Note.—Each poem to which no reference is attached, appeared for the first time in this volume.

There is a copy of Tord of Hafsborough and Other Ballads in the Library of the British Museum. The Press-mark is C. 44. d. 38.

(61) [The Expedition to Birting’s Land: 1914]

The Expedition to / Birting’s Land / and Other Ballads / By / George Borrow / London: / Printed for Private Circulation / 1914.

Collation:—Square demy octavo, pp. 27; consisting of: Half-title (with blank reverse) pp. 1–2; Title-page, as above (with a note regarding the American copyright upon the centre of the reverse) pp. 3–4; and Text of the Ballads pp. 5–27. There are head-lines throughout, each page being headed with the title of the particular Ballad occupying it. Upon the reverse of p. 27 is the following imprint: “London: / Printed for Thomas J. Wise, Hampstead, N.W. / Edition limited to Thirty Copies.” The signatures are A (a half-sheet of four leaves), B (a quarter-sheet of two leaves), and C (a full sheet of eight leaves), inset within each other.

Issued in bright green paper wrappers, with untrimmed edges, and with the title-page reproduced upon the front. The leaves measure 8½ × 6⅞ inches.

Thirty Copies only were printed.

Contents.

page
The Expedition to Birting’s Land. [The King he o’er the castle rules] Of The Expedition to Birting’s Land no less than three Manuscripts are extant. The first was composed in 1826, and was originally destined for inclusion in the Romantic Ballads of that date. It is numbered to come between The Tournament and Vidrik Verlandson. The second was written in 1829, and was intended to find a place in The Songs of Scandinavia. The third was prepared in 1854, with a view to its appearance in the Kœmpe Viser. In the two earlier versions the Ballad bears the tentative title The Expedition of King Diderik’s Warriors to Birting’s Land. The texts of all three differ very considerably, the final version being that from which the Ballad was here printed. 5
The Singing Mariner. [Who will ever have again] Previously printed in The Monthly Magazine, Vol. lvi, 1823, p. 335. There exists an early Manuscript of this charming lyric, differing entirely from the text as printed. This early version is written in couplets, instead of in four-line stanzas. Here is the first stanza, followed by the equivalent couplet from the MS.: Printed text. Who will ever have again,
On the land or on the main,
Such a chance as happen’d to
Count Arnaldos long ago. MS. Who had e’er such an adventure the ocean’s waves upon,
As had the Count Arnaldos the morning of St. John. Upon the opposite page I give a facsimile of this early Manuscript, the exact size of the original. The tiny waif affords a delightful specimen of Borrow’s extremely beautiful and graceful minute handwriting, of which one or two other examples exist. The paper upon which the lines are written is evidently a leaf torn from a small note-book. 		16
Youth’s Song in Spring. [O, scarcely is Spring a time of pure bliss] 18
The Nightingale. [In midnight’s calm hour the Nightingale sings] Previously printed in The Monthly Magazine, vol. lvi, 1823, p. 526. 19
Lines. [Say from what mine took Love the yellow gold] 20
Morning Song. [From Eastern quarters now] Previously printed in The Foreign Quarterly Review, vol. vi, 1830, p. 65. 21
From the French. [This world by fools is occupied] 22
The Morning Walk. [To the beech grove with so sweet an air] Previously printed in The Foreign Quarterly Review, vol. vi, 1830, pp. 80–81. 23

Printed text.

Who will ever have again,
On the land or on the main,
Such a chance as happen’d to
Count Arnaldos long ago.

MS.

Who had e’er such an adventure the ocean’s waves upon,
As had the Count Arnaldos the morning of St. John.