"A Neighbour's Landmark" is a

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

M. R. James Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English medievalist scholar and author who served as provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936) as well as Vice-Chancellor of the Univers ...

, first published in ''The Eton Chronic'' on 17 March 1924.

Plot summary

The story opens with the unnamed narrator visiting his friend Reginald Philipson at Betton Court one August to help catalogue its library. While looking through papers, the narrator finds an anonymous letter sent from an

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

d clergyman to a

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

which contains the passage: The narrator, who is interested in folklore, is intrigued by the passing reference to Betton Wood. He learns from Philipson that Betton Wood was located one mile away, on the crest of Betton Hill, but was stubbed up by his father and is now used as rough

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Types of pasture Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, c ...

. Philipson leaves to ask Mitchell, an elderly man living in the area, about Betton Wood. The narrator goes for a walk, during which an "indistinct impulse" causes him to bear left at each fork in the path, eventually walking up a lane to a field. While surveying the landscape, the narrator twice hears "a note of incredible sharpness, like the shriek of a bat, only ten times intensified". The narrator describes the sound as being "...from outside. ' With no language but a cry'". Unnerved, the narrator hurries back to Betton Court, where he learns from Philipson that the field where he held the noise was the site of Betton Wood. After dinner, Philipson recounts his visit to Mitchell. Mitchell tells Philipson how in his childhood his mother had formerly used Betton Wood as a shortcut to a farm, but had been frightened by piercing screams. At the advice of Mitchell's father, Philipson's father has Betton Wood cleared, but local people still fear the area. Philipson locates a note from his father that states that the lady who owned Betton Court before Philipson's family, Theodosia Ivie, had stolen "a fair piece of the best pasture in Betton parish what belonged by rights to two children as hadn't no one to speak for them" by removing a

landmark A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances. In modern-day use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures ...

, and later disappeared after having committed fraud in London. The lady is rumoured to be cursed for removing the landmark, and fated to hunt Betton Wood until the wrong is made right. Philipson's father notes that he has been unable to identify the extent of the land that was stolen or the rightful owners; as an alternative, each year he sets aside the proceeds from five acres of land for "the common benefit of the parish and to charitable uses".

Publication

"A Neighbour's Landmark" was first published on 17 March 1924 in ''The Eton Chronic'', an

ephemeral Ephemerality (from the Greek word , meaning 'lasting only one day') is the concept of things being transitory, existing only briefly. Academically, the term ephemeral constitutionally describes a diverse assortment of things and experiences, fr ...

magazine published at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

(where James was provost). It was collected in James' book '' A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories'' in 1925. In 1931, it was collected in James' book '' The Collected Ghost Stories of M. R. James''. Stuart Fisher suggests that the setting of the story, Betton Wood, was inspired by Betton Copse in

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

, which is rumoured to be haunted. Jeremy Musson notes that the library of Betton Court is speculated to be inspired by the "vast Classical library" of Sledmere Park , where James' friend Sir Mark Sykes Bt lived.

Reception

"A Neighbour's Landmark" forms part of what critic Michael Kellermeyer describes as James' "puzzle-story phase," consisting of oblique tales that require an unusual amount of interpretation.

A. E. Housman Alfred Edward Housman (; 26 March 1859 – 30 April 1936) was an English classics, classical scholar and poet. He showed early promise as a student at the University of Oxford, but he failed his final examination in ''literae humaniores'' and t ...

describes "A Neighbour's Landmark" as "good poetry". Michael Cox and R. A. Gilbert state that the opening of the story "both emphasizes the 'otherness' of the

Victorian period In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed th ...

and justifies our somewhat elastic definition of 'Victorian'." Darryl Jones offers the story as an example of how " ames'nostalgic sensibility permeates the stories themselves". The story was reviewed in

Everett F. Bleiler Everett Franklin Bleiler (April 30, 1920 – June 13, 2010) was an American editor, bibliographer, and scholar of science fiction, detective fiction, and fantasy literature. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he co-edited the first "year's best" s ...

's 1983 work ''The Guide to Supernatural Fiction''.

Adaptations

On 17 September 1968, BBC Radio 4 FM adapted "A Neighbour's Landmark" as a 30-minute ''Story Time'' segment, produced by David Davis and read by Howieson Culff. In 2009, BBC Audio released ''Ghost Stories Volume Two'', which included an audio adaptation of "A Neighbour's Landmark".

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Neighbour's Landmark, A 1924 short stories Book of Deuteronomy Boundary markers England in fiction Eton College Ghost stories Short stories by M. R. James Short stories set in the United Kingdom