nd
thus it is that _Wild Wales_ is a high-spirited book, which will always
be a delight and a joy not only to Welshmen, who, it may be hoped, have
by this time forgiven 'the ecclesiastical cat' of Llangollen, but to all
who rejoice in the great classics of the English tongue.

FOOTNOTES:

[222] 'Not one drop of East Anglian blood was in the veins of Borrow's
father, and very little in the veins of his mother. Borrow's ancestry
was pure Cornish on one side, and on the other mainly French.'--Theodore
Watts-Dunton: Introduction to _The Romany Rye_ (Ward and Lock).

[223] The advertisement describes it thus: 'In two volumes, _Songs of
Europe: or Metrical Translations from all the European Languages; With
Brief Prefatory Remarks on each Language and its Literature_.'

[224] _Wild Wales: Its People, Language, and Scenery_. By George Borrow.
3 vols. John Murray, 1862.

[225] Mary Botham (1799-1888) was born at Coleford, Gloucestershire, and
married William Howitt in 1821. The pair compiled many books together.
The statement in the _Dictionary of National Biography_ that 'nothing
that either of them wrote will live' is quite unwarranted. William
Howitt's _Homes and Haunts of the most eminent British Poets_ (Bentley,
2 vols., 1847) is still eagerly sought after for every good library. In
_Mary Howitt: An Autobiography_ (Isbister, 2 vols., 1889), a valuable
book of reminiscences, there is no mention of Borrow.

[226] Edward James Mortimer Collins (1827-1876), once bore the title of
'King of the Bohemians' among his friends; wrote _Sweet and Twenty_ and
many other novels once widely popular.

[227] Goronwy or Gronow Owen (1723-1769), born at Rhos Fawr in Anglesey,
and died at St. Andrews, Brunswick County, Virginia.

[228] Borrow had at many points certain affinities to Carlyle's hero
Johnson, but lacked his epigrammatic wit--and much else. But he seems to
have desired to emulate Johnson in one particular, as we find in the
following dialogue:--

'I wouldn't go on foot there this night for fifty pounds.'

'Why not?' said I.

'For fear of being knocked down by the colliers, who will be all out and
drunk.'

'If not more than two attack me,' said I, 'I shan't so much mind. With
this book I am sure I can knock down one, and I think I can find play
for the other with my fists.'

[229] When searching for the home of Goronwy Owen Borrow records a
meeting with one of his descendants--a little girl of seven or eight
year