Far From the Mad·ding Crowd /ˌfɑː frəm ðə ˌmædɪŋ ˈkraʊd $ ˌfɑːr-/ a phrase that is used to mean the peacefulness and quiet of the country. It was the title of a novel by Thomas Hardy about people living in a country village in the west of England during Victorian times. Hardy took the title from a famous poem by Thomas Gray.