My life seems to have been plagued by Hartleys; which I blame upon that archetypal Hartley: Hartley Hare - who I tentatively presume to have been a transdimensional and temporally omnipresent being; capable of exerting influence of many kinds, by many means.
Such were my thoughts when I saw notice that our latest local Church of England Bishopess is yet another Hartley (Helen-Anne). The resemblance to HH is obvious:
And I have also referenced Hartley Coleridge (who was born in the most boring town in the world, and whose erstwhile home I have stayed in) - eldest son of Samuel Taylor; who also has the look of Hartley Hare about him:
A malign presence in mid-childhood was the ubiquitous product Hartley's New Jam, especially its strawberry manifestation; which (from memory) was low on fruit, high on pectin; and relied heavily on various flavourings and preservatives and shocking pink food colouring. A typical Hartley-inspired product, as the makers signal by their almost demonic depiction of the Hartley-childrens' faces:
If my experience is anything to go by; whenever you encounter a Hartley - beware.
3 comments:
You should see children's faces in some American ads from my childhood.
It gets worse. A certain village in your neck of the woods seems to have been a Norman stronghold:
https://seaton-sluice.co.uk/The-Delavals/
The Delavals were mostly a bad lot - one heir died age 19 after being kicked in the testicles by a servant girl he was trying to rape:
https://www.historichousesfoundation.org.uk/stories/seaton-delaval
The Hartley reference you imply for Seaton Delaval is presumably the Hartley Colliery disaster - that name again.
https://nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/accidents-disasters/durham/new-hartley-colliery-shaft-accident-hartley-1862/
Still, the remains of Seaton Delaval Hall are a nice place to visit on a fine day:
https://nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/accidents-disasters/durham/new-hartley-colliery-shaft-accident-hartley-1862/
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