This episode Will & Mike slip into their cassocks, whip out their prayerbooks and head down to Southminster for ‘An Episode of Cathedral History’ by M.R. James. Questions answered in this episode: – When is a vampire not a vampire? – Do Lamia have hairy legs? – What length of skirt do Mike and Will wear? Big thanks go out to Roger Burton West who provided the readings, and Alisdair Wood for the awesome custom illustration on the right! Show notes The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens (wikipedia) This story refers twice to characters in Dickens’s famously unfinished novel ‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood’. Rochester Cathedral (Monty’s World) There are various suggestions in the story that M.R. James may have had Rochester Cathedral in mind while writing this story. Isaiah 34:14 (bible.cc) This website illustrated quite how much the Isaiah quote which appears in this story differs from one translation to another! Lamia & Satyr (wikipedia) The latin quotes in this story make reference to two creatures from Greek Mythology, the Lamia and the Satyr. The Demon in the Cathedral by Rosemary Pardoe (Ghosts & Scholars) Apparently the plot of this story was used as part of a hoax played on Fate magazine in 1977! The Lamia and the Screech-owl by Peter Bell (Ghosts & Scholars) This essay examines ‘An Episode of Cathedral History’ and discusses the mythical creatures mentioned in the story. Charles Simeon (wikipedia) This story refers to ‘Simeon’s Lot’, a reference to the English evangelical preacher Charles Simeon, who James’s own father was a follower of. Patrick J Murphy (Miami University) & Fred Porcheddu (Denison University) Patrick and Fred are two American academics who are conducting research into the medaevalist and antiquarian background of M.R. James’s stories. Warnings to the Curious (Amazon.co.uk) During this episode we mention various essays which are featured in this book, including essays by Michael A. Mason, Jacqueline Simpson A Pleasing Terror (Amazon.co.uk) The excellent footnotes on this story in the ‘A Pleasing Terror’ ebook were of great help to us when researching this story. Speaker Lenthall’s Tomb (Ghosts & Scholars) The unfinished James tale dubbed by Rosemary Pardie ‘Speaker Lenthall’s Tomb’ bears some striking similarities to ‘An Episode of Cathedral History’. The Gothic Revival (Wikipedia) It is an understatement to say that M.R. James was not a big fan of the architectural changes undertaken in British churches in the name of the gothic revival during the 18th and 19th century.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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