author
R. O. (Robert Orde) Fenwick
An early-19th-century writer remembered for a single surviving work, he left behind a lively narrative poem that mixes Scottish local color, hunting scenes, and a touch of the supernatural. His best-known book, The Goblin Groom: A Tale of Dunse, was published in 1809 and has remained the work most closely associated with his name.
1 Audiobook
The Goblin Groom: a Tale of Dunse
by R. O. (Robert Orde) Fenwick
About the author
Little seems to be firmly documented about R. O. Fenwick beyond the record left by his book and a few archival traces. He is generally identified as Robert Orde Fenwick, and the work that preserves his reputation is The Goblin Groom: A Tale of Dunse, published in Edinburgh in 1809 and also issued in London.
The Goblin Groom is a narrative poem set around Dunse in the Scottish Borders. It blends folklore, rural sport, and historical atmosphere, giving modern listeners a glimpse of the kind of romantic, regionally flavored storytelling that appealed to readers in the early 1800s.
Archival burial records for a Robert Orde Fenwick in Bath list an approximate birth year of 1785 and a death date of February 11, 1855. Because detailed biographical sources are scarce, it is safest to remember him as a little-known poet whose surviving work offers a distinctive piece of early nineteenth-century British verse.