Ominously thus, begins the story of the Bad Baronets of Ruddigore, the most villanous villans to ever terrorize the coast of Cornwall, or to haunt to world of Gilbert & Sullivan land. Like "The Mikado", it is another world of Topsy-turvey, where nothing is as it seems to be. In the world of Ruddigore, most of the "good" people are just as bad as the bad ones, and even the name of the little Cornish village of Reddering is a play on the word "red herring". And one big red herring the whole story of Ruddigore is.

Reddering is a pretty coastal village in southern England, but do not be fooled. An air of the eerie prevades, and in plain view, the stereotypically haunted Castle Ruddigore looms above on high, craggy rocks, overlooking the churning sea. One suspects that lightning bolts go off regularly every night, no matter how pleasant it is below in reddering.

The story begins innocently enough with Sweet Rose Maybud being unsuccessfully courted by every young man in the region, but none of them are good enough for her, none can possibly measure up to her standards of perfection, as defined in a book if ettiquette, left to her by her deceased mother. Rose, who is not terribly bright and perhaps a little bit odd, lives with her aunt, Dame Hannah, a woman sworn to an eternal maidenhood because once, long ago, she had loved a young man who turned out to be the Bad Baronet of Ruddigore, Sir Roderick Murgatroyd. Now he is dead, and so is her heart. Rose, however, has a secret of her own. The one young man in town who is good enough for her is Robin Oakapple, but alas he is too shy to court her, and she is too polite to break the ice herself.

Robin Oakapple is a prosperous farmer, and he is the epitome of politeness and upstanding morality. But he has a secret of his own that would not have been to Rose's liking. It seems he is in fact Ruthven (pronounced "Riv-ven"), Murgatroyd the blood nephew of the wicked Sir Roderick Murgatroyd, and was the Bad baronet's oldest legal heir. Not wanting to inherit the curse, he staged his own phony death and ran away to assume a new identity. His secret is known only to his loyal servant, Old Adam Goodheart, and his foster brother, Dick Dauntless.

Dick Dauntless is a sailor, and at this time of this tale, he has returned from his tour of duty. Dick is handsome and brave, and therefore Robin asks him if he will propose marriage to Rose in his name. Dick agrees, but by the time it is over, it is Dick himself that Rose agrees to marry. After considerable haggling between the three, Rose decides to marry Robin after all, leaving a disappointed--but not terribly sympathetic--sailor.

All would seem well, but there are other persons! One of them is a poor young woman known as Mad Margaret, who hangs out in the village graveyard, lamenting the loss of her own beloved, Sir Despard Murgatroyd. And the other person in this sad melodrama none other than this same Sir Despard Murgatroyd, the current Bad Baronet of Ruddigore.

Feared and loathed by all, poor Despard came by his cursed title when his older brother, Ruthven died mysteriously, and he has become aged and haggard from living an unwished-for life of villainy and evil. He drops dire hints of a haunted portrait gallery and the good deeds he tries to do to atone for his evil. By chance or design, he encounters the unhappy Dick Dauntless, still sulking over the loss of Rose Maybud.

Dick, who lives by listening to the implusive dictates of his heart (which has known him since he was a baby!), suddenly realizes that Rose would never marry a Bad Baronet of Ruddigore, so he informs Despard that his brother indeed does live, and that all he needs to do is identify him, and he will be free of the curse. Despard eagerly agrees, and on the very day of Rose and "Robin's" wedding, Despard himself appears to denounce his deceitful brother before the entire village. That being done, he immediatly asks Mad Margaret to marry him, Rose promptly agrees to marry Dick (after a properly discreet passage of time), and "Robin"--that is, Sir Ruthven--is instantly packed off to be drummed out of town and removed to Ruddigore castle.

And so Sir Ruthven at last assumes his rightful place as the Bad baronet of Ruddigore, accompanied only by his faithful servant. He is condmened to commit a crime each day of his life, or die a hideous death--but so far his crimes haven't been very impressive ones. To his dismay, he is visited by the ghosts of his dead ancestors, who order him to live up to his family name or else.

If all seems confused and hopeless, never fear--all turns out well in the end. If you wish to read the entire story for yourself, you will find it here...

"Ruddigore" has a wonderfully gothic atmosphere with some genuinely beautiful music. The dialog is very funny and the story is great Halloween fun. An interesting made-for-TV movie was made a number of years ago, starring the great Vincent Price as Despard Murgatroyd, and is a great deal of fun to watch. While it sadly does not contain all of the melting music from the original, it is still very much worth your time if you can acquire a copy of it on video or DVD.

Fittingly, this Gilbert & Sullivan Halloween will close with the exciting Ruddigore song, "Ghost's High Noon", with the lyrics below for you to enjoy.