The Campden Wonder and Mrs Harrison: "In this life he laughs longest who laughs last."

By John Masefield

John Edward Masefield was born in 1878 in the sleepy market town of Ledbury in rural Hertfordshire. An idyllic childhood was ruined when he was left an orphan and sent to live with an Aunt who decided his education and life would be better spent at sea. At age 13 he boarded a school ship and there his love of writing and reading blossomed. By 1899 he began to publish and apart from brief service during World War I he now had a life of writing and lecture tours. He published much; novels, poetry and even an account of the disastrous war effort in the Dardanelles at Gallipoli. Upon the death of Robert Bridges in 1930, Masefield was given the prestigious position of Poet Laureate, a role he would fulfill until his death; the only poet to hold the position for a longer period was Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Despite later ill health and the death of his wife in 1960, Masefield continued to write. In 1966, he published his last book of poems, In Glad Thanksgiving, at the age of 88. In the latter part of 1966 gangrene was diagnosed in his ankle. This gradually spread through his leg and claimed his life on May 12, 1967. He was cremated and his ashes placed in the Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey. Here we present The Campden Wonder and Mrs Harrison.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Copyright Group
• Release date: Jan 26, 2015
• ISBN: 9781785431074

John Masefield

John Masefield was a well-known English poet and novelist. After boarding school, Masefield took to a life at sea where he picked up many stories, which influenced his decision to become a writer. Upon returning to England after finding work in New York City, Masefield began publishing his poetry in periodicals, and then eventually in collections. In 1915, Masefield joined the Allied forces in France and served in a British army hospital there, despite being old enough to be exempt from military service. After a brief service, Masefield returned to Britain and was sent overseas to the United States to research the American opinion on the war. This trip encouraged him to write his book Gallipoli, which dealt with the failed Allied attacks in the Dardanelles, as a means of negating German propaganda in the Americas. Masefield continued to publish throughout his life and was appointed as Poet Laureate in 1930. Masefield died in 1967 the age of 88.

Book preview

The Campden Wonder and Mrs Harrison by John Masefield

John Edward Masefield was born in 1878 in the sleepy market town of Ledbury in rural Hertfordshire.

An idyllic childhood was ruined when he was left an orphan and sent to live with an Aunt who decided his education and life would be better spent at sea.  At age 13 he boarded a school ship and there his love of writing and reading blossomed. 

By 1899 he began to publish and apart from brief service during World War I he now had a life of writing and lecture tours.  He published much; novels, poetry and even an account of the disastrous war effort in the Dardanelles at Gallipoli.

Upon the death of Robert Bridges in 1930, Masefield was given the prestigious position of Poet Laureate, a role he would fulfill until his death; the only poet to hold the position for a longer period was Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

Despite later ill health and the death of his wife in 1960, Masefield continued to write. In 1966, he published his last book of poems, In Glad Thanksgiving, at the age of 88.

In the latter part of 1966 gangrene was diagnosed in his ankle. This gradually spread through his leg and claimed his life on May 12, 1967. He was cremated and his ashes placed in the Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey.

Index of Contents

Preface

The Campden Wonder

Persons – Played By

Scene I

Scene II

Scene III

Mrs. Harrison

Persons

John Masefield – A Short Biography

John Masefield – A Concise Bibliography

PREFACE

The first of the plays in this volume, The Campden Wonder, was written at Greenwich, near London, at the end of 1905 and beginning of 1906. I had heard the fable of it, The Campden Wonder, in Chipping Campden, in Gloucestershire (where the events happened, or are said to have happened) some years before, while staying there with friends. I had wished, at that time, to write a play upon the subject, and to have it acted in Campden, with other plays founded on the events in that countryside. This scheme came to nothing. In those years many people were dramatizing the events of their cities and districts. There were pageants at Romsey, Winchester, Oxford, Bury and other places. I had hoped that the larger villages might follow the example of the towns. The Campden Wonder was produced at the Court Theatre in London in 1907.

Mrs. Harrison, The Sweeps of Ninety-Eight and The Locked Chest were written at Greenwich in 1906. The fable of Mrs. Harrison is a part of the fable of The Campden Wonder. It can be found in one of the two pamphlets which preserve the story of the Wonder. The Sweeps is an invention, though some of the characters, Major Sirr, and Thomas Judkin Fitzpatrick once lived, and used some of the words allotted to them. The fable of The Locked Chest is taken from the Laxdale Saga. All these plays have been acted, the second and third many times.

After I had finished The Locked Chest, I wished to try a longer play. A friend in London told me of a case of miscarriage of justice which had happened in Kent early in the last century. I took this as the groundwork of my fable for The Tragedy of Nan. I added some inventions to the fable, such as an unhappy love affair, and the characters of the household. I began the play in January and finished it in September, 1907, at Greenwich.

When I was finishing Nan I worked at a one-act play upon The Death of Pompey the Great, as described in the life of Pompey