The Two Roses | A Ghost Story by Allen Upward | A Bitesized Audio Production
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- Опубликовано: 18 ноя 2021
- At Bewley Hall, an Elizabethan manor house, an entire wing has been shut up and disused for as long as anyone can remember - but no-one seems to know why. When the property is put on the market to sell, estate agent Jack Hargreaves and his assistant Miss Alwyne Sargent decide to investigate the mystery...
A new, original recording of a classic public domain text, read and performed by Simon Stanhope for Bitesized Audio.
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There is not a great deal of reliable biographical information available about George Allen Upward (1863-1926). Born of Welsh parentage, he studied law at the Royal University of Ireland in Dublin in the early 1880s. He became a vocal supporter of nationalist causes including Irish Home Rule, composing poetry and journalism for the cause. He attempted to start a political career but was defeated in his attempts to stand for parliament in the Labour interest. Upward was the author of a number of popular but now-forgotten novels, including 'A Crown of Straw' (1896) and 'A Bride's Madness' (1897), and although highly prolific, indeed bestselling, in his day, his work has now fallen into comparative obscurity. (Incidentally he was a cousin of the rather better remembered novelist Edward Upward, 1903-2009.) Allen Upward died of a gunshot wound in November 1926 at the age of 63, apparently self-inflicted, although the exact circumstances are unclear and there has been some speculation as to whether it was suicide or accident, or if any third parties were involved.
Between December 1905 and April 1906, Upward published a series of five short stories in 'The Royal Magazine' under the banner title "The Ghost Hunters", rather grandiosely described as "A New Series of exciting Ghost Stories. They are entirely Different in Conception from Anything of the Kind that has ever been Published before." In fact they are not so very different from many of the ghost stories which were popular in the Edwardian era, but they are of interest inasmuch as they depict a male and female ghost-hunting duo in the shape of the narrator Jack Hargreaves, an estate agent who has ended up specialising in selling haunted houses (making a profit by laying the spirits to rest), and his "lady secretary" Miss Alwyne Sargent, who is a clairvoyant and "sensitive". Hargreaves and Sargent were thus an early example of the Edwardian vogue for "occult detectives", which culminated a few years later with the stories of Hope Hodgson's Carnacki and Algernon Blackwood's John Silence. However, although a couple of the individual stories have occasionally appeared in ghost story anthologies in the 20th century the series as a whole never appeared in book form, and the stories and characters have been rather overlooked.
'The Two Roses' is the fourth story in the sequence, and originally appeared in 'The Royal Magazine' in March 1906. Each story is stand-alone, but for those who prefer to listen from the beginning of the series the preceding episodes can be heard here:
The Green House, Wallington: • The Green House, Walli...
The Tapping on the Wainscot: • The Tapping on the Wai...
The Secret of Horner's Court: • The Secret of Horner's...
Recording © Bitesized Audio 2021. 
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'The Two Roses' is the fourth story in the "Ghost Hunters" series, which appeared in 'The Royal Magazine' between December 1905 and April 1906. Each story is stand-alone and can be heard separately, but for those who would like to listen from the beginning of the sequence the preceding episodes can be heard here:
1. The Green House, Wallington: ruclips.net/video/ClxptW0Ee8I/видео.html
2. The Tapping on the Wainscot: ruclips.net/video/lcEPK4Ypmjg/видео.html
3. The Secret of Horner's Court: ruclips.net/video/asIJ2rYQQwg/видео.html
Thank you for this wonderful content, I am so happy to have all four to listen to at bedtime.
Thanks Fiona! One more story (the last in the series) to come soon... next week I hope
@@BitesizedAudio you are spoiling us! Such excellent professional quality! Definitely one of the best channels on RUclips! My favourite anyway!🌹🌹
@@BitesizedAudio I look forward to it greatly, thank you so much.
Im settling into bed now with my headphones to let your video lull me to sleep. Bliss. 💚
Thank you!
A brilliant story, brilliantly read. I have loved all the stories in this series and I hope that there are more of them.
