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Archiver > CORNISH > 1984-02 > 0445734334


From: "John Coles" <>
Subject: Re: Cornwall and Books
Date: Wed, 15 Feb 84 15:05:34 PST


; but I also found a book with a title that I
> >> find extremely curious.
> >>
> >> Title: The Famous Tragedy of the Queen of Cornwall at Tintagel in
> >> Lyonnesse: a new version of an old story, arranged as a play for mummers,
> >> in one act, requiring no theatre or scenery, by Thomas Hardy;
> >> Publisher: New York, The Macmillan company, 1923
> >> Subject: Tristan (Legendary character)
> >> Note: "Of this edition...one thousand copies have been printed of which
> >> this is number 526."
> >>
Hi Deborah,

Many thanks for the reply from Mecca (not sure if that is a very 'Friendly'
way to put it!!!). Being slow on the uptake, I've only just properly read your original posting. This Thomas Hardy play is really interesting, because we think it is his last work. He had some poetry published later, up until 1928 (when he died) but this seems to be an oddity.

Did you know that when he was a young man he was an architect, and came to St. Juliot Church, just north of us, in 1870 to supervise it's restoration. It was here that he fell in love with the vicar's daughter, Emma Lavinia GIFFORD, who was to become his first wife.

It seems quite likely that, during their courtship, they went to Tintagel, home of the Arthurian legends, and that perhaps in his old age, those blissful early days in this magical part of Cornwall came back to him.

Of course, he is most famous as the author of the whole series of books set in Dorset, but those early days at St. Juliot feature in the novel 'A Pair of Blue Eyes'.

It seems rather a shame that the author of such wonderful romance should have rather spoilt the church... perhaps that is why he gave up architecture to become a novelist!!!

John & Anna at Kernow Sound magazine
"The Sounds of Cornwall"

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