This episode we return to the diabolical doings of Mr Karswell in part two of our examination of ‘Casting the Runes’ by M.R. James.
Show notes:
Comparative Mythology and the Cambridge Ritualists (Wikipedia)
The criticism of Karswell’s writing style could be read as M.R. James having a dig at his academic contemporaries working in theoretical subjects that James thought were nonsense. For example see James’s ‘flaying’ of Jane Ellen Harrison (erratum: we incorrectly call her ‘Katherine Harrison’ in recording, sorry!).
The Golden Legend and The Golden Bough (Wikipedia)
The two very different texts which Mr Karswell is described as putting exactly on par and taking both as historical fact.
The ‘Black Spot’ (Wikipedia)
James refers to the ‘black spot’ being put on John Harrington, a reference to Treasure Island (1883) by Robert Lewis Stevenson.
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (Project Gutenberg)
The extract from the poem which Karswell sends to Harrington can be found in ‘Part the Sixth’ of Coleridge’s ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner).
Lord Warden Hotel, Dover (www.dover-kent.co.uk)
Dunning and Harrington finish their adventure at a real hotel in Dover, the Lord Warden. The building is still there today, but no longer a hotel.
Casting the Runes (1979) (Irish Gothic Horror Journal)
An excellent review of the 1979 tv version of Casting the Runes. As mentioned in the podcast, we also didn’t rate it very highly but still recommend you purchase the dvd if only for the interesting extras that come on the disc.
Kate Bush/Night of the Demon mashup (Youtube)
The “it’s in the trees! It’s coming!” sample from the start of Kate Bush’s ‘Hounds of Love’ is a sample from Night of the Demon, the 1957 film of Casting the Runes. Thanks to @rodmckie for drawing our attention to this superb video mashup which combines footage from ‘Night of the Demon’ with various Kate Bush footage to great effect.
Also! Robert Lloyd Parry was announced the next run of his excellent M.R. James stage performances between July and December 2012, including the world premier of his new show featuring ‘Count Magnus’ and ‘Number 13′! For more information visit the Nunkie Productions Website.
Join Mike & Will as they delve into Brian Blessed’s beard, the truth of alchemy, diabolical magic lantern shows and class war in the first of our two-part extravaganza on M.R. James’s chilling story ‘Casting the Runes’!
Our reader for this episode is Mr Torion Bowles.
Show notes:
Magic Lanterns (Wikipedia)
Mr Karswell was not the first to use a magic lantern to scare the crap out of his audience, it’s been going on since the 15th century!
Aleister Crowley (Wikipedia)
Many have commented on the similarities between the fictional Mr Karswell and the English occultist, poet and mountaineer Aleister Crowley (1875-1947).
Night/Curse of the Demon (1957) (Trailer – Youtube)
The first and best screen adaptation of ‘Casting the Runes’ was filmed in 1957 as ‘Night of the Demon’ (released as ‘Curse of the Demon’ in the U.S.). Superbly atmospheric and worth watching for Niall MacGuiness’s exemplary performance as Mr Karswell. It is available on DVD.
Casting the Runes (1979) (Amazon)
Casting the Runes was brought forward to the seventies in this 50 minute UK tv version. It is clearly very low budget and not very good to be honest, but still worth purchasing on DVD as it is cheap and comes with two decent extras, a short tv version of ‘Mr Humphreys and his Interitance’ and a very enjoyable documentary about the author.
Drag me to Hell (2009) (Trailer – Youtube)
Sam Raimi’s 2009 splatter-fest ‘Drag me to Hell’ is a loose (and unacknowledged) adaptation of ‘Casting the Runes’. James would have hated it but fans of OTT gorefests will love it!
Lamplough’s Pyretic Saline (Ghosts & Scholars)
This is the ‘highly convincing’ advert that Dunning examins in the tram shortly before spotting the strange message about John Harrington.
London United Tramways (Wikipedia)
In ‘Casting the Runes’ Dunning travels to work and back on the then-new London tram network operating in the west and south of London.
A Podcast to the Curious Merchandise Store
That’s right, you can now grab yourself an Official APTTC t-shirt in a wide range of exciting colours! It’s what all the cool kids are wearing nowadays!
