A Podcast to the Curious - The M.R. James Podcast

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A Podcast to the Curious - The M.R. James Podcast episodes

June 18, 2022Episode 89 – Cushi
Open your hymn books to episode 89, as we’re back in church for Christopher Woodforde’s “Cushi”: a tale of capering cats, sabotaged surplices and vengeful vergers. Don’t lose your head!
Show notes:
Christopher Woodforde studied at Peterhouse, Cambridge before becoming an Anglican priest. He was later Fellow and Chaplain at New College, Oxford, and Dean of Wells (as was Richard Maldon of ‘The Sundial’ fame – Episode 80). He was an antiquarian with a love for stained glass, rather like MR James!
‘A Pad in the Straw’ was his only book of stories. It is currently out of print, but previously available from Sundial Press.
Richard Dalby wrote that Woodforde based some of his clerical and antiquarian characters on himself, and many of the locations on the parishes in which he served.
In his introduction to ‘A Pad in the Straw’, Lord David Cecil said that “A waft of the uncanny blows through these tales, just enough to make the spine agreeably tingle… The general atmosphere is at once eerie and friendly… The intimate apprehension of landscape and the past gives his tales an unexpected weight and depth. Slight and fanciful though their action is, they are the expression of an imagination soaked through and through in the English scene and in English history.”
Hymn number 386 ‘The Sower Went Forth Sowing’ was written by William Bourne, a pastor, for a harvest festival in 1874. And very jolly it is, to: “And then the fan of judgment/Shall winnow from His floor/The chaff into the furnace/That flameth evermore.”
44 min
March 22, 2022Episode 88 – Canon Alberic’s Scrap-Book Revisited
Join Mike and Will for a special 10th anniversary (give or take a few months) special in which your now-aged hosts look back over a decade of M.R. James podcasting and return to the story that started it all, Canon Alberic’s Scrapbook! You can listen to when we originally covered this story all the way back in episode one. Will the quality of our story commentary have improved? Listen and find out!
Big thanks to Debbie Wedge who returns once again as the reader for this episode.
Notes:
Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges (Google Maps)
Some lovely 360 degree photography of this story’s real-world locations have been added to Google Maps since the last time we covered this story. You can now explore the town, the cathedral interior and even spot the famous stuffed crocodile! st’s name f ro
Read about the turbulent life of the read Saint Bertrand. No mention of the crocodile incident sadly.
Christopher Plantin (wikipedia)
In the story, Dennistoun was singularly unimpressed by the prospect of discovering a book published by this 16th-century Belgian printer and publisher.
William Harrison Ainsworth’s Old Saint Paul’s. (Getty Images)
Dennistoun compares the scrapbooks illustration of King Solomon and the demon to this scene from the popular novel ‘Old Saint Paul’s’ by William Harrison Ainsworth. You can read the scene in question by going here and searching for ‘THE MOSAICAL RODS 95′.
Arthur Shipley (wikipedia)
The ‘lecturer on morphology’ mentioned in this story is a reference to M.R. James’s friend Arthur Shipley, who published a textbook called Zoology of the Invertabrata, which mentions ‘gigantic’ South African spiders that live in holes and prey on small birds.
Key of Solomon (wikipedia)
In the episode, we mention this famous grimoire, which purports to be written by the demon-summoning old testament monarch King Solomon.
Codex Gigas (wikipedia)
Patrick Murphy suggests that the illustrations in the titular scrapbook could have been inspired in part by this gigantic illuminated manuscript, also known as the ‘devil’s bible’. Check out this huge demon in a furry red loincloth!
1 hr 31 min
January 02, 2022Episode 87 – Mark Gatiss’s The Mezzotint
In this episode, Mike and Will share their thoughts on Mark Gatiss’s recent TV adaptation of M.R. James’s The Mezzotint.
Join us for some monocle-popping, mustache-bristling, spine-chilling fun!
Show notes
A Ghost Story for Christmas: The Mezzotint (BBC iPlayer)
Mark Gatiss’s adaptation is available to watch on BBC iPlayer for the next 11 months.
Episode 3 – The Mezzotint (this very podcast)
We dedicated a whole episode to the original story all the way back in October 2011! Fast forward to 31:30 to hear Will’s alternative ending suggestion that bears an uncanny resemblance to the plot alterations made in the Mark Gatiss adaptation!
Interview with Mark Gatiss (Evolution of Horror Podcast)
The excellent Evolution of Horror podcast recently featured an interview with Mark Gatiss talking about making The Mezzotint.
