University of Virginia Library

The Bothie of Toper-na-fuosich
The Bothie of Toper-na-Fuosich was first published in November, 1848. Written in hexameters after Longfellow's taming of "our forward-rushing, consonant-crushing, Anglo-savage enunciation" in Evangeline (1847), the poem recounts a student reading party in Scotland.

Philip falls in love with a peasant girl, Elspie, but unable to find a place in English society, "they rounded the globe to New Zealand."

English critics generally ridiculed the poem. Unsigned reviews in the Spectator and the Literary Gazette perhaps reflected a philistine resentment of Oxonians: "at first view The Bothie of Toper-na-Fuosich looked like some Oxford satire; but if it does cover any occult meaning, it is confined to the initiated" (Spectator, 2 December 1848). More sophisticated readers—among them W. M. Thackeray, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Charles Kingsley—praised the poem, but the most enthusiastic reception came from the United States. In his critique for the Massachusetts Quarterly Review (March 1849), Emerson declared that "the poem has great literary merits . . . . The Homeric iteration has a singular charm . . . and there is a wealth of expression, a power of description and of portrait-painting, which excels out best romancers."

Matthew Arnold, perhaps Clough's closest friend, initially derided the poem for sounding "more American than English," but tempered his criticism to concede in 1861 that Clough's "composition produces a sense in the reader which Homer's composition produces."

Of his review in The Germ,William Michael Rossetti wrote in the preface of the 1901 reprint: "The only remark which I need make on this somewhat ponderous article is that I, as editor of The Germ, was more or less expected to do the sort of work for which other 'proprietors' had little inclination." Yet he did report that, in response to the review, "I had a letter from Clough, conveying his thanks to me for the copy of The Germ, and the criticism" (PRB Journal, 27 January 1850).

Arthur Hugh Clough
Clough (1819-1861), the son of a Liverpool cotton merchant, was Dr. Thomas Arnold's prize pupil at Rugby. He became a scholar at Balliol College, where he took a second and told Dr. Arnold in June 1841 "I have failed." He became a fellow of Oriel, but resigned. Then he was made principal of University Hall, London, as an examiner in the examination office, but was eventually forced to resign there as well. Clough was continually plagued by doubts religious and otherwise, particularly when his experience at Oxford challenged his indoctrination at Rugby. The poetry published during his lifetime, "The Bothie" and Ambarvalia, was for the most part poorly received in England. With this in mind he published his epistolary Amours de Voyage in the United States only. (It appeared anonymously in the Atlantic Monthly, 1858). He died in Florence, and Matthew Arnold wrote "Thyrsis" to commemorate his death.

(in English, 'the hut of the bearded well')
In September 1847 Clough stayed at the Bothie of Tobair na Feosag, a forester's cottage about six miles from the head of Loch Ericht, on the west shore of Scotland. Clough was told by the boatman on Loch Ericht that the name was really "Toper-na-Fuosich," meaning "the baird's well." While William Michael Rossetti's translation of "the bearded well" refers to Tobair na Feosag, Clough's title is actually a bawdy Gaelic toast. A reviewer in the Literary Gazette for 18 August 1849, quipped that "the author ought to have been more guarded against the malicious Gael who imposed it on the inquisitive Sassenach." Soon afterward, Clough discovered his error and wrote to William Allingham in 1855, that "I was so disgusted with the mishap of the name, that I have never had pleasure in [the poem] since." To fit the meter he experimented with "The Bothie of Toper-na-Kippoch" and later, "The Bothie of Tober-na-Vuolich," a change he registered throughout the poem's 1862 edition. Clough had also tried "Tober-navohlich" and "Topernafasach," finally deciding that only "The Bothie" should appear on the title page.

Ambarvalia
A joint publication with Thomas Burbidge, Ambarvalia is a collection of thirty-two short lyrics and blank-verse fragments which appeared in January 1849. It was often referred to in Clough's letters as the Sicilian Shepherd. Contemporary critics tended to prefer Burbidge's contributions to Clough's, generally citing the obscurity of the latter as the reason.

Thomas Burbidge
As William Michael Rossetti's review indicates, this now-forgotten poet is perhaps best known for his collaboration with Clough on Ambarvalia. Burbidge (1816-1892) was Clough's schoolfellow at Rugby, which he attended 1830-1834. His mischievousness attracted the lifelong friendship of Clough, who in adulthood would regularly send him drafts of poems. When Burbidge left for Trinity College, Cambridge (where he took his BA in 1841) Clough would often arrange to meet him at Rugby. After taking his LL.D, Burbidge was made headmaster at Leamington College 1851-1857, after which he became Chaplain at Malta, and later, Palermo.