The Ash-tree

{{Short description|1904 short story by M. R. James}} {{for|the A Ghost Story for Christmas film|The Ash Tree (film)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}} {{Infobox short story | name = The Ash-tree | image = Ghost stories of an antiquary.jpg | caption = "The Ash-tree" was published in ''Ghost Stories of an Antiquary'' in 1904 | author = M. R. James | country = United Kingdom | language = English | series = | genre = Horror | published_in = ''Ghost Stories of an Antiquary'' | publication_type = | publisher = Edward Arnold | media_type = | pub_date = 1904 | preceded_by = | followed_by = | wikisource = Ghost Stories of an Antiquary/The Ash-tree }}

"'''The Ash-tree'''" is a ghost story by British writer M. R. James, included in his 1904 book ''Ghost Stories of an Antiquary'', and also collected again in his 1931 book ''The Collected Ghost Stories of M. R. James''. It concerns mysterious deaths relating to an ash tree. It has been adapted many times, including a 1963 episode of KPFA/KPFK's ''The Black Mass'', a 1975 episode of the BBC's ''A Ghost Story for Christmas'', a 1986 episode of BBC2's ''Classic Ghost Stories'' series, and a 2000 episode of BBC Scotland's series ''Christopher Lee's Ghost Stories For Christmas''.

==Plot summary==

===1690=== In 1690, the English county of Suffolk is wracked with a fear of witches. Many women are accused of casting spells and causing mayhem. One such accused is Mrs. Mothersole. The only evidence of her witchcraft are eyewitness accounts by Sir Matthew Fell, the owner of a local seat named Castringham. Outside his bedroom window grows a monstrous ash tree, where on moonlit nights he would supposedly see Mrs. Mothersole climbing the trunk and snipping branches with a dagger. Despite her pleas, she is found guilty and hanged. Before the noose is pulled, she dully intones "There will be guests at the Hall." She is buried in the local graveyard.

A few weeks later, Sir Matthew and the local vicar are walking by the ash tree at dusk when they spy a creature in the branches that disappears before they can get a good look. As it is a warm night, the squire leaves his window open. The next day, he is found dead in bed with a severe look of pain and terror on his face. Though a postmortem is performed, no cause of death is found. The coroner, Mr. Crome, impulsively carries out the ''sortes biblicae'', reading Luke 13:7, ("Cut it down"); Isaiah 13:20 ("It shall never be inhabited"), and Job 39:30 ("Her young ones also suck up blood").

Sir Matthew's son, Sir Matthew II, inherits Castringham and refuses to stay in his father's bedroom. Over forty years pass and he passes away in 1735. When the family plot in the local graveyard needs to be expanded to fit his remains, Mrs. Mothersole's resting place is exhumed to make room and her coffin is found to be empty. The locals are puzzled as to who could have robbed the grave.

===1754=== [[File:Ash Tree - geograph.org.uk - 590710.jpg|An ash tree|thumb]]

Sir Matthew II's son, Sir Richard, inherits the seat and also refuses to stay in the supposedly cursed bedroom. In 1754, however, he grows tired of the alternate chamber he chose, as it is cold and smoky. He orders the housekeeper to move his bed into the room where his grandfather died decades previously. That night, he keeps his window closed but hears something scratching on it.

The next day, he is visited by the grandson of the vicar from over sixty years ago, now a vicar himself. They chat about Sir Matthew's death and discover an old Bible of his, where he wrote down his desire for the ash tree to be felled. Sir Richard assures the vicar a man from the village will come the next day and dispose of it.

That evening, several guests arrive for a weekend visit. Talking to the Bishop of Kilmore, Sir Richard remarks on the strange scratching noises from the window the night previously, blaming the sounds on branches scraping against the glass. The Bishop says this is impossible, as the branches don't reach the window. They conclude it was rats that climbed the ivy. Sir Richard carries out the ''sortes biblicae'', reading Job 7:21 ("Thou shalt seek me in the morning, and I shall not be").

After dinner, everyone retires to their rooms. In the middle of the night, something climbs through Sir Richard's open window and bites him. The next morning, he is found dead in bed and the guests congregate to discover the secret of the tree. A gardener climbs a ladder and peeks into a hollow in the center, seeing something that causes him to drop his lantern in alarm and set the tree ablaze.

The guests watch in horror as countless large, venomous spiders crawl out of the hollow on fire, before dying on the lawn. An investigation beneath the tree reveals a cavernous spider's nest containing the withered skeleton of a woman (presumably the remains of Mrs. Mothersole), dead for at least fifty years.

== Publication == "The Ash-tree" was first published in ''Ghost Stories of an Antiquary'' in 1904. It was collected again in ''The Collected Ghost Stories of M. R. James'' in 1931.<ref name="Joshi"/> It has since been anthologised many times. In a 1904 letter, James gave the story the title "The Spiders".<ref name="Joshi"/><ref name="Pardoe"/> The original manuscript was auctioned by Sotheby's on 9 November 1936.<ref name="Pardoe"/>

== Reception == S. T. Joshi describes "The Ash-tree" as "perhaps the most explicitly grisly" of James' stories.<ref name="Joshi"/>

== Adaptations == On 18 December 1963, "The Ash Tree" was dramatised for ''The Black Mass'', an American anthology series broadcast on KPFA (Berkeley) and KPFK (Los Angeles). The series was produced by Eric Bauersfeld.

