The Life of George Borrow | Page 6

famous encounter in Hyde Park with Big Ben Bryan, the champion of
England; he "whose skin was brown and dusky as that of a toad." It was
a combat in which "even Wellington or Napoleon would have been
heartily glad to cry for quarter ere the lapse of five minutes, and even
the Blacksmith Tartar would, perhaps, have shrunk from the opponent
with whom, after having had a dispute with him," Sergeant Borrow
"engaged in single combat for one hour, at the end of which time the
champions shook hands and retired, each having experienced quite
enough of the other's prowess." {4a}
At East Dereham Thomas Borrow met Ann {4b} Perfrement, {4c} a
strikingly handsome girl of twenty, whose dark eyes first flashed upon
him from over the footlights. It was, and still is, the custom for small
touring companies to engage their supernumeraries in the towns in
which they were playing. The pretty daughter of Farmer Perfrement,
whose farm lay about one and a half miles out of East Dereham, was
one of those who took occasion to earn a few shillings for pin-money.
The Perfrements were of Huguenot stock. On the revocation of the
Edict of Nantes, their ancestors had fled from their native town of Caen
and taken refuge in East Anglia, there to enjoy the liberty of conscience
denied them in their beloved Normandy. Thomas Borrow made the
acquaintance of the young probationer, and promptly settled any
aspirations that she may have had towards the stage by marrying her.
The wedding took place on 11th February 1793 at East Dereham
church, best known as the resting- place of the poet Cowper, Ann being
twenty-one and Thomas thirty-four years of age.
For the next seven years Thomas and Ann Borrow moved about with
the West Norfolk Militia, which now marched off into Essex, a few
months later doubling back again into Norfolk. Then it dived into Kent
and for a time hovered about the Cinque Ports, Thomas Borrow in the

meantime being promoted to the rank of quarter-master (27th May
1795). It was not until he had completed fourteen years of service that
he received a commission. On 27th February 1798 he became Adjutant
in the same regiment, a promotion that carried with it a captain's rank.
Whilst at Sandgate Mrs Borrow became acquainted with John Murray,
the son of the founder of the publishing house from which, forty-four
years later, were to be published the books of her second son, then
unborn. The widow of John Murray the First had married in 1795
Lieutenant Henry Paget of the West Norfolk Militia. Years later (27th
March 1843) George Borrow wrote to John Murray, Junr., third of the
line:
"I am at present in Norwich with my mother, who has been ill, but is
now, thank God, recovering fast. She begs leave to send her kind
remembrances to Mr Murray. She knew him at Sandgate in Kent
FORTY- SIX years ago, when he came to see his mother, Mrs P[aget].
She was also acquainted with his sister, Miss Jane Murray, {5a} who
used to ride on horseback with her on the Downs. She says Captain [sic]
Paget once cooked a dinner for Mrs P. and herself; and sat down to
table with his cook's apron on. Is not this funny? Does it not 'beat the
Union,' as the Yankees say?"
The first child of the marriage was born in 1800, it is not known
exactly when or where. This was John, "the brother some three years
older than myself," whose beauty in infancy was so great "that people,
especially those of the poorer classes, would follow the nurse who
carried him about in order to look at and bless his lovely face," {6a}
with its rosy cheeks and smiling, blue-eyed innocence. On one occasion
even, an attempt was made to snatch him from the arms of his nurse as
she was about to enter a coach. The parents became a prey to anxiety;
for the child seems to have possessed many endearing qualities as well
as good looks. He was quick and clever, and when the time came for
instruction, "he mastered his letters in a few hours, and in a day or two
could decipher the names of people on the doors of houses and over the
shop windows." {6b} His cleverness increased as he grew up, and later
he seems to have become, in the mind of Captain Borrow at least, a
standard by which to measure the shortcomings of his younger son
George, whom he never was able to understand.
For the next three years, 1800-3, the regiment continued to hover about

the home counties. The Peace of Amiens released many of the untried
warriors, who had enlisted "until the peace," their adjutant having to
find new