Title card for the 1976 British television adaptation of "Mr. Humphreys and his Inheritance".
"Mr. Humphreys and his Inheritance" is a short ghost story by the British author M.R. James. It was first published in 1911 as part of the anthology More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary. It is the longest of M.R. James' ghost stories.
The story's title character and protagonist inherits a large country house with spacious gardens from an uncle, Mr. Wilson, whom he had never met or communicated with in any way. The house had earlier belonged to James Wilson, Mr. Wilson's grandfather and Mr. Humphrey's great-grandfather. James Wilson had a maze constructed in the grounds of his house. After James Wilson's grandson inherited the house, the entrance to the maze was locked and nobody entered it for forty years. Mr. Humphreys finds that it is sometimes very easy to reach the center of the maze and sometimes very difficult. In the middle of the maze is a strange copper globe on a stone pillar. An inscription above the entrance to the maze speaks of a secret.
Readers should be aware that "Mr. Humphreys and his Inheritance" is peppered with Latin phrases which M.R. James left untranslated.
The story has been adapted for film and television.
Plot[]
Late in the summer of a year at the end of the 19th century, a young civil servant known as Mr. Humphreys inherits a country estate in Wilsthorpe in eastern England. The estate had belonged to Mr. Humphreys' uncle Mr. Wilson, whom Mr. Humphreys had never met and with whom he had never had any communication. Mr. Humphreys is not really prepared for taking up life as a country gentleman, although he does enjoy gardening. He is met at Wilsthorpe train station by Mr. Cooper, the manager of the estate. Before being shown the house that he has inherited, Mr. Humphreys is taken to Cooper's house for lunch. He meets Cooper's wife and daughter. From Cooper's daughter, he finds out that the gardens of his new house, although currently old-fashioned, have the potential to be beautiful. She adds that there are a "temple" and a maze in the gardens. Miss Cooper says that she has never been inside the maze because Mr. Wilson always kept its entrance locked and never allowed anybody to enter it.
Mr. Humphreys is taken to his new house. He is introduced to his butler and housekeeper, Mr. and Mrs. Calton. Humphreys is shown around the house. He is very impressed by its library. Cooper shows Mr. Humphreys the gardens, having explained that Clutterham the head gardener is absent that day. Mr. Humphreys is taken to a white marble building. Cooper explains that it is the Temple of Friendship and that it was built on the orders of Mr. Wilson's grandfather, Mr. Humphreys' great-grandfather whose name is later revealed to have been James Wilson, who also ordered the construction of the maze. Inside the Temple of Friendship, Mr. Humphreys notices that on the floor there are some stone blocks which each have a letter of the alphabet carved onto them. He asks Cooper what the letters mean. Cooper says that he does not know. He does know, however, that the stone blocks used to be inside the maze.
Humphreys says that he is keen to see the maze. Cooper goes back to the house to fetch the key to its entrance. The maze is surrounded by a high wall and its iron gate is padlocked. An inscription above the gate reads, Secretum meum mihi et filis domus maeae ("This secret belongs to me and the sons of my house"). Cooper takes a long time to return with the key. Humphreys wonders if he can force the gate open. He kicks it, the padlock falls off and he pushes the gate open. The maze is made of yew hedges which have become overgrown. It is only by not worrying about getting wet, getting scratched and getting stung by nettles that Humphreys is able to follow the path. He finds, however, that the maze is not a very complicated one and he soon arrives in the middle. In the center of the maze is a copper globe on a four-foot stone column. It is too dark to examine the globe properly but Humphreys notices some human figures engraved on it and assumes that it is a celestial globe. Cooper arrives and apologizes for being late. He explains that he could not find the key to the maze's gate and congratulates Mr. Humphreys on being the first person to reach the center of the maze in forty years.
Mr. Humphreys asks why his uncle kept the maze locked up. Cooper answers that he does not know. The maze had already been locked up for many years before Cooper came to work for Mr. Wilson. The only time that Cooper can recall Mr. Wilson commenting on it was when he received a letter from Lady Wardrop, who wrote to him asking permission to be allowed into the maze. Mr. Wilson told Cooper to write a reply in which he said that the maze might be reopened one day but politely asked Lady Wardrop not to press the matter any further. Cooper adds that he believes that Mr. Wilson's attitude towards the maze was due to a dislike for his grandfather, James Wilson. Cooper goes on to say that Mr. Humphreys will see the memorial tablet for James Wilson in the parish church on Sunday. Mr. Humphreys thinks it is odd that the man who ordered the construction of the Temple of Friendship and the maze did not have a mausoleum built for himself. Cooper says that James Wilson is not actually buried in the church and adds that he does not know where the man is buried.
