I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

Oldest Footage of London Includes Sherlock Holmes Sites

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"he had lit the oldest" [SHOS]</h4>
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Recently on our Facebook page, we shared an old post in honor of #TBT (Throwback Thursday). The 1927 footage of London in full color was really something to behold, as we're used to only seeing black and white images and early footage from that era.<br />
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Now, thanks to author Dana Cameron (<a href="https://twitter.com/danacmrn" target="_blank">@danacmrn</a> on Twitter), we discovered more film from London of Sherlock Holmes's time - only in this case, it's the oldest known footage of that venerable city that Watson called "that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are irresistibly drained." [STUD]<br />
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Have a look at the video of <a href="https://youtu.be/O_me3NrPMh8" target="_blank">the oldest footage of London ever</a>, which chronicles three decades from 1890 through 1920, and join us after the break below to see exactly where the footage intersects with the Sherlock Holmes tales.<br />
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Westminster</h4>
Westminster is featured in a number of the stories, which makes sense as it is the spiritual heart of London, with its Jacobean Houses of Parliament and Clock Tower (more commonly, if erroneously, referred to as Big Ben).  In <i>The Sign of Four</i>, Sherlock Holmes requested transportation originating from the area:<br />
"Well, then, in the first place I shall want a fast police-boat - a steam-launch - to be at the WestminsterStairs at seven o'clock."<br />
In "The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax," it was a different form of transportation, shared with the Hon. Philip Green that put Holmes and Watson in the vicinity: "as we drove swiftly past the Houses of Parliament and over Westminster Bridge."<br />
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But the story most closely associated with Westminster is "The Second Stain," in which newspaper headlines bleated "MURDER IN WESTMINSTER" regarding the death of Eduardo Lucas in Godolphin Street. Number 16 Godolphin Street was described as being part of<br />
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one of the old-fashioned and secluded rows of eighteenth-century houses which lie between the river and the Abbey, almost in the shadow of the great tower of the Houses of Parliament."</blockquote>
After digesting the news from the Prime Minister and European Secretary and linking it to the Godolphin Street murder (even though it was an extraordinary coincidence), Holmes said, "Put on your hat, Watson, and we will stroll down together to Westminster."<br />
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And it didn't escape us that that the Houses of Parliament were the primary visual cue in the title card of the 1988 comedy <i>Without a Clue</i>, starring Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley.<br />
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Embankment</h4>
There is only one mention of Embankment in the Canon, and that is around the death of John Openshaw in "The Five Orange Pips." When Openshaw's body was discovered near the Waterloo Bridge, Sherlock Holmes wondered, "How could they have decoyed him down there? The Embankment is not on the direct line to the station."<br />
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The footage above at 2:13 shows Blackfriar Bridge in 1896. As the pedestrians pass, one can picture Holmes and Watson strolling along the same path at one point.<br />
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St. Paul's Cathedral</h4>
There is but one mention of St. Paul's, and once again, as with nearly all of the river scenery, we return to SIGN:<br />
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"As we passed the City, the last rays of the sun were gilding the cross upon the summit of St. Paul's. It was twilight before we reached the Tower." </blockquote>
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Tower Bridge and the Tower of London</h4>
Aside from the Houses of Parliament, there can be no better pieces of architecture that visually symbolize Victorian London. Of course, one had its beginnings in medieval times and the other was a more modern edifice. And it was at the older of the two where Holmes suggested anchoring the police launch while waiting for the <i>Aurora</i> to show itself in SIGN:<br />
