NOTE: At the time of this story,
British measurements were in miles,
yards, feet and inches. 1 inch =
253995 mm, 1 foot = 30.479 cm, 1 yard = 0.9144 m, 1 mile = 1.6093 km. British
money was pounds (£), shillings (s) and pence (d). There were 12 pennies (pence) in 1 shilling and 20
shillings (s) in one pound (£).
1. county: the United Kingdom of Great Britain is
made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Each of these areas
is divided into smaller areas called counties.
2. arguments
: angry discussions between people who
do not agree with each other.
3 guilty
- to feel guilty : Hardy had said unkind things to Emma when she
was alive. He felt sorry about this.
4 buried
- to bury : when a person dies, their body is buried. It is placed in a wooden box - a
coffin. The coffin is put into a hole
in the ground which is called a grave.
Graves are dug in a churchyard - the
land around a church.
5. country area
: the land outside towns, where there
are farms, hills, etc., is called countryside.
The word is often shortened to the country.
6. celebrate
: when people want to remember a special
time or event, they celebrate. They
meet together to enjoy themselves. The meeting is called a celebration.
7. inns
: places where you can buy alcohol, food
and pay for a room to sleep in.
8. cereal
crops : plants which are grown
so that their seeds - the grain - can
be used as food. Examples of cereal crops
are oats, rye and wheat.
9. hedges
: lines of trees and bushes which grow
around the sides of fields. Hedges
stop animals from leaving their fields.
10. harvested
- to harvest : when crops have finished growing and are
ready to eat, they are harvested.
11. corn
exchange : a place where farmers
came to buy or sell the corn - the cereal crops - that they had grown.
12. hired
- to hire : when you pay a person to do some work for
you, you are hiring that person. You
are that person’s employer.
13. good
character : a person who is
brave, honest and works hard has a good
character. A person who is dishonest and does not behave well has a bad character. People with strong characters often speak about
their ideas and make decisions quickly.
14. wagon
: a heavy wooden vehicle with four
wheels which was pulled by one or more strong horses. Wagons where used on farms and country roads to carry heavy things.
A carriage was a comfortable vehicle
which had four wheels and was pulled by one or two horses.
15. loaded
- to load : when something is very full it is loaded.
16. tollgate
: a gate across a road where you have to
pay before you can go through it. The money you pay is called a toll.
17. flute
: a musical instrument that has the
shape of a tube. When you play a flute,
you hold it sideways to your mouth. You blow air over a hole at one end. At the
same time, you move your fingers over holes along the tube.
18. giving
birth - to give birth : at this time, the sheep are producing lambs - their babies - from their
bodies. Before the lambs are born, the sheep are pregnant.
19. stove
: fire is burned in this container to
give heat. Stoves make a room warm, or they cook food.
20. beer
: a yellow or brown alcoholic drink.
Beer is made from grain (see 8) that has been left in water and then dried, and
plants called hops.
21. sheepdogs
: dogs that have been trained to guard
and control sheep.
22. cowshed
: a building on a farm where cows are
kept.
23. cloak
: a long loose coat without sleeves,
that fastens around your neck.
24. recognized
- to recognize : know who a person is and where you have seen
them before.
25. sidesaddle
: sitting on a horse with both your legs
on the same side of the horse. At this time, women always rode horses on
special saddles in this way. Men rode with one leg on each side of the horse.
26. embarrass
: make someone feel nervous, afraid, or
foolish.
27. heart
ached : Gabriel Oak loves
Bathsheba so much that he feels pain.
28. barking
- to bark : the sound made by a dog when it is excited.
29. best
chance : the best thing that he
could hope for.
30. propose
: when a man asks a woman to marry him,
he is making a proposal of marriage.
He is proposing to the woman.
31. independent
: an independent
person is someone who knows what they want to do and then makes decisions.
32. sheep’s
bells : bells which were put
around the necks of sheep. When the sheep moved, the shepherd could hear where
they were.
33. chased
- to chase : run after something and frighten it.
34. deep
chalkpit : a large hole in the
ground where chalk has been removed.
35. ruined
- to be ruined : loose all your money or power. Something that
is broken or destroyed is ruined. In
the nineteenth century, a woman who had a sexual relationship with a man who
was not her husband was ruined.
People thought that she had a bad character (see 13).
36. insured
- to insure : if you want to insure something, you have to pay an insurance company an amount of money. Then the insurance company
will give you money if your property is lost, stolen, damaged, or destroyed.
37. debt
: an amount of money that you owe to
someone. The bank had given Oak money to buy the sheep. Now he has to repay
that debt to the bank.
38. farm
manager : a person who decides
when and how work is done on the farm. The farm
manager also gives orders to the farm workers.
39. regiment
: a large group of soldiers who fight
together.
40. shepherd’s
crook : a long pole with a hook
on one end. A shepherd’s crook is
used to catch or guide sheep.
41. hay
: dried grass which is given to animals
as food.
42. shy
: be nervous and worried when you meet
someone.
43. guessed - to guess : if you think that you know what is happening,
but you do not know the truth, you are guessing.
