THE GOBLIN GROOM;
A Tale
OF DUNSE.
BY
R. O. FENWICK, Esq.
Thus, while I ape the measure wild
Of tales that charmed me yet a child,
Rude though they be, still with the chime
Return the thoughts of early time.—Scott.
EDINBURGH:
PRINTED BY ALEX. LAWRIE & CO.
FOR ALEX. LAWRIE, EDINBURGH;
AND
J. RIDGWAY, LONDON.
——
1809.
TO THOSE ADMIRERS
OF ENGLISH POETRY
WHO WISH TO SEE IT RESTORED TO ITS
“OLD STYLE OF PATHOS,”
THE FOLLOWING POEM
IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED
BY
THE AUTHOR.
ADVERTISEMENT.
The Author of the Goblin Groom can, on no consideration, be induced to follow the example of the amiable and justly celebrated Madame de Genlis, who, in her Historical Romance of the Chevaliers du Cygne, observes,—“Enfin l’ideè de faire mourir l’heroine de l’histoire des les premieres pages, et cependant de s’occuper d’elle jusqu’ a la fin, est peutetre assez neuve pour meriter quelqu’ indulgence.” Could he, on the contrary, prolong the precious life of his exalted hero, but for a single day, he should feel more real delight, than the indulgence due to the most afflicting novelty can possibly confer. But though unable to guard him from the blow, which the unrelenting hand of time must one day inflict, the author can at least promise, if he shall himself survive the catastrophe, to restore him to the respectful consideration of his readers, in a form at once congenial to the spirit of poetry, and suitable to the taste and temper of the times. To some of his readers, it may be necessary to remark, which must readily occur to the attention of the critic, that his true hero is only to be discovered, by the frequent allusions to his high rank and acknowledged virtues; and having thus divested the Goblin of the precedency, which he might otherwise appear to have usurped, it now only remains to give his readers a general idea of the story. It turns on the several incidents of a fox-chace, but is called a Tale of Dunse, because in that favourite RENDEZVOUS of the lovers of the chace, the Goblin first made his appearance. That the minds of his readers may be as perfectly prepared, as he could wish, for the manners of the age in which it is laid, he apprizes them, that the poem opens on the last day of April 1806, and concludes with the death of a fox on Flodden Field twenty-four hours thereafter. The country over which he has accompanied his elfin fay and merry pack, he has viewed with the rapid glance of a sportsman, and therefore trusts, that his hasty and imperfect sketch will not be regarded with the too scrupulous eye of rigid criticism. With all its faults, but without further apology, he commits it to its fate, and, notwithstanding the protecting influence of wire-wove,—broad margin,—high price,—and hot-press, he is not without feeling some apprehensions concerning its success.