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"Where to?" asked Jones.<br />
"To the Tower. Tell them to stop opposite to Jacobson's Yard."</blockquote>
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The City</h4>
"The City" - also known as the "Square Mile" - is technically a county that denotes where the original Roman settlement was, and where the financial district lies. A number of Canonical characters had business in the City:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Jabez Wilson had "a small pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City." [REDH]</li>
<li>Holmes had to write to two establishments regarding Mr. Windibank, "One is to a firm in the City" [IDEN]</li>
<li>Just prior to discovering the fate of young Openshaw, Sherlock Holmes determined that rather than going to Horsham, "I shall commence with the City." [FIVE]</li>
<li>Much of the goings on of Neville St. Claire involved the financial district, as his "dear wife knew that I had business in the City." Of course, she wasn't aware it was "an opium den in the furthest east of the City," nor did she know about Hugh Boone's "hideous face ... which is familiar to every man who goes much to the City." [TWIS]</li>
<li>When dealing with stockbrokers, it would be a considerable surprise if the action didn't take place in the financial district. "Mawson and Williams', the great stockbroking firm in Lombard Street" puts is in the heart of it. And when being flattered by Arthur Pinner, Hall Pycroft, "a smart, young City man," admitted "I had never dreamed that I was talked about in the City in this fashion." [STOC]</li>
<li>Jonas Oldacre sought the legal services of John Hector McFarlane in making up his will in advance of his nefarious plan. McFarlane described their first meeting: "I was very much surprised, therefore, when yesterday, about three o'clock in the afternoon, he walked into my office in the City." [NORW]</li>
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The video also shows the Bank of England, and the counterfeiter James Winter (alias John Garrideb, alias Morecroft, alias Killer Evans) reminisced about the skill of his partner, "No living man could tell a Prescott from a Bank of England." [3GAR]<br />
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Fleet Street and The Strand</h4>
Beginning with the series of stories that became <i>The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes</i> and extending through the rest of the Canon, the <i>Strand Magazine</i> was the main publication that brought Sherlock Holmes to the public.<br />
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When Holmes and Watson took their after-dinner walk in "The Resident Patient," they walked through this very neighborhood. "For three hours we strolled about together, watching the ever-changing kaleidoscope of life as it ebbs and flows through Fleet Street and the Strand."<br />
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Fleet Street was the site of the Red-Headed League, as advertised in the newspaper: "Apply in person on Monday, at eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7, Pope's Court, Fleet Street." [REDH]<br />
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Watson first had rooms in the Strand [STUD] and Henry Baskerville bought his boots there - one of which went missing before mysteriously turned up again [HOUN]. And Holmes instructed Watson very specifically in "The Final Problem":<br />
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In the morning you will send for a hansom, desiring your man to take neither the first nor the second which may present itself. Into this hansom you will jump, and you will drive to the Strand end of the Lowther Arcade, handing the address to the cabman upon a slip of paper, with a request that he will not throw it away.</blockquote>
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And Holmes and Watson met for dinner at Simpsons, where they could be found "sitting at a small table in the front window, and looking down at the rushing stream of life in the Strand." [ILLU]<br />
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The West End</h4>
Known today for the theatre and tourist attractions, the West End figures into just a handful of stories - although one of them is critical.<br />
