This is an annotated version of the book1.contains an updated biography of the author at the end of the book for a better understanding of the text.2.This book has been checked and corrected for spelling errorsOn an evening in the latter part of May a middle-aged man was walkinghomeward from Shaston to the village of Marlott, in the adjoiningVale of Blakemore, or Blackmoor. The pair of legs that carried himwere rickety, and there was a bias in his gait which inclined himsomewhat to the left of a straight line. He occasionally gave asmart nod, as if in confirmation of some opinion, though he was notthinking of anything in particular. An empty egg-basket was slungupon his arm, the nap of his hat was ruffled, a patch being quiteworn away at its brim where his thumb came in taking it off.Presently he was met by an elderly parson astride on a gray mare, who, as he rode, hummed a wandering tune."Good night t'ee," said the man with the basket."Good night, Sir John," said the parson.The pedestrian, after another pace or two, halted, and turned round."Now, sir, begging your pardon; we met last market-day on this roadabout this time, and I said 'Good night, ' and you made reply '_Goodnight, Sir John_, ' as now.""I did," said the parson."And once before that--near a month ago.""I may have.""Then what might your meaning be in calling me 'Sir John' thesedifferent times, when I be plain Jack Durbeyfield, the haggler?"The parson rode a step or two nearer."It was only my whim," he said; and, after a moment's hesitation: "Itwas on account of a discovery I made some little time ago, whilst Iwas hunting up pedigrees for the new county history. I am ParsonTringham, the antiquary, of Stagfoot Lane. Don't you really know, Durbeyfield, that you are the lineal representative of the ancientand knightly family of the d'Urbervilles, who derive their descentfrom Sir Pagan d'Urberville, that renowned knight who came fromNormandy with William the Conqueror, as appears by Battle AbbeyRoll?""Never heard it before, sir!""Well it's true. Throw up your chin a moment, so that I may catchthe profile of your face better. Yes, that's the d'Urberville noseand chin--a little debased. Your ancestor was one of the twelveknights who assisted the Lord of Estremavilla in Normandy in hisconquest of Glamorganshire. Branches of your family held manors overall this part of England; their names appear in the Pipe Rolls in thetime of King Stephen. In the reign of King John one of them was richenough to give a manor to the Knights Hospitallers; and in Edward theSecond's time your forefather Brian was summoned to Westminster toattend the great Council there. You declined a little in OliverCromwell's time, but to no serious extent, and in Charles theSecond's reign you were made Knights of the Royal Oak for yourloyalty. Aye, there have been generations of Sir Johns amongyou, and if knighthood were hereditary, like a baronetcy, as itpractically was in old times, when men were knighted from fatherto son, you would be Sir John now.""Ye don't say so!""In short," concluded the parson, decisively smacking his leg withhis switch, "there's hardly such another family in England.""Daze my eyes, and isn't there?" said Durbeyfield. "And here have Ibeen knocking about, year after year, from pillar to post, as if Iwas no more than the commonest feller in the parish... And how longhev this news about me been knowed, Pa'son Tringham?"The clergyman explained that, as far as he was aware, it had quitedied out of knowledge, and could hardly be said to be known at all.His own investigations had begun on a day in the preceding springwhen, having been engaged in tracing the vicissitudes of thed'Urberville family, he had observed Durbeyfield's name on hiswaggon,