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Sabine Baring-Gould: The Man Who Told a Thousand Stories
A full biography of a man who did everything in excess. He lived to be ninety; he fathered fifteen children; he wrote 130 books; he collected folksongs and wrote hymns. He never ran short of energy. His novels were bestsellers in the final decades of the Victorian era. He was almost never dull, even when writing collections of sermons or Lives of the Saints. The biography took an alarming 15 years to write, and is the result of exhaustive researches into Baring-Gould's archives, as well as reading nearly all his books. It is 540 pages, in a handsome hardback format, with illustrations.
534 pages, Hardcover
Published March 15, 2017
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45 people want to read
About the author
Rebecca Tope
84 books219 followersRebecca Tope is best known as the author of over twenty crime novels. She has also recently produced the e-book entitled 'The Indifference of Tumbleweed'. She has every intention of continuing with the murder stories, as well as a variety of other kinds of fiction.
She has experienced many different kinds of work in her time - running antenatal classes, counselling troubled couples and being an office girl for an undertaker, for example. There were also several years monitoring the output of dairy cows, as well as every sort of task associated with book publishing. In 1992, she founded Praxis Books, a small British press.
She lives surrounded by trees she has planted herself, tending her own sheep.
She has experienced many different kinds of work in her time - running antenatal classes, counselling troubled couples and being an office girl for an undertaker, for example. There were also several years monitoring the output of dairy cows, as well as every sort of task associated with book publishing. In 1992, she founded Praxis Books, a small British press.
She lives surrounded by trees she has planted herself, tending her own sheep.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 15, 2017
A comprehensive biography of Sabine Baring-Gould. The comments below are limited to matters that are of note because of information that relate to my grandfather (Edward Sabine Baring-Gould (ESBG) and information from my mother (Adele Baring-Gould Reboul (ABGR)) and stories from other relatives.
P 242: In referring to the time SBG and his older children spent in Germany, Tope says "They were to spend some time in German schools over the coming years, apparently quite contentedly." I remember a story that my mother heard from her father ESBG. Edward was with a family in Germany one Christmas and received a gift which was exactly what he wanted. He said "Danke" which could mean no thanks rather than "Danke Schoen". The family was displeased and did not deliver the gift and her father was too shy to correct them.
P. 308-309. Recounts the story of SBG not recognizing his child except as I remember the story, as told by my mother I assume, that it was a little son who was asked "And whose little boy are you?" and the response was "Yours Papa."
P. 343: Tope refers indirectly to the story of the "Scamp".
P. 346: SBG was in Nice in March or April 1891 for research for his book In Troubadour-Land which appeared in 1891.
P. 347: J.M. Barrie's very destructive article on SBG's novels.
P. 350: Refers to a collection of "anecdotes that illustrate unkindness and corruption, superstition and folly, much of it manifested by clergymen."
P. 351: Quotes an article which says that there is no charm and no subtlety in SBG's books.
P. 361: Reference to his son Edward employing Gertrude Jekyll.
P. 363: Notes a developing pattern in the story lines that the most interesting characters are invariably women.
P. 382: Reference in his diary to his son Edward's engagement to Marion Linton.
P. 393: Visit at the end 0f 1894 of his son Edward who was then working in America.
P. 399: It was February 1897 before the family met Marion.
P. 400: The author characterizes Marion and another woman as follows: "Both women were assertive, capable and brisk, and would stand little nonsense from their husbands and children. To Sabine they stood in sharp contrast to his own beloved Grace..."
P. 400: The new dining room.
P. 412: 1895 Ardoch Lodge built for SBG's stepmother, known as Granny Ardoch.
P. 413: SBG's daughter Cicely fell and the other children thinking her dead began to bury her.
P. 415: Family tree indicated as accurate up to the early 1990's. Looking at the branch relating to the descendants of ESBG, most of the children seem to be there but the names and the birth order is frequently incorrect.
P. 416: Reference to Dartmoor bogs; SBG as an archaeologist.
P. 423: May 1896, corner stone laid for the Ballroom which was usable by February 1897.
P. 424: Joan Priestly in 1967 gave an account or Edward and Marion's homecoming.
P. 428: ESBG's mother-in-law died and her relatives offered to finance a memorial in the church.
P. 436: SBG's extensive travels for his "topographical" works including A Book of North Wales, A Book of Brittany, etc.
P. 444: SBG working flat out on all his interests.
P. 486: In 1908, Edward, aged thirty-seven, was fined ten pounds for reckless driving. The newspaper report confused Edward with his father. As Adele Reboul, his daughter, recounted the story, the mechanic which took care of the car said that the car could not achieve the alleged speed on that day but that at that time the motor car was always at fault. She also noted that Edward's license was endorsed with a notice of the reckless driving. Over time he became almost proud of having received a summons at such an early date as 1908 and was sorry when the endorsement was removed from his license.
P. 5o0: The book contains the following; "A third volume of his Reminiscences in which he deals with the final years of his life, was destroyed without trace, reputably because it did wallow in sentiment to an extent that he - or more likely one of his offspring - felt was unacceptable and which would not help his posthumous image. One theory was that it was disposed of by his daughter-in-law, Marion because it reflected badly on her. Sabine refers to it in a letter written in 1921, in which he is confident that it will be published after his death - which adds weight to the theory of Marion, or perhaps another relative, as culprit."
P. 502: He must have written hundreds of letters to his wife Grace "but it seems they have all been destroyed."
P. 502 n. 95: "A persistent legend has it that George Bernard Shaw based his play Pygmalion on the Baring-Goulds. No evidence has yet emerged that this is true."
