shouting, and to attend me to Wrexham, or even as far as
Machynllaith, where I should wish to be invited to a dinner at which
all the bards should be present, and to be seated at the right hand
of the president, who, when the cloth was removed, should arise, and
amidst cries of silence, exclaim--'Brethren and Welshmen, allow me to
propose the health of my most respectable friend the translator of
the odes of the great Ab Gwilym, the pride and glory of Wales.'"
{63a}

He returned with Mr Petulengro, who directed him to Mumber Lane
(Mumper's Dingle), near Willenhall, in Staffordshire, "the little
dingle by the side of the great north road." Here Borrow encamped
and shod little Ambrol, who kicked him over as a reminder of his
clumsiness.

He had refused an invitation from Mr Petulengro to become a Romany
chal and take a Romany bride, the granddaughter of his would-be
murderess, who "occasionally talked of" him. He yearned for solitude
and the country's quiet. He told Mr Petulengro that he desired only
some peaceful spot where he might hold uninterrupted communion with
his own thoughts, and practise, if so inclined, either tinkering or
the blacksmith's art, and he had been directed to Mumper's Dingle,
which was to become the setting of the most romantic episode in his
life.

In the dingle Borrow experienced one of his worst attacks of the
"Horrors"--the "Screaming Horrors." He raged like a madman, a prey
to some indefinable, intangible fear; clinging to his "little horse
as if for safety and protection." {64a} He had not recovered from
the prostrating effects of that night of tragedy when he was called