Recent illustration for "The Uncommon Prayer-book' by an amateur artist known as Loneanimator.
"The Uncommon Prayer-book' is a short ghost story by the British author M.R. James. It first appeared in print in the June 1921 issue of the American magazine Atlantic Quarterly. It was published again in 1925 as part of the anthology A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories.
The plot is set in motion when a vacationing antiquary named Davidson finds out that there is a large country house with an interesting chapel that he can visit nearby. Davidson finds out that, although the housekeeper's wife always closes the eight copies of the Book of Common Prayer[1] in the chapel and covers them with a cloth, she always finds all of the books open at the same page the next time she goes into the chapel. This is in spite of the fact that there is only one door to the chapel, the door is always kept locked and the housekeeper's wife has the only key, and the building's windows are barred. The page at which the books are always found open has frightening curses written on it. Davidson later realizes that the copies of the Book of Common Prayer in the chapel are extremely unusual, and therefore highly valuable, because they were printed at a time when the use of the book was illegal in England. At his hotel, Davidson meets an antique book dealer who calls himself Homberger (it is later revealed that he also uses the names Henderson and Poschwitz). In spite of his name and his foreign accent, Homberger claims to be English. Davidson dislikes the man. Some months later, Homberger steals the unusual prayer books from the chapel. When Davidson finds out about this, he begins to plan how he can bring the criminal to justice. This turns out to be unnecessary, however, because a ghostly being takes revenge on Homberger first.
It has been suggested that the character of Homberger/Henderson/Poschwitz is an anti-Semitic stereotype. It is however, far from certain that M.R. James intended the character to be Jewish.
Plot[]
At the start of January, an antiquary named Davidson is spending his winter vacation in the small provincial town of Longbridge. On the third day of his stay, the weather is unusually pleasant for January in England. The hotel manager tells Davidson that, when the weather is fine, a lot of his guests like to take the train to Kingsbourne Junction and then walk back. Davidson follows this suggestion.
Davidson shares his train carriage with an old man named Mr. Avery. Mr. Avery says that he is also going to Kingsbourne Junction. He is then going to walk over to see his daughter, Mrs. Porter, who is the wife of the housekeeper at a large country house called Brockstone Court. Mr. Avery tells Davidson that his daughter would be happy to show him around the house and its chapel. He warns Davidson that there is not much to see in the house. That is because its current owners do not live there and do not let it out to anybody else. Consequently, most of the building's paintings and furniture are kept in storage. The chapel, however, sounds as if it is worth a visit. Mr. Avery explains that the chapel is now unused because all of the local people go to Kingsbourne Church.
Mrs. Porter shows Davidson around Brockstone Court. As Mr. Avery had said, there is not much to see because everything is either covered up or put away. The only thing of any interest is a ceiling painting done in honor of the restoration of the monarchy under King Charles II. Part of the painting depicts the suffering in Hell of Oliver Cromwell, John Bradshaw, Henry Ireton and other people responsible for the death of King Charles I,[2] Mr. Avery explains that the painting was commissioned by Lady Sadleir, said to have been the first person to have danced on Oliver Cromwell's grave, who also commissioned the chapel.
Davidson is impressed by the beautiful chapel. He can see that something is troubling Mrs. Porter and Mr. Avery. he goes over to where they are looking at eight copies of the Book of Common Prayer.[1] Mrs. Porter explains that every time she goes into the chapel, she closes the prayer books and covers them with a cloth. Every time she comes back, however, she finds the books all open at the same page. This is in spite of the fact that the chapel's only door is kept locked, Mrs. Porter has the only key, and its windows are barred. Davidson examines the books. He sees that he page at which they are opened is marked as being a prayer for April 25. The text on the page is Psalm 109. Davidson cannot think of any reason why April 25 is an appropriate day for that psalm with its horrible curses.[3] Davidson looks at the title page of one of the books and sees that it was printed in 1653. Looking at the covers of the books, he sees that they have the same coat of arms on them that is on several of the chapel's stained glass windows. The books were obviously specially printed for Lady Sadleir's chapel.
After he returns to his hotel, Davidson remembers that it was illegal to use, let alone print, the Book of Common Prayer in 1653.[4] This means that the books which Davidson saw in the chapel must be highly unusual and rare.
Another guest arrives at the hotel. He is smartly dressed, has pale skin, black hair, a small pointed beard and wears gold spectacles. He speaks with a foreign accent. Davidson talks to the man at dinner. He says that his name is Homberger. In spite of his foreign-sounding name and accent, Homberger claims to be English. Homberger is revealed to be an antique book dealer based in London who has come to the area to see if he can buy any items from the libraries of some of the nearby country houses. He asks if Davidson can advise him on where he might find some interesting volumes. Although he saw some bookcases at Brockstone Hall, Davidson decides not to mention this to Homberger. For some reason, he does not like the man.
