Born into the landed gentry, Sabine Baring-Gould attended schools in Germany and France, then Clare College at Cambridge. He learned six languages, entered the ministry at age 30, and pastored in Yorkshire, Essex, and Devonshire. He wrote over 100 books, including 30 novels and a 16-volume Lives of the Saints. He was also an archaeologist, architect, artist, teacher and collector of English folk songs.