Episode 320: It Is NOT Always 1895

<h4 style="text-align: center;">“the biggest mystification of all” [COPP] </h4><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgOO9ag4LWG9YgYsddBGi3Bheu4cGwttjyqoqd6O0uBWSvRBWGP7kAgXyfovcY22Y69rZtALnmKDs7sIFXVTuuurnqcaVJLC57RIvoW-JzBjaFPz45C_jrDw7Gn96iVtqB11aNFKV_n9pylZS5goDl4nHtR5owedspFfM3HMaR7V_uBVAo_02x_cTWsiJNt" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2200" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgOO9ag4LWG9YgYsddBGi3Bheu4cGwttjyqoqd6O0uBWSvRBWGP7kAgXyfovcY22Y69rZtALnmKDs7sIFXVTuuurnqcaVJLC57RIvoW-JzBjaFPz45C_jrDw7Gn96iVtqB11aNFKV_n9pylZS5goDl4nHtR5owedspFfM3HMaR7V_uBVAo_02x_cTWsiJNt=w640-h436" width="640" /></a></div><p>Bruce Harris, BSI ("Harris") is a longtime Sherlockian whose love of the stories goes back more than half a century. During that time, Bruce has put his considerable talents to work in a number of directions, not least of which is in chronologies.</p><p>In fact, his latest work ("Rolling on the River in <i>The Sign of Four</i>") appears in Autumn 2025 issue of <i>The Baker Street Journal</i> and poses an interesting question around the involvement of Athelney Jones. It was thanks to his work on chronologies that got him there.</p><p>Bruce has of course contributed to the literature of the subject of dating the Sherlock Holmes stories, but he goes beyond the usual of his first entry, <i>It Is NOT Always 1895</i> and gets us into an entirely different realm with his second, <i>The Duration Debate</i>. We had to admit that it was the first time we thought about the stories that way.</p><p>Once again, we give you a glimpse of Sherlockian society activities, this time in the first half of December in "The Learned Societies" segment. Madeline Quinones is back with "A Chance of Listening," and the Canonical Couplet quiz tests your Sherlock Holmes knowledge, with one of Bruce's books for the winner. Send your answer to comment @ihearofsherlock.com by October 29, 2025 at 11:59 a.m. EST. All listeners are eligible to play.</p><div>As a reminder, our <a href="https://ihose.co/ihosepatron" target="_blank"><b>supporters</b></a> can listen to the show ad-free and have access to occasional bonus material. Join us on the platform of your choice (<a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/122378915" target="_blank">Patreon</a> | <a href="https://ihearofsherlock.substack.com/p/episode-305-bonus-content" target="_blank">Substack</a>). </div><div><div><div style="margin: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><h3 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://traffic.libsyn.com/ihearofsherlock/ihearofsherlock320.mp3" target="_blank">Download</a> [Save As] | File size: 84.7 MB, 1:08:55</h3><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" data-dashlane-classification="other" data-dashlane-frameid="1470" data-dashlane-rid="8640e83156085467" height="192" mozallowfullscreen="true" msallowfullscreen="true" oallowfullscreen="true" scrolling="no" src="https://play.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/38600890/height/192/theme/modern/size/large/thumbnail/yes/custom-color/414851/time-start/00:00:00/playlist-height/200/direction/backward/download/yes/font-color/FFFFFF" style="border: none;" title="Embed Player" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="100%"></iframe></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; text-wrap: 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; text-wrap: 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; text-wrap: nowrap; word-break: normal;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0000ee; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://www.episodes.fm/258126625" target="_blank">Listen to I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere anywhere you get podcasts<br /></a></span><br /></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;">Leave I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere a five-star rating on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i-hear-of-sherlock-everywhere/id258126625?ls=1">Apple Podcasts</a> and <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/30WtRn1mnXfAtX7YaeRY5Y">Spotify</a>; listen to us <a href="https://www.episodes.fm/1198869691">wherever you listen to podcasts</a>.</h3></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div></div></div><h2 style="margin: 0px;">Sponsors</h2><div style="margin: 0px;"><ul><li><a href="https://mxpublishing.com/" target="_blank">MX Publishing</a> has a number of Sherlockian calendars available for purchase, from the page-a-day style to a group of Advent calendars. <a href="https://mxpublishing.com/collections/mr-holmes-advent-calendars-24-solve-it-yourself-christmas-crimes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Check them all out</a> and pick a date to buy one!</li></ul></div></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;">We're always entertaining offers from sponsors. You can find <a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/p/contact.html#.Vc1Qx7JViko" target="_blank">more information here</a>. <br /><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><div><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><ul></ul></div><h2><b>Links</b></h2><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i><a href="https://amzn.to/3LdGxvV" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">It Is NOT Always 1895</a></i></li><li><a href="https://amzn.to/48yDGaG" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Duration Debate</a> </li><li>The Baker Street Journal</li><li>Episodes mentioned in this show:</li><ul><li><a href="https://pod.link/ihearofsherlock/episode/NzIyZmVkMzc3NTA0OTA4M2M3NzA1ZGUyMDg3MzFmM2E" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 144: The Chronologies of Sherlock Holmes</a></li><li><a href="https://pod.link/ihearofsherlock/episode/ZTQ2ZWFlMTNlNWE3NDhmZjk5YmQ3NDQ5M2ZlNDQ1Y2M" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 172: Watson Does Not Lie / Doyle's Rotary Coffin</a></li><li><a href="https://pod.link/ihearofsherlock/episode/YjdmZDUzOGItYTRkMS00YTJiLWIwZjktYmEwNzU3ZTM2NDE2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 276: On the Road with Erik Deckers</a></li><li><a href="https://pod.link/ihearofsherlock/episode/MWVmZGYxZWYtY2NjZC00MGRiLTg1ZTktNjMwMzdhYWVhOGY2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 309: Holmes in an Hour or Two</a></li></ul><li>Other links:</li><ul><li>A Chance of Listening: <a href="https://www.rosenbach.org/biblioventures-archive/sherlock-mondays" target="_blank">Sherlock Mondays</a>, <a href="https://www.rosenbach.org/biblioventures-archive/sherlock-mondays-hound-baskervilles" target="_blank">Sherlock Mondays: The Hound</a>, <a href="https://www.rosenbach.org/programs/biblioventures-sherlock-monthly-june-2025?rq=sherlock%20monthly" target="_blank">Sherlock Monthly (2024/2025 season)</a>, <a href="https://www.rosenbach.org/programs/sherlock-monthly-25-26" target="_blank">Sherlock Monthly (2025/2026 season)</a></li><li>The Learned Societies: <a href="http://www.sherlockiancalendar.com/" target="_blank">Sherlockian Calendar</a></li></ul><li>Find all of our relevant links and social accounts at <a href="http://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock">linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock</a>.</li></ul><div><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>And would you consider leaving us a rating and or a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Goodpods? 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></div></div></div><div><br /></div>

Episode 320: It Is NOT Always 1895

“the biggest mystification of all” [COPP]  Bruce Harris, BSI ("Harris") is a longtime Sherlockian whose love of the stories goes b...