P. 509: 'By mid summer of 1919, Edward and Marion had moved into Lew House permanently. Edward was suffering from malaria, and two years later he was stricken by a heart attack."
According to her son Bickford, SBGs eldest daughter Mary "listened to a lot of complaints about his
treatment at the hands of Edward and Marion."
P. 512: "When he [Edward] got home from the war, he found his business was in trouble, and the Lew estate was floundering. The heir to this estate was urged by his many siblings to quickly take up the reins and get things straight."
P. 513: Edward's marital mis behavior.
P. 514: SBG in a letter dated May 31, 1923 stated that "King Lear went through somewhat similar circumstances."
P. 515: Reference to Ron Waxman's website (www.nevercompletelysubmerged.co.uk).
P. 520: The house "was rescued in the nick of time in the 1950's by a sterling couple named Paynter."
P 242: In referring to the time SBG and his older children spent in Germany, Tope says "They were to spend some time in German schools over the coming years, apparently quite contentedly." I remember a story that my mother heard from her father ESBG. Edward was with a family in Germany one Christmas and received a gift which was exactly what he wanted. He said "Danke" which could mean no thanks rather than "Danke Schoen". The family was displeased and did not deliver the gift and her father was too shy to correct them.
P. 308-309. Recounts the story of SBG not recognizing his child except as I remember the story, as told by my mother I assume, that it was a little son who was asked "And whose little boy are you?" and the response was "Yours Papa."
P. 343: Tope refers indirectly to the story of the "Scamp".
P. 346: SBG was in Nice in March or April 1891 for research for his book In Troubadour-Land which appeared in 1891.
P. 347: J.M. Barrie's very destructive article on SBG's novels.
P. 350: Refers to a collection of "anecdotes that illustrate unkindness and corruption, superstition and folly, much of it manifested by clergymen."
P. 351: Quotes an article which says that there is no charm and no subtlety in SBG's books.
P. 361: Reference to his son Edward employing Gertrude Jekyll.
P. 363: Notes a developing pattern in the story lines that the most interesting characters are invariably women.
P. 382: Reference in his diary to his son Edward's engagement to Marion Linton.
P. 393: Visit at the end 0f 1894 of his son Edward who was then working in America.
P. 399: It was February 1897 before the family met Marion.
P. 400: The author characterizes Marion and another woman as follows: "Both women were assertive, capable and brisk, and would stand little nonsense from their husbands and children. To Sabine they stood in sharp contrast to his own beloved Grace..."
P. 400: The new dining room.
P. 412: 1895 Ardoch Lodge built for SBG's stepmother, known as Granny Ardoch.
P. 413: SBG's daughter Cicely fell and the other children thinking her dead began to bury her.
P. 415: Family tree indicated as accurate up to the early 1990's. Looking at the branch relating to the descendants of ESBG, most of the children seem to be there but the names and the birth order is frequently incorrect.
P. 416: Reference to Dartmoor bogs; SBG as an archaeologist.
P. 423: May 1896, corner stone laid for the Ballroom which was usable by February 1897.
P. 424: Joan Priestly in 1967 gave an account or Edward and Marion's homecoming.
P. 428: ESBG's mother-in-law died and her relatives offered to finance a memorial in the church.
P. 436: SBG's extensive travels for his "topographical" works including A Book of North Wales, A Book of Brittany, etc.
P. 444: SBG working flat out on all his interests.
P. 486: In 1908, Edward, aged thirty-seven, was fined ten pounds for reckless driving. The newspaper report confused Edward with his father. As Adele Reboul, his daughter, recounted the story, the mechanic which took care of the car said that the car could not achieve the alleged speed on that day but that at that time the motor car was always at fault. She also noted that Edward's license was endorsed with a notice of the reckless driving. Over time he became almost proud of having received a summons at such an early date as 1908 and was sorry when the endorsement was removed from his license.
P. 5o0: The book contains the following; "A third volume of his Reminiscences in which he deals with the final years of his life, was destroyed without trace, reputably because it did wallow in sentiment to an extent that he - or more likely one of his offspring - felt was unacceptable and which would not help his posthumous image. One theory was that it was disposed of by his daughter-in-law, Marion because it reflected badly on her. Sabine refers to it in a letter written in 1921, in which he is confident that it will be published after his death - which adds weight to the theory of Marion, or perhaps another relative, as culprit."
P. 502: He must have written hundreds of letters to his wife Grace "but it seems they have all been destroyed."
P. 502 n. 95: "A persistent legend has it that George Bernard Shaw based his play Pygmalion on the Baring-Goulds. No evidence has yet emerged that this is true."
P. 509: 'By mid summer of 1919, Edward and Marion had moved into Lew House permanently. Edward was suffering from malaria, and two years later he was stricken by a heart attack."
According to her son Bickford, SBGs eldest daughter Mary "listened to a lot of complaints about his
treatment at the hands of Edward and Marion."
P. 512: "When he [Edward] got home from the war, he found his business was in trouble, and the Lew estate was floundering. The heir to this estate was urged by his many siblings to quickly take up the reins and get things straight."
P. 513: Edward's marital mis behavior.
P. 514: SBG in a letter dated May 31, 1923 stated that "King Lear went through somewhat similar circumstances."
P. 515: Reference to Ron Waxman's website (www.nevercompletelysubmerged.co.uk).
P. 520: The house "was rescued in the nick of time in the 1950's by a sterling couple named Paynter."
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