​Wonders of an Apostrophe

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The purpose of the apostrophe is to indicate omission or possession. For example:

 
“James isn’t Mary’s son.”

 
The isn’t apostrophe implies omission of the letter “o”; the Mary’s apostrophe implies possession of the son (or, lack of possession, as the case may be).[1] But sometime in the 1680s, Thomas Durfey found a novel third use of the apostrophe: to appear French.

 
Though he was born in Devonshire, Thomas lived in an age of anti-egalitarian elitism, and in an effort to climb higher up the social ladder, he claimed to be of French descent, and to add to the illusion, he added an apostrophe to his plain English last name—henceforth being known as Thomas D’Urfey.[2]


The ruse worked, and as an affable and amusing poet, playwright, singer, and overall entertainer, Thomas D’Urfey found himself court jester to such elites as King Charles II, James II, and William & Mary.

 
All for an apostrophe and a little savoir-faire.[3]

​The Fiery Furnace
French Indochina colonists completed the Hanoi prison by 1901, using it to house, torture, and execute Vietnamese political prisoners.

 
The building was colloquially referred to as Hỏa Lò Prison, which translates to “stove,” “fiery furnace,” and “Hell’s hole.” A fitting name for a facility notorious for inhumanity, a cruelty even degrading to the colonial perpetrators—their lack of sympathy, compassion, and humanity revealing corrupt moral character.[4]
 
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When behavior toward others reflects vice rather than virtue, life becomes un véritable enfer.[5]

 
Revised Innocence
When Bobby Darin recorded an updated version of “Clementine,” Frank Sinatra wasn’t to be outdone, and quickly recorded an updated version of “Old MacDonald Had a Farm.” These crooners offered something smooth, suave, and unexpected—new interpretations of old melodies, turning the tide of childhood innocence.
 

Meanwhile, Colonel Tom Parker signed Elvis Presley to a series of movie contracts that focused on quantity over quality. By that point, Elvis wanted to return to performing live music rather than shoddy B-grade movies, but his manager wouldn't budge. The final straw came when Elvis was forced to record his own updated version of “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” for the 1967 flop Double Trouble. Once the recording was done, he stormed off set in frustration.
 
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C'est la vie.[6]

Wonders in the Sun
By 1706, Thomas D’Ufrey wasn’t having much luck either. His new comic opera, Wonders in the Sun: or, the Kingdom of the Birds, was an ambitious and visually extravagant production, requiring elaborate scenery, a flock of bird costumes, and an over-sized cast of performers.
 

The plot centered on the misadventures of a philosopher and his servant who were carried away to the sun by a flock of geese, where they met a kingdom of anthropomorphized birds. The story drew parallels between humans and animals, offering a figurative discourse on virtue and vice and the moral line between humanity and inhumanity—whether “bird or man.”[7]
 

The opera premiered at the Queen’s Theatre on Saturday April 6—and though featuring a “great Variety of songs in all kinds, ſet to Muſick by ſeveral of the moſt Eminent Maſters of the Age,” by Wednesday, it was shut down. Despite the extravagant production value, Wonders in the Sun was a commercial flop, with critics arguing the story was difficult to follow and the music only loosely tied to the plot, making it hard to catch on.
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For the public’s taste, perhaps Thomas D’Urfey’s work was a bit too avant-garde.[8]
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Hanoi Hilton
French colonial forces abandoned Hanoi in 1954 after their decisive defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. After decades of dissent, Vietnam had finally achieved carte blanche.[9]
 

Later, during the Vietnam War, the “Fiery Furnace” experienced déjà vu[10] when the North Vietnamese offered the same hospitality to U.S. soldiers as taught by the French colonizers—including using rope bindings, iron beatings, and prolonged solitary confinement. Under these conditions, U.S. soldiers colloquially referred to the prison as “Hanoi Hilton,” a sarcastic reference to the continued maltreatment of fellow human beings—for the best-laid schemes of birds or men often reveal a shared inhumanity.[11]
 

Meanwhile, on April 6, 1967[12]—after falling overboard the USS Canberra in the Gulf of Tonkin—Navy Petty Officer Douglas Hegdahl checked in for a two-year stay at the notorious Hilton. To improve his standing in the camp’s society, unlike Thomas D'Urfey, Douglas didn’t try to play smart by changing his name to D’Ouglas Heg D’Ahl. Instead, he played dumb.
 

By pretending to be an innocent, clumsy, and dumb country pumpkin, his captors wrote Douglas off as harmless, referring to him as Người cực kỳ ngu ngốc: “The Incredibly Stupid One.” With their guard down, Douglas was allowed to quietly sabotage operations by secretly pouring dirt into enemy fuel tanks, disabling five trucks in the process.[13] He also went to work memorizing the names of 256 fellow prisoners, including their capture dates, methods of torture, and other personal information.
 

Despite being labeled incredibly stupid and innocent, Douglas was incredibly clever and cunning. To memorize all the details, the sailor sang the information to the tune of “Old MacDonald Had a Farm,” retaining the data by singing them by heart on repeat, day in and day out.
 