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<li>Holmes mentioned having been to "the other side of the West End" after leaving Baker Street with a rude meal in his pocket. [BERY]</li>
<li>Violet Hunter spoke of her job-hunting efforts: "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End called Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me." [COPP]</li>
<li>Spies - including Oberstein - were said to have residences in the West End [SECO, BRUC]</li>
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But perhaps one of the most significant locations in the Canon was located in the West End: the Criterion Bar (now the <a href="http://criterionrestaurant.com/" target="_blank">Criterion Restaurant</a>) in Picadilly Circus, where Watson "was standing at the Criterion Bar, when someone tapped me on the shoulder, and turning round I recognized young Stamford," [STUD] who then led him to meet Sherlock Holmes. If you visit the Criterion today, you can see the meeting memorialized.<br />
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Charing Cross and Trafalgar Square</h4>
Also one of the most popular destinations today, Trafalgar Square is at the intersection of roads leading to the Strand and Whitehall, with the National Gallery on one side of the square, St. Martin-in-the-Fields on another, and the <a href="http://www.sherlockholmespub.com/" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes Pub</a> not very far way on Northumberland Street - which, incidentally used to the be the Northumberland Hotel (where Sir Henry Baskerville stayed) and later the Northumberland Arms.<br />
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The cabman that trailed Sir Henry to Baker Street told Holmes about his fare: "He hailed me at half-past nine in Trafalgar Square. He said that he was a detective, and he offered me two guineas if I would do exactly what he wanted all day and ask no questions." [HOUN]<br />
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When Holmes heard of Lestrade's wild goose chase after Hatty St. Simon, he jokingly asked, "Have you also dragged the basin of the Trafalgar Square fountain?" [NOBL]<br />
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St. James and Buckingham Palace</h4>
In the video, we see the Crimean War Memorial, a monument to those British soldiers who lost their lives in supporting the Ottoman Empire against Russia. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_War" target="_blank">Crimean War</a> warranted a few mentions in the Canon:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Trevor Senior recalled his time as a convicted criminal: "It was the year '55, when the Crimean War was at its height, and the old convict ships had been largely used as transports in the Black Sea." [GLOR]</li>
<li>The Royal Munsters were given an alias but their heritage was acknowledged: "The Royal Mallows is, as you know, one of the most famous Irish regiments in the British Army. It did wonders both in the Crimea and the Mutiny" [CROO]</li>
<li>Interestingly, one of the household tasked with watching over the Russian Professor Coram was on the opposing side during the war: "Mortimer the gardener, who wheels the bath-chair, is an Army pensioner - an old Crimean man of excellent character." [GOLD]</li>
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While there is no mention of Buckingham Palace in the Canon, there is the Victoria Memorial and we do know that Holmes "spent a day at Windsor, whence he returned with a remarkably fine emerald tie-pin" which was "a present from a certain gracious lady in whose interests he had once been fortunate enough to carry out a small commission." [BRUC]<br />
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Hyde Park</h4>
The largest park in London would seem to be a natural place for action in the Canon. However, the only reference to Hyde Park in the stories was in "The Noble Bachelor" when Lady St. Simon "was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in company with Flora Millar," and Lestrade later began "dragging the Serpentine" in his search for her.<br />
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It's fascinating to see the London of then and now, and to note that much of the pedestrian and vehicular traffic patterns haven't changed and that even after the Blitz, many of the historic structures remain. One thing did strike us in some of the old footage: London's legendary fog was present and even obscured some of the landscape.<br />
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Oldest Footage of London Includes Sherlock Holmes Sites

