Round the Herne

Some years ago I was invited to attend a Halloween event in London where people were to take turns in reading short horror stories by candlelight (very Victorian). I couldn't make it so recorded a story on YouTube and sent that in my stead. This year I decided to pick that tradition back up by recording a short story by the prolific author Saki (partly because I like his work, but also because I'm too tired to dream up something original of my own). This particular tale is 'Gabriel-Ernest', in which a confirmed bachelor encounters a naked youth in the woods who turns out to be alarming rather than alluring. I am thinking of inviting a few friends over at midwinter to share a bottle or six, an open fire, roast chestnuts, and share some spectral tales.

A short poem written in lyric metre for the fund raiser I organised the other week. It's taken two weeks to find five minutes to actually have spare in which to record it! The poem, which is really meant to be read by a woman (so you'll have to visualise that part, or imagine me without the beard) tells the story of the priestess Tarpeia who betrayed Rome int he hope of getting a ton of gold, and presumably running away from the Temple of Vesta to start a new life - she could hardly stay, had her plan worked. The Sabines, to whom she had betrayed Rome, almost got into the city but were stopped by the god Janus who scalded them with boiling water.