Dreamthorp
A Book of Essays Written in the Country

Dreamthorp is a collection of twelve reflective essays by the Scottish poet Alexander Smith, first published in 1863. Taking its name from the quiet, imaginary village where Smith claims to have retired to write, the book blends memoir, literary criticism, and philosophical musing in a leisurely, conversational style reminiscent of Montaigne and Charles Lamb. Smith writes on the pleasures of village life, the craft of essay-writing itself, mortality, the poet William Dunbar, the joys of a well-loved personal library, Geoffrey Chaucer, and the quiet dignity of the vagabond spirit, among other subjects. Prized by later writers such as Robert Louis Stevenson for its intimacy and wit, Dreamthorp remains a small but beloved gem of Victorian essay writing — meditative, humane, and quietly funny, offering listeners a warm escape into nineteenth-century rural contemplation.