Classics Retold

Sergeant Troy uses the phrase "such strait waist-coating as you treat me to is not becoming in you at an early date."  Here strait waist-coating is a metaphor for being confined, restricted, or controlled. He is complaining about Bathsheba's attempt to control his movements, question his expenditure, or prying into his past, implying she is acting more like a strict keeper than a wife. This conversation takes place after they were married when Troy asks for twenty pounds, without explaining why, and Bathsheba's jealousy and suspicion are growing. Strait-waistcoat is a garment designed to retain a person's movement by binding their arms tightly against their body.  Made from durable canvas or leather it features long sleeves that are crossed over the chest and secured behind the wearer's back. The term originated in the mid 18th century was first described in 1772 textbook by David Macbride. Historically they were used extensively in asylums. David Macbride was...

The woman walked on for a considerable time.  Her steps became weak and she strained her eyes to look afar upon the naked road, now indistinct amid the  Penumbrae .  At length her onward walk dwindled to the merest totter, and she opened a gate within which was a haystack.  Underneath this she sat down and soon slept. The woman awoke to find herself in the depths of a moonless night.  A heavy unbroken crust of cloud stretched across the sky; and a distant halo hung over the town of Casterbridge. "If I could only get there!" the woman said looking at the halo hung over Casterbridge.  "Meet him the day after tomorrow: God help me!  Perhaps I shall be in my grave before then."  A clock from the far depth of shadows struck the hour one, in small, attenuated tone.  Two lights arose from the remote shade, and grew larger.  A carriage rolled along the road.  It contained some late diners-out. The light from the carriage showed the crouchin...

The Pleiads also known as Seven Sisters or Messier 45 (M45) is a prominent open star cluster in the Constellation Taurus located at 444 light-years from Earth.  It is one of the nearest star clusters to Earth and is visible to the naked eye as a tiny, blue-tinted misty dipper of stars It contains over 1000 stars, though only six to seven are visible to the naked eye. It is a young cluster consisting of hot B type stars formed within the last few million years.  In Greek mythology Seven Sisters were the seven daughters of the Titan Atlas and the sea nymph Pleione. Pursued by hunter Orion Zeus transformed them into stars to protect them. 

Hazel copse is a traditional woodland area where hazel trees are cut near ground level on a 7 to 15 years rotation, encouraging vigorous regrowth for sustainable timber, fencing and garden material.  This ancient method, called coppicing  produces straight flexible poles ideal for hurdle making, thatch spars, and plant supports while promoting biodiversity. A forest or grove that has been subject to coppicing is called copse. Hazel is often grown as an understorey beneath larger Oak or ash trees. They are cut in winter because it reduces decay in poles. Known for producing flexible wands hazel is used for wattle and hurdles for fencing, beanpoles and walking sticks.  Mass cutting allows light to reach the woodland floors, benefitting wild flowers and dormice.  Similar process is carried out at a higher level is called pollarding. This is done to prevent grazing animals from eating new shoots.  Dormice:  Small nocturnal Old World rodents known for their long...

Plural of penumbra. The lighter outer regions of a shadow where the light source is only partially obscured, surrounding the darker central umbra. The word is commonly used in astronomy. In art it is rarely used as blending of light and shade. It is the play of light and shade. Synonyms: Partial shadow, fringe region, shades region.  Derived from Latin paene (almost) and umbra (shadow)

On the turn-pike road, between Casterbridge and Weatherbury, there was a long steep ascent. In returning from market it is usual for the farmers and other gig users to alight at the bottom and walk up.  The month of October. A Saturday evening.  Bathsheba's vehicle was creeping up the ascent. She was sitting listlessly in the second seat, while sergeant Troy was walking beside the gig in a farmer's marketing suit of unusually fashionable cut.  Though on foot he held the reins and whip, and occasionally aimed light cuts at the horse's ear with the end of lash as a pastime.  Sergeant Troy had  bought his discharge with Bathsheba's money, and was transforming himself to a farmer of spirited and very modern school.  People still called him sergeant and he retained his well shaped moustache of his military days. "Yes, if it hadn't been for that wretched rain I should have cleared two hundred as easy as looking, my love," he was saying. "Don't you see,...

Haeuteur is a formal noun referring to display of arrogance, superiority, or overbearing pride.  It describes an unfriendly, distant manner where someone acts as though they are better than others, often associated with a sense of entitlement or snobbishness.  It is often used to criticize cold or condescending behaviour.  The word stems from the French word haut meaning high or high in one's own estimation.  Synonyms: Arrogance, superiority, disdain, conceit, snobbishness.  Antonyms: Humility, modesty.

