in the Peninsular War.
Included in the story is the visit of King George III to Weymouth amidst a fanfare provided by the ‘quire’ of fiddlers, violoncellists, trombonists and drummers. There is also mention of the local Dorchester ‘strong beer’ – a subject always close to Hardy’s heart which he describes thus: ‘It was of the most beautiful colour that the eye of an artist in beer could desire; full in body, yet brisk as a volcano: piquant, yet without a twang; luminous as an autumn sunset; free from streakiness of taste; but finally, rather heady.’ 1
On 11 February 1880 Hardy wrote to the Revd Handley Moule – at that time Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge (who was another of the brothers of his late friend Horace) – concerning the recent death of his father, the Revd Henry Moule, vicar of Fordington. Hardy, for many years, had regarded himself as a parishioner of Henry Moule (even though, technically speaking, this was not the case), and had referred admiringly to the ‘energies’ which the vicar had brought ‘to bear upon the village’. Here, Hardy would have especially remembered the Revd Moule’s heroic efforts on behalf of the local population during the cholera epidemics of 1849 and 1854.
Hardy stated that of all his novels, The Trumpet Major was the one ‘founded more largely on testimony, oral and written, than any other’. It was published by Smith, Elder & Co. on 26 October 1880.
In November 1880, on a visit to Cambridge, Hardy attended the 5 p.m. service at Kings College Chapel. It was in Cambridge that he fell ill. On his return to London a surgeon was summoned to determine why Hardy was experiencing acute abdominal pain. The diagnosis was internal bleeding. By now, Hardy had already written the early chapters of his next novel, A Laodicean , to be serialised in Harper’s Magazine with illustrations by George du Maurier. He was now, on account of his illness, ‘forced to lie in bed with his feet higher than his head for several months’. 2 For this reason, the only way he could complete his manuscript was by dictating it to Emma, who nursed him through this episode. The process of dictation was completed on 1 May 1881, by which time Hardy was able to leave his sickbed and venture outdoors once again.
Due to Hardy’s illness, he and Emma had been obliged to ask for an extension to the lease of their house in Upper Tooting. Having previously been torn between London and Dorset, they now decided to return to the country. In future, they would visit the capital for a few months only each year. A return to Dorset, they hoped, would not only be beneficial to Hardy’s health, but would also provide inspiration for him in his future writing. Accordingly, they relocated to Wimborne, to a house named ‘Llanherne’.
In retrospect, it seems likely that Hardy had suffered a prolonged attack of biliary colic, a condition in which a small concretion (‘stone’) becomes temporarily lodged in the duct which drains bile from the liver into the gut. This would account for his jaundice, as observed by Edmund Gosse, who visited him at the time. 3 (Renal colic, also caused by a stone, is another possibility. However, this might well have manifested itself by haematuria (blood in the urine) or by Hardy actually passing the stone, of which there is no mention.)
In July 1881 Hardy and Emma, in company with Hardy’s younger sister Katharine, visited the ancient British stronghold of Badbury Rings, and also Kingston Lacy (seat of the Bankes family). Hardy pointed out Charborough on the journey (the home of Mrs Drax), in the grounds of which stood a tall tower – which subsequently reappeared in one of Hardy’s novels, as will be seen. 4 In August the couple travelled extensively in Scotland where they visited castles and lochs, and Hardy sketched. On their return they attended a ball given by Lady Wimborne at Canford Manor.
A Laodicean
Hardy undoubtedly derived the title of his next novel,
Included in the story is the visit of King George III to Weymouth amidst a fanfare provided by the ‘quire’ of fiddlers, violoncellists, trombonists and drummers. There is also mention of the local Dorchester ‘strong beer’ – a subject always close to Hardy’s heart which he describes thus: ‘It was of the most beautiful colour that the eye of an artist in beer could desire; full in body, yet brisk as a volcano: piquant, yet without a twang; luminous as an autumn sunset; free from streakiness of taste; but finally, rather heady.’ 1
On 11 February 1880 Hardy wrote to the Revd Handley Moule – at that time Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge (who was another of the brothers of his late friend Horace) – concerning the recent death of his father, the Revd Henry Moule, vicar of Fordington. Hardy, for many years, had regarded himself as a parishioner of Henry Moule (even though, technically speaking, this was not the case), and had referred admiringly to the ‘energies’ which the vicar had brought ‘to bear upon the village’. Here, Hardy would have especially remembered the Revd Moule’s heroic efforts on behalf of the local population during the cholera epidemics of 1849 and 1854.
Hardy stated that of all his novels, The Trumpet Major was the one ‘founded more largely on testimony, oral and written, than any other’. It was published by Smith, Elder & Co. on 26 October 1880.
In November 1880, on a visit to Cambridge, Hardy attended the 5 p.m. service at Kings College Chapel. It was in Cambridge that he fell ill. On his return to London a surgeon was summoned to determine why Hardy was experiencing acute abdominal pain. The diagnosis was internal bleeding. By now, Hardy had already written the early chapters of his next novel, A Laodicean , to be serialised in Harper’s Magazine with illustrations by George du Maurier. He was now, on account of his illness, ‘forced to lie in bed with his feet higher than his head for several months’. 2 For this reason, the only way he could complete his manuscript was by dictating it to Emma, who nursed him through this episode. The process of dictation was completed on 1 May 1881, by which time Hardy was able to leave his sickbed and venture outdoors once again.
Due to Hardy’s illness, he and Emma had been obliged to ask for an extension to the lease of their house in Upper Tooting. Having previously been torn between London and Dorset, they now decided to return to the country. In future, they would visit the capital for a few months only each year. A return to Dorset, they hoped, would not only be beneficial to Hardy’s health, but would also provide inspiration for him in his future writing. Accordingly, they relocated to Wimborne, to a house named ‘Llanherne’.
In retrospect, it seems likely that Hardy had suffered a prolonged attack of biliary colic, a condition in which a small concretion (‘stone’) becomes temporarily lodged in the duct which drains bile from the liver into the gut. This would account for his jaundice, as observed by Edmund Gosse, who visited him at the time. 3 (Renal colic, also caused by a stone, is another possibility. However, this might well have manifested itself by haematuria (blood in the urine) or by Hardy actually passing the stone, of which there is no mention.)
In July 1881 Hardy and Emma, in company with Hardy’s younger sister Katharine, visited the ancient British stronghold of Badbury Rings, and also Kingston Lacy (seat of the Bankes family). Hardy pointed out Charborough on the journey (the home of Mrs Drax), in the grounds of which stood a tall tower – which subsequently reappeared in one of Hardy’s novels, as will be seen. 4 In August the couple travelled extensively in Scotland where they visited castles and lochs, and Hardy sketched. On their return they attended a ball given by Lady Wimborne at Canford Manor.
A Laodicean
Hardy undoubtedly derived the title of his next novel,
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