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by Scott Monty

Sherlock Holmes's Birthday is NOT January 6th After All

<p></p><h4 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">“We have judged it best that you should come late” [ENGR]</h4><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg7XopZzTBzANRyJ6POjrwk3sbYof-j4W7z-CT2c4HgExShiThbOw7OcDuQSi9Y7dMa2RdaXPwCzgmgqfyNGxG0YFEInkXg1LG6YzKZeMQp7CxJcCk5JgFsKIw28cbw-NNyW9RLqwcqZtFdsLyhfNSiVvgs3XuncM4dALOCHe9ouj-l6hgqVXUamIYLuMju" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1150" data-original-width="1595" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg7XopZzTBzANRyJ6POjrwk3sbYof-j4W7z-CT2c4HgExShiThbOw7OcDuQSi9Y7dMa2RdaXPwCzgmgqfyNGxG0YFEInkXg1LG6YzKZeMQp7CxJcCk5JgFsKIw28cbw-NNyW9RLqwcqZtFdsLyhfNSiVvgs3XuncM4dALOCHe9ouj-l6hgqVXUamIYLuMju=w640-h462" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><i><b>Editor's note:</b> This may seem like heresy to traditional Sherlockians, who've been celebrating Sherlock Holmes's birthday on January 6th for nearly a century.</i></p><p><i>Erik Deckers, longtime contributor to the Canonical Couplet on the IHOSE podcast and chief instigator behind the satirical <a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2024/12/prepare-yourself-for-h-con.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">H & W Con</a>, has written to tell us our math hasn't been mathing. Whether or not you choose to believe him, he provides an informative history and some convincing facts. </i></p><p><i>We'll let Erik tell it himself.</i></p><p><br /></p><p>We've been making a terrible mistake about Sherlock Holmes's birthday.</p><p>It's widely believed that Holmes's birthday was <a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2025/01/happy-171st-birthday-sherlock-holmes.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">January 6, 1854</a>, but it's not.</p><p>Why? What's so special about that particular date in the first place?</p><p>In "His Last Bow," even though he was in disguise as "an Irish-American," Holmes was described as</p><blockquote><p>. . . a tall, gaunt man of sixty, with clear-cut features and a small goatee beard which gave him a general resemblance to the caricatures of Uncle Sam."</p></blockquote><p>Since "His Last Bow" was published in 1914, we, along with most chronologists, can assume Holmes was then born in 1854.</p><p>But where did we get January 6th?</p><p>Because Christopher Morley says so.</p><p>In his article in the January 6, 1933 issue of <i>The Saturday Review of Literature</i>, when Holmes would have turned 79, Morley said:</p><blockquote><p>"I have not looked up the date, but if, as an astrologer has suggested, Sherlock Holmes was most likely born in January, some observance is due. Therefore, if the matter has never been settled, I nominate January 6th (the date of this issue of the <i>Saturday Review</i>) as his birthday…"</p></blockquote><p>Morley further reasoned that because Holmes quotes Shakespeare's <i>Twelfth Night</i> twice — ever — in the canon, it means he was interested in that play because his own birthday was on the twelfth night after Christmas. (Which is a stretch. After all, Holmes mentioned murder at least 72 times in the canon, but that doesn't mean he loved <i>Sweeney Todd</i>.)</p><p>In <i>The Sign of the Four</i>, Holmes quips, &quot;All is well that ends well&quot; from Act IV, Scene 4. In "The Empty House," Holmes says, "'Journeys end in lovers meetings,' as the old play says," from Act II, Scene 3.</p><p>Except Morley got the date wrong.</p><p>And it all has to do with how we count the twelve days of Christmas.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">What Are the Twelve Days of Christmas?</h2><p>The twelve days of Christmas — the time, not the song — was proclaimed by the Council of Tours in 567 to be a "sacred and festive season." As a result, they filled those days with various feasts and observances that are celebrated by the Roman Catholics and Orthodox churches to the east (i.e., the Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholic, and Oriental Orthodox).</p><p>This sacred and festive season is what led to the original song, "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Days_of_Christmas_(song) " target="_blank">The Twelve Days of Christmas</a>." </p><p>Which you just started singing in your head.</p><p>TDOC is an English Christmas carol first published in 1780 and is known as a <b>cumulative song</b>. That means, says Wikipedia, "the lyrics take the form of a stanza of at least two lines. In each verse, the text of the first line introduces a new item, and the other line uses the words to begin a list that includes items from all the preceding verses." (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumulative_song " target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>)</p><p>There have been a number of different melodies associated with the "Hey Jude" of Christmas music, although the one you're singing in your head comes from a 1909 traditional folk melody arranged by English composer Frederic Austin.</p><p>Seriously, it's in your head now; you can't escape it.</p><p><br /></p><p>The original song lyrics from 1780 actually match up with what we sing today with one exception ("three Colly birds"), but they have varied over the last 244 years.</p><p><br /></p><p>For example, in a manuscript by Cecily Baring-Gould (the great-aunt of <a href="https://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/twelve_days_of_christmas-2.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">William Baring-Gould</a>) from around 1840, she says that a "partridge in a pear tree" was actually "part of a juniper tree." On the fourth and fifth days, my true love gave "four Colley birds" and "a golden ring." There were also "eight hares a-running," "ten lords a-playing," "eleven bears a-baiting," and "twelve bulls a-roaring."</p><p>[This is an interesting rabbit trail in itself. William Baring-Gould's father, Sabine Baring-Gould co-authored a book, <i><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/56625/56625-h/56625-h.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Songs of the West: Folk Songs of Devon & Cornwall Collected from the Mouths of the People</a></i> in 1889 in which he credits his aunt, Cecily Baring-Gould, having written the words and music to Twelve Days of Christmas in "about 1840."]</p><p>In the 1864 book <i><a href="https://archive.org/details/householdfriend00fielgoog/page/n57/mode/2up?view=theater " rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Household Friends for Every Season</a></i>, Thomas Hughes lists "a partridge and a pear tree," "three fat hens," "four ducks quacking," and "five hares running." </p><p><br /></p><p>In 1892, William Bell Scott quoted a "very pretty peacock in a pear tree," "four Corley birds," and "eleven ladies a-louping."</p><p>The gifts my true love gave have varied greatly, but we didn't land on the final order until 1909 with Frederic Austin's re-arranging of the original folk melody, and even then, he used the very first set of lyrics we know and. . . love(?) today.</p><p><b><i>FIVE GOOOOLD RINGS!</i></b></p><p>Seriously, it'll be in your head all day.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">When and What Are the Actual Twelve Days?</h2><p>The original twelve days of Christmas were filled with liturgical feasts and celebrations observed by the Roman Catholic Church and most Orthodox Churches. Here are several of the different historical observations of the twelve special days.</p><p>1 – Dec. 25th – Christmas Day.<br />2 – Dec. 26th – St. Stephen's Day. Also known as Boxing Day.<br />3 – Dec. 27th – Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist. Also known as Wrestling Day. <br />4 – Dec. 28th – Feast of the Holy Innocents.<br />5 – Dec. 29th – Memorial of St. Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr.<br />6 – Dec. 30th – Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.<br />7 – Dec. 31st – Feast of Pope St. Sylvester I.<br />8 – Jan. 1st – Feast of the Circumcision of Christ.<br />9 – Jan. 2nd – Feasts of St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory of Nazianzus.<br />10 – Jan. 3rd – Memorial of the Holy Name of Jesus.<br />11 – Jan. 4th – Unknown. <br />12 – Jan. 5th – Epiphany Eve. </p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">When is Twelfth Night?</h2><p>Twelfth Night, also known as Epiphany Eve — which is far less exciting than Christmas Eve — marks the coming of the Epiphany, a Christian feast day that marks the visit of the magi, Jesus' baptism, and the wedding at Cana, where Jesus turned water into wine.</p><p>Not all on the same day, of course.</p><p>But, depending on which tradition you belonged to — Western Christianity or Eastern Orthodoxy — the date of Twelfth Night was either January 5th or 6th, depending on when the counting began on Christmas Day or the day after.</p><p>Except, why would you count the twelve days of Christmas and not include, you know, the Actual Day Of Christmas?</p><p>That's just not right. And since Holmes is from the western arm of Christianity, he and his family would have celebrated — or at least sung — the twelve days of Christmas starting on December 25th.</p><p>Which means. . . </p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Holmes's Birthday Is On January 5th, Not the 6th</h2><p>Here in the West, Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists, and United Protestant congregations all celebrate Epiphany on January 6th, and they all agree that the Twelfth Day and the Twelfth Night are on the 5th. It's one of the only things they agree on.</p><p>And that all means:</p><p>1) If Holmes was born on the twelfth day of Christmas, and</p><p>2) The twelfth day of Christmas is on January 5th, then</p><p>3) Holmes's birthday is on Thursday, January 5th, 1854, the day before Epiphany.</p><p><br /></p><p>Just think about this for a while, count the actual days, and sing the song over and over again. (It hasn't left your brain anyway.)</p><p>Eventually, the numbers will align, the stars will be in their places, and you'll have an. . . um. That is, a sort of, what's that called when something comes to you in a bolt of realization?</p><p>--</p><p><br /></p><p>Read Erik's regular column, <i><a href="https://laughing-stalk.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Laughing Stalk</a></i></p><p><br /></p>

Sherlock Holmes's Birthday is NOT January 6th After All

“We have judged it best that you should come late” [ENGR] Editor's note: This may seem like heresy to traditional Sherlockians, who...

