During a visit to Chesterfield, in the autumn of the year 1831, I first conceived the notion of writing this story. Wishing to describe, somewhat minutely, the trim gardens, the picturesque1 domains2, the rook-haunted groves3, the gloomy chambers4, and gloomier galleries, of an ancient Hall with which I was acquainted, I resolved to attempt a story in the bygone style of Mrs. Radcliffe,--which had always inexpressible charms for me,--substituting an old English squire5, an old English manorial6 residence, and an old English highwayman, for the Italian marchese, the castle, and the brigand7 of the great mistress of Romance.
While revolving8 this subject, I happened, one evening, to enter the spacious9 cemetery10 attached to the church with the queer, twisted steeple, which, like the uplifted tail of the renowned11 Dragon of Wantley, to whom "houses and churches were as capons and turkeys," seems to menace the good town of Chesterfield with destruction. Here an incident occurred, on the opening of a vault12, which it is needless to relate, but which supplied me with a hint for the commencement of my romance, as well as for the ballad13 entitled "The Coffin14." Upon this hint I immediately acted; and the earlier chapters of the book, together with the description of the ancestral mansion15 of the Rookwoods, were completed before I quitted Chesterfield.
Another and much larger portion of the work was written during a residence at Rottingdean, in Sussex, in the latter part of 1833, and owes its inspiration to many delightful16 walks over the South Downs. Romance-writing was pleasant occupation then.
The Ride to York was completed in one day and one night. This feat17--for a feat it was, being the composition of a hundred ordinary novel pages in less than twenty-four hours--was achieved at "The Elms," a house I then occupied at Kilburn. Well do I remember the fever into which I was thrown during the time of composition. My pen literally18 scoured19 over the pages. So thoroughly20 did I identify myself with the flying highwayman, that, once started, I found it impossible to halt. Animated21 by kindred enthusiasm, I cleared every obstacle in my path with as much facility as Turpin disposed of the impediments that beset22 his flight. In his company, I mounted the hill-side, dashed through the bustling23 village, swept over the desolate24 heath, threaded the silent street, plunged25 into the eddying26 stream, and kept an onward27 course, without pause, without hindrance28, without fatigue29. With him I shouted, sang, laughed, exulted30, wept. Nor did I retire to rest till, in imagination, I heard the bell of York Minster toll31 forth32 the knell33 of poor Black Bess.
The supernatural occurrence, forming the groundwork of one of the ballads34 which I have made the harbinger of doom35 to the house of Rookwood, is ascribed, by popular superstition36, to a family resident in Sussex; upon whose estate the fatal tree--a gigantic lime, with mighty37 arms and huge girth of trunk, as described in the song--is still carefully preserved. Cuckfield Place, to which this singular piece of timber is attached, is, I may state, for the benefit of the curious, the real Rookwood Hall; for I have not drawn39 upon imagination, but upon memory, in describing the seat and domains of that fated family. The general features of the venerable structure, several of its chambers, the old garden, and, in particular, the noble park, with its spreading prospects40, its picturesque views of the Hall, "like bits of Mrs. Radcliffe,"--as the poet Shelley once observed of the same scene,--its deep glades41, through which the deer come lightly tripping down, its uplands, slopes, brooks42, brakes, coverts43, and groves, are carefully delineated.
The superstition of a fallen branch affording a presage44 of approaching death is not peculiar45 to the family I have mentioned. Many other old houses have been equally favored: in fact, there is scarcely an ancient family in the kingdom without a boding46 sign. For instance, the Breretons of Brereton, in Cheshire, were warned by the appearance of stocks of trees floating, like the swollen47 bodies of long-drowned men, upon the surface of a sombre lake--called Blackmere, from the inky color of its waters--adjoining their residence; and numerous other examples might be given. The death-presage of the Breretons is alluded48 to by Drayton in the "Polyolbion."
