The Haunted Major

by Robert Marshall

Overview

Brilliantly observed and superbly characterised, The Haunted Major recounts the epic golfing match between the outrageously pompous Major and the reigning Open Champion, Jim Lindsay. The prize? The chance to propose to the captivating (and extremely wealthy) Mrs Gunter. Despite being 'the finest sportsman living', the Major despises golf, has never played it and considers a week's practice in secret in his hotel bedroom at St Andrews quite enough to whip the upstart. But events take an unexpected turn with the appearances of the ghostly Cardinal. . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780857861559
Publisher:	Canongate Books
Publication date:	05/18/1999
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	160
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Robert Marshall was a Scottish golfer and author of The Enchanted Golf Clubs.

Read an Excerpt

Copyright © by Robert Marshall. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.

Table of Contents

About Myself

7

I Dine at Lowchester House

19

The Challenge

27

St. Magnus

36

I Begin To Golf

45

I Continue Practice

58

I Meet the Cardinal

69

The Cardinal's Chamber

79

His Eminence and I

90

The Fateful Morning

103

An Expectant Crowd

114

The Match Begins

122

I Test the Clubs

134

The Second Round

164

In the Throes

156

An Exciting Finish

172

And Last

178

Editorial Reviews

Classic -- I have read it at least six times.

Times (London)

Originally published in England in 1902 but only now released in the U.S., this delightful novel offers a pleasing mix of Victorian-era class arrogance, spooky supernatural thrills and love of the maddening game of golf. Marshall (1863-1910) was a Scottish playwright and novelist with a sharp eye for character, color, satire and the stunning twist of plot. The haunted major is Major the Honorable John William Wentworth Gore. Known as Jacky to his elite class of stuffed-shirt Englishmen, he's a pompous fop who proclaims himself to be "the finest sportsman living." Smitten with an American millionairess, Katherine Gunter, whom he earnestly admits is desirable as much for her money as for her beauty, Jacky unwisely challenges golf champion Jim Lindsay to a match. Jacky's wager: whoever wins the match in Scotland at the ancient royal course of St. Magnus will get first crack at proposing marriage to Katherine. But Jacky has greatly exaggerated his golf expertise--in fact, he's a novice golfer--and has only one week to prepare. His imperious training methods are comically bizarre and utterly worthless, and his worries take on new weight when he is approached by a cackling old ghost, the spirit of Cardinal Smeaton, a golf-loving Scottish prelate with a bewitched set of golf clubs for Jacky to use. The day of the match is a surprise for everyone, even the ghost, and the outcome is charmingly unexpected and satisfying. With plenty of hooks, slices, worm-burners, flying divots and whiffs, this brief novel vividly explores and satirizes the humorous mysteries of golf and golfers. The 11 whimsical original illustrations by Harry Furniss and the introduction by Updike grace the presentation. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

There is probably no golfer worth his or her salt who has not read this 1902 novel. The plot follows two men--one an ace, the other a novice--who use a game of golf to decide which of them will ask for a certain lady's hand in marriage. Along with the full text, this includes 11 illustrations and a new introduction by John Updike, himself an avid golfer.

Library Journal

[A] deliciously humourous short novel...Marshall, a turn-of-the-century playwright and novelist, spins a delightfully satirical yarn made all the more enjoyable by Updike's erudite yet lively essay, which supplies the modern reader with historical context. The tale will resonate with anyone who has endured the maddening vicissitudes of golf.
—ForeWord

Dale Flesher

This 1902 novel by a little-known Scots writer (1863–1910) makes a first US appearance in a new edition garnished with the lively original illustrations (by artist Harry Furniss) and an appreciative send-off by John Updike, who in his introduction calls it "a curious amalgam of religious history, Edwardian foppery, and golfing madness." Just so, for this tale of spiritual possession and social comeuppance feels much like a lost work by P.G. Wodehouse—who expressed admiration for Marshall's odd little masterpiece. The narrator and principal character is Major (of Hussars) John Gore, a supremely egotistical fellow and a self-renowned sportsman. When the widower Gore resolves to marry, handsome Katherine Clavering Gunter is discovered to be an "ardent golfer"—and, furthermore, the apparent cynosure of the annoyingly keen eye of championship golfer Jim Lindsay. Our hero thus subdues his contempt for a "sport" that offers no physical risk (and which he has never played) and challenges the affable Lindsay to a match whose prize will be the unobstructed path to Mrs. Gunter's hand. Gore's expertise at manly games like polo proves irrelevant (as his exasperated caddy observes, "Ye'll no hae a hoarse to help ye at goalf"), and all seems lost until the ghost of a Scots prelate, Cardinal Smeaton, offers supernatural aid—the unassuming Lindsay being, as the Cardinal confides, a descendant "o` ane of my maist determined foes." The great match at St. Magnus is described in suitably mock-heroic accents; Gore vacillates suspensefully between employing the Cardinal's "bewitched clubs" and his own minimal skills; and the story concludes ridiculously well for all concerned, leading to aningenious (triple) surprise ending. A most enjoyable rediscovery in the "sporting" tradition that extends back to the pre-Dickensian Jorrock's Jaunts and Jollities. .

Kirkus Reviews