Willie and Mary

As Willie and Mary met by the seaside
A long farewell for to take
Said Mary to Willie, "If you go away
I'm afraid my poor heart, it might break"
"Oh don't be afraid, dearest Mary," he said
As he clasped his fond maid to his side
"In my absence don't mourn, for when I return
I will make you, sweet Mary, my bride"

Seven long years had passed and no word at last
Mary stood by her own cottage door
A beggar came by with a patch on his eye
Bedraggled and ragged and tore
"Your charity, fair maid, bestow upon me
Your fortune I'll tell you beside
Your lad that you mourn will never return
To make little Mary his bride"

She slipped and she started, saying, "All that I have
It's freely to you I will give
If you tell me true what I now ask of you
Is my Willie dead or alive?"
"He's living," said he, "though in sad poverty
And shipwrecked he has been beside
When he'd money untold and pockets of gold
He'd have made little Mary his bride"

"Then if he is dead, no other I'll wed
No other I'll have by my side
For in riches though rolled or covered with gold
He'd have made his own Mary his bride"
Then the patch off his eye the old beggar let fly
His old coat and crutches beside
And in sailor's blue clothes and with cheeks like the rose
It was Willie who stood by her side

"Oh don't be afraid, dearest Mary," he said
"It was only your faith that I tried
To the church we'll away by the break of the day
And I'll make little Mary my bride"

Words to one of my favorite Celtic songs, I love the heartwarming story.

Persuasion is my second favorite Austen novel. I love the strength and constant love of the hero and heroine and the comedy of the secondary characters.

Favorite secondary characters: Sir Walter, The Crofts, and Musgroves, Captain Benwick, Mr. Elliot and Elizabeth (of course).

Favorite quotes:
"When any two people take it into their heads to marry, they are pretty sure by perseverance to carry their point, be they ever so poor, or ever so imprudent, or ever so little likely to be necessary to eachother’s ultimate comfort."

"If there is anything disagreeable going on men are always sure to get out of it." - Mary Musgrove, Persuasion

"I have let my house to Admiral Croft," would sound extremely well; very much better than to any mere Mr--; a Mr (save, perhaps, some half dozen in the nation,) always needs a note of explanation. An admiral speaks his own consequence, and, at the same time, can never make a baronet look small. In all their dealings and intercourse, Sir Walter Elliot must ever have the precedence."

"Her father and sister were glad to see her, for the sake of showing her the house and the furniture, and met her with kindness. Her making a fourth, when they sat down to dinner, was noticed as an advantage." - Jane Austen, Chapter 15 of Persuasion

"Vanity was the beginning and the end of Sir Walter Elliot's character; vanity of person and of situation. He had been remarkably handsome in his youth; and, at fifty-four, was still a very fine man. Few women could think more of their personal appearance than he did,"

The Musician

"Music has charms to soothe the savage breast. To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak." - William Congreve (1670 - 1729), The Mourning Bride

Painting Con Amore by Edmund Blair Leighton (1853-1922) a prominent Pre-Raphaelite painter. He was born in London and became a well-respected Victorian genre painter. He exhibited his works from 1878 to 1920 at the Royal Academy, the Royal Society of British Artists, Suffolk Street, and elsewhere. Click on the following thumbnails to view Edmund Blair Leighton's works.

Another Cinderella...or is she?

Wives & Daughters is another film I have wanted to see for a long time but just haven't been able to get my hands on.
I found it on YouTube (I know, I know) and couldn't help watching all of it.
I adore Elizabeth Gaskell and I had read quite a bit of Wives and Daughters before but had no idea how the story would end.

The plot of the family relationship of widowed father who married again, step-mother and step-sister, are familiar. But what a different step-sister!


I was also glad to see Tom Hollander in a role where he wasn't a rouge (I've only seen him in Pride & Prejudice and Pirates of the Caribbean). I cried so much at his tragic end, I loved his character as much as Molly did.


The ending surprised me and I was a bit disappointed in the lack of physical contact (even after their marriage) but pleased that it was kept clean and true love, friendship and purity were prized above all else. The beauty of the film, the costumes and the story line.

