Trollope’s beach picnic in Can You Forgive Her (1864) is highlighted with a stern warning: “Yarmouth is not a happy place for a picnic. A picnic should be held among green things. Green turf is absolutely essential. There should be, if possible, rocks, old timber, moss and bramble. There should certainly be hills and dales –on a small scale, and above all, there should be running water. There should be no expanse. Jones should not be able to see all Greene’s movements, nor should Augusta always have her eye upon her sister Jane.”
In context, this is a comic warning, not about the inadequacies of a picnic on the sand, but about the immature behavior of Mr. Cheesacre and Capt. Bellfield (acting like teenagers) as they vie for the attention of the charming (and wealthy) widow Greenow. Characteristically, Trollope seldom allows perfection to any scene (let alone a picnic on the sand); so though the day is fine, the shade provided by an old canvas sail is not perfect, the wind by an upturned boat, there are troublesome midges, and the shifty sand is not a proper dance floor. Crowded around a long table, Cheeseacre tries to get Bellfield to sit at the far end of the table, but Bellfield takes command and sternly issues orders: “I don’t think that will do,” said he. “Mrs Greenow gives the dinner, and Cheesacre gives the wine. We must have them at the two ends of the table. I am sure Mrs Greenow won’t refuse to allow me to hand her to the place which belongs to her. I will sit at her right hand and be her minister.” Mrs Greenow did not refuse, —and so the matter was adjusted.” (She chooses Bellfield, eventually.
There are big hampers from which food and drink are unpacked and placed on “a long table placed on the sand, sheltered by the upturned boat from the land side.” The menu is cold chicken (probably roast), pie (perhaps game pie), and wine (of course). The illustration of the picnic “Captain Bellfield Proposes at Toast” shows an ample supply of wine, several lying empty beside the table.
Featured Image: Phiz. [aka H. Knight Browne]. “Captain Bellfield Proposes at Toast.” [Chapter 9, The Rivals] in Anthony Trollope. Can You Forgive Her? (1864/5)
See Anthony Trollope. Can You Forgive Her? London: Chapman and Hall, 1864