"he had lit the oldest" [SHOS] Recently on our Facebook page, we shared an old post in honor of #TBT (Throwback Thursday). Th...

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by Scott Monty

The Lighter Side of Sherlock Holmes: An Interview with Glenn Schatell

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"which drew good humour" [VALL]</h4>
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Humorists have been taking stabs at Sherlock Holmes since about the same time as Doyle started writing his detective stories.  The first parody was probably anonymously penned by J.M.Barrie in 1891.  Since then, authors and artists have had a grand time making the great detective a bumbling fool or the butt end of a joke.  One of the most talented Holmes comedians was Norman Schatell, BSI ("Jonathan Small"), a cartoonist whose Holmes parodies were published in Sherlockian publications during the 1970s, such as <i><a href="http://bakerstreetjournal.com/" target="_blank">The Baker Street Journal</a></i> and <i><a href="http://www.sherlock-holmes.org.uk/category/journal/" target="_blank">The Sherlock Holmes Journal</a></i>. Schatell had a knack for creating jokes that only lovers of the original canon could get, such as having a doctor complain that Watson's delirious because he can't decide if his injury is in his arm or his leg. <br />
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Fortunately for those who enjoy a dose of humor with their Holmes, all of Norm Schatell's Sherlockian  pieces have been collected by his son, Glenn, in the book <i><a href="http://amzn.to/1DPhTD4" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Lighter Side of Sherlock Holmes</a></i>.  I had the opportunity to interview Glenn Schatell via e-mail and discover what drove his dad to make funny drawings of the world's greatest detective. <br />
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<b>IHOSE: Your father is one of the best known Holmes humor cartoonists.  What inspired him to combine the detective with cartoons?</b></h4>
<b>Glenn Schatell:</b>  My father loved mystery books, especially English ones.  At the very beginning of Jon Lellenberg's introduction to the book, Jon mentions that when my Dad was 17, and still in high school, he asked the famous Sherlockian, Howard Haycraft, about someday becoming a Baker Street Irregular.  Eventually, my Dad's dream came true!<br />
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My father had a great sense of humor.  I've been told that my Dad's father, my Grandpa Nat, used to draw cartoons for my Dad when he was a child.  Grandpa Nat, who was a senior Internal Revenue Agent, and a local Union City, New Jersey, politician, was renowned for his sense of humor and often was asked by civic organizations to do humorous toasts.<br />
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My Dad was primarily a teacher.  He taught art at Union Hill High School in Union City for 25 years.  He also taught adults and children.  What he mainly taught students was "creativity".  My Dad really enjoyed drawing cartoons although he also did absolutely terrific realistic paintings,watercolors, abstract artwork, pen and ink drawings, murals, sculpture, and greeting cards.  However, he basically gave all of his artwork away for free, to his friends and relatives, and especially to his Sherlockian friends.<br />
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<b>IHOSE:  How did you decide to organize this book?</b></h4>
<b>GS: </b>My wife, Gail Tavlin Schatell, was a great help in organizing the book.  We decided to begin the book with more precise cartoons my father did for Sherlock Holmes magazines, such as The Baker Street Journal.  Following that section is a series of cartoons that were originally drawn on legal-sized paper.  At the bottom of each page my father provides detailed information about where in the stories he found the idea for the cartoon.  The following section is what I call "rough sketches". These are "quick drawings" done primarily in pencil.  Following that section are 5 pages with a total of 60 cartoons (12 per page), which my father gave out as a Christmas gift to attendees at a Baker Street Irregulars dinner in the late 1970s.<br />
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Sections that follow include three "Sherlock Holmes through Literature" cartoons, the Arts and Crafts Sherlock Holmes (my father used to teach arts and crafts to children), and a section with photographs (including photographs of Sherlockian sculpture my father did, a picture of my Dad and his friend Irving Kamil, and prizes he did for Mrs. Hudson's Cliffdwellers meetings, the scion he helped found). Next is a series of illustrations he drew in a Pablo Picasso style, drawings he did for various Sherlockian events, and Sherlockian stationery, including stationery (one-page) he drew for The Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes.<br />
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The next main section my father called "The Anthropological Holmes", a series of humorous illustrations he drew about Sherlock Holmes in different cultures from around the world.  It is followed by a serious of envelopes he illustrated with cartoons on the cover, which he sent to some of his friends, including John Bennett Shaw and Peter Blau.   (Peter is the Sherlockian who told me about MX Publishing.  He also runs "The Red Circle", the Washington, D.C. area scion, to which I belong).  On the book's last page, I decided to include a photograph of my father's Baker Street Irregulars investiture award.  He was given the name "Jonathan Small".  This was meant as a joke.  My Dad was almost 6 feet, 4 inches tall.<br />
