I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

Sherlock Hound Is Coming to Blu-Ray

<h4 style="text-align: center;"> “I am one of the hounds [STUD] </h4><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheYaPV7-NVEAUyNrUpF6S7XWa_LGCfr_TTZqLlOZ3ftYy9zgkqKCsgkLu5-ziSfBlZDXsVveO2nIcNBSeRB_Bs5n1lvEtf4Z4n8t88BzzxcRMqX-0ZWuGKQ15ecF-FXL-GnmgBmYAh3qYp1jNj0O8ccAyI96d4PRKWjEtyLxphMd71s1r6IHWSZg1LOg/s634/Sherlock%20Hound.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="634" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheYaPV7-NVEAUyNrUpF6S7XWa_LGCfr_TTZqLlOZ3ftYy9zgkqKCsgkLu5-ziSfBlZDXsVveO2nIcNBSeRB_Bs5n1lvEtf4Z4n8t88BzzxcRMqX-0ZWuGKQ15ecF-FXL-GnmgBmYAh3qYp1jNj0O8ccAyI96d4PRKWjEtyLxphMd71s1r6IHWSZg1LOg/w640-h484/Sherlock%20Hound.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Image credit: <a href="https://youtu.be/hRQSoaSZWpQ" target="_blank">YouTube</a></span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Good news for U.S. fans of <i>Sherlock Hound</i>, the animated television series produced by RAI and Tokyo Movie Shinsha.</p><p>The series, which consists of 26 episodes from 1984–1985, will make its debut on Blu-ray with English dubbing and subtitles in November. <a href="https://amzn.to/3C3C0Wb" target="_blank">Pre-ordering is now open</a>.</p><p>The classic series directed by Hayao Miyazaki and Kyosuke Mikuriya is a unique take on Holmes, with dynamic animation, fun writing, and amusing characters. The Japanese version was released on Blu-ray in 2014.</p><p><br /></p><p>From the product description on <a href="https://amzn.to/3C3C0Wb">Amazon.com</a>:</p><div><div></div><blockquote><div>HIS NAME IS SHERLOCK HOUND. IT'S HIS BUSINESS TO KNOW WHAT OTHER WOOFS DON'T KNOW</div><div><br /></div><div>Professor Moriarty’s devious criminal mind can overcome any challenge, be it counterfeiting coins or swiping precious gems... except when Sherlock Hound is on the case! Together with Doctor Watson, Mrs. Hudson, and Inspector Lestrade, Hound must sniff out Moriarty’s schemes while facing down steam engines and other strange inventions. How will they crack the case? Elementary, my dear viewer! They’ll just have to rely on Hound’s deductive reasoning and a little bit of luck to get them through everything the Professor throws at them!</div></blockquote><div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Here's a brief clip of what the action looks like:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="b-hbp-video b-uploaded" frameborder="0" height="376" id="BLOGGER-video-e5850faf8a505aa3-19892" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwLBNc4iNtYioctUbvV5fSeoXdDEEKKTxR8aE1kupDgR4QUDDJaRMxu35bNL0x7OXlWYKng2XXq_h7y1ql-UAAxOeNudBEBUNnb8cSUQCcfAfkrYfA80L6VNtpf7meNbbbjDOrW" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="453"></iframe></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><i><a href="https://amzn.to/3C3C0Wb" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sherlock Hound</a></i> on Blu-ray is available for pre-order and will be released on November 29, 2022. English dub, Japanese language, English subtitles. Twenty-six episodes, total running time 10 hours and 50 minutes.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><script type="text/javascript">
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Sherlock Hound Is Coming to Blu-Ray

“I am one of the hounds [STUD] Image credit: YouTube Good news for U.S. fans of Sherlock Hound , the animated television series produced b...

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by Scott Monty

Evil Lurks Abroad

<h4 style="text-align: center;">“foreigners who get into difficulties” [GREE] </h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHsaX-NHMHL7XwD-Woeho7gDqcL8rfwaCGn-gh3K81buVbt35SKn8428BocA68_0YDdUCYbm9kJT8tx8G5FSkK8Pe9-H6_SZSdl2VadyUdWupYmjDMAoQ3TTyh8PsKlpKkhFqHd3ph_HSoXh15qUTzGV0XuY8N5b7OfzR9Mg0wj8RsvOQx_qF3hN9hnA/s1280/GREE%20-%20Latimer.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1117" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHsaX-NHMHL7XwD-Woeho7gDqcL8rfwaCGn-gh3K81buVbt35SKn8428BocA68_0YDdUCYbm9kJT8tx8G5FSkK8Pe9-H6_SZSdl2VadyUdWupYmjDMAoQ3TTyh8PsKlpKkhFqHd3ph_HSoXh15qUTzGV0XuY8N5b7OfzR9Mg0wj8RsvOQx_qF3hN9hnA/w558-h640/GREE%20-%20Latimer.jpg" width="558" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p><i><b>Editor's note:</b> the following was submitted to us by Robert S. Katz, BSI ("Dr. Ainstree") and Mark Jones, BSI ("Peter Jones")</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p>It’s notable that so many of the crimes and criminals investigated by Sherlock Holmes have their roots in other nations. Even if a crime is committed in England, the roots of the evil deed and/or the origins of the evildoer were planted in some foreign land and imported to England.</p><p>While a few of the crimes in the Canon are homegrown, relative to the size of the Canon itself, a disproportionate number start elsewhere. </p><p>In the very first story, <i>A Study in Scarlet</i>, everything starts in the American West and a major religion, based in the United States, is represented as some sort of criminal conspiracy. The trend is continued in <i>The Sign of the Four</i> as the initial action takes place in India, followed by the Andaman Islands, with the consequences migrating to British shores at a later date. </p><p>The first of the short stories, “A Scandal in Bohemia” has two protagonists-cum-antagonists, one of whom is Bohemian and the other from New Jersey. </p><p><br /></p><p>The list continues throughout the Sherlockian journey. Killer Evans and Abe Slaney are from Chicago. While Neil Gibson might not have committed an actual crime, he is the villain of the story and he’s also American. The criminals in “The Red Circle” and “The Six Napoleons” have their roots in Italy. Russian anarchists are the focus of “The Golden Pince-Nez.” </p><p>Even native Englishmen first go abroad to go astray, and then return to home. Grimesby Roylott is an example of this trend.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">“a foeman who is worthy of our steel” [HOUN]</h3><p>Yet, this antipathy towards foreigners, with devilry hatched elsewhere and then foisted upon England, reaches a zenith with the creation of the greatest of canonical villains. Professor James Moriarty, seemingly a native of Great Britain, possessed of an Irish or Anglo-Irish name, is really himself based on a foreigner.</p><p>Ben McIntyre, in his excellent book, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3eOR5BD" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Napoleon of Crime</a></i> tells the story of Adam Worth, master criminal and criminal mastermind. Worth’s exploits were well-known to Conan Doyle, and the term “Napoleon of the criminal world” was first used by Robert Anderson of Scotland Yard. McIntyre describes in considerable detail how Conan Doyle came to model Moriarty after Worth.</p><p>While Moriarty at first appears to be something of a homegrown creation, the backstory is consistent with the persistent xenophobia that echoes throughout the stories. </p><p>Adam Worth has a seemingly British-enough name. But Adam Worth was not Adam Worth. He was Adam Werth, or perhaps Adam Wirth. Born in Germany to impoverished parents, he was brought to Cambridge, Massachusetts as a small child. </p><p>While still a teenager, he had a notorious Civil War career, joining the Union Army in return for an enlistment bounty, deserting, reenlisting under another name for another bounty, etc. At one point, he even deserted the Union and surrendered to Confederate troops in return for yet another payment, and then promptly escaped the South. He eventually became the great criminal of his age, plying his trade on the Continent and in England.</p><p><br /></p><p>Conan Doyle was aware of this when he created Moriarty. Rather than developing a character <i>de novo</i>, he returned to his basic concept of seeing evil born elsewhere and then traveling and polluting English soil. Edgar Smith, in his early study of Moriarty (<i>The Napoleon of Crime</i>, The Pamphlet House, 1953), suggests that the Professor was born in the West of England. But his true birth was on the Continent and his development into a criminal took place in America. </p><p>Conan Doyle maintains this attitude to the end. In “His Last Bow,” our final glimpse of Holmes in action, we find that he traveled to America to establish himself as a criminal, and then returned to England to fight spies who were from yet another foreign nation, Germany. </p><p>What then was the basis for this persistent effort to blame so many problems, so many crooks, so many crimes on people or events from abroad?</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">“the loungers and idlers of the Empire” [STUD]</h3><p>One explanation comes in the form of “imperial gothic,” a concept put forward by Patrick Brantlinger in <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3Lgy7A4" target="_blank">Rule of Darkness: British Literature and Imperialism, 1830–1914</a></i>. Brantlinger argued that many of the late Victorian writers were concerned that civilization, empire, and progress generally had stalled and were at risk of collapse. Conan Doyle, Rider-Haggard, Kipling, Buchan, et al responded with works that share three common views of the wider world.</p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">“the path backwards” [PRIO]</h4><p>The first is the idea of regression, that an individual who traveled to the furthest reaches of the Empire would be corrupted by the dangerous ideas to be found there. </p><p>One very explicit example of this is Professor Presbury’s monkey-antics which stem from a visit to Prague and the regular importation of a dangerous serum from overseas. Conan Doyle also presents imperial outposts as places where despicable impulse can be indulged, such as James Barclay’s treatment of Henry Wood. This is more a commentary on the lack of law and order on the frontier, rather than threats from overseas specifically. </p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">“the powers of evil are exalted” [HOUN]</h4><p>The second theme is the invasion of the west by demonic or barbaric forces. This is where imperial gothic really gets gothic and the occult comes to the fore. </p><p>Given “no ghosts need apply” in Sherlock Holmes’ world, this theme is more often seen in Conan Doyle wider work, in stories like “The Brown Hand” where a doctor is haunted by an Afghan hillman for his actions in India. </p><p>Of course, there are examples in the Canon, everything from the infamous Tonga and the swamp adder to the predatory sexual behavior of Baron Gruner, who is pointedly the “Austrian murderer.” The foreign criminal societies operating in England are themselves examples of barbaric forces, though again principally as threats to law and order.</p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">“persuaded her to fly with him” [GREE]</h4><p>The third theme is that, as the map of the world is filled in, there are fewer and fewer opportunities for adventure and for people (men) to prove themselves in the modern world. </p><p>The evidence for this is much stronger in <i>The Lost World</i> than in Canon but we may see it in the Sherlock Holmes stories in reverse. </p><p>The constant invasion of the metropolis by forces from overseas provides these opportunities in so many cases. Perhaps it’s significant that, after his Watson-reported retirement, Holmes has to go to America for a bit of adventure.</p><p><br /></p><p>All this should be colored by the recognition that often these writers — especially Conan Doyle —  saw empire as a civilizing mission, patronizing and aggrandizing though that was. </p><p>In later years, Conan Doyle appears to have lost faith in the empire’s ability to do this and saw spiritualism as an alternative —  a way of connecting all humanity towards a higher purpose. </p><p>The allegorical historical short stories in <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3eRIj5R" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tales of Long Ago</a></i> are an overlooked stepping stone on that journey, in that they describe the cyclical nature of empires, and that while Britain’s may rise, it will inevitably fall. </p><p>In <i>Rule of Darkness</i>, Brantlinger argued that “the ultimate victory of spiritualism was prefigured for Doyle in the demise of the empires of this world” which may explain why he regarded <i>Tales of Long Ago</i> as his favourite collection of stories.</p><p>One wonders if the number of threats specifically from America is an unconscious recognition that the USA would one day supplant Britain as a world power. Conan Doyle was speaking as Holmes when the detective said the children of the future would be “citizens of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes.” [NOBL] </p><p>But perhaps in that quartering there was some anxiety too. </p><p><br /></p><p><i>If you enjoyed this essay, you might enjoy the series of discussions on <a href="https://soundcloud.com/sherlockholmes-trifles/sets/international" target="_blank">international influences in the Canon</a> we hosted in Season 3 of <a href="https://www.sherlockholmespodcast.com" target="_blank">Trifles</a>:</i></p><p><iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="450" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/playlists/827406449&color=%2302ae05&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true" width="100%"></iframe></p><div style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Interstate, "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Lucida Sans", Garuda, Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: 100; line-break: anywhere; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; word-break: normal;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/sherlockholmes-trifles" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Sherlock Holmes: Trifles">Sherlock Holmes: Trifles</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/sherlockholmes-trifles/sets/international" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="International">International</a></div><div style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Interstate, "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Lucida Sans", Garuda, Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: 100; line-break: anywhere; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; word-break: normal;"><br /></div><p></p>

