Queen Berngerd / The Bard and the Dreams / and / Other Ballads / By / George Borrow / London: / Printed for Private Circulation / 1913.
Collation:—Square demy octavo, pp. 31; consisting of: Half-title (with blank reverse) pp. 1–2; Frontispiece (with blank recto) pp. 3–4; Title-page, as above (with a note regarding the American copyright upon the centre of the reverse) pp. 5–6; and Text of the Ballads pp. 7–31. There are headlines throughout, each page being headed with the title of the particular Ballad occupying it. Upon the reverse of p. 31 is the following imprint: “London: / Printed for Thomas J. Wise, Hampstead, N.W. / Edition limited to Thirty Copies.” The signatures are A and B (two sheets each eight leaves), the one inset within the other.
Issued in bright green paper wrappers, with untrimmed edges, and with the title-page reproduced upon the front. The leaves measure 8½ x6¾ inches.
Thirty Copies only were printed.
The Frontispiece consists of a reduced facsimile of the original Manuscript, in Borrow’s handwriting, of The Bard and the Dreams.
Contents.
|
page |
Queen Berngerd. [Long ere the Sun the heaven arrayed] |
7 |
Dame Martha’s Fountain. [Dame Martha dwelt at Karisegaard] Previously printed (with some small differences of text) in The Foreign Quarterly Review, June 1830, p. 83. |
13 |
The Bard and the Dreams. [O’er the sweet smelling meads with his lyre in his hand] |
16 |
King Oluf the Saint. [King Oluf and his brother bold] Previously printed (with some slight differences of text) in The Foreign Quarterly Review, June 1830, pp. 59–61. |
23 |
To Scribblers. [Would it not be more dignified] This delightful Squib, here first printed, was written by Borrow upon the refusal by Lockhart to insert in The Quarterly Review Borrow’s Essay suggested by Ford’s Handbook for Travellers in Spain, 1845, in the unmutilated and unamended form in which the author had written it.—[See ante, No. 10.] |
30 |
To a Conceited Woman. [Be still, be still, and speak not back again] |
31 |
Note.—Each poem, to which no reference is attached, appeared for the first time in this volume.
There is a copy of Queen Berngerd, The Bard and the Dreams, and Other Ballads in the Library of the British Museum. The Press-mark is C. 44. d. 38.
Manuscript of The Bard and the Dreams
Finnish Arts / Or / Sir Thor and Damsel Thure / A Ballad / By / George Borrow / London: / Printed for Private Circulation / 1913.
Collation:—Square demy octavo, pp. 27; consisting of: Half-title (with blank reverse) pp. 1–2; Frontispiece (with blank recto), pp. 3–4; Title-page, as above (with notice regarding the American copyright upon the centre of the reverse) pp. 5–6; and Text of the Ballads pp. 7–27. There are head-lines throughout, each page being headed with the title of the particular Ballad occupying it. Upon the reverse of p. 27 is the following imprint: “London: / Printed for Thomas J. Wise, Hampstead, N.W. / Edition limited to Thirty Copies.” The signatures are A (a quarter-sheet of two leaves), B (a half-sheet of four leaves), and C (a full sheet of eight leaves), each inset within the other.
Issued in bright green paper wrappers, with untrimmed edges, and with the title-page reproduced upon the front. The leaves measure 8½ × 6⅞ inches.
Thirty Copies only were printed.
The Frontispiece is a reduced facsimile of the first page of the original Manuscript of Finnish Arts, or Sir Thor and Damsel Thure.
|
page |
Finnish Arts, Or, Sir Thor and Damsel Thure. [Sir Thor was a knight of prowess tried] A reduced facsimile of the first page of the Manuscript of Finnish Arts will be found facing the present page. |
7 |
A New Song to an Old Tune. [Who starves his wife] |
22 |
Ode from Anacreon. [The earth to drink does not disdain] |
24 |
Lines from the Italian. [“Repent, O repent!” said a Friar one day] |
25 |
A Drinking Song. [O how my breast is glowing] |
26 |
There is a copy of Finnish Arts, Or Sir Thor and Damsel Thure in the Library of the British Museum. The Pressmark is C. 44. d. 38.
Brown William / The Power of the Harp / and / Other Ballads / By / George Borrow / London: / Printed for Private Circulation / 1913.
