Classics Retold

Turpin's Ride to York, formally stylized as The Royal Hippodrome Performance of Turpin's Ride to York and the Death of Black Bess -- is a legendary 19th century Equestrian melodrama written by Henry M Milner.  It dramatized the real life 1738 legend of English Highwayman Dick Turpin, who rode his mare, Black Bess, on the epic 200 mile escape from London to York.  Equestrian Origin  Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was a staple of travelling circuses, Hippodromes, and amphitheatres across UK including Leeds, Cambridge and Coventry.  The performance was renowned for its thrilling acts of horsemanship performed in circular rings, including heart-pounding scenes like Turpin  leaping over a tollgate to avoid pursuing vigilantes.  The play was captured in Thomas Hardy's classic novel Far From The Madding Crowd, where Sergeant Troy performs as Turpin at the Greenhill Sheep Fair.  While travelling Hippodromes and 19th century equestrian melodra...

In Chapter 50 of Far From The Madding Crowd, Hardy's phrase "vermiculated horns" refers to horns that are twisted, coiled, or marked with winding worm-like curves. The adjective vermiculated comes from Latin vermiculus  meaning little worms.  In art and natural descriptions it means having irregular winding lines, convolutions, or worm-like patterns. When Hardy speaks of sheep or rams with vermiculated horns, he is drawing attention to the intricate special shape of their horns, which seem to curl and twist like worms or tendrils.  The word adds a vivid visual detail and reflects Hardy's habit of describing rural life with almost scientific precision. The description is characteristic of Hardy's rich descriptive vocabulary, turning an ordinary feature of sheep into a striking visual image.

In Chapter 50 of Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy qualifies Greenhill as Nishni Novgorod of Wessex. Nijni or Nishni means lower, and Novgorod means Newtown. There is Veliky Novgorod, meaning Upper Newtown in Russia. Nishni Novgorod Fair was very famous in Europe during the days of Thomas Hardy. The Fair was also called Makaryev Fair.  The fair is held annually every July on the banks of River Volga. Hardy compares  Greenhill Fair humourously with Nishni Novgorod Fair.  Greenhill Fair is much smaller than the Nishni Novgorod Fair. During 18th and 19th century, the fair was one of the largest trading events in Europe and Russia, attracting merchants, goods, livestocks, and buyers from distant places. 

The later autumn and the winter drew on rapidly.  Leaves lay thick upon the turf of glades and the  mosses of the woods.  Bathsheba was not clear what would happen to her person and Farm in the light of the death of Troy.  So she waited for the emergence of a clear picture, and put a hold on her feelings.  So she was quiet.  Whether Troy was alive or not she was sure that she had lost him.  She kept the farm going, raked in her prfits without caring keenly about them, and expended on ventures.  Oak was Installed as bailiff.  Boldwood lived secluded and inactive. Much of his wheat and all his barley of that season had been spoilt by the rain.  It sprouted, grew into intricate mats, and was ultimately thrown to the pigs in armfuls.  This strange neglect by Boldwood to take care of his produce became a talk among all the people round.  Boldwood approached Gabriel Oak and requested him to take care of Lower Farm. Gabriel took this...

The Greenhill Fair is the great public event that Hardy introduces in Chapter 49 of Far From The Madding Crowd, and develops fully in Chapter 50.  It was one of the largest sheep fairs in the Southwest England during the nineteenth century. The venue of the fair was Greenhill in the Dorset village of Sturminster Newton.  Hardy's portrayal was based on a real local institution familiar to him.  Hardy gives us a view of the economic life of Wessex, in which farmers, shepherds, traders, entertainers, and villagers gather from many miles around. Farming, trading, entertainment, and gossip converge here. Farmers and traders mingle with circus performers and general crowds.  The fair brings back the "dead" sergeant Troy alive. Troy had been working with a travelling performance company, appearing in the spectacle of "Turpin's Ride to York"  and the "Death  of Black Bess" Greenhill Fair is the opposite of the quiet fields of Weatherbury, which represents ...

In Chapter 49 of Far From The Madding Crowd Boldwood finds relief in the Biblical story of Rachel and Jacob and decides to wait for the termination of Bathsheba's waiting period.  The Biblical Story  Jacob fell in love with Rachel and wished to marry her.  Rachel's father Laban, agreed on the condition that Jacob work for him for seven years. Jacob gladly accepted because of his love for Rachel.  However, after the seven years were completed, Laban deceived him and gave him Rachel's elder sister, Leah as his wife.  To marry Rachel as well, Jacob had to serve Laban for another seven years. Thus, Jacob served twice seven years for the woman he loved. In the novel Bathsheba never proposes to Boldwood. Instead, Boldwood secretly extracts Bathsheba's intention from her maid Liddy. Boldwood finds relief in this piece of information, and hopes that after twice the seven years Bathsheba would marry him.  Boldwood's waiting is based on his whim, and not based on any...