George Borrow and His Circle Part 22

DEAR SIR,--I sincerely trust that the limited extent of our acquaintances.h.i.+p will not cause this note to seem to you too presuming. _Breviter_, I have thrown the results of my observations among English gypsies into a very unpretending little volume consisting almost entirely of facts gathered from the Romany, without any theory. As I owe all my interest in the subject to your writings, and as I am sincerely grateful to you for the impulse which they gave me, I should like very much to dedicate my book to you. Of course if your kindness permits I shall submit the proofs to you, that you may judge whether the work deserves the honour. I should have sent you the MS., but not long after our meeting at the British Museum I left for Egypt, whence I have very recently returned, to find my publisher clamorous for the promised copy.

It is _not_--G.o.d knows--a mean and selfish desire to help my book by giving it the authority of your name, which induces this request. But I am earnestly desirous for my conscience'

sake to publish nothing in the Romany which shall not be true and sensible, even as all that you have written is true and sensible. Therefore, _should_ you take the pains to glance over my proof, I should be grateful if you would signify to me any differences of opinion should there be ground for any. Dr. A.

F. Pott in his _Zigeuner_ (vol. ii. p. 224), intimates very decidedly that you took the word _shastr_ (Exhastra de Moyses) from Sanskrit and put it into Romany; declaring that it would be very important if _shaster_ were Romany. I mention in my book that English gypsies call the New Testament (also any MS.) a _shaster_, and that a betting-book on a racecourse is called a _shaster_ 'because it is written.' I do not pretend in my book to such deep Romany as you have achieved--all that I claim is to have collected certain words, facts, phrases, etc., out of the Romany of the roads--corrupt as it is--as I have found it to-day. I deal only with the gypsy of the _Decadence_. With renewed apology for intrusion should it seem such, I remain, yours very respectfully,

CHARLES G. LELAND.

Francis Hindes Groome remarked when reviewing Borrow's _Word Book_ in 1874,[149] that when _The Gypsies of Spain_ was published in 1841 'there were not two educated men in England who possessed the slightest knowledge of Romany.' In the intervening thirty-three years all this was changed. There was an army of gypsy scholars or scholar gypsies of whom Leland was one, Hindes Groome another, and Professor E. H. Palmer a third, to say nothing of many scholars and students of Romany in other lands. Not one of them seemed when Borrow published his _Word Book of the Romany_ to see that he was the only man of genius among them. They only saw that he was an inferior philologist to them all. And so Borrow, who prided himself on things that he could do indifferently quite as much as upon things that he could do well, suffered once again, as he was so often doomed to suffer, from the lack of appreciation which was all in all to him, and his career went out in a veritable blizzard. He published nothing after his _Romano Lavo-Lil_ appeared in 1874.[150] He was then indeed a broken and a bitter man, with no further interest in life. Dedications of books to him interested him not at all. In any other mood, or a few years earlier, Leland's book, _The English Gypsies_,[151] would have gladdened his heart. In his preface Leland expresses 'the highest respect for the labours of Mr. George Borrow in this field,' he quotes Borrow continually and with sympathy, and renders him honour as a philologist, that has usually been withheld. 'To Mr.

Borrow is due the discovery that the word _Jockey_ is of gypsy origin and derived from _chuckiri_, which means a whip,' and he credits Borrow with the discovery of the origin of 'tanner' for sixpence; he vindicates him as against Dr. A. F. Pott,--a prince among students of gypsydom--of being the first to discover that the English gypsies call the Bible the _Shaster_. But there is a wealth of scientific detail in Leland's books that is not to be found in Borrow's, as also there is in Francis Hindes Groome's works. What had Borrow to do with science? He could not even give the word 'Rumani' its accent, and called it 'Romany.' He 'quietly appropriated,' says Groome, 'Bright's Spanish gypsy words for his own work, mistakes and all, without one word of recognition. I think one has the ancient impostor there.'[152] 'His knowledge of the strange history of the gypsies was very elementary, of their manners almost more so, and of their folk-lore practically _nil_,' says Groome elsewhere.[153] Yet Mr. Hindes Groome readily acknowledges that Borrow is above all writers on the gypsies. 'He communicates a subtle insight into gypsydom'--that is the very essence of the matter.[154] Controversy will continue in the future as in the present as to whether the gypsies are all that Borrow thought them. Perhaps 'corruption has crept in among them' as it did with the prize-fighters. They have intermarried with the gorgios, thrown over their ancient customs, lost all their picturesque qualities, it may be. But Borrow has preserved in literature for all time, as not one of the philologists and folk-lore students has done, a remarkable type of people. But this is not to be found in his first original work, _The Zincali_, nor in his last, _The Romano Lavo-Lil_.

