R. O. Fenwick

“ No maxim being more certainly founded on truth, than that early impressions are generally the most lasting. Would it not be highly meritorious in any one equal to the task, to favour the public with new editions of these invaluable productions, Satan’s Invisible World, and Glanvil’s History of Witchcraft, rendered, on the modern and improved plan of juvenile education, into easy ditties, to be sung or said by nurse or child? ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Namque hospes, inquit, ille amabilis, qui fratres nostros visitare solebat, ad me quoque hodie venire, meque de seculo evocare dignatus est. Propter quod revertentes ad ecclesiam, dicite fratribus, ut et meum exitum Domino precibus commendent, et suum quoque exitum, (cujus hora incerta est) , vigiliis, orationibus, bonis operibus, prævenire meminerint. Cumque hæc et hujusmodi plura loqueretur, atque illi, percepta ejus benedictione, jam multum tristes exiissent, rediit ipse solus, qui carmen cœleste audierat, et prosternens se in terram, Obsecro, inquit pater, licetne aliquid interrogare? ”

“ That learned philosopher and prince of culinary perfection, Count Rumford, has taught the world the mode of preparing ice-cream in a hot oven, and of sending it freezing to table in a light crust of smoking pastry. ”

“ Monsieur Mallet, the learned author of the ingenious work on Northren Antiquities, seems to consider Fairies and Elves as synonymous terms. In his remarks on the ninth fable of the Edda, we find him thus expressing himself.—“Alfheim signifies, in Gothic, the abode of the Genii, that is, the Fairies of the male-sex.” ”

“ Whilst much they wondered such a steed
So well could leap and take the lead.
XVI.
From lordly Twizel’s wide domain,
An opener country now they gain;
No longer dells obstruct the sight:
The fields were large, the soil was light;{67}
The eager hounds increase their pace;
The gallop now becomes a race:
But vain it were for horse to try
To race with one that seemed to fly:
And oft the Goblin looked in rear
As if he sought great D— —h’s Peer:
For be it known, and it is true,
The Goblin honoured bold B— —h;
And had he come t’enjoy the chace,
The Goblin sure had slacked his pace ”

“ The king consented, and immediately went into his palace to look for a large horn, out of which his courtiers were obliged to drink when they had committed any trespass against the customs of the court. [17] This the cup-bearer filled to the brim, and presented to Thor, whilst the king spake thus.—Whoever is a good drinker, will{101} empty that horn at a single draught; some persons make two of it; but the most puny drinker of all can do it at three. Thor looked at the horn, and was astonished at its length ”

“ In patroling, a soldier sometimes wants a guide, and gentle means often prove ineffectual to induce a peasant{114} to quit his bed, at the dead of the night, for the accommodation of others,—to dismount for the purpose of procuring admittance into a house, at such a time, barred and bolted within, and perhaps in an enemy’s country, would be dangerous. ”

“ Contrary to the custom of the Manx Fairies, it might be inferred, that our Groom had just returned from the sanctuary of sportsmen, with a nag of the native breed. But having already made considerable progress in establishing the origin of the rider, we shall now take some pains in proving to our readers the pedigree of the steed: and in asserting him to be from the stock of the far-famed Sleipner, we hope to be borne out by his performan{104}ces, and confirmed by probability in our opinion. ”

“ 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.” ”

“ It must be truly gratifying to yeomanry officers, and those who have not had the advantages of an equestrian education, that, in works of fancy, they may be at once amused and instructed with valuable hints on horsemanship; and believing, as we do, that those who have feasted on the pages of Marmion are now enabled to take a{113} leading part in a meslee or fight, we shall proceed to forward them in their pursuits, by recommending to their attention Astley’s explanation of the Croupade. ”

“ To prove the Gothic origin of our Elf, we need only appeal to the devotion he shews to the bottle. His conduct at the Dunse Festival is truly northern, and the mighty Thor{100} himself, the great champion of Scandinavian revelry, could not have displayed greater zeal in emptying the enchanted horn.—But of this the reader may judge by perusing the Gothic fable.—
THE TWENTY-FIFTH FABLE.
Of the Trials that Thor underwent. ”