Collation:—Square demy octavo, pp. 31; consisting of: Half-title (with blank reverse) pp. 1–2; Title-page, as above (with notice regarding the American copyright upon the centre of the reverse) pp. 3–4; and Text of the Ballads pp. 5–31. There are head-lines throughout, each page being headed with the title of the particular Ballad occupying it. Upon the reverse of p. 31 is the following imprint: “London / Printed for Thomas J. Wise, Hampstead, N.W. / Edition limited to Thirty Copies.” The signatures are A and B (two sheets, each eight leaves), the one inset within the other.
Issued in bright green paper wrappers, with untrimmed edges, and with the title-page reproduced upon the front. The leaves measure 8½ × 6⅞ inches.
Thirty Copies only were printed.
Contents.
|
page |
Brown William. [Let no one in greatness too confident be] Previously printed in Once a Week, January 4th, 1862, pp. 37–38. |
5 |
The Power of the Harp. [Sir Peter would forth from the castle ride] A reduced facsimile of one of the pages of the Manuscript of The Power of The Harp will be found facing herewith. |
12 |
The Unfortunate Marriage. [Hildebrand gave his sister away] |
18 |
The Wrestling-Match. [As one day I wandered lonely, in extreme distress of mind] |
25 |
The Warrior. From the Arabic. [Thou lov’st to look on myrtles green] |
31 |
Note.—Each poem to which no reference is attached, appeared for the first time in this volume.
There is a copy of Brown William, The Power of the Harp, and Other Ballads in the Library of the British Museum. The Press-mark is C. 44. d. 38.
Manuscript of The Power of the Harp
The Song of Deirdra / King Byrge and his Brothers / and / Other Ballads / By / George Borrow / London: / Printed for Private Circulation / 1913.
Collation:—Square demy octavo, pp. 28; consisting of: Half-title (with blank reverse) pp. 1–2; Title-page, as above (with a note regarding the American copyright upon the centre of the reverse) pp. 3–4; and Text of the Ballads pp. 5–28. There are head-lines throughout, each page being headed with the title of the particular Ballad occupying it. At the foot of p. 28 is the following imprint: “London: / Printed for Thomas J. Wise, Hampstead, N.W. / Edition limited to Thirty Copies.” The signatures are A (a quarter-sheet of two leaves), B (a half-sheet of four leaves), and C (a full sheet of eight leaves), all inset within each other.
Issued in bright green paper wrappers, with untrimmed edges, and with the title-page reproduced upon the front. The leaves measure 8½ × 6¾ inches.
Thirty Copies only were printed.
Contents.
Note.—Each poem to which no reference is attached appeared for the first time in this volume.
There is a copy of The Song of Deirdra, King Byrge and his Brothers, and Other Ballads in the Library of the British Museum. The Press-mark is C. 44. d. 38.
Signelil / A Tale from the Cornish / and Other Ballads / By / George Borrow / London: / Printed for Private Circulation / 1913.
Collation:—Square demy octavo, pp. 28; consisting of: Half-title (with blank reverse) pp. 1–2; Title-page (with notice regarding the American copyright upon the centre of the reverse) pp. 3–4; and Text of the Ballads pp. 5–28. There are head-lines throughout, each page being headed with the title of the particular Ballad occupying it. At the foot of p. 28 is the following imprint: “London: / Printed for Thomas J. Wise, Hampstead, N.W. / Edition limited to Thirty Copies.” The signatures are A (a quarter-sheet of two leaves), B (a half-sheet of four leaves), and C (a full sheet of eight leaves), all inset within each other.
Issued in bright green paper wrappers, with untrimmed edges, and with the title-page reproduced upon the front. The leaves measure 8½ × 6⅞ inches.
Thirty Copies only were printed.
Contents.
|
page |
Signelil. [The Lady her handmaid to questioning took] |
5 |
A Tale from the Cornish. [In Lavan’s parish once of yore] Previously printed, with some trifling inaccuracies, in Knapp’s Life, Writings, and Correspondence of George Borrow, 1899, vol. ii, pp. 91–95. |
8 |
Sir Verner And Dame
Ingeborg. [In Linholm’s house |
19 |
The Heddeby Spectre. [At evening fall I chanced to ride] An earlier, and utterly different, version of this ballad was printed (under the tentative title The Heddybee-Spectre) in Romantic Ballads, 1826, pp. 37–39. Borrow afterwards described this earlier version as “a paraphrase.” |
22 |
From Goudeli. [Yestere’en when the bat, and the owl, and his mate] |
25 |
Peasant Songs of Spain: |
|
1. [ When Jesu our Redeemer] |
27 |
2. [There stands a stone, a rounded stone] |
28 |
Note.—Each poem to which no reference is attached appeared for the first time in this volume.