The perception that people of England prior to Industrial Revolution often stems from the historical conflict between traditional agrarian lifestyle and the emerging modern work ethic.  Before Industrial Revolution life followed natural cycles rather than clock.  Farming involved intensive labour in times of ploughing, sowing seeds and during harvest, followed by long periods of low activity. It was common for work folks to take Mondays off - a tradition known as Saint Monday - to recover from Sunday drinking, creating a three-day weekend.  Philosophers like David Hume noted that without cheap luxury goods to buy people had no reason to work beyond what they need to survive, naturally falling into a habit of indolence.  Leisure was primary status symbol of aristocracy and emerging middle class.  The aristocracy lived on rents and fortunes. They indulged in scandals, gossips, and social intrigue.  From the 17th century coffee houses became hubs where busines...

Vapid is something or someone that is dull, uninspiring, tedious or lacking intelligence, spirit, and flavour.  It is commonly used to describe boring conversation, lifeless art, or shallow personalities.  Synonyms: Dull, insipid, flat, boring, tiresome, lifeless.  Antonyms: Lively, interesting, stimulating, spirited, sharp, pungent.  It came from the Latin word vapidus, which originally described drinks that had become stale or tasteless. 

The Victorian Workhouse was an institution that was intended to provide work and shelter for poor people who had no means to support themselves.  With the advent of Poor Law system, Victorian workhouses, designed to deal with the issue of pauperism, in fact became prison system detaining the most vulnerable in the society.  The harsh system of the workhouses became synonymous with the Victorian Era. It was known for its terrible conditions, forced child labour, long periods of working, malnutrition, beatings and neglect. It became a blight on the  social conscience of a generation leading to opposition from the likes of Charles Dickens. Dickens Oliver Twist illustrates the grim realities of a child's life in the Workhouse.  The exact origin of the system started with the Poor Law Act of 1388. In the event of Black Death labour shortage was a major problem.  The movement of workers to other parishes in search of higher paid jobs was restricted. At the same time h...

Eventide is an archaic word, which means the end of the day, or twilight or dusk. It is a poetic expression of evening, dusk, or sun set; the time just before nightfall. Eventide is a compound of two Old English  terms evening-time.  It has been part of English language since before 12th century. Even is derived from Old English word aefen meaning evening.  This is the same root that gave us the modern word eve. Tide is derived from the Old English tīd which originally meant "time", "period" or "season".  It has nothing to do with ocean tides. In the Middle English, after the Norman conquest it was spelled eventyde  "Evening" became the standard term in Modern English.  Similar compound words using the suffix "tide" include noontide, morrowtide and nighttide.

Budmouth is the fictional name. Thomas Hardy gave to Weymouth, a seaside town in Dorset, southern England.  Hardy's Wessex is a semi fictional version of southwest England where real places are given literary alter-egos.  The connection is so strong that the local secondary school is named Budmouth Academy after Hardy's fictional town.  In the Trumpet Major Hardy uses the name Budmouth Regis to reflect Weymouth's history as a favourite holiday spot for King George III.  The description of Budmouth's seaside features --- like Esplanade, the harbour dividing the town, and the view of Isle of Portland (Isle of Slingers) align exactly with Weymouth.  Budmouth races in Far From The Madding Crowd were inspired by the real horse races held at Lodmoor, just outside Weymouth. 

In most contexts bought discharge means discharge by purchase. It is a practice where a soldier pays a fee to be legally released from a contract or service before their agreed term is over.  While the term is primarily historical, it is still used in certain specific modern or legal contexts.  In military service buying your discharge colloquially means paying a fine to leave military service. This right is suspended during war time.  Buying discharge was a corner stone of how professional military, particularly British Army managed their manpower and society heirarchy.  They were separate for ordinary soldier and for officers. For enlisted men, discharge by purchase was often the only legal way to leave the service before their long term contract. It was a safety valve to recruits who later realise that they were not suited for military life.  In the absence of it they should desert or self-mutilate to get a discharge on medical ground. In mid 19th century Off...

