midnight
We have all now made atonement for our sins against her : may she be deceived no more . 1887 . I never pass through Chalk-Newton without turning to regard the neighbouring upland , at a point where a lane crosses the lone straight highway dividing this from the next parish ; a sight which does not fail to recall the event that once happened there ; and , though it may seem superfluous , at this date , to disinter more memories of village history , the whispers of that spot may claim to be preserved . It was on a dark , yet mild and exceptionally dry evening at Christmas - time -LRB- according to the testimony of William Dewy of Mellstock , Michael Mail , and others -RRB- , that the choir of Chalk-Newton -- a large parish situate about half-way between the towns of Ivel and Casterbridge , and now a railway station -- left their homes just before midnight to repeat their annual harmonies under the windows of the local population . The band of instrumentalists and singers was one of the largest in the county ; and , unlike the smaller and finer Mellstock string-band , which eschewed all but the catgut , it included brass and reed performers at full Sunday services , and reached all across the west gallery . On this night there were two or three violins , two ` cellos , a tenor viol , double bass , hautboy , clarionets , serpent , and seven singers . It was , however , not the choir 's labours , but what its members chanced to witness , that particularly marked the occasion .