Thank you...Lovely weekend to you and everyone 💐💐
Thanks Stella, same to you!
Aha, a romance! I thought one was in the offing. Wonderful story, thanks as always!
Ah yes indeed, I recall you spotted the signs early! Stay tuned for the final episode to find out what happens next!
@@BitesizedAudio Oh goody, one more! 😍
Thank you once again 👏👏
You're welcome, thanks Barbara!
I've just finished a 14hr flight from Sydney to Vancouver and I downloaded a whole bunch of your stories to listen to while I was sleeping. Every time I woke up to turn around I heard the odd bit about being on a shop or talking about a mystery. It was sold much fun. Your voice kept me asleep (that's a compliment btw) 😊❤️
Thank goodness for your undulated narration, make's listening so much more enjoyable, tried listening to an American woman reading an Agatha Christie story not heard before & after five minutes had had enough. & switched off, a droning monotone does not make for an enjoyable tale, she reminded me of a teacher I had back in the 60s who taught geography & instead of keeping the class entranced by the wonders of the world, put 32 pupils into such a lathargic state that even the bell signaling the end of the lesson proved hard to rouse the affected,.....enjoyed your narrative as always such a pleasure on the ear, keep up the good work Thank You
Thanks Irena, appreciated!
Yes! The ghostbusting real estate agent is back!
Indeed. Quite a lucrative line of business it seems!
Thank you Mr. Simon. 👍👍
I just love these stories! Thank you for reading them so well.
Glad to know you enjoy them. Thanks for listening and taking the time to comment
Brilliant story, I love the two main characters in this series but despite how clever he is he’s really very dim, he needs to shape himself & get a wriggle on before he loses his chance. Thank-you Simon you really are blessed with a marvellous voice.xx
Thanks Lynda. Yes, he's not the sharpest tool in the box, is he? He's got one more episode left to see if he can shape up!
I am really fond of this series of stories. The telling is superb as always. Thank you so much, Simon. Cheers Pat in New Jersey.
Thanks Pat. Last one in the series coming soon I hope
THANK YOU!!!
I've been listening to these stories for a long time. I have never been disappointed. The reader is excellent and the stories are even better. I listen in my free time. When I find sleep difficult I listen to my favorite tales on this channel and quickly drift off to sleep and pleasant dreams.
Glad to help! Thanks Silver Tiger
A superb reading, as always. Many thanks!
Thank you Simon!
You're most welcome! Thanks Nancy
Thank you so much Simon ❤️ these
You're most welcome as always, thanks Annette
I needed another one of your wonderful stories today! Thank you, thank you, thank you! You have introduced me to so many talented writers. I wish I knew the voice actor's name so I could mention him personally, because he is wonderful. He makes such a distinction between characters, giving them different accents, that it's perfectly easy to follow a conversation in which the same actor plays both characters! That takes a special kind of genius.
Thank you for your kind comments, Martha, much appreciated. I'm the voice actor, my name is Simon Stanhope (I do put my name in the description below the videos but I know that's not always very visible, depending on what device you're using). Glad to know you enjoy the stories!
Super lovely as ever.
Annoying Old Pedant - Dais is two syllables
Thank you Bronwen, glad you enjoyed it. I don't mind pedantry at all, I'm always interested in variations in pronunciation and sometimes feel I spend an inordinate amount of time debating with myself which way to go with all sorts of words when I'm narrating. I'm aware I'm not always consistent, but I usually try to go for whatever would have been standard at the time (e.g. with words like "forehead" and "portrait") rather than the more familiar modern pronunciation, and as a consequence increasingly find myself using those pronunciations day to day, which gets me some funny looks. Oddly enough, I did look up the word "dais" as I had it in my mind that it can be pronounced with two syllables or one, the former being more common nowadays and the latter being older. That's what my OUP dictionary says anyway, but other dictionaries I checked (Collins, Macmillan) only give the two syllable option. Having just re-checked the OUP I note that it says the two-syllable pronunciation dates from the early 19th century and the one syllable version is much older, from Chaucer... So the upshot of all that is: I think you're quite right and I chose the wrong pronunciation both for the period as well as for today's ears! Mea culpa! The English language is endlessly fascinating...