Before Cooper leaves, Mr. Humphreys invites Mrs. and Miss Cooper to come over the following afternoon to see the maze. Cooper says that he will ask some gardeners to clear the maze out and tell them to mark their route with sticks or tape.
After dinner, Mr. Humphreys goes to the library in search of an interesting book to read. He finds that most of the books there are extremely dull and unreadable. He picks up a small book with a plain cover. He finds that it is a 17th-century collection of sermons and that its title page is missing. Flicking through the book, Humphrey's attention is caught by a marginal note which reads, "A Parable of this Unhappy Condition". The sermon is a parable about those who live only for the pursuit of worldly pleasures. It concerns a dangerous maze, full of pitfalls and snares. In the center of the maze is a rare jewel which would make its finder incredibly rich. One man is determined to go into the maze and find the jewel. He is warned that one man went into the maze and was never seen again and that another came out after a short time, could never speak of what he saw in the maze and could never sleep well again. The man ignores the warnings and enters the maze anyway. He spends an entire day in the maze. At night, his friends and family hear a cry. The following day, they are convinced that the man is dead. They go to see the priest to ask him to toll the bell. On the way, they pass by the maze. They see the man on the ground outside it, unconscious but still alive. The man later tells them that he has got the jewel but will never again have, "Rest at Night nor Pleasure by Day." He explains that he reached the center of the maze quickly in daylight and took the jewel. As he headed back, darkness fell. He got the feeling that a creature was walking alongside him. If he paused, the creature paused too. As it grew darker, he felt that there were more beings in the maze with him. He could sometimes hear them whispering to each other. At midnight, he heard his brother's voice calling his name. After he replied, he heard the sound of feet running up behind him. He spent the rest of the night trying to escape his pursuers and trying to avoid falling into the various pitfalls and snares in the maze. He says that the jewel that he found is not a sufficient reward for all that he suffered inside the maze and that no other jewel possibly could be.
In the morning, Cooper shows Mr. Humphreys a portrait of James Wilson. The portrait was painted in Rome when he was a young man. In his hands are plans of the Temple of Friendship and the maze. Mr. Humphreys inspects the plan of the maze but finds that it is not very clear. He decides to draw his own plan of the maze and display it in the hall for the convenience of visitors.
Mrs. and Miss Cooper come over in the afternoon. Humphreys finds that he is unable to lead them to the center of the maze. Clutterham the head gardener is called in to help. The markers that the gardeners put down when they were clearing the maze have now been removed. Clutterham puts his hat on a bramble bush as a marker. Five minutes later, he leads Humphreys and the two Cooper women back to his hat. The bramble bush, however, is nowhere in sight. Another gardener is called into the maze. The four people wander around for twenty-five minutes without reaching the center. Humphreys apologizes and leads the party back to the entrance. He announces again his intention to draw a plan of the maze, which is agreed would be useful. After the Coopers have gone, Mr. Humphreys enters the maze again. He reaches its center without any difficulty.
The following morning, Mr. Humphreys goes into the maze again with the intention of drawing a plan of it. He examines the globe in the center of the maze and finds that it is not a celestial one. The figure engraved at the top of the globe is the Prince of Darkness. The human figures on it are mostly famous evil-doers from the Bible. Mr. Humphreys thinks that the globe's design was probably influenced by Dante's Divine Comedy. He also thinks that James Wilson probably never examined it very closely and did not care for it very much, otherwise he would not have left it outside. Humphreys taps the globe. He finds out that it is hollow and that its metal is not very thick. Cooper joins Mr. Humphreys in the center of the maze later. Cooper touches the globe and comments on how hot it feels. Humphreys says that the globe does not feel very hot to him. Humphreys leaves the plan that he has drawn in the center of the maze. It rains that night and the plan is ruined.
Looking out of his bedroom window that evening, Humphreys sees a small yew tree near the maze. He thinks that the tree looks unsightly and decides to get rid of it.