There is a copy of Signelil, a Tale from the Cornish, and Other Ballads in the Library of the British Museum. The Press-mark is C. 44. d. 38.
Young Swaigder / or / The Force of Runes / and Other Ballads / By / George Borrow / London: / Printed for Private Circulation / 1913.
Collation:—Square demy octavo, pp. 27; consisting of: Half-title (with blank reverse) pp. 1–2; Title-page, as above (with a notice regarding the American copyright upon the reverse) pp. 3–4; and Text of the Ballads pp. 5–27. There are head-lines throughout, each page being headed with the title of the particular Ballad occupying it. Upon the reverse of p. 27 is the following imprint: “London: / Printed for Thomas J. Wise, Hampstead, N.W. / Edition limited to Thirty Copies.” The signatures are A (a quarter-sheet of two leaves), B (a half-sheet of four leaves), and C (a full sheet of eight leaves), each inset within the other.
Issued in bright green paper wrappers, with untrimmed edges, and with the title-page reproduced upon the front. The leaves measure 8½ × 6⅞ inches.
Thirty Copies only were printed.
Contents.
Note.—Each poem to which no reference is attached, appeared for the first time in this volume.
There is a copy of Young Swaigder or The Force of Runes and Other Ballads in the Library of the British Museum The Press-mark is C. 44. d. 38.
Emelian the Fool / A Tale / Translated from the Russian / By / George Borrow / London: / Printed for Private Circulation / 1913.
Collation:—Crown octavo, pp. 37; consisting of: Half-title (with blank reverse) pp. 1–2; Title-page, as above (with blank reverse) pp. 3–4; Introduction pp. 5–7; and Text of the Tale pp. 8–37. The reverse of p. 37 is blank. The head-line is Emelian the Fool throughout, upon both sides of the page. The pamphlet is concluded by a leaf, with blank reverse, carrying the following imprint upon its recto: “London: / Printed for Thomas J. Wise, Hampstead, N.W. / Edition limited to Thirty Copies.” The signatures are A (a half-sheet of 4 leaves), plus B and C (2 sheets, each 8 leaves), inset within each other.
Issued in bright green paper wrappers, with untrimmed edges, and with the title-page reproduced upon the front. The leaves measure 7½ × 5 inches.
Thirty Copies only were printed.
Emelian the Fool first appeared in Once a Week, vol. vi, March 8th, 1862, pp. 289–294, where it formed the first of a series of three Russian Popular Tales, in Prose, translated by George Borrow.
The Tale was also included in The Avon Booklet, vol. ii, 1904, pp. 175–197.
There is a copy of Emelian the Fool in the Library of the British Museum. The Press-mark is C. 57. e. 45 (1).
The Story of Tim / Translated from the Russian / By / George Borrow / London: / Printed for Private Circulation / 1913.
Collation:—Crown octavo, pp. 31; consisting of: Half-title (with blank reverse) pp. 1–2; Title-page as above (with blank reverse) pp. 3–4; Introduction p. 5; and Text of the Story pp. 6–31. The head-line is The Story of Tim throughout, upon both sides of the page. Upon the reverse of p. 31 is the following imprint: “London: / Printed for Thomas J. Wise, Hampstead, N.W. / Edition limited to Thirty Copies.” The signatures are A and B (two sheets, each eight leaves), the one inset within the other.
Issued in bright green paper wrappers, with untrimmed edges, and with the title-page reproduced upon the front. The leaves measure 7½ × 5 inches.
Thirty Copies only were printed.
The Story of Tim first appeared in Once a Week, vol. vii, October 4th, 1862, pp. 403–406, where it formed the third of a series of Russian Popular Tales, in Prose, translated by George Borrow.
The Story was also included in The Avon Booklet, vol. ii, 1904, pp. 211–229.
There is a copy of The Story of Tim in the Library of the British Museum. The Press-mark is C. 57. e. 45 (2).
