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New Blog: 'Dark' 19th Century History

JaneD said:
If i recall , there is a fab mumming play in the book as well. Potentially it points to the protagonists roles in the novel
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There is indeed. My next post on 'The Return of the Native' will look at the cyclical year of Egdon Heath and can include the mumming play. at Yule. What is curious is that Hardy treated Bonfire Night/5th November as a type of Pagan festival. Outside of the 19th century, the Gunpowder Treason is a subject I research. Hardy's treatment of 5th November bemuses a number of my fellow Gunpowder Treason heads as it seems such an aggressively Protestant event.
 
I am looking at creating blogpost about the ghosts stories written by Amelia B Edwards ( 1831- 1892) .
I have been listening to some via the 'Bitsized Audio' Youtube channel read by Simon Stanhope.
Probably the most famous is 'The Phantom Coach'

 
Mr Bleak said:
This one is about Egdon Heath
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Delightful stuff! I had never heard of the short film, so it was a pleasure to catch up on it.

The old Boult record, which supplies the soundtrack, is notorious among classical nerds for its most un-Egdon-like subterranean rumblings! These were the tube-trains, captured forever by Decca, as they wended their way directly underneath the Kingsway Hall recording location! They are filtered out, mainly, on the film soundtrack.

The piece itself is rated very highly by some Holst experts, so I was surprised to notice a great chunk of undigested Stravinsky, early on, which had never bothered me before! :thought:
 
Frideswide said:
I'm a subscriber and keen consumer!
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Yes 'Bite Sized Audio' channel is amazing. I think that it is great how such a huge array of work featured include the famous authors such as Dickens, M R James, Wilkie Collins, Conan Doyle, etc along with short stories by many writers who are no longer known.
I am glad to subscribe .
 
JamesWhitehead said:
Delightful stuff! I had never heard of the short film, so it was a pleasure to catch up on it.

The old Boult record, which supplies the soundtrack, is notorious among classical nerds for its most un-Egdon-like subterranean rumblings! These were the tube-trains, captured forever by Decca, as they wended their way directly underneath the Kingsway Hall recording location! They are filtered out, mainly, on the film soundtrack.

The piece itself is rated very highly by some Holst experts, so I was surprised to notice a great chunk of undigested Stravinsky, early on, which had never bothered me before! :thought:
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Glad that you liked the post. Someone called John Petley Jones wrote the script and directed the 15 minute film back in 1972.
I can't find much else about the film or about Mr Petley-Jones. It is sad that Hardy didn't live long enough to hear the music piece that Holst composed about Egdon Heath.

 
Have updated blog with a post about Amelia B Edwards' 'The Phantom Coach' with some biographical information.Learnt quite a lot about her outstanding contribution to Egyptology, and her support for causes such as Women's Suffrage and Anti-Vivisection.Miss Edwards also had lesbian relationships. Quite a popular novelist of her time, seems to have been left behind, and now more remembered for her work relating to Archaeology more than her fiction.

https://bleakchesneywold.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-phantom-carriage-1864.html
 
The blogpost about 'The Phantom Coach' has got a lot of 'hits' and all feedback has been very feedback. Thank you to everyone who has looked at the post , and who has shared the post.
As the nights drawing in seems to encourage interest in ghost stories, I will probably try another such post quite soon, most likely about Charlotte Riddell, 1832-1906.

So far have listened to 'Nut Bush Farm' and 'Walnut Tree House' .. but from what I can work out 'The Open Door' and ''A Strange Christmas Game' are Charlotte Riddell's more famous ghost stories.

Some more biographical information can be found here.
https://shortstoryproject.com/writers/charlotte-riddell/
 
I can remember being told, as a youngster, that November 5th was essentially a protestant feast and that, as Catholics, we were burning one of "our own!" Sectarianism still had a strong hold on people with football interests: Everton was usually the safest* answer, if pressed to state a favoured team. We were a good few miles from Liverpool but there were many with blood ties and ancient feuds. This was before the "Troubles" broke out afresh. :(

*"Safer," you could say, because no one favoured the local fourth division lot. It was Liverpool or Everton. If you voted for neither of the above, you could be kicked by both sides at once!

Reverting to Hardy, he is usually regarded as Stoic and possibly Atheistic in outlook. Ancient sky-Gods observing the Human Condition from afar, would be undisturbed by our plight!
 
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JamesWhitehead said:
Reverting to Hardy, he is usually regarded as Stoic and possibly Atheistic in outlook. Ancient sky-Gods observing the Human Condition from afar, would be undisturbed by our plight!
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Hence

'Justice' was done, and the President of the Immortals, in the Aeschylean phrase, had ended his sport with Tess.
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Mr Bleak said:
Yes I take it that you mean James Pratt and John Smith hanged for sodomy in 1835? Indeed, I don't think that the State should regulate consenting sexual activity between adults in private.
Also don't think that the Prosecution even proved that sodomy had taken place. Seemed like some drunken fumbling occurred behind closed doors, which would not have actually been unlawful in 1835.

https://bleakchesneywold.blogspot.com/2023/02/there-was-no-hope-in-this-world.html
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Just seen from 'The Guardian' that a new book about James Pratt & John Smith has been published: 'James and John: A True Story of Prejudice and Murder' by Chris Bryant MP.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2...-the-cost-of-being-gay-in-19th-century-london
 
Frideswide said:
never heard of it! thank you @Mr Bleak !
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Originally I wrote the post to share with a Thomas Hardy Fans group that I am in. The most probable reason that 'A Laodicean' is a neglected novel is because it is not particularly good. Sometimes the most straight forward explanation is the best one ! The fact that nobody seems to know how to pronounce the title doesn't help.
On the other hand one of my favourite Hardy novels -' A Pair of Blue Eyes' -seems sadly overlooked .
 
I fear I am allergic to Hardy's novels having had Tess, Madding Crowd and Jude for O-level. I did enjoy writing a piece on the conditions of agricultural labourers and the spread of industialisation mind you.

His poetry is magnificent.

I must have a look at A Pair of Blue Eyes.
 
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