HARD'CASTLE. A family, the members of which are principal characters in Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer. The scene is laid about the country house of jovial Squire Hardcastle, the father of Kate, the heroine of the comedy, who assumes the airs of a barmaid in order to win the love of the bashful Marlow. The pretentious Mrs. Hardcastle is the mother of Tony Lumpkin, the Squire's stepson.