This glamour is to be found in _Lavengro_ and _The Romany Rye_, to which books we shall come in due course. Here we need only refer to the fact that Borrow had loved the gypsies all his life--from his boyish meeting with Petulengro until in advancing years the prototype of that wonderful creation of his imagination--for this the Petulengro of _Lavengro_ undoubtedly was--came to visit him at Oulton. Well might Leland call him 'the Nestor of Gypsydom.'

We find the following letter to Dr. Bowring accompanying a copy of _The Zincali_:

To Dr. John Bowring.

58 JERMYN STREET, ST. JAMES, _April 14, 1841._

MY DEAR SIR,--I have sent you a copy of my work by the mail. If you could contrive to notice it some way or other I should feel much obliged. Murray has already sent copies to all the journals. It is needless to tell you that despatch in these matters is very important, the first blow is everything. Lord Clarendon is out of town. So I must send him his presentation copy through Murray, and then write to him. I am very unwell, and must go home. My address is George Borrow, Oulton Hall, Oulton, Lowestoft, Suffolk. Your obedient servant,

GEORGE BORROW.

Two years later we find Borrow writing to an unknown correspondent upon a phase of folk-lore:

OULTON, LOWESTOFT, SUFFOLK, _August 11, 1843._

MY DEAR SIR,--Many thanks for your interesting and kind letter in which you do me the honour to ask my opinion respecting the pedigree of your island goblin, le feu follet Belenger; that opinion I cheerfully give with a premise that it is only an opinion; in hunting for the etymons of these fairy names we can scarcely expect to arrive at anything like certainty.

I suppose you are aware that the name of Bilenger or Billinger is of occasional though by no means of frequent occurrence both in England and France. I have seen it; you have heard of Billings-gate and of Billingham, the unfortunate a.s.sa.s.sin of poor Percival,--all modifications of the same root; Belingart, Bilings home or Billing ston. But what is Billin-ger? Clearly that which is connected in some way or other with Billing. You will find _ger_, or something like it, in most European-tongues--Boulan_ger_, horolo_ger_, tal_ker_, walk_er_, ba_ker_, bre_wer_, beg_gar_. In Welsh it is of frequent occurrence in the shape of _ur_ or _gwr_--hen_ur_ (an eld_er_), her_wr_ (a prow_ler_); in Russian the ger, gwr, ur, er, appears in the shape of _ik_ or _k_--sapojgn_ik_, a shoema_ker_, Chin.o.bu_ik_, a man possessed of rank. The root of all these, as well as of _or_ in senator, victor, etc., is the Sanscrit _ker_ or _kir_, which means lord, master, maker, doer, possessor of something or connected with something.

We want now to come at the meaning of Beling or Billing, which probably means some action, or some moral or personal attribute; Bolvile in Anglo-Saxon means honest, Danish Bollig; Wallen, in German, to w.a.n.ken or move restlessly about; Baylan, in Spanish, to dance (Ball? Ballet?), connected with which are to whirl, to fling, and possibly Belinger therefore may mean a Billiger or honest fellow, or it may mean a Walter_ger_, a whirl_enger_, a flinger, or something connected with restless motion.

