
The novel follows the activities of a group of west gallery musicians, the Mellstock parish choir, one of whom, d**k Dewy, becomes romantically entangled with a comely new village schoolmistress, Fancy Day.The novel opens with the fiddlers and singers of the choir — including d**k, his father Reuben Dewy, and grandfather William Dewy — making the rounds in Mellstock village on Christmas Eve. When the little band plays at the schoolhouse, young d**k falls for Fancy at first sight. d**k, smitten, seeks to insinuate himself into her life and affections, but Fancy's beauty has gained her other suitors including Shiner, a rich farmer, and Mr Maybold, the new vicar at the parish church.

