The Nebuly Coat

Last updated

The Nebuly Coat
Author J. Meade Falkner
LanguageEnglish
Publication place Britain

The Nebuly Coat is a suspense novel written by J. Meade Falkner. It was published in 1903 and has since been adapted for the stage.

Contents

Plot

The book tells of the experiences of a young architect, Edward Westray, who is sent to the remote town of Cullerne to supervise restoration work on Cullerne Minster. [1] He finds himself caught up in Cullerne life, and hears rumours about a mystery surrounding the claim to the title of Lord Blandamer, whose coat of arms in the Minster's great transept window is the nebuly coat of the title. When the new Lord Blandamer arrives, promising to pay all the costs of the restoration, Westray suspects that the new lord is not what he seems.

The Telegraph said the book "could strike the careless reader as no more than a curiosity, a bit of amateur work. Yet this would be a mistake." [2]

Background

A coat of arms with a 'nebuly' design of the kind referenced in the title. Blason Autoreille.svg
A coat of arms with a 'nebuly' design of the kind referenced in the title.

The Nebuly Coat includes elements that were central interests in Falkner's life, church architecture and heraldry.[ citation needed ] The massive Romanesque arches of Cullerne Minster recall those of Durham Cathedral, with which Falkner was familiar through his work as Honorary Librarian to the Dean and Chapter as well as viewing it from his house on Palace Green.[ citation needed ] Hayman thinks that the plot was inspired by the collapse of the central tower of the Chichester Cathedral in 1861. [3]

Publication history

Productions

It was adapted for radio in the Story Time slot on the BBC Home Service by Thea Holme starting on 1 April 1965. [6] It was produced by Brian Miller, and the organ was played by Edward Fry at St. Monica's Chapel, Bristol. The actors were: [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">York Minster</span> Grade I listed cathedral in England

York Minster, formally the "Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York", is an Anglican cathedral in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The minster is the seat of the archbishop of York, the third-highest office of the Church of England, and is the mother church for the diocese of York and the province of York. It is administered by its dean and chapter. The minster is a Grade I listed building and a scheduled monument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood</span> British princess (1897–1965)

Mary, Princess Royal was a member of the British royal family. She was the only daughter of King George V and Queen Mary, the sister of Kings Edward VIII and George VI, and aunt of Elizabeth II. In the First World War, she performed charity work in support of servicemen and their families. She married Henry Lascelles, Viscount Lascelles, in 1922. Mary was given the title of Princess Royal in 1932. During the Second World War, she was Controller Commandant of the Auxiliary Territorial Service. The Princess Royal and the Earl of Harewood had two sons, George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood, and The Honourable Gerald Lascelles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ripon Cathedral</span> Cathedral in Ripon, North Yorkshire, England

The Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Wilfrid, commonly known as Ripon Cathedral, and until 1836 known as Ripon Minster, is a cathedral in Ripon, North Yorkshire, England. Founded as a monastery by monks of the Irish tradition in the 660s, it was refounded as a Benedictine monastery by St Wilfrid in 672. The church became collegiate in the tenth century, and acted as a mother church within the large Diocese of York for the remainder of the Middle Ages. The present church is the fourth, and was built between the 13th and 16th centuries. In 1836 the church became the cathedral for the Diocese of Ripon. In 2014 the Diocese was incorporated into the new Diocese of Leeds, and the church became one of three co-equal cathedrals of the Bishop of Leeds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burford</span> Town in Oxfordshire, England

Burford is a town on the River Windrush, in the Cotswold hills, in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England. It is often referred to as the 'gateway' to the Cotswolds. Burford is located 18 miles (29 km) west of Oxford and 22 miles (35 km) southeast of Cheltenham, about 2 miles (3 km) from the Gloucestershire boundary. The toponym derives from the Old English words burh meaning fortified town or hilltown and ford, the crossing of a river. The 2011 Census recorded the population of Burford parish as 1,422.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peterborough (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom since 1801

Peterborough is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2019 by Paul Bristow of the Conservative Party.

Reading was a parliamentary borough, and later a borough constituency in England, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of England until 1707, the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1950 and 1955 to 1974. Until 1885, the constituency comprised the town of Reading in the county of Berkshire; after 1885, it was centred on the town but the exact boundaries differed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bingley railway station</span> Railway station in West Yorkshire, England

Bingley is a grade II listed railway station that serves the market town of Bingley in West Yorkshire, England. It is located 13.5 miles (21.7 km) from Leeds and 5.5 miles (8.9 km) away from Bradford Forster Square, on the Airedale line; services are operated by Northern Trains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Zouche</span> 14th-century Archbishop of York and Treasurer of England

William de la Zouche (1299–1352) was Lord Treasurer of England and served as Archbishop of York from 1342 until his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Cheshire (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1832–1868

North Cheshire is a former United Kingdom parliamentary constituency. It was created upon the division of Cheshire in 1832. In 1868 it was abolished with South Cheshire to form East Cheshire, Mid Cheshire, West Cheshire and Stalybridge.