Evil Lurks Abroad

“foreigners who get into difficulties” [GREE] Editor's note: the following was submitted to us by Robert S. Katz, BSI ("Dr. Ainst...

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by Scott Monty

Episode 248: The Sherlock Home

<h4 style="text-align: center;">“That and a toothbrush are, I think, all that we need” [SPEC]  </h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgATYLU2Ep3BVWxmToBSmcxx6jaWF4h1UIfEDfgNcOeSPpmLPhhA5NyfUxVSnlyBP39GdahgwDpVeaUsgvgfmLr6-n87nXkJP36erYyNJzSwazCcK7bcwJRwAGF1lqjSiwDSSemvWVV9X36IjSaany2LFeliit2bLkKcx-hWhNCb7opTM_ESb-bVJsWTg/s1980/ihearofsherlock248-cover.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1320" data-original-width="1980" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgATYLU2Ep3BVWxmToBSmcxx6jaWF4h1UIfEDfgNcOeSPpmLPhhA5NyfUxVSnlyBP39GdahgwDpVeaUsgvgfmLr6-n87nXkJP36erYyNJzSwazCcK7bcwJRwAGF1lqjSiwDSSemvWVV9X36IjSaany2LFeliit2bLkKcx-hWhNCb7opTM_ESb-bVJsWTg/w640-h426/ihearofsherlock248-cover.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><div><p>What if you could stay in a Victorian-themed home with plenty of Sherlock Holmes-inspired elements? Don't answer just yet. What if you could stay in such a place and had to solve a mystery before you left?</p><p>That's what Ken and TamiKai Frazier have developed in this unique house in San Antonio, Texas, to delight people who love puzzles, mysteries, and escape rooms, but who also want a relaxed and authentic atmosphere in which to solve these conundrums.</p><p>Ken and Tami joined us to talk about what inspired them to create this experience and to give you a sense of what to expect if you book a stay there.</p><p>We have another <b>Canonical Couplet</b> quiz: two lines of poetry for you to listen to and unlock which story we're referring to. One winner chosen at random from all correct entries will receive a mystery prize from the IHOSE vaults.</p><p>Send your answer to comment @ ihearofsherlock .com by September 29, 2022 at 11:59 a.m. EST. The winner will be chosen at random from among all the correct answers. All listeners are eligible to play.</p><p><br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a data-patreon-widget-type="become-patron-button" href="https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=2318606">Become a Patron!</a></div><script async="" src="https://c6.patreon.com/becomePatronButton.bundle.js"></script><p></p><div><div><div style="margin: 0px;">Please do consider becoming a <a href="https://ihose.co/ihosepatron" target="_blank">Patron of the Arts</a>. Your support helps us to ensure we can keep doing what we do, covering file hosting costs, production, and transcription services. And now, Patreon supporters get ad-free versions of the episodes.</div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><h3><a href="https://traffic.libsyn.com/ihearofsherlock/ihearofsherlock248.mp3" target="_blank">Download</a> [Save As] | File size: 84.4 MB, 1:05:24</h3><iframe allowfullscreen="" data-dashlane-frameid="865" data-dashlane-rid="1110bb2fa204fd41" data-form-type="" height="192" mozallowfullscreen="true" msallowfullscreen="true" oallowfullscreen="true" scrolling="no" src="https://play.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/24382674/height/192/theme/modern/size/large/thumbnail/yes/custom-color/d4ac7c/time-start/00:00:00/playlist-height/200/direction/backward/download/yes" style="border: none;" title="Embed Player" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="100%"></iframe><div style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Interstate, "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Lucida Sans", Garuda, Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-break: anywhere; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; word-break: normal;"><br /></div><div style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Interstate, "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Lucida Sans", Garuda, Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-break: anywhere; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; word-break: normal;"></div><div style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Interstate, "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Lucida Sans", Garuda, Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-break: anywhere; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; word-break: normal;"><br /></div><h4 style="line-break: anywhere; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; word-break: normal;"><span style="color: #0000ee; text-decoration-line: underline;"><a href="https://pod.link/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">Listen to I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere anywhere</a></span></h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://pod.link/ihearofsherlock" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0Hs9K_GQCG4/YYA5zW6ew8I/AAAAAAABXYo/ASemh0mn-qYt6A7eUipa738QHud3rs0xwCLcBGAsYHQ/w200-h200/IHOSE%2Blogo%2B-%2Bheadphones%2BHR.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div></div><h2 style="margin: 0px;">Sponsors</h2><div style="margin: 0px;"><ul><li><a href="https://www.wessexpress.com/" target="_blank">Wessex Press</a> is the premier publisher of books about Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle, including <i><a href="https://wessexpress.com/html/shreview2021.html" target="_blank">The Sherlock Holmes Review</a>.</i></li><li><a href="https://www.mxpublishing.com" target="_blank">MX Publishing</a>, through its series <i>The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories</i> has raised over $100,000 for Undershaw.</li></ul></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;">Would you care to advertise with us? You can find <a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/p/contact.html#.Vc1Qx7JViko" target="_blank">more information here</a>. Let's chat!<br /><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><h2><b>Links</b></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>This episode: <a href="https://ihose.co/ihose248" target="_blank">ihose.co/ihose248</a></li><li><a href="https://solvethesherlockhome.com/" target="_blank">The Sherlock Home</a>: <a href="http://solvethesherlockhome.com">solvethesherlockhome.com</a></li><ul><li><a href="https://solvethesherlockhome.com/about-the-sherlock-home/" target="_blank">About the house and the concept</a></li><li><a href="https://solvethesherlockhome.com/the-sherlock-home-gallery/" target="_blank">View the gallery</a></li><li><a href="https://solvethesherlockhome.com/frequently-asked-questions/" target="_blank">FAQ</a></li></ul><li><i><a href="https://www.arthur-conan-doyle.com/index.php?title=Watson:_The_Last_Great_Tale_of_the_Legendary_Sherlock_Holmes_(play_2019)" target="_blank">Watson: The Last Great Tale of the Legendary Sherlock Holmes</a></i></li></ul><div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;">Many more links, articles and images are available in our Flipboard magazine at <a href="https://ihose.co/flipsherlock" target="_blank">ihose.co/flipsherlock</a>  as well as through our accounts on <a href="https://facebook.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://youtube.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">YouTube</a>, <a href="https://instagram.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">Twitter</a>.</div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>And would you consider leaving us a rating and review? It would help other Sherlockians to find us.</div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;">Your thoughts on the show? Leave a comment below, send us an email (comment AT ihearofsherlock DOT com), call us at 5-1895-221B-5. That's (518) 952-2125.</div><div style="font-family: "times new roman";"><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div></div><h3><br />Transcript</h3><div style="margin: 0px;">We are so grateful for your support <a href="http://patreon.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">on Patreon</a>, which makes our transcripts possible. Every amount helps. A transcript will be here soon.</div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a data-patreon-widget-type="become-patron-button" href="https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=2318606">Become a Patron!</a></div><script async="" src="https://c6.patreon.com/becomePatronButton.bundle.js"></script><p></p><div><div></div></div><p style="-x-system-font: none; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font: 14px Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 12px auto 6px;"><br /></p></div><p style="-x-system-font: none; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font: 14px Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 12px auto 6px;">--</p><p style="-x-system-font: none; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font: 14px Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 12px auto 6px;"><br /></p></div></div></div>

