# Chapter IX explained — Lavengro

> Chapter companion for Lavengro by George Borrow.

## What happens

The narrator recounts his journey with his father's regiment through Ireland, describing the Irish landscape, the people, and the language. His father expresses strong anti-Irish and anti-Catholic sentiments, calling Irish a 'bad language' and recounting a violent encounter in London. They arrive in Clonmel, where their landlord, a fervent Irish Protestant, delivers a passionate speech praising King George and denouncing the Pope, illustrating the deep religious and cultural divides of the time.

## Themes in this chapter

### Religion and Priestcraft

The chapter vividly portrays Protestant-Catholic antagonism through the landlord's Orange rhetoric and the father's anti-Irish sentiments, highlighting religious conflict as a central theme.

### Identity and Belonging

The narrator's father and the landlord define themselves in opposition to Irish Catholics, while the narrator's curiosity about the Irish language suggests a more complex engagement with identity.

### Philology and Learning

The narrator's interest in learning Irish, despite his father's dismissal, foreshadows his lifelong passion for languages and philology.

## Character check-ins

### Lavengro

The narrator, walking beside his father's horse, observes the Irish countryside and people, and expresses curiosity about the Irish language.

### Captain Thomas Borrow

The narrator's father, a captain in the army, who speaks disparagingly of the Irish language and recounts a violent encounter with Irish deserters in London.

### The Landlord

The Irish Protestant landlord in Clonmel, Mr. Hyne, who welcomes the family with a fervent speech praising King George and denouncing Catholicism.

## Key lines

> It is not like Scotch; no person can learn it, save those who are born to it, and even in Ireland the respectable people do not speak it, only the wilder sort, like those we have passed.

The father claims Irish is impossible for outsiders to learn and is only spoken by the lower classes in Ireland.

_This reflects contemporary prejudices about the Irish language and its speakers._

> It did my heart good when I saw your honour ride in at the head of all those fine fellows, real Protestants, I'll engage, not a Papist among them—they are too good-looking and honest-looking for that.

The landlord expresses joy at seeing a Protestant military company, equating Protestantism with good looks and honesty.

_This illustrates the landlord's bigotry and the sectarian atmosphere of the time._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/lavengro_se/chapters/ix
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/lavengro_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/lavengro_se/chapters