LITERARY INFORMATION

Hardy's description of the countryside in Under the Greenwood Tree is based on his knowledge of Dorsetshire, the countryside where he grew up. In fact, Mellstock in the book seems to be his native village, Stinsford, in thin disguise. The Tranter's cottage is a duplicate of the Hardy family's own home: "a long low cottage with a hipped roof of thatch, having dormer windows breaking up into the caves, a chimney standing in the middle of the ridge and another at each end." Hardy even describes the garden trees, the plants, and the creepers in such detail that he is obviously painting a picture from real life. The keeper's house at Yalbury Wood is similarly authentic and is described in the same detail, hinting that Hardy knew such a house.

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