Episode 248: The Sherlock Home

“That and a toothbrush are, I think, all that we need” [SPEC] What if you could stay in a Victorian-themed home with plenty of Sherlock Ho...

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by Scott Monty

Queen Elizabeth II (1926 – 2022)

<h4 style="text-align: center;">“the one fixed point in a changing age” [LAST]  </h4><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg165uYPxYDHpWuCvePmj1ZuKxhBEqtAEvigisQMAa7gj3WL68X-ukYKvVTpM6yjpFt71NFkOXv0J382YpnLdETFqATofRDJGrN0B1SKBn6GdmxY_XB6PoHEk3DrBz33v70kBdxOdZ2d3xqSOXGWPoSAvLZYiaq3z1u00TBInRaqTRRXrALKAxDGrW_2w/s1483/A%20Portrait%20of%20Her%20Majesty%20Queen%20Elizabeth%20II%202018.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="835" data-original-width="1483" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg165uYPxYDHpWuCvePmj1ZuKxhBEqtAEvigisQMAa7gj3WL68X-ukYKvVTpM6yjpFt71NFkOXv0J382YpnLdETFqATofRDJGrN0B1SKBn6GdmxY_XB6PoHEk3DrBz33v70kBdxOdZ2d3xqSOXGWPoSAvLZYiaq3z1u00TBInRaqTRRXrALKAxDGrW_2w/w640-h360/A%20Portrait%20of%20Her%20Majesty%20Queen%20Elizabeth%20II%202018.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>It is with great sadness that we acknowledge the passing on 8 September 2022 of Her Majesty the Queen, aged 96.</p><p>Her formal title was Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.</p><p>She served as monarch for over 70 years — the longest-reigning British monarch in history — beginning on 6 February 1952, upon the death of her father, George VI.</p><p>Her son Charles, first in line for the throne, serving as Prince of Wales for decades and waiting 73 years for the job he was born for, is now King Charles III.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">One Fixed Point</h3><p>The accolades and chronicles across the web are plentiful; we can't add anything to those. But for Sherlockians, who tend to be Anglophiles and have a deep appreciation for Her Majesty, the loss is a significant one.</p><p>Queen Elizabeth II has been the only British monarch most of us remember in our lifetimes. She took the throne in 1952: the Baker Street Irregulars had existed for only eighteen years; Edgar W. Smith was still at the helm, it was five years before Christopher Morley's death, and only 22 years since Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's passing.</p><p>She's been toasted, honored, and celebrated at numerous Sherlockian society meetings over those decades, often concluded with the singing of the National Anthem, which will now revert to "God Save the King."</p><p>During her lifetime, the pace of progress and change was remarkable. Technology, science, medicine, media — every one of these industries saw exponential growth and change.</p><p>And yet, she remained in place, a steadfast and unswerving presence. She managed to move the monarchy in a modern direction as well, allowing her Coronation to be broadcast, dealing with impact of centuries of imperialism around the globe, and even softening to allow a public show of grief and solidarity upon the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997 and more recently, the passing of Prince Philip in 2021.</p><p>As an individual, she seemed almost universally loved around the world.</p><p><br /></p><p>When we think about it, the assured presence of Queen Elizabeth II over the decades mirrors the continued existence and enjoyment of Sherlock Holmes as well.</p><p>From the stuffy male-only societies of yore (some of which still gasped for breath well into the 21st century) to the  lightning-fast interactions we now have online, Sherlockians continue to evolve our passions that center around that "one fixed point in a changing age" mentioned in "His Last Bow." Although for us, it's the entire Canon that's the fixed point, not just Watson.</p><p></p><blockquote>"England is England yet, for all our fears—<br />Only those things the heart believes are true."</blockquote><p></p><p><br /></p><p>As the monarchy executes its <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/mar/16/what-happens-when-queen-elizabeth-dies-london-bridge" target="_blank">well-planned series of events and protocols</a>, it stands as an institution, assuring us that despite the upheaval of an entire age — the Elizabethan Age — life will continue.</p><p>During the timeline of his adventures, Sherlock Holmes saw the transition from Queen Victoria to King Edward VII, and then to George V. And so it goes today.</p><p>The Queen is dead. Long live the King!</p><p></p><blockquote>Send him victorious,<br />Happy and glorious,<br />Long to rein o'er us,<br />God Save the King!</blockquote><p></p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;">Related:</h4><p><a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/09/queen-elizabeth-ii-surpasses-queen.html#.YxtgI3bMLb3" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Queen Elizabeth II Surpasses Queen Victoria as Longest-Serving British Monarch</a></p><p> </p>

Queen Elizabeth II (1926 – 2022)

“the one fixed point in a changing age” [LAST] It is with great sadness that we acknowledge the passing on 8 September 2022 of Her Majesty...

