exposure for an amateur company in a small county town, but clear evidence of Hardy's status as an author of international standing. The reviews were so numerous that the company produced a souvenir programme containing extracts of them all. It runs to thousands of words: ten pages, double-columned and in very small print. As Captain Acland, curator of the Dorset County Museum wrote to Evans after watching the play: ‘thanks, not only for the genuine treat it was to us all, but because you and your talented company have proved afresh to the world what Dorchester folk can do.’ In 1910, the play was revived at the Weymouth Pavilion, and Hardy was able to attend, travelling there by train with Albert Evans and his family. He wrote personal congratulations afterwards to Mr Bawler (Miller Loveday) and Mayor of Dorchester Mr Tilley (Cripplestraw) on playing their roles so realistically. The play was again revived in 1912, for a performance at the Cripplegate Institute in London, which came with a very fine programme, including photos of the principal actors, engravings of Hardy's birthplace and ‘Casterbridge from Ten Hatches’ and the songs from the play, written by Hardy and with music by Harry Pouncy and Boyton Smith. In 1958 The Musicmakers presented a "new musical in three acts" titled Farewell my Fancy at the Everyman Theatre in Reading. With book, music and lyrics by Michael Wild, the piece was a musical comedy "suggested" by The Trumpet Major and it featured all the major characters of the book. It was given six performances from 24 to 29 November 1958. A note of apology in the programme suggests that it was not authorised by the Hardy Estate. Hardy, The Trumpet Major and the Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars, and in particular the fear of invasion that pervaded Dorset at the beginning of the 19th century, were a source of fascination to Hardy from boyhood onwards. Hardy's interest in the Napoleonic Wars continued throughout his life. While writing The Return of the Native, in 1878, Hardy visited the Reading Room of the British Museum and read contemporary accounts of the Napoleonic Wars. He noted his findings in what became known as ‘The Trumpet-Major Notebook’ (now in the Dorset County Museum). Hardy also met with Chelsea pensioners who had experienced the war first-hand. The Trumpet-Major, published in 1880 was born of that research. Evelyn Evans, daughter of