Title page of The Story of Tim
Mollie Charane / and Other Ballads / By / George Borrow / London: / Printed for Private Circulation / 1913.
Collation:—Square demy octavo, pp. 28; consisting of: Half-title (with blank reverse) pp. 1–2; Title-page, as above (with notice regarding the American copyright upon the centre of the reverse) pp. 3–4; and Text of the Ballads pp. 5–28. There are headlines throughout, each page being headed with the title of the particular Ballad occupying it. At the foot of p. 28 is the following imprint: “London: / Printed for Thomas J. Wise, Hampstead, N.W. / Edition limited to Thirty Copies.” The signatures are A (a quarter-sheet of two leaves), B (a half-sheet of four leaves), and C (a full sheet of eight leaves), each inset within the other.
Issued in bright green paper wrappers, with untrimmed edges, and with the title-page reproduced upon the front. The leaves measure 8½ × 6⅞ inches.
Thirty Copies only were printed.
Contents.
Note.—Each poem to which no reference is attached appeared for the first time in this volume.
There is a copy of Mollie Charane and Other Ballads in the Library of the British Museum. The Press-mark is C. 44. d. 38.
Manuscript of The Danes of Yore
Grimhild’s Vengeance / Three Ballads / By / George Borrow / Edited / With an Introduction / By / Edmund Gosse, C. B. / London: / Printed for Private Circulation / 1913.
Collation:—Square demy octavo, pp. 40; consisting of: Half-title (with blank reverse) pp. 1–2; Title-page, as above (with a note regarding the American copyright upon the centre of the reverse) pp. 3–4; Introduction pp. 5–14; and text of the three Ballads pp. 15–40. The head-line is Grimhild’s Vengeance throughout, upon both sides of the page. At the foot of p. 40 is the following imprint: “London: / Printed for Thomas J. Wise, Hampstead, N.W. / Edition limited to Thirty Copies.” The signatures are A (a half-sheet of four leaves), and B and C (two sheets, each eight leaves), each inset within the other.
Issued in bright green paper wrappers, with untrimmed edges, and with the title-page reproduced upon the front. The leaves measure 8½ × 6⅞ inches.
Thirty Copies only were printed.
Contents.
|
page |
Grimhild’s Vengeance. Song the First. [It was the proud Dame Grimhild Prepares the mead and beer] A reduced facsimile of page 2 of the 1854 Manuscript of this Song faces the present page. |
15 |
Grimhild’s Vengeance. Song the Second. [It was the proud Dame Grimhild The wine with spices blends] |
24 |
Grimhild’s Vengeance. Song the Third. [O, where will ye find kempions So bold and strong of hand] |
32 |
The Introduction furnished by Mr. Edmund Gosse to Grimhild’s Vengeance is undoubtedly by far the most illuminating and important contribution yet made to the critical study of Borrow’s Ballads, a study which has hitherto been both meagre and inadequate. Not only does Mr. Gosse handle the three Songs particularly before him, and make clear the relationship they bear to each other, but he deals with the whole subject of the origin of Borrow’s Scandinavian Ballads, and traces fully and precisely the immediate source from which their author derived them. One of Borrow’s most vivid records Mr. Gosse calls into question, and proves indisputably that it must henceforth be regarded, if not as a fiction, at least as one more result of Borrow’s inveterate habit of “drawing the long bow,”—to wit the passages in Lavengro wherein Borrow recounts his acquisition of the “strange and uncouth-looking volume” at the price of a kiss from the yeoman’s wife, and the purpose which that volume served him.
Of the first and second of the three Ballads included in Grimhild’s Vengeance two Manuscripts are available. The first of these was written in 1829, and was intended to find a place in the Songs of Scandinavia advertised at the close of that year. The second Manuscript was written in 1854, and was prepared for the projected volumes of Kœmpe Viser of that date. Of the third Ballad there exists only a single Manuscript, namely that produced in 1829. Apparently in 1854 Borrow had relinquished all hope of publishing the Kœmpe Viser before he had commenced work upon the third Ballad. In the present volume the first two Songs were printed from the Manuscripts of 1854; the third Song from the Manuscript of 1829.
There is a copy of Grimhild’s Vengeance in the Library of the British Museum. The Press-mark is C. 44. d. 38.
