Classics Retold

Weatherbury bees were late in swarming, this year. It was later part of June, and the day after Sergeant Francis Troy visited the farm, that Bathsheba Everdene was standing in her garden, watching a swarm in the air, and guessing their probable settling place. They were late and unruly. Sometimes, throughout the season they would settle on the lowest bough, on a currant-bush or espalier apple tree . Next year they would settle straight off to the tallest coastard, or quarrington [1] and there defy all invaders who did not come with ladders and staves to take them. Bathsheba shaded her eyes, by one hand, were following these multitudes of swarming bees, and they ultimately halted by one of the trees. The bustling swarm had swept the sky in a scattered and uniform haze, which now thickened to a nebulous centre.  This glided on to a bough, and grew still denser, till it formed a solid blank spot upon the light. All the men and women were engaged in saving the hay, Liddy too left the h...

This quote was attributed to Lieutenant Colonel James Brown, a British military officer and diplomat who served the East India Company in India during the late 18th century.  The statement reflects a cynical view of the military power common in the feudal, aristocratic and colonial contexts, where the standing army is seen as a tool for domestic control and the suppression of internal dissent rather than a force for external defence.  Colonel James Brown made this view in the context of his mission to Mughal court of shah Alam Il. Browne was sent by Governor General Warran Hastings to gather intelligence on the Sikh confederacy and other regional powers that threatened Company's interests.  Mughal Emperor was largely a figurehead depending on various regional powers.  Browne observed that the Emperor's military forces were increasingly used for internal coercion to extract revenue from restless subjects. He observed that large standing armies were a massive financial...

Espalier is a method of training and pruning a tree forcing it to grow against the wall or a free-standing trellis.  It originated in the Middle Ages as a way to grow fruit inside the safety of castle walls, many non-fruiting plants including yew, cotoneaster, magnolia, and dogwood can be espaliered. 

The verge of the haymead.  "Ah, Miss Everdene!" said the seargent, lifting his small cap, "Little did I think it was you I was speaking to the other night.   And yet, if I had reflected, 'the Queen of the Corn- market' - truth is truth at any hour of day or night, and I have heard you so named in Casterbridge yesterday - the Queen of the Corn-market', I say could be no other woman. I step across now to beg your forgiveness a thousand times for having been led by my feelings to express myself too strongly for a stranger.  To be sure I am not stranger to the place. I am seargent Troy, as I told you, and I have assisted your uncle in the fields so many times when I was a lad.  I have been doing the same for you today." "I suppose I must thank you for that, seargent Troy," said the Queen of the Corn-market, in an indifferently grateful tone.  The seargent looked hurt and sad.  "Indeed you must not, Miss Everdene," he said, "Why could...

In Thomas Hardy's Far From The Madding Crowd the reference in the title is associated with the backstory of Sergeant Francis Troy and the origin of his gold watch.  The watch is an important token of Troy's past, and its backstory varies slightly in different editions.  The watch is said to have belonged to Troy's father, a doctor. But it was actually used by him while in the possession of the Earl of Seven.  The story implies that the Earl of Severn was the lover of Troy's mother, making him the biological son of Earl of Severn.  The details connect Troy to aristocratic traditions.  Severn primarily refers to River Severn and its surrounding valley. 

Cedit amor rebus is a Latin phrase meaning love yields to business or love gives way to employment. It is part of a famous piece of advice from Ovid's Remedia Amoris, meaning remedies for Love. Cedit amor rebus: rus age, tutus eris, meaning Love yields to business, and attend to business, you will be safe.  It advises that the best way to cure a passion or overcome love is to keep busy with work, daily life, or business.  It argues that love is temporary and often subordinate to harsh realities of life.  This phrase appears in Thomas Hardy's Far From The Madding Crowd as an inscription on Seargent Troy's watch symbolising his superficial attitude to love and his fickle nature.