Mollie Charane, and Other Ballads

In Short

Drawn largely from northern lore, saga, and traditional balladry, George Borrow’s collection presents a varied gallery of verse narratives, meditations on mortality, and devotional hymns. The poems traverse strange encounters, from ancient Danes unearthing golden treasures to miraculous voyages across the sea, and from wicked stepmothers practicing dark magic to tragic reckonings in distant harems. Through distinct meters and antiquated turns of phrase, the volume captures the haunting, moralistic atmosphere of traditional folk songs while reflecting the translator's lifelong fascination with out-of-the-way histories and marginalized wanderers.

The Story

The collection opens in the Isle of Man with the curious figure of Mollie Charane, a miserly landowner whose accumulation of wealth and mismatched footwear scandalize his neighbors, culminating in the bitter realization that he is the first man on the island to leave a marriage portion to his daughter. Shifting from local eccentricities to ancient history, the verse turns to the heroic legacy of the Danes of yore and the celebration of modern monarchs who safeguard ancient honors, before a speaker uncovers golden dishes and goblets buried for a thousand winters.

This historic grandeur soon gives way to stark reflections on human vanity, as a survey of death warns that worldly riches, dainty charms, and youthful dancing all end equally in cold mould and clay. Amidst these meditations, simple earthly pleasures are prized in an idealized vision of a quiet life by a river, paired with good company and an Arabic book. The narrative breadth expands into marvelous and pious legends, notably the account of Saint Jacob sailing across the salt sea upon a little stone to convert Garsia land. Challenged by a pagan king to prove his maker's power, the saint summons the king's long-lost son back from hell, prompting horrifying revelations from the afterlife about the eternal torments awaiting cruel stepmothers, malicious merchants, and heartless wretches.

The journey continues toward the exotic and the dramatic with the tale of a renegade pasha in a harem, who drops dead in horror and foaming fury upon the arrival of a captive beauty from Lehistan. After a defiant defense of the poet’s high calling and independence through the gift of minstrelsy, the verse moves into solemn religious devotion, offering humble prayers for forgiveness to Jesus. Finally, the collection concludes with a transformation myth in which a wicked stepmother turns a young maiden into a hind and her seven maids into wolves. Pursued by hounds in the deep woods, the hind transforms into a bird, feeds upon bait from the bosom of the noble knight Sir Orm, and regains her human form to marry her rescuer.

How It Unfolds

• The miser's fortune — The collection begins by questioning a notorious Manx miser about the origin of his hidden wealth and mismatched shoes. It marks the unprecedented dowry he leaves behind despite local curses.
• Buried treasures — The focus shifts to ancient saga and scaldic lore celebrating heroic Danes and rulers guarding noble realms. The speaker rejoices in unearthing ancient golden vessels meant to frame a hero's diadem.
• Mortal decay — A chilling meditation reminds proud maids and merry dancers that youth and riches inevitably crumble into dust. Every worldly quest terminates in the identical quiet grave.
• Simple comforts — A brief, pastoral interlude contrasts earthly vanity with the quiet joys of good food, old wine, a gentle wife, and a gipsy pony. Peace is found in a secluded house shaded by trees near a river.
• Miraculous journeys — Saint Jacob travels across the ocean upon a floating stone to confront King Garsia and performs a resurrection. The returned son reports the gruesome underground fates awaiting earthly wrongdoers.
• The pasha's end — A dramatic scene unfolds in a Turkish harem where an unexpected captive arrives from afar. The pasha gazes upon her and instantly dies of shock.
• The poet's pride — An impromptu verse asserts the supreme independence and emotional shelter found in minstrelsy. The poet rejects crown and court for the immortal rewards of the Muses.
• Divine penance — A heartfelt hymn confesses human sinfulness and repents for causing ongoing pain to the crucified savior. The speaker begs for spiritual guidance out of deep ignorance.
• The forest enchantment — The final ballad follows a maiden transformed into a hind by a malicious stepmother. She evades hounds, takes the shape of a bird, and returns to human form in the arms of Sir Orm.

The People

• Mollie Charane wants to hoard his wealth and maintain his eccentric lifestyle, facing the scorn of neighbors and daughters who find his mismatched sandals and hidden riches appalling. He ends his days as a legendary figure remembered for breaking local tradition by giving a dowry.
• Saint Jacob wants to bring Christianity to Garsia land, facing an initial lack of a ship and a skeptical pagan king who demands proof of divine power. He succeeds by floating on a stone and raising the king's son from the dead.
• King Garsia wants to defend his native religion and mock foreign claims, standing opposed to the visiting saint until he is confronted with the supernatural resurrection of his long-lost child. He is brought to trust the saint's maker entirely.
• The Renegade Pasha wants peaceful leisure among his harem dancers and musicians, but is utterly undone by the sudden arrival of a mysterious captive from Lehistan. His soul abruptly departs his body in a fit of horror.
• The Transformed Damsel wants peace and safety from her wicked stepmother, who turns her into a hind and sets wolves upon her. She escapes through magical transformations and ends up happily married to the faithful knight Sir Orm.
• Sir Orm wants peace from secret cares and rides out into the green woods, encountering a hind that refuses to flee from him. He aids her through her transformations and marries her on Monday morning.

In Its Own Voice

"O, Mollie Charane, where got you your gold?"

This inquiry opens the collection by confronting a notorious local miser about his mysterious wealth.

"My blood is freezing, my senses reel, / So horror stricken at heart I feel;"

This couplet captures the terror of mortality in the meditation on the swift passage toward death.

"Give me the haunch of a buck to eat, / And to drink Madeira old;"

These lines express a straightforward desire for earthly comforts and a quiet domestic life.

What It's Really About

The volume investigates the sharp contrast between fleeting earthly vanity and eternal spiritual reality. Across its varied selections, it weighs the emptiness of hoarding gold, the inevitability of physical decay, and the dangers of earthly cruelty against the enduring comforts of nature, simple domesticity, and devout faith. It also explores the tension between pagan history and Christian redemption, using folklore and legend to examine divine justice, where earthly sins like greed and malice receive grotesque punishments in the afterlife. Finally, it asserts the dignity of the outcast and the independent maker of verse, who finds lasting value in song rather than worldly power.

Why Read It Today

Readers who love Victorian antiquarianism, traditional folklore, and robust 19th-century verse translations will find much to treasure here. It feels like stepping into a dusty, candlelit archive where forgotten myths, maritime legends, and dark northern superstitions are given a distinct, unpolished voice. The reading experience is rugged and varied, shifting abruptly from grim moralizing on death to whimsical folktales of floating stones and shape-shifting maidens. Modern readers should be prepared for period attitudes, archaic diction, and rough metrical shifts that reflect Borrow's idiosyncratic ear rather than polished salon poetry. Yet those willing to lean into its eccentricities will discover a genuine, unpretentious artifact of nineteenth-century literary wandering that lingers in the mind long after the book is closed.