In the morning, Mr. Humphreys receives a letter from Lady Wardrop. She explains that she is writing a book about mazes and would like to see his. Mr. Humphreys has a note sent to Lady Wardrop's nearby home, informing her that she can come over the following day. Later that day, Mr. Humphreys successfully completes the plan of the maze. When he looks out of his bedroom window that evening, Mr. Humphreys decides that the yew tree does not look unsightly after all. He notices a bush growing against a wall which threatens to cover the library window. He thinks that the bush looks "dank and unhealthy" and should be removed.
Lady Wardrop arrives and is shown around the gardens. She thinks Cooper was right to say that the stone blocks on the floor of the Temple of Friendship had once been inside the maze. She explains that she once saw an inscription on the floor of another maze that has now been destroyed. She goes on to say that many mazes are now being destroyed and that she hopes that Mr. Humphreys will not destroy his. In the maze, Lady Wardrop points out where she thinks the stone blocks used to be. She and Mr. Humphreys reach the center of the maze without any difficulty. Lady Wardrop is fascinated by the copper globe and wants to have a rubbing taken of it. She then comments to Mr. Humphryes that, since entering the maze, she has had a feeling that something is watching them and is preparing to pounce on them. After leaving the maze, Lady Wardrop says that she would not mind if Mr. Humphreys destroyed it after all. Humphreys says that, whether or not he decides to keep the maze, he will trace the plan of the maze that he has drawn and send the copy to Lady Wardrop. He asks her advice about the bush beneath the library window. Lady Wardrop says that she does not think it looks unsightly. Humphreys agrees and decides to keep it. Before she leaves, Lady Wardrop says that the stone blocks probably have numbers on their undersides, meaning that it would be possible to find out the inscription that they once spelled out.
That night, Mr. Humphreys traces the plan of the maze for Lady Wardrop. He keeps the window open because it is a warm evening. Bats fly in several times. Humphreys keeps an eye on the open window. A few times, he has the feeling that something else, "not a bat but something more considerable", is trying to join him. Having completed the tracing, Mr. Humphreys compares it to the original to see if he has made any mistakes. He notices a large black spot in the center of the original. As he looks at it, the black spot changes into a hole which goes through the paper, through the table and through the floor beneath it deep into the ground. A burned man with a gray face and black arms rises out of the hole. Mr. Humphreys recoils in horror and hits his head against a lamp.
Mr. Humphreys suffers from concussion and has to stay in bed for a long time. When he is able to do so, Mr. Humphreys tells his doctor that he wants the globe in the center of the maze to be opened. The globe shatters as soon as it is struck with a chisel. It is found to contain ash. The doctor thinks that the ash is from a human cremation. The stone blocks are indeed found to be numbered. They spelled out the message PENETRANS AD INTERIORA MORTIS ("Penetrating into the interior places of death"). Mr. Humphreys finds out that his uncle had all of James Wilson's letters and diaries destroyed. There is no record of what happened to James Wilson's body after his death. Curiously, Mr. Humphreys is never again able to find the book of 17th century sermons. The book appears to have completely vanished.
Adaptations[]
In 1976, "Mr. Humphreys and his Inheritance" was adapted by the British TV production company Yorkshire Television as an episode of Music Scene, an educational series aimed at children aged thirteen to sixteen. The episode is intended to draw students' attention to the importance of incidental music in films and to spark discussions on the subject. It stars Geoffrey Russell as Mr. Humphreys. Due to the program's short running time, it is less than seventeen minutes long, a heavily abridged version of the story is presented. Mr. Humphreys only enters the maze twice. On his second day in Wilsthorpe, he receives a letter from an unnamed woman who is writing a book about ornamental gardens and intends to visit his maze the following day. The maze is cleared out ahead of her visit and Mr. Humphreys draws a plan of it in pencil at the same time. That evening, he goes over the plan in ink and the mysterious black spot appears. The character of Mr. Humphreys' butler Cooper (played by Peter Wheeler) is a composite character who stands in for Cooper, Calton and Clutterham from M.R. James' story. He also speaks lines which are said by Miss Cooper and the doctor in the original short story.
A 10-minute British animated film adaptation of "Mr. Humphreys and his Inheritance", written and directed by Richard Mansfield and featuring the voices of Silas Hawins and David Mansfield, was released in 2019.