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<b>IHOSE:  Who were your father's main artistic influences?</b></h4>
<b>GS: </b>I previously mentioned that my Grandpa Nat liked to draw cartoons for my Dad.  His mother, my Grandma Eva, was also interested in art.  My father studied art at New York University, and received a master's degree in art education from Hunter College in New York City.  He always enjoyed going to school.  He would go to many museum shows in Manhattan, and visited countless art galleries.  He would often talk to many of the artists he met at art gallery shows.  My father was familiar with practically every well-known artist, and was especially fond of Pablo Picasso.<br />
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<h4>
<b>IHOSE:  Are you planning any more collections of your father's artwork?</b></h4>
<b>GS:</b> I am not planning on any more collections of my father's Sherlock Holmes artwork.  I included every Sherlock Holmes cartoon and humorous illustration I could find in this book.  However, when I have time, I would love to try to have a museum show of my Dad's non-Sherlockian artwork, which is of museum quality.<br />
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<h4>
<b>IHOSE:  Is there any additional information you'd like our readers to know?</b></h4>
<b>GS:</b> I donated my half of my father's Sherlock Holmes artwork, which my mother, Diana Schatell, gave me, to The University of Minnesota Library several years ago.  (My sister, Amy (Shea) Schatell decided to keep her half of the artwork for our family; however, I gave photocopies of what she kept to the Library.)  Julie McKuras, the editor of the Library's Sherlockian newsletter <a href="https://www.lib.umn.edu/scrbm/holmes/friends-newsletters" target="_blank">The Friends of The Sherlock Holmes Collections</a>, intends to write an article about the book in the June 2015 edition.  <a href="http://sherlockholmesexhibition.com/" target="_blank">The International Exhibition of Sherlock Holmes</a> is now selling the book at its gift shop.  This travelling exhibition is currently at The Perot Museum in Dallas, Texas. Over the last few years, Steven Rothman, the editor of <i>The Baker Street Journal</i>, has been printing my Dad's cartoons in this quarterly publication.<br />
<br />
My father wasn't just the leading Sherlock Holmes artist of the 1970s.  He was also a major collector of Sherlockian material.  He collected everything he could find about Sherlock Holmes, such as movie posters, radio scripts, Sherlock Holmes games and toys, and every edition of <i>The Hound of the Baskervilles</i> he could find (including foreign versions).  I couldn't possibly mention all the types of collectibles he acquired in this e-mail.  He also bought original copies of the <i>Strand Magazine</i>, and purchased a series of letters that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and William Gillette exchanged when the actor was writing the play "Sherlock Holmes".  My mother gave some of the material my father collected to The University of Minnesota Library, but sold the letters, and many of the Sherlockian books my Dad bought, to a Japanese collector.<br />
<br />
My father also drew about 300 cartoons when he was in the United States Navy during World War II. They are mainly about Navy life in Australia, the Philippines, and Hawaii.  They're very funny!  I donated them to The Library of Congress (Veterans History Project) a number of years ago.  You can <a href="http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/story/loc.natlib.afc2001001.65697/artworks" target="_blank">see a sample on-line</a>.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilxZY_SoSfri8nwhiOs29YbQ-8CpFYjsbqwHYcyW6tf0deaedIzU6PkHbBYDxm8HcskIErnQCGajuiAskeDNSmSeW_m-D-b-EBQdPeYafKiPkJ5wTmtIaesvWiLlW08KDyUP7ciuXE2h3y/s1600/Schatell+LoC+image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilxZY_SoSfri8nwhiOs29YbQ-8CpFYjsbqwHYcyW6tf0deaedIzU6PkHbBYDxm8HcskIErnQCGajuiAskeDNSmSeW_m-D-b-EBQdPeYafKiPkJ5wTmtIaesvWiLlW08KDyUP7ciuXE2h3y/s1600/Schatell+LoC+image.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Click to enlarge</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
In the early 1950s, my father briefly worked on "The Popeye" television series.  He also illustrated a very funny book called "How to Curse in Yiddish".   Quite a few of my Dad's cartoons were printed as greeting cards by "The Murder Ink" book store in Manhattan.  I would like to re-issue them some day.<br />
<br />
My father would have been happy knowing that a new generation of readers is enjoying the artwork in his book.<br />
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<br /></div>
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For more about Norman Schatell and his artwork, see <a href="http://lightsidesherlockholmes.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">The Lighter Side of Sherlock Holmes</a> on Tumblr.<br />
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--<br />
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<span style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="http://amzn.to/1DPhTD4" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkD_VzdhJX9mHdhsKEmR8fRHpF1yPJ-9_mz3pV79TdPRZa3P2LKog3AN4b7YF_5_HOysOjcsxb5axIXIvTF8WbM1fjGV5dkn6jj2P24NUuoFqVue2LcVJG9l7Ts0snc16J62O5fxFlvFgK/s1600/Lighter+side+of+Sherlock+Holmes.jpg" width="131" /></a></span></div>
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</div>