The image that accompanied this episode includes elements of ‘Mycroft Holmes post stamp‘ by iMontage (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0), ‘Abbey Manor House‘ by David Luther Thomas (CC BY-SA 2.0) and ‘Picture frame‘ by Sailko (CC BY 3.0).
42 min
December 21, 2021Episode 86 – Lucky’s Grove by H.R. Wakefield
Ho ho, and indeed ho! In this special festive episode, Mike and Will pull on their wellies and wander straight into Lucky’s Grove by H.R. Wakefield. But who’s that hiding behind the Christmas tree?
Big thanks to Julia Morgan for allowing us to use extracts from her excellent Youtube reading of this story.
Show notes:
The Clock Strikes Twelve (Ash Tree Press)
If you want to read this story, your best bet is to pick up the Ash Tree Press ebook of The Clock Strikes Twelve, the H.R. Wakefield collection that contains this story.
H.R. Wakefield (Wikipedia)
You can read some biographical information about Wakefield himself on Wikipedia.
The Edda (Wikipedia)
The quote that starts this story is liberally adapted by Wakefield from part of these 11th-century Icelandic works.
The Folk Horror of H.R. Wakefield (whenchuchyardsyawn)
This excellent article by Jason Lineham analyses both Lucky’s Grove and another Wakefield tale called the The First Sheaf from a modern folk horror perspective.
The Disney wolf (Wikipedia)
The intimidating wolf that adorns one of the Christmas lights was presumably based on the wolf from the Disney short film Three Little Pigs (1933). He does look a bit intimidating actually!
59 min
August 02, 2021Episode 85 – The Tudor Chimney by A.N.L. Munby
This episode Mike and Will grab their torches and disappear up ‘The Tudor Chimney’ by A.N.L. Munby. But what is that shape moving up above? Meh, it’s probably nothing.
Thanks to Debbie Wedge for providing the readings for this episode!
In this episode, we also mention Will’s new project DarkOxfordshire.co.uk, which explores the darker side of Oxfordshire’s history, including ghosts, legends, murders and mayhem!
Story notes:
The Tudor Chimney by A.N.L. Munby (Archive.org)
Contrary to what we say in the episode, this story can in fact be read online for free! Thanks to Zach Forn for sharing the link with us.
The Alabaster Hand by A.N.L. Munby (Sundial Press)
Munby’s only volume of ghost stories is currently out of print and consequently rather hard to get hold of unless you have very deep pockets. However, Sundial Press are due to publish an affordably priced paperback to follow their recent hardback edition very soon.
A.N.L. Munby book collector, academic and ghost story writer (jot101.com)
This article republishes an article written in tribute to Munby that was published in 1975, a year after Munby’s death, and contains some entertaining details about his life and personality.
The story location (Google Maps)
In the story, Munby describes the location of the hall as being located between Lambourn and Wantage. The villages of Letcombe Bassett and Letcombe Regis seem likely candidates. Other locations that may have provided inspiration include Crowsley Park and Lambourn Place (check out those chimneys!)
1 hr 1 min
May 29, 2021Episode 84 – Bosworth Summit Pound
Ahoy there listeners! Be grabbin’ yer nautical gear for a cruise on the high seas of Leicestershire, with LTC Rolt and his story Bosworth Summit Pound. (Enough. It’s set on a canal – ed) What terrors might await us on England’s peaceful inland waterways? And just who digs a canal tunnel under an ancient graveyard anyway?
Story notes
Thank you to our reader this week Tony Walker: you must check out his Classic Ghost Stories podcast and episode on this story. If you’d like to know more about his podcast, make sure you listen through to the end of our show for an exclusive trailer from Tony!
Tom Rolt built Spitfires during WW2, and in 1944 had his first book ‘Narrow Boat’ published. It was a big success, and through it he made connections with the people with whom he would form the Inland Waterways Association, an organisation dedicated to preserving Britain’s canals and other waterways. He was actually expelled from this in 1951 after falling out with founding member (and fellow author of supernatural fiction) Robert Aickman (see this amusing plaque, which suggests the enmity lingered after both their deaths!).
Rolt’s one volume of ghost stories ‘Sleep No More’ was published in 1948. Mike Ashley wrote of this, “Rolt had a formidable knowledge of the byways, waterways and railways of Britain which made Sleep No More (1948) a most unique volume of the supernatural”. Ashley adds that of MR James’s imitators, “Malden, Munby and Rolt achieve the most success in blending James’s techniques with their own narratives… Because of his ability to utilise original surroundings, L.T.C. Rolt’s stories are perhaps the most refreshing.”