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by Scott Monty

Episode 273: Close to Holmes

<h4 style="text-align: center;">“The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan” [REDH] </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/AVvXsEiX2Rvg5AqeSUukrUw5uD4vDwHLmCb84XwAFRE4LOGF3qMQwD8NCWqSMWk9AunXV62aI7vzd4gp4F_qXUM1fR-xrugRjlv_9RRNUYbkFiYT2GXGvzj3VWfEi3EOIXAbrwwoePknz-E9CQh5Bwd8Jl_IiBjfToW8B9xrXRM-xk5Ahp7t4KFOUjqOYSlwCHiR/s1200/ihearofsherlock273%20wide.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="838" data-original-width="1200" height="446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX2Rvg5AqeSUukrUw5uD4vDwHLmCb84XwAFRE4LOGF3qMQwD8NCWqSMWk9AunXV62aI7vzd4gp4F_qXUM1fR-xrugRjlv_9RRNUYbkFiYT2GXGvzj3VWfEi3EOIXAbrwwoePknz-E9CQh5Bwd8Jl_IiBjfToW8B9xrXRM-xk5Ahp7t4KFOUjqOYSlwCHiR/w640-h446/ihearofsherlock273%20wide.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><p>The wonder and magic of the Sherlock Holmes stories is that they were set, for their contemporary audience, in a city and its surroundings that were very familiar and very real.</p><p>Alistair Duncan set out to capture that in his book <i>Close to Holmes</i>, taking us on many journeys by foot and other conveyances, with wonderful photographs supported by vivid descriptions. Even though we weren't alive when the stories were written, we can feel as if we were there.</p><p>We discuss the impetus for this book, as well as Alistair's four other Sherlockian books — the first of which was the impetus for MX Publishing to focus on Sherlock Holmes.</p><p>We have news from the Sherlockian world and another easy-peasy <b>Canonical Couplet</b>. Did you win last time? Will you win this time? The winner will receive a copy of one of Alistair's books. </p><p>Send your answer to comment @ ihearofsherlock .com by September 29, 2023 at 11:59 a.m. EST. All listeners are eligible to play.</p><p><br /></p><p>If you become a <a href="https://ihose.co/ihosepatron" target="_blank">Patron of the Arts</a>, not only will you help to ensure we can keep doing what we do, covering file hosting costs, production, and transcription services, but we have thank-you gifts at certain tiers and ad-free versions of the episodes for all patrons.</p><p>And for Episode 273, we have <a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/bonus-content-90228650?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link" target="_blank">bonus material:</a> more conversation about the locations, including Conan Doyle's likely connection with the Anerley Arms and a possible inspiration for Professor Moriarty. Listen to it by <a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/bonus-content-90228650?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link" target="_blank">becoming a Patron today</a>.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a data-patreon-widget-type="become-patron-button" href="https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=2318606">Become a Patron!</a></p><div><center><script async="" src="https://c6.patreon.com/becomePatronButton.bundle.js"></script></center><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/ihearofsherlock273.mp3" target="_blank">Download</a> [Save As] | File size: 93.3 MB, 1:07:56</h3><iframe allowfullscreen="" data-dashlane-frameid="2748" data-dashlane-rid="226a0692b943eae6" data-form-type="other" height="192" mozallowfullscreen="true" msallowfullscreen="true" oallowfullscreen="true" scrolling="no" src="https://play.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/28188248/height/192/theme/modern/size/large/thumbnail/yes/custom-color/30475e/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; text-wrap: 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; text-wrap: 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; text-wrap: 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;"><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="232" data-original-width="639" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIyAfMy7WsxQV7D-7YxXoJ7uyOK4l3ZKzNMFZT0_e2g_3u8z2Gbtn4x3WQzTw0OqaSsP-k13-QHde9EnFgO3uzikjHmQ3rK2_0Xmvb_v6ggUV32CnZ2ZeqiSrAkGL0SUYMvr0JEiMJupjFvq8dQL8CuZqAWTTbMcYBZVV1NHgYP4X5XME7qekOhj2fZg/w400-h145/Pod%20Link.png" width="400" /></a></div></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><a href="https://www.wessexpress.com/" target="_blank">/Gasogene Books</a> is the premier publisher of books about Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle.</li><li><a href="https://www.mxpublishing.com" target="_blank">MX Publishing</a> brings the best in new Sherlock Holmes novels, biographies, graphic novels and short story collections every month. With over 400 books it's the largest catalogue of new Sherlock Holmes books in the world.</li></ul></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/ihose273" rel="noopener" target="_blank">ihose.co/ihose273</a></li><li><i><a href="https://mxpublishing.com/products/close-to-holmes-sherlock-holmes-and-historical-london-book?_pos=5&_sid=850ef6c60&_ss=r" target="_blank">Close to Holmes</a></i></li><li><i><a href="https://mxpublishing.com/products/eliminate-the-impossible-a-review-of-the-sherlock-holmes-stories?_pos=2&_sid=850ef6c60&_ss=r" target="_blank">Eliminate the Impossible</a></i></li><li><i><a href="https://mxpublishing.com/products/the-norwood-author-sir-arthur-conan-doyle-and-the-norwood-years?_pos=4&_sid=850ef6c60&_ss=r" target="_blank">The Norwood Author</a></i></li><li><i><a href="https://mxpublishing.com/products/no-better-place-arthur-conan-doyle-windlesham-and-communication-with-the-other-side-1907-1930?_pos=3&_sid=850ef6c60&_ss=r" target="_blank">No Better Place</a></i></li><li><i><a href="https://mxpublishing.com/products/an-entirely-new-country?_pos=6&_sid=850ef6c60&_ss=r" target="_blank">An Entirely New Country</a></i></li><li>News items<br /></li><ul><li><a href="https://www.beaconsociety.com/nancy-springer-creative-writing-contest.html" target="_blank">The Nancy Springer Creative Writing Contest</a> (The Beacon Society)</li><li><a href="https://theedinburghreporter.co.uk/2023/09/sherlock-holmes-statue-is-back-in-picardy-place/" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes Statue is Back in Picardy Place</a> (Edinburgh Reporter)</li><li><a href="https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/23732505.lucy-worsley-looks-cottingley-fairies-hoax-tv-show/" target="_blank">Lucy Worsley looks at Cottingley Fairies hoax for TV show</a> (The Telegraph and Argus)</li><ul><li><a href="http://www.lucyworsley.com/why-i-love-sherlock-holmes" target="_blank">Why I Love Sherlock Holmes</a> (Lucy Worsley)</li></ul><li><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/first-edition-sherlock-holmes-book-160635543.html?utm_source=flipboard&utm_content=scottmonty%2Fmagazine%2FI+Hear+of+Sherlock+Everywhere" target="_blank">First edition of <i>The Hound of the Baskervilles</i> owned by Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts sold at auction</a> (Yahoo! News)</li></ul><li>Other episodes mentioned:</li><ul><li><a href="https://ihose.co/ihose200" target="_blank">Episode 200: Enola Holmes</a></li></ul></ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>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><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-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: 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-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; font: 14px Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 12px auto 6px;"><br /></p></div></div></div>

Episode 273: Close to Holmes

“The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan” [REDH]  The wonder and magic of the Sherlock Holmes stories is that they were set, for ...