While traveling home by train the next day, Davidson looks at the almanac-diary which he recently bought. He sees that Oliver Cromwell was born on April 25. It becomes obvious to Davidson that Lady Sadleir's love for the Church of England and King Charles I were gradually replaced by a hatred for Oliver Cromwell, the man who killed the king and drastically altered the Church. He thinks that she must have held a "curious evil service" at her chapel each year on the anniversary of Cromwell's birth. He wonders if anything particularly unusual happens at the chapel on April 25. He decides that he will go back to the chapel on that date and will take a friend with him.
Davidson does some research to see if he can find out anything about the prayer books that he saw at Brockstone Court chapel. He finds a reference to someone who lived near Longbridge having seen an anti-Cromwellian Book of Common Prayer that was printed while Cromwell was in power. He is unable to find out any more about the books.
On April 25, Davidson returns to Brockstone Court with his friend Whitham. Mrs. Porter shows both men to the chapel. When she removes the cloth from the prayer books, she is surprised and relieved to find them all shut. Davidson examines the prayer books. He says that they are not the same books that he saw in January. He finds out that the books were obviously taken by a man who called himself Henderson, although the description that Mrs. Porter gives of him makes it obvious that he was the same man who introduced himself to Davidson as Homberger. Henderson had visited the chapel in January. He said that he would return in the spring to take some photographs. He returned in April with a camera and a long heavy box. He said that he was going to take some slides which required a long exposure and asked Mrs. Porter to leave him alone while he took them. Mrs. Porter realizes that the man must have carried in the substitute books in the long heavy box and taken away the originals in the same box. She says that a long white bundle was on the top of his car when he left. She does not remember the same bundle being on top of his car when he arrived.
Davidson says that he will make sure that the owners of Brockstone Court know that what happened to the prayer books was not Mrs. Porter's fault. He asks her not to tell anyone else, apart from her husband and her father, about what has happened. If the thief has no reason to suspect anyone knows the books have been stolen, he will soon start to try to sell them. Davidson and Whitham will then be able to track him down. Davidson's plans turn out to be unnecessary because the thief dies on the same day.
On the afternoon of April 25 at the London office of the thief, who there goes by the name of Poschwitz, a doorman sees him open a safe and put a package inside it. What looks like a five foot high roll of old white linen rises out of the safe. The doorman sees that the roll of linen has a face. The face is the color of earth and it has eyes that look like two spiders. The figure falls on top of Poschwitz. The doorman rushes into the room. The figure is gone and Poschwitz is dead with an injury to his neck. The doorman telephones for a doctor and the police. The doctor declares that Poschwitz died of poisoning like that from a snake bite. The police notice that there is dust all over the floor. They examine the safe. They say that it might just be large enough for somebody to hide inside it, although there would not be enough air for anybody to breathe for long. The police find nothing inside the safe apart from a photographer's box full of old prayer books.
Davidson and Whitham tell the police what they know. The owners of Brockstone Court decide not to return the prayer books to the chapel, much to Mrs. Porter's relief.
Footnotes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Book of Common Prayer is the name given to a number of prayer books that have been used by Anglican churches since 1549. The Book of Common Prayer contains forms of service for daily and Sunday worship and occasional services, such as baptisms, weddings and funerals. English-language prayer books for other Christian denominations have borrowed from the Book of Common Prayer. Its texts for weddings and funeral services have also been used by other denominations. The Book of Common Prayer has influenced the English language in a similar manner to the King James Bible and the works of William Shakespeare. Many words and phrases from the Book of Common Prayer have become part of everyday speech.
- ↑ King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland was executed for high treason on January 30, 1649. Afterwards, the monarchy was abolished and a republic called the Commonwealth of England was proclaimed. Oliver Cromwell was declared Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1653. After the monarchy was restored under Charles I's son, King Charles II, in 1660, the fifty-nine judges who signed Charles I's death warrant, key associates and numerous court officials who had attended his trial became subject to punishment. Although Oliver Cromwell, John Bradshaw (the judge who presided over the court that sentenced Charles I to death) and Henry Ireton (a general in the Parliamentary army which defeated Charles I's Royalist troops) were already dead by the time that Charles II became king, they were sentenced to posthumous execution. On January 28, 1661, their corpses were ritually hanged, drawn and quartered. Their heads were placed on the top of wooden poles outside the Palace of Westminster. Oliver Cromwell's head remained on display outside the palace for almost thirty years until it went missing during a storm.
- ↑ Psalm 109, traditionally referred to among Christians as the "Judas psalm", is notable for containing some of the most frighteningly severe curses in the Bible, such as, "Let there be none to extend mercy unto him, neither let there be any to favor his fatherless children", and, "Let his posterity be cut off and in the generations following let their name be blotted out."
- ↑ The use of the Book of Common Prayer was illegal in England between 1645 and 1660. During that time, it was replaced by the Directory for Public Worship. Even though anybody who was caught using the Book of Common Prayer was liable to a hefty fine or even imprisonment, it continued to be used. This was largely because the Directory for Public Worship contained no text for a funeral service.