LAVENGRO;

THE SCHOLAR-THE GYPSY-THE PRIEST.

Henry

BY GEORGE BORROW,

AUTHOR OF "THE BIBLE IN SPAIN," AND "THE GYPSIES OF SPAIN"

IN THREE VOLUMES.-VOL. I.

LONDON:

JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.

1851.

By the same Author,

THE BIBLE IN SPAIN; or, The JOURNEYS, ADVENTURES, and IMPRISONMENTS of an ENGLISHMAN in an attempt to circulate the SCRIPTURES in the PENINSULA. Fourth Edition. 3 vols. post 8vo. 27s.

THE ZINCALI; or, An Account of the GYPSIES of SPAIN, with an original Collection of their Songs and Poetry, and a copious Dictionary of their Language. Third Edition. 2 vols. post 8vo. 188.

***The above Works may also be obtained in a cheap form, Post 8vo, 6s. each.

PREFACE.

IN the following pages I have endeavoured to describe a dream, partly of study, partly of adventure, in which will be found copious notices of books, and many descriptions of life and manners, some in a very unusual form.

The scenes of action lie in the British Islands; -pray be not displeased, gentle reader, if perchance thou hast imagined that I was about to conduct thee to distant lands, and didst promise thyself much instruction and entertainment from what I might tell thee of them. I do assure thee that thou hast no reason to be displeased, inasmuch as there are no countries in the world less known by the British than these selfsame British Islands, or where more strange things are every day

occurring, whether in road or street, house or

dingle.

The time embraces nearly the first quarter of the present century: this information again may, perhaps, be anything but agreeable to thee; it is a long time to revert to, but fret not thyself, many matters which at present much occupy the public mind originated in some degree towards the latter end of that period, and some of them will be treated of.

The principal actors in this dream, or drama, are, as you will have gathered from the title page, a Scholar, a Gypsy, and a Priest. Should you imagine that these three form one, permit me to assure you that you are very much mistaken. Should there be something of the Gypsy manifest in the Scholar, there is certainly nothing of the Priest. With respect to the Gypsy-decidedly the most entertaining character of the three-there is certainly nothing of the Scholar or the Priest in him; and as for the Priest, though there may be something in him both of scholarship and gypsyism, neither the Scholar nor the Gypsy would feel at all flattered by being confounded with him.