Literary notes about Croft (AI summary)
The term "croft" carries a rich duality in literature, functioning both as a surname for memorable characters and as a descriptor for small plots of cultivated land. Authors like Jane Austen integrate "Croft" into the fabric of social and familial narratives, assigning it to characters whose names become shorthand for certain traits and connections ([1], [2], [3], [4]). Simultaneously, the word is frequently invoked to paint bucolic scenes, ranging from simple farmsteads to vivid portrayals of rustic landscape and agricultural labors ([5], [6], [7], [8]). This interplay between its use as a proper name and a term for land underscores its adaptability and deep-rooted presence in the literary depiction of rural life.
- "We are expecting a brother of Mrs Croft's here soon; I dare say you know him by name.
— from Persuasion by Jane Austen - "Perhaps you may not have heard that he is married?" added Mrs Croft.
— from Persuasion by Jane Austen - He had seen Mrs Croft, too; she was at Taunton with the admiral, and had been present almost all the time they were talking the matter over.
— from Persuasion by Jane Austen - I should have visited Admiral Croft, however, at any rate.
— from Persuasion by Jane Austen - farm , n. grange; plantation; croft; hacienda.
— from Putnam's Word Book A Practical Aid in Expressing Ideas Through the Use of an Exact and Varied Vocabulary by Louis A. (Louis Andrew) Flemming - Is the croft at Tenby still green: and does Mary Allen take a turn on it in a riding habit as of old?
— from Letters of Edward FitzGerald, in Two Volumes. Vol. 1 by Edward FitzGerald - The stream is brimful now, and lies high in this little withy plantation, and half drowns the grassy fringe of the croft in front of the house.
— from The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot - Then he went to look at another croft, and behold that also was ripe.
— from The Mabinogion
