Works of Thomas Hardy discussion
This topic is about
The Fiddler of the Reels
Life's Little Ironies - Stories
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The Fiddler of the Reels (from Life's Little Ironies) hosted by Bridget
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Here is a link where the story can be read for free. It’s the same one Connie used for “The Three Strangers” (the Daryl N Thomas website), and I liked the website so much I wanted to use it as well (thank you Connie).
https://www.darlynthomas.com/hardysho...
If you need a larger print, I was able to copy the whole story, paste it into a word document, and enlarge the type.
The Fiddler of the Reels was originally published in a collection called Life's Little Ironies. Here is a link to Project Gutenberg’s version of all those stories, in case you are curious.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3047/...
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In 1892 Thomas Hardy was invited by Scribner’s Magazine to write something for their special edition celebrating the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. The story Hardy submitted was The Fiddler of the Reels, which focuses on events that take place during the first World Fair, held in Hyde Park London, and otherwise known as the Great Exhibition of 1851. I will write more on the Great Exhibition later but wanted to mention here that this story touches on two World Fairs.
Hardy’s choice of the two world fairs may simply be the result of an author seeking a subject. In “The Collected Letters of Thomas Hardy” he writes in response to Scribner’s request
”on 20 November 1892 “I am in receipt of your letter of the 28th ult. Asking for a short story for the Exhibition number of the Magazine: & I will during the next week or two ascertain if I can think of such a story, & could get it written in time”
Hardy wrote “The Fiddler of the Reels” in about three months, a speed which indicates the idea to combine the two world fairs came to him quickly. Surely something about the two fairs piqued his interest.
Later in 1894, Thomas Hardy published this story, along with several others in a collection he titled Life's Little Ironies. The stories date from the same five-year period: one from 1888, five from 1891 and two from 1893. Given this relatively concentrated timespan, it is unsurprising that the volume shows a marked consistency in choice of theme and situation. Many of the stories focus on the failure of nineteenth century men and women to negotiate a meaningful relationship with both the past and the future. Which of course was a theme Hardy explored in his novels and poetry as well.
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I was unfamiliar with Scribner’s Magazine or Scribner’s monthly, but a quick “wiki” search revealed the following:
“Scribner's Magazine was an American periodical published by the publishing house of Charles Scribner's Sons from January 1887 to May 1939. Scribner's Magazine was the second magazine out of the Scribner's firm, after the publication of Scribner's Monthly. Charles Scribner's Sons spent over $500,000 setting up the magazine, to compete with the already successful Harper's Monthly and The Atlantic Monthly. Scribner's Magazine was launched in 1887 and was the first of any magazine to introduce color illustrations. The magazine ceased publication in 1939”.
I was able to find the original publication of “The Fiddler of the Reels” in the archives of Scribner’s Magazine. Interestingly, many famous authors were also published in this special edition, such as - Willam Dean Howells, Henry James, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Sarah Orne Jewett and a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson. Here is a link to that issue of the magazine:
https://archive.org/details/sim_scrib...
Bridget, your links to the Daryl N Thomas website and the Scribner site are not working. Goodreads has new rules about links, but they usually let you use one if you have the https://www address visible.https://www.darlynthomas.com/hardysho...
I'm looking forward to reading "The Fiddler of the Reels" with you. It's supposed to be one of Hardy's most famous stories!
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Thanks for letting me know, Connie - and for giving us the workable link. I will try to fix the other links a little later tonight, after the kids go to bed (Pacific Coast time :-)
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August 6th – Story begins, read to ”First in prominence among these three came Wat Ollamoor – if that were his real name – whom the seniors in our party had known well”
August 7th – Read to “At this time she was not a resident in Mellstock parish where Mop lodged, but lived some miles off at Stickleford, farther down the river.”
August 8th – Read to ”He’s going to her and not coming to me”
August 9th – Read to ”but there was also the inference that his was a nature not greatly dependent upon the ministrations of the other sex for its comforts.”
August 10th – Read to ”but as he waited on the platform in the drizzle he glowed inwardly, and seemed to have something to live for again.”
August 11th – Read to ”and as for this job, I’m sure I don’t know what to say! This is the way out.’”