What a good chap you are. The reason I noticed is because there’s a gorgeous song setting of ‘My heart is like a singing bird’ by Parry ( almost direct contemporary of Allen Upward) and ‘Dais’ is set clearly with two syllables. Dear me! I’m a lot funkier than I sound 🙄
Yay! Love this series, looking forward to this 😀
Oh, I loved the meeting between the two women and Jack's persistent stuffed-shirtiness and being in denial despite both women being aware! Clever of Upward, who I feel sure was writing tongue-in-cheek in this regard! So - on a promise, eh? As in engagement, I should add...
Excellent. You voice is perfect for narration.
Very kind of you to say so, thank you B!
Amazing amazing amazing! This channel just keeps getting better! Many thanks and blessings!🌹🌹
Kind of you to say so, thanks Maria!
Brilliant as always. Mr. Upward is quite the writer. He uses interesting words and imagery. Thanks Simon.
Loved all of these stories. Very well read .Thank you for sharing this
Glad to know you enjoyed it, thanks Dean
Oh it most certainly is this reader's business to know what that promise was!! Agh! The suspense...
@GinaBeena No spoilers, but it's just possible we may learn more in the next and final episode...
Roses are red lol happy days nice story thnks
Love these tales - there is humour cleverly written into the story. Perfect 🥰
I was quite taken both by this tale and your excellent telling of it. So much so, in fact, that I immediately brought myself up to date by listening to your renditions of the first three tales in the Ghost Hunters' saga. I'm quite an enthusiast of such things, and can't imagine how I could have missed encountering Allen Upward's work before this. My thanks for introducing me to the astute real estate speculator and his gifted "lady secretary." I'm glad that there remains a fifth story in this quintet. I saw your post indicating that you'll be reading that one for us before very long. I very much look forward to it. I've gone from a casual listener to a devoted completist over the last few months. I'll keep myself occupied until the fifth Ghost Hunters' installment by perusing some Bite Sized Classics that have fallen through the cracks of my attention until now. Thanks again!
Thanks David. Yes this series seems to have been almost entirely forgotten. The first story has occasionally appeared in anthologies, possibly the second one too, but I'm not sure the other three have ever been reprinted until quite recently when the collection was released in book form. I had to track down the original issues of the Royal Magazine to find them! Glad to know you enjoyed them, the last episode will be up very soon (tonight I hope). Thanks also for the coffee I see you bought me earlier, I really appreciate your support
Excellent , prerequisite ghost story
Bite sized Audio
Thank You for narrating
Prerequisite knowledge
Bravo!!!
Gosh, so much sexual sub-text and tension here! And most of it on the first train journey! Delicious and hilarious! Jack likes Alwyne (and also has a paternal protectiveness); his sister knows this and is jealous (her attire before the train journey; her sarcastic remark to Jack in reference to Alwyne's beauty; the cat and canary bird analogy). There's so much repressed sexuality in Jack, he makes M.R James' males seem like philandering Tom Joneses. I see Jack hasn't lost his "lights are on but nobody's home" meatheadedness, although we wouldn't swap him for anybody, would we? The guy's got a heart of gold. The lateral thinker is definitely Alwyne. She's the one who wonders how the pistol came to be fired when all Jack noticed was a still-loaded pistol. Is the sister slower than a geriatric crab? It does seem to take her a long time to appear after the pistol is dropped! And I think we can guess what the sister whispered at the end. (No, not: "What are you doing with this clown"!)
Interesting, I'd not seen the sister as jealous actually, I just thought she was a lot more observant than her brother (not difficult!) and wanted to meet the lady in question and nudge him along a bit. Certainly agree that Alwyne is the brains of the outfit, though! Will he let her slip through his fingers? Tune in next time to find out! Glad to know you enjoyed it, Tony, thanks as always for your comments and support.
Adore this series and your delivery. Have you considered writing and performing a continuation?