Manuscript of Grimhild’s Vengeance: Song the First—1854
Letters / To his Mother / Ann Borrow / and Other Correspondents / By / George Borrow / London: / Printed for Private Circulation / 1913.
Collation:—Crown octavo, pp. 38; consisting of Half-title (with blank reverse) pp. 1–2; Title-page, as above (with a notice regarding the American copyright upon the centre of the reverse) pp. 3–4; and Text of the Letters pp. 5–38. The head-line is Letters to his Mother throughout, upon both sides of the page. Following p. 38 is a leaf, with blank recto, and with the following imprint upon the reverse: “London: / Printed for Thomas J. Wise, Hampstead, N.W. / Edition limited to Thirty Copies.” The signatures are A (a half-sheet of four leaves), plus B and C (two sheets, each eight leaves), each inset within the other.
Issued in bright green paper wrappers, with untrimmed edges, and with the title-page reproduced upon the front. The leaves measure 7½ × 5 inches.
Thirty Copies only were printed.
The series of letters contained in this volume were reprinted in George Borrow and his Circle. By Clement King Shorter, 8vo, 1913. The whole of the holographs are in Mr. Shorter’s possession.
There is a copy of Letters to his Mother, Ann Borrow, in the Library of the British Museum. The Press-mark is C. 57. e. 46.
The Brother Avenged / and / Other Ballads / By / George Borrow / London: / Printed for Private Circulation / 1913.
Collation:—Square demy octavo, pp. 32; consisting of Half-title (with blank reverse) pp. 1–2; Title-page, as above (with a note regarding the American copyright upon the centre of the reverse) pp 3–4; and Text of the Ballads pp. 5–32. There are head-lines throughout, each page being headed with the title of the particular Ballad occupying it. At the foot of p. 32 is the following imprint: “London: / Printed for Thomas J. Wise, Hampstead, N.W. / Edition limited to Thirty Copies.” The signatures are A and B (two sheets, each eight leaves), the one inset within the other.
Issued in bright green paper wrappers, with untrimmed edges, and with the title-page reproduced upon the front. The leaves measure 8½ × 6⅞ inches.
Thirty Copies only were printed
Contents.
|
page |
The Brother Avenged. [I stood before my master’s board] Previously printed (with some textual variations) in The Foreign Quarterly Review, vol. vi, June 1830, pp 61–62. |
5 |
The Eyes. [268] [To kiss a pair of red lips small] |
9 |
Harmodius and Aristogiton. [With the leaves of the myrtle I’ll cover my brand] |
12 |
My Dainty Dame. [My dainty Dame, my heart’s delight] |
14 |
Grasach Abo or The Cause of Grace. [O, Baillie Na Cortie! thy turrets are tall] |
16 |
Dagmar. [Sick in Ribe Dagmar’s lying] |
19 |
The Elf Bride. [There was a youthful swain one day] These stanzas should be compared with The Elves, printed in The Nightingale, The Valkyrie and Raven, and Other Ballads, 1913, pp. 25–26. |
21 |
The Treasure Digger. [O, would that with last and shoe I had stay’d] |
23 |
The Fisher. [The fisherman saddleth his good winged horse] |
25 |
The Cuckoo. [Abiding an appointment made] |
29 |
Note.—Each poem to which no reference is attached, appeared for the first time in this volume.
There is a copy of The Brother Avenged and Other Ballads in the Library of the British Museum. The Press-mark is C. 44. d. 38.
The Gold Horns / Translated by / George Borrow / from the Danish of / Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger / Edited / with an Introduction by / Edmund Gosse, C.B. / London: / Printed for Private Circulation / 1913.
Collation:—Square demy octavo, pp. 25; consisting of: Half-title (with blank reverse) pp. 1–2; Title-page, as above (with a note regarding the American copyright upon the centre of the reverse) pp. 3–4; Introduction pp. 5–9; and Text of The Gold Horns, the Danish and English texts facing each other upon opposite pages, pp. 10–25. The reverse of p. 25 is blank. There are head-lines throughout, each recto being headed The Gold Horns, and each verso Guldhornene. The book is completed by a leaf, with blank reverse, and with the following imprint upon its recto: “London: / Printed for Thomas J. Wise, Hampstead, N.W. / Edition limited to Thirty Copies.” The signatures are A (a half-sheet of four leaves), B (a quarter-sheet of two leaves), and C (a full sheet of eight leaves), each inset within the other.