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by Scott Monty

Review: Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles

<h4 style="text-align: center;">“he has a picture-book under his arm” [GREE] </h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKequyGUVUaV3s0jKvVT1cVsGlXCIDzXuFT2eev7RQcG-E0jclLS7ZwkKpuLDJII873zhF2hQF7CGIfQnZgA1S9U5G4YqNtLTVmNsWi7pXGeXQ9B8KaMZoVmyTxNTL7ndfDRVXpEEZUb94xzkdC7AAvCl8V9bty4z0cuyabVM8eIO8I_K7wIcswlU-lg/s1500/Noel%20-%20Sherlock%20Holmes%20HOUN%20cover%20cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="929" data-original-width="1500" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKequyGUVUaV3s0jKvVT1cVsGlXCIDzXuFT2eev7RQcG-E0jclLS7ZwkKpuLDJII873zhF2hQF7CGIfQnZgA1S9U5G4YqNtLTVmNsWi7pXGeXQ9B8KaMZoVmyTxNTL7ndfDRVXpEEZUb94xzkdC7AAvCl8V9bty4z0cuyabVM8eIO8I_K7wIcswlU-lg/w640-h396/Noel%20-%20Sherlock%20Holmes%20HOUN%20cover%20cropped.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>It's the way the world works. I wrote a survey of all of <i>The Hound of the Baskervilles </i>graphic novel adaptations, and as soon as I'm done, I find another one. </p><p><i><a href="https://amzn.to/3AWamsn" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles</a></i> is an "old book by Arthur Conan Doyle" featuring "new doodles by Jack Noel."</p><p>Although labeled a "Comic Classic," I was somewhat relieved to find that this isn't really a comic.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgka8l_B-z5GIyz8KPhGDgWppZgaNkwX_zQrTXqQO5K-GkEn7dFaCIEQD7GxcFGllQSMPLsbymY-5ynzY8Dg13N5Qt228HXhInFn17k-r4LvZLhr86HzD6fQiFmtKQoR97l5mGbfXnekM-mgLA6G-RlpaFaROtXb5JHnF8GmEq4_SFMK03Qu1w-rN7w2w/s2118/Noel%20-%20Sherlock%20Holmes%20HOUN%20cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2118" data-original-width="1500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgka8l_B-z5GIyz8KPhGDgWppZgaNkwX_zQrTXqQO5K-GkEn7dFaCIEQD7GxcFGllQSMPLsbymY-5ynzY8Dg13N5Qt228HXhInFn17k-r4LvZLhr86HzD6fQiFmtKQoR97l5mGbfXnekM-mgLA6G-RlpaFaROtXb5JHnF8GmEq4_SFMK03Qu1w-rN7w2w/w284-h400/Noel%20-%20Sherlock%20Holmes%20HOUN%20cover.jpg" width="284" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Instead, this enjoyable read is formatted in illustrated diary format, as made popular by <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3KR1o49" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Diary of a Wimpy Kid</a></i> and its many imitators. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB4CDAlG_Ys1tA8VWM5vvvTiDJe6Rqf8-GzfChQp-sOgQbes3dCSPcyw2mOt-Rlb49jTY6OBM7U1pM0ni31atVyfDpUUJ-T0fotKKh4Fml9V-lZKltKW97ad6Szo7UcSAYVIoxap1bKzDZ0N_JpyWaLz6-6vJTg2GS2uatkUaJt1bS8LM62fm28bCC0w/s1436/Noel%20-%20Sherlock%20Holmes%20HOUN%20inside%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1052" data-original-width="1436" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB4CDAlG_Ys1tA8VWM5vvvTiDJe6Rqf8-GzfChQp-sOgQbes3dCSPcyw2mOt-Rlb49jTY6OBM7U1pM0ni31atVyfDpUUJ-T0fotKKh4Fml9V-lZKltKW97ad6Szo7UcSAYVIoxap1bKzDZ0N_JpyWaLz6-6vJTg2GS2uatkUaJt1bS8LM62fm28bCC0w/w640-h468/Noel%20-%20Sherlock%20Holmes%20HOUN%20inside%201.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div>Text; small, cartoony images; character portraits; and various diagrams are scattered across the pages in such a way that there's always something new to look at. Plus, there are occasional comments on the action, often in joking fashion. <div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisGiYplA1QGuSrONM20FMUtepYO7ob2DBHGXNqLyYQtbJqU-Vla6-2-bQrGLkniF0YeME9VnvHkBilMCSl9iLb6FHVlMHUwXmsKsTQmSQaLCMEbWhX7rpT5t7EQgdtxdhP802uAah5WDGJttNhfkkspqeKVCQ8T9RSvyluU07FqibXeYfjPx8NSdWRIw/s1416/Noel%20-%20Sherlock%20Holmes%20HOUN%20inside%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1014" data-original-width="1416" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisGiYplA1QGuSrONM20FMUtepYO7ob2DBHGXNqLyYQtbJqU-Vla6-2-bQrGLkniF0YeME9VnvHkBilMCSl9iLb6FHVlMHUwXmsKsTQmSQaLCMEbWhX7rpT5t7EQgdtxdhP802uAah5WDGJttNhfkkspqeKVCQ8T9RSvyluU07FqibXeYfjPx8NSdWRIw/w640-h458/Noel%20-%20Sherlock%20Holmes%20HOUN%20inside%202.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>The whole thing is punctuated by the use of an electric lime color that adds to the air of something creepy going on. Various captions, drawn to resemble post-it notes, highlight questions and clues that underline the mystery. </p><p>It's an amusing, modern way to tell the story for kids. I laughed several times, particularly when Watson's statement, "I spent the day at my club and did not return to Baker Street until evening," had a tiny note attached that ran, "Yes, I have my own life without Sherlock, thank you very much." </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ3SUCtRWNEIAJeghVe6VlvoGfdoN8vB0LpzLO74m-pX01vQfqSiuIfatZlY40TkE1mD11MDVVdP6CKhtEiORsFicfRXiviyVF0FH9h9p-KMhVj970HJkRj6xdj32whaLqLLdouLnShEahrtlzGwJsuapak74twod5kVuRa3-BVGt5g7danhgwLFfjnA/s1403/Noel%20-%20Sherlock%20Holmes%20HOUN%20inside%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1018" data-original-width="1403" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ3SUCtRWNEIAJeghVe6VlvoGfdoN8vB0LpzLO74m-pX01vQfqSiuIfatZlY40TkE1mD11MDVVdP6CKhtEiORsFicfRXiviyVF0FH9h9p-KMhVj970HJkRj6xdj32whaLqLLdouLnShEahrtlzGwJsuapak74twod5kVuRa3-BVGt5g7danhgwLFfjnA/w640-h464/Noel%20-%20Sherlock%20Holmes%20HOUN%20inside%203.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>The sense of humor is appreciated, but the author also maintains the classic mood of the story, with plenty of spookiness and all the key points included. The additions are cute, entertaining, and surprisingly informative, giving the reader greater understanding of what's going on. It's a fun way to reread the most famous Sherlock Holmes story. </p><p>The publisher recommends the book for ages 7-9 and has posted an <a href="https://www.farshore.co.uk/resources/hound-of-the-baskervilles-activity-pack/" target="_blank">activity pack</a>. </p><p><i><a href="https://amzn.to/3AWamsn" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Comic Classics: Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles</a></i> abridged by Lucy Courtenay, designed and illustrated by Jack Noel, published by Farshore, November 2021</p><p>--</p><p><br /></p></div>

Review: Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles

“he has a picture-book under his arm” [GREE] It's the way the world works. I wrote a survey of all of The Hound of the Baskervilles gra...

