Clare’s Novel

Very few folk know that in the 1820s Clare was engaged in writing scenes for a novel.  After finding traces of these writings in the Archives, I quickly realised that here was a considerable amount of prose that no-one seemed to have explored, and published.  All completely ignored although there are many important passages.  Here is a taste of the series of letters in the novel between Mrs Hubbelgubbel and Mrs Leytiss, influenced by the hilarious correspondence in Smollett's Humphrey Clinker from the late 18th century.

Miss Eleezer plays bewtifulle on the Pye anna 
forty & sings so chamminly that I feere we shell sewn 
loose thee yung leddy fur she hes so menny 
akompleeshmints & our yung sqire steys so long away 
fram Lunnun that theirs no noin whets to bee    whel 
godd giv hur grace fur shees gat weesdom enaff aireddy 
for a dukes dewchest    athou it iss I her maa maa who 
seys it     be wise der bye beetimes & let mee tell yu 
thet a duke is not a dukk minde    thet wich swimms on 
the warter    but onne off thee quall ety der bye thet iss 
nextt to thee kingg godd bless him 

(From Clare’s aborted novel ‘Memoirs of Uncle Barnaby’ still available from me, £12.50)

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