It was now five o'clock in the morning.  The dawn was breaking.in brownish-grey. The air was cool, a light gentle breeze caressed Oak's face. In ten minutes the breeze was gone and wind roamed at large.  Some of the thatching on the wheat-stacks whirled aloft, and had to be replaced and weighted with rails that lay at hand.  This done Oak went towards barley.  A huge drop of rain hit his face; fierce wind howled round every corner, the trees rocked to the bases of their trunks, and the twigs clashed in strife.  Driving in spars at any point and on any system he covered more and more safely from ruin the seven fifty pounds of barley.  The rain was getting heavy, and Oak soon felt the water to be tracking cold and clammy routes down his back.  After finishing the job he slided down and stood at the foot of the ladder, fully soaked in rain.  Picture of his fighting in the fire at the same spot, eight months ago, came to his memory. Fight against the ...

John Flaxman was an English sculptor and draughtsman. His father also named John, was well known as a moulder and seller of plaster casts based in London. John Flaxman was the second son of John, the moulder by his first wife Lee. He was a sickly child, high shouldered, with a head too large for his body. His mother died when he was nine, and his father married another woman. He had little schooling and was largely self educated from his father's stock-in-trade. He studied classical literature in an effort to understand them. His father's customers helped him with translations of classical literature, advice and later with commissions of job.  Prominent among them were George Romeny, an English painter, Anthony Stephen Mathew, a clergy man and his wife Harriet, in whose house John Flaxman used to meet the best blue stocking society of the day. Here artists William Blake and Thomas Stothard became his close friends.  John Flaxman, while living in Rome, was commissioned by Georg...

A light flapped over the scene, as if reflected from  phosphorescent wings crossing the sky, and a rumble filled the sky. It was the first arrow  from the approaching storm and it fell wide.  The second peal was noisy, with comparatively little visible lightning.  Gabriel saw a candle shining in Bathsheba's bedroom, and soon a shadow moved to and from upon the blind.  A third flash came.  The lightning was of silver colour and gleamed in the sky intermittently.  Rumbles became rattles.  Gabriel from his elevated position could see over the landscape for a vast distance.  Every hedge, bush, and tree was visible.  In a paddock in the same direction was a herd of heifers, and these were galloping in the wild way, flinging their heels and tails.  Then the picture vanished leaving Gabriel in intense darkness. He had stuck his ricking rod, groom or  poinard  as it was indifferently called--- a long iron lance, sharp at the extr...

A wind vane.  A device often shaped like an arrow or rooster used to indicate the direction of wind, typically found on rooftop. It is a thin curved or flat object, such as a blade, plate, or sail that rotates around an axis driven by, or directing a flow of fluid like air or water.  The word originated from Old English fana meaning flag or banner. 

Thomas Hardy in his 1874 novel, ,Far From The Madding Crowd, in Chapter Thirty Seven compare Gabriel Oaks strenuous efforts to save the corn and hay of Bathsheba Everdene from the impending rain, on the day of her Wedding Celebration. At the beginning of the celebration, being aware of the change in weather, and expecting a rain Gabriel Oak requested a meeting with sergeant Troy, which was refused. Then Gabriel sent a message to him that the rain was coming.  But Troy ignored him. Troy sent out women and children from the hall before merry-making and served brandy with hot water. All the men including Troy fell asleep after the drinks. Gabriel Oak himself engaged in saving the corn and hay. All the wheat and hay were saved. The barley was remaining. In the course of his efforts to save them, the wind came followed by lightning and thunder. The only soul in the house who could not sleep, other than Gabriel Oak was Bathsheba Everdene. She assisted Oak carrying the sheaves of barley t...

A type of tin glazed earthenware characterizedd by an opaque white glaze painted with vibrant oxide enamel colours. It originated as Italian Renaissance pottery, and typically uses red clay.  It is charectorised by vibrant detailed brushwork, frequently featuring historical or mythical scenes.  The term is derived from Majorca a Spanish island that was a shipping centre for this type of pottery to Italy.  While Renaissance maiolica refers specifically to tin glazed pottery, the American, Victorian-era version majolica often refers to colourful, led-glazed moulded earthenware.  Italian maiolica often features story telling paintings, while other forms include floral designs, grotesques and sculptural forms. 

Errant horses are free roaming horses,  descendants of domesticated stock, living in wild or in racing contexts, horses that behave waywardly during a race, often running unevenly. Ferel horses, like Mustangs, form small organised bands, while adapting to wild environments, while errant in razing describes a horse lacking focus or steering properly.  Feral Horses:  These are domesticated horses, or their offsprings that have escaped and live in a self-sustaining wild state. They are not technically wild species, but are adapted to live without human management.  Mustangs are free roaming horses in the Western US, descended from Spanish conquistador horses. Wayward Horses: An errant horse in racing is a wayward horse.