Showing results for "A Warning to the Curious" in Literature & Fiction

The story of Paxton, an antiquarian and archaeologist who holidays in "Seaburgh" and inadvertently stumbles across one of the lost crowns of Anglia, which legendarily protect the country from invasion. Montague Rhodes James was a noted British mediaeval scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918) and of Eton College (1918–1936). He is best remembered for his ghost stories which are widely regarded as among the finest in English literature.

This is the unabridged audio recording of M R James' excellent ghost story "A Warning to the Curious". Read by David Collings, this is sure to scare and delight in equal measure.

A young antiquary and archaeologist named Paxton is on vacation in the south-east coast of England when he hears the legend of the three holy crowns. According to the legend, England was kept safe from being invaded when three crowns were buried long ago at sites near the coast. One of the crowns was later dug up, one is now beneath the sea but one still remains buried in the earth and keeps England safe from invasion. Members of a family named Ager long guarded the site where the crown was buried.

M. R. James (1862-1936) was provost of King's College, Cambridge, and Eton College. He was a highly regarded scholar and academic in his time but today is remembered for his ghost stories, which are considered among the finest in the genre. Here is one of them: "A Warning to the Curious".