A bit of spring in the middle of a blizzard
AustenBlog World Headquarters is under a foot and a half of snow at the moment; Dorothy is despairing of ever getting the Editrix’s barouche dug out, but we will soldier on (and hope that our kind neighbor with the snowblower will perhaps take pity upon us). The Jane news today has a touch of spring about it, with an article in the Bangor Daily News about a growing horse chestnut tree that mentions one of Jane’s characters:
I had wondered about horse chestnuts ever since I had heard Colin Firth utter the name in his role as Mr. Darcy in “Pride and Prejudice.” I, too, wanted to enjoy a horse chestnut season, whatever that meant. I knew next to nothing about them and made no attempt to find out more because I could just dream of Mr. Darcy and who needed another tree, anyway?
We are certain that is a miniseries-only mention and that the Mr. Darcy in the book never said anything about horse chestnuts, though Jane mentions “Spanish chesnuts” on the lawn at Pemberley. However, it it likely that Mr. Darcy did look for horse chestnuts, either in Lambton or locally:
If that weren’t enough, the nuts have long been used to play “conkers,” a game in England. According to the Royal Forestry Society of Great Britain, a hole is drilled through the middle of the nut or conker and a string is threaded through and knotted. The player then hits the conker against his opponent’s until one of the conkers breaks. Guess which player is the loser?
We agree it is charming to think of young Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy playing conkers with his friends, and even more charming, on a day such as this, to think of a warm day at Pemberley with the green trees spreading their shade over the lawn. Summer will come again!
ETA: w00t! Kindly neighbor came through with his snowblower! Barouche is dug out and street-ready, though we’re staying inside to watch the football game.