It has been well observed by Barry Cornwall, "that the songs which occur in dramas are more natural than those which proceed from the author in person." With equal force does the reasoning apply to the romance, which may be termed the drama of the closet. It would seem strange, on a first view, that an author should be more at home in an assumed character than his own. But experience shows the position to be correct. Conscious he is no longer individually associated with his work, the writer proceeds with all the freedom of irresponsibility. His idiosyncrasy is merged49 in that of the personages he represents. He thinks with their thoughts, sees with their eyes, speaks with their tongues. His strains are such as he himself--per se--would not, perhaps could not, have originated. In this light he may be said to bring to his subject not one mind, but several; he becomes not one poet, but many; for each actor in his drama has a share, and an important share, in the lyrical estro to which he gives birth. This it is which has imparted any verve, variety, or dramatic character they possess, to the ballads contained in this production. Turpin I look upon as the real songster of "Black Bess;" to Jerry Juniper I am unquestionably indebted for a flash melody which, without his hint, would never have been written, while to the sexton I owe the solitary50 gleam of light I have been enabled to throw upon the horrors and mystery of the churchyard.
As I have casually51 alluded to the flash song of Jerry Juniper, I may, perhaps, be allowed to make a few observations upon this branch of versification. It is somewhat curious, with a dialect so racy, idiomatic52, and plastic as our own cant53, that its metrical capabilities54 should have been so little essayed. The French have numerous chansons d'argot, ranging from the time of Charles Bourdigne and Villon down to that of Vidocq and Victor Hugo, the last of whom has enlivened the horrors of his "Dernier Jour d'un Condamne" by a festive55 song of this class. The Spaniards possess a large collection of Romances de Germania, by various authors, amongst whom Quevedo holds a distinguished56 place. We, on the contrary, have scarcely any slang songs of merit. With a race of depredators so melodious57 and convivial58 as our highwaymen, this is the more to be wondered at. Had they no bards59 amongst their bands? Was there no minstrel at hand to record their exploits? I can only call to mind one robber who was a poet,--Delany, and he was an Irishman. This barrenness, I have shown, is not attributable to the poverty of the soil, but to the want of due cultivation60. Materials are at hand in abundance, but there have been few operators. Dekker, Beaumont and Fletcher, and Ben Jonson have all dealt largely in this jargon61, but not lyrically; and one of the earliest and best specimens62 of a canting-song occurs in Brome's "Jovial63 Crew;" and in the "Adventures of Bamfylde Moore Carew" there is a solitary ode, addressed by the mendicant64 fraternity to their newly-elected monarch65; but it has little humor, and can scarcely be called a genuine canting-song. This ode brings us down to our own time; to the effusions of the illustrious Pierce Egan; to Tom Moore's Flights of "Fancy;" to John Jackson's famous chant, "On the High Toby Spice Flash the Muzzle," cited by Lord Byron in a note to "Don Juan;" and to the glorious Irish ballad, worth them all put together, entitled "The Night Before Larry Was Stretched." This facetious66 performance is attributed to the late Dean Burrowes, of Cork67. It is worthy68 of note that almost all modern aspirants69 to the graces of the Musa Pedestris are Irishmen. Of all rhymesters of the "Road," however, Dean Burrowes is, as yet, most fully38 entitled to the laurel. Larry is quite "the potato!"
I can't help putting in my claim for praise.
I venture to affirm that I have done something more than has been accomplished72 by my predecessors73, or contemporaries, with the significant language under consideration. I have written a purely74 flash song, of which the great and peculiar merit consists in its being utterly75 incomprehensible to the uninformed understanding, while its meaning must be perfectly76 clear and perspicuous to the practised patterer of Romany, or Pedlar's French. I have, moreover, been the first to introduce and naturalize amongst us a measure which, though common enough in the Argotic minstrelsy of France, has been hitherto utterly unknown to our pedestrian poetry. Some years afterwards, the song alluded to, better known under the title of "Nix My Dolly, Pals,--Fake Away!" sprang into extraordinary popularity, being set to music by Rodwell, and chanted by glorious Paul Bedford and clever little Mrs. Keeley.
