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A Field Guide to the English Clergy: A Compendium of Diverse Eccentrics, Pirates, Prelates and Adventurers; All Anglican, Some Even Practising
‘Ridiculously enjoyable’ Tom Holland
A Book of the Year for The Times, Mail on Sunday and BBC History Magazine
The ‘Mermaid of Morwenstow’ excommunicated a cat for mousing on a Sunday. When he was late for a service, Bishop Lancelot Fleming commandeered a Navy helicopter. ‘Mad Jack’ swapped his surplice for leopard skin and insisted on being carried around in a coffin. And then there was the man who, like Noah’s evil twin, tried to eat one of each of God’s creatures…
In spite of all this they saw the church as their true calling. These portraits reveal the Anglican church in all its colourful madness.
A Book of the Year for The Times, Mail on Sunday and BBC History Magazine
The ‘Mermaid of Morwenstow’ excommunicated a cat for mousing on a Sunday. When he was late for a service, Bishop Lancelot Fleming commandeered a Navy helicopter. ‘Mad Jack’ swapped his surplice for leopard skin and insisted on being carried around in a coffin. And then there was the man who, like Noah’s evil twin, tried to eat one of each of God’s creatures…
In spite of all this they saw the church as their true calling. These portraits reveal the Anglican church in all its colourful madness.
208 pages, Paperback
Published November 2, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
February 15, 2021
Church of England, The - an organisation that seeks to put into practise the transformative message of Jesus Christ via the medium of jumble sales, bad coffee and emotional stuntedness. This strategy has, until recently, proved a remarkably effective one among the English people.
The greatest impediment to my being a Christian is my deplorable inability to believe its central thesis, but this book cheered my up no end by showing that the Church of England has a long tradition of appointing rogues, idiots, and atheists to it's highest honours. My atheism suddenly appears less of an obstacle to the devout life, when so many vicars down the centuries were so unorthodox: from Federick Simpson, Dean of Trinity College, who expressed doubt in the divinity of Christ and preferred aviation to preaching, to The Right Reverend Lord William Cecil, Bishop of Exeter, who referred to the Bible as that awkward book, to 'Mad Jack' Allington who preached free love in the 1820s, to Dr Edward Drax Free, who treated the church property as a personal resource and literally sold the lead off the roof, after which his bad behaviour could no longer be ignored and the Bishop of Lincoln had to remove him by force, Drax having barricaded himself into the vicarage with his pistols, his porn, and his favourite house maid.
That's just a small selection of the endearing characters that populate this book. Individually they are all fascinating and many clearly deserve a full-length biography of their own. Underneath the light, comedic tone of the book is a great sorrow and nostalgia that their time has passed. Where are the eccentrics now? Does anyone know a modern day vicar who would build a full-scale steam train and railway in his garden? Or swim out to sea to impersonate a mermaid? Or blow his wife's entire inheritance on dogs (while creating the Jack Russell terrier)? Our modern day vicars, chosen by sober bureaucracy instead of exasperated landlords, are a less exalted breed, even if they are more likely to actually fulfil their duties.
If just one vicar reads this book and is inspired to throw caution to the wind and take up missionary drag shows then this book will have been a great success.
September 24, 2018
The community of Anglican priests is well-known for having more than its fair share of weirdos. Fergus Butler-Gallie draws back the curtain on some prime historical specimens. The back cover lists, for example, the Reverend Edward Drax Free, whose reaction to the attempts of his congregation to oust him for (amongst other things) repeated public drunkenness and stealing the lead from the church roof to sell for scrap was to lock himself in his study with “his favourite maid, a brace of pistols, and a stack of French pornography”. Eccentricity doesn’t mean awfulness, though; there’s a great charm in the vicar who insisted upon traveling only by horse (which he named Sabbatical, so that his secretary could quite honestly tell callers that the good reverend was “away on Sabbatical”), or in Launcelot Fleming, Bishop of Portsmouth, who once commandeered a Navy helicopter when he was late for services. Another one for the Anglophile, Anglican, or, indeed, eccentric of any persuasion, come Christmastime.
Originally published here.
Originally published here.
January 20, 2019
Such a great read, witty and very informative. Includes a lot of names that if you think you know, you probably do, and this book reveals why!
November 13, 2022
Fun little gift book. Perfect for some one with a sense of humour who is either Christian and/or loves history. Nicely presented and easily read in small installments.
April 18, 2019
The Church of England is (in)famous for being a broad Christian tradition; within Anglicanism one can find Anglo-Catholics, low-church evangelicals, theological liberals, and charismatics. And, as the King James Version puts it in 1 Peter 2:19, you also find “peculiar people.”