Derby is a former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. It was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1950. It was represented by two members of parliament. It was divided into the single-member constituencies of Derby North and Derby South in 1950.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scarborough (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1974–1997

Scarborough was the name of a constituency in Yorkshire, electing Members of Parliament to the House of Commons, at two periods. From 1295 until 1918 it was a parliamentary borough consisting only of the town of Scarborough, electing two MPs until 1885 and one from 1885 until 1918. In 1974 the name was revived for a county constituency, covering a much wider area; this constituency was abolished in 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nottingham (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1801–1885

Nottingham was a parliamentary borough in Nottinghamshire, which elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons from 1295. In 1885 the constituency was abolished and the city of Nottingham divided into three single-member constituencies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Levy-Lawson, 1st Baron Burnham</span> British newspaper proprietor (1833-1916)

Edward Levy-Lawson, 1st Baron Burnham,, known as Sir Edward Levy-Lawson, 1st Baronet, from 1892 to 1903, was an English newspaper proprietor. He was the owner and publisher of The Daily Telegraph.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hull Minster</span> Anglican minster church in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England

Hull Minster is the Anglican minster and the parish church of Kingston upon Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The church was called Holy Trinity Church until 13 May 2017 when it became Hull Minster.

Sandwich was a parliamentary constituency in Kent, which elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons from 1366 until 1885, when it was disfranchised for corruption.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halifax, West Yorkshire</span> Town in West Yorkshire, England

Halifax is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. It is near the east Pennine foothills. In the 15th century, the town became an economic hub of the old West Riding of Yorkshire, primarily in woollen manufacture with the large Piece Hall square later built for trading wool in the town centre. The town was a thriving mill town during the Industrial Revolution with the Dean Clough Mill buildings a surviving landmark. In 2011, it had a population of 88,134. It is also the administrative centre of the wider Calderdale Metropolitan Borough.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bile Beans</span> Patent medicine

Bile Beans was a laxative and tonic first marketed in the 1890s. The product supposedly contained substances extracted from a hitherto unknown vegetable source by a fictitious chemist known as Charles Forde. In the early years Bile Beans were marketed as "Charles Forde's Bile Beans for Biliousness", and sales relied heavily on newspaper advertisements. Among other cure-all claims, Bile Beans promised to "disperse unwanted fat" and "purify and enrich the blood".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Knight (architect)</span>

Lieutenant Colonel James Edward Knight TD JP, was an English Architect based in Rotherham.

This is a summary of 1922 in music in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbert Vivian</span> English journalist and writer (1865–1940)

Herbert Vivian was an English journalist, author and newspaper owner, who befriended Lord Randolph Churchill, Charles Russell, Leopold Maxse and others in the 1880s. He campaigned for Irish Home Rule and was private secretary to Wilfrid Blunt, poet and writer, who stood in the 1888 Deptford by-election. Vivian's writings caused a rift between Oscar Wilde and James NcNeil Whistler. In the 1890s, Vivian was a leader of the Neo-Jacobite Revival, a monarchist movement keen to restore a Stuart to the British throne and replace the parliamentary system. Before the First World War he was friends with Winston Churchill and was the first journalist to interview him. Vivian lost as Liberal candidate for Deptford in 1906. As an extreme monarchist throughout his life, he became in the 1920s a supporter of fascism. His several books included the novel The Green Bay Tree with William Henry Wilkins. He was a noted Serbophile; his writings on the Balkans remain influential.

References

  1. "The Nebuly Coat. By John Meade Falkner. Edward Arnold" . Leeds Mercury. England. 23 November 1903. Retrieved 18 March 2019 via British Newspaper Archive.
  2. Wilson, AN (5 January 2004). "World of books". www.telegraph.co.uk. The Telegraph . Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  3. Heyman, Jacques (2015). "Strainer arches". Construction History. 30 (2). The Construction History Society: 1. ISSN   0267-7768. JSTOR   44215905 . Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  4. "London Notes and Comment" . Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. England. 24 September 1943. Retrieved 18 March 2019 via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. "Christmas Choice" . Birmingham Daily Post. England. 30 November 1954. Retrieved 18 March 2019 via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. "Television and Radio" . Coventry Evening Telegraph. England. 1 April 1965. Retrieved 18 March 2019 via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. "Thursday, 1st April 1965". The Radio Times (2159): 60. 25 March 1965. Retrieved 18 March 2019.