Thomas Hardy: Hardy's Heart"When Thomas Hardy died in 1928, his will directed that he be buried unostentatiously in the churchyard at Stinsford, deep in his beloved Wessex. However, just before the funeral, a suggestion came from Stanley Baldwin's government that so great a novelist and poet - whatever his own wishes - deserved no less a burial-place than Westminster Abbey.
"Between Hardy's widow and the government, a compromise was reached. The great man's body would be interred at Westminster - but first his heart would be removed and, in a private ceremony following the public one, be buried at its symbolic home, Stinsford.
"There then arose the question of who should remove the heart. Hardy's family doctor refused, but a young assistant volunteered in his stead. The heart was cut out at the surgery, and the body taken away to London for burial with national honours.
"Since the heart was not to be buried until the next day, some method of storing it had to be found. Finally, the doctor's maid came up with the answer - a biscuit-tin.
"The biscuit-tin was sealed and placed in a garden-shed to await the morrow's poignant and poetic interrment of Thomas Hardy's heart. Unluckily, during the night it was got at [eaten] by the doctor's cat."
Hardy, Thomas (1840-l928) British writer [noted for his Wessex
novels, including
Far from the Madding Crowd (1874),
The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), and
Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891)]
[Sources: Philip Norman, Awful Moments]More Thomas Hardy anecdotesRelated Anecdote Keywords:
Death Burial Cats Animals Hearts
View/add Comments [0]
