The next story we will be covering is ‘Martin’s Close’ by M.R. James, and although in the story it is simply described as ‘a parish in the west’, James later admitted in the introduction to the 1931 Complete Ghost Stories that the location that inspired the story was Sampford Courtney in Devon.
Could we resist the temptation to pop down to Devon and have a snoop around? We could not.
We will provide more details on what we found in the fourthcoming episode on Martin’s Close, including mentions of King’s College inside the church, names used by James in the story found on gravestones and suspicious looking pools of water just outside the village!
The highlight of the trip was a visit to the New Inn, the pub which features in some of the more scary moments from the story, where we interviewed Malcomn the landlord who was a goldmine of information on all the ghostly happenings in the inn and local area.
We will be talking about our trip in greater detail in the next episode of the podcast, which will hopefully by out by next weekend.
Church matters concern Will and Mike this episode as they don their literary cassocks and plant their proverbial buttocks upon ‘The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral’ by M.R. James.
Snow notes:
The Double Shadow Podcast (www.thedoubleshadow.com)
An exciting new podcast dedicated to American M.R. James admire Clark Ashton Smith.
M.R. James performances by the Nunkie Theatre Company (www.nunkie.co.uk)
Nunkie Theatre Company has announced another run of performances based on M.R. James stories performed by the grand panjandrum and actor Robert Lloyd Parry. He will be invoking a pleasing terror in audiences throughout the UK between July and December. Don’t miss!
The Stalls of Barchester (1971 TV version – wikipedia)
This story has been dramatised for the screen only once, back in 1971, as the first installment of BBC television’s classic ‘Ghost Story for Christmas’ series. The series is finally being given the DVD treatment this year by the BFI.
Anthony Trollope’s Chronicles of Barsetshire (wikipedia)
Was M.R. James’s Barchester based on the identically-named cathedral town which features heavily in a series of books by Anthony T? Or is that just a load of old Trollope?
The Gentlemen’s Magazine (wikipedia)
In this story Archdeacon Haynes’s obituary is said to have featured in the Gentleman’s magazine, which ran between 1731 and 1922.
Sir George Gilbert Scott (wikipedia)
The cathedral in James’s story is said to have been redesigned by Sir Gilbert Scott. James was not a fan of the rather radical changes which architects like Scott inflicted on English churches during the 19th century.
The Friar of Orders Grey (recmusic.com)
Haynes’s description of the choir stalls describes one as appearing like a ‘friar of orders grey’. This is a nod to a popular folk ballad about a bawdy Franciscan friar.
St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle (BBC Website)
The ornate carvings described in this story could have been inspired by the misericords at a chapel in Windsor, near Eton where James spent much of his life. He went on to write a book about them in 1933 – ‘St Geroge’s Chapel, Windsor: The Woodwork of the choir’.
Warnings to the Curious (hippocampuspress.com)
In this episode we mention various essays which appear in the excellent ‘Warnings to the Curous’, including essays by John Alfred Taylor and Steven J. Mariconda.
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.