In ‘A Field Guide to the English Clergy,’ Fergus Butler-Gallie introduces us to a host such colourful clerical characters. The book is divided into several sections such as “Rogues,” “Prodigal Sons,” and “Bon Viveurs” and each entry is about 3-4 pages long; Butler-Gallie provides a brief biographical sketch and then chronicles the mishaps and misadventures of these men (he exclusively profiles male clerics, pointing out that it was not until rather recently that women were ordained to the priesthood and humorously protesting that WERE he to profile them, they might take legal action against him!).
No doubt each reader will have their own favourite profiles. Among mine were George Harvest (1728-89, the absent-minded Rector of Thames Ditton who was engaged to be married TWICE but who forgot about his nuptials the day of; he went fishing on his first wedding day and for a pleasant country stroll on the second. That was hardly the end of his mishaps as Butler-Gallie writes:
“Perhaps his finest pastoral moment came when he was asked to explain the constellations of the night sky to Lady Onslow (the wife of the friend who had got him his job). Midway through Harvest’s explanation, the noble lady suddenly felt a warm and damp sensation at her feet; Harvest, pressed by a call of nature, had taken advantage of the cover afforded by the darkness of the night and begun to relieve himself while continuing his astronomical lecture. Unfortunately for Lady Onslow, Harvest had mixed up his left and right and, while he thought he was surreptitiously urinating away from her (itself a less than ideal situation) he was, in fact, detailing the wonders of the Plough while passing water down her leg” (p. 9).
Another of my favourites was the tragic tale of Harold Davidson, the Rector of Stiffkey. The priest had formerly worked as an entertainer before taking holy orders. During the course of his ministry he became known as the “Prostitute’s Padre” due to his mission to rescue young girls he believed were precipitously close to falling into a life of vice. All in all, he is thought to have approached hundreds, possible as high as one thousand, such girls. However, while his quest to protect these young girls’ dignity led to all sorts of sordid rumours, it is not believed that he acted inappropriately or took advantage of any of these women. UNFORTUNATELY, charges were still brought against him by some who suspected him of impropriety and during his court case a photograph was found of him with a nearly naked girl, leading to his defrocking. The saga of Harold Davidson had, by this point, captured worldwide attention. After his removal from the priesthood, Davidson returned to show business; he would climb into a barrel to preach sermons. As interest in these performances waned, he attempted a much more dangerous act: “A modern Daniel in a lion’s den.” Sadly, during one of the performances, one of the two lions became so agitated that it attacked Davidson, mauling him so viciously that he later died.
It is hard to read G.K. Chesterton without not feeling as if one is palpably sharing in Chesterton’s gigantic joy; such a sensation is a rare thing indeed. Yet in reading “A Field Guide to the English Clergy,” I felt the same sensation as I read of Edwin Boston’s enthusiasm for trains, of Claude Jenkins’ staggering library, of various clerics’ penchant for booze and tobacco. I must admit, while studying theology I had my doubts about some students who were in the MDiv program; these brief biographies prove that there have always been scoundrels and scallywags in the ministry. Yet Butler-Gallie writes about these clergy affectionately, sympathetically; despite their foibles and quirks, many of them came to be beloved by their parishioners. I would heartily recommend this wonderful, whimsical book to everyone, but particularly to Anglicans and those serving in ministry.
In ‘A Field Guide to the English Clergy,’ Fergus Butler-Gallie introduces us to a host such colourful clerical characters. The book is divided into several sections such as “Rogues,” “Prodigal Sons,” and “Bon Viveurs” and each entry is about 3-4 pages long; Butler-Gallie provides a brief biographical sketch and then chronicles the mishaps and misadventures of these men (he exclusively profiles male clerics, pointing out that it was not until rather recently that women were ordained to the priesthood and humorously protesting that WERE he to profile them, they might take legal action against him!).
No doubt each reader will have their own favourite profiles. Among mine were George Harvest (1728-89, the absent-minded Rector of Thames Ditton who was engaged to be married TWICE but who forgot about his nuptials the day of; he went fishing on his first wedding day and for a pleasant country stroll on the second. That was hardly the end of his mishaps as Butler-Gallie writes:
“Perhaps his finest pastoral moment came when he was asked to explain the constellations of the night sky to Lady Onslow (the wife of the friend who had got him his job). Midway through Harvest’s explanation, the noble lady suddenly felt a warm and damp sensation at her feet; Harvest, pressed by a call of nature, had taken advantage of the cover afforded by the darkness of the night and begun to relieve himself while continuing his astronomical lecture. Unfortunately for Lady Onslow, Harvest had mixed up his left and right and, while he thought he was surreptitiously urinating away from her (itself a less than ideal situation) he was, in fact, detailing the wonders of the Plough while passing water down her leg” (p. 9).
Another of my favourites was the tragic tale of Harold Davidson, the Rector of Stiffkey. The priest had formerly worked as an entertainer before taking holy orders. During the course of his ministry he became known as the “Prostitute’s Padre” due to his mission to rescue young girls he believed were precipitously close to falling into a life of vice. All in all, he is thought to have approached hundreds, possible as high as one thousand, such girls. However, while his quest to protect these young girls’ dignity led to all sorts of sordid rumours, it is not believed that he acted inappropriately or took advantage of any of these women. UNFORTUNATELY, charges were still brought against him by some who suspected him of impropriety and during his court case a photograph was found of him with a nearly naked girl, leading to his defrocking. The saga of Harold Davidson had, by this point, captured worldwide attention. After his removal from the priesthood, Davidson returned to show business; he would climb into a barrel to preach sermons. As interest in these performances waned, he attempted a much more dangerous act: “A modern Daniel in a lion’s den.” Sadly, during one of the performances, one of the two lions became so agitated that it attacked Davidson, mauling him so viciously that he later died.
It is hard to read G.K. Chesterton without not feeling as if one is palpably sharing in Chesterton’s gigantic joy; such a sensation is a rare thing indeed. Yet in reading “A Field Guide to the English Clergy,” I felt the same sensation as I read of Edwin Boston’s enthusiasm for trains, of Claude Jenkins’ staggering library, of various clerics’ penchant for booze and tobacco. I must admit, while studying theology I had my doubts about some students who were in the MDiv program; these brief biographies prove that there have always been scoundrels and scallywags in the ministry. Yet Butler-Gallie writes about these clergy affectionately, sympathetically; despite their foibles and quirks, many of them came to be beloved by their parishioners. I would heartily recommend this wonderful, whimsical book to everyone, but particularly to Anglicans and those serving in ministry.
February 4, 2019
This little book is a treat for Anglophiles. Written in a delightfull educated upperclass English with the typical British sense of humour, the Reverend Fergus Butler-Gallie takes us on a field trip through English history, looking for clergymen, whose lives could be worth spending a few pages on. These anecdotal lives range from amusing to hilarious and from interesting to surprising. These lives were lived somewhere between 1560 and 2016 and in any corner of England in wonderful locations such as Cury and Gunwalloe, Warleggan or Barton-Le-Clay, or in Oxford or Westminster, of course. Vicars, bishops, rectors, curates, deans with a twist.
The trip and field guide will be most enjoyed by readers with some experience in all things English. Come and meet diverse eccentrics, pirates, prelates and adventurers amongst the English clergy, all Anglican, some even practising.
The trip and field guide will be most enjoyed by readers with some experience in all things English. Come and meet diverse eccentrics, pirates, prelates and adventurers amongst the English clergy, all Anglican, some even practising.
March 7, 2023
A refreshingly irreverent history of eccentric curates in the Church of England.
Butler-Gallie demonstrates a thoroughgoing knowledge of Anglican subculture and shares some droll character studies that have to be read to be believed. My main takeaway from A Field Guide to the English Clergy is that there was a time when literally anyone could have taken Holy Orders and achieved some degree of success in the church, regardless of their temperament. I trust that the careers featured in this book have since improved the C of E's current standard for applicants.
In this potted history we meet a reverend who moonlit as a singing mermaid, a dean who gobbled the heart of King Louis XIV and a perpetual curate who insisted he was a Knight of the Order of St Stanislaus, despite the Kingdom of Poland no longer existing. These are just a couple of notable curates, not including the obvious celebrities Dr William Spooner and Jack Russell (originator of the terrier breed).
It shocked me to learn how many of these supposed holy men were known criminals and expressed utter contempt for their congregation. Then again I wasn't too shocked to discover that joining the clergy was often a last resort for undesirable sons and brothers who were in some way bringing down their family name.
A Field Guide to the English Clergy is funny and comprehensive, demonstrating that no-one is perfect and even the humblest of vocations attract wild and unfitting personalities. If you're interested in seeing the quirkiness that most Anglicans would prefer to forget, I recommend this short but very readable book.
Notable Parsons
• The Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould – a historian of werewolf accounts and the likely inspiration of Henry Higgins.
• The Reverend Harold Davidson – a dubious benefactor of young actresses and a lion’s dinner in Skegness.
• The Reverend Dr Edward Drax Free – an incredibly aggressive rector and hoarder of French pornography.
Butler-Gallie demonstrates a thoroughgoing knowledge of Anglican subculture and shares some droll character studies that have to be read to be believed. My main takeaway from A Field Guide to the English Clergy is that there was a time when literally anyone could have taken Holy Orders and achieved some degree of success in the church, regardless of their temperament. I trust that the careers featured in this book have since improved the C of E's current standard for applicants.
In this potted history we meet a reverend who moonlit as a singing mermaid, a dean who gobbled the heart of King Louis XIV and a perpetual curate who insisted he was a Knight of the Order of St Stanislaus, despite the Kingdom of Poland no longer existing. These are just a couple of notable curates, not including the obvious celebrities Dr William Spooner and Jack Russell (originator of the terrier breed).
It shocked me to learn how many of these supposed holy men were known criminals and expressed utter contempt for their congregation. Then again I wasn't too shocked to discover that joining the clergy was often a last resort for undesirable sons and brothers who were in some way bringing down their family name.
A Field Guide to the English Clergy is funny and comprehensive, demonstrating that no-one is perfect and even the humblest of vocations attract wild and unfitting personalities. If you're interested in seeing the quirkiness that most Anglicans would prefer to forget, I recommend this short but very readable book.
Notable Parsons
• The Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould – a historian of werewolf accounts and the likely inspiration of Henry Higgins.
• The Reverend Harold Davidson – a dubious benefactor of young actresses and a lion’s dinner in Skegness.
• The Reverend Dr Edward Drax Free – an incredibly aggressive rector and hoarder of French pornography.
April 2, 2022
There is a meme about English (Church of England) clergy. The stereotypic vicar is fuzzy headed, forgetful, easily distracted, well-intentioned, eccentric, and benign. He appears throughout the motion pictures of novels of the 1930s and 40s. One wonders why the Roman Catholics got a sharp, intuitive, clever, observant, and understanding Father Brown and the Anglicans got Father Fuzzy. No one gets to choose their own family. Anglicans are simply stuck with the clergy which God and history has given them. My great great uncle Edward was a professional gambler who was shot to death in Hot Springs, Arkansas, for welching on a horse-racing bet. My grandmother Flora excised his page from the family Bible with a razor blade ... but that didn't make him any less a part of our family. The Rev. Fergus Butler-Gallie accepts his lot, which lot includes a great many odd, unsavoury, quixotic, felonious, mentally ill, and bibulous predecessors in Holy Orders. He collects some of their stories in "A Field Guide to the English Clergy." The book is well written but not well bound. His writing is lyrical and entirely enjoyable. The cover of the book, however, came unglued from the spine upon reading it. I complained to Oneworld Books on Bloomsbury Street in London but was not favoured with a response. The book leaves me wondering if, when I am gone, as many of my former parishioners as survive me will tell funny stories about their fuzzy headed, forgetful, easily distracted, well-intentioned, eccentric, and benign parish priest.
February 18, 2021
Enjoyably old fashioned, and very much in the vein of William Donaldson’a peerless Brewer’s Rogues, Villains and Eccentrics, you can’t help but feel Butler Gallie has something of an ulterior motive with this collection of eccentric and scandalous clergymen. It stacks the most absurd and ridiculous towards the front of the book, then slowly drifts towards comparatively mild academic eccentricities before the section entitled Prodigal Sons. The heart of the book is here and, I suspect, these are the real loves of the writer - non comformists who actually achieved something like Hugh Grimes, the Schindler like vicar who hurriedly baptised dozens of Austrian Jews so as to let them flee the country before the Nazis arrived. He then finishes off with the most scandalous priests, as if to make sure that we don’t think his book is a stealth sermon (although I suspect it is). Here the infamous Rector of Stiffkey jostles against possibly the most outrageous clergyman of all time, the infamous Reverend Edward Drax Free. It pleases me no end that my rubbish home county of Bedfordshire features several times in this. A delight
February 10, 2019
In dit boek heeft Fergus Butler-Gallie, zelf een Anglicaanse dominee, de meest kleurrijke figuren uit de clerus in de Anglicaanse kerk verzameld en hij beschrijft in die typisch humoristische Engelse stijl hun wedervaren. Het gaat daarbij om priesters die hun katten excommuniceerden omdat ze krols waren op zondag, een aartsbisschop die elke werkdag begon met driemaal zijn hoofd op tafel te bonken onder het uitroepen van "I hate the Church of England", priesters die meer dronken dan dat ze vieringen verzorgden (en daarom soms hun kerk grotendeels op slot hielden), een priester die aan de wieg stond van de edele sport rugby en clerici die in alles probeerden te geloven behalve in de anglicaanse versie van het christendom. Het zal niet verbazen dat zo'n collectie uren bijwijlen hilarisch leesplezier oplevert.
November 24, 2019
obviously very male (explains why at the beginning) but a LOT more funny than i was expecting. basically fbg’s point is that when u have crossover betw the quirkiness of english people and the straight up weirdness of clergypeople, the result is a special brand of eccentricity which is very funny to read about. written in the style of a series of (eloquently expressed) anecdotes. i genuinely lolled at some of these while just reading alone. which is a rare occurrence. there’s a lot of characteristics that many people will recognise in here if they are english or familiar with c of e life. would definitely recommend it to anyone who goes to church more than twice a year - you’ll find something to laugh at.
September 20, 2025
Such a fun read, a compendium of 3-4 page biographical sketches of eccentric Anglican priests. The author is a witty writer, and while he seems to be continually tempted by cynicism, he always pulls back from that brink. While there were some truly awful characters in this book, and some who were just plain incompetent, many of the accounts end by him saying, “yes, this priest was weird and a bit of mess, but he also deeply cared about his parishioners, and they dearly loved him for it.”
In any case, this book encouraged me to be my natural, happily eccentric self, and I’d say that’s a win.
In any case, this book encouraged me to be my natural, happily eccentric self, and I’d say that’s a win.
December 30, 2018
This Field Guide is a list of mini-biographies of strange and bizarre vicars in the Church of England throughout the last 400 years or so. It gets a bit repetitive to read in one sitting and sometimes feels like it is poking fun at mental illness, but on balance I found it an interesting compendium.
May 1, 2019
Tragi-comic - Comic in terms of the unbelievable, bizarre behaviour. Tragic in that these men were meant to be ambassadors of the King of Kings, presenting the Good news of salvation.
July 5, 2020
Peak coffee table reading
August 29, 2021
A collection of sometimes funny, sometimes sad, but always interesting stories of various clergymen through the ages. Before reading this, I'd only heard of Spooner and Webb Ellis - now I have several new book recommendations and the feeling that many, if not all of these men should be better known.
December 16, 2018
An anthology of peculiar parsons, this is not only an attractive slim volume in the physical sense - coming printed on good paper, with a ribbon bookmark, like a Bible, but more portable - but a witty collection of short pithy chapters, each devoted to the cream of the crop of crazy clergymen in Anglican Orders.
I’ve always found the Church of England a bit of a puzzle, in spite of living down here for over 30 years, having been Presbyterian by birth, now Catholic by choice (or the workings of the Holy Spirit, take your pick) and lately I’ve been trying to fathom the church of my neighbours in my reading. This book is very welcome as an antidote to histories of martyrdoms and shifts of doctrine, persecutions of those of both of my denominations. Perhaps I should reread Trollope, far more reassuring!
These guys are la crème de la crème. From the vicar who liked cross dressing as a mermaid, the one eaten by a lion on the seafront, the real Spooner of the spoonerisms, one who considered postage stamps as the work of Satan, through smugglers, Jack Russell of the terriers (his first yappy belligerent specimen was called, appropriately “Trump”) to Frederick Hervey, Irish bishop and English earl, nicknamed “the English Casanova” - following family tradition in more than title - who promoted curates according to their prowess in running naked round Derry, these are nothing like the Kirk ministers of my youth, who rarely made me chuckle.
If you need cheering up, this is a great way to forget about Brexit, US politics and new Cold Wars. I suspect its author may have to wait a while to get a mitre and crozier, until the powers that be regain a sense of humour and proportion.
I’ve always found the Church of England a bit of a puzzle, in spite of living down here for over 30 years, having been Presbyterian by birth, now Catholic by choice (or the workings of the Holy Spirit, take your pick) and lately I’ve been trying to fathom the church of my neighbours in my reading. This book is very welcome as an antidote to histories of martyrdoms and shifts of doctrine, persecutions of those of both of my denominations. Perhaps I should reread Trollope, far more reassuring!
These guys are la crème de la crème. From the vicar who liked cross dressing as a mermaid, the one eaten by a lion on the seafront, the real Spooner of the spoonerisms, one who considered postage stamps as the work of Satan, through smugglers, Jack Russell of the terriers (his first yappy belligerent specimen was called, appropriately “Trump”) to Frederick Hervey, Irish bishop and English earl, nicknamed “the English Casanova” - following family tradition in more than title - who promoted curates according to their prowess in running naked round Derry, these are nothing like the Kirk ministers of my youth, who rarely made me chuckle.
If you need cheering up, this is a great way to forget about Brexit, US politics and new Cold Wars. I suspect its author may have to wait a while to get a mitre and crozier, until the powers that be regain a sense of humour and proportion.
August 9, 2019
This is a short book detailing the eccentric character of England's clergy over the centuries. Written in a tongue-in-cheek manner it's hard not to find the stories amusing and truly incredible at times. An early story details a Cornish minister who loved to pretend to be a Mermaid and this sets the tone for much of the later book.
It gets a little repetitive in places but is good to read in short bursts, as a Christian layman however I couldn't help but also be a little downcast reading it as I went on. It's never obvious but when noting the frivolity, bookishness, and frivolity of so many clergy you get a sense of the charmed and privileged lives many led. The question arises 'at what cost to those they were meant to be exhibiting the Gospel?' the Reverend Fergus Butler-Gallie gives mention of the Holy Fools in the tradition of the Eastern Churches but so often these men come off as simply Fools.
The Oxford Martyr, Bishop Hugh Latimer, in his famous sermon on the Plough preached "Ye lords, I say, that live like loiterers, look well to your office; the plough is your office and charge. If you live idle and loiter, you do not your duty, you follow not your vocation: let your plough therefore be going, and not cease, that the ground may bring forth fruit." and I couldn't help but think of Latimer's words as an ongoing indictment of a good many of the people depicted in this book. Many of whom either paid disregard to their congregations or at times positively terrorised them with their eccentricities. That isn't to extrapolate this to all clergy, there are many good ones, yet I think this book makes what seems a perennial vice amidst Anglican clergy look like a virtue.
It's well written, don't get me wrong, but as another reviewer commented its tragi-comic in what it depicts.
It gets a little repetitive in places but is good to read in short bursts, as a Christian layman however I couldn't help but also be a little downcast reading it as I went on. It's never obvious but when noting the frivolity, bookishness, and frivolity of so many clergy you get a sense of the charmed and privileged lives many led. The question arises 'at what cost to those they were meant to be exhibiting the Gospel?' the Reverend Fergus Butler-Gallie gives mention of the Holy Fools in the tradition of the Eastern Churches but so often these men come off as simply Fools.
The Oxford Martyr, Bishop Hugh Latimer, in his famous sermon on the Plough preached "Ye lords, I say, that live like loiterers, look well to your office; the plough is your office and charge. If you live idle and loiter, you do not your duty, you follow not your vocation: let your plough therefore be going, and not cease, that the ground may bring forth fruit." and I couldn't help but think of Latimer's words as an ongoing indictment of a good many of the people depicted in this book. Many of whom either paid disregard to their congregations or at times positively terrorised them with their eccentricities. That isn't to extrapolate this to all clergy, there are many good ones, yet I think this book makes what seems a perennial vice amidst Anglican clergy look like a virtue.
It's well written, don't get me wrong, but as another reviewer commented its tragi-comic in what it depicts.
April 26, 2019
The book's aims are limited: providing a large collection of short anecdotes about British, Anglican clergy in all their oddity. One thinks of the aphorism that sainthood is of infinite variety, while evil is defined by its sameness.
While there isn't a sameness in content, there is a sameness in tone. It delights in the quaintness of the non-modern vicar who attained his (in the time covered, it was always "his") position due to political interference or ecclesiastical negligence. It's not clear whether the reader is meant to long for a time when clergy was hardly bound to perform his duties if he felt like doing something else. It's said that absurdity plus time yield belovedness, so it makes sense that we look fondly on the impossible strangeness of the past. But how often was that absurdity beloved in its own time? The author does sometimes acknowledge how these priests were treated after their deaths, but it's hard to tell if that's a matter of tradition or genuine affection.
The other issue, although this fades toward the end of the book, is that the author tends to offer summary introductions and summary conclusions for each anecdote. When the stories are only 2-4 pages long, it can feel a bit repetitive. I found myself skipping the first paragraph since I knew I would read anything in it again later.
This can be fun. It's easy to read in short bursts. Although the men featured are not in themselves redundant, the tone and writing sometimes can be. Mostly recommended for those in the Anglican communion who feel a faint shiver of joy when they hear the word "vicar."
While there isn't a sameness in content, there is a sameness in tone. It delights in the quaintness of the non-modern vicar who attained his (in the time covered, it was always "his") position due to political interference or ecclesiastical negligence. It's not clear whether the reader is meant to long for a time when clergy was hardly bound to perform his duties if he felt like doing something else. It's said that absurdity plus time yield belovedness, so it makes sense that we look fondly on the impossible strangeness of the past. But how often was that absurdity beloved in its own time? The author does sometimes acknowledge how these priests were treated after their deaths, but it's hard to tell if that's a matter of tradition or genuine affection.
The other issue, although this fades toward the end of the book, is that the author tends to offer summary introductions and summary conclusions for each anecdote. When the stories are only 2-4 pages long, it can feel a bit repetitive. I found myself skipping the first paragraph since I knew I would read anything in it again later.
This can be fun. It's easy to read in short bursts. Although the men featured are not in themselves redundant, the tone and writing sometimes can be. Mostly recommended for those in the Anglican communion who feel a faint shiver of joy when they hear the word "vicar."
November 28, 2019
Brief, often funny, interesting and always entertaining.
Reading this book reminded me that it is okay to be proud to be English. These days the proclamation "I'm proud to be English" usually raises an eyebrow or ten and people quickly assessing to see if you tick a Hooligan/Racist/Superiority complex! Is now the right time to say I am 50% Celt?
