Mumford & Sons star Marcus Mumford has confessed to lifting a line from author Hilary Mantel's Booker Prize-winning book Wolf Hall for a song on the group's new album Babel.

In a recent interview with BBC Radio, the singer admits he was so inspired by the historical novel, he took a line spoken by Mantel's central character, Thomas Cromwell, and incorporated it into the lyrics of a new tune.

And he accepts he may be in trouble with the author's publishers, stating, "I think it might be illegal."

It's not the first time the literary songwriter has turned to his favorite writers for inspiration - the title of the band's hit debut album Sigh No More hails from the opening of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.

An avid Mantel fan, Mumford reveals he has already read Bring Up The Bodies, her follow-up to Wolf Hall - which has been shortlisted for the 2012 Booker Prize.