Before quitting the subject of these songs, I may mention that they probably would not have been written at all if one of the earliest of them--a chance experiment--had not excited the warm approbation77 of my friend, Charles Ollier, author of the striking romance of "Ferrers." This induced me to prosecute78 the vein79 accidentally opened.
Turpin was the hero of my boyhood. I had always a strange passion for highwaymen, and have listened by the hour to their exploits, as narrated80 by my father, and especially to those of "Dauntless Dick," that "chief minion81 of the moon." One of Turpin's adventures in particular, the ride to Hough Green, which took deep hold of my fancy, I have recorded in song. When a boy, I have often lingered by the side of the deep old road where this robbery was committed, to cast wistful glances into its mysterious windings82; and when night deepened the shadows of the trees, have urged my horse on his journey, from a vague apprehension83 of a visit from the ghostly highwayman. And then there was the Bollin, with its shelvy banks, which Turpin cleared at a bound; the broad meadows over which he winged his flight; the pleasant bowling-green of the pleasant old inn at Hough, where he produced his watch to the Cheshire squires84, with whom he was upon terms of intimacy85; all brought something of the gallant86 robber to mind. No wonder, in after-years, in selecting a highwayman for a character in a tale, I should choose my old favorite, Dick Turpin.
In reference to two of the characters here introduced, and drawn from personages living at the time the tale was written, it may be mentioned that poor Jerry Juniper met his death from an accident at Chichester, while he was proceeding87 to Goodwood races; and that the knight88 of Malta,--Mr. Tom, a brewer89 of Truro, the self-styled Sir William Courtenay, who played the strange tricks at Canterbury chronicled in a song given in these pages,--after his release from Banning Heath Asylum90, was shot through the head while leading on a mob of riotous91 Kentish yeomen, whom he had persuaded that he was the Messiah!
If the design of Romance be, what it has been held, the exposition of a useful truth by means of an interesting story, I fear I have but imperfectly fulfilled the office imposed upon me; having, as I will freely confess, had, throughout, an eye rather to the reader's amusement than his edification. One wholesome92 moral, however, may, I trust, be gathered from the perusal93 of this Tale; namely, that, without due governance of the passions, high aspirations94 and generous emotions will little avail their possessor. The impersonations of the Tempter, the Tempted95, and the Better Influence may be respectively discovered, by those who care to cull96 the honey from the flower, in the Sexton, in Luke, and in Sybil.
The chief object I had in view in making the present essay was to see how far the infusion97 of a warmer and more genial98 current into the veins99 of old Romance would succeed in reviving her fluttering and feeble pulses. The attempt has succeeded beyond my most sanguine100 expectation. Romance, if I am not mistaken, is destined101 shortly to undergo an important change. Modified by the German and French writers--by Hoffman, Tieck, Hugo, Dumas, Balzac, and Paul Lecroix (le Bibliophile102 Jacob)--the structure commenced in our own land by Horace Walpole, Monk103 Lewis, Mrs. Radcliffe, and Maturin, but left imperfect and inharmonious, requires, now that the rubbish which choked up its approach is removed, only the hand of the skilful104 architect to its entire renovation105 and perfection.
And now, having said my say, I must bid you, worthy reader, farewell. Beseeching106 you, in the words of old Rabelais, "to interpret all my sayings and doings in the perfectest sense. Reverence107 the cheese-like brain that feeds you with all these jolly maggots; and do what lies in you to keep me always merry. Be frolic now, my lads! Cheer up your hearts, and joyfully108 read the rest, with all ease of your body, and comfort of your reins109."
KENSAL MANOR-HOUSE,
December 15, 1849.
