Borrow

GEORGE BORROW (1803 - 1881)

Borrow, as the son of a recruiting officer, was practically born on the move. He was a much-travelled man, working at one time for the British and Foreign Bible Society, co-founded by Granville Sharp (q.v.). The Bible in Spain was the literary result. His autobiographical books, like Lavengro (1851) are a deliberate blend of fact and vivid fiction, and have long enjoyed classic status. Borrow recalls his first sight of the Tweed at Berwick, as a child after travelling up the A1 with his parents. The Rhine, Danube and Tiber cannot compare:

'Before me, across the water, on an eminence stood an old white city, surrounded with lofty walls... To my right hand was a long and massive bridge, with many arches and of antique architecture, which traversed the river. The river was a noble one; the broadest I had hitherto seen. Its waters, of a greenish tinge, poured with impetuosity beneath the narrow arches to meet the sea... There were songs upon the river from the fisher-barks; and occasionally a chorus, plaintive and wild, such as I had never heard before, the words of which I did not understand, but which ... seem in memory's ear to sound like 'Horam, coram, dago.' Several robust fellows were near me, some knee-deep in water, employed in hauling the seine upon the strand. Huge fish were struggling amidst the meshes - princely salmon - their brilliant mail of blue and silver flashing in the morning beam; so goodly and gay a scene, in truth, had never greeted my boyish eye.
And as I gazed upon the prospect, my bosom began to heave and my tears to trickle... of how many feats of chivalry had those old walls been witness, when hostile kings contended for their possession? How many an army from the south and from the north had trod that old bridge? What red and noble blood had crimsoned those rushing waters?'

The Scots poet, Sir Robert Aytoun (1570-1638) friend of Ben Jonson (q.v.) and Thomas Hobbes, write a sonnet to the Tweed. He rejoices at King James ruling both England and Scotland:

Fair famous flood, which sometimes did divide,
But now conjoins, two diadems in one...

On his way to Scotland, Borrow seems to have passed through County Durham. In Wild Wales (1854) he remarks to a Durham exile mining captain named John Greaves (born near the Great Force) that he regards Durham as 'a capital county', indeed he doubts if there be a better.
He describes the hills and mountains in one part of Durham, with their mines of coal and lead, mighty works, tall chimneys belching smoke, engines roaring, big wheels going round, driven by 'forces' (i.e. waterfalls). Elsewhere there are beautiful woods, rich glorious meadows populated by the Durham ox.
He praises the city of Durham too, and mentions Queen Philippa's victory of 1346 at Neville's Cross.

Myers Literary Guide:	The North-East
GEORGE BORROW (1803 - 1881) Borrow, as the son of a recruiting officer, was practically born on the move. He was a much-travelled man, working at one time for the British and Foreign Bible Society, co-founded by Granville Sharp (q.v.). The Bible in Spain was the literary result. His autobiographical books, like Lavengro (1851) are a deliberate blend of fact and vivid fiction, and have long enjoyed classic status. Borrow recalls his first sight of the Tweed at Berwick, as a child after travelling up the A1 with his parents. The Rhine, Danube and Tiber cannot compare: 'Before me, across the water, on an eminence stood an old white city, surrounded with lofty walls... To my right hand was a long and massive bridge, with many arches and of antique architecture, which traversed the river. The river was a noble one; the broadest I had hitherto seen. Its waters, of a greenish tinge, poured with impetuosity beneath the narrow arches to meet the sea... There were songs upon the river from the fisher-barks; and occasionally a chorus, plaintive and wild, such as I had never heard before, the words of which I did not understand, but which ... seem in memory's ear to sound like 'Horam, coram, dago.' Several robust fellows were near me, some knee-deep in water, employed in hauling the seine upon the strand. Huge fish were struggling amidst the meshes - princely salmon - their brilliant mail of blue and silver flashing in the morning beam; so goodly and gay a scene, in truth, had never greeted my boyish eye. And as I gazed upon the prospect, my bosom began to heave and my tears to trickle... of how many feats of chivalry had those old walls been witness, when hostile kings contended for their possession? How many an army from the south and from the north had trod that old bridge? What red and noble blood had crimsoned those rushing waters?' The Scots poet, Sir Robert Aytoun (1570-1638) friend of Ben Jonson (q.v.) and Thomas Hobbes, write a sonnet to the Tweed. He rejoices at King James ruling both England and Scotland: Fair famous flood, which sometimes did divide, But now conjoins, two diadems in one... On his way to Scotland, Borrow seems to have passed through County Durham. In Wild Wales (1854) he remarks to a Durham exile mining captain named John Greaves (born near the Great Force) that he regards Durham as 'a capital county', indeed he doubts if there be a better. He describes the hills and mountains in one part of Durham, with their mines of coal and lead, mighty works, tall chimneys belching smoke, engines roaring, big wheels going round, driven by 'forces' (i.e. waterfalls). Elsewhere there are beautiful woods, rich glorious meadows populated by the Durham ox. He praises the city of Durham too, and mentions Queen Philippa's victory of 1346 at Neville's Cross.
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