August 12th – Read to ”leaving Ned to follow at a quicker pace, and pick her up at a certain half-way house, widely known as an inn”
August 13th – Read to ”Before she had quite emptied her glass, the dance was called, the dancers formed in two lines, the music sounded, and the figure began”
August 14th – Read to the sentence just before ”She flung up her veil” (I don’t want to cite the sentence that comes before, because it contains spoilers.)
August 15th – Read to ”’Ah!’ said Ned, looking round him. ‘Where . . . . “ finish to the end of Ned’s exclamation (again spoilers)
August 16th – Read to the End
August 17th-19th – Further discussion
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The story begins with an old man, reminiscing nostalgically with the narrator about times past, specifically about World’s Fairs, and he comments on the Great Exhibition of 1851. He says, "For South Wessex, the year formed in many ways an extraordinary chronological frontier.... a sudden bringing of ancient and modern into absolute contact...." . The conversation moves to people they knew at that time, particularly of three local people.
Three towns are mentioned in these first paragraphs, Stickleford, Mellstock and Egdon. They are, of course, all fictional towns in the South Wessex territory of Hardy’s imagination. The real-life, Dorset equivalent towns are Tincleton for Stickleford, Stinsford & Bockhampton for Mellstock and Black Heath for Egdon. As many of you may know, Thomas Hardy was born in Higher Brockhampton.
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Sometime in 1849, Prince Albert and his friend Henry Cole, conceived an idea of inviting international exhibitors to England to showcase the technology, art, and industry of the age. There had been local exhibitions before, but never an international one. Thus the idea of a World Fair was born.
The fair was to take place at Hyde Park, London. It would take about 16 months to prepare. A marvelous, enormous building, made completely out of glass was built to house the event. The building was set on 18 acres. It was approx. 1,800 ft (560 meters) long and 400 ft. (140 meters) wide. It was called The Crystal Palace.
The exhibition would remain open for 5 months (May-Oct 1851) and over 6 million people would visit it. There were over 14,000 exhibitions, half of which were from outside Great Britain.
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The Great Exhibition would have been a memorable occurrence in Hardy’s childhood. He was born in 1840, making him 11 years old when it opened. He might have gone to it with his family (does anyone know if that’s true?). Even if he didn’t, he certainly would have remembered everyone talking about it, sort of like the old man in today’s reading. Its an interesting choice to have the frame the story as a narrator reminiscing. How do you think that effects the story so far?
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Thanks Bridget for such great opening comments 😊
Oh yes, the Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace in 1851 was a world-wide phenomenon. Everyone interested in the modern age would try to attend, and we know that the writers Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, Charlotte Brontë, George Eliot, Alfred, Lord Tennyson (or as GR calls him, Alfred Tennyson) and Lewis Carroll were all there, as well as Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, and of course Michael Faraday who was organising a lot of it. But I've looked through my biographies of Thomas Hardy, and can't find any mention.
I think, sadly, Thomas Hardy probably missed out. There was not much money to spare in his childhood, and at the age of 11 he would be living in the simple cottage at Higher Bockhampton, (near Dorchester) over 125 miles away from Hyde Park in London. Even in a fast car on a motoway today it would take just over 3 hours to get there.
Bridget wrote: "The Great Exhibition truly was a turning point in history. The coming together of these exhibits showcases how the twin ideas of science and empire were transforming the world. I think of it this w..."I loved your comment, Bridget, about how technology/science and empire changed things so fast compared to the past. It brought back memories of the 1964 New York World's Fair that I attended. The world has gone way past the futuristic exhibits in that fair.
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Thanks Bridget for such great opening comments 😊
Oh yes, the Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace in 1851 was a world-wide phenomenon. Everyone interested in the modern age..."
That makes sense, Jean. It is a long distance for the Hardys to go. I loved the list of all the famous authors and thinkers who attended the Great Exhibition. It's a list of "who's who" in the 19th century. It must have been incredible to see. I ran across a picture of an Indian elephant draped in intricate beading as an exhibit. Can you imagine getting an elephant to from India to London in 1850? Even today that's a daunting feat.
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That's wonderful that you went to the 1964 World's Fair. Isn't the Globe in Flushing Meadows part of that Fair's legacy? That's a fairly well-known landmark, but I forgot it was connected to the fair. It's incredible, to me, that something that started in 1850 continues today.