In another essay worth reading, Kai Roberts wrotes that “Rolt succeeds because the industrial setting he evokes is one about which he is passionate and knowledgeable.”
52 min
March 06, 2021Episode 83 – A Room in a Rectory
This episode Will and Mike hitch up their cassocks, pack their prayer books and head to ‘Southshire’ to open ‘A Room in a Rectory’ by Sir Andrew Caldecott!
Big thanks to Kirsty who provided the readings for this episode, and to Garry Platt who provided the photo that accompanies this episode. You can see more of Garry’s photos at his Instagram account.
Show notes:
Sir Andrew Caldecott (wikipedia)
You can find out about Caldecott’s life and exalted career in the Colonial Office at his wikipedia page.
‘Not Exactly Ghosts’ (Project Gutenberg Australia)
While Caldecott’s stories are not quite out of copyright in most countries, you can still read the volume of ghost stories that ‘A Room in a Rectory’ comes from in its entirety online at Project Gutenberg Australia.
St Michael defeating Satan (wikipedia)
If you are trying to visualise the stained glass window that features in this story, head over to this wikipedia page where you can see a number of artistic interpretations of this very scene.
Hymns Ancient and Modern (37mb PDF)
This story features a crackingly devilish inversion of a hymn from the hymn book ‘Hymns Ancient and Modern’. You can read the original version in this PDF, hymn number 335.
1 hr 11 min
December 24, 2020Episode 82 – Echoes from the Abbey
This week Will and Mike don their warmest Christmas jumpers for dinner with Dr James and the troubled incumbents of Medborough Abbey, in the company of Sheila Hodgson.
What could be more seasonal than a cracker, eh? Oh the fun that tumbles out when it goes snap! Paper hat, plastic keyring, lighthearted message of impending doom, that sort of thing. Indeed, Monty James felt a cracker could prompt a ghost story, “if the right people pull it, and if the motto which they find inside has the right message on it. They will probably leave the party early, pleading indisposition; but very likely a previous engagement of long standing would be the more truthful excuse.” (Stories I have Tried to Write, 1929)
Sheila Hodgson ran with this suggested plot device, setting her tale at the fictional Medborough Abbey. The story appeared as a radio play, Ghosts and Scholars magazine and ultimately in Fellow Travellers, a collection of her Jamesian tales published by Ash Tree Press in 1998. The same idea also inspired Andrew Caldecott to write ‘A Christmas Reunion’, the story we covered for our Christmas episode in 2017.
Sheila was a script writer best known for her radio and TV dramas between the 1950 and 1980s, including thrillers, detective stories and then supernatural fiction. Her first ghostly tales were adaptations of Algernon Blackwood’s ‘Dr John Silence: psychic detective’ stories for radio in the mid 1970s. She subsequently wrote seven radio plays inspired by James, and the stories collected in Fellow Travellers.
Alas there is no real Medborough Abbey in the UK, but the name may have been inspired by Medmenham Abbey in Berkshire, which was a 12th century Cistercian monastery until it was dissolved in 1547 and became a private residence. It is more notorious for being one of the haunts of Sir Francis Dashwood’s ‘Hellfire Club’ (but that is a whole other story).
FACT: Will once dressed as Death and pursued me, Mike, around a ruined abbey, as part of a short film made by a friend. Still gives me nightmares.
59 min
December 03, 2020Episode 81 – The Demoniac Goat by M.P. Dare
This episode Mike and Will brace themselves for the ‘appalling stench of goat, cordite, sulphur, and burning human flesh’ in M.P. Dare’s The Demoniac Goat. Lovely!
Also in this episode we speak to actor Robert Lloyd Parry and publisher Brian J. Showers about ‘Ghosts of the Chit-chat’, their soon to be published new anthology of ghost stories from authors who, alongside M.R. James, were members of the Chit-Chat Club at Cambridge University. You can find out more about and order the book itself at the Swan River Press website. You can also visit Robert’s website for a upcoming schedule of live performances, both in theatres and online.
Show notes
Marcus Paul Dare (The Haunted Library)
Much of the biographical information we used on M.P. Dare came from the introduction to the Ash Tree Press edition of ‘Unholy Relics’ but also from this excellent article on The Haunted Library.
Unholy Relics (Ash Tree Press @ Amazon.co.uk)
This story was originally published in Dare’s ‘Unholy Relics’ collection in 1947. Nowadays the easiest way to get hold of it is via Ash Tree Press’s ebook, which contains an excellent introduction by Reg Meuross as well as extracts from Dare’s book ‘Indian Underworld’.