Elizabeth Gaskell's plots always surprise me, similar to other plots but so completely different in many ways. If you've never seen it before...this will definitely be on my Christmas list! :)

Lovely Lorna Doone

"For the first time in my life, I am truly happy. I am loved for who I am, not for selfish reasons. I have the right to live my life in any way I want."- Lorna Doone

For a couple years now I have seen Lorna Doone on many peoples lists of favorite movies, or movies worth watching. Still I wasn't quite sure what it would be like, what sort of melodrama it might include. But after reading the post of a fellow blogger I was minded to watch Lorna Doone and followed a link to YouTube. I started watching it just before I should have gone to bed - that was a bad idea! It captured my attention right away and I ended up watching the whole thing, all 16 parts, and stayed up till 1am at least (thankfully I didn't have to work the next day!).

"This is Doone land! I will never give it up! We will stand or fall here." - Carver Doone

I really had no idea of the plot of the book. Growing up in a homeschooling household the book was always on our bookshelf and I do remember trying to read the first chapter once but really didn't understand any of it. So I was so surprised to find the story so heartrending and complicated. To the very end I couldn't guess ahead at what would happen but sat riveted in front of my computer.

"If you weren't a Doone, I could almost like you." - Lizzie Ridd

The sweetness of the story and of Lorna herself were so lovely. The purity of her relationship with John is also to be commended and prized. I recommend this to anyone and hope to one day own a copy of my own. The movie also inspired the desire to read the book but alas I find that it must have never been read by anyone and therefore carelessly discarded or sold at a book sale. I'd be interested to find out how they changed the story, if at all, especially the ending!

Matthew Insists on Puffed Sleeves

"Anne took the dress and looked at it in reverent silence. Oh, how pretty it was--a lovely soft brown gloria with all the gloss of silk; a skirt with dainty frills and shirrings; a waist elaborately pintucked in the most fashionable way, with a little ruffle of filmy lace at the neck. But the sleeves--they were the crowning glory! Long elbow cuffs, and above them two beautiful puffs divided by rows of shirring and bows of brown-silk ribbon."

"I don't see how I'm going to eat breakfast," said Anne rapturously. "Breakfast seems so commonplace at such an exciting moment. I'd rather feast my eyes on that dress. I'm so glad that puffed sleeves are still fashionable. It did seem to me that I'd never get over it if they went out before I had a dress with them. I'd never have felt quite satisfied, you see."

"Merry Christmas, Diana! And oh, it's a wonderful Christmas. I've something splendid to show you. Matthew has given me the loveliest dress, with such sleeves. I couldn't even imagine any nicer."

" Then I thought of my lovely puffed sleeves and took courage. I knew that I must live up to those sleeves, Diana."

From Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery, chapter 25.

An Intimate Conversation

No one can think more highley of the understanding of women than I do. In my opinion , nature has given them so much that they never find it necessary to use more than half. - Henry Tilney, Northanger Abbey

Northanger Abbey is my favorite novel by Jane Austen, my favorite author. My favorite character in Henry Tilney and his sister and Catherine Morland is so much like me!

I was so pleased when ITV commissioned a new adaptation of the book and waited expectantly for the first rumors of actors being cast. I adore the cast they chose and with few exceptions I loved the movie itself and would recommend it to anyone looking for a good period film and a good adaptation of the book itself.

I created the site Austen Efforts to document some of the casting info and articles that were put out around that time the movie was being filmed.

All Old-fashioned All the Time

I love old fashioned things - song, houses, books, poems, clothing, furniture, stories, movies, towns, architecture. Even things that seem old-fashioned like absolute truth, morals, virtues, patriotism and the Bible.
I'm so excited to have this blog now where I can express my old-fashioned side. I'm dedicating this blog to everything old-fashioned!

The above painting reminds me of an old hymn 'Let All Things Now Living':

    Let all things now living a song of thanksgiving
   To God the creator triumphantly raise.
   Who fashioned and made us, protected and stayed us,
   Who still guides us on to the end of our days.
   God's banners are o'er us, His light goes before us,
   A pillar of fire shining forth in the night.
   Till shadows have vanished and darkness is banished
   As forward we travel from light into light.

   His law he enforces, the stars in their courses
   And sun in its orbit obediently shine;
   The hills and the mountains, the rivers and fountains,
   The deeps of the ocean proclaim him divine.
   We too should be voicing our love and rejoicing;
   With glad adoration a Song let us raise
   Till all things now living unite in thanksgiving:
   "To God in the highest, Hosanna and praise!"