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We are introduced to the first of the three people, Wat Ollamoor. He is very popular with the ladies, not so much with the men. He is maybe a veterinarian, but mostly he’s a musician playing the violin. He is a bit “otherworldly” in that no one knows where he came from and that he seems to have a “weird and wizardly” power over young women when he plays. He also has a dark, olive complexion and dark hair with curls running around his head in a fashion that gave him the nickname “Mop”. The music Mop plays is nothing like church music. Rather his tunes are full of passion and intensity. They have an almost hypnotic effect on children, and women. One such person is the young woman, Car’line Aspent, the second of the triangle of people we will hear about.
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“boys’-love”(southernwood) – is a flowering plant in the sunflower family. It has a camphor like smell and was often used as an air freshener. The leaves are rather oily, and this may be why Mop isusing it to tame the curls of his hair.
quire-band – a church choir band
Rueben the tranter’s younger brother – I believe this is a reference to characters in “Under the Greenwood Tree”, Reuben Dewy
Wold Hundredth – a well known hymn tune in the Christian musical tradition
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He was born in Italy and became the premier violinist of the 19th century (some would say the greatest ever). He was very famous during his lifetime and played concerts throughout Europe. He was renowned for the difficulty and passion of his pieces, which he composed himself and which still challenge violinists today. Like Wat Ollamoor he was known for his dark, good looks and was considered a womanizer. He lived a very fast life, and that plus his fiery showmanship led to his nickname “The Devil’s Violinist”.
If you are curious, here is a recording by Hilary Hahn (my favorite violinist) of what is considered Paganini’s hardest composition, The 24th Caprice. It’s fun to watch because the video is set up so that you can watch the sheet music as she plays. It will give you a taste of the “devil’s” violin playing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcL0I...
So, far we are just getting to know these characters. The violin was very important to Thomas Hardy and his family. Tomorrow I'll post more information about all that . . . .
Bridget, the youtube recording by Hilary Hahn of the Paganini composition was brilliant! What a virtuoso!Hardy describes Mop's music as "devil's tunes" and "soul stealing melodies" so he has us wanting to know more about this womanizing fiddler.
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Hardy describes Mop's music as "devil's tunes" and "soul stealing melodies" so he has us w..."
I'm so glad you liked the video Connie!
Hardy is certainly setting up some nice tension in the story. I want to know more too.
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Car’line hears Mop’s violin playing and becomes enraptured with it. She contrives any excuse to hear Mop play. When she chances to hear Mop’s playing outside her house, she behaves in an odd manner She is sitting with her fiancé and yet jumps out of her seat as if she’s hypnotized. Her father thinks this is her normal “hysterical tendacies”. Her sister Julia knows better, as she has found out Car’line secret obsession. The problem for Car’line is not only is she engaged, but so is Mop.
When this story was published, Scribner Magazine asked artist Wiliam Hatherell to create an illustration for the story. He chose the scene where Car’line pauses on the bridge and first hears Mop’s violin playing. You can see the illustration on The Victorian Web, but unfortunately, I couldn’t figure out how to embed it into this post. Here is a link to the page. (Beware, the first paragraph of the “commentary” below the illustration is fine, but beyond that there are spoilers.)
https://victorianweb.org/victorian/ar...
What did you think of Car’line’s first encounter with Mop? Is it hypnotism, or a sexual awakening?
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When I read this sentence ”spinning the insidious thread of semi- and demi-semi-quavers from the E string of his fiddle” I remembered that Hardy is able to write about violin playing so well because he has personal experience. Only an author who has played the violin would know about “E Strings” and fast notes sounding insidious. (For those of us familiar with the American musical names, “quavers” are quarter notes, making semi-quavers eighth notes and demi-semi quavers sixteenth notes. In other words, very fast playing).
Hardy’s father and grandfather played the violin. His uncle was a cellist. As Hardy (or his widow Florence) reports in his biography, he was able to tune and play the violin as young as four years old. He regularly played for weddings and other events with his father and uncle. Here’s an excerpt from the biography that illustrates Hardy’s love of music.
