We have occasionally publications for the fireside--these are only fit for the fire.
Borrow returned then to Norwich in the autumn of 1825 a disappointed man so far as concerned the giving of his poetical translations to the world, from which he had hoped so much.

No 'spirited publisher' had been forthcoming, although Dr.Knapp's researches have unearthed a 'note' in _The Monthly Magazine_, which, after the fashion of the anticipatory literary gossip of our day, announced that Olaus Borrow was about to issue _Legends and Popular Superstitions of the North_, 'in two elegant volumes.' But this never appeared.

Quite a number of Borrow's translations from divers languages had appeared from time to time, beginning with a version of Schiller's 'Diver' in _The New Monthly Magazine_ for 1823, continuing with Stolberg's 'Ode to a Mountain Torrent' in _The Monthly Magazine_, and including the 'Deceived Merman.' These he collected into book form and, not to be deterred by the coldness of heartless London publishers, issued them by subscription.
Three copies of the slim octavo book lie before me, with separate title-pages: (1) Romantic Ballads, Translated from the Danish; and Miscellaneous Pieces by George Borrow.

Norwich: Printed and Published by S.Wilkin, Upper Haymarket, 1826.
(2) Romantic Ballads, Translated from the Danish; and Miscellaneous Pieces by George Borrow.

London: Published by John Taylor, Waterloo Place, Pall Mall, 1826.
(3) Romantic Ballads, Translated from the Danish; and Miscellaneous Pieces, by George Borrow.