Shadows of the Master by Mike Ashley (Ghosts & Scholars)
The essay that drew M.P. Dare to our attention was ‘Shadows of the Master’ by Mike Ashley, which highlighted a number of authors who wrote stories in the Jamesian tradition.
The Peak Cavern (peakcavern.co.uk)
Better known by its nickname ‘The Devil’s Arse’, this cave near Castleton in Derbyshire could have provided inspiration for M.P. Dare when writing this story.
The Eldon Hole (wondersofthepeak.org.uk)
Similarly to the above, this famous crevasse on a hilltop near Castleton may have provided inspiration. Legends state that the Eldon Hole is bottomless, or that it leads straight down to hell!
Offa of Mercia (Wikipedia)
The silver coins found by the dastardly Reverend Ashley Tutor were said to be pennies from the reign of Offa, who ruled the Kingdom of Mercia in modern day England during the 8th century.
Crockford’s Clerical Directory (crockford.org.uk)
Since 1858 Crockford’s Clerical Directory as been the authoritative directory of the Anglican clergy. Previously it was a yearly publication, but can now be searched online.
Cademan Wood (Google maps)
Searches for ‘Cademan Tor’ will draw a blank, but the name ‘Cademan’ in most associated with this area in north west Leicestershire.
Asmodeus (wikipedia)
The titular goat in this story is named after this demon from Judeo-Islamic lore.
Apollo and Lugh (wikipedia)
The god supposedly represented on this altar in this story is a compound of these two Roman and Celtic deities.
Osculum Infame (wikipedia)
The ‘kiss of shame’ was an act believed by witch hunters to be carried out by witches upon meeting the devil!
The Goat of Mendes (wikipedia)
The “Goat of Mendes” was a term invented by French occultist Levi Eliphas in the 19th century, drawing on representations of half men/half goat devils and deities across the western world such as Pan, Baphomet and Mendes, a Greek god.
Finally, here’s the picture of M.P. Dare in his pants. Thankfully it is only small. The image I mean.
1 hr 34 min
October 30, 2020Episode 80 – The Sundial by R.H. Malden
This Halloween Mike and Will stroll out into the garden to take a look at The Sundial by R.H. Malden. But who is that lurking in the bushes?
Thanks to Kirsty for providing excellent readings for this episode!
Show notes:
Nine Ghosts by R.H. Malden (Project Gutenberg Australia)
Malden only wrote one volume of ghost stories, and it is available to read in its entirety on the Project Gutenberg Australia website.
R.H Malden (Ghosts and Scholars)
This G&S article by Richard Johnson provides some biographical details about Malden, as well as some commentary on his stories. More biographical information can be found at Wikipedia.
Scrinia Reserata (Google Books)
In the introduction Malden tells us that the manuscript that makes up most of The Sundial was found tucked inside a copy of this book, a biography of Archbishop John Williams.
The Rose Garden by M.R. James (Wikisource)
It is hard to discuss The Sundial without repeatedly coming back to its clear inspiration, The Rose Garden by M.R. James.
Why were people who died by suicide historically buried at crossroads? (HistoryExtra.com)
This brief article explores the history of crossroad burials, as well as touching on the publics changing attitude towards suicide as a result of the death of Lord Castlereagh.
Croxton, Cambridgeshire (Google Maps)
The unnamed author omits the location where The Sundial takes place, but provides enough small details throughout the story to fairly confidently identify Croxton Park in Cambridgeshire as the most likely real-world location. As with the house in the story, Croxton Park is 60 miles north of London, and close to a mainline railway station. The house was built around the same time mentioned in the story, and has the site of a medieval hamlet within its grounds. In the story the house lies between the villages of ‘Abbotsley’ and ‘Farley’. Croxton Park is bordered by Abbotsholme to the south west and Eltisley to the east. See here and here for more details on the history of the house and park, including historical maps.
Nightjars (Legendary Dartmoor)
There are many superstitions concerning Nightjars (or Goatsuckers, as they are sometimes called!). This is likely due to their nocturnal habits and unusual cry.
Sundial mottoes (wikipedia)
Malden doesn’t explain the exact motto that the narrator puts on his sundial, but this list of sundial mottoes will give you a flavour of the sort of thing that adorned ornamental sundials of the period.
Spirits of Solomon (Fandom Demopedia wiki)
At the conclusion of the story Parker, the ex-sergeant of marines and butler, purchases a picture of ‘King Solomon issuing directions to a corvée of demons‘. It is most likely a version of the picture in this article, which also list all 72 of the spirits/demons that King Solomon was said to have commanded!
1 hr 7 min