“It was natural that with the imitativeness of a boy he should at an early age have attempted to perform upon the violin, and under his father’s instruction he was soon able to tweedle from notation some hundreds of jigs and country-dances that he found in his father’s and grandfather’s old books. From tuning fiddles as a boy he went on as a youth in his teens to keep his mother’s old table-piano in tune whenever he had the time, and was worried by ‘The Wolf’ in a musical octave, which he thought a defect in his own ear.”
Bridget wrote: "What did you think of Car’line’s first encounter with Mop? Is it hypnotism, or a sexual awakening? ..."It seems like it's both. Dancers, musicians, and listeners can all get in a zone or trance sometimes when they listen to music. I can imagine Mop playing emotional, passionate music with lots of minor keys such as Eastern European or gypsy music.
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It seems like it's both. Dancers, musicians, and listeners can all get in a ..."
I think you are right Connie, it's probably both.
I liked your thought about gypsy music. I imagine it sounding like that too. That also connects to Wat's foreign sounding name.
To me, Ollamoor, sounds like a combination of french for love "l'amour" and "the Moor", both of which fit very well with gypsy music.
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Today we are more properly introduced to the third person in this triangle, Ned Hipcroft, fiancé to Car’line. But first we learn that Mop likes to tease and tempt the very young and impressionable Car’line, even though he is more serious about someone else. Ned feels he can’t compete with the musician, so he asks one more time for Car’line to marry him and when she says no he heads to London for a new start to life. Ned is a mechanic by trade, and easily finds work in London. He may be nursing a bruised heart, but he leads a successful, albeit sedentary and celibate life.
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First, the comparison of Ned's profession as a mechanic and Mop's as a "horse-doctor" (if that's even what he really does). Ned's profession is very modern, adapting to the new age that is dawning in 1851. Whereas Mop's profession is from an older time. We, as modern readers, know that soon horses are going to be replaced by cars. In 1851 they are being replaced by trains.
Which brings me to the second thing that piqued my interest, which is Ned "walking" all the way to London. It's like the old world is metaphorically walking its way to extinction in the modernity of London.
Good observation about the old world and modernity, Bridget.The two men were very different types of people. Mop was demonic and very seductive in his relationships with multiple young women of the village. Ned was a very reliable person, but was not going to sweep a young woman off her feet in passion. "There was also the inference that his was a nature not greatly dependent upon the ministrations of the other sex for its comforts."
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Four years have passed, it is now 1851 and Ned is working on building the Crystal Palace, which will house the Great Exhibition. Ned gets a letter from Car’line and it’s the first contact he’s had with Stickleford since he left. In the letter Car’line says she regrets her decision to decline Ned’s proposal. She will gladly marry him now if he’ll still have her. She also says Wat Ollamoor has been gone almost as long as Ned. She has no contact with him and no idea where he may be. Ned is very happy with this letter. He realizes that he still loves Car’line, he has just suppressed all feeling of that kind for the last four years. Ned has “a good think” about Car’line’s letter and after a few days replies with tenderness, but methodical firmness. He won’t go to Stickleford to fetch her, but if she wants to take one of the new train lines (the “excursion-train), developed for the Great Exhibition, he will pick her up when she arrives. Car’line does indeed apologize in her reply and promises to be a good wife if he will forgive her. She also says she is scared to get on the train, having never travelled that way before, but that she is willing to do it. A time of arrival is set and on a drizzly, wet day in June, Ned happily waits at the platform for Car’line to arrive.
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Still as this line says of the Great Exhibition "It was an era of great hope and activity among the nations and industries", so maybe some of that great hope will rub off on Car'line and Ned as well.
Four years is a long time when you're as young as Car'line and Ned. Is this going to be a marriage of convenience, or a marriage of love? I share your concerns, Bridget.
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Four years is a long time, indeed. The story is moving along quickly and today we will find out what has happened over those years.
August 11th (day 6) – Read to ”and as for this job, I’m sure I don’t know what to say! This is the way out.’”
