Yokels from His horn book, for the use of greenhorns and others who would learn of the anthropophagi and divers strange things existing at the end of the XIXth century (1898), by Wallis Mackay (1852-1907). This interesting sketch suggests the social changes in Britain during the course of the nineteenth century, with the transformation of simple, unselfconscious countryfolk into pretentious, over-dressed or blousy urbanites. Especially interesting is Mackay's remark that the "remnants" of country life left intact by the end have been further obliterated by novelists, who (presumably) falsify it. No doubt he is aware that he too has falsified it in his image of an idyllic peasant couple. But he has also falsified the modern "Yokel," not presenting the labouring class but the newly-emerged middle classes.
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Mackay, Wallis. His horn book, for the use of greenhorns and others who would learn of the anthropophagi and divers strange things existing at the end of the XIXth century. London, J. Macqueen, [1898]. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Brittle Books Project, 2011. Web. 5 April 2016.
Created 5 April 2016