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by Scott Monty

Worldwide Doyle 2023 Lecture Series

<h4 style="text-align: center;"> “a course of lectures ” [COPP]</h4><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjqrDi7Cvj8khydQSoL3InpETr1oF5ReN0RvIUOPpXH8Oxe4TD1PKkNb3yKN5i52-8fDrU5uHY59hea0ch2D-qHiweCs-GKj2eTj6Iq_iruBz3Zbj7xWuVmoNdndYO2yOa5m1yk_KnF4MNYX8AkwaIweQwvmpHJNcEZsFB6uXRrfsXjf4LiZw9AV5AyhA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="286" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjqrDi7Cvj8khydQSoL3InpETr1oF5ReN0RvIUOPpXH8Oxe4TD1PKkNb3yKN5i52-8fDrU5uHY59hea0ch2D-qHiweCs-GKj2eTj6Iq_iruBz3Zbj7xWuVmoNdndYO2yOa5m1yk_KnF4MNYX8AkwaIweQwvmpHJNcEZsFB6uXRrfsXjf4LiZw9AV5AyhA=s16000" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>In late June and early July, the Portsmouth Library and Archives will be hosting a series of four online talks related to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, following what began as the <a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2021/05/new-lecture-series-on-conan-doyle.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Professor Neil McCaw Lecture Series</a>.</p><p>The Library and Archives are the home to <a href="https://www.visitportsmouth.co.uk/conan-doyle" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Conan Doyle Collection Lancelyn Green Bequest</a>, an unrivaled collection of books, photographs, objects, documents, and memorabilia chronicling the life of Conan Doyle and beyond, coming from the estate of Richard Lancelyn Green.</p><p>We chatted with Steve Rothman, BSI ("<i>The Valley of Fear</i>") and the late Nicholas Utechin, BSI ("The British Barrow") about the life of Richard Lancelyn Green on <a href="https://ihose.co/ihose124" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 124</a>:</p><p><iframe allowfullscreen="" data-dashlane-frameid="6051" data-dashlane-rid="0da5852f52406b1d" data-form-type="other" height="192" mozallowfullscreen="true" msallowfullscreen="true" oallowfullscreen="true" scrolling="no" src="https://play.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/5543290/height/192/theme/modern/size/large/thumbnail/yes/custom-color/1b9f39/time-start/00:00:00/playlist-height/200/direction/backward/download/yes" style="border: none;" title="Embed Player" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="100%"></iframe><br /></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Worldwide Doyle 2023 </h2><p>If you can't travel to Portsmouth to see the Collection, this series of online talks is the next best thing. <a href="https://portsmouth.spydus.co.uk/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/MSGTRN/WPAC/EVENTS?HOMEPRMS=EVSESPARAMS" target="_blank">Registration is open</a> for live stream video access via Zoom. The program is as follows (all times are BST):</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Ross Davies and Mark Jones – 26 June @ 7pm</h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"><b><i>Arthur Conan Doyle and the Adventure of the Gaiola Malediction</i></b></h4><p>In April/May, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle vacations on his relatives' tiny paradise of an island estate (Gaiola) off the port of Naples, Italy, where he meets an Italian inventor, who claims to have automated the process of duplicating of sculptures. Conan Doyle buys the English rights to the patented machinery, partners with a colourful sculptor-contractor named W.G. Jones who turns out to be both dishonest and difficult to deal with (not quite a grifter, but pretty close!). </p><p>The whole thing turns into a business nightmare, but not before the plan and Conan Doyle's business (both ultimately unsuccessful) get widespread attention in the news media on both sides of the Atlantic. By June 1905, the madcap adventure is over.</p><p>There are many nifty visuals, and many interesting words in both the news coverage and the private correspondence (including some pretty clearly direct connections to a couple of the Sherlock Holmes stories). And nowadays, there is a legend that the beautiful little island is cursed (though for reasons other than Conan Doyle's failed sculpture company) — if only Conan Doyle had known about the curse!</p><p><a href="https://portsmouth.spydus.co.uk/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/FULL/WPAC/EVSESENQ/14250109/15162201,1" target="_blank">Register for this talk</a>.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Michael Gunton – 28 June @ 7pm</h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"><i>Portsmouth's Conan Doyle Collection</i></h4><p>Portsmouth's Conan Doyle Collection is perhaps the most wide-ranging of its type in the world — including everything from letters written by Conan Doyle to Snoopy outfits and board games. Michael Gunton will give an overview of the contents of the collection, and talk about some of the ways it is being used and enjoyed by users around the world.</p><p><a href="https://portsmouth.spydus.co.uk/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/FULL/WPAC/EVSESENQ/14250143/15162202,1" target="_blank">Register for this talk</a>.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Bryan Woods – 3 July 2023 @ 7pm</h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"><i>Arthur Conan Doyle's Supernatural Stories</i></h4><p>Sherlock Holmes’ creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, was also a prolific writer in other genres - including the supernatural. Bryan Woods’ talk will feature ghosts, Egyptian mummies, and other creatures of the night, as imagined by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Join him if you dare!</p><p><a href="https://portsmouth.spydus.co.uk/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/ENQ/WPAC/EVSESENQ?QRY=ESD01%5C15136840%20%2B%20(EVSCFLG:%200%20%2B%20EVSSTATUS:%20A)&QRYTEXT=Arthur%20Conan%20Doyle%27s%20Supernatural%20Stories%20by%20Bryan%20Woods%20-%20Sessions&SORTS=ESD.SDTE]ESD.STIM&NAVLVL=SET&SEARCH_FORM=%2Fcgi-bin%2Fspydus.exe%2FMSGTRN%2FWPAC%2FEVENTS%3FHOMEPRMS%3DEVSESPARAMS&FORM_DESC=Events" target="_blank">Register for this talk</a>.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Dr. Christopher Pittard – 4th July 2023 @ 7pm</h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"><i>Sidney Paget's Visions of Sherlock Holmes</i></h4><p>This talk focuses on the illustrator Sidney Paget's role in creating Sherlock Holmes when Doyle moved to the <i>Strand Magazine</i> in 1891, meaning that from the start of his popularity, Holmes has always been a multimedia figure. </p><p>The talk considers Paget's influences, some of the origins of his Holmes illustrations (drawing on material from the Lancelyn Green Bequest), and the way in which his visual style interacts with Doyle's writing to shape the stories. </p><p><a href="https://portsmouth.spydus.co.uk/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/FULL/WPAC/EVSESENQ/14250273/15162204,1" target="_blank">Register for this talk</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p>This should be an exciting and engaging set of talks. We hope you have a chance to register and view one or more of them.</p><div><br /></div>

Worldwide Doyle 2023 Lecture Series

 “a course of lectures ” [COPP] In late June and early July, the Portsmouth Library and Archives will be hosting a series of four online tal...

