22nd May Dr Bowring introduced Borrow to Dr Grundtvig, the Danish
poet, who required some transcriptions done. On 7th June, Borrow
wrote to Dr Bowring:

"I have looked over Mr Gruntvig's (sic) manuscript. It is a very
long affair, and the language is Norman Saxon. 40 pounds would not
be an extravagant price for a transcript, and so they told him at the
Museum. However, as I am doing nothing particular at present, and as
I might learn something from transcribing it, I would do it for 20
pounds. He will call on you to-morrow morning, and then, if you
please, you may recommend me. The character closely resembles the
ancient Irish, so I think you can answer for my competency."

At this time there were a hundred schemes seething through Borrow's
eager brain. Hearing that "an order has been issued for the making a
transcript of the celebrated Anglo-Saxon Codex of Exeter, for the use
of the British Museum," he applied to some unknown correspondent for
his interest and help to obtain the appointment as transcriber. The
work, however, was carried out by a Museum official.

Another project appears to have been to obtain a post at the British
Museum. On 9th March 1830 he had written to Dr Bowring:

"I have thought over the Museum matter, which we were talking about
last night, and it appears to me that it would be the very thing for
me, provided that it could be accomplished. I should feel obliged if
you would deliberate upon the best mode of proceeding, so that when I
see you again I may have the benefit of your advice."

In reply Dr Bowring commended the scheme, and promised to assist "by
every sort of counsel and exertion. But it would injure you," he
proceeds, "if I were to take the initiative. [The Gibraltar house of
Bowring & Murdock had recently failed.] Quietly make yourself master
of that department of the Museum. We must then think of how best to
get at the Council. If by any management they can be induced to ask
my opinion, I will give you a character which shall take you to the
top of Hecla itself. You have claims, strong ones, and I should
rejoice to see you NICHED in the British Museum."

Again failure! Disappointment seemed to be dogging Borrow's
footsteps at this period. For years past he had been seeking some
sort of occupation, into which he could throw all that energy and
determination of character that he possessed. He was earnest and
able, and he knew that he only required an opportunity of showing to
the world what manner of man he was. He seemed doomed to meet
everywhere with discouragement; for no one wanted him, just as no one
wanted his translations of the glorious Ab Gwilym. He appeared
before the world as a failure, which probably troubled him very
little; but there was another aspect of the case that was in his
eyes, "the most heartbreaking of everything, the strange, the
disadvantageous light in which I am aware that I must frequently have
appeared to those whom I most love and honour." {83a}

On 14th September he wrote to Dr Bowring:

"I am going to Norwich for some short time, as I am very unwell and
hope that cold bathing in October and November may prove of service
to me. My complaints are, I believe, the offspring of ennui and
unsettled prospects. I have thoughts of attempting to get into the
French service, as I should like prodigiously to serve under Clausel
in the next Bedouin campaign. I shall leave London next Sunday and
will call some evening to take my leave; I cannot come in the
morning, as early rising kills me."

A year later he writes again to Dr Bowring, who once more has been
exerting himself on his friend's behalf:

"WILLOW LANE, NORWICH,
11th September 1831.

MY DEAR SIR, -

I return you my most sincere thanks for your kind letter of the 2nd
inst., and though you have not been successful in your application to
the Belgian authorities in my behalf, I know full well that you did
your utmost, and am only sorry that at my instigation you attempted
an impossibility.

The Belgians seem either not to know or not to care for the opinion
of the great Cyrus who gives this advice to his captains. 'Take no
heed from what countries ye fill up your ranks, but seek recruits as
ye do horses, not those particularly who are of your own country, but
those of merit.' The Belgians will only have such recruits as are
born in Belgium, and when we consider the heroic manner in which the
native Belgian army defended the person of their new sovereign in the
last conflict with the Dutch, can we blame them for their
determination? It is rather singular, however, that resolved as they
are to be served only by themselves they should have sent for 5000
Frenchmen to clear their country of a handful of Hollanders, who have
generally been considered the most unwarlike people in Europe, but
who, if they had fair play given them, would long ere this time have
replanted the Orange flag on the towers of Brussels, and made the
Belgians what they deserve to be, hewers of wood and drawers of
water.

And now, my dear Sir, allow me to reply to a very important part of
your letter; you ask me whether I wish to purchase a commission in
the British service, because in that case you would speak to the
Secretary at War about me. I must inform you therefore that my name
has been for several years upon the list for the purchase of a
commission, and I have never yet had sufficient interest to procure
an appointment. If I can do nothing better I shall be very glad to
purchase; but I will pause two or three months before I call upon you
to fulfil your kind promise. It is believed that the Militia will be
embodied in order to be sent to that unhappy country Ireland, and
provided I can obtain a commission in one of them, and they are kept
in service, it would be better than spending 500 pounds about one in
the line. I am acquainted with the Colonels of the two Norfolk
regiments, and I daresay that neither of them would have any
objection to receive me. If they are not embodied I will most
certainly apply to you, and you may say when you recommend me that
being well grounded in Arabic, and having some talent for languages,
I might be an acquisition to a corps in one of our Eastern Colonies.
I flatter myself that I could do a great deal in the East provided I
could once get there, either in a civil or military capacity; there
is much talk at present about translating European books into the two
great languages, the Arabic and Persian; now I believe that with my
enthusiasm for these tongues I could, if resident in the East, become
in a year or two better acquainted with them than any European has
been yet, and more capable of executing such a task. Bear this in
mind, and if before you hear from me again you should have any
opportunity to recommend me as a proper person to fill any civil
situation in those countries or to attend any expedition thither, I
pray you to lay hold of it, and no conduct of mine shall ever give
you reason to repent it.