Issued in bright green paper wrappers, with untrimmed edges, and with the title-page reproduced upon the front. The leaves measure 8½ × 6⅞ inches.
Thirty Copies only were printed.
Although the poem was not printed until 1913, it is quite evident that the translation was made by Borrow in or about the year 1826. The paper upon which the Manuscript is written is watermarked with the date 1824, whilst the handwriting coincides with that of several of the pieces included in the Romantic Ballads of 1826. “There can be little doubt,” writes Mr. Gosse, “that Borrow intended The Gold Horns for that volume, and rejected it at last. He was conscious, perhaps, that his hand had lacked the skill needful to reproduce a lyric the melody of which would have taxed the powers of Coleridge or of Shelley.”
“The Gold Horns marks one of the most important stages in the history of Scandinavian literature. It is the earliest, and the freshest, specimen of the Romantic Revival in its definite form. In this way, it takes in Danish poetry a place analogous to that taken by The Ancient Mariner in English poetry. . . .
“Oehlenschläger has explained what it was that suggested to him the leading idea of his poem. Two antique horns of gold, discovered some time before in the bogs of Slesvig, had been recently stolen from the national collection at Rosenberg, and the thieves had melted down the inestimable treasures. Oehlenschläger treats these horns as the reward for genuine antiquarian enthusiasm, shown in a sincere and tender passion for the ancient relics of Scandinavian history. From a generation unworthy to appreciate them, the Horns had been withdrawn, to be mysteriously restored at the due romantic hour.”—[From the Introduction by Edmund Gosse.]
There is a copy of The Gold Horns in the Library of the British Museum. The Press-mark is C. 57. d. 19.
Tord of Hafsborough / and Other Ballads / By / George Borrow / London: / Printed for Private Circulation / 1914.
Collation:—Square demy octavo, pp. 32; consisting of: Half-title (with blank reverse) pp. 1–2; Title-page, as above (with a note regarding the American copyright upon the centre of the reverse) pp. 3–4; and Text of the Ballads pp. 5–32. There are head-lines throughout, each page being headed with the title of the particular Ballad occupying it. At the foot of p. 32 is the following imprint: “London: / Printed for Thomas J. Wise, Hampstead, N.W. / Edition limited to Thirty Copies.” The signatures are A and B (two sheets, each eight leaves), the one inset within the other.
Issued in bright green paper wrappers, with untrimmed edges, and with the title-page reproduced upon the front. The leaves measure 8½ × 6⅞ inches.
Thirty Copies only were printed.
|
page |
Tord of Hafsborough. [It was Tord of Hafsborough] |
5 |
From the Arabic. [O thou who fain would’st wisdom gain] |
10 |
Thorvald. [Swayne Tveskieg did a man possess] Previously printed in The Foreign Quarterly Review, vol. vi, 1830, p. 74. |
11 |
Peter Colbiornsen. [’Fore Fredereksteen King Carl he lay] Previously printed in The Foreign Quarterly Review, vol. vi, 1830, pp. 84–85. |
16 |
Kragelill. [’Twas noised about, ’twas noised about] |
21 |
Allegast. [The Count such a store of gold had got] |
25 |
Epigrams: |
|
1. [Assume a friend’s face when a foeman you spy] |
30 |
2. [The lion in woods finds prey of noble kind] |
30 |
3. [Though God provides our daily bread] |
30 |
4. [To trust a man I never feel inclined] |
31 |
5. [A hunter who was always seeking game] |
31 |
6. [The plans of men of shrewdest wit] |
31 |
7. [Well was it said, long years ago] |
31 |
8. [Who roams the world by many wants beset] |
32 |
It is probable that the whole of these eight Epigrams were derived by Borrow from Persian sources. |
|
On a Young Man with Red Hair. [He is a lad of sober mind] |
32 |
Note.—Each poem to which no reference is attached, appeared for the first time in this volume.
There is a copy of Tord of Hafsborough and Other Ballads in the Library of the British Museum. The Press-mark is C. 44. d. 38.
The Expedition to / Birting’s Land / and Other Ballads / By / George Borrow / London: / Printed for Private Circulation / 1914.
