he diversion is over." He says he is "not ashamed to speak
to a beggar in rags, and will associate with anybody, provided he can
gratify a laudable curiosity." More emphatically still, he asks: "Can
the rolls of the English aristocracy exhibit names belonging to more
heroic men than those who were called respectively Pearce, Cribb, and
Spring?" Both "Lavengro" and "The Romany Rye," be it noted, were written
long after Borrow's association with the Bible Society had come to an
end.

Those who wish to visualize in some degree the rendezvous of "the
bruisers of England, men of tremendous renown," should look upon the
building, once the Bowling Green Hotel, by Chapel Field Gardens. It is
now an Orphan's Home, bought for that purpose for seven hundred pounds in
January, 1870, but the initials "R.G." on the north wall still recall the
memory of Richard Gurney, "the retired coachman with one leg," who died
August 11th, 1829, aged forty-eight. The stabling still remains in use,
but the bowling green now forms part of the property of the Bethel
Hospital: it adjoins the theatre, and is occupied by tennis courts for
the recreation of the patients. The Bowling Green Hotel in its heyday
was a place of much importance; for being so close to the theatre, it was
the chosen hostelry for many great theatrical stars--Mrs. Charles Kean
and others. Many amusing anecdotes are told of the guests in a booklet
on "Old Norfolk Inns," published by Messrs. Jarrold in 1888, but now
unfortunately out of print. Borrow gives an account of the mixed
assemblage at this inn, gathered for the great fight of July 17th, 1820,
between Ned Painter ("Ned Flatnose"), of Norwich, and Oliver.

He is wrong about the planting of the trees in Chapel Field "at the
restoration of sporting Charles," for they were planted in 1746, by Sir
Thomas Churchman, then lessee of the Field.

A good contemporary account of the big fight, in which Painter won, may
be found in "Norfolk Annals" (compiled from the files of the _Norfolk
Chronicle_), vol. i. p. 184. This was Painter's last appearance in the
prize-ring. He was landlord of the White Hart, just above St. Peter
Mancroft Church, from 1823 to 1835, and in that inn there is still a
portrait of the famous Ned. He occupied the meadows on which Thorpe
Station was built.

[Picture: Bowling Green Inn (now Orphan's Home). From Drawing by H. W.
Tuck]

Borrow's introduction of the ce