The journey on the train is quite an adventure. The lower-class passengers sit in open-air compartments, with no protection from wind or rain. Car’line arrives wet and shivering, but Ned thinks she looks quite pretty. Car’line has a huge surprise for Ned. She is not alone, but rather is traveling with her 3-year-old daughter. Of course, Ned is shocked. Car’line didn’t mention the child in her letter, because ”it would have been so hard to explain!”. But if Ned doesn’t like it he can send them right back to Stickleford. The only thing is they are so wet and cold, and it's getting late. The little girl starts to cry, and in doing so seems to warm Ned’s heart. He at least agrees to get them some food and leads them out of the train station.
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Those open air train compartments seem very uncomfortable and chilly for such a long trip. What a surprise for Ned to have Car'line arrive with a little girl! He was kind to the child which speaks well for him.
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Connie, I too thought Ned was very nice to the little girl. And she must have been quite a shock for him.
I think you are right, too about the open train compartments. I found some pictures of them, but I couldn't get the pictures to embed correctly into my post. If you google "open air train compartments 1830", you can see what they looked like.
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The trio makes their way back to Ned’s lodgings. Ned sees that Car’line and they girl are fed and warmed up. There is a cosy feeling among them, as they form a readymade family. Ned and Car’line do indeed get married, and after the wedding Ned takes all three of them to the Great Exhibition. While there, Car’line thinks she sees the reflection of Wat in a mirror, and though she looks round for him, does not find him.
Time marches on and after 2 or 3 years, Ned find himself out of work. (It is now 1853 or 1854 and Car’line is 5 or 6 years old.) Ned and Car’line decide to leave the cramped city and return to their roots in the country. They board another train, which doesn’t stop in Stickleford, so they disembark in Casterbridge. Ned is going to inquire about work there, while Car’line and her daughter go on foot to Car’line’s father’s home. Ned will be quicker alone and will catch up with them at a well-known Inn.
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Still, I think Car'line found some happiness. I always wondered what life in Stickleford must have been like for her as a single mother. Sounds like returning as a wife and mother makes her feel a little redeemed.
"While standing near a large mirror in one of the courts devoted to furniture, Car'line started, for in the glass appeared the reflection of a form exactly resembling Mop Ollamoor's -- so exactly, that it seemed impossible to believe anybody but that artist in person to be the original."Here's another occasion when Mop Ollamoor appears to be the Devil -- his reflection is in the mirror and he's not there. We also know he doesn't go to church, he looks at women with one eye when he plays the fiddle, and he sets Car'line into a seductive trance.
Bridget, I also hope Car'line gets more respect now that she's married, especially for her daughter's sake.
Bridget, thanks for the suggestion to google "open air train compartments 1830". I thought this illustration on Wikipedia showed the type of compartment that Car'line and her daughter might have used.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opening...
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Today’s reading brings us to the edge of Egdon Heath. Car’line and daughter walk for 3 miles and decide to take a rest at the Quiet Woman Inn. I think this Inn is not the same one where Ned will meet them, but I’m uncertain about that. Car’line hears lots of activity in the Inn and decides to stop, so her daughter can have a rest. A man there recognizes her, and offers her a drink of hot gin-and-beer. She doesn’t really want the drink but takes it anyway, to be polite. Once inside the room she sees the floor has been cleared for dancing, and over in the corner is Mop rosining his bow. Car’line is wearing a veil to keep out the dust and sun while walking, so she thinks Mop won’t recognize her. That is a comfort to her, and she also feels secure in the new reputation her time in London provided. She’s not worried at all that Mop will have any power over her.
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I also worry for Car'line since Mop is getting ready to play his seductive music in a few minutes. Will she start dancing in a trance to his music?
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"Mellstock Church":
The parish church of St Michael, Stinsford
Thomas Hardy was born a few miles away at Higher Bockhampton, but was baptised in the font at Stinsford, attended services there and later taught Sunday school.
The musicians' timber gallery is still there, but it is not the original one but a replacement. The Victorians had swept away the west gallery, where musicians played for services. Thomas Hardy was annoyed by this, for his family were very often involved in playing the music, and he recorded his displeasure in a passage in Under the Greenwood Tree.
So for this story, Thomas Hardy had based his "Mellstock" on a village he knew and loved very well, Stinsford. The Dorset village of Stinsford is little more than a cluster of cottages and farm buildings on the outskirts of Dorchester, (Thomas Hardy's "Casterbridge") above the River Frome. Located down a quiet lane stands the medieval church of St Michael.