Collation:—Square demy octavo, pp. 27; consisting of: Half-title (with blank reverse) pp. 1–2; Title-page, as above (with a note regarding the American copyright upon the centre of the reverse) pp. 3–4; and Text of the Ballads pp. 5–27. There are head-lines throughout, each page being headed with the title of the particular Ballad occupying it. Upon the reverse of p. 27 is the following imprint: “London: / Printed for Thomas J. Wise, Hampstead, N.W. / Edition limited to Thirty Copies.” The signatures are A (a half-sheet of four leaves), B (a quarter-sheet of two leaves), and C (a full sheet of eight leaves), inset within each other.
Issued in bright green paper wrappers, with untrimmed edges, and with the title-page reproduced upon the front. The leaves measure 8½ × 6⅞ inches.
Thirty Copies only were printed.
Contents.
Note.—Each poem to which no reference is attached, appeared for the first time in this volume.
There is a copy of The Expedition to Birting’s Land and Other Ballads in the Library of the British Museum. The Press-mark is C. 44. d. 38.
The Diver, A Ballad Translated from the German. [Where is the man who will dive for his King?]
Reprinted in The Song of Deirdra and Other Ballads, 1913, pp. 8–17.
P. 244.
Ode to a Mountain Torrent. [How lovely thou art in thy tresses of foam]
Reprinted, with the text substantially revised, in Romantic Ballads, 1826, pp. 164–166. Again reprinted in Targum, 1835, pp. 45–46.
The majority of Borrow’s contributions to The Monthly Magazine appeared under the signature ‘George Olaus Borrow.’ Dr. Knapp has recorded that he found in the Corporation Library at Norwich a book on ancient Danish Literature, by Olaus Wormius, carrying several marginal notes in Borrow’s handwriting. The suggestion that it was from this book that Borrow derived the pseudonymous second Christian name which he employed in The Monthly Magazine is not an unreasonable one.
P. 245.
Death. [Perhaps ’tis folly, but still I feel]
Reprinted (under the amended title Thoughts on Death, and with some small textual variations) in Romantic Ballads, 1826, pp. 169–170.
Another version of the same poem was printed (under the title A Survey of Death, the first line reading My blood is freezing, my senses reel) in Mollie Charane and Other Ballads, 1913, pp. 11–12.
P. 246.
Mountain Song. [That pathway before ye, so narrow and gray]
Pp. 306–309.
Danish Poetry and Ballad Writing. A Prose Essay, including, inter alia, the following Ballad:
Skion Middel. [The maiden was lacing so tightly her vest]
Reprinted, under the amended title Sir Middel, the first line reading “So tightly was Swanelil lacing her vest,” in Romantic Ballads, 1826, pp. 28–30.
Another, but widely different, version of this Ballad is printed in Child Maidelvold and Other Ballads, 1913, pp. 5–10. In this latter version the name of the heroine is Sidselil in place of Swanelil, and that of the hero is Child Maidelvold in place of Sir Middel.
Lenora. [When morning’s gleam was on the hill]
P. 437.
Chloe. [Oh! we have a sister on earthly dominions]
Reprinted in Targum, 1835, pp. 47–48.
When gathering Chloe into the pages of Targum Borrow very considerably revised the text. Here is the concluding stanza of each of the two versions:—
1823
But God shook his sceptre, and thunder’d appalling,
While winds swept the branches with turbulent sigh;
Then trembled the host, but they heeded his calling,
And bore the sweet maiden, yet praying, on high.
“Ah, we had a sister on earthly dominions!”
All sung, as thro’ heaven they joyously trod,
And bore, with flush’d faces, and fluttering pinions,
The yet-praying maid to the throne of her God.
1835
Then frown’d the dread father; his thunders appalling
To rattle began, and his whirlwinds to roar;
Then trembled the host, but they heeded his calling,
And Chloe up-snatching, to heaven they soar.
O we had a sister on earthly dominions!
They sang as through heaven triumphant they stray’d,
And bore with flush’d faces and fluttering pinions
To God’s throne of brightness the yet praying maid.
P. 437.
Sea-Song. [King Christian stood beside the mast]
In 1826 and 1835 the title was changed to National Song.