I remain,
My Dear Sir,
Your most obliged and obedient Servant,
GEORGE BORROW.

P.S.--Present my best remembrances to Mrs B. and to Edgar, and tell
them that they will both be starved. There is now a report in the
street that twelve corn-stacks are blazing within twenty miles of
this place. I have lately been wandering about Norfolk, and I am
sorry to say that the minds of the peasantry are in a horrible state
of excitement; I have repeatedly heard men and women in the harvest-
field swear that not a grain of the corn they were cutting should be
eaten, and that they would as lieve be hanged as live. I am afraid
all this will end in a famine and a rustic war.

It was pride that prompted Borrow to ask Dr Bowring to stay his hand
for the moment about a commission. There was no reasonable
possibility of his being able to raise 500 pounds. Even if his
mother had possessed it, which she did not, he would not have drained
her resources of so large an amount. His subsequent attitude towards
the Belgians was characteristic of him. To his acutely sensitive
perceptions, failure to obtain an appointment he sought was a rebuff,
and his whole nature rose up against what, at the moment, appeared to
be an intolerable slight.

Nothing came of the project of collaboration between Bowring and
Borrow beyond an article on Danish and Norwegian literature that
appeared in The Foreign Quarterly Review (June 1830), in which Borrow
supplied translations of the sixteen poems illustrating Bowring's
text. In all probability the response to the prospectus was deemed
inadequate, and Bowring did not wish to face a certain financial
loss.

From Borrow's own letters there is no question that Dr Bowring was
acting towards him in a most friendly manner, and really endeavouring
to assist him to obtain some sort of employment. It may be, as has
been said, and as seems extremely probable, that Bowring used his
"facility in acquiring and translating tongues deliberately as a
ladder to an administrative post abroad," {86a} but if Borrow "put a
wrong construction upon his sympathy" and was led into "a veritable
cul-de-sac of literature," {86b} it was no fault of Bowring's.

Borrow's relations with Dr Bowring continued to be most cordial for
many years, as his letters show. "Pray excuse me for troubling you
with these lines," he writes years later; "I write to you, as usual,
for assistance in my projects, convinced that you will withhold none
which it may be in your power to afford, more especially when by so
doing you will perhaps be promoting the happiness of our fellow-
creatures." This is very significant as indicating the nature of the
relations between the two men.

Borrow was to experience yet another disappointment. A Welsh
bookseller, living in the neighbourhood of Smithfield, commissioned
him to translate into English Elis Wyn's The Sleeping Bard, a book
printed originally in 1703. The bookseller foresaw for the volume a
large sale, not only in England but in Wales; but "on the eve of
committing it to the press, however, the Cambrian-Briton felt his
small heart give way within him. 'Were I to print it,' said he, 'I
should be ruined; the terrible descriptions 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 . . . Myn
Diawl! I had no idea, till I had read him in English, that Elis Wyn
had been such a terrible fellow.'" {87a}

With this Borrow had to be content and retire from the presence of
the little bookseller, who told him he was "much obliged . . . for
the trouble you have given yourself on my account," {87b} and his
bundle of manuscript, containing nearly three thousand lines, the
work probably of some months, was to be put aside for thirty years
before eventually appearing in a limited edition.

It cannot be determined with exactness when Borrow relinquished the
unequal struggle against adverse circumstances in London. He had met
with sufficient discouragement to dishearten him from further effort.
Perhaps his greatest misfortune was his disinclination to make
friends with anybody save vagabonds. He could attract and earn the
friendship of an apple-woman, thimble-riggers, tramps, thieves,
gypsies, in short with any vagrant he chose to speak to; but his
hatred of gentility was a great and grave obstacle in the way of his
material advancement. His brother John seemed to recognise this; for
in 1831 he wrote, "I am convinced that YOUR WANT OF SUCCESS IN LIFE
is more owing to your being unlike other people than to any other
cause."

It would appear that, finding nothing to do in London, Borrow once
more became a wanderer. He was in London in March; but on 27th,
28th, and 29th July 1830 he was unquestionably in Paris. Writing
about the Revolution of La Granja (August 1836) and of the energy,
courage and activity of the war correspondents, he says:

"I saw them [the war correspondents] during the three days at Paris,
mingled with canaille and gamins behind the barriers, whilst the
mitraille was flying in all directions, and the desperate cuirassiers
were dashing their fierce horses against these seemingly feeble
bulwarks. There stood they, dotting down their observations in their
pocket-books as unconcernedly as if reporting the proceedings of a
reform meeting in Covent Garden or Finsbury Square." {88a}

This can have reference only to the "Three Glorious Days" of
Revolution, 27th to 29th July 1830, during which Charles X. lost, and
Louis-Philippe gained, a throne. He returned to Norwich sometime
during the autumn of 1830. {88b} In November he was entering upon
his epistolary duel with the Army Pay Office in connection with
John's half-pay as a lieutenant in the West Norfolk Militia.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37