If you were involved in our read of of Tess of the D'Urbervilles, "Mellstock church" is where Tess and the other 3 dairymaids were walking, to attend church. We read that the river Frome had overflowed, so that Angel Clare had to carry them over the track.
Just a bit of enrichment for this read ... though you are finding lots of interesting things too! Thanks Bridget. We are now half way through, so there's still time to join in, if you've missed this one so far 😊
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Jean, Thanks so much for all the wonderful information about Mellstock Church and Under the Greenwood Tree, which I have yet to read (and I'm really looking forward to it, since everyone here speaks so highly of it!) Thanks too for the picture of St Michel's, its looks so charming. I love thinking about Thomas Hardy and his family playing their fiddles there. I hope I get to visit it someday.
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Once the music starts, things change for the worse for Car’line. She is right back in the same musical trance, where independent will seems to leave her. One of the dancing men lost his partner and beckons for Car’line to join him, and try as she might, she can’t resist. She grabs her daughter by the hand, and they whirl onto the floor. When the dance ends, she quenches her thirst with more gin and beer. Many people have left, and she tries to as well, but some people beg her to stay, and she joins a five handed reel. Mop plays her favorite piece, the one she first hears him play from the bridge, and Car’line despairingly joins the dance. Car’line suspects that Mop knows it is her behind the veil and that he is playing this way on purpose to torment her. Someone else drops out and now it is a four handed reel. Mop plays for almost 30 minutes without stopping, more dancers drop out, Car’line feels powerless to stop, though she is becoming exhausted. Finally, Car’line is left dancing alone. Everyone else has left the room leaving Car’line and her daughter alone with Mop.
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All the while there is Mop with his oily hair, seeming very unctuous. He's got his eyes closed, but I'm sure he knows Car'line is there.
Bridget, I had a similar feeling reading this part of the story. There is so much action and sound that it's like a movie in our minds. Poor Car'line - she's being manipulated by Mop's music almost like a puppet with no mind of her own.Jean, I enjoyed your photo of St Michael's Church and the history attached to it. I love the stonework in the old churches.
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Now that they are alone, Car’line lifts her veil, imploring Mop with her gaze to stop. Mop opens one eye, sees Car’line and resumes playing. This was yet another level of rapturous music ”chromatic subtleties, capable of drawing tears from a statue, proceeded from the ancient fiddle, as if it were dying of the emotion which had been pent up within it” Car’line continues dancing alone, until finally her daughter, confused by this bizarre encounter, begs her mother to go home.
Suddenly Car’line staggers and collapses on the floor face down. Mop climbs down from his stage and goes to the little girl. Guests from the other room hear the commotion and race to help Car’line. There is much commotion, which is heard by Ned outside as he’s passing by. Hearing his wife’s name mentioned, he rushes in. Car’line is in convulsions and weeping unconsolably. Ned arranges for a cart to transport them. He’s told about the fiddler, and at that moment he wonders where his daughter is.
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"as if it [the violin] were dying of the emotion which had been pent up within it ever since its banishment from some Italian city where it first took shape and sound".
The art of making violins was started in Cremona, Italy in the 16th century. Possibly making this "fiddle" a Guarneri or Stradivari. Even today violinists will say playing one of these masterpiece instruments is a magical experience. I'm sure Hardy would have known all about the luthiers of Cremona.
I ran across one article which said that while Hardy was in London, he went to see Eugene Ysaye play a concert. Hardy wrote about it later in his diary. I can only imagine what an amazing concert that would have been. That would have been amazing! By the way, Ysaye owned a Guarneri and a Stradivari.
Works of Thomas Hardy
Books mentioned in this topic
The Fiddler of the Reels and Other Stories: 1888-1900 (other topics)The Red Shoes (other topics)
The Pied Piper of Hamelin (other topics)
The Fiddler of the Reels (other topics)
Tess of the D’Urbervilles (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Thomas Hardy (other topics)Charles Dickens (other topics)
Hans Christian Andersen (other topics)
Robert Browning (other topics)
Thomas Hardy (other topics)
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This thread opens on August 6th, but please allow Bridget to comment first! Thanks.