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

This episode Mike and Will examine Curfew by Lucy M. Boston, a childhood tale of haunted bells, unearthed coffins and post-Jamesian highjinx aplenty.

Big thanks to Debbie Wedge for providing the readings for this episode.

Show notes:

Curfew by Lucy M. Boston – read by Robert Lloyd Parry (Youtube.com)

The text of this story is not freely available online for copyright reasons, but why not enjoy this live-streamed reading of the story from the quintessential Jamesian actor, Robert Lloyd Parry?

About Lucy M. Boston (Wikipedia)

Lucy M. Boston had an eventful life, from scandalising her strict Wesleyan family by abandoning their religion, to serving as a volunteer nurse in Normandy during the first world war and later studying art in France, Italy, Austria and Hungary. She is most famous for her Children of Green Knowe series of children’s books which were set in a fictionalised version of her home for over 50 years, Hemingford Grey manor in Cambridgeshire.

Norton Priory, Cheshire (Wikipedia)

According to Robert Lloyd Parry’s excellent introduction to the Swan River Press edition of Curfew and Other Tales, the locations in Curfew were almost certainly based on Norton Priory in Cheshire. Lucy M. Boston lived within sight of this decaying manor house during the 1920’s, shortly before its demolition, and it certainly fits the descriptions in the story very closely.

Folklore related to this story (DarkOxfordshire.co.uk)

In this episode we compare the events of the story to various pieces of English folklore from our area of the country, including curfew bell traditions, haunted bells in ponds, black dogs and even mysterious deaths in bell towers.

A Ghost Story for Christmas: Woman of Stone (bbc.co.uk)

The latest Mark Gatiss Ghost Story for Christmas will be based on ‘Man-Size in Marble’ by E. Nesbit.

Hypnogoria’s The Horrors of Christmas Advent Calendar (hypnogoria.com)

This Christmas Jim Moon has produced a series on the origins and history of Christmas horror movies. Highly recommended!

M.R. James said that sex had no place in a ghost story. But was he right? This episode we attempt to answer this question and more, as we cover The Nature of the Evidence by May Sinclair, a tale from 1923 about a couple who just want to enjoy their wedding night. Is that too much to ask? Apparently, yes.

Thanks to Debbie Wedge for providing the readings for this episode, and don’t forget to check out Ghostly Encounters, the haunting free interactive event that Debbie is helping organise in Oxford on the 20th April 2024.

Show notes:

The Nature of the Evidence by May Sinclair (gutenberg.org)

This story, along with the others from May Sinclair’s Uncanny Stories can be read in full at Project Gutenberg.

May Sinclair (maysinclairsociety.com)

Sinclair had a fascinating life. You can see a shortish biography of her here (or go big and read Suzanne Raitt’s 2000 biography).

‘Some Remarks on Ghost Stories’ by M.R. James (berfrois.com)

M.R. James made his feelings on sex in ghost stories abundantly clear in this article published in The Bookman in 1929.

‘Ghosts, Treat Them Gently’ by M.R. James (mrjamesarchive.wordpress.com)

James returned to the subject of sex in ghost stories a few years later in this article he wrote for the Evening News in April 1931. TLDR: still not a fan.

The Idealism and Pantheism of May Sinclair (Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast)

This story is steeped in the concepts of Idealism, a school of philosophical thought for which May Sinclair was passionate advocate.

Matrimonial Causes Act, 1923 (womenslegallandmarks.com)

This story touches on the thorny issue of divorce in the United Kingdom in the 1920s. In the same year this story was published, a landmark piece of legislation was passed that leveled the playing field between women and men in the area of divorce.

The Lipstick Revolution of the 1920s (britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)

The character of Pauline in this story seems to reflect a sea-change in attitudes towards female beauty during this period, characterised by growing social acceptability of wearing lipstick. In this story it carries a hint of Pauline’s self-expression and sexual freedom.

St. Paul on sex and marriage (mit.edu)

Pauline’s name may be inspired by the words of St. Paul, who had some choice things to say on the matter of sex, marriage and in particular unmarried women who ‘cannot control themselves’!

Stages of (Victorian Mourning) and Fifty Shades of Purple (lilacandbombazine.wordpress.com)

Pauline should have probably realised that Marston was not yet over the death of his first wife when she finds that their marital bedroom is decorated almost complete in purple, the traditional colour of extended mourning.

The Lost Ancient Practice of Communal Sleeping (bbc.com)

The fact that Marston and Pauline have separate bedrooms may seem strange to modern sensibilities, but for a long time it was the norm for a husband and wife to sleep in separate beds. Only after the 1950’s did it begin to be regarded as a sign that something was wrong in a marriage.

The Victorian Cult of Child Innocence (psychlit271.blogspot.com)

Marston’s seeming obsession with the ‘childlike innocence’ of his young bride Rosamund reflects Victorian attitudes towards children and the preservation of their ‘innocent’ state. Well, the children of the upper classes anyway. The children of the poor were not regarded quite so delicately! 