Two years later, Douglas was released as a show of good-will, believing he was a prisoner of no real consequence. But what they really did was release a valuable intelligence asset.
 

Upon his release, Ross Perot sent Douglas to the Paris Peace Talks, revealing the names of his fellow prisoners and confronting the North Vietnamese with his first-hand experience of the inhumane conditions.
 
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They learned the hard way that underestimating the value of others can be quite a faux pas.[14]
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​Evolution of a Song
Meanwhile, despite Thomas D’Urfey’s flop of 1706, there was one piece of music from the opera that survived the ravages of time: “In the Fields in Frost and Snow.”
 

In the limited run, it was sung by 8-year-old Mary Willis, who was the perfect fit for her role as a character named Innocence. The song contained just three simple verses about tending a farm with cows, owls, and sheep, and mimicking their sounds.
 

The tune was so well-received that it appeared in many other operas over the years, and Thomas D'Urfey himself included an expanded version with additional verses in his 1719 book Wit and Mirth, or Pills to Purge Melancholy.
 

Throughout the centuries, people have been singing and adapting variations of this seminal tune, including in a 1925 recording by the Sam Patterson Trio; in 1961 by Frank Sinatra; in 1967 by Elvis Presley; and in the same year by Sailor Douglas Hegdahl at the prestigious Hanoi Hilton.
 

What was once called “In the Fields in Frost in Snow” is today known as “Old MacDonald Had a Farm.” Turns out, sometimes the simplest of things are la crème de la crème.[15]
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Wonders of an Apostrophe 
If not for an apostrophe, perhaps Thomas D’Urefy would not have had wealthy high-society sponsors for his opera.
 

If not for the opera, perhaps he never would have written “In the Fields in Frost and Snow.”
 

If not for the song, perhaps we would never have “Old MacDonald Had a Farm.”
 

And if not for the updated version, perhaps Douglas Hegdahl would never have memorized all those 256 names.[16]
 
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All for the wonder of an apostrophe as the raison d'être.[17]

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Reflection
1. Omission: “The worth of a thing is known by its want.”[18] Where are the apostrophies in your life? What “wants” do they reveal by their omissions?  


2. Possession: Underestimating the value of others reveals a possession of vice in one’s heart, while recognizing a shared humanity reveals virtue. What are the apostrophic possessions in your life? Are they revealing vice or virtue?

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3. Appearances: A clever and cunning person may appear to be innocent, while someone who merely pretends to be clever may actually be a fool putting on airs.[19] How might you better discern the hearts of your fellow Earth travelers?

​Want More?
Jonas Cain, M.Ed. is a storyteller, magician, musician, and facilitator of fascination—uncovering joy through curiosity and wonder. Connect with Jonas to discover more: [email protected]
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​Footnotes & References
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[1] The contention that James Francis Edward isn’t Mary of Modena’s son goes back to June 10, 1688, when suspicions arose that a substitute baby was smuggled into the Queen's room when she gave birth to a stillborn. The scandal led to the overthrow of King James II, and the crowning of William and Mary as joint sovereigns.

[2] A contemporary ruſe to appear high claſs might be to utilize the ſeldom ſeen long s: < ſ > The letter has gone out of favor, partly due to the ſimilarity with the letter f, leading to confuſion while reading. It alſo comes with a ſlew of grammatical rules, requiring the long s < ſ > only at the beginning and middle of words, and the short s < s > at the end. By the 1820s, it was all but eliminated from ſtandard uſe, and only uſed theſe days for pretentious, hiſtorical, or humorous purpoſes. That ſeems to be an honeſt (albeit ſilly and ſuperficial) aſſeſſment of the ſituation.

[3] The ability to act appropriately, gracefully, and with skill in social situations.

[4] Despite the metaphor, the name also had a literal meaning. In pre-colonial times, the street in Hanoi where the prison was built contained a concentration of stores that sold both wood and coal-fire stoves.

[5] A living hell.

[6] Such is life.

[7]  Ladd, H.A. (2020). “Music, fable, and fantasy: Thomas D’Urfey’s Wonders in the Sun and the eighteenth-century political animal.” Lumen, 39. p.p. 133–157. doi.org/10.7202/1069407ar
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[8] Experimental or innovative arts.

[9] Freedom to act as one wishes.

[10] The uncanny feeling that a new experience has happened before.

[11] With my regards to Robert Burns and his mouse.

[12] Precisely 261 years to the day that Wonders in the Sun opened in London.

[13] Cutler, T.J. (2005). A sailor's history of the U.S. Navy. Naval Institute Press. p. 22

[14] A social blunder.

[15] The best of the best.

[16] And perhaps Elvis wouldn’t have had a flop in 1967.

[17] The reason for being.

[18] D’Urfey, T. (1694). The comical history of Don Quixote. [Play].

[19] Why did Thomas D’Urfey believe French ancestry to be a symbol of class and virtue? Were the French of the early 1700s much kinder to their fellow human beings than they were to the Vietnamese of the early 1900s? And why were the Peace Talks held in Paris during the Vietnam War? Had the French become peaceful after their defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu? And what of you and me? Do we treat others with dignity and respect?