The George Borrow Society

The George Borrow Society was founded in July 1991 to promote knowledge of the life and works of George Borrow (1803-81). Meetings are held each year, usually close to the date of Borrow's birth (5 July). The pattern varies but may include the reading and discussion of papers, visits to sites connected with Borrow, and related social activities. The Society issues The George Borrow Bulletin twice a year, containing scholarly articles and news of past and future events and publications relating to Borrow.

Applications for Membership

The Society has the following classes of membership, the corresponding annual subscription being:
Individual £15.00
Joint (for two people at the same address) £22.50
Student £10.00
Life membership £150.00
Corporate £15.00

For an application form click here

Chairman and Editor of the Bulletin
Dr Ann Ridler
St. Mary's Cottage
61 Thame Road
Warborough
Wallingford
Oxon OX10 7EA
Tel: +44 (0)1865 858379
Fax: +44 (0)1865 858575
Email: ann@soutter.orangehome.co.uk

Membership Secretary:
Mr Michael Skillman
60 Upper Marsh Road
Warminster
Wiltshire BA12 9PN

George Borrow

George Borrow (1803-1881) was born in East Dereham, Norfolk, had part of his education at Norwich Grammar School, and spent much of his life in East Anglia. He became a best-selling author with The Bible in Spain (1843), a brilliant account of five remarkable years spent in the Peninsula, and followed this with two semi- autobiographical works: Lavengro (1851), meaning ‘Word-Master’, and its sequel, The Romany Rye (1857) - ‘The Gypsy Gentleman’. His last major work was Wild Wales (1862), one of the best books of its time on Wales. He is still admired for his inspirational writings on Gypsies, and for his evocation of an earlier England, that of 1825, and of Wales in the 1850s, the latter coloured by his enthusiasm for its medieval literature, and his abhorrence of its ‘dark, satanic mills’.

The true nature of Borrow’s works can be the subject of endless discussion. In a sense all his major works are journeys, interspersed with travellers’ tales, strange encounters, and graphic scenes in taverns and hostelries along his way. But it is hard to distinguish where autobiography blends with descriptive travel-writing or with fiction. There is an ambiguity in his narratives which often upset readers in his own day but for many of us provides a core of fascination. He admitted himself that Lavengro was ‘a dream of study and adventure’, a dream most Borrovians find captivating.

Borrow did not have a university education but was a notable linguist, not so much concerned with perfecting his knowledge of any language as with collecting some knowledge of a large number - there is evidence of some 100 languages which he could either speak or write, or from which he left translations, or which in some other way interested him. Many of his translations were not published until 1923, in the 16- volume Norwich edition, and whatever one thinks of his ability as a translator, his work demonstrates a remarkably wide range of interest from ancient and medieval to modern literature on a world scale. He liked to quote from the Talmud: “Who is the wise man? He who learns from every body.” He had an early passion for Welsh, Danish and Romani, worked for the Bible Society in Russia editing the New Testament in Manchu, and spent five years in Spain overseeing the printing and distribution of the scriptures at a time of intense unrest during the Carlist Wars.

The Bible in Spain still arouses considerable interest in Spain, where recent works referring to Borrow and recent translations have been published. It is much more than a travel narrative and its artistry is increasingly appreciated. In England, however, Lavengro and The Romany Rye have aroused more interest. They tell the story of a studious young man who takes to the road with a tinker’s cart and pony. He tries his hand at blacksmithing, mingles with Gypsies, pugilists and others adrift in the country, meets the tall, queenly blonde Isopel Berners, with whom he camps in a dingle, has disputes with a Jesuit priest, and after negotiating the purchase of a fine horse which he plans to sell, finds himself at Horncastle, at the horse fair, where he meets a number of shady and not so shady characters, each of whom has a story to tell. Blending lively dialogue between Gypsies, jockeys and fairground characters, with a dreamlike quality that makes it hard to distinguish fact from fancy, Lavengro and The Romany Rye have retained their fascination for a small but dedicated band of devotees.

Wild Wales was not a success when published, yet of all the many works of travel in Wales written in the 1850s and 1860s it is probably the only one which has survived and is still read, as a revealing and sympathetic account of the Welsh and their way of life at that period. Borrow had an unusual knowledge of the Welsh language and Welsh literature, largely acquired in Norwich and London, and loved to track down the places associated with the Welsh medieval poets he most admired. He had been a keen horseman until he was about 50 but remained for much longer a formidable pedestrian, undertaking walks of several hundred miles in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man. Unfortunately the record of these tours has only partly survived and Wild Wales is the only complete work to have emerged from this activity. He lived in London from 1860 to about 1874, but after his wife’s death in 1869 seems to have lost much of his zest and returned to Oulton in Suffolk, where he died in 1881.

The George Borrow Society

Borrow’s reputation has fluctuated over the years and probably reached its peak between about 1895 and 1925 - something we hope to revive. The city of Norwich put on a magnificent celebration of his 1903 centenary ten years late - in 1913, with a splendid banquet, a fine exhibition in the Castle Museum and the inauguration of Borrow House (a gift from the then Lord Mayor) as a Museum. Sadly, though the house has been restored, the Museum no longer exists. To see the guidebook to the museum with its description of the house and an extensive bibliography,click here

Strangely enough, no Borrow Society was formed at the time and indeed for some considerable time from 1950 onwards Angus Fraser was almost alone as a committed Borrovian in the United Kingdom. Things changed in the early 1980s. For the 1981 centenary a special dinner was held at the Reform Club in London with about 24 people gathered together, the toast to the immortal memory being given by the Right Hon. Enoch Powell MP. There were exhibitions at the British Library, the Bible Society and at Norwich Central Library, and a special service at Norwich Cathedral.

A Professor of English teaching in Canada, Michael Collie, planned a new biography of Borrow, George Borrow Eccentric, published by Cambridge University Press in 1982. In 1983 Ann Ridler was awarded her PhD for a thesis on George Borrow as a Linguist, subsequently printed in a small edition for private circulation in 1996. In 1984 Angus Fraser and Michael Collie collaborated on a new bibliography of Borrow, after which a series of biennial conferences on Borrow was inaugurated by Michael Collie, from 1987 to 1993. At the 1991 conference held in Norwich, the George Borrow Society was founded, with the late Sir Angus Fraser as its President, with the aim of promoting knowledge of the life and works of George Borrow. Ann Ridler became Chairman in 1997. The President’s sudden death in 2001 was a major blow but happily the Society continues to flourish and enjoyed a successful celebration of the George Borrow bicentenary in 2003.

The Society has continued to hold annual meetings in places associated with Borrow: in Norwich and Dereham in Norfolk; Berwick-on-Tweed, Yarmouth, Liskeard and the Isle of Man; Llangollen, Bala, the Ceiriog Valley and Ponterwyd (the George Borrow Hotel) in Wales; and in Spain in Madrid, Santiago de Compostela and Seville. Recently a small group visited St Petersburg, where Borrow lived from 1833 to 1835. Meetings are well attended and provide informal and convivial opportunities for members to talk with others interested in Borrow. They also aim to provide a balance between formal sessions with academic papers and a certain amount of following in Borrow’s footsteps, though not necessarily on foot! Perhaps one of the most appealing features of the Society is that Borrow enthusiasts come from a great variety of backgrounds and occupations, and can no more be pigeonholed than Borrow’s own works.

For a Spanish translation of the above click here

For details of forthcoming events click here

For information on the bulletin and the contents of previous issues click here

For a thematic index of the bulletin click here

For related publications click here

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