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by Johanna Draper Carlson

Baker Street Elementary – No Short, Sherlock

<h4 style="text-align: center;">“The facts are briefly these” [SCAN]    </h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZMeEXQ8x_Uej6D92ibNXVnPwFma3mx-RCcQExRQalKPkOhuk92dYM5BSQHLMqaFIBUbwPDn30JO5YHNVTkkxG9Aj85xgXfNji7tXaBEuD3WbsWbxHOlBXm6mGlcbeJcwgpDWfTWi8rpgolO3-hkCJ7D1tcUXlN6q6pANEhnKPoGSfLR-PdyXsPAKjoA/s768/Baker%20Street%20Elementary%20139.1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZMeEXQ8x_Uej6D92ibNXVnPwFma3mx-RCcQExRQalKPkOhuk92dYM5BSQHLMqaFIBUbwPDn30JO5YHNVTkkxG9Aj85xgXfNji7tXaBEuD3WbsWbxHOlBXm6mGlcbeJcwgpDWfTWi8rpgolO3-hkCJ7D1tcUXlN6q6pANEhnKPoGSfLR-PdyXsPAKjoA/w640-h480/Baker%20Street%20Elementary%20139.1.JPG" width="640" /></a></div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Once Sherlockian scholarship took off in the 1930s and early 1940s, the collective writers (who were many — remember Christopher Morley's observation that "Never before had so much been written by so many for so few") must have tired of writing out the full story titles again and again.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">So the intrepid Jay Finley Christ, BSI ("The Final Problem"), who needed to save space in his 1947 volume <i>An Irregular Guide to Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street</i>,  created a standardized four-letter abbreviation for the stories.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In fact, we carry a copy of that very list for easy reference. You can find it at <a href="http://ihose.co/ABREV">ihose.co/ABREV</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Christ's basic principle was simple: the abbreviation is the first four letters of the story's title, leaving aside phrases like "The Adventure of." He listed them alphabetically, from ABBE for "The Abbey Grange" to YELL for "The Yellow Face."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">A few problems arise with the four-letter rule, most obviously the fact that three stories begin with the word "Three." Christ solved that one easily by using numerals in the stories where there might be confusion: 3GAB for the Gables, 3GAR for the Garridebs, 3STU for the Students. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">He didn't do the same thing for "The Five Orange Pips" or "The Six Napoleons" because there's only one five and one six. And "The Sign of the Four" is SIGN, with no numeral needed.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">And lest you think that these choices were capricious or confusing, Christ was a professor at the University of Chicago, home of the famed <i>Chicago Manual of Style</i>. The manual indicates that "whole cardinal numbers from one through one hundred, as well as ordinals, are spelled out in nontechnical contexts." Indeed, Christ was working from academic and legal precedents for his abbreviations.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">As you know, all good systems have a few exceptions, and Christ's was no different. He chose CHAS for "Charles Augustus Milverton," because that was a recognized abbreviation for Charles; and ENGR for "The Engineer's Thumb." </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">And in three instances he apparently ignored introductory words, deeming them as insignificant as "The Adventure of." So we have IDEN for "A Case of Identity," LAST for "His Last Bow," and TWIS for "The Man with the Twisted Lip." In each case, the word with the most significant meaning for that story takes precedent.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">That's the long and the short of it, anyway. Let's see how Baker Street Elementary grapples with it... </div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRz-nDF0qOUUOJUjkTpaXzpCsD-DWwGZ-8plKuQXNMm4kujqVsB5sYIdn44dXlwjZZCG8p3br2zz02mJnn9Hou5t4DtA-O6sCIokBc_UbI4EVxqCFQF_wp_meQLRC4_kONerh8I7imHZrm4ZD0GFnChOF1tnyk_0ZJjy6QOn_45DENpAiYHpyGA-fSnw/s768/Baker%20Street%20Elementary%20139.2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRz-nDF0qOUUOJUjkTpaXzpCsD-DWwGZ-8plKuQXNMm4kujqVsB5sYIdn44dXlwjZZCG8p3br2zz02mJnn9Hou5t4DtA-O6sCIokBc_UbI4EVxqCFQF_wp_meQLRC4_kONerh8I7imHZrm4ZD0GFnChOF1tnyk_0ZJjy6QOn_45DENpAiYHpyGA-fSnw/w640-h480/Baker%20Street%20Elementary%20139.2.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDOqucS-bOQDyHSYlgoTv7Xv08kx46SJtr7a4GiJb_RPgtOmNlnEvht-Df7WWPd71JGI1ZLvBcfhpdo4gJOmGvdGLTTBLG064O7Lx1W73pP17O9nVfmsmE_-AVa8k-k1IR0-W1WmSVlOOmWpbrpKBNfYai6qQgzg1MjGjBgKS7kbIKWt3u2nKUj2OFjA/s768/Baker%20Street%20Elementary%20139.3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDOqucS-bOQDyHSYlgoTv7Xv08kx46SJtr7a4GiJb_RPgtOmNlnEvht-Df7WWPd71JGI1ZLvBcfhpdo4gJOmGvdGLTTBLG064O7Lx1W73pP17O9nVfmsmE_-AVa8k-k1IR0-W1WmSVlOOmWpbrpKBNfYai6qQgzg1MjGjBgKS7kbIKWt3u2nKUj2OFjA/w640-h480/Baker%20Street%20Elementary%20139.3.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAUAsF8bq6hEFWI6F27ixBzHZ3FRNdPaWhPqtosZ3Ed15lFgi1gYs9EiMf5AigW-tdBrHWUufyYCB1V0gc0LYot10vTQsPeeXF33MBt-Oilckr28hAuVn3Xs8BvEbphwzyU6Is_Yd4vz_g8Avqln5a6MrN8_Ili_EUmb6OXKcudn-qW9aFO4b3NpI7TA/s768/Baker%20Street%20Elementary%20139.4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAUAsF8bq6hEFWI6F27ixBzHZ3FRNdPaWhPqtosZ3Ed15lFgi1gYs9EiMf5AigW-tdBrHWUufyYCB1V0gc0LYot10vTQsPeeXF33MBt-Oilckr28hAuVn3Xs8BvEbphwzyU6Is_Yd4vz_g8Avqln5a6MrN8_Ili_EUmb6OXKcudn-qW9aFO4b3NpI7TA/w640-h480/Baker%20Street%20Elementary%20139.4.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaZxHlPrXgyrod0M-e1d4Yv2P-8xSYGzJ9ZsWzPwoLzeutIFbJfdlYm5hJMC4Bw0I3GiXD46GLLq5F4O3zq442ZgXBRHy9-lD1nPvsdqQ40sgRgdaSAkaN3pCeYWsIs0663YPkzxtqEpQeusVnk-PZOqWeRgzv0ayZwPaA07BZA34HkKtnKPf8xo1FjA/s768/Baker%20Street%20Elementary%20139.5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaZxHlPrXgyrod0M-e1d4Yv2P-8xSYGzJ9ZsWzPwoLzeutIFbJfdlYm5hJMC4Bw0I3GiXD46GLLq5F4O3zq442ZgXBRHy9-lD1nPvsdqQ40sgRgdaSAkaN3pCeYWsIs0663YPkzxtqEpQeusVnk-PZOqWeRgzv0ayZwPaA07BZA34HkKtnKPf8xo1FjA/w640-h480/Baker%20Street%20Elementary%20139.5.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDdxToA_G1Hd_-EvLIAIzqetdZm0AqkGM13W-UUH6lx_jSojjqmAakMfxLqs5dlVDL0D-NE3Di8X6-2cMLNQUAZv2etZUbgOHRMl6nGBbh8ozb_y0leUowDy4OCqNlUc3vbJaBmEJTrwO_PTtdZYDjE1xBnX-fxJUsFeZZxJO1YpZXG9YVyZTo0ClwDw/s768/Baker%20Street%20Elementary%20139.6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDdxToA_G1Hd_-EvLIAIzqetdZm0AqkGM13W-UUH6lx_jSojjqmAakMfxLqs5dlVDL0D-NE3Di8X6-2cMLNQUAZv2etZUbgOHRMl6nGBbh8ozb_y0leUowDy4OCqNlUc3vbJaBmEJTrwO_PTtdZYDjE1xBnX-fxJUsFeZZxJO1YpZXG9YVyZTo0ClwDw/w640-h480/Baker%20Street%20Elementary%20139.6.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;"><i>Baker Street Elementary</i></b><span face="" style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;"> follows the original adventures of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, as they and their friends work through the issues of elementary school in Victorian London. An archive of all previous episodes can be viewed at </span><a href="http://www.bakerstreetelementary.org/" style="background-color: white; color: #006f85; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; text-align: left;">www.bakerstreetelementary.org</a><span face="" style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">.</span></div><div><div><br /></div><div><span face="" style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span><span face="" style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F-VumJdilF0/WJa_9TrpA3I/AAAAAAAAuO8/52U-hZ7WY4Qz2Oqo84lF8KQnF0zynZ5YQCPcB/s1600/Baker%2BStreet%2BElementary.jpg" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F-VumJdilF0/WJa_9TrpA3I/AAAAAAAAuO8/52U-hZ7WY4Qz2Oqo84lF8KQnF0zynZ5YQCPcB/s640/Baker%2BStreet%2BElementary.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><br />--</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>

Baker Street Elementary – No Short, Sherlock

“The facts are briefly these” [SCAN] Once Sherlockian scholarship took off in the 1930s and early 1940s, the collective writers (who wer...

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by Scott Monty

The Bull Pup: Canine, Gun, or Something Else?