Allow me to draw your attention to the word 'Will' in the English word will-o-the-wisp; it must not be supposed that this Will is the abbreviation of William; it is pure Danish, 'Vild'--p.r.o.nounced will,--and signifies wild; Vilden Visk, the wild or moving wisp. I can adduce another instance of the corruption of the Danish vild into will: the rustics of this part of England are in the habit of saying 'they are led will'

(vild or wild) when from intoxication or some other cause they are bewildered at night and cannot find their way home. This expression is clearly from the old Norse or Danish. I am not at all certain that 'Bil' in Bilinger may not be this same will or vild, and that the word may not be a corruption of vilden, old or elder, wild or flying fire. It has likewise occurred to me that Bilinger may be derived from 'Volundr,' the wors.h.i.+p of the blacksmith or Northern Vulcan. Your obedient servant,

GEORGE BORROW.

FOOTNOTES:

[144] There were 750 copies of the first edition of _The Zincali_ in two vols. in 1841. 750 of the second edition in 1843, and a third issue of 750 in the same year. A fourth edition of 7,500 copies appeared in the cheap Home and Colonial Library in 1846, and there was a fifth edition of 1000 copies in 1870. These were all the editions published in England during Borrow's lifetime. Dr. Knapp traced three American editions during the same period.

[145] _The Zincali; or an Account of the Gypsies of Spain_. With an original collection of their songs and poetry, and a copious dictionary of their language. By George Borrow, Late Agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society in Spain. '_For that which is unclean by nature, thou canst entertain no hope; no was.h.i.+ng will turn the gypsy white_.'--Ferdousi. In two volumes. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street, 1841.

[146] Knapp's _Life_, vol. i. p. 378.

[147] Mrs. Pennell. See _Charles G.o.dfrey Leland: a Biography_, by Elizabeth Robins Pennell. 2 vols. 1906.

[148] Given in Mrs. Pennell's _Leland: a Biography_, vol. ii. pp. 142-3.

The letter to which it is a reply is given in Knapp's _Borrow_, vol. ii.

pp. 228-9.

[149] _The Academy_, June 13, 1874.

[150] _Romano Lavo-Lil: Word Book of the Romany; or, English Gypsy Language_. By George Borrow. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street, 1874.

[151] Charles G.o.dfrey Leland (1824-1903) better known as 'Hans Breitmann' of the popular ballads, was born in Philadelphia and died in Florence. He was always known among his friends as 'The Rye,' in consequence of his enthusiasm for the gypsies concerning whom he wrote four books, the best known being: _The English Gypsies and their Language_, by Charles G. Leland: Trubner. _The Gypsies_, by Charles G.

Leland: Trubner.

[152] See Groome's _In Gipsy Tents_ (W. P. Nimmo, 1880), and _Gipsy Folk-Tales_ (Hurst & Blackett, 1899). Francis Hindes Groome (1851-1902), whom it was my privilege to know, was the son of Archdeacon Groome, the friend of Edward FitzGerald. He was the greatest English authority of his time on gypsy language and folk-lore. He celebrated his father's friends.h.i.+p with the paraphraser of Omar Khayyam in _Two Suffolk Friends_, 1895, and wrote a good novel of gypsydom in _Kriegspiel_, 1896. He also edited an edition of _Lavengro_ (Methuen), 1901.

[153] Groome to Leland in _Charles G.o.dfrey Leland: a Biography_, by E.

R. Pennell, vol. ii. p. 141.

[154] Introduction to _Lavengro_ (Methuen), 1901.