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by Scott Monty

The Last Will and Testament of Sherlock Holmes

<h4 style="text-align: center;">“Here is my will,’” [NORW] </h4><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFcVirocQBivwxjQkzi0P91wFSgRdOmWvhQpnlbHkTy7SwiMO_pNyF6qH7dzIpf-EeSoqKSSVC3oawb7iaCkrfCFnZuEKYey6RJ5u1ZkgaqZucID9aD1BbzkjSRyCUXlFnTSqJMfMCgqBb1dMJ7JJ911Y-SpungmOaFyH-CflKANPm-AK1c3q2W14zKg/s2485/Will.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1518" data-original-width="2485" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFcVirocQBivwxjQkzi0P91wFSgRdOmWvhQpnlbHkTy7SwiMO_pNyF6qH7dzIpf-EeSoqKSSVC3oawb7iaCkrfCFnZuEKYey6RJ5u1ZkgaqZucID9aD1BbzkjSRyCUXlFnTSqJMfMCgqBb1dMJ7JJ911Y-SpungmOaFyH-CflKANPm-AK1c3q2W14zKg/w640-h390/Will.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">When Sherlock Holmes disappeared from the public eye in 1891, the world assumed he was dead, thanks to his altercation with Professor Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">But even before he left London, Holmes knew he was taking a risk; in "The Final Problem," he left Watson one final note in which he admitted, </div><blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">"I made every disposition of my property before leaving England, and handed it to my brother Mycroft."</div></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In 1951, <b>Nathan Bengis, BSI</b> ("The Lion's Mane") discovered the Last Will and Testament of Sherlock Holmes "among the effects of the late Mycroft Holmes" and by virtue of his position as Keeper of the Crown of The Musgrave Ritualists, had 221 copies distributed to friends.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">[We're fortunate to have the copies that belonged to William S. Hall, BSI ("The Blue Carbuncle"), James Montgomery, BSI ("The Red Circle"), and Joseph V. Kaluder, M.D., as well as the version that appeared in <i>London Mystery Magazine</i> in 1955.]</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">We've provided the transcript to accompany the images. To see a larger version, simply click an image.</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/AVvXsEhYaCcRgioQ1aOKql1r25cBzzowX_WeDwppsFBFklmVgVPf1Rj65rzZElgf33vq29SZyENP6OA71hLlHZFaHEQ3lx7YD8j5TDAnrurtiAMgVGjUOJUWy_VCMC8Cv_BF944HYC6qz8Fdcrrf2SHp-NJyleybymZZbll6-xAJF8mqKx-l_U0lKzHVQGA7yA/s886/Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="886" data-original-width="591" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYaCcRgioQ1aOKql1r25cBzzowX_WeDwppsFBFklmVgVPf1Rj65rzZElgf33vq29SZyENP6OA71hLlHZFaHEQ3lx7YD8j5TDAnrurtiAMgVGjUOJUWy_VCMC8Cv_BF944HYC6qz8Fdcrrf2SHp-NJyleybymZZbll6-xAJF8mqKx-l_U0lKzHVQGA7yA/s320/Cover.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvgs8GiDfnkzmZ1Legg8VQE3TwCPBizJAqDQ5KQoT2yxoOoGcR6PJ5IWsKFs161bodK36TOHS5mRJ-fJallnYgAV0Pf2CDSAgUJCd7Fim-M6wG3YJtGCmioruK83t93g1_PKn4IHlf8dB3BbtVihpKap46cHEE9ByCPdEW2CQxiNC3XdagVBY-__xwfA/s836/Inside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="627" data-original-width="836" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvgs8GiDfnkzmZ1Legg8VQE3TwCPBizJAqDQ5KQoT2yxoOoGcR6PJ5IWsKFs161bodK36TOHS5mRJ-fJallnYgAV0Pf2CDSAgUJCd7Fim-M6wG3YJtGCmioruK83t93g1_PKn4IHlf8dB3BbtVihpKap46cHEE9ByCPdEW2CQxiNC3XdagVBY-__xwfA/s320/Inside.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqv8J9XFkwVmWjOIA0KrRQVt-XClRGQWoIluYVnsEziM0I3XwonXkBW_iFD2RMOHeENz8eai5A5n8c0cD75yVaGGViWZIGZE3KTfKX6lXqpZDC9usLlhVkGlZPfcOUo_z2BhGBxnsECoJdBWfuOQiyf013_hoAKfr2BHjVrIP4CpjmCNvze8kAQ0zPfA/s886/Rear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="886" data-original-width="591" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqv8J9XFkwVmWjOIA0KrRQVt-XClRGQWoIluYVnsEziM0I3XwonXkBW_iFD2RMOHeENz8eai5A5n8c0cD75yVaGGViWZIGZE3KTfKX6lXqpZDC9usLlhVkGlZPfcOUo_z2BhGBxnsECoJdBWfuOQiyf013_hoAKfr2BHjVrIP4CpjmCNvze8kAQ0zPfA/s320/Rear.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div><blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">   I, Sherlock Holmes, of 221-B Baker Street, in the parish of St. Marylebone, County of London, do hereby declare this to be my last will and testament, made this sixteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-one.<span style="text-align: center;"> </span><span style="text-align: center;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">   I appoint my brother, Mycroft Holmes, to be my Executor. I give and bequeath all my worldly possessions as hereinafter set forth.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">   To my devoted friend and associate, Dr. John H. Watson, often tried, sometimes trying, but never found wanting in loyalty; my well-intentioned though anavailing mentor against the blandishness of my vice; my indisputable foil and whetstone; the perfect sop to my wounded vanity and too tactful to whisper "Norbury" in my ear when necessary; the ideal listener and the audience<i> par excellenc</i>e for those little tricks which other more discerning might well have deemed meretricious; the faithful Boswell to whose literary efforts — despite my occasional gibes — I owe whatever little fame I have enjoyed: in short, to the one true friend I have ever had, the sum of ￡5,000; also the choice of any books in my personal library (with such reservations as are mentioned below), including my commonplace books and the complete file of my cases, published and unpublished, with the sole exception of the papers in pigeonhole "M," contained in a blue envelope and marked "Moriarty," which the proper authorities will take over in the event my demise should make it impossible for me to hand them over in person.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br />   To Mrs. Mary Watson, wife of the above, fair interloper in the Baker Street ménage, the sum of ￡1,000 in token of my appreciation of her bringing to my attention one of the most fascinating cases of my career, even though she climaxed it by depriving me of my associate ("a fair cop," as they say in the underworld); and especially in gratitude for her unselfishness in lending him to me at a moment's notice whenever necessary.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br />   To my loyal landlady, Mrs. Martha Hudson, long suffering and incredibly tolerant of my whims and foibles, the sum of ￡2,000, which may partly compensate her for damages to her walls and furniture, but will hardly, I fear, repay her solicitous and uncomplaining devotion.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br />   To James Wiggins, onetime tireless captain of that most efficient auxiliary, the Baker Street Irregulars, the sum of ￡250, with the suggestion that his first-born — momentarily awaited at this writing — be named after me if a boy, or, if a girl, Irene, a name I find particularly euphonic.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br />   To William Parker, otherwise known as "Billy," my faithful page boy, whose adulation has been touching, though at times embarrassing, the sum of ￡250, to be paid at the rate of ￡50 a year for the next five years.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br />   To Pablo Martin Meliton Sarasate y Navascues, my favorite violinist, my Stradivarius, in appreciation of many enjoyable hours of listening to his masterly playing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br />   To George Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, my gilt-edged German dictionary, in the hope he will find it useful should he again see the handwriting of Miss Rachel on the wall.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br />   To Tobias Gregson, ditto, my leatherbound Hafiz, the study of whose poetry may supply a dash of that imagination necessary to the ideal reasoner.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br />   To the authorities of Scotland Yard, one copy each of my trifling monographs on crime detection, unless happily they shall feel they have outgrown the need for the elementary suggestions of an amateur detective.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br />   To my good brother, Mycroft Holmes, the remainder and residue of my estate, which he will be agreeably surprised to find, even after the foregoing bequests, to be no inconsiderable, and which will enable him, I hope, to take a much needed holiday from governmental cares to surroundings more congenial than those of the Diogenes Club; in the expectation that he will remain celibate for the reason of his natural life — and unnatural too, for that matter.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;">SHERLOCK HOLMES</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Signed by the said testator, Sherlock Holmes, in the presence of us, present at the same time, who, at his request, in his presence, and in the presence of each other, have subscribed our names as witnesses.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;">THOMAS R. STOCKTON</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;">PHILIP H. MACE</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;">Solicitors, Staple Inn, Holborn</div></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><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/AVvXsEinxQppNk9nK-JcJZ0Bc0H0lEV0FI7XLorBiCUDPbGur3ijvH4FrvNy6L-ZdFXFp0B8B41HkVImwunoQv1Cdja1u8gG7p1wkYNWamI9inHWZi--PUNQy3XKiMzlVf6jAWC4uOMhEPlIP_wpmYIT81Lq9N1ISG0U99R_GL4d-FBnBw2iy2d2lE3RcZYiPA/s3500/LMM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3500" data-original-width="2333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinxQppNk9nK-JcJZ0Bc0H0lEV0FI7XLorBiCUDPbGur3ijvH4FrvNy6L-ZdFXFp0B8B41HkVImwunoQv1Cdja1u8gG7p1wkYNWamI9inHWZi--PUNQy3XKiMzlVf6jAWC4uOMhEPlIP_wpmYIT81Lq9N1ISG0U99R_GL4d-FBnBw2iy2d2lE3RcZYiPA/w213-h320/LMM.jpg" width="213" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjxsIuicsqk4F0HNk37MoSAuCyPBVw6fklL43cUr-_R7265FdvI1BCd5h4ZNlA8IhfAeKBnwMycvNPDGP_u3IRYkDRiWrn-2JDKmxnsvM0geCgr43YfSgw_LBgWGAAAIJUeswFcqXFpQuSC7pn2fLzV5a2r9qY4rCbWCzv7qEFlHVjPB6s4IgC52vC7g/s3500/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3500" data-original-width="2485" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjxsIuicsqk4F0HNk37MoSAuCyPBVw6fklL43cUr-_R7265FdvI1BCd5h4ZNlA8IhfAeKBnwMycvNPDGP_u3IRYkDRiWrn-2JDKmxnsvM0geCgr43YfSgw_LBgWGAAAIJUeswFcqXFpQuSC7pn2fLzV5a2r9qY4rCbWCzv7qEFlHVjPB6s4IgC52vC7g/w227-h320/1.jpg" width="227" /></a></div></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_YYHGkT64ZLLXJbCqUgOQuTHgymzABTrtfMMmvdhwmQn6UaoP0Go5EAuIr7jC245ywi5363p1F0vTWI9L7kxLlXtbPnKUTwWDgFcSxUiO7ujvREWXX2pc8cBZh6Bn4nH3uZ1OEXB27gtRTa-Nc9hv51Zy4lW2S7ger8DjENCQzMapZvF5DH1qSlmszA/s3500/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3500" data-original-width="2625" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_YYHGkT64ZLLXJbCqUgOQuTHgymzABTrtfMMmvdhwmQn6UaoP0Go5EAuIr7jC245ywi5363p1F0vTWI9L7kxLlXtbPnKUTwWDgFcSxUiO7ujvREWXX2pc8cBZh6Bn4nH3uZ1OEXB27gtRTa-Nc9hv51Zy4lW2S7ger8DjENCQzMapZvF5DH1qSlmszA/s320/2.jpg" width="240" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTzFcMNqXPWdPmcFLCDBniNQWtHUgTAgC8oa60BZk5ZQuBrOmlcGIjTpP7GVHOfMtAYz3Mf-vkhfOgqSispKqn3k3giqpemvvS_rx0PJuXPUuHjsSXYjJ-8a0scQT5It6aFVAaPZzwJOjGbrDPmrxXawSkP3cW89GRY8gpXqLDzpe9MmMS9ph0rY61ww/s3500/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3500" data-original-width="2625" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTzFcMNqXPWdPmcFLCDBniNQWtHUgTAgC8oa60BZk5ZQuBrOmlcGIjTpP7GVHOfMtAYz3Mf-vkhfOgqSispKqn3k3giqpemvvS_rx0PJuXPUuHjsSXYjJ-8a0scQT5It6aFVAaPZzwJOjGbrDPmrxXawSkP3cW89GRY8gpXqLDzpe9MmMS9ph0rY61ww/s320/3.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div>

