20 h 54 minAudiobook5 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if a haunted house makes you laugh, and a wicked baron gets exactly what he deserves?
In The Ingoldsby Legends; or, Mirth and Marvels, Thomas Ingoldsby gathers comic tales, ballads and poems full of ghosts, saints, witches, monks and rogues. Behind that borrowed name is Richard Harris Barham, a London clergyman who turns old chronicles, English folklore and church legends into stories told with a grin.
Haunted tales, saints' lives and monastic gossip supply the material; quick rhymes, puns and sudden turns supply the fun. Across old England, especially Kent, restless spirits and strange bargains meet human greed, vanity and folly. Canterbury, Dover and the Kentish coast give these curious stories a firm sense of place.
What you’ll discover
- Legends with a wink Discover old stories retold in lively rhyme, where solemn subjects make room for mischief.
- Hauntings with humor Enter haunted houses and meet restless spirits in ghost tales meant to amuse.
- Puns at every turn Enjoy names, Latin tags and everyday phrases twisted into unexpected comic shapes.
- Pride meets its match Watch greedy, vain and foolish figures face the prospect of strange, fitting punishments.
- A journey through Kent Explore the old houses, roads and cathedrals that give these legends their local character.
Who will love it
For readers who love comic verse, old legends and English folklore, and anyone who enjoys wordplay read aloud, playful ghost stories and witches, monks and rogues treated with a grin.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A clergyman writes under a borrowed name
- Old legends are retold with a wink
- Ghosts and goblins are meant to amuse
- Wordplay drives the humor
- Rogues, fools and the fate of the proud
- Place, history and lasting influence
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- 15-minute summary
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Le Leggende di Ingoldsby; o, allegria e meraviglie
Kentish ghosts, witches and a thieving jackdaw meet quick rhymes and bad puns as old legends turn comic.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
A clergyman writes under a borrowed name
Richard Harris Barham was an Anglican priest and a cathedral man in London, and he was also a lover of antiquities and a good storyteller at dinner. He was born in Canterbury, and Kent stayed close to his heart. Under the name Thomas Ingoldsby, he pretended to be a gentleman of Tappington Everard, a country house in Kent.
This invented squire gives the book its frame. He claims to have gathered tales from family papers, old books and local talk. The pose lets Barham play the friendly antiquary who tells you what he has found, then spoils the solemn mood with a joke.
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What is The Ingoldsby Legends about?
It is a collection of comic verse and prose tales that retell old legends, ghost stories and church anecdotes. Witches, monks, knights and spirits appear, and each tale plays the old material for laughs.
Who was Thomas Ingoldsby?
Thomas Ingoldsby was the pen name of Richard Harris Barham, an English clergyman and writer. He presented himself as a Kentish squire who collected old tales, and the pose gives the book its friendly voice.
What is The Jackdaw of Rheims?
It is one of the best-known poems in the collection. It tells of a jackdaw that steals at a gathering in the Lord Cardinal's palace and the solemn church response to the theft, mixing grand ritual with comic effect.
The author
Thomas Ingoldsby
1788–1845 · English humorist and priest
Thomas Ingoldsby was the pen name of Richard Harris Barham, a British writer and Anglican priest. He was born in Canterbury in 1788 and died in London in 1845. He served as a clergyman in Kent and London. His collection, The Ingoldsby Legends, began appearing in print in 1837.
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