The Lighter Side of Sherlock Holmes: An Interview with Glenn Schatell

"which drew good humour" [VALL] Humorists have been taking stabs at Sherlock Holmes since about the same time as Doyle s...

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by Belanger Books

Exercise in the Sherlock Holmes Stories

<h4 style="text-align: center;">
"flushed with the exercise" [STUD]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvnmh4X-ZRKVoLFjlVPnMGeOo_m1JsnouDHmnkRVsruA4vSaYNoPzXqZkq4860-OuHII02Kp-dwADgvOmYlgSPgvg9QheTf9ktj7SF1ihERh_Ghnt6bOfffdh-c6Nh0qOa8jLoK3Vj7SJv/s1600/Resident+Patient+-+Sidney+Paget.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvnmh4X-ZRKVoLFjlVPnMGeOo_m1JsnouDHmnkRVsruA4vSaYNoPzXqZkq4860-OuHII02Kp-dwADgvOmYlgSPgvg9QheTf9ktj7SF1ihERh_Ghnt6bOfffdh-c6Nh0qOa8jLoK3Vj7SJv/s1600/Resident+Patient+-+Sidney+Paget.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
We recently saw <a href="https://twitter.com/EditorBrooke/status/590140485198446594" target="_blank">a tweet</a> from a listener that caught our attention. Brooke Hall (<a href="https://twitter.com/EditorBrooke" target="_blank">@EditorBrooke</a>) indicated that the <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/p/show-archives.html#.VTkzsiFViko" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere audio program</a> was part of her workout routine:</div>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
Morning workout, listening to <a href="https://twitter.com/IHearofSherlock">@IHearofSherlock</a>.<br />
— Brooke Hall (@EditorBrooke) <a href="https://twitter.com/EditorBrooke/status/590140485198446594">April 20, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><br /></div>
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Of course we were pleased to know that our show is interesting enough to distract someone from the pain she's putting her body through. But it also got us to thinking about physical fitness and exercise in the Canon.<br />
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<h3>
Sherlock Holmes, uninterested exerciser</h3>
When Watson first met Holmes in <i>A Study in Scarlet</i>, one of his observations was on the latter's physical characteristics:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
His very person and appearance were such as to strike the attention of the most casual observer. In height he was rather over six feet, and so excessively lean that he seemed to be considerably taller.</blockquote>
Watson himself must have been in good shape when in the army, but after spending many months recuperating, it's not surprising that Stamford thought he looked "as thin as a lath". [STUD]<br />
<br />
While Holmes occasionally forgot about eating [FIVE] or even asked for dinner to be significantly delayed ("Seven-thirty, the day after tomorrow" [MAZA]), what do we know of his exercise habits?<br />
<br />
We're told that <b>"Sherlock Holmes was a man who seldom took exercise for exercise's sake."</b> [YELL] However, Watson goes on to describe his friend's capabilities:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Few men were capable of greater muscular effort, and he was undoubtedly one of the finest boxers of his weight that I have ever seen, but he looked upon aimless bodily exertion as a waste of energy, and he seldom bestirred himself save where there was some professional object to be served. Then he was absolutely untiring and indefatigable. That he should have kept himself in training under such circumstances is remarkable, but his diet was usually of the sparest, and his habits were simple to the verge of austerity.</blockquote>
<br />
In "The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist" Holmes does indeed put his boxing skills to use, sending Mr. Woodley home in a cart. But he lamented, <b>"I get so little active exercise that it is always a treat"</b>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhgWWSeD1Tm9O19XX5fqwpSFVPzV5XCCL4LBKg9FIwnLcLCLwX_I4iAn6vVk1MmiBWyQW28Q7m40tMw7kpDfki9-aG4UB_qHDIx3h5B6BVEtToYgZUtG9zpDDaPA66_Q4Nx77zlLCTayCX/s1600/Sherlock+Holmes,+Boxer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhgWWSeD1Tm9O19XX5fqwpSFVPzV5XCCL4LBKg9FIwnLcLCLwX_I4iAn6vVk1MmiBWyQW28Q7m40tMw7kpDfki9-aG4UB_qHDIx3h5B6BVEtToYgZUtG9zpDDaPA66_Q4Nx77zlLCTayCX/s1600/Sherlock+Holmes,+Boxer.jpg" /></a></div>
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Holmes put that muscular effort to work in "The Adventure of Black Peter":<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
There can be no question, my dear Watson, of the value of exercise before breakfast. But I am prepared to bet that you will not guess the form that my exercise has taken."</blockquote>
