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

[TheBanjo]

Peter, it sounds as if you’re really enjoying this book!

PL of section 4 is okay.

Very much so! If some of that comes through in the recording, I'll be well pleased.

I have uploaded section 6: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_006_borrow_128kb.mp3 (17:03)

[TheBanjo]

I have uploaded:
Section 7: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_007_borrow_128kb.mp3 (17:53)
Section 8: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_008_borrow_128kb.mp3 (10:45)

For confirmation that the David Haggart mentioned by name in section 8, but already referred to, unnamed, in section 7, was in fact a real person, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Haggart

[Sunrise2020]

PL of sections 5 and 6 are fine.

[TheBanjo]

I have uploaded:
Section 009: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_009_borrow_128kb.mp3 (14:16)
Section 010: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_010_borrow_128kb.mp3 (9:10)

Borrow has a great gift for bringing characters to life through their speech. At times I almost feel like I'm having the privilege of listening to a tape recording of early nineteenth century vernacular speech, far more so than when reading other English-speaking authors of this era.

[Sunrise2020]

That enthusiasm broadcasts

PL of sections 7-9 is okay.

[Sunrise2020]

PL of section 10 is okay.

[TheBanjo]

That enthusiasm broadcasts

PL of sections 7-9 is okay.

Thank you!

This text is turning out to be surprisingly enjoyable to read aloud. On the page, many of the sentences are outrageously long, but this is partly because Borrow uses a semicolon where most other authors would use a full stop. For all their length, they are beautifully constructed, so that I very rarely need to reread one because I initially mistook its shape or purport.

I have uploaded:
Section 11: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_011_borrow_128kb.mp3 (11:43)
Section 12: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_012_borrow_128kb.mp3 (17:45)

Right at the end of section 11 there is a reference to "Cromwell" whose meaningfulness all Borrow's original readers would have grasped immediately, but which might not be clear to all today. Cromwell was a leader of the group who fought, and then tried and executed, King Charles I of England in the early 1640s. He subsequently led a viciously brutal military campaign in Ireland which subjected the Irish not only to appalling loss of life, but also to subsequent repression of a very harsh kind, and the "importing" of English overlords, in effect. For more information, this wouldn't be a bad place to start: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cromwellian_conquest_of_Ireland

[Sunrise2020]

Thank you for the WikiLinks which make it easier to understand the context.

Section 11 is okay.

In Section 12 please check at about minute 3:22 where you repeated the sentence starting with “What are you doing with the dog…”. The rest of the section is fine.

[TheBanjo]

In Section 12 please check at about minute 3:22 where you repeated the sentence starting with “What are you doing with the dog…”. The rest of the section is fine.

Hi Susanne, you're quite right to be suggesting I check this passage, for there is indeed a repetition.

In this case, however, the repetition is part of the original text, which reads, at this point:

‘What are you doing with the dog, the fairy dog?’ said a man, who at this time likewise cleared the dyke at a bound.
He was a very tall man, rather well dressed as it should seem; his garments, however, were, like my own, so covered with snow that I could scarcely discern their quality.
‘What are ye doing with the dog of peace?’
‘I wish he would show himself one,’ said I,,,


Unusual let-off for yours truly, this time! I've set the status to PL OK.

[TheBanjo]

I have uploaded section 13: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_013_borrow_128kb.mp3 (14:14)

A Sassenach is an English person or a Scottish) lowlander. The term is typically used disparagingly by the Irish and (highland) Scots.

[Sunrise2020]

In Section 12 please check at about minute 3:22 where you repeated the sentence starting with “What are you doing with the dog…”. The rest of the section is fine.

Hi Susanne, you're quite right to be suggesting I check this passage, for there is indeed a repetition.

In this case, however, the repetition is part of the original text, which reads, at this point:

‘What are you doing with the dog, the fairy dog?’ said a man, who at this time likewise cleared the dyke at a bound.
He was a very tall man, rather well dressed as it should seem; his garments, however, were, like my own, so covered with snow that I could scarcely discern their quality.
‘What are ye doing with the dog of peace?’
‘I wish he would show himself one,’ said I,,,


Unusual let-off for yours truly, this time! I've set the status to PL OK.