May Sinclair and Psychology (maysinclairsociety.com)

The psychoanalysis of Freud and Jung was another huge influence on May. In February 1923, Sinclair delivered a speech to the Aristotelian Society that’s highly suggestive of this story: did Marston and Rosamund’s desire elevate them all the way to May’s “Ultimate Consciousness”?

‘We tried to have sex with ghosts and here’s what happened’ (buzzfeed.com)

Is having sex with ghosts a real thing? Absolutely not. But admit it, you still want to click the link to the above Buzzfeed article, don’t you? Go on, we won’t tell anyone.

Blue Juice (imdb.com)

It would be deeply remiss of us if we didn’t point out the similarities between this story and the 1995 British comedy/surfing movie Blue Juice, with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Sean Pertwee (although Marston probably wishes he was in Ghost).

Hold on to your mummy! This episode Mike and Will discuss Mark Gatiss’s recent Ghost Story for Christmas TV adaptation Lot 249, as well as the Arthur Conan Doyle short story it is based on.

Show notes:

Watch it online! (BBC iPlayer)

If you are in the UK you can watch it on BBC iPlayer until the end of 2024. If you are outside the UK, you may be able to watch if you have a Britbox subscription.

Read the original story (www.gutenberg.org)

You can read the original story on Project Gutenberg.

Filming location (Wikipedia)

Almost all of Lot 249 was filmed at Rothamsted Manor in Hertfordshire.

The cast (IMDB)

Find out more about the cast of Lot 249 at IMDB.com.

Egyptomania (britannica.com)

Lot 249 reflects the Victorian obsession with everything to do with ancient Egypt. This story was set in 1884, two years after the Anglo-Egyptian war, a conflict which perhaps had an influence on the tone of this story.

Victorian garrotting panics (wikipedia)

The Victorian fear of being randomly garrotted is reflected in the reaction to a mummy attack in Lot 249.

Sidney Paget’s illustrations of Sherlock Holmes (www.arthur-conan-doyle.com)

The character of ‘The Friend’ in Gatiss’s adaptation is clearly Sherlock Holmes. If the dialogue doesn’t give it away, his appearance bears unmistakable similarity to Sherlock Holmes in the classic Strand Magazine illustrations by Sidney Paget, particularly this one.

Tales from the Darkside (youtube.com)

Lot 249 was featured in the 1990 comedy horror anthology Tales from the Darkside. Starring Christian Slater and Steve Buscemi, the scene in which Smith finally confronts Bellingham is on Youtube, and makes quite a watch!

This episode, Mike and Will grab their literary toboggans and gallop joyously out into the snow, only to be hit in the face by a terrifying fictional snowball in the form of Louisa Baldwin’s The Real and the Counterfeit!

Big thanks as ever to Debbie Wedge for providing the readings for this episode. Looking for a last-minute Christmas gift to please the M.R. James fan in your life? Why not head over to Debbie’s Redbubble store and pick up an awesome Jamesian Wallop, Barchestering, or No Diggin’ ‘Ere t-shirt?

Show notes:

More on Louisa Baldwin in our last episode

We covered The Weird of the Walfords back in the summer, and included a lot more biographical details about Louisa Baldwin.

Long Galleries (wikipedia)

A lot of the action in this story takes place in a long gallery, a popular architectural feature of many stately homes in England.

George’s banjo (authorama.com)

Like Lawley in this story, George in Jerome K. Jerome’s Three Men in a Boat was also a keen banjo player, much to the displeasure of his friends. Similarly, in Thank You, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse, Bertie’s insistence on playing the banjolele is what finally drives Jeeves to leave Bertie’s service (albeit temporarily).

Other haunted abbeys (nearlyknowledgeablehistory.blogspot.com)

In this episode, Mike mentions a number of old houses in England that are, like Stonecroft, said to be haunted by ghostly monks.

Tobogganing at Funchal (carreirosdomonte.com)

The city of Funchal in Madeira is famous for providing toboggan-like basket rides from the Mount Church on the hill, down into the town.

Who would win in a fight between a man and a bed? Find the answer to this question and more in our new episode on The Weird of the Walfords by Louisa Baldwin! Also, if you like emotionally-repressed Victorian husbands, you will not leave disappointed.

Show notes:

Louisa Baldwin (1845–1925) (Wikipedia)

Louisa was a member of an illustrious family who included Rudyard Kipling and Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin.

‘The Shadow on the Blind, and Other Stories’ (Google Books)

You can read this story and others form the same volume on Google Books.

Royal beds in English history (wikipedia)

There are a number of stately homes in England with similar legends about royalty spending a night in a specific bed, for example Sawston Hall in Cambridgeshire.

Wyrd (wikipedia) 

The ‘Weird’ of the Walfords is actually a ‘wyrd’, an old English term meaning fate or destiny.

Thanks to Debbie Wedge for providing the readings for this episode. Don’t forget to check out Debbie’s new Jamesian Wallop t-shirt and others inspired by M.R. James on Redbubble.com.