H05059 HARDY'S FUNERALS 7/05/05 - HARDY FORUM ARCHIVES ____________________________________________________________________________
From: rnemesva@stfx.ca
Subject: Hardy's Funeral
Date: July 5, 2005 11:56:33 AM PDT
One of the pleasures of reading Michael Millgate's *Thomas Hardy: A
Biography Revisited* is encountering passages not in the original
*Thomas Hardy: A Biography.* Since we've been having a long discussion
from various angles about Hardy's funeral (and I absolutely promise I'm
done talking about the cat), I thought the list might be interested in
this new material from the book. After mentioning how Shaw told
Florence Hardy that he didn't think Hardy would have "begrudged" the
Abbey burial, we get the following:
"...there is some evidence that Hardy had himself allowed for a possible
assignment to the Abbey. The clause in his will that requested burial
at Stinsford included, as if incidentally, a reference to supplementary
'considerations detailed in my directions to my Executors on a separate
paper', and although that paper is not known to have survived it was
perhaps the 'notice', consenting to an Abbey burial 'if the nation
desires it', that Kate and Henry were told of, though not shown, the
morning after Hardy's death. What does survive is Hardy's full-scale
design for the memorial tablet to himself that would eventually join the
memorial to Emma already installed in St Juliot church. Though the
place of burial was give as 'STINSFORD, DORSET', those words differed
from the rest of the meticulously completed drawing in being only
lightly penciled in, and it may not have been entirely coincidental that
the space thus tentatively occupied proved an almost exact fit for the
'WESTMINSTER ABBEY' that appeared on the tablet as actually completed."
(537)
Of course this doesn't really mitigate the fact that Cockerell and
Barrie ran roughshod over poor Florence in the earliest stages of her
grief, nor does it change the actuality of Hardy's will as it existed at
the time. It does, however, suggest that Hardy might not have been
quite so outraged at the "interpretation" placed on his last testament,
although he probably couldn't have anticipated the surgical solution
suggested by the vicar of Stinsford--after all, who would?
Richard Nemesvari
Department of English
St. Francis Xavier University
rnemesva@stfx.ca
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From: Rosemarie.morgan@yale.edu
Subject: Re:Westminster Abbey
Date: July 5, 2005 12:32:28 PM PDT
When Meredith was refused burial in Westminster Abbey Hardy wrote Gosse (May 1909) that he should write to the Times suggesting a "heathen annexe to the Abbey, strictly accursed by the Dean & clergy on its opening day, to hold people like Meredith, Swinburne, Spencer, &c. The Abbey itself is, as Huxley said, a Christian temple after all."
No doubt the "&c." included himself.
Rosemarie
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From: hardycor@owl.csusm.edu
Subject: Re:Westminster Abbey
Date: July 5, 2005 1:29:38 PM PDT
I wonder if Hardy foresaw his own Abbey burial when he wrote the poem "A
Refusal," which I find one of his most amusing.
Betty
Said the grave Dean of Westminster:
Mine is the best minster
Seen in Great Britain
As many have written:
So therefore I cannot
Rule here if I ban not
Such liberty-taking
As movements for making
Its grayness environ
The memory of Byron,
Which some are demanding
Who think them of standing,
But in my own viewing
Require some subduing
For tendering suggestions
On Abbey-wall questions
That must interfere here
With my proper sphere here,
And bring to disaster,
This fane and its master,
Whose dict is but Christian
Though nicknamed Philistian.
A lax Christian charity -
No mental clarity
Ruling its movements
For fabric improvements -
Demands admonition
And strict supervision
When bent on enshrining
Rapscallions, and signing
Their names on God's stonework,
As if like His own work
Were their lucubrations:
And passed is my patience
That such a creed-scorner
(Not mentioning horner)
Should claim Poets' Corner.
'Tis urged that some sinners
Are here for worms' dinners
Already in person;
That he could not worsen
The walls by a name mere
With men of such fame here.
Yet nay; they but leaven
The others in heaven
In just true proportion,
While more mean distortion.
'Twill next be expected
That I get erected
To Shelley a tablet
In some niche or gablet.
Then - what makes my skin burn,
Yea, forehead and chin burn -
That I ensconce Swinburne!
August 1924.