We’ve put some pictures up on Flickr, including: our Cambridge road trip (and a nocturnal visit to the scene of “The Fenstanton Witch” (minus huge terrible witch-corpse-bat-thing; Mike discovering Carswell Manor (apropos our next episode, “Casting the Runes”) and us recording episode 12 earlier today. Don’t have nightmares.
Questions addressed in this episode include: Does Mr Eldred like MC Hammer? Did Sir Jimmy Saville make a pact with the devil? Is Miss Simpson a slamming hotty or merely a comely wench? And is it even politically correct to call someone a wench in this day and age?
Show Notes:
The Lost Will of Dr Rant (1951) (archive.org)
This American television version of ‘The Tractate Middoth’ was part of the ‘Lights Out’ mystery series, and stars none other than a young Leslie Nielson!
Cambridge University Library (cam.ac.uk)
The real world location of this story was the university library at Cambridge, though the current library is no longer housed in the same building as it was in James’s time.
Bredfield, Suffolk (googlemaps)
The likely real-world location of Dr Rant/Mr Eldred’s house, Bredfield in Suffolk. Note Melton station about three miles to the south east (or shorter if you go across country!).
E.W. Pugin (1834 – 1875) (Wikipedia)
Information on E.W. Pugin, who may or may not be linked to this story.
The Real Tractate Middoth (google books)
More information on the real book can be read in ‘A history of the Mishnaic law of Holy Things, Volume 2′, available on Google Books.
Squire Toby’s Will by J. Sheridan le Fanu (horrormasters.com)
The plot of this story by M.R. James’s favourite author of ghost stories bares some resemblance to the plot of ‘The Tractate Middoth’.
Piccadilly Weepers and More (oook.info)
Information on Piccadilly/Dundreary Weepers and other fabulous contemporary facial hair styles can be found here.
Burial of William McKenzie (forteantimes.com)
Liverpool architect and builder William McKenzie (1794 – 1851) was supposedly buried sitting up in a pyramid-shaped tomb to trick the devil, to whom he had sold his soul in exchange for luck at cards.
Burial of Sir Jimmy Saville (telegraph.co.uk)
We were slightly mistaken in the podcast, Sir Jimmy Saville was not buried sitting up but propped up at a 45 degree angle so he could ‘see the sea’!
In this episode Will & Mike experience the horticultural horror of M.R. James’s ‘The Rose Garden’. Thanks to Kirsty Woodfield who was our reader for this episode.
Show notes:
Popish Plot Playing Cards (BritishMuseum.org)
Having trouble getting your head around the popish plot? Why not invest in a pack of Popish Plot Playing Cards! Alas hundreds of years out of print. The Seven of Hearts is the one of Edward Coleman being ‘drawn’ to his execution behind a horse, and the Six of Diamonds is also particularly gruesome.
M.R. James’s Women by David G. Rowlands (Ghosts & Scholars)
This essay looks at the small selection of women who appear in James’s work, including ‘The Rose Garden’s Mrs Anstruther.
Weald Country Park, Essex (Wikipedia)
The site of the former Weald Hall, residence of the terrible Sir William Scroggs and the possible real-world ‘Westfield Hall’. The hall fell into disrepair and was pulled down after world war II but the park can still be visited and looks like a nice day out!
The Head of Oliver Plunkett (Wikipedia)
As mentioned in this episode, popish plot victim Oliver Plunkett’s head is on display in Drogheda, Ireland. A possible inspiration for the strange face in ‘The Rose Garden’?
Proceedings against Sir William Scroggs (on Google Books)
Cobbett’s Complete Collection of State Trials features a transcript of the indictment against Sir William Scroggs that makes very interesting (and frequently humorous) reading.
Gaude, Gaudy, Domini in Laude by Roger Johnson
The essay that drew my attention to Weald Hall was featured in the Ghosts & Scholars Newsletter 15, not available online but an incentive (if more were needed) to subscribe to this foremost Jamesian news source.
Eastscapes: Doggerland
Photographic work by friend of the podcast and M.R. James fan David Senior will be on display at the House Gallery in Camberwell, London from the 15-22nd March 2012 as part of his collaboration with artists Misa Tamura and Dan Howse.
Errata: Since recording we have been informed that the correct term is ‘Hanged’ rather than ‘Hung’. Could we be arsed to go back and re-record? We could not.
In this episode Mike & Will return to M.R. James’s old alma mater for chaos in the classroom, death in the dormitory and revenge in the refectory.