44. rick
of straw : when a cereal crop is
harvested, the stalks of the plants are tied together in bundles. When they were dry, the bundles were kept together in a
big pile called a rick. Ricks could
be made from crops of wheat, barley and oats. The dried, empty stalks of crops
whose grain has been removed is called straw.
45. farmyard
: an area beside a farmhouse that is surrounded by buildings.
46. rick-cloth
: a large strong cloth that was put over
a rick to keep it dry.
47. ma’am
: the short form of the word madam.
48. courting
- to court : have a romantic relationship with someone,
especially someone that you marry later.
49. barracks
: buildings where soldiers live.
50. expect
: think that something will happen.
51. notice
: if you see someone or something
clearly for the first time, you notice
them.
The phrase is also used if you
suddenly think that someone is interesting or looks nice.
52. annoyed
: upset and angry about something.
53. attractive
- to find someone attractive
(page 26) think that someone looks beautiful or handsome.
54. valentine
card : a card that someone sends
- on the 14th February - to a person who they love.
55. mail-cart
: a vehicle which carried people’s
letters and parcels between towns and villages.
56. man
of honour : a man who behaves
well and honestly.
57. crest : a raised part on the top of a soldier’s metal
helmet. Crests held birds’ feathers
or long pieces of animals’ hair. Soldiers in some regiments, who rode horses to
battles, had helmets in this style.
58. spurs :
short pieces of metal that someone wears on the heels of their boots
while they are riding a horse. When the rider touches the horse with the spurs, the horse will move faster.
59. respected - to respect : if someone is respected, people like them and think
well of them. You respect someone
because they are intelligent, or important. Or you respect them because they
are kind and behave well. If you show
respect to someone, you are polite because you think that person is clever
or important.
60. disturbed
- to disturb : upset and worry someone.
61. sheep-washing
pool : each year, farmers wash
sheep to remove dirt and insects from the wool on the sheep’s bodies.
62. admire
: if you like the way that someone
looks, works, or behaves, you admire
that person. You are that person’s admirer.
The feeling that you have is admiration.
63. fiercely
: showing strong feelings of anger,
hate, love, etc.
64. opinion
- want my opinion : your thoughts about someone or something is
your opinion.
When someone wants your opinion, they are asking to hear your thoughts about
that thing.
65. clover
: green plants that have small leaves
with three round parts.
66. stomachs
: when an animal eats, the food moves
from its mouth to its stomach.
67. swollen
: become bigger. The sheep have eaten a
plant which makes them ill. Their stomachs are now very large because they are
filled with air. This is giving the sheep great pain and they might die.
68. desert
me : Bathsheba is asking Gabriel
not to leave her alone and in trouble.
69. riding-habit
: a jacket and long skirt that were worn
by women when they rode horses in the nineteenth century.
70. silk
waistcoat : a waistcoat is a piece of clothing,
without sleeves, that a man wears over his shirt. Silk is a beautiful, strong, soft cloth.
71. scythes
: long wooden poles with long sharp
metal blades at one end.
72. Queen
of the Com Exchange : women did
not usually own farms and sell the crops. Troy thinks that Bathsheba is like a
queen in a place where only men work.
73. wasted
too much time - to waste time
: Bathsheba thinks that she has been
speaking with Troy for too long.
74. sword
practice : soldiers were given
instructions which told them how to fight with their swords. A soldier had to practise how to make cuts with a sword
onto different parts of an enemy’s body.
75. gasped
- to gasp : breathe in suddenly because you are shocked or surprised.
76. pretend
: do something or say something that you
do not believe.
77. untidy
: an untidy
person’s hair and clothes are not in their correct places.
78. trust
: believe that someone is honest, kind
and helpful.
If you believe that someone will say
or do something which will hurt you, you do
not trust them. You distrust that
person.
79. punish
: do something to someone because they
have done something wrong.
80. blaming
- to blame : say or think that someone has made trouble.
81. spars : long, thin pieces of wood which were pushed
down through the bundles to fix them onto the rick.
82. jealousy
- crazy with jealousy : if someone has something that you want, or
does something that you want to do, you are jealous.
Jealousy is this feeling of sadness and anger. Bathsheba thought that she
was becoming mad because her feeling of jealousy was so strong.
83. gamble
: play games for money. Troy watches
horses racing against each other. He pays to guess which horse will win the
race. If he guesses correctly, he will get more money.
84. workhouse
: at this time, poor people who had no
work, no home and no money had to live in a workhouse.
They had to work very hard for food.
85. In Qod’s
name : strong words that someone
uses if they are shocked or surprised.
86. gravestone
: a large piece of flat stone that
carries information about the dead person in a grave.
87. mud
: very wet, soft earth.
88 in Loving
Memory of : words that are
written on a gravestone. The phrase shows someone’s love for the person who is
buried in the grave.
89. travelling
circus : a group of people and animals that travel to
different places to entertain people.
90. highwayman
: a man who stole money and property
from people who travelled on highways,
or roads. Highwaymen rode fast horses
and carried guns.
91. tried
for murder : Boldwood has killed Troy. He will be taken to
a court and asked questions - tried.
This is his trial. The judge and jury
in the court will then decide if Boldwood meant to kill Troy.