Thank you! I hadn't thought of that, but it's quite an idea! Will have to give it some thought, perhaps next year
@@BitesizedAudio Hope springs eternal!
Love... Thank you!
Cheers from New Orleans!! These delightful stories, wonderfully read by you, Sir.... are always of course overshadowed by authors like Algernon Blackwood and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. But all the same, I like the idea of this 'couple' going into haunted houses and taking care of everything, with their usual curiosity, courage and dispatch...
Loved this! Thanks.
Not a fan of ghost stories but this reader is very good so I'm giving it a listen. 😁
Thank you Judi, appreciated! I've got a couple of playlists of non-ghost stories I've narrated, and have several more detective and other mystery tales lined up for the new year
Loved it 😊
Thanks Denise
Gorgeously narrated as is your standard❣️I truly enjoy this series as well and though it puzzles me yet that it eluded my voracious appetite for literature of this era and ilk, But I am truly glad it did🥰
I'm glad to know that Nora, thank you for your kind comments
All very romantic, but my archaeologist's heart is desperate to know what they did with the in-situ textiles and where on earth the lovers were getting roses seemingly throughout the year in the early 1700s, when mere window glass was a show of opulence. It is quite funny that Jane realised something was going on between those two before the narrator did, though. I hope he liked the lady better than that "might as well" reasoning implied. The spiritual magnetism stuff was highly entertaining, too, to the point I wonder if that was an old-timey in-joke or meme of the period.
Also, this is your voice? If so, you have a very fine, expressive and flexible voice, and it is a joy to hear from you.
@CrowSkeleton Yes, good points. I must say, I'd be a little reluctant to sleep in a bed in a room/wing of a house which has been left to moulder completely untouched for c.200 years with merely the promise of some clean sheets! I'd anticipate some unwelcome bedfellows. But the narrator and his companions obviously don't seem to mind. Unless they expect the woman to deep clean and air the mattresses with only a few hours' notice...
It is indeed my voice, thank you for your very kind comments, I'm glad to know you enjoy the stories.
Flowers and roses were a big industry already in those days. A lot of them are imported. I remember the history regarding the great Tulip speculative buying in the 16th century in Holland where businessmen and importers all over Europe are buying and selling per flower costing thousands of pounds. A giant kings ransom just to buy a single tulip.
@@inisipisTV Very true: the tulips were however sold and traded as *bulbs*, as with almost all other imported varieties of plant. Live and/or cut flowers were not being imported on anything close to today's scale, even for Kew or the King, since such voyages would not be practical before the advent of rail travel.
Inert things like shells from colonised areas of the tropics, for sure (look up Goldney Grotto sometime, I think the public can even go in there now), winter roses...ehh, you'd have to be related to royalty or very rich on slave trading to have an onsite hothouse before 1760, and there isn't one described. I suspect the author just forgot, being Victorian and used to glasshouses everywhere/rose breeds developed for length of bloom, but more generously I'd say either the love affair occurred only from May-October or that these flowers are silken tokens, lovingly made and exchanged back (with kisses) via some faithful servant wating in the wings.
Wonderful romantic ghost story
I have two roses. One for me. And one for you. Thank you!
How kind! Thank you 🌹
I have thoroughly enjoyed all four parts, but this one best of all. It really engaged my imagination. Thank you, cher Simon, for introducing me to a new favourite. Your rendition was, as always, pitch perfect. ❤
Excellent, glad to know that Bob. One more episode to go...
These haunted house realtor stories are wonderful! Are these 3 on this playlist the only ones?
Glad to know you enjoy them! No, there are five in the series in total, this one is episode 4. They're all available individually on the channel, but once I'd recorded the final episode I also put them together, so the full series is available here: ruclips.net/video/dyJAHVGnk1I/видео.html
Thanks for listening!
@@BitesizedAudio I found it. Thank you so much.
Quite a sad one again.
🌹🌹💖💖💔💔
A Brilliant story, brilliantly read. I have loved all the stories in this series and hope there are more of them
Glad you enjoyed it. There's just one more in this series (five stories in total), and I hope to have it recorded and uploaded later next week, all being well...