<div class="separator"><h4 style="text-align: center;">"It's a dog," said I. [CROO]</h4></div><div class="separator" style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJz_LalD4gQDhxDEWNMciCrKcZWYASt4IAtbnckmROC6ejzzNOxhRKmMQ5_WqtIjf1zuzrf6kdgGPdX76gX9uW7JsNHC11MrIu7uQFKk4hqt1mdbloSKh1O0O5BhojV6hZHPNkWfY04HfDBsjm6ib1vadS6kjzgRLs27MHmwpx7rf7cQXZ-Nl403FY3g/s1200/Bulldog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJz_LalD4gQDhxDEWNMciCrKcZWYASt4IAtbnckmROC6ejzzNOxhRKmMQ5_WqtIjf1zuzrf6kdgGPdX76gX9uW7JsNHC11MrIu7uQFKk4hqt1mdbloSKh1O0O5BhojV6hZHPNkWfY04HfDBsjm6ib1vadS6kjzgRLs27MHmwpx7rf7cQXZ-Nl403FY3g/w640-h640/Bulldog.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></div> <div>While the dog that did nothing in the night-time may be more famous to the world-at-large, being cited in essays, court opinions and as the title of an award-winning play, Watson’s mysterious bull pup may have the edge to fame within the Sherlockian world. <br /><br />When Holmes and Watson decide to be roommates at the beginning of <i>A Study in Scarlet</i>, Holmes lists his shortcoming and asks the doctor to do the same: <blockquote><div>“I keep a bull pup,” I said, “and I object to rows because my nerves are shaken, and I get up at all sorts of ungodly hours, and I am extremely lazy. I have another set of vices when I'm well, but those are the principal ones at present.” </div></blockquote><div><br /></div><div>As the bull pup does not physically appear in STUD or any of the subsequent adventures, many have assumed it was only a metaphor. <br /><br /><a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2011/08/this-wood-cycle-must-have-emerged-prio_9.html">Peter H. Wood’s</a> article in the Spring 2014 issue of <a href="https://www.torontobootmakers.com/canadian-holmes/"><i>Canadian Holmes</i></a>, “I Keep a Bull Pup…,” is one of the most comprehensive looks at the issue with the division of the arguments falling into two camps which Wood calls the <b>Literalist school </b>(the bull pup is a dog Watson owned or intended to own) and the <b>Metaphorical school</b> (the bull pup is a gun or a bad temper). </div><div><br /></div><div>Wood concludes that he can’t come to a conclusion to which camp has the most compelling evidence to be likely correct; he finds the evidence wanting in both cases. <br /><br />I have taken my own look at the bull pup question and I, too, will look at the Literal and Metaphorical schools but I will begin at a school that Wood did not look at: the Doylean. <br /><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Doylean School </h3><br />The Doylean School, by necessity, looks at the matter outside the Grand Game. When Arthur Conan Doyle refers to a bull pup in his fiction he is always referring to a canine, whether an actual, physical dog, as in the short stories: <br /><br /><b>“The Winning Shot”</b> (1883): </div><blockquote><div>"Eh, Jock; see to mun's moo', rayther! — Blessed if he bean't foamin' like Farmer Watson's dog — t' bull pup whot died mad o' the hydropathics."</div></blockquote><div><br /></div><div><b>“A Straggler of '15”</b> (1891): </div><blockquote><div>He's got a bull pup o' mine that I gave him when I took the bounty.</div></blockquote><div><br /></div><div>Or the novel <b><i>Beyond the City</i></b> (1891): </div><div><blockquote>"Finally, when the cabman, all top-heavy and bristling, had staggered off up the garden path, there emerged in a very leisurely way from the cab a big, powerfully built young man, with a bull pup under one arm and a pink sporting paper in his hand. <br /><br />"The bull pup which they had seen upon the day before bolted from its hiding-place, and scuttled snarling from the room. <br /><br />She came to the door with them, and as they glanced back they saw her still standing there with the yellow bull pup cuddled up under one forearm, and the thin blue reek of her cigarette ascending from her lips."</blockquote><br /><br /></div><div>Or the play co-written with J. M. Barrie: <b><i>Jane Annie; or, the Good Conduct Prize</i></b> (1893): </div><div><blockquote>“And the man has come with the bull-pups.” <br /><br />“The band got five shillings between them from Missus to go away, but she had to pay extra for not taking the bull-pups.” </blockquote><br /><br /></div><div>Or a canine in metaphor or simile as in the novels: <br /><br /><b><i>Micah Clarke</i></b> (1889): </div><div></div><blockquote><div>“Let us see what sort of sport the bull-pups make in the baiting of him!”</div><div><br />“In particular, friend Foster pinked the King in such wise that his Majesty ran howling down the street like a gored bull-pup.”</div></blockquote><div></div><div><br /></div><div><b><i>The Great Shadow</i></b> (1892): </div><blockquote><div>"Maybe, if we could have seen seventy mothers weeping for their lads, we should not have felt so pleased over it; but then, men are just brutes when they are fighting, and have as much thought as two bull pups when they've got one another by the throttle."</div></blockquote><div><br /><br />So when Doyle wrote Watson saying he had a bull pup, we can be sure he was referring to a canine. </div><div><br /></div><div>The same can be said for references to <b>bulldogs </b>and <b>bull terriers</b>, they were either actual canines, similes or metaphors: </div><div><br /></div><blockquote><div>"There is Buller, the famous Cambridge quarter, only ten stone in weight, but as lithe and slippery as an eel; and Jackson, the other quarter, is just such another — hard to tackle himself, but as tenacious as a bulldog in holding an adversary." (<b><i>The Firm of Girdlestone</i></b>, 1889)</div></blockquote><div><br /></div><div>And those who have the physical characteristic of the animal:</div><blockquote><div>"And there rides Ney with his red head, and Lefebvre with his bulldog jaw… (“How the Brigadier Came to the Castle of Gloom,” 1895). </div></blockquote><p> </p><div style="text-align: left;">So what, then, became of Watson’s dog? As the manuscript to A Study in Scarlet is apparently not extant, we cannot interrogate it as to Doyle’s intent. We cannot see if there are further passages or mentions of the bull pup that have been excised, either by author or publisher."</div><div><br /></div><div><br />Martin Booth, in his biography of Doyle, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3KIYHRX" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Doctor and The Detective</a></i>, remarked of the author’s writing of the Holmes tales:<br /><blockquote>"Good though the stories are, they do contain a lot of slapdash writing….This careless attitude towards the stories came about because Conan Doyle regarded them as little more than light fiction, good little money-earners. The effort of painstaking research that he applied to his historical novels, was, he felt, wasted here…" (p 155) <br /><br />"One of the inconsistences in the stories, which has resulted in a bizarrely amusing consequence, concerns Watson’s dog, which was a bull pup, either a bulldog or a bull terrier. It appears in A Study in Scarlet but is never mentioned again….The truth of the matter is that Conan Doyle simply forgot the creature, but this has not prevented bizarre interpretations as to the fate of the temporary canine." (pp 156-7) </blockquote><br />  <br /><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">Canonical Viewpoint </h3>I’ll now enter the Game and open with the relevant entry from S. Tupper Bigelow’s <i>An Irregular Anglo-American Glossary of More or Less Unfamiliar Words, Terms and Phrases in the Sherlock Holmes Saga</i>. <br /><br /></div><blockquote><div>[keep a] bull-pup: Watson lists this as one of his shortcomings as a potential flatmate. The meaning of the phrase has bedevilled Sherlockians for decades, with opinions divided into three schools: <br /><br />*young bulldog[.] Objection; there is no further evidence of such a dog in the Canon. <br /><br />*a short thick pistol or revolver. Objection: the first firearm called by this name was not manufactured until 1937. (<i>New Official Gun Book</i>, ed. Charles R. Jacobs, c. 1951) <br /><br />*Anglo-Indian or army slang for “have a bad temper.” Objection: no non-Sherlockian lexicographic source, contemporary or otherwise, has been found for this definition. The most authoritative source is this contention by Jacques Barzun, a celebrated man of letters, in his 1975 book, <i>Simple & Direct: A Rhetoric for Writers</i>:</div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote><div style="text-align: left;">“The curious fact about that the dog is that he is never heard of again---and no wonder, for ‘keep a bull pup’ in the 1880s was army slang for ‘have a bad temper.’ The author probably put the phrase in the army doctor’s mouth for vivid local color.” </div></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><div><br />In correspondence, Mr. Barzun commented that the interpretation was supplied probably in the 1930s by a retired English army Captain, Humphry Fry, an admirer of Sherlock Holmes who was an English master at St. Bernard’s School in New York. Mr. Barzun said he and the Captain “often exchanged views about details in the stories. I must have asked him why Watson’s dog never appeared at 221B Baker Street.” </div></blockquote><div><br /><br />Jack Tracy opted for the [same] definition in his 1977 <i>Encyclopedia Sherlockiana</i> but later wrote to an inquirer that his sources were “oral history and tradition.” <br /><br />  <br /><br /><h2 style="text-align: left;">The Metaphorical School </h2>The two major classes of the Metaphorical school: One that a bull pup is a revolver or firearm of some kind and two it is slang for a bad temper. As Bigelow’s entry under the bull pup heading points out there is scant evidence for either. <br /><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">Bull pup as slang </h3>Jack Tracy in <i>Encyclopedia Sherlockiana</i>, aside from a never-appearing dog, lists “To keep a bull pup, in Anglo- Indian slang, means to have fits of quick temper.” To quote Wood from his article:</div><div><blockquote>"In the bibliography he cites as one of his authorities, Sir Henry Yule’s “Hobson—Jobson,” an encyclopedia of Anglo-Indian slang, first published in 1903. As Sir Henry died in 1889, the compilation presumably covers Watson’s time in the great subcontinent. There is no citation in this work for “Bull-pup,” “bull (pup)” “Keep a bull-pup,” or any similar expression save for “keep a pig” alluded to above [The only “keep” phrase of any relevance seems to be “keep a pig,” which was Victorian slang for owning two rooms and subletting one to a friend, who used the room for his or her own purposes.], when challenged as to his source for the expression by Thomas D. Puller, Tracy replied: “... I have no scholarly or academic sources which may be formally cited for the Sherlockiana entry on ‘bull pup.’ My sources are informal (the <i>Times</i> allusions mentioned in the <i>Annotated </i>and the <i>ESJ </i>[sic] letters columns) and oral (the same world travellers you have probably been talking to yourself). I settled on the ‘temper’ definition because (1) the oral/informal references are so diverse in origin and so consistent in meaning and (2) it is the only explanation which makes sense in context."</blockquote><br />Wood did a search of six slang dictionaries and found no entries defining bull pup as slang for temper. When one does a Google search today for bull pup as slang one cannot find an independent listing, Anglo-Indian or otherwise, as “having a temper,” only those that list the Sherlockian contention of Watson’s bull pup being so. The closest we come to it being British military slang is “bull--High polish on Parade Boots.” (Source: <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Glossary_of_British_military_slang_and_expressions#B" target="_blank">Glossary of British Military Slang and Expressions</a>; this article originally appeared in the October 2021 issue of <i>The Passengers' Log</i>, the magazine of the<a href="http://www.sherlock.on.net/index.html"> </a><a href="http://www.sherlock.on.net/index.html">Sydney Passengers.</a>)<br /><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">Bull pup as a firearm </h3>In the world of firearms there is a type of weapon called a bullpup—one word as opposed to two words. It is a weapon, originally referring to a long gun, having its action (the mechanism that loads, locks, fires, extracts and ejects the ammunition) behind the trigger, creating a shorter weapon compared to rifles with the same size gun barrel. </div><div><br /></div><div>The first such weapon was the British-made Thorneycroft carbine (no relation to Dr. Thorneycroft Huxtable, M.A., Ph.D., etc.) manufactured in 1901. The term bullpup for this type of weapon did not come into general use until the 1930s.  A bullpup machine pistol wasn’t patented until 1936. </div><div><br /></div><div>Thus, while Watson could have come back from Afghanistan with a rifle, it could not have been a bullpup nor would it have been called by that name.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMIDl3XUbVSpromiZUQeS-JmdHp6Ta8uiFf5M5UxItz2urFvKY0CjPj5k-7_YyjqqG9wCHSjnfRY-FJzy2Bm377XjgqzBh0cMHwUeB8NnnSJBt9U9pNQ0iqtzek4XUaSBYsp2OM2huhw4JR8l5VOygDVWWGUoZFSGV416zojiR4a1pFASdEeineYtt_w/s1024/Webly%20No.%202.