Martin's Close
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"Martin's Close" is a
ghost story A ghost story is any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them."Ghost Stories" in Margaret Drabble (ed.), ''Oxford Companion to English Literature''. ...
by British writer
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 ...
, included in his 1911 collection '' More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary''.


Plot summary

The story takes place in "a parish in the West". It is presented as a report of a trial in the year 1684, before
Judge Jeffreys George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys (15 May 1645 – 18 April 1689), also known as "the Hanging Judge", was a Welsh judge. He became notable during the reign of King James II, rising to the position of Lord Chancellor (and serving as L ...
. Squire George Martin has been accused of murdering a young girl named Ann Clark, with whom he had a one-sided romance. The prosecution presents the case that Martin murdered Ann Clark, because she ruined a good marriage proposal for him. During the trial, an event is described in which Martin acted in a guilty manner when confronted with a possible apparition of the girl. In the end, Martin is found guilty of the crime, despite his attempt to have the case dismissed on a legal technicality, and is sentenced to death.


Publication

"Martin's Close" was first published in '' More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary'' in 1911. In 1931, it was collected in James' book '' The Collected Ghost Stories of M. R. James''. It has since been anthologised many times. The original manuscript was sold by
Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...
on November 9, 1936.


Reception

Rosemary Pardoe states, "It is widely acknowledged that in this account of a trial before Judge Jeffreys,
ames AMES, short Air Ministry Experimental Station, was the name given to the British Air Ministry's radar development team at Bawdsey Manor (afterwards RAF Bawdsey) in the immediate pre-World War II era. The team was forced to move on three occasion ...
is at the height of his powers as a brilliant historical pastichist."


Adaptations

On 12 March 1938, the BBC's London Regional Programme broadcast an adaptation of "Martin's Close" under the title ''Madam, Will You Walk?'' The 40-minute play was written by C. Whitaker-Wilson and produced by John Cheatle. The ''
Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...
'' printed the musical notation for the ghostly refrain and noted, "You will have had quite enough of that tune before the play has ended. You will hear it played by a string quartet... you will hear it sung by Judge Jeffries in court (an actual fact); and, worse still, you will hear it floating on a gale of wind, sung by a murdered girl near a lonely inn in a
Devonshire Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the wes ...
village. That also is a fact." On 4 April 1940, the BBC broadcast a second version of "Martin's Close", this time a 25-minute reading by
John Gloag John Gloag (10 August 1896 – 17 July 1981) was an English writer in the fields of furniture design and architecture, as well as science and speculative fiction. Gloag served with the Welsh Guards during the First World War, and was invalided ho ...
for the new
BBC Home Service The BBC Home Service was a national and regional radio station that broadcast from 1939 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 4. History 1922–1939: Interwar period Between the early 1920s and the outbreak of World War II, the BBC ...
. On 13 February 1946, C. Whitaker-Wilson's 1938 script of ''Madam, Will You Walk?'' was remounted, this time produced by Noel Iliff. Whitaker-Wilson himself played the part of Judge Jeffreys in a 45-minute production for the BBC Home Service. On 20 August 1963, Charles Lefeaux produced a new version of "Martin's Close", adapted by
Michael Hardwick John Michael Drinkrow Hardwick (10 September 1924 − 4 March 1991), known as Michael Hardwick, was an English author who was best known for writing books and radio plays which featured Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's creation Sherlock Holmes. He adapte ...
and
Mollie Hardwick Mollie Greenhalgh Hardwick (7 March 1916 in Prestwich, Lancashire – 13 December 2003), also known as Mary Atkinson, was an English author who was best known for writing books that accompanied the TV series '' Upstairs, Downstairs''. Hardwi ...
, for ''Mystery Playhouse'' and the BBC Home Service. The 30-minute piece starred
Donald Wolfit Sir Donald Wolfit (born Donald Woolfitt; 20 April 1902 – 17 February 1968) was an English actor-manager, known for his touring productions of Shakespeare. He was especially renowned for his portrayal of King Lear. Born to a conventional midd ...
as Judge Jeffreys. ("What see you in the corner of the Court, that you fix your eyes on it and not on me, your Judge?" teased the ''Radio Times''.) The play was repeated on
BBC Radio 4 Extra BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It mostly broadcasts archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes, and is the sister station of Radio 4. It is the pri ...
on 26 February 2018. Sound effects were provided by the
BBC Radiophonic Workshop The BBC Radiophonic Workshop was one of the sound effects units of the BBC, created in 1958 to produce Incidental music, incidental sounds and new music for radio and, later, television. The unit is known for its experimental and pioneering ...
, and the original sound-effects reel was preserved in their archive. On 24 December 2019, a version of the story, '' Martin's Close'', adapted by
Mark Gatiss Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. Best known for his acting work on stage and screen as well as for co-creating television shows with Steven Moffat, he has received ...
, was broadcast on
BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002
as part of the long-running ''
A Ghost Story for Christmas ''A Ghost Story for Christmas'' is a Anthology series, strand of annual British short television films originally broadcast on BBC One between 1971 and 1978, and revived sporadically by the BBC since 2005. With one exception, the original instal ...
'' series. It starred
Peter Capaldi Peter Dougan Capaldi (; born 14 April 1958) is a Scottish actor, director, singer and guitarist. He portrayed the Twelfth Doctor, twelfth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction series ''Doctor Who'' (2013–2017) and Malcolm Tucker i ...
, Elliot Levey,
Wilf Scolding Wilfred John Scolding (born 25 April 1990) is a British actor. On television, he is known for his role in the BBC One drama '' The Passing Bells'' (2014) and the Netflix series '' The One'' (2021). His films include '' Bees Make Honey'' (2017). ...
,
Sara Crowe Sara Crowe (born 22 March 1966) is a Scottish film and stage actress who mainly plays comedy roles. Biography Career After beginning her career on stage and in television, Crowe began to take film roles, including a part in '' Carry On Columbus ...
, James Holmes, Jessica Temple, Simon Williams, Fisayo Akinade, and
Ian Hallard Ian Christopher Hallard (born 9 November 1974) is an English actor and writer. His work includes acting roles on television, at the National Theatre and in the West End, including the lead role of Michael in a revival of Mart Crowley's '' The B ...
.


Notes


References


External links

* *
Full text of "Martin's Close"
* *
A Podcast to the Curious: Episode 14 - Martin's Close
* Short stories by M. R. James 1911 short stories Devon in fiction Fiction set in 1684 Short stories about ghosts Short stories adapted into films Horror short stories {{1910s-horror-story-stub