In this case, the exercise took the form of trying to spear a dead pig hanging from a hook in the ceiling at Allardyce's butcher shop.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr8mxgXCiWdJuLxfvzNmtC4xp4ABc6ooVt8pYt4TmNXkGSN1eHEW2Efco9lLDfLtJYrRxpb9j8Zo7SXOziyJ32GftclIEGK1DH6bxbbpplM53fGvUwvIv-spDi5r2xaXH-DslbA3FVRtsV/s1600/Black+Peter+-+Holmes+and+the+harpoon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Holmes returns from the butcher shop, with nary a steak nor a pork chop." border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr8mxgXCiWdJuLxfvzNmtC4xp4ABc6ooVt8pYt4TmNXkGSN1eHEW2Efco9lLDfLtJYrRxpb9j8Zo7SXOziyJ32GftclIEGK1DH6bxbbpplM53fGvUwvIv-spDi5r2xaXH-DslbA3FVRtsV/s1600/Black+Peter+-+Holmes+and+the+harpoon.jpg" title="Sherlock Holmes returns with a harpoon in "Black Peter"" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Pork chops again?"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
We also see Sherlock Holmes going at it when a professional object was served, such as in "The Adventure of the Three Students":<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Aha! It is not for nothing that I have turned myself out of bed at the untimely hour of six. I have put in two hours' hard work and covered at least five miles, with something to show for it."</blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white;">In "The Resident Patient," Holmes became tired of the sitting room at Baker Street and asked Watson to join him in <b>"a ramble through London,"</b> which then turned into a three-hour walk. Upon returning, they found a new client in Dr. Trevelyan, who told them of Mr. Blessington, who himself took a <b>"</b></span><b>short walk which had usually been the prelude to his dinner."</b><br />
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<br />
<h3>
Unfit to exercise</h3>
While Sherlock Holmes was capable of spurts of exercise, there were others in the Canon who were, shall we say, less than physically fit. Occasionally, Holmes and Watson had clients or engaged with other characters who displayed the hallmarks of those not accustomed to physical activity.<br />
<br />
In "The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet," Alexander Holder ran down Baker Street <b>"puffing and blowing"</b> and explained his actions to Holmes and Watson thusly: "That is why I was so out of breath, for <b>I am a man who takes very little exercise."</b><br />
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While his advanced age may be an excuse for lack of exercise presently, Nathan Garrideb's posture gave us a clue to a lifetime of habit in "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs":<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Mr. Nathan Garrideb proved to be a very tall, loose-jointed, round-backed person, gaunt and bald, some sixty-odd years of age. He had a cadaverous face, with the dull dead skin of a man to whom exercise was unknown.</blockquote>
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<b>Others worth mentioning:</b><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Jabez Wilson was referred to as "portly" and obese" by Watson. [REDH]</li>
<li>Henry Baker, the forlorn goose owner, was said to be "out of training entirely" as his hat bore "the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the wearer perspired very freely, and could, therefore, hardly be in the best of training." [BLUE]</li>
<li>Jephro Rucastle was described as <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Verdana;"> "</span>A prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face, and a great heavy chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat," who had "fat hands".  [COPP]</li>
</ul>
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<br />
<h3>
He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother</h3>
A little closer to home, Sherlock Holmes's brother was certainly no fan of exercise, as his habits indicated:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Mycroft lodges in Pall Mall, and he walks round the corner into Whitehall every morning and back every evening. From year's end to year's end he takes no other exercise, and is seen nowhere else, except only in the Diogenes Club, which is just opposite his rooms." [GREE]</blockquote>
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His appearance also backed up this assertion, as Watson noted Mycroft's "broad, fat hand, like the flipper of a seal."</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPz4V05OqeSN0DWSGqvKgeGuZxqYrm4GlcOavbJlA0AxDfnTzthXX7se5h4CwxuiM5mXjJG1338rvcQlnjiFKqvM3CZU7C5hhgvXn0Otsx_ItcAf910WWn8qYiJfhXC6tC9rJyapW8-wvp/s1600/Mycroft+Holmes+in+The+Greek+Interpreter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPz4V05OqeSN0DWSGqvKgeGuZxqYrm4GlcOavbJlA0AxDfnTzthXX7se5h4CwxuiM5mXjJG1338rvcQlnjiFKqvM3CZU7C5hhgvXn0Otsx_ItcAf910WWn8qYiJfhXC6tC9rJyapW8-wvp/s1600/Mycroft+Holmes+in+The+Greek+Interpreter.jpg" width="232" /></a></div>
<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Mycroft Holmes was a much larger and stouter man than Sherlock. His body was absolutely corpulent, but his face, though massive, had preserved something of the sharpness of expression which was so remarkable in that of his brother.</blockquote>
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So there you have it. Are there other characters in the Canon with whom you associate exercise (or lack thereof)? Let us know in a comment.</div>
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--<br />
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<br />