In 1975, "The Ash-tree" was adapted by David Rudkin as "The Ash Tree", and was part of the BBC's ''A Ghost Story for Christmas'' anthology series.<ref>{{IMDb title|qid=Q26196784|title=The Ash Tree}}</ref> It was first broadcast on 23 December 1975 at 11.35 PM.<ref name=bfi>{{Cite web|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/138453?view=transmission|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090130055415/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/138453?view=transmission|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 January 2009|title=The Ash Tree|publisher=British Film Institute Database|accessdate=22 September 2010}}</ref> The adaptation stars Edward Petherbridge as Sir Richard and Barbara Ewing as the witch, Anne Mothersole. It was directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark.<ref name=phantom>{{Cite web|url=http://www.phantomframe.co.uk/ghosts.htm|title=A Ghost Story for Christmas|last=Brockhurst|first=Colin|work=phantomframe.co.uk|accessdate=10 September 2010|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111013171600/http://www.phantomframe.co.uk/ghosts.htm|archivedate=13 October 2011}}</ref><ref name=ashtree>Angelini, Sergio, {{Screenonline TV title|id=1155236|title=The Ash Tree}}. Retrieved 2010-7-7.</ref>

On 27 December 1986, a television adaptation of "The Ash-tree" aired on BBC2 as part of its ''Classic Ghost Stories'' programme. The adaptation featured a dramatic reading of the story by Robert Powell, with some scenes depicted by actors.<ref name="BBC1986"/>

In 2000, a dramatized narration of the story with Sir Christopher Lee as James was produced by BBC Scotland as part of the series ''Christopher Lee's Ghost Stories For Christmas'', adapted by Ronald Frame.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Christopher Lee's Ghost Stories for Christmas: The Ash Tree |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0017nhn |access-date=26 December 2024 |website=BBC}}</ref>

In October 2007, Nunkie Theatre Company toured a one-man show featuring retellings of James's tales, ''Oh, Whistle ...'', comprising {{" '}}Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad{{' "}} and "The Ash-tree".

In 2007, BBC Audio released ''Ghost Stories Volume One'', which included "The Ash-tree".

In 2016, John Reppion and Leah Moore published ''Ghost Stories of an Antiquary'', a graphic novel adaptation of four of James' stories, including "The Ash-tree" (illustrated by Alisdair Wood).<ref name="BBC2016"/>

In 2019, a modern-day audio adaptation written by Matthew Holness and starring Amanda Abbington, Reece Shearsmith, and John Sessions was released by Bafflegab Productions.<ref name="bafflegab">{{Cite web|url=http://bafflegab.co.uk/productions/the-ash-tree/|title=The Ash Tree|work=Bafflegab Productions|date=13 November 2019 |accessdate=10 December 2019}}</ref>

==References== <references>

<ref name="BBC1986">{{Cite magazine |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/899a0781630c41f5a1a41c0314e76ac4 |title=Classic Ghost Stories |magazine=Radio Times |issue=3,291 |date=20 December 1986 |language=en-GB |access-date=2 May 2025 |via=BBC Genome Project }}</ref>

<ref name="BBC2016">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4L42LX42nz7W8qk42MCpT7Z/monsters-ink-mr-james-ghost-stories-reborn-as-comic|title=Monsters ink: MR James ghost stories reborn as comic|website=BBC.co.uk|access-date=5 September 2025|date=31 October 2016}}</ref>

<ref name="Joshi">{{cite book|title=Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories: The Complete Ghost Stories of M. R. James|volume=1|contributor-first=S. T.|contributor-last=Joshi|contribution=Explanatory Notes|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=978-0143039396|page=265-267|year=2005|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H1X2fB1PoYIC|contributor-link=S. T. Joshi|author-link=M. R. James|first=M. R.|last=James}}</ref>

<ref name="Pardoe">{{cite journal |url=http://www.pardoes.info/roanddarroll/ArchiveAshtree.html |title=Story notes: "The Ash-tree" |first=Rosemary |last=Pardoe |journal=Ghosts & Scholars |volume=11 |year=1989 |access-date=8 October 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123114317/http://www.pardoes.info/roanddarroll/ArchiveAshtree.html |archive-date=23 January 2021 }}</ref>

</references>

==External links== *{{Wikisource-inline|Ghost Stories of an Antiquary/The Ash-tree|The Ash-tree|single=true}} * {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/m-r-james/short-fiction|Display Name=An omnibus collection of James's short fiction|noitalics=true}} * {{ISFDB title|64301|short=yes}} *{{librivox book|title=The Ash Tree|author=M. R. James}} *{{Screenonline TV title|id=1155236|title=The Ash Tree}} *{{IMDb title|qid=Q26196784|title=The Ash Tree}}

{{Works of M.R. James}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ash Tree, The}} Category:1904 short stories Category:Fiction set in 1690 Category:Fiction set in 1735 Category:Fiction set in 1754 Category:Suffolk in fiction Category:Short stories set in the United Kingdom Category:Fiction about curses Category:Short stories about witches and witchcraft Category:Short stories about ghosts Category:Horror short stories Category:Short stories by M. R. James Category:Short stories adapted into radio programs Category:Short stories adapted into television films Category:Fraxinus excelsior Category:Works about nobility Category:Spiders in popular culture Category:Fiction about fire Category:Fiction about skeletons Category:British short stories adapted into films