[Hardy-l] Findon Sheep Fair

[Keith Wilson]

Perhaps I misunderstood.  I assumed your comment (see below) about "the most substantial account" related to Hardy's love affair with Eliza Nicholls and referred to the account on the website in question. If it did relate to that, then obviously it was a claim about the reliability of the website ("most substantial account").  But perhaps you were referring to another posting from Patrick that I missed?
 
I don't remember who the eminent scholars are who have read pregnancy into "Neutral Tones," but it's a big jump from that unprovable speculation to phrasing such as your "If he *did* father her child (as well as Tryphena's)," which sounds to me to say he fathered Tryphena's child.  
 
As for the sloppy grammar and factual inaccuracy on the website -- and your comment "I think TH would have been the last person to condemn a source on the basis of mispelling
and misplaced details: his own family were guilty of same" -- I think we'd simply have to disagree.  TH would very much have condemned inaccuracy and expressive carelessness in something made public (unlike the kind of private writing his family would have been doing) and claiming to be factual (as "He to She" and "Bloomfield" were) -- in fact, he frequently did in his comments on slipshod journalism. If a website piece is mentioned on an academic listserv operated under the auspices of TTHA  as being interesting and substantial, the customary requirements  of accuracy and basic presentational care surely have to obtain, which was the whole point of the no-nonsense assessment of the links that Bob Schweik used to do.  When reviewing a book, you wouldn't use the same line of argument about reliability of sources that you just used, on the grounds that Hardy's family made mistakes and therefore we can't condemn this writer for misspelling and misplaced details (aka factual inaccuracy).
.   .
Best,
Keith
 
Rosemarie wrote:
 
>Agreed, Keith. I made no claim as to the reliability of this site.

Rosemarie further wrote:
  
>Thank you for this, Patrick -- and also for the details of Hardy's love
affair with Eliza Nicholls. It's the most substantial account I've ever
read. If he *did* father her child (as well as Tryphena's) it's no wonder
he felt so bitter about remaining childless in marriage. That has to be one
of life's greater ironies.

Best,
Rosemarie


-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/ms-tnef
Size: 5308 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://coyote.csusm.edu/pipermail/hardy-l/attachments/20080902/71b7dfe0/attachment.bin