Under the Greenwood Tree is Hardy's most charming novel using, as it does, the four seasons of the Wessex year as a backdrop for the delightful romance of the young Dick Dewy and Fancy Day, the local school mistress. The story of the ups and downs of their courtship is set alongside the story of the rustics who form the Mellstock church choir and their struggle against the introduction of a church organ which threatens their very existence.