“The sun soon conquered the mist and Isaac, as he passed under the great elms of the Close, looked up and saw pale gold leaves trembling against the blue of the sky. Down below there was no wind but up there a faint breeze fingered them. The frost had weakened their hold and even such a faint touch was too much for them. One after another they came slowly spinning down and one or two touched Isaac’s upturned face in falling...
How well Isaac knew these scents of autumn and the butterfly touch of falling leaves upon his face, sad or happy as his mood might be. Winter, Spring and summer did not accommodate themselves to one’s mood as autumn did. They lacked its gentleness.”
🍁 Elizabeth Goudge, The Dean’s Watch
Welcome to our November Goudge Readalong of The Dean’s Watch
Goudge was 60 years old when her novel about Ely was published, the one city of cathedral bells that she had been saving up to write about through the years. She had lived in three cathedral cities (Wells, Ely, and then Oxford), but she said that Ely was her favorite because of how happy her family was living in Ely near the cathedral.
Goudge often found her ideas for her stories from things that struck her visually. She first found inspiration for The Dean’s Watch when observing a couple dance together at a ball - the gentleman being a bit older and the younger lady being a fashionable beauty. She remembered the tender way they looked at each other and felt they might be a good starting place for her novel about real, redemptive love.
I’ll share some more historical information today, but first some info about our book club:
Suggested schedule:
Read half of the book (chapters 1-10) by mid-month, and the remaining (chapters 11-18) by the end of November. 🍂🧡📖
Zoom Gathering:
Thursday, November 30th at 2pm. Love for you to join us!
The Watchmaker’s Epitaph
At the very beginning of the book, Goudge includes a well-known epitaph.
An epitaph is “a phrase or form of words written in memory of a person who has died, especially as an inscription on a tombstone.”
George Routleigh
‘Here lies in the horizontal position
The outside case of George Routleigh, Watchmaker,
Whose abilities in that line were an honour
To his profession: Integrity was the main-spring,
And prudence the regulator
Of all the actions of his life:
Humane, generous and liberal,
His hand never stopped
Till he had relieved distress;
So nicely regulated were all his movements
That he never went wrong
Except when set-a-going by people
Who did not know his key;
Even then, he was easily Set right again:
He had the art of disposing of his time so well
That his hours glided awayIn one continual round
Of pleasure and delight,
Till an unlucky moment put a period to his existence;
He departed this life
November 14, 1802
Wound up, in hopes of being taken in hand
By his Maker, And of being
Thoroughly cleaned, repaired and set-a-going
In the World to come.’
St. Petroc’s Church, Devon
A few years ago, a Goudge reader who lives in Devon sent me some photos of the headstone in St Petroc’s Church, Lydford, UK.
Characters and Literary Themes:
We will meet the main & secondary characters:
Isaac Peabody, the clockmaker
Adam Ayscough, the Dean of the Cathedral
Emma, Isaac’s sister
Polly, their maid
Job Mooring, orphan/apprentice boy
We will also meet a few inanimate objects which are nearly as important as the characters in Goudge’s story:
The Dean’s pocket watch
The Cathedral
Be sure to keep a look out for the themes of brokenness and hiddenness starting this week. What is their relationship to one another?
Thanks for joining us!
Let us know if you are reading The Dean’s Watch for the first time, or if it is reread for you. And also anything else you would like us to know about you here on Substack! It is very exciting to see our Goudge readers community growing here. 🍂
I just re read this introductory post and saw the mention of the Zoom. How did I miss that? I am so excited about that and determined to be there despite being on the east coast of Australia. Yay!
I have only recently begun a deep dive into reading Goudge. I have collected numbers of her books and can’t wait to get into them this winter. The Bird in the Tree came at such a fortuitous time because of events in my own family that happened even as I was reading. Looking forward to reading and discussing The Deans Watch.