Borrow published no less than four versions of this National Song:
1. In The Monthly Magazine, 1823, p. 437,
2. In Romantic Ballads, 1826, pp. 146–148,
3. In The Foreign Quarterly Review, 1830, pp. 70–71,
4. In Targum, 1835, pp. 49–50.
Upon each occasion he practically rewrote the Song, so that all four versions differ completely. As an illustration of these differences I give the first stanza of each version:
1823.
King Christian stood beside the mast,
In smoke and flame;
His heavy cannon rattled fast
Against the Gothmen, as they pass’d:
Then sunk each hostile sail and mast
In smoke and flame.
“Fly, (said the foe,) fly, all that can,
For who with Denmark’s Christian
Will ply the bloody game?”
1826.
King Christian stood beside the mast
Smoke, mixt with flame,
Hung o’er his guns, that rattled fast
Against the Gothmen, as they passed:
Then sunk each hostile sail and mast
In smoke and flame.
“Fly!” said the foe: “fly! all that can,
Nor wage, with Denmark’s Christian,
The dread, unequal game.”
King Christian by the main-mast stood
In smoke and mist!
So pour’d his guns their fiery flood
That Gothmen’s heads and helmets bow’d;
Their sterns, their masts fell crashing loud
In smoke and mist.
“Fly,” cried they, “let him fly who can,
For who shall Denmark’s Christian
Resist?”
1835.
King Christian stood beside the mast
In smoke and mist.
His weapons, hammering hard and fast,
Through helms and brains of Gothmen pass’d.
Then sank each hostile sail and mast
In smoke and mist.
“Fly,” said the foe, “fly all that can,
For who can Denmark’s Christian
Resist?”
P. 438.
The Erl King. [Who is it that gallops so lat on the wild!]
P. 235.
Bernard’s Address to his Army. [Freshly blew the morning breeze]
The Singing Mariner. [Who will ever have again]
Reprinted in The Expedition to Birting’s Land and Other Ballads, 1914, pp. 16–18.
P. 431.
The French Princess. [Towards France a maiden went]
P. 526.
The Nightingale. [In midnight’s calm hour the Nightingale sings]
Reprinted in The Expedition to Birting’s Land and Other Ballads, 1914, pp. 19–20.
P. 391.
A Review of Fortsetzung des Faust Von Goethe. Von C. C. L. Schone. (Berlin.)
P. 394.
A Review of Œlenschlager’s Samlede digte. (Copenhagen.)
Pp. 491–513.
A Review of Narrative of a Pedestrian Journey through Russia and Siberian Tartary, from the Frontiers of China to the Frozen Sea. By Capt. John Dundas, R.N. (London, 1824.)
Pp. 19–22.
Danish Traditions and Superstitions. A Prose Essay. Part i. Including inter alia the following Ballad:
Waldemar’s Chase. [Late at eve they were toiling on Harribee bank]
Reprinted in Romantic Ballads, 1826, pp. 115–116.
P. 47.
War-Song; Written when the French first invaded Spain. [Arise, ye sons of injur’d Spain]
P. 432.
Danish Songs and Ballads. No. 1, Bear Song. [The squirrel that’s sporting]
Reprinted in Romantic Ballads, 1826, pp. 144–145.
Pp. 498–500.
Danish Traditions and Superstitions. A Prose Essay. Part ii.
Pp. 25–26 and 103–104.
Danish Traditions and Superstitions. A Prose Essay. Parts iii and iv.
The Deceived Merman. [Fair Agnes left her mother’s door]
Reprinted (with very considerable changes in the text, the first line reading “Fair Agnes alone on the sea-shore stood”) in Romantic Ballads, 1826, pp. 120–123.
In 1854 Borrow rewrote this Ballad, and furnished it with a new title Agnes and the Merman. The following stanzas taken from each, will serve to show the difference between the two versions:—
1826.
The Merman up to the church door came;
His eyes they shone like a yellow flame;His face was white, and his beard was green—
A fairer demon was never seen.“Now, Agnes, Agnes, list to me,
Thy babes are longing so after thee.”“I cannot come yet, here must I stay
Until the priest shall have said his say.”
1854.
In at the door the Merman treads—
Away the images turned their heads.His face was white, his beard was green,
His eyes were full of love, I ween.“Hear, Agnes, hear! ’tis time for thee
To come to thy home below the sea.”“I cannot come yet, I here must stay,
Until the priest has said his say.”
Danish Traditions and Superstitions. A Prose Essay. Parts v, vi, and vii.