CHAPTER XXII

_THE BIBLE IN SPAIN_

In an admirable appreciation of our author, the one in which he gives the oft-quoted eulogy concerning him as 'the delightful, the bewitching, the never-sufficiently-to-be-praised George Borrow,' Mr. Birrell records the solace that may be found by small boys in the ambiguities of a t.i.tle-page, or at least might have been found in it in his youth and in mine. In those days in certain Puritan circles a very strong line was drawn between what was known as Sunday reading, and reading that might be permitted on week-days. The Sunday book must have a religious flavour. There were magazines with that particular flavour, every story in them having a pious moral withal. Very closely watched and scrutinised was the reading of young people in those days and in those circles. Mr. Birrell, doubtless, speaks from autobiographical memories when he tells us of a small boy with whose friends _The Bible in Spain_ pa.s.sed muster on the strength of its t.i.tle-page. For Mr. Birrell is the son of a venerated Nonconformist minister; and perhaps he, or at least those who were of his household, had this religious idiosyncrasy. It may be that the distinction which pervaded the evangelical circles of Mr.

Birrell's youth as to what were Sunday books, as distinct from books to be read on week-days, has disappeared. In any case think of the advantage of the boy of that generation who was able to handle a book with so unexceptionable a t.i.tle as _The Bible in Spain_. His elders would succ.u.mb at once, particularly if the boy had the good sense to call their attention to the sub-t.i.tle--'The Journeys, Adventures, and Imprisonments of an Englishman in an Attempt to Circulate the Scriptures in the Peninsula.' Nothing could be said by the most devout of seniors against so prepossessing a t.i.tle-page.[155] But what of the boy who had thus pa.s.sed the censors.h.i.+p? What a revelation of adventure was open to him! Perhaps he would skip the 'preachy' parts in which Borrow was doubtless sincere, although the sincerity has so uncertain a ring to-day. Here are five pa.s.sages, for example, which do not seem to belong to the book:

In whatever part of the world I, a poor wanderer in the Gospel's cause, may chance to be

very possibly the fate of St. Stephen might overtake me; but does the man deserve the name of a follower of Christ who would shrink from danger of any kind in the cause of Him whom he calls his Master? 'He who loses his life for my sake shall find it,' are words which the Lord Himself uttered. These words were fraught with consolation to me, as they doubtless are to every one engaged in propagating the Gospel, in sincerity of heart, in savage and barbarian lands.

Unhappy land! not until the pure light of the Gospel has illumined thee, wilt thou learn that the greatest of all gifts is charity!

and I thought that to convey the Gospel to a place so wild and remote might perhaps be considered an acceptable pilgrimage in the eyes of my Maker. True it is that but one copy remained of those which I had brought with me on this last journey; but this reflection, far from discouraging me in my projected enterprise, produced the contrary effect, as I called to mind that, ever since the Lord revealed Himself to man, it has seemed good to Him to accomplish the greatest ends by apparently the most insufficient means; and I reflected that this one copy might serve as an instrument for more good than the four thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine copies of the edition of Madrid.

I shall not detain the course of my narrative with reflections as to the state of a Church which, though it pretends to be founded on scripture, would yet keep the light of scripture from all mankind, if possible. But Rome is fully aware that she is not a Christian Church, and having no desire to become so, she acts prudently in keeping from the eyes of her followers the page which would reveal to them the truths of Christianity.

All this does not ring quite true, and in any case it is too much on the lines of 'Sunday reading' to please the small boy, who must, however, have found a thousand things in that volume that were to his taste--some of the wildest adventures, hairbreadth escapes, extraordinary meetings again and again with unique people--with Benedict Mol, for example, who was always seeking for treasure. Gypsies, bull-fighters, quaint and queer characters of every kind, come before us in rapid succession.

Rarely, surely, have so many adventures been crowded into the same number of pages. Only when Borrow remembers, as he has to do occasionally, that he is an agent of the Bible Society does the book lose its vigour and its charm. We have already pointed out that the foundations of the volume were contained in certain letters written by Borrow during his five years in Spain to the secretaries of the Bible Society in London. The recent publication of these letters has revealed to us Borrow's methods. When he had settled down at Oulton he took down his notebooks, one of which is before me, but finding this was not sufficient, he asked the Bible Society for the loan of his letters to them.[156] Other letters that he hoped to use were not forthcoming, as the following note from Miss Gurney to Mrs. Borrow indicates: