Showing results by narrator "Phillip J. Mather" in All Categories

"The Hour" by James Bernard Fagan (1873-1923) was published in Poems of the Great War in 1914 on behalf of The Prince of Wales' National Relief Fund. Fagan was an Irish-born actor, poet and playwright.

"Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 - 14 November 1916), better known by the pen name Saki, and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous, and sometimes macabre stories satirize Edwardian society and culture. He is considered a master of the short story, and often compared to O. Henry and Dorothy Parker." (Wikipedia)

Rudyard Kipling’s Gentlemen-Rankers first appeared in Barrack-Room Ballads and refers to young men of the privileged classes who may have suffered the indignity of bankruptcy or scandal, and joined the ‘rank-and-file’ of the British Army as privates.

Conradin, a ten-year-old boy, rebels against his strict guardian when he invents a new religion which idolizes his pet polecat-ferret, Sredni Vashtar. Conradin hides Sredni Vashtar and prays to him in secret. When the guardian begins a search for the boy’s new god, Conradin’s worship is answered with disturbing results.

Robert Ernest Vernede [1875-1917] was an English poet and writer of short stories, most remembered as a war poet of WWI. Wounded at the Battle of the Somme in 1916, he recovered and returned to the front and was killed by machine-gun fire at Havrincourt in 1917. "England to the Sea" was published in Poems of the Great War, in 1914.

First published in the Pall Mall Gazette in 1895, this dark tale from master storyteller, H. G. Wells gives an account of the truly maddening battle for scientific supremacy between two notable entomologists.

The narrator pledges to donate 50% of his proceeds to The Royal British Legion Poppy Day Appeal - please support. The Fourth of August [1914] was the day that Britain entered into World War One. This poem by Laurence Binyon reminds the British public of their heroic past, and that the travails that lie ahead are justified by the righteous cause, and by following in the footsteps of those who fought before they will vanquish the foe.

"There are two kinds of clocks. There is the clock that is always wrong, and that knows it is wrong, and glories in it; and there is the clock that is always right - except when you rely upon it, and then it is more wrong than you would think a clock could be in a civilized country."

"Adeline Virginia Woolf was an English writer and one of the foremost modernists of the 20th century. During the interwar period, Woolf was a significant figure in London literary society and a central figure in the influential Bloomsbury group of intellectuals." (Wikipedia)

Written in 1914 by Owen Seaman, the poem "Pro Patria" is a call to arms to defend the righteous and noble values that England was deemed to represent. Calling upon God to support the coming actions of the war, based on a gallant national history, "Pro Patria" is an allusion to Horace and was also utilized in Dulce Et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen.

A superbly crafted Dickens classic, masterfully narrated - a ghostly apparition supervises the trial of his murderer.

The narrator pledges to donate 50% of his proceeds to The Royal British Legion Poppy Day Appeal - please support. "In Flanders Fields" is one of the most famous poems of The Great War, written by Lieutenant-Colonel John Alexander McCrae, MD, 1872-1918. It is believed that McCrae wrote the poem after presiding at the funeral of a friend killed during the second Battle of Ypres, in 1915. The poppy grew in abundance in the spoiled earth of the cemeteries and battlefields of Flanders, France.

Originally published as part of the Just So stories, this tale has no animals, but is the endearing story of a Neolithic child and the hilarious ramifications of attempting to request a fresh fishing spear from the village by use of a pictorial letter. As ever, Kipling’s timeless prose is evocatively presented by Phillip J Mather - an excellent listen!

Whinchat is a nostalgic reminiscence of a long ago bucolic vacation that awakened a life-long interest in nature. Skilfully written and self-narrated by Phillip J. Mather, the tale will strike a chord with birdwatchers and nature lovers alike, and will remind all of gentler times in 1950’s England.

>"The Raven" is an appropriate supernatural poem for the Halloween period. First published in 1845, it has long been a favourite of Edgar Allan Poe enthusiasts. Expertly voiced by Phillip J. Mather, this performance brings a musicality to the language of the poem, luring the listener into the desolate scene and keeping him spellbound as the tale unfolds.

Mark Twain's classic tale of the unfortunate ghost of the Cardiff Giant - skillfully narrated by Phillip J. Mather

The Rhinoceros was not always all wrinkly as he is today. In fact he was a rather smooth but bad mannered beast. His bad manners, in fact, are what got him into trouble. When you steal something that belongs to the Parsee-man, you could be in a heap of trouble. Sit back and listen as Phillip J. Mather masterfully tells the Rudyard Kipling tale of How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin.

Thirty-seven wonderful short tales of historical figures and events, especially and charmingly written for children.

"The Wife of Flanders" by G.K. Chesterton [1874 - 1936] was published in Poems of the Great War in 1914 on behalf of The Prince of Wales’ national Relief Fund.

Framton Nuttle moves to the country to improve his health. His sister insists that he get to know his neighbors, and gives him letters of introduction to the families she met while staying there. Framton goes to meet one of his neighbors, Mrs. Stapleton, and while he waits for her, her 15-year-old niece tells him the tragic story about their French window that is always kept open, even in the winter.