Exercise in the Sherlock Holmes Stories

"flushed with the exercise" [STUD] We recently saw a tweet from a listener that caught our attention. Brooke Hall ( @Edito...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

Once More With Feeling

<h4 style="text-align: center;">
"You have the feelings of a gentleman" [3GAB]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQzPmpJPxIeEbRjwOh0G0ItFxCkP08hlYLaClea3SGJSP8x73N3wQ-9A9E3NnTgtnOhyphenhyphenaEHBwFV242gIkFMTWDBC4bY7TL7b7vpJJKTJ2END1g_2asBYZ3mupTsfcPnrjfFUADh1CRK4uk/s1600/CARD+-+brown+study.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQzPmpJPxIeEbRjwOh0G0ItFxCkP08hlYLaClea3SGJSP8x73N3wQ-9A9E3NnTgtnOhyphenhyphenaEHBwFV242gIkFMTWDBC4bY7TL7b7vpJJKTJ2END1g_2asBYZ3mupTsfcPnrjfFUADh1CRK4uk/s1600/CARD+-+brown+study.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I was indulging in one of my non-Sherlockian hobbies the other day — drinking coffee in a booth — when my smartphone started to blow up, all because somebody happened to make a reference to "Stinker! Holmes" and I happened to ask what she meant. My friend, call her Sapphire, said she was alluding to Robert Downey, Jr., whose appearance in two Sherlock Holmes feature films doesn't suggest that he bathed very frequently.<br />
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If I remember right, I asked, you had a similar complaint about Mycroft in television's <i>Elementary</i>?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYTUAp1FovYFyTskg1eshmTK_OJbimaMVSC_KF4V7IoG-zjGwqWfqhzaHkLqNkc0umUvynVQY6B0lH6oiuKyOLp61CDzIk-ISBC9ieWlYSYHXBBtYByGAQEXkRktogqY8_I7UvtLT9BACa/s1600/Mycroft-elementary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Mycroft has a dirty secret" border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYTUAp1FovYFyTskg1eshmTK_OJbimaMVSC_KF4V7IoG-zjGwqWfqhzaHkLqNkc0umUvynVQY6B0lH6oiuKyOLp61CDzIk-ISBC9ieWlYSYHXBBtYByGAQEXkRktogqY8_I7UvtLT9BACa/s1600/Mycroft-elementary.jpg" title="Rhys Ifans as Mycroft Holmes in Elementary" width="640" /></a></div>
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Conversations on Twitter tend to grow. Our friend Crimson jumped in here: "<i>Elementary</i> is my favorite adaptation for a long, loooooong time, but their Mycroft is among the worst. I know he was supposed to be ill, but he just looked unwashed. Skeezy. "<br />
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<b>Sapphire:</b> "Worse than Thorpe. Worse than Gatiss! Mycroft. Neither of them looked like they needed Febreze."<br />
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<b>Crimson:</b> "I think Rhys Ifans always looks like that."<br />
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<b>Sapphire:</b> "He really, really does. Even in Notting Hill! I would happily spritz him."<br />
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<br />
I'm editing quite a bit here, but I turned the conversation to <i>Elementary</i> as a whole, making a point I've made before, that it's a fascinating show even though Jonny Lee Miller as Holmes and Lucy Liu as Watson don't seem to me much like the real, the canonical, Holmes and Watson. <br />
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<b>Crimson:</b> "I think the H/W relationship in this is one of the absolute best. They have a respectful relationship and consider each other colleagues and equals."<br />
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<b>Sapphire:</b> "They're friends, roomates and do crime-solving sh*t together."<br />
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<b>Me:</b> "They spend most of their time talking about their emotions."<br />
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<b>Crimson:</b> "This is a Holmes who seems much more like a human being. No 'sociopath' bull."<br />
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<b>Sapphire </b>[incredulous about my objection]: "The fact that they talk about their feelings? That they have feelings?"<br />
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<b>Me:</b> "That they talk about them. Endlessly."<br />
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<b>Sapphire:</b> "That doesn't violate the canon for me at all."<br />
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<b>Crimson:</b> "I don't remotely see how that's not canonical. What about 'I caught a glimpse of a great heart as well as of a great brain'?"<br />
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<b>Me:</b> "A 'glimpse' in a crisis is not 15 minutes of soul-baring every episode."<br />
<div>
<b>Sapphire:</b> "If that's the main anti-canonical thing to you, we can just fundamentally disagree on the show's merits."<br />
<br />
At about that point, we agreed to disagree — no, really, we did, because I am still not persuaded that the Holmes of the canon is constantly open with Watson about his feelings and his personal life. But I thought the dialogue might shed some light on why Sherlockians never run out of things to talk about.<br />
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--<br />
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