The Last Will and Testament of Sherlock Holmes

“Here is my will,’” [NORW]  When Sherlock Holmes disappeared from the public eye in 1891, the world assumed he was dead, thanks to his alter...

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by Scott Monty

Episode 261: Stimulating Medicine

<h4 style="text-align: center;">“there is nothing more stimulating” [HOUN] </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/AVvXsEiem1j9H2Vbi2tDYnVm8LA5yViOf8W0XZUr3jwrq-RbeEAqLAt4v_USuPuYuLmizyqXYGauftT_DdVrjKTxhQaAMlD__1WQM06F3PxqtGnPurk7emxYGGV2uvnlXGQm8AgmcIdPwPYI7URUQrb4aoS3yNY2QrrQlDrwBXJrwr2GcnSkynaSVNb0l6krNA/s2945/ihose261%20widescreen.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2209" data-original-width="2945" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiem1j9H2Vbi2tDYnVm8LA5yViOf8W0XZUr3jwrq-RbeEAqLAt4v_USuPuYuLmizyqXYGauftT_DdVrjKTxhQaAMlD__1WQM06F3PxqtGnPurk7emxYGGV2uvnlXGQm8AgmcIdPwPYI7URUQrb4aoS3yNY2QrrQlDrwBXJrwr2GcnSkynaSVNb0l6krNA/w640-h480/ihose261%20widescreen.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><div><p>The latest entry in the BSI Press Professions series is a sequel: <i>Stimulating Medicine: More Nerve and Knowledge: Doctors, Medicine, and the Sherlockian Canon</i>. What makes it even more interesting is that it was developed during the pandemic.  </p><p>Bob Katz, BSI ("Dr. Ainstree") and Andy Solberg, BSI ("Professor Coram") joined forces for the sixth time, and join us for a sixth time to discuss this volume. More than the people, tools, and places that made up Nerve and Knowledge, this volume delves deeper into the world of medicine and into the human psyche itself.</p><p>The <b>Canonical Couplet</b> features some erstwhile entries from ChatGPT, as well as the actual puzzle for you to solve: two lines of poetry that summarize one of the 60 stories. If you're the lucky winner whose correct entry is randomly chosen, you'll be the recipient of a copy of <i>Stimulating Medicine</i>.</p><p>Send your answer to comment @ ihearofsherlock .com by April 14, 2023 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;">If you become a <a href="https://ihose.co/ihosepatron" target="_blank">Patron of the Arts</a>, not only will you help to ensure we can keep doing what we do, covering file hosting costs, production, and transcription services, but we have thank-you gifts at certain tiers and ad-free versions of the episodes for all patrons.</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/ihearofsherlock261.mp3" target="_blank">Download</a> [Save As] | File size: 110 MB, 1:15:38</h3><iframe allowfullscreen="" data-dashlane-frameid="9086" data-dashlane-rid="0ad6c40b5cc2fa6a" data-form-type="" height="192" mozallowfullscreen="true" msallowfullscreen="true" oallowfullscreen="true" scrolling="no" src="https://play.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/26400543/height/192/theme/modern/size/large/thumbnail/yes/custom-color/000000/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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjCIkwuVBamXWgWlu0frtZ10DWQQflqTD3OV6wU0vFHrGbfCDjtCgA3z5t7YRp_aa-pNjMbiok2vIaTpM66UZ5kEhrBsMkQDNsEr-1Y67kLU0wf4CGrNhqSScZnTm68gxZvXU9hek86TaD/w200-h200/IHOSE+logo+-+headphones+HR.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><a href="https://www.wessexpress.com/" target="_blank">/Gasogene Books</a> is the premier publisher of books about Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle.</li><li><a href="https://www.mxpublishing.com" target="_blank">MX Publishing</a> is a publishing dynamo, with new titles every week. They're sure to have loads of options for your Sherlock Holmes-related needs.</li></ul></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/ihose261" rel="noopener" target="_blank">ihose.co/ihose261</a></li><li><i><a href="https://bakerstreetirregulars.com/2022/12/28/stimulating-medicine/" target="_blank">Stimulating Medicine: More Nerve and Knowledge</a></i> (BSI Press)</li><li><i><a href="https://bakerstreetirregulars.com/2015/12/30/nerve-and-knowledge/" target="_blank">Nerve and Knowledge: Doctors, Medicine, and the Sherlockian Canon</a></i> (BSI Press)</li><li>Previous Episodes mentioned:</li><ul><li><a href="https://ihose.co/ihose50" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 50: A Golden Passage</a></li><li><a href="https://ihose.co/ihose63" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 63: Irregular Stain</a></li><li><a href="https://ihose.co/ihose76" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 76: Out of the Abyss</a></li><li><a href="https://ihose.co/ihose93" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 93: Nerve and Knowledge</a></li><li><a href="https://ihose.co/ihose138" target="_blank">Episode 138: The War Service of Sherlock Holmes</a></li></ul></ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>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><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-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: 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-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: 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-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; font: 14px Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 12px auto 6px;"><br /></p></div></div></div>

