On this day in 1862, Montague Rhodes James was born into the household of Herbert and Mary James. He was the youngest of four children and had a sister and two brothers as siblings. His father was an Anglican clergyman and his mother was the daughter of a naval officer. His famly lived in Goodnestone, a small village about seven miles south east of Canterbuy at the time he joined the household. But from an early age Montague spent at lot of his time in Suffolk – but more of that location later.
He grew up to become an author and eminent medievalist scholar. He was provost at King’s College, Cambridge and Eton College and he was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the university in 1913. His work as a medievalist remains highly respected and he produced a significant body of scholarly texts. It was James’ discovery of a tiny piece of manuscript that led to archeological excavations in the ruins of the abbey at Bury St. Edmunds in 1902 and the discovery of several twelfth century burials that had remained untouched since the dissolution of the monastries. It was James who translated the latin hagiography of Æthelbehrt II of East Anglia and this book is still referenced and quoted even today.
During his time in academia, James catalogued a great many of the manuscripts held in the various college libraries of Cambridge University. He also wrote The Apocalypse in Art, translated The New Testament apochrypha, and contributed to the Encyclopaedia Biblica.
Between 1893 and 1908 he held a directorship at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. During those fifteen years he managed to secure numerous valuable manuscripts and paintings, including some portraits by Titian. He was awarded the Order of Merit in 1930 and died in 1936 at the age of 73. He is buried in Eton.
And what does any of this have to do with Suffolk or me? I’m afraid my interest in M R James is of a very lowly nature. He wasn’t only a great scholar. He was a marvellous ghost story writer, too. And I have some of his stories on my bookshelves. I suspect the ghost stories provided him with moments of fantasy and fun inbetween his much more high brow and taxing spells of research and writing. Well, we all a need to take break from time to time! But I'm also very much aware that his time in Suffolk must have influenced some of those stories - Whistle and I'll Come to Thee My Lad, and A Warning to the Curious come immediately to my mind.
His short stories were published in a series of collections, the first one, Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, was published in 1904. The second, More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, followed in 1911 and a third book, A Thin Ghost and Others, was published in 1919. My battered copy is in the pic above. A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories was released in 1925. These tales were mostly written for the benefit of friends and, it is said, some were read on Christmas Eve as entertainment. Perhaps that is what inspired the idea for the dramatisation of M R James' stories for TV at Christmas. And I never miss those stories. Ever!
But in true James style, he couldn’t just write good old ghost stories, could he? He perfected his own style of story-telling which has become known as ‘Jamesian.’ The key elements of which are :
1. a small but characterful setting2. a gentleman scholar/protagonist with a reserved nature3. the discovery of an antiquarian object that brings the unwelcome attention of some menace from beyond the grave.
And if that doesn’t make you want to go out and read his stuff, then I’ve failed in my mission. So, the best I can do is exort you to look out for the dramatisation of an M R James story in a few months time. December 24th is the usual date for these to appear on our TV screens. And be prepared to be afraid … very afraid!
If you enjoyed this post you may wish to read about Virginia Woolf or Rumer Godden
I don't usually read ghost stories but you've convinced me to give this one a try. Thank you.
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