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="702" data-original-width="1024" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMIDl3XUbVSpromiZUQeS-JmdHp6Ta8uiFf5M5UxItz2urFvKY0CjPj5k-7_YyjqqG9wCHSjnfRY-FJzy2Bm377XjgqzBh0cMHwUeB8NnnSJBt9U9pNQ0iqtzek4XUaSBYsp2OM2huhw4JR8l5VOygDVWWGUoZFSGV416zojiR4a1pFASdEeineYtt_w/w640-h438/Webly%20No.%202.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">A Webley No. 2 .450 Centerfire</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"></div> <br /><br />In 1872, British gun maker Webley produced the British Bulldog. It was a weapon that filled a need. </div><div><br /></div><div>It had a short 2 ½ barrel and fired large caliber .442 Webley or .450 Adams cartridges. “Upon its introduction in the early 1870s, Webley’s new British Bulldog had become an immediate sensation in Victorian England since the carrying of carrying firearms in Great Britain was accomplished quite discreetly. </div><div><br /></div><div>Thus the pocketsized, highly concealable Bulldog fit right into the period of Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper,” said <a href="https://gundigest.com/wp-content/uploads/6ShooterSpecialFinal.pdf">George J. Layman in “When Bulldogs Ruled” (<i>Gun Digest</i> 2010)</a>.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5mUooPTqFX98z2os355fs6KicwHEkRfP0sJvC2bjlwOS5IJWNA-d6pItIvNfCD_iZNs-77XnlnSE712xTMK-WArA4ZFPvPqrah01cCJOkGzJEpUT2gkgM3-WJ91r3xtmitammhcgsUrk6ot1EEp0t-E-KqOfRqL8YH28ZMiRsz4OFjT0dbkqwxd8YZw/s1024/British%20Bulldog.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5mUooPTqFX98z2os355fs6KicwHEkRfP0sJvC2bjlwOS5IJWNA-d6pItIvNfCD_iZNs-77XnlnSE712xTMK-WArA4ZFPvPqrah01cCJOkGzJEpUT2gkgM3-WJ91r3xtmitammhcgsUrk6ot1EEp0t-E-KqOfRqL8YH28ZMiRsz4OFjT0dbkqwxd8YZw/w640-h480/British%20Bulldog.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">The topstrap carried the legend "THE BRITISH BULL DOG"</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>It is quite obvious that the British Bulldog became a legend in its own time. By 1876, several European and American imitators jumped on the Bulldog bandwagon, marketing copies of self-cockers marked “British Bull Dog” over the topstrap. </div><div><br /></div><div>Many of the European Webley copies came from Belgium and their overall finish and quality was noticeably inferior to the genuine British-made variations. Quite a number of these – both domestic [US] and foreign – were stamped with such markings as “Western Bull Dog,” “British Lion,” “Boston Bulldog,” etc., and, not surprisingly, many were indeed well made.<br /><br /><br />The name Bulldog became a powerful marketing tool to denote any big-bore, short-barreled revolver. Layman wrote: </div><blockquote><div>“Generally speaking, it should be noted that the term ‘bulldog’ supposedly refers specifically to a small pocket revolver of large caliber---but the general design was so popular that smaller calibers of 32 and 38 were also marketed as Bulldogs.” </div></blockquote><div><br /></div><div>Webley later produced a .320 revolver with a .380 variant but did not market them as Bulldogs. Nor, apparently, did they call them “bullpups.” The 19th century reputation for the breed’s tenacity, combativeness and pugnacity was the perfect marketing for a small weapon whose bite was worse than its bark. </div><div><br /></div><div>If Watson owned a pocket gun and called it by the cutesy moniker of “bull pup,” it was a private nickname with which he didn’t enlighten the reader, or Holmes, about.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><h2 style="text-align: left;">The Literalist School </h2>Between attending Netley, shipping to India, being attached to the Berkshires at Kandahar, wounded in the battle of Maiwand, convalescing from a wound and enteric fever, shipping back to England, and spending a comfortless, meaningless existence in London, the question arises when did Watson acquire, or could afford, a bull pup? </div><div><br /></div><div>As Owen Dudley Edwards puts it in his footnote on the dog in the Oxford Edition of  <i>A Study in Scarlet</i>,</div><blockquote><div>“Sherlockians have expended much ink in the quest of a domestic pet impossible in Afghanistan, illegal on the <i>Orontes</i>, inappropriate for a private hotel, and invisible in Baker Street.”</div></blockquote><div><br /></div><div>In “<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170424184541/http://maiwandjournal.victorianwars.com/its_a_dogs_life_in_the_army.htm" target="_blank">It’s a Dog’s Life in the Army</a>,” Richard J. Stacpoole-Ryding wrote:</div><blockquote><div>“It was common practice for officers and other ranks in the Victorian army to take their dogs, and other pets, along with them wherever they went---including the battlefield. The officers and men of the 66th (Berkshire) Regiment were no exception…”</div></blockquote><div> <br />Stacpoole-Ryding, in his book <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3KGxNdD" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Maiwand</a></i>, mentions: </div><blockquote><div>“Lieutenant Richard Trevor Chute kept a dog, which landed him in trouble in the Officers’ Mess. In 1880, when the regiment was at Kandahar, Captain John Quarry…acquired a newly born bull terrier and he called it Billy. Billy was given to Sergeant 1485 William Guntrip, who Quarry held in high esteem. Guntrip was later killed at Maiwand and Billy went back to live with Quarry.”</div></blockquote><div>  <br /><br />There are two other dogs known to be with the 66th who have gone on to gather some fame. </div><div><br /></div><div>Captain William Hamilton McMath “kept a small fox-terrier dog named Nellie. Master and dog were devoted to each other and could not be separated, not even on the battlefield.”<a href="http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Berkshire/ReadingAfghanCampaign.html"> The memorial to the 66th (Berkshire) Regiment at Forbury Gardens, Reading, Berkshire</a>, known as the “Maiwand Lion,” was unveiled in December 1886 and says this about McMath: </div><blockquote><div>“It is moving to record that Captain McMath's little dog ‘Nellie’—a pet of the Regiment—which had followed her master into action, was subsequently found by the burying party lying dead at his side.” </div></blockquote><div><br /></div><div>Master and pet were buried together.</div><div>  <br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The most famous canine at Maiwand was Bobbie, most likely owned by Corporal 1386 Peter Kelly. To quote Stacpoole-Ryding from “It’s a Dog’s Life in the Army”:</div><blockquote><div>"There is a regimental legend that Bobbie was present at the famous stand of the last eleven at Khig. It is unknown if Corporal Kelly was present at the last stand preceding this event and escaped before the last eleven gallantly remained so their colleagues could make good their escape, leaving or being separated from Bobbie in the chaos. Corporal Kelly is recorded in the medal roll as being wounded in hospital at Kandahar on 1 September 1880 and therefore can be reasonably assumed to have been wounded at Maiwand and was recovering from his wounds. So, was Bobbie at the final stand or not? There is no evidence to support this either way; if he was then Bobbie must have been the only British witness of the famous stand. Some contemporary paintings of the ‘Last Stand’ show Bobbie being present, and in keeping with the regiment’s legend.</div><div><br />"What is known of Bobbie is that he got separated from his owner and the Berkshires at Maiwand and found himself among the Afghan infantry on the battlefield. He was wounded and managed to catch up with the retiring column making their way towards Kandahar and reunited with his master. The story states that his master was wounded; again there is no evidence to support this unless one takes the entry in the medal roll to mean that Corporal Kelly was wounded at Maiwand and was in hospital because of the wound. <br /><br />"Bobbie returned with his owner and the regiment to England on H.M. Troopship <i>Malabar </i>docking at Portsmouth in February 1881. The regiment was stationed at Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight. On 17 August 1881 the men of the regiment who had been awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal were presented to Queen Victoria and Bobbie went along to have an audience with the Queen at Osborne House.</div></blockquote><div></div><div>  <br /><br />Bobbie was not, as sometimes stated, awarded a medal by the Queen as the Afghan 1878-1880 metal was not presented to the 66th until 1883 and by then the little white dog was deceased. </div><div><br /></div><blockquote><div>“[Bobbie] became a well-known figure around the barracks. However, in 1882 Bobbie was accidently run over by a hansom cab that was carrying a wedding party in Gosport whilst accompanying the 66th on a route march. It was reported that a soldier of the regiment tried to club the cab driver with his rifle butt, but was stopped by the commanding officer who happened to be present.”</div></blockquote><div><br /></div><div>So beloved was the dog the regiment had him preserved and he still can be seen today at The Rifles (Berkshire and Wiltshire) Museum. <br /><br /> As shown, dogs were not “impossible in Afghanistan” nor illegal on troopships. As Wood points out:</div><div><blockquote>"Could he [Watson] have kept a pet dog in a private hotel in the Strand? The likelihood of a hotel guest having a pet dog to share, and possibly ease his “meaningless existence,” as Watson refers to his life before meeting Holmes, becomes higher as one moves up the scale of hotels. Luxury hotels cater to the whims and fancies of the wealthy, and to this day can provide any service the guests desire — and are able to pay for….Baedeker’s (1905) gives the cost of the “least pretentious hotels” en pension (i.e. with full room and board), as around 10 shillings a day in the Strand area of London. “Many hotels refuse to receive dogs,” it says, “but provide for their keep in suitable quarters for 1/6 to 3s. per day.” The cost of living, with the occasional meal and drink outside the hotel, plus a weekly hot bath at 1/-, would have swallowed up Watson’s pension even before including the cost of a dog’s room and board."</blockquote></div><div>  <br /><br />As such, dogs were not “inappropriate for a private hotel” so much as costly. But one could well imagine a patriotic private hotel manager welcoming two veterans of the fatal battle of Maiwand, one two-legged and the other four-legged. </div><div><br /></div><div>But Edward’s pithy epigram isn’t so much a factual list of why Watson couldn’t have had a bull pup, since it’s inaccurate as to particulars, but a way to explain the last part: the bull pup’s invisibility at Baker Street.</div><div>  <br /><br />I think that the transient nature of Watson’s dog has to do with the way he phrased his possession of it. Not “I own a bull pup,” or “I have a bull pup,” but “I keep a bull pup.” </div><div><br /></div><div>True, “to keep” does mean “to retain possession of,” but it also means “to manage, tend, or have charge of.” <br /><br />Remember: Watson arrived in England in November 1880, well ahead of the rest of the 66th which did not return until February 1881, when he says:</div><blockquote><div>“I was so weak and emaciated that a medical board determined that not a day should be lost in sending me back to England. I was dispatched, accordingly, in the troopship <i>Orontes</i>,” </div></blockquote><div><br /></div><div>What if Captain Quarry asked the doctor to take his newly reacquired bull terrier pup Billy early back to the safety of England with him? </div><div><br /></div><div>Or if it was the pet of his faithful orderly Murray who had so recently saved his life? </div><div><br /></div><div>Or his old friend, Colonel Hayter, who had come under Watson care in Afghanistan? </div><div><br /></div><div>Or in fact any of the dog-owning men of the regiment? </div><div><br /></div><div>Watson then would have temporary keep of the bull pup until sometime after February 18, 1881 when the <i>Malabar </i>docked in Portsmouth. The pup may even have been retrieved by its owner before the start of <i>A Study in Scarlet</i>.</div><div>  <br /><br />It could be argued he was too weak to take care of a pup, although if the was strong enough for a sea voyage, he may have been up to the task of caring for a dog. And perhaps like today’s service animals, the dog helped take care of him.</div><div><br /></div><div>It may have been too heavy a burden for his wallet, but perhaps the owner made sure to cover Watson’s expenses. </div><div><br /></div><div>Watson didn’t say to Holmes “I keep a bull pup temporarily for a comrade,” or offer some other qualifier to his statement. The full sentence could have been altered by Watson, his literary agent, or the editors at Ward, Lock & Co. But whether or not the manuscript suffered unknown editing, the fact remains there is only one brief passage to indicate the pup’s existence.</div><div>  <br /><br />I offer the theory of Watson’s temporary stewardship of another member of the Berkshire’s canine from shortly before the doctor’s departure from Asia in October 1880 to a brief few months after his arrival in England in 1881, then returned to its owner. <br /><br />True, it is surmise. But to paraphrase Holmes “But at least it covers all the historical facts."</div><div><br /></div>
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<div><br /></div><div><i>Agree? Disagree? Have a theory of your own? Leave a comment for James below.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div>