“ The circumstance of that noted stallion having had eight legs, does not in the least degree weaken our belief in the genuine descent of the Goblin’s poney; for, reasoning by analogy, we have never yet heard of a parent with a wooden-leg transmitting timber-toes to posterity.
To those sportsmen who confine their genealogical inquiries to the general stud-book and racing-calendar, we present, in the words of the Gothic Edda, the history of a horse, more famed than the Childer’s Barb, or the Godolphin Arabian.—
HISTORIA VICESIMA PRIMA.
Quomodo Loco procreavit equum Sleipnerum cum Svadilfaro. ”

“ On these occasions, they sometimes borrow mortal steeds; and when such are found at morning, panting and fatigued in their stalls, with their manes and tails dishevelled and entangled, the grooms, I presume, often find this a convenient excuse for their situation; as the common belief of the elves quaffing the choicest liquors in the cellars of the rich, (see the story of Lord Duffus below) , might occasionally cloak the delinquencies of an unfaithful butler.
“The Fairies, beside their equestrian processions, are addicted, it would seem, to the pleasures of the chace. ”

“ And thus I choose thee for my friend;
For both alike are doomed to bend:{45}
And whilst we bend, and whilst we bow,
The adverse winds may rage and blow.
We need not fear misfortune’s stroke,
While couched beneath the stately oak:
And may that oak long live and last,
That guards us from misfortune’s blast.
Dear Ben, the oak shall have his due,
If bows, and flattering praise will do.
And those, you know, who bow and bend,
Ne’er want a patron, or a friend.
{47}{46} THE GOBLIN GROOM. CANTO SECOND.
The Fox-Chace.
{48}
{49}
THE GOBLIN GROOM. CANTO SECOND.
The Fox-Chace.. ”

“ On his observing the society diminish, he discovered manifest signs of uneasiness: he therefore gave new force to his spirits, and new charms to his conversation, in order to detain the remaining few some time longer.{89} This had some little effect; but the period could not be long delayed when he was to be conducted to his chamber. The remains of the company retired also; but they had scarce closed their eyes, when the house was alarmed by the most terrible shrieks that were ever heard: several persons were awakened by the noise ”

“ It was in the early part of— — —’s life, that he attended an hunting club at their sport, when a stranger, of a genteel appearance, and well mounted, joined the{88} chace, and was observed to ride with a degree of courage and address that called forth the utmost astonishment of every one present. The beast he rode was of amazing powers; nothing stopped them; the hounds could never escape them; and the huntsman, who was left far behind, swore that the man and his horse were devils from hell. ”

“ The subject of superstition, as connected with the history of man, whether it be considered as influencing his character, or as affecting his conduct in society, seems sufficiently important to occupy the serious attention of the most learned investigator. ”

“ The dress of this little stranger, and his manner of introducing himself to the festival, must satisfy the reader{96} that the Goblin Groom is one of those supernatural sportsmen usually termed Fairies. ”

“ Each sportsman mounts his cover steed,
And through the town with fiery speed,
Spurs on his ready hack:{54}
One thinks a canter gives him grace,
Another thinks a trot the pace,
And knowingly looks back ”

“ The exercise, therefore, falls heavily upon the English and Irish horses brought into the Isle of Man. Mr. Waldron was assured by a gentleman of Ballafletcher, that he had lost three or four capital hunters by these nocturnal excursions.
WALDRON’S WORKS, P. 132.”
It is to be lamented, for the comfort of that valuable class of society denominated Hunting-Grooms, that their{99} masters do not look into the casualties of their studs with the discriminating eye of the worthy gentleman of Ballafletcher. ”

“ In the isle of Man, where sportsmen of more tangible materials enjoy a temporary security, these little supernaturals, probably under similar circumstances, find an agreeable retreat. In the Minstrelsy of the Scottish{97} Borders, on the unrefuted authority of Mr. Waldron, we have the following interesting particulars.—
“Like the FELD ELFEN of the Saxons, the usual dress of the Fairies is green ”

“ MARMION, CANTO IV, P. 187.
NOTE VII, P. 79.
To every Bard that serves his Grace,
A goodly pension or a place;—
We here call upon our readers, to attend to the origin of the word Bard; inasmuch as, that term has become applicable to poem-mongers in general. The learned Mr. Prideaux informs us,—
“Bardus possessed his father Druis’ place. ”