The Mayor of Casterbridge: Dialect 3 key examples

The alternative spelling of the words "down" as "doon" and "wrong" as "wrang" here are intended to reflect the difference in pronunciation Hardy believed a "Scotchman" (as he calls Farfrae) might have from the standard English of his narrator. Vernacular Scots shares some of the same qualities in Hardy's writing as Wessex English does; for example, the use of "ye" in place of the word "you" often appears in Farfrae's speech as well as Henchard's. Occasionally a representation of a broader Scottish accent and more idiomatic Scottish phrases will also appear, as when Farfrae is overheard singing the Scottish folk song "The Lass of Gowrie" to himself from inside the seed-drill in Chapter 24:

“’Tw—s on a s—m—r aftern—n,

Cite this Quote

A wee be—re the s—n w—nt d—n,

When Kitty wi’ a braw n—w g—wn

C—me ow’re the h—lls to Gowrie.”

It is unclear here whether the dashes Hardy includes are intended to represent an unfamiliarity with his accent or the muffling of Farfrae's voice for Elizabeth-Jane and Lucetta, who are the ones who catch the strains of the tune. It contains several Scottish English words: "wee" meaning "small," "braw" meaning "handsome" or "fine," and "ow're" meaning "over."

Farfrae's speech is yet another marker of difference between him and the people of Wessex among whom he has come to live. Hardy's choice to "transcribe" it in the diction of the novel emphasizes his foreignness. Scotland is about as far as you can get from the Southwest corner of England—where the fictional town of Casterbridge is set—while staying in Britain. Hardy says himself in the preface to the 1840 edition of this book that Farfrae is "is represented not as he would appear to other Scotchmen, but as he would appear to people of outer regions." Critics of Hardy also complained that the character in the novel most concerned with well-regulated finances was a Scot, as this conforms to an unpleasant and pervasive English cultural stereotype about the Scottish being stingy with money.

Donald Farfrae's name is itself an instance of Scottish English and refers to several important aspects of his character, as "Farfrae" is a compound of two Scots English words, meaning "far from." It encapsulates his distant nature, his distant place of origin, and his ability to see situations rationally from the "outside." Michael Henchard observes more than once that distance and an ability to see the "larger picture" is this young man's most distinctive trait; he is the opposite of a "rule o' thumb" sort of man, like Henchard himself.

Characters who use this dialect in Hardy's novels are often rural agrarian or blue-collar workers who are less formally educated than their counterparts whose speech is represented in standard English. Hardy incorporates this as part of his Realist writing style, so that the reader feels immersed in the setting and gets a feel for how these characters would have sounded.

Hardy also uses dialect to signal the sharp differences in class and education that limit and stifle his characters, as part of his novels’ social commentary. When a character speaks in West Country English it also indicates their relative socioeconomic position for the reader. Hardy's wealthy characters speak in a more urbane and non-regional diction. Finally, the use of dialect in The Mayor of Casterbridge also makes a clear division between untravelled characters tied to their locality and more worldly characters who arrive from afar. "Standard" English in this novel is a marker of experience and sophistication in the characters who use it, while West Country English denotes characters who have not strayed far from their place of birth.

Speaking in regional Wessex dialect in Hardy’s novels indicates a sense of locality which the author often aligns with poverty and a lack of education. This is also the case for many other Victorian novelists and writers of the period. Speaking “standard” English like Hardy’s narrator is an indication in this book of refinement and education. Having mostly corrected his speech to more standard English to play the part of the “Mayor," Henchard manages to remove some local colloquialisms like “’Od seize your sauce!” (a curse exhorting the Devil to harm his audience) and local modes of speech like “ye” instead of “you." This change remains mostly in place until the alcohol he imbibes removes his inhibitions. Changing fully back to this mode of speech from his otherwise more proper English illustrates Henchard's return to the past and his "old self," the one who drinks, curses and regularly fails. It also contributes to the novel’s narrative about the fundamental resilience of character. Like his sobriety, the non-regional English Henchard speaks is merely a façade overlaying the reality of his complex nature.

The alternative spelling of the words "down" as "doon" and "wrong" as "wrang" here are intended to reflect the difference in pronunciation Hardy believed a "Scotchman" (as he calls Farfrae) might have from the standard English of his narrator. Vernacular Scots shares some of the same qualities in Hardy's writing as Wessex English does; for example, the use of "ye" in place of the word "you" often appears in Farfrae's speech as well as Henchard's. Occasionally a representation of a broader Scottish accent and more idiomatic Scottish phrases will also appear, as when Farfrae is overheard singing the Scottish folk song "The Lass of Gowrie" to himself from inside the seed-drill in Chapter 24:

“’Tw—s on a s—m—r aftern—n,

Cite this Quote

A wee be—re the s—n w—nt d—n,

When Kitty wi’ a braw n—w g—wn

C—me ow’re the h—lls to Gowrie.”

It is unclear here whether the dashes Hardy includes are intended to represent an unfamiliarity with his accent or the muffling of Farfrae's voice for Elizabeth-Jane and Lucetta, who are the ones who catch the strains of the tune. It contains several Scottish English words: "wee" meaning "small," "braw" meaning "handsome" or "fine," and "ow're" meaning "over."

Farfrae's speech is yet another marker of difference between him and the people of Wessex among whom he has come to live. Hardy's choice to "transcribe" it in the diction of the novel emphasizes his foreignness. Scotland is about as far as you can get from the Southwest corner of England—where the fictional town of Casterbridge is set—while staying in Britain. Hardy says himself in the preface to the 1840 edition of this book that Farfrae is "is represented not as he would appear to other Scotchmen, but as he would appear to people of outer regions." Critics of Hardy also complained that the character in the novel most concerned with well-regulated finances was a Scot, as this conforms to an unpleasant and pervasive English cultural stereotype about the Scottish being stingy with money.

Donald Farfrae's name is itself an instance of Scottish English and refers to several important aspects of his character, as "Farfrae" is a compound of two Scots English words, meaning "far from." It encapsulates his distant nature, his distant place of origin, and his ability to see situations rationally from the "outside." Michael Henchard observes more than once that distance and an ability to see the "larger picture" is this young man's most distinctive trait; he is the opposite of a "rule o' thumb" sort of man, like Henchard himself.