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From: robert_goddard@hotmail.com
Subject: Stinsford burial - Pathe film
Date: July 22, 2005 12:29:49 PM PDT
Dear All,
I've just discovered a short Pathe film of the Hardy heart burial at Stinsford. The clip is titled "Under the Greenwood Tree (aka Under the Green Proud Tree)" and is available here:
http://www.itnarchive.com/britishpathe/
You may need to register to view clips, but the process is quick and fairly harmless. I thought that list members would be interested in this site. There are also many other interesting clips available, including one from 1920 showing students from the Oxford University Dramatic Society parading in their costumes for a production of the Dynasts.
With best wishes,
Robert Goddard
UK
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From: harrybatt@mn.rr.com
Subject: Re: Stinsford burial - Pathe film
Date: July 22, 2005 1:51:13 PM PDT
Robert Thank you for passing on this link. It was quite simple
enough to register free, enter "Under the Greenwood Tree" for a search and
click to start the film. There is no sound but the quality of the clip is
very good.
John Bridell,
Minneapolis USA
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From: jacky@wilkibob.me.uk
Subject: RE: Stinsford burial - Pathe film
Date: July 22, 2005 2:29:55 PM PDT
That's fascinating, Robert, thanks for the info.
Jacky
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From: wwmorgan@ilstu.edu
Subject: Re: Stinsford burial - Pathe film
Date: July 22, 2005 6:25:24 PM PDT
Robert and others,
I've gone to the site, registered, and found the live cue for the clip, but when I click on it, I'm told that Windows cannot access this file. If you didn't use Windows Media Player to watch the film, what did you use?
hopefully,
Bill
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From: robert_goddard@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: Stinsford burial - Pathe film
Date: July 23, 2005 2:16:43 AM PDT
Dear All,
Bill Morgan wrote: "If you didn't use Windows Media Player to watch the film, what did you use?" (with reference to the Stinsford burial clip available at http://www.itnarchive.com/britishpathe/)
I'm not an expert on these things, but I suspect that the clip might only be available to view using Windows Media Player because it's in the "WMV" format. I've not used any other software to view it.
Best wishes,
Robert
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From: segr@segr-music.net
Subject: Film of Heart Burial
Date: July 23, 2005 2:43:52 AM PDT
What a clever find this was!
Congratulations Robert.
Mind you, one has looked in vain for signs of the cat.
Too many ghoulish people crowding the scene.
Be sure to let us all know when you find the feline felon...
Still searching.
Roy Buckle.
www.segr-music.net
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From: colbec@start.ca
Subject: Re: Stinsford burial - Pathe film -errors viewing
Date: July 23, 2005 2:45:52 AM PDT
Bill, I had a similar problem. When I tried to view the film with Windows Media Player it told me that it "could not find a suitable decompressor". To fix this I checked the version of the player on my old Windows 98 machine (open Windows Media Player and look at details under Help - About), went to
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/format/codecdownload.aspx
and downloaded the codec package (few minutes to download on dial-up), installed, and now it plays perfectly. I hope this helps.
There is also an interesting clip about Shaftesbury, including a comment on the Shaftesbury Bezant, the historical associations with which Hardy might have been very familiar. I have not read all of Hardy's works, is there any hint anywhere that he was familiar with this ancient rite? The Bezant is merely mentioned in the clip, but better explained here
http://www.thebookofdays.com/months/may/2.htm
Colin Beckingham
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From: jacky@wilkibob.me.uk
Subject: RE: Stinsford burial - Pathe film
Date: July 23, 2005 3:24:12 AM PDT
I had to download Real Player, free version, in order to access clip.
Jacky
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From: Rosemarie.morgan@yale.edu
Subject: Re: Stinsford burial - Pathe film
Date: July 23, 2005 3:38:24 AM PDT
Bill -- it opened for me in Windows Media Audio Video. I didn't actually ask it to do anything when I clicked on it but that is how my computer opened the Pathe clip.
I had no idea there had been such an enormous crowd at the heart burial
I had no sound by the way but maybe it was a silent movie?
Grateful thanks for this, Robert,
Best
Rosemarie
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From: nhardyboy@aol.com
Subject: Re: Stinsford burial - Pathe film
Date: July 28, 2005 8:40:51 PM PDT
I realize I'm very late to this discussion, but I've been away for much of the week enjoying an in-town move (he said sarcastically, especially in light of the lovely Baton Rouge weather); and only today did I get my new Internet for broadband up and running. The Pathe film of Hardy's heart interment is the first thing I downloaded onto my new server, and I can't really express how moved I am. It sounds corny, but I felt like I was there. Robert, many thanks!
Paul Niemeyer
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