Ancient Haunts: The Stoneground Ghost Tales / Tedious Brief Tales of Granta and Gramarye [Paperback]

E. G. Swain (Author), Arthur Gray (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 11, 2010

Ancestral Haunts collects two rare volumes of classic ghost stories: The Stoneground Ghost Tales (1912) by E. G. Swain, and Tedious Brief Tales of Granta and Gramarye (1919) by Arthur Gray, Master of Jesus College (Cambridge). These stories show the influence of M. R. James, but each author retains a distinctive voice and style, and both will be enjoyed by those who read classic supernatural tales.

Product Details

• Paperback: 218 pages
• Publisher: Coachwhip Publications (January 11, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1616460059
• ISBN-13: 978-1616460051
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #863,961 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Why is it that my dreams are filled with fears?", September 28, 2010

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E. A. Lovitt "starmoth" (Gladwin, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ancient Haunts: The Stoneground Ghost Tales / Tedious Brief Tales of Granta and Gramarye (Paperback)

Coachwhip Publications is to be commended on reissuing these two collections of hard-to-find supernatural tales. I only wish there had been an introduction describing the two authors, and their connections with M.R. James, the greatest of all supernatural writers. I have tried to supply a bit of their biographies below, along with descriptions of their stories.

The self-effacing and scholarly rector, Mr. Batchel is the hero of E. G. Swain's Edwardian ghost stories. "Ancient Haunts" contains all nine of the original "Stoneground Ghost Tales" by E. G. Swain (1861 - 1938).

Swain was a friend and admirer of the great M. R. James (MRJ), and his haunted rectory at the edge of the Fens will feel like a second home to MRJ's many fans. This author's Stoneground stories will elicit a frisson rather than a shudder, but will be read again and again for their antiquarian atmosphere and friendly, rather puckish rector. Jack Sullivan, author of Elegant Nightmares: The English Ghost Story from Le Fanu to Blackwood describes these stories as having a "delicate texture of spookiness which gives Swain a voice of his own".

The author, himself was the rector of Stanground in Huntingdonshire. His living "stood on the edge of that vast tract of East Anglia, which retains its ancient name of the Fens," and makes it rather obvious where E.G. Swain acquired the material for his stories.

"The Man with the Roller"--An enthusiastic young photographer takes a picture of the Stoneground Rectory's rolling front lawn. When the picture comes out of the dark room, a ghost materializes. It appears to be doing penance for a murder committed in 1600.

"Bone to His Bone"-- Mr. Batchel, the rector is plagued by a ghost who wants one of its bones to be reburied.

"The Richpins"--The ghost of a French prisoner-of-war (Napoleonic Wars) haunts a meadow near the rectory.

"The Eastern Window"--A ghost leads Mr. Batchel to a poor box that was stolen from the church early in the 18th Century.

"Lubrietta"--To earn a bit of money and to benefit his former College, Mr. Batchel grades examination papers from Cambridge-affiliated students. He reconsiders the failing grade he gave one paper after being visited (in spirit) by a young woman who lies in a coma in the European College in Puna (Pune) India.

"The Rockery"--This story's plot is very similar to MRJ's "The Rose Garden". Mr. Batchel has his gardener dig up a stake and chain that were deeply buried under a rockery.

"The Indian Lamp-Shade"--Mr. Batchel's new lamp-shade casts strange images into his mirror.

"The Place of Safety"--Mr. Batchel, an amateur antiquarian, finds a pair of censers that dated back before the dissolution of England's monasteries by King Henry VIII. However, he has trouble keeping them.

"The Kirk Spook"--A gently humorous account of the parish clerk's encounter with a church ghost.

Arthur Gray (1852 - 1940) was Master of Jesus College, Cambridge from 1912 - 1940, and the ten stories in "Tedious Brief Tales of Granta and Gramarye"(1919) are (for the most part) set in this venerable institution, usually several centuries prior to the 20th. These tales were the only fiction he wrote, and he published them under the pen name of 'Ingulphus.' Sir Arthur's non-fiction output consisted of Cambridge histories and Shakespearean studies. The stories themselves are gracefully narrated and some of them are quite frightening. The pen-and-ink architectural studies of Jesus College from the original book are also included.

"To Two Cambridge Magicians"--This is a brief poem dedicated to Christopher Marlowe and Robert Greene, two notable Cambridge dramatists.

"The Everlasting Club"--Rakish students form a club during the reign of King George II (somewhat similar to the notorious Hellfire Club). Membership in this club does not cease with death, and all members are required to show up for dinner on the Feast of All Souls (November 2nd).

"The Treasure of John Badcoke"--A former priest was deprived of his office shortly after the death of King Henry VIII. He was taken in as a paying guest by Jesus College, but soon disappeared without a trace. Rumors of the treasure that he had brought with him abounded. Treasure hunters find clues in two volumes of the ex-priest's Latin Vulgate Bible.

"The True History of Anthony Ffryar"--Sixteenth century alchemist, Anthony Ffryar is searching for the 'magisterium', the master-cure for all human ailments, when the 'sweating sickness' began to take his colleagues, one by one.

"The Necromancer"--In 1643, Cromwell's troups were housed at Jesus College. A notorious fanatic believes that the current professor of mathematics is really a black magician.

"Brother John's Bequest"--A supposed monk promises to bequeath his treasure chest to Jesus College in return for life-time room-and-board, plus burial within the church. When the Master and Fellows discover that Brother John's chest is really filled with bricks, they bury him in the furthest corner of the graveyard, but he won't rest peacefully.

"The Burden of Dead Books"--A scholar publishes a theological tome that no one will ever read--except, perhaps, the devil.

"Thankfull Thomas"--A greedy sexton goes on a treasure hunt within the Jesus College Chapel on the night when the dead are supposed to walk within.

"The Palladium"--In the year 1026, during the reign of King Cnut, the abbot of Ramsey decides that the remains of St. Felix, currently reposing in a shrine at Soham Abbey, will bring more worshippers (and their money) to his monastery. He and his monks set out to steal the holy relics. This is not a ghost story, but the retelling of an actual historical incident.


"The Sacrist of Saint Radegund"--The Sacrist of Saint Radegund (Jesus College was later built over the remains of this nunnery) dies and the Mother Prioress discovers that she never really knew this reclusive nun.