The United Kingdom, 4 Countries, standing side by side, shoulder to shoulder, you can literally trip over a stone in England and scramble back to your feet in Wales or Scotland. Swim to Ireland (it might be cold though!) Trip, skip, swim your way around the UK and you'll discover a very individual history and identity for each.
What could sum England up in one? The Queen, yes. Cricket, absolutely! The Pub, now you're talking! But...
There's one thing that holds it all together, The Church of England! Yes, the Church of England, standing proud, keeping a watchful gaze upon Villages and towns. Mighty Cathedrals, Gothic giants proudly embracing, feeding and tending her flock . Some like St Martin's Canterbury dating back to AD597. Or my local parish from a mere 1233. However, as beautiful as these churches and cathedrals are, (they are living history!) They'd be nothing without the Clergy.
This great little book brings together a glimpse at those who choose to stand at the front and lead. The Priests, Vicars Curates, Bishops. This eccentric quite mad bunch of amazing humans who are always there in your hour of need. Or to eat cake and pools of Tea. Wearing a Tuxedo and a Snorkel.
If you ever wondered what made England unique, the answer really does lie within these pages.
Reading this book reminded me that it is okay to be proud to be English. These days the proclamation "I'm proud to be English" usually raises an eyebrow or ten and people quickly assessing to see if you tick a Hooligan/Racist/Superiority complex! Is now the right time to say I am 50% Celt?
The United Kingdom, 4 Countries, standing side by side, shoulder to shoulder, you can literally trip over a stone in England and scramble back to your feet in Wales or Scotland. Swim to Ireland (it might be cold though!) Trip, skip, swim your way around the UK and you'll discover a very individual history and identity for each.
What could sum England up in one? The Queen, yes. Cricket, absolutely! The Pub, now you're talking! But...
There's one thing that holds it all together, The Church of England! Yes, the Church of England, standing proud, keeping a watchful gaze upon Villages and towns. Mighty Cathedrals, Gothic giants proudly embracing, feeding and tending her flock . Some like St Martin's Canterbury dating back to AD597. Or my local parish from a mere 1233. However, as beautiful as these churches and cathedrals are, (they are living history!) They'd be nothing without the Clergy.
This great little book brings together a glimpse at those who choose to stand at the front and lead. The Priests, Vicars Curates, Bishops. This eccentric quite mad bunch of amazing humans who are always there in your hour of need. Or to eat cake and pools of Tea. Wearing a Tuxedo and a Snorkel.
If you ever wondered what made England unique, the answer really does lie within these pages.
October 10, 2025
Writing a light, easy-to-read book is as difficult as baking a light, airy cake. Both must seem effortless in the consumption but require meticulous preparation and execution to produce the required sensation, akin to riding upon a souffle under a sparkling spring sky.
Fergus Butler-Gallie succeeds in producing the required impression with the parade of eccentrics, lunatics and holy fools that march across the pages. It’s a light read, in the best sense of the word, and limited to Church of England clergy, but that produces a cast broad enough for any such compendium.
Perhaps the saddest part of the decline of the Anglican Church in England is that there is no obvious home for men like this any more. While this might come as a relief for their parishioners, many (but certainly not all) of these priests were committed to the welfare of their parishioners – whether those parishioners wanted their ministrations or not.
Nowadays, no doubt, they would all be stuck with some sort of psychological label. As it is, they remain as a glorious parade of the eccentricity for which the English were once famous for – and hopefully will be again.
Fergus Butler-Gallie succeeds in producing the required impression with the parade of eccentrics, lunatics and holy fools that march across the pages. It’s a light read, in the best sense of the word, and limited to Church of England clergy, but that produces a cast broad enough for any such compendium.
Perhaps the saddest part of the decline of the Anglican Church in England is that there is no obvious home for men like this any more. While this might come as a relief for their parishioners, many (but certainly not all) of these priests were committed to the welfare of their parishioners – whether those parishioners wanted their ministrations or not.
Nowadays, no doubt, they would all be stuck with some sort of psychological label. As it is, they remain as a glorious parade of the eccentricity for which the English were once famous for – and hopefully will be again.
February 4, 2019
A Christmas present. An amusing collection of pen portraits of some of the more eccentric parsons ordained into the Church of England over the last 500 years or so, including rogues, criminals, heroes, bon viveur's, nutty academics, and many who were just downright weird. The author, a curate in the Anglican Church, has compiled this list possibly I imagine in the hope that one day he might be included within their number. Entertaining and amusing. The one thing that comes out however is that the church has typically always preferred to take a blind eye to the foibles (and crimes) of many of its more ill disciplined sons, regardless of the needs or rights of their parishioners. That is of course until they are completely forced by scandal to have to actually do something. In that nothing has changed over half a millennium.
