This episode Mike and Will whip out their podcasting binoculars and peer through them at ‘A View from a Hill by M.R. James.

This episode we are very lucky to have actor Scott Wichman (@scottwichmann) as our reader! Scott is starring as comedian George Burns in “Say Goodnight, Gracie” at the Virginia Rep later this month: do check that out if you can!  His co-producer Ryan Corbett – who wrote all the music and edited Scott’s readings – runs ‘Songwire‘ studios, in Richmond, VA.

Do check out our photos of the very spooky Coombe Gibbet on flickr.

Snow notes:

• Story notes by Rosemary Pardoe (Ghost & Scholars)
  Where would we be without Rosemary Pardoe’s excellent story notes?
• The Herefordshire of ‘A View from a Hill’ by Rosemary and Darroll Pardoe (Ghosts & Scholars)
  If you are interested in knowing exactly where the titular hill is (and Gallows Hill of course!) then this excellent Ghosts & Scholars article has some answers.
• ‘A View from a Hill’ – 2005 BBC adaptation (Ghosts & Scholars)
  Ghosts & Scholars also has a review of the 2005 TV adaptation of this story. If you haven’t seen it you can find it in the BFI’s excellent ‘Ghost Stories for Christmas: The Definitive Collection‘ DVD box set.
• Fredrick Bligh Bond (Wikipedia)
  Some have speculated that the character of Baxter could be inspired by Fredrick Bligh Bond (1864 – 1945), and antiquary who made some impressive archaeological finds which he claimed were revealed to him by supernatural means!
• Dead Men’s Eyes blog (www.dead-mens-eyes.org)
  Taking inspiration from Baxter, this doctoral research project aims to mix augmented reality with heritage with the aim of allowing people to virtually ‘see into the past’. Interesting stuff!

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This week we’ve got an interview for you with two splendid chaps from the U.S., who are delving into what lies behind MR James’ stories.

Patrick J. Murphy and Fred Porcheddu are also super-fun guys and we hope you enjoy hearing their take on what made Monty tick, the deeper meanings in his stories, and just what academics get up to in reading rooms all day.

If you aren’t sat on an academic network, then Fred has kindly offered to send interested listeners copies of these papers – follow the link for his email address.

Big thanks to Patrick and Fred for their time – we’ll be be back in a few weeks with View from a Hill.

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In this episode, talking owls. Yes, you heard me correctly. Talking owls.

Has Monty completely lost his marbles? Mike and Will ask just that in this episode on ‘After Dark in the Playing Fields‘ by M.R. James.

Readings by kind permission of grand panjandrum and actor Robert Lloyd Parry!

The full reading of this story and many others can be found on Robert’s double-CD ‘Curious Creatures: The Shorter Horror of M.R. James‘ which is available to buy from nunkie.co.uk and is worth every penny.

Show notes:

• Story notes by Rosemary Pardoe (Ghosts & Scholars)
  The ever-reliable Rosemary Pardoe has produced a very useful set of notes on this story.
• Eton College, Windsor (various)
  The action in this story takes places in the playing fields of Eton College, Windsor, where M.R. James was provost when he wrote this story. The story features various locations in close proximity to each other .Monty meets the owl “not far from Sheep’s Bridge“, the owl is unceremoniously dumped in Fellow’s Pond before Monty eventually helps him climb into Bad Calx Tree.
• Eton Wall Game (etoncollege.com)
  In this episdoe Mike and Will mention the Eton Wall Game, one of the odd traditions unique to Eton College.
• A Midsummer Nights Dream (wikipedia)
  The mischievous sprites and fairies in this story are inspired by those in A Midsummer Nights Dream. The owl grumpily quotes “come not near out fairy Queen” from Act 2 Scene 2.
• The Five Jars by M.R. James (thin-ghost.org)
  This is not the only James story to feature talking animals, sprites and goblins. His novel for children ‘The Five Jars‘ is cut from very much the same cloth as this story.
• Daylight Saving Time (wikipedia)
  In this story and in ‘A Neighbours Landmark’ James refers to daylight saving time, a relatively new concept in M.R. James’s lifetime.
• Pathe News footage of Eton (BritishPathe.com)
  There is some fascinating early video footage of Eton College at the time James was provost on the British Pathe website, including videos of the Eton Wall Game, Eton Steeplechase and even possibly some footage of Monty himself!

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