Sorry Peter, can’t let you off the hook that easily. You repeated the following two sentences before we get to the dog of peace:

What are you doing with the dog, the fairy dog?’ said a man, who at this time likewise cleared the dyke at a bound.
He was a very tall man, rather well dressed as it should seem; his garments, however, were, like my own, so covered with snow that I could scarcely discern their quality.

Kindly have another listen.

[Sunrise2020]

In Section 12 please check at about minute 3:22 where you repeated the sentence starting with “What are you doing with the dog…”. The rest of the section is fine.

Hi Susanne, you're quite right to be suggesting I check this passage, for there is indeed a repetition.

In this case, however, the repetition is part of the original text, which reads, at this point:

‘What are you doing with the dog, the fairy dog?’ said a man, who at this time likewise cleared the dyke at a bound.
He was a very tall man, rather well dressed as it should seem; his garments, however, were, like my own, so covered with snow that I could scarcely discern their quality.
‘What are ye doing with the dog of peace?’
‘I wish he would show himself one,’ said I,,,


Unusual let-off for yours truly, this time! I've set the status to PL OK.

Sorry Peter, can’t let you off the hook that easily. You repeated the following two sentences before we get to the dog of peace:

What are you doing with the dog, the fairy dog?’ said a man, who at this time likewise cleared the dyke at a bound.
He was a very tall man, rather well dressed as it should seem; his garments, however, were, like my own, so covered with snow that I could scarcely discern their quality.

Kindly have another listen.

[TheBanjo]

Sorry Peter, can’t let you off the hook that easily. You repeated the following two sentences before we get to the dog of peace:

What are you doing with the dog, the fairy dog?’ said a man, who at this time likewise cleared the dyke at a bound.
He was a very tall man, rather well dressed as it should seem; his garments, however, were, like my own, so covered with snow that I could scarcely discern their quality.

Kindly have another listen.

Ha! Outsmarted myself nicely there! You're quite right, of course. I'd like to say I was just "testing your powers of discernment" or some such, but no - just a plain old blunder on my part. I hope I've fixed that now.

I have uploaded an edited version of section 12: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_012_borrow_128kb.mp3 (17:28)

I have also uploaded section 14: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_014_borrow_128kb.mp3 (19:48)

In section14, the town Borrow writes of is Norwich. The "Lollards Hole" is now known as the "Lollards Pit", and is a place with the most grisly associations. Many were burned at the stake here for their beliefs, including English protestants who refused to recant their protestant ways after Catholic Queen Mary succeeded Henry VIII, her brother and the first protestant king of England: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lollards_Pit. The "great naval hero of Britain" to whom Borrows refers is Lord Nelson. He was shot and killed during a famous victory at what we call the Battle of Trafalgar, which was fought "off Saint Vincent’s promontory".

[annise]

It's the story about them bringing his body back in a barrel of rum that I found interesting . I'm trying to remember what I was listening to that added to my knowledge store.
added - I wasn't quite correct about the barrel https://librivox.org/the-death-of-lord-nelson-by-william-beatty-md/

Anne

[TheBanjo]

I have uploaded:
Section 015: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_015_borrow_128kb.mp3 (13:39)
Section 016: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_015_borrow_128kb.mp3 (11:55)

When the man in the beaver hat asks our narrator "What profession dost thou make?—I mean to what religious denomination dost thou belong, my young friend." the narrator answers "Church". In England at this time, there were essentially two possible answers to this question. One was "Church", which amounted to saying that one was an Anglican, a follower of the established Church of England. The other was "Chapel". If you answered "Chapel", you were likely of some kind of dissenting faith, for example a Baptist or a Congregationalist or a Methodist.

It may not be immediately obvious to a modern listener, but the man in the beaver hat speaks in what would have seemed, even at the time, to have been a rather odd fashion, addressing our narrator as "thou" or "thee". The reason is explained, in fact, by the conclusion of the chapter, though again, that might not be obvious. For further insight into what this man's manner of speaking imports, see, for example, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/16/opinion/sunday/pronouns-quakers.html