Episode 261: Stimulating Medicine

“there is nothing more stimulating” [HOUN]  The latest entry in the BSI Press Professions series is a sequel: Stimulating Medicine: More Ner...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

Episode 260: A Dose of Curare

<h4 style="text-align: center;">“Well up in belladonna, opium, and poisons generally” [STUD] </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/AVvXsEh76OSGKgxfPxoWUffzWRoa6h1vQ1xTVniDtvcscfyPhbfh5bKJRJ8ZB3v1KuSFQSNnO2vaXlnkxfbu1Ui5jukhryon6sgvWUl8ast8oOPRGK2xO3di8s7-egNeMZ-lrtEuu2JYs4YoH2feUZnoLBbg1Q9EJvBX16NH1h2uYAWs8a2YGDVRJMQJW0t56A/s1593/ihose260%20widescreen.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1186" data-original-width="1593" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh76OSGKgxfPxoWUffzWRoa6h1vQ1xTVniDtvcscfyPhbfh5bKJRJ8ZB3v1KuSFQSNnO2vaXlnkxfbu1Ui5jukhryon6sgvWUl8ast8oOPRGK2xO3di8s7-egNeMZ-lrtEuu2JYs4YoH2feUZnoLBbg1Q9EJvBX16NH1h2uYAWs8a2YGDVRJMQJW0t56A/w640-h476/ihose260%20widescreen.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><div><p>There's a large number of Sherlock Holmes stories that involve poisons or toxins. Once you begin to tally them up, you may be surprised, as was our guest in this episode.</p><p>Marina Stajic, BSI ("Curare"), ASH ("Lady Frances Carfax") has written and presented extensively on Sherlock Holmes and poisons. Her chosen profession makes her the ideal individual to do this: she was a forensic toxicologist. Her Sherlockian scholarship has appeared in The Baker Street Journal, The Sherlock Holmes Journal, The Serpentine Muse, and numerous BSI Press books.</p><p>Marina joined us to talk about the confluence of her career and her Sherlockian interests, her assessment of Sherlock Holmes's abilities regarding poisons and toxins, and shares the story behind her infamous display of Edwardian undergarments.</p><p>It looks like last episode's big surprise caught our listeners' attention: we have a winner of the the <b>Canonical Couplet</b> quiz — plus a new puzzle for you to solve. A prize from the IHOSE vaults awaits for the person who identifies the Sherlock Holmes story based on two lines of poetry and whose answer is randomly selected.</p><p>Send your answer to comment @ ihearofsherlock .com by March 29, 2023 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;">If you become a <a href="https://ihose.co/ihosepatron" target="_blank">Patron of the Arts</a>, not only will you help to ensure we can keep doing what we do, covering file hosting costs, production, and transcription services, but we have thank-you gifts at certain tiers and ad-free versions of the episodes for all patrons.</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/ihearofsherlock260.mp3" target="_blank">Download</a> [Save As] | File size: 96.8 MB, 1:10:32</h3><iframe title="Embed Player" src="https://play.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/26234853/height/192/theme/modern/size/large/thumbnail/yes/custom-color/6c442c/time-start/00:00:00/playlist-height/200/direction/backward/download/yes" height="192" width="100%" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" oallowfullscreen="true" msallowfullscreen="true" style="border: none;" data-dashlane-rid="d8aac351dc2bb519" data-dashlane-frameid="2436" data-form-type=""></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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjCIkwuVBamXWgWlu0frtZ10DWQQflqTD3OV6wU0vFHrGbfCDjtCgA3z5t7YRp_aa-pNjMbiok2vIaTpM66UZ5kEhrBsMkQDNsEr-1Y67kLU0wf4CGrNhqSScZnTm68gxZvXU9hek86TaD/w200-h200/IHOSE+logo+-+headphones+HR.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><a href="https://www.wessexpress.com/" target="_blank">/Gasogene Books</a> is the premier publisher of books about Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle.</li><li><a href="https://www.mxpublishing.com" target="_blank">MX Publishing</a> is a publishing dynamo, with new titles every week. They're sure to have loads of options for your Sherlock Holmes-related needs.</li></ul></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><li>This episode: <a href="https://ihose.co/ihose260" rel="noopener" target="_blank">ihose.co/ihose260</a></li><li><i><a href="https://bakerstreetirregulars.com/2022/12/28/stimulating-medicine/" target="_blank">Stimulating Medicine: More Nerve and Knowledge</a></i> (BSI Press)</li><li><i><a href="https://bakerstreetirregulars.com/2022/12/30/haven-horror/" target="_blank">The Haven Horror</a></i> (BSI Press)</li><li><i><a href="https://bakerstreetirregulars.com/2015/12/30/nerve-and-knowledge/" target="_blank">Nerve and Knowledge: Doctors, Medicine, and the Sherlockian Canon</a></i> (BSI Press)</li><li><i><a href="https://amzn.to/3JDspsG" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes is Like: Sixty Comparisons for an Incomparable Character</a></i> (Amazon)</li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iENQXIQ8wH0&ab_channel=navigide" target="_blank">Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz - Speedy</a> (YouTube)</li></ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>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><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-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: 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-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: 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-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; font: 14px Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 12px auto 6px;"><br /></p></div></div></div>

Episode 260: A Dose of Curare

“Well up in belladonna, opium, and poisons generally” [STUD]  There's a large number of Sherlock Holmes stories that involve poisons or ...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

