Does anyone know if they used this kind of grammar at the time this was supposed to take place, or was this only in the Trollope novels? Was it a class thing, or widely used. It always is a bit of a shock to hear the characters use ain't and talk about "them diamonds" among other examples.
shareUpper-class people often did speak like that. Check out a Georgette Heyer novel. Her books are filled with language like that.
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This was a typical English upper-class affectation in mid-Victorian times, to set themselves apart from the middle-classes who would try to speak 'properly'.
Notice also how Adelaide Palliser and Gerard Maule drop the 'g' from the ends of words, such as ridin' for riding, and mornin' for morning - this shows they are open-air country types.
Later in the century the fashion was to drop French and Italian phrases into conversation to show you were cultured and educated.
It seems they are used for emphasis.
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