Letters to his wife Mary Borrow — Edition Insights

A Voice of Restless Itinerary

Borrow's letters are dominated by the logistics of movement. He reports quarantine delays at Trieste, a stormy passage to Stromness, and a 102-mile walk through the Highlands to retrieve his luggage. The narrative pace is breathless: 'I arrived this day at Venice, and though I am exceedingly tired I hasten to write a line.' He frequently lists routes—'by way of Ancona, Rome, and Civita Vecchia to Marseilles'—as if the act of naming places asserts progress. Yet this forward momentum is constantly checked by obstacles: no train, no conveyance, a day wasted. The voice is that of a man who walks wherever possible ('if you depend on coaches ... you are sure to be disappointed') and who measures distance in fatigue rather than miles.

Vivid Glimpses Amid Weariness

Despite his haste, Borrow pauses for sharp, economical descriptions. The Norwegian Cathedral in Kirkwall is 'of red sandstone, and looks as if cut out of rock ... stern and grand to a degree.' The stones of Stennis are 'immense blocks of stone standing up like those of Salisbury Plain.' These observations are brief but precise, often set against a backdrop of barrenness: 'scarcely a tree is to be seen, only a few dwarf ones.' His eye for the unusual extends to curiosities like the Dwarf's House hollowed out of stone on the Isle of Hoy. Yet these moments of wonder are quickly subsumed by the next leg of the journey, as if Borrow cannot afford to linger.

Recurring Domestic Concerns

Interwoven with travel details are persistent worries about home. Borrow asks Mary to order a new hat, notes his poor appetite 'owing to badness of food and want of regular meals,' and sends local newspapers as curiosities. He dreams of his mother and Hen (likely his daughter) while at Fort Augustus. The letters are punctuated with reassurances: 'I shall be so glad to get back to you and my mother.' Even in the midst of describing Venice's decay, he writes, 'I, however, shall be glad to leave it, for there is no place to me like Oulton.' These domestic threads ground the narrative, reminding the reader that the traveler is always oriented toward return.

Changes in Pace and Tone

The letters show a clear shift in pace and tone over time. Early letters (1844) are longer, with more elaborate descriptions and a buoyant energy despite fatigue. Later letters (1858) are shorter, more terse, and increasingly focused on the mechanics of getting home. In Letter XII, Borrow writes from Stirling, frustrated by a day's delay: 'The waste of that day will prevent me getting to Yarmouth from Hull by the steamer.' The prose becomes more clipped, the sentences shorter. The weariness that was once a passing remark becomes a central theme: 'my mind is wearied by seeing so many strange places.' This evolution from eager traveler to homesick wanderer gives the collection an emotional arc.

These letters offer a fragmented but intimate portrait of a Victorian traveler. Borrow's voice is that of a man perpetually in transit, his attention divided between the wonders before him and the home he longs for. Readers should attend to the small details—the shabby hat, the dream of a lost dog, the newspaper sent as a souvenir—as much as the grand sights. The collection rewards those who read between the lines of haste and fatigue, revealing a husband and father who, even at the top of Mount Olympus, was thinking of Oulton.

Sitting with George’s letters, I felt his hunger for home beneath all that scenery, the way weariness colours even Venice. It made me think of that other book, the one where he wrestles with his own sharp-edged opinions. There’s a similar loneliness in holding firm convictions. Prejudices, first series — Background and Themes feels like an old companion to that restless voice.