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1
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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domains
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| n.范围( domain的名词复数 )；领域；版图；地产 | |
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groves
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| 树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 ) | |
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chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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squire
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| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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manorial
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| adj.庄园的 | |
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brigand
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| n.土匪，强盗 | |
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revolving
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| adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想 | |
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spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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cemetery
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| n.坟墓，墓地，坟场 | |
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renowned
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| adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的 | |
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vault
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| n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室 | |
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ballad
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| n.歌谣，民谣，流行爱情歌曲 | |
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coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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15
mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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16
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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feat
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| n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的 | |
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literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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19
scoured
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| 走遍（某地）搜寻（人或物）( scour的过去式和过去分词 )； （用力）刷； 擦净； 擦亮 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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21
animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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eddying
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| 涡流，涡流的形成 | |
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onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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hindrance
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| n.妨碍，障碍 | |
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fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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30
exulted
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| 狂喜，欢跃( exult的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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toll
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| n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟) | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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knell
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| n.丧钟声；v.敲丧钟 | |
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ballads
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| 民歌，民谣，特别指叙述故事的歌( ballad的名词复数 )； 讴 | |
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doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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prospects
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| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
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41
glades
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| n.林中空地( glade的名词复数 ) | |
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42
brooks
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| n.小溪( brook的名词复数 ) | |
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43
coverts
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| n.隐蔽的，不公开的，秘密的( covert的名词复数 )；复羽 | |
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presage
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| n.预感，不祥感；v.预示 | |
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45
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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46
boding
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| adj.凶兆的，先兆的n.凶兆，前兆，预感v.预示，预告，预言( bode的现在分词 )；等待，停留( bide的过去分词 )；居住；（过去式用bided）等待 | |
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47
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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48
alluded
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| 提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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49
merged
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| （使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中 | |
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50
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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51
casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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52
idiomatic
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| adj.成语的，符合语言习惯的 | |
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53
cant
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| n.斜穿，黑话，猛扔 | |
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54
capabilities
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| n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力 | |
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festive
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| adj.欢宴的，节日的 | |
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56
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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57
melodious
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| adj.旋律美妙的，调子优美的，音乐性的 | |
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58
convivial
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| adj.狂欢的，欢乐的 | |
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59
bards
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| n.诗人( bard的名词复数 ) | |
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60
cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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61
jargon
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| n.术语，行话 | |
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62
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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jovial
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| adj.快乐的，好交际的 | |
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mendicant
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| n.乞丐；adj.行乞的 | |
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monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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facetious
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| adj.轻浮的，好开玩笑的 | |
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67
cork
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| n.软木，软木塞 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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aspirants
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| n.有志向或渴望获得…的人( aspirant的名词复数 )v.渴望的，有抱负的，追求名誉或地位的( aspirant的第三人称单数 )；有志向或渴望获得…的人 | |
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pretensions
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| 自称( pretension的名词复数 )； 自命不凡； 要求； 权力 | |
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humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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predecessors
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| n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身 | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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approbation
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| n.称赞；认可 | |
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prosecute
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| vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官 | |
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vein
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| n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络 | |
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narrated
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| v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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minion
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| n.宠仆；宠爱之人 | |
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windings
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| （道路、河流等）蜿蜒的，弯曲的( winding的名词复数 )； 缠绕( wind的现在分词 )； 卷绕； 转动（把手） | |
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apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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squires
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| n.地主，乡绅( squire的名词复数 ) | |
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intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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brewer
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| n. 啤酒制造者 | |
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90
asylum
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| n.避难所，庇护所，避难 | |
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riotous
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| adj.骚乱的；狂欢的 | |
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wholesome
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| adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的 | |
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perusal
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| n.细读，熟读；目测 | |
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aspirations
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| 强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音 | |
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tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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cull
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| v.拣选；剔除；n.拣出的东西；剔除 | |
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infusion
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| n.灌输 | |
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genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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100
sanguine
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| adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的 | |
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101
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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102
bibliophile
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| n.爱书者；藏书家 | |
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103
monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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skilful
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| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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renovation
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| n.革新，整修 | |
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106
beseeching
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| adj.恳求似的v.恳求，乞求（某事物）( beseech的现在分词 ) | |
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reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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108
joyfully
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| adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
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109
reins
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| 感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带 | |
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