That’s right, it’s ‘A School Story’!
N.b. If you have forgotten your gym-kit, you have to listen to this episode in your vest and pants.
Show notes:
The History of Temple Grove School (.pdf)
The school in ‘A School Story’ is based on the prep school that M.R. James attended, Temple Grove School which was at the time based in East Sheen, London.
Site of Temple Grove School on Googlemaps
Temple Grove School is not longer in existance, but this gives an idea of where the parkland in which it stood used to be. Note Well Lane where the old stable stands (now converted to a very nice looking house) and where we spotted yew trees! In the photo of us below we are standing at the north-eastern end of Observatory road, where the lake used to be. This Map from 1895 gives an indication of where the school stood (see ‘H’), and this map shows the layout of Temple Grove Estate in 1811.
Ancient Coin Pendants
Jewelry such as the ‘coin charm’ that Mr Sampson wears on his watch chain is not hard to come by these days! For more info on Byzantine coins see Wikipedia.
Eton and Kings (Ghosts & Scholars)
M.R. James published a volume of recollections about his life at school and in academia.
Ancient Yews Group FAQs
Yew trees are a common sight in English churchyards. The Ancient Yew Group website provides some interesting information on the historical and mythological significance of yew trees.
Visit to the Site of Temple Grove School, East Sheen
Top: Temple Grove Estate, East Sheen, 1812 Bottom: Mike & Will at Temple Grove Estate, East Sheen, 2012.
Can you spot the differences? Hint: top image = more bonnets, bottom image = less swans.
We are standing in the slight dip in Observatory Rd that marks where the lake stood 200 years before. Mike had brought his umbrella to fight off the swans. Turns out this was unneccesary.
Ashridge Park
This story was inspired by James’s own study of the stained glass at Ashridge Park in 1904. The glass is now in the Victoria & Albert museum in London, and the park is now home to Ashridge Business School (check out the cool virtual tour!)
Steinfeld stained glass in Wales
To illustrate how widely glass from Germany and Belguim circulated in Britain, here some more of the Steinfeld stained glass shows up in a church in Wales!
An Introduction to Classical Cryptography by William Stalling
A useful guide for those who wish to get their head around the cryptographic puzzles solved by Mr Somerton.
‘A Pleasing Terror’ (Ash Tree Press)
This definitive anthology of and commentary on James work is now available as an e-book.
This episode features the second half of our podcast extravaganza on M.R. James’s seaside shocker ‘Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad’. Neither beach nor bedtime will ever be the same again!
Thanks again to Tom Hemmings who lent us his wonderful voice for the readings, and to Dave Senior (EastScapes) for the excellent groyne photo.
Pilgrim’s Progress Quote
This is the section of John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress that comes to Parkins’ mind when seeing a figure following him along the beach.
Image of ‘The Lodge’ Felixstowe | ‘The Lodge’ on GoogleMaps
This is the house owned by James’s friend Felix Cobbold, and where parties of friends from Kings College would meet for holidays (and probably a round of golf or two at the nearby golf course).
Penelope Fitzgerald on M.R. James
In this 2000 article for the Guardian, author Penelope Fitzgerald examines James the man as well as James the writer and compares James’s personality to that of Parkins in ‘Oh, Whistle…’
‘Bleak and Solemn…’ at k-punk
This article retraces the Norfolk and Suffolk locations used in the filming of the 1960′s TV versions of ‘Oh, Whistle…’ and ‘A Warning to the Curious’. Photos are provided to show the locations as they are today (well, in 2007).
In this Christmas Special* Will and Mike get stuck into Count Magnus by M.R. James, and explore some startling questions:
What is the connection between Count Magnus and Ghostbusters 2?
Will sewing your corpse into the carcass of a deer save your soul from the devil?
Would Mr Wraxall prefer to have been shot in the balls by Robocop?
Answers to these questions and much, much more can be found in this bumber festive edition of the greatest and only M.R. James podcast! This episode features readings by Chris Savory.
* This edition may or may not feature Mike and Will singing an exclusive acapella rendition of ‘Oh Come All Ye Faithful’, accompanied by the choir of King’s College, Cambridge (spoiler alert: it doesn’t).
This episode we return to the diabolical doings of Mr Karswell in part two of our examination of ‘Casting the Runes’ by M.R. James.
