[SOLO] Lavengro: The Scholar, The Gypsy, The Priest, by George Borrow-ans

[TheBanjo]

I have uploaded:
Section 50: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_050_borrow_128kb.mp3 (8:01)
Section 51: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_051_borrow_128kb.mp3 (10:15)
Section 52: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_052_borrow_128kb.mp3 (10:11)

RE SECTION 51

"I beheld several lines also written in the letters of Mesroub, the Cadmus of the Armenians."

From https://www.greeka.com/greece-myths/cadmus: "Cadmus is known as the founder and the first king of Thebes, a powerful town in the ancient times, close to Athens. He is also known as the man who brought the writing and the alphabet from the Phoenicians to the Greeks, and through the Greeks to the whole world."

RE SECTION 52

"I observed moving about a great many individuals in quaint dresses of blue, with strange three-cornered hats on their heads; most of them were mutilated; this had a wooden leg—this wanted an arm; some had but one eye; and as I gazed upon the edifice, and the singular-looking individuals who moved before it, I guessed where I was. ‘I am at —’ said I; ‘these individuals are battered tars of Old England."

My guess is that Borrow is here describing here some so-called "Chelsea Pensioners" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_Pensioner). I suspect that with his usage of "battered", Borrow is playing on the name "Battersea", which I believe is probably the London locale he was in at this point.

[annise]

Thought the Chelsea pensioners(army) wore red and the Greenwich pensioners (naval) wore blue? . I don't know what was at Battersea before the power house though.

Anne

[TheBanjo]

Thought the Chelsea pensioners(army) wore red and the Greenwich pensioners (naval) wore blue? . I don't know what was at Battersea before the power house though.

Anne

It’s sure not a subject I really know about. This article (https://www.chelsea-pensioners.co.uk/blues) suggests the Chelsea pensioners do still wear blue uniforms at times. There’s still today a large park at Battersea, I see from Google Maps. From Borrow’s account of how he got to the “fair”, I think it’s at least possible that fair took place on or near the present Battersea Park.

[TheBanjo]

Thought the Chelsea pensioners(army) wore red and the Greenwich pensioners (naval) wore blue? . I don't know what was at Battersea before the power house though.

Anne

Thanks Anne. It’s sure not a subject I really know anything much about. This article (https://www.chelsea-pensioners.co.uk/blues) suggests the Chelsea pensioners do still wear blue uniforms at times, and there’s still today a large park at Battersea, I see from Google Maps. From Borrow’s account of how he got to the “fair”, I’m guessing it’s at least possible that fair took place on or near the present Battersea Park.

[TheBanjo]

Thought the Chelsea pensioners(army) wore red and the Greenwich pensioners (naval) wore blue? . I don't know what was at Battersea before the power house though.

Anne

Thanks Anne. It’s sure not a subject I really know anything much about. This article (https://www.chelsea-pensioners.co.uk/blues) suggests the Chelsea pensioners do still wear blue uniforms at times, and there’s still today a large park at Battersea, I see from Google Maps. From Borrow’s account of how he got to the “fair”, I’m guessing it’s at least possible that fair took place on or near the present Battersea Park. What really steals the scene for me is his conversation with the pea-and-thimble man.

[annise]

I'm no expert - just Naval pensioners in my mind were associated with Greenwich Mean Time and thought Battersea Park was drained marshland - saw it on TV once about the restoration and water birds returning etc.
I am MCing 2 projects about London both read by Peters and I actually thought I'd posted in "The Olde Cheshire Cheese" thread - he's a Londoner and it was more a query - I'm also listening to his "Old London" at the moment too.

Anne

[TheBanjo]

I am MCing 2 projects about London both read by Peters and I actually thought I'd posted in "The Olde Cheshire Cheese" thread - he's a Londoner and it was more a query - I'm also listening to his "Old London" at the moment too.

Anne

Glad to hear I'm not the only one who ties himself up in such tangles!

[TheBanjo]

I have uploaded:
Section 53: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_053_borrow_128kb.mp3 (15:31)
Section 54: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_054_borrow_128kb.mp3 (8:37)

[Sunrise2020]

PL of sections 50-52 is okay.

[TheBanjo]

I have uploaded:
Section 55: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_055_borrow_128kb.mp3 (7:38)
Section 56: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_056_borrow_128kb.mp3 (5:52)
Section 57: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_057_borrow_128kb.mp3 (7:39)
Section 58: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_058_borrow_128kb.mp3 (6:55)

[Sunrise2020]

Sections 53 and 54 are okay.

[Sunrise2020]

Sections 55-58 are okay.

Peter, I hope you didn’t have to live as frugally during your writing days!

[TheBanjo]

I have uploaded:
Section 59: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_059_borrow_128kb.mp3 (7:17)
Section 60: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_060_borrow_128kb.mp3 (8:32)
Section 61: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_061_borrow_128kb.mp3 (3:12)
Section 62: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_062_borrow_128kb.mp3 (10:52)
Section 63: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_063_borrow_128kb.mp3 (10:55)

RE SECTION 63
"a man of the middle age, and rather above the middle height, dressed in a plain suit of black". According to a source cited in "The Life of George Borrow" by Herbert George Jenkins (a source on Borrow's life I've only just now stumbled across), this person may have been the extraordinarily wealthy novelist William Beckford (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Beckford_(novelist))

[TheBanjo]

Sections 55-58 are okay.

Peter, I hope you didn’t have to live as frugally during your writing days!

My writing days are still very much alive — but yes, thankfully I'm fuelled by more than bread and water. Marilyn's home-made muesli is a terrific stand-by at any hour of the day, I find!

[Sunrise2020]

PL of 59-63 is fine.

I can relate to the joys and interesting encounters while walking.