Episode 257: The Haven Horror

<h4 style="text-align: center;">“our visit to The Haven” [LION]  </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/AVvXsEg9sCINUQn8XZWuv-t-G-DII8RGAgDCeEE07O8ldqS2kXn2chc50I3Cc7odQ19tZkqD8k4pWW_pgJg_ocwNRvu9N3yNcbHGhBfbIpDX7A8FlLh-FIDG1O9q7Eoa9UG0wR2x9JjN_63l2cJKrWtBvRk8kvkiXOOW4dFKAeDtMC8AjWfroE3RIwcBlgbIRA/s2059/ihose257%20wide.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1648" data-original-width="2059" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9sCINUQn8XZWuv-t-G-DII8RGAgDCeEE07O8ldqS2kXn2chc50I3Cc7odQ19tZkqD8k4pWW_pgJg_ocwNRvu9N3yNcbHGhBfbIpDX7A8FlLh-FIDG1O9q7Eoa9UG0wR2x9JjN_63l2cJKrWtBvRk8kvkiXOOW4dFKAeDtMC8AjWfroE3RIwcBlgbIRA/w640-h512/ihose257%20wide.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><div><p>The latest in the BSI Manuscript Series from the BSI Press is The Haven Horror. If that reference isn't immediately recognizable, it's not surprising; it's a phrase taken from “The Adventure of the Retired Colourman,” which comes at the tail end of the Canon.</p><p>Phil Bergem, BSI ("Birdy Edwards") joins us to talk about this volume in his new role as editor. Phil has long been the annotator/transcriber of manuscripts for the series, but he took on new responsibilities this time around. And it shows, with a wide-ranging variety of essays to inform, entertain, and delight us regarding this little-talked-about story. </p><p>A copy of this book awaits for the winner of the next <b>Canonical Couplet</b> quiz. Simply identify the Sherlock Holmes story based on two lines of poetry; if your answer is chosen from among the correct entries, you'll win.</p><p>Send your answer to comment @ ihearofsherlock .com by February 14, 2023 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;">If you become a <a href="https://ihose.co/ihosepatron" target="_blank">Patron of the Arts</a>, not only will you help to ensure we can keep doing what we do, covering file hosting costs, production, and transcription services, but we have thank-you gifts at certain tiers and ad-free versions of the episodes for all patrons.</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/ihearofsherlock257.mp3" target="_blank">Download</a> [Save As] | File size: 91.3 MB, 1:06:30</h3><iframe allowfullscreen="" data-dashlane-frameid="5468" data-dashlane-rid="2129c8b03e5c94d2" data-form-type="other" height="192" mozallowfullscreen="true" msallowfullscreen="true" oallowfullscreen="true" scrolling="no" src="https://play.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/25770801/height/192/theme/modern/size/large/thumbnail/yes/custom-color/fdc32a/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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjCIkwuVBamXWgWlu0frtZ10DWQQflqTD3OV6wU0vFHrGbfCDjtCgA3z5t7YRp_aa-pNjMbiok2vIaTpM66UZ5kEhrBsMkQDNsEr-1Y67kLU0wf4CGrNhqSScZnTm68gxZvXU9hek86TaD/w200-h200/IHOSE+logo+-+headphones+HR.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><a href="https://www.wessexpress.com/" target="_blank">/Gasogene Books</a> is the premier publisher of books about Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle.</li><li><a href="https://www.mxpublishing.com" target="_blank">MX Publishing</a> is a publishing dynamo, with new titles every week. They're sure to have loads of options for your Sherlock Holmes-related needs.</li></ul></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><li>This episode: <a href="https://ihose.co/ihose257" rel="noopener" target="_blank">ihose.co/ihose257</a></li><li><i><a href="https://bakerstreetirregulars.com/2022/12/30/haven-horror/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Haven Horror: A Facsimile of the Original Manuscript of “The Adventure of the Retired Colourman”</a></i> (BSI Press)</li><li>Other episodes mentioned:</li><ul><li><a href="https://ihose.co/ihose256" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 256: The BSI Weekend in Review</a></li><li><a href="https://ihose.co/ihose217" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 217: So Painful a Scandal</a></li></ul></ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>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><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 257: The Haven Horror

“our visit to The Haven” [LION]   The latest in the BSI Manuscript Series from the BSI Press is The Haven Horror. If that reference isn'...

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by Scott Monty

The BSI Trust Is Offering Research Fellowships

<h4 style="text-align: center;">“important research for the sake of it” [SOLI] </h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqv_PBGw3BSGFspPkokcwF_zrAMoqjgDhKzyiBm2BSplRdgFXx55qoNVgT_NYbSKOx9WWxK0gGwI7BKWtUXz1yI8FgenpFco_0ES_OvGOlcSH5gq8uvMQ4hl6Den8GxYP5lYnZqcEhdg5QqqM6MVo3m6HKetKUGexG2eUj7ltgslL_cIHO-Z7KHBYK5Q/s759/3STU%20-%20Steele.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="477" data-original-width="759" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqv_PBGw3BSGFspPkokcwF_zrAMoqjgDhKzyiBm2BSplRdgFXx55qoNVgT_NYbSKOx9WWxK0gGwI7BKWtUXz1yI8FgenpFco_0ES_OvGOlcSH5gq8uvMQ4hl6Den8GxYP5lYnZqcEhdg5QqqM6MVo3m6HKetKUGexG2eUj7ltgslL_cIHO-Z7KHBYK5Q/w640-h402/3STU%20-%20Steele.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>Are you a Sherlockian researcher? Do you have a project in mind that requires tapping into the resources at a repository of significant materials related to Sherlock Holmes?</p><p>Then you’ll want to hurry to apply for this unique opportunity.</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/" target="_blank">The Baker Street Irregulars Trust</a> and the <a href="https://libraries.indiana.edu/lilly-library" target="_blank">Lilly Library</a> are accepting applications for research fellowships for 2023. </p><p><b><a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2022/05/fellowships.html" target="_blank">The BSI Trust Research Fellowships</a></b> (<i>link goes to the official announcement</i>) support research on various aspects of Sherlockian studies that require use of the BSI Archive at the Lilly Library. Two fellowships, funded by the BSI Trust, are awarded annually, for a period of up to one month of research, with a stipend of up to <b>$2,500</b>. </p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">“it’s for charity and good fellowship” [VALL]</h3><p>These fellowships provide research opportunities to undergraduate and graduate students, college graduates, postdoctoral scholars, and independent researchers. </p><p>Successful candidates are selected on the basis of the applicant’s qualifications, the significance or importance of the project, and the appropriateness of the proposed study to the BSI Archive. Fellowships must be used during the year in which they are awarded.</p><p>The Baker Street Irregulars is a literary society dedicated to the study of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and the Victorian world. Founded in 1934, the BSI is the oldest existing Sherlockian society in the world.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">“for the sake of the trust” [MUSG]</h3><p>The Baker Street Irregulars Trust is part of the Baker Street Irregulars, a literary society dedicated to the study of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and the Victorian world. The Trust is the repository of the Irregulars’ collective memory. </p><p>Established in 2003, the Trust’s mission is to collect, preserve, and provide access to historical documents, correspondence, papers, photos, recordings, ephemera, and memorabilia relating to the BSI and its members and friends. The Lilly Library at Indiana University houses the BSI Archive, which is open for public use.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">How to Apply for a Research Fellowship</h3><p>The application process includes: </p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Description of the proposed project (no longer than two double-spaced pages) </li><li>A budget </li><li>Current CV</li><li>Two letters of recommendation</li></ol><p></p><p>Please ask your references to speak to the research proposal at hand. These fellowships are offered as reimbursement based on receipt documentation after completion of the research visit. </p><p>Letters and other documents should be submitted via email to <b>Thomas A. Horrocks, Ph.D.</b>, chair of the BSI Trust at <a href="mailto:TrustChair@bakerstreetirregulars.com">mailto:TrustChair@bakerstreetirregulars.com</a> by November 1, 2022. </p><p><br /></p><p>The BSI Trust will announce recipients of the fellowships by December 1, 2022.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Related:</h3><p>Don't miss <a href="https://ihose.co/ihose180" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 180 of IHOSE</a>, from the opening event at the Lilly Library:</p><iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/713329357&color=12adab" 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; font-weight: 100; line-break: anywhere; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; word-break: normal;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/ihearofsherlock" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere">I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/ihearofsherlock/live-from-the-lilly-library" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Live from the Lilly Library">Live from the Lilly Library</a></div><p><br /></p>

The BSI Trust Is Offering Research Fellowships

“important research for the sake of it” [SOLI]  Are you a Sherlockian researcher? Do you have a project in mind that requires tapping into t...

+ Read more »

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

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> -- <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