January 19, 2020
Butler-Gallie's Field Guide is hilarious and fascinating in equal measure, offering a veritable rogue's gallery of pirates, womaniser and alcoholics (among others) united only by their positions in the Church of England.
Doubtless every reader will have their faveourite priest, but my own is John 'Mad Jack' Allington who read erotic poems instead instead of the Bible at weddings and christenings, wore a leopard print as his gown, attracted his congregation with free alcohol and regularily preached on the benefits of 'free love'.
Ultimately the book serves as a witty yet powerful that the priesthood is very much human. Reccomend for anyone looking for a humorous read, Anglophiles, those with an interest in the Church of England or indeed those with an appreciation of the long and proud tradition of English eccentricity.
Doubtless every reader will have their faveourite priest, but my own is John 'Mad Jack' Allington who read erotic poems instead instead of the Bible at weddings and christenings, wore a leopard print as his gown, attracted his congregation with free alcohol and regularily preached on the benefits of 'free love'.
Ultimately the book serves as a witty yet powerful that the priesthood is very much human. Reccomend for anyone looking for a humorous read, Anglophiles, those with an interest in the Church of England or indeed those with an appreciation of the long and proud tradition of English eccentricity.
July 3, 2019
Absolutely delightful. The Anglican clergyman (and those profiled here are from the era when they were all men) is, for some reason, a species of abundant eccentricity. The Rev. Fergus Butler-Gallie mines this rich resource in a collection of witty and sometimes hilarious short profiles. He categorizes his subjects as eccentrics, nutty professors , bon viveurs, prodigal sons, and actual rogues--the last including a former pirate, and a vicar who not only held no services but sold the lead roof of the parish church to pay his gambling debts. The book itself is a handsome object, with nice paper, inventive typography, and a ribbon bookmark. Highly recommended if this kind of thing is your cup of tea (or gin).
April 30, 2019
Overall I was left dissatisfied. While the individual accpunts of the odd and eccentric lives of the clergy amuse, collected together you are left wondering why anyone would give the institution of the Church of England any credibility whatsoever. We are invited to laugh, smile wryly and say 'How quaint' but by the end I was left thinking - what a disgrace. I suspect there are many more similar stories left untold and, frankly, that disturbs me. Finally the several references to the poor pay of clergy felt like a growing whinge of self-pity...a stipend plus accommodation plus allowances would be the envy of contractsing for minimum wage on zero hour contracts.
June 1, 2020
Amazing collection of various personalities and adventures of English clergy. I picked this book up on my way to the check out with a couple other books and simply couldn't walk past it. I actually stood there and tried to research with my phone whether this was fiction or fact - I was glad to see it was fact and the people in this book actually existed! It made me somehow happier about humanity, especially when a book like this is able to talk about people with such humor and wit. I recommended it to my (Episcopalian) church and the priest's parents are now reading it. Should be considered mandatory in the church to read.
February 8, 2019
I had to read this quickly as there was a waiting list for it at the Library. I so enjoyed it, such witty writing and I did laugh out loud several times. It is not just clergy but there are eccentrics in every walk of life and in the book even places were not exactly made fun of, but the peculiarities were pointed out. One fishing/smuggling village on the coast fell into the sea and it was thought that it was for the best! I must visit that one! This book is one I will buy to read again. I do hope the author will be writing more books.
February 13, 2021
Happy assessment of great eccentricity
So it could reflect the wide range of eccentrics, rogues and general scoundrels in English society,historically the Church of England has provided a modest living to such characters as rector and priests. Fergus Butler-Gallie celebrates the days before archbishops discovered modern management with descriptions of individuals who made the Church more entertaining if less efficient. Strangely better behaviour has coincided with a decline in congrei
So it could reflect the wide range of eccentrics, rogues and general scoundrels in English society,historically the Church of England has provided a modest living to such characters as rector and priests. Fergus Butler-Gallie celebrates the days before archbishops discovered modern management with descriptions of individuals who made the Church more entertaining if less efficient. Strangely better behaviour has coincided with a decline in congrei
April 23, 2023
"Roman Catholicism: The true, uninterrupted continuation of one of the most significant ideas in history – the Roman Imperial cult. The single most adhered-to faith in the world apart from, if Professor Dawkins is to be believed, atheism (which is the default intellectual position of newborn children, toadstools, the chlamydia virus, etc.). As befits such a diverse and complex global institution, its operation is entirely vested in a solitary pensioner squatting in an art gallery."
January 1, 2019
With this type of humorous miscellany it is important that the author has real affection for those he/she is writing about. Butler-Gallie certainly empathises with his subjects, possibly wishing he was one - just a feeling I get! It’s a fine, easy read with a mix of cads and this rather more worthy of admiration. Very enjoyable.
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