The Bull Pup: Canine, Gun, or Something Else?

"It's a dog," said I. [CROO] While the dog that did nothing in the night-time may be more famous to the world-at-large, being...

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by James C. O'Leary

Episode 247: Big Finish

<h4 style="text-align: center;">“some interest to finish” [DANC]  </h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKrNMR0pmrjJ9lrgzRkUqARvJ82_e14Z-fHkYtoW4UJjBiA9SEMKVNf5GeadwsTQVluWAGh8ceTmlCHs8PgvBBD6ATpkQk2R8uE5SUDaIheyb-IicjNyONovjn4wO3tjIGEZ71Hqq4Fm9-NWu7yvBCZfVYR67ki2QuRjOdsXUQ7tpM6ZVgYuu9bmTNIw/s899/IHOSE%20247%20header.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="899" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKrNMR0pmrjJ9lrgzRkUqARvJ82_e14Z-fHkYtoW4UJjBiA9SEMKVNf5GeadwsTQVluWAGh8ceTmlCHs8PgvBBD6ATpkQk2R8uE5SUDaIheyb-IicjNyONovjn4wO3tjIGEZ71Hqq4Fm9-NWu7yvBCZfVYR67ki2QuRjOdsXUQ7tpM6ZVgYuu9bmTNIw/w640-h480/IHOSE%20247%20header.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><div><p>We live in an age when Sherlock Holmes audio productions are more prolific than ever. For listeners of a show like <i>I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere</i>, that is excellent news indeed.</p><p>And for fans of Big Finish Productions, there are plenty of stories from which to choose, both new and old. Big Finish executive producer, writer, composer, and actor Nicholas Briggs and writer Jonathan Barnes join us to talk about the creative process and output there.</p><p>We cover dramatizations of some of David Stuart Davies' works, Conan Doyle's original stories, newly-written mysteries, and even a Doctor Who crossover — all of these and more are part of the Sherlock Holmes range of stories at Big Finish.</p><p>Don't forget about the <b>Canonical Couplet</b> quiz: two lines of poetry and it's up to you to guess which story we're referring to. One winner chosen at random from all correct entries will receive a mystery prize from the IHOSE vaults.</p><p>Send your answer to comment @ ihearofsherlock .com by September 14, 2022 at 11:59 a.m. EST. 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