The Journal of the Bootmakers of Toronto Volume 35 Number 1 Fall 2012
Canadian Holmes is published by The Bootmakers of Toronto, the Sherlock Holmes Society of Canada.
Bootprints (editors) are Mark and JoAnn Alberstat, 46 Kingston Crescent, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, B3A 2M2 Canada, to whom letters and editorial submissions should be addressed. E-mail: [email protected]
Membership and subscription rates Canadian Individual - Cdn$35.00 Canadian Joint (One copy of CH per household) - Cdn$45.00 Canadian Student (Full-time student 16+) - Cdn$25.00 U.S. Individual - US$40.00 U.S. Associate - US$35.00 International - US$40.00 Past Issues of Canadian Holmes, including postage - Cdn$12.00 per copy
Further Subscription information and details are available on the society’s website, www.torontobootmakers.com.
Business correspondence should be addressed to The Bootmakers of Toronto, PO Box 1157, TDC Postal Station, 77 King Street West, Toronto, Ontario M5K 1P2 Canada.
Copyright © 2012 The Bootmakers of Toronto. Copyright in all individual articles is hereby assigned to their respective authors.
Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement Number 40038614, The Bootmakers of Toronto, PO Box 1157, TDC Postal Station, 77 King Street West, Toronto, Ontario, M5K 1P2 Canada. Return postage guaranteed.
ISSN 0319-4493. Printed in Canada.
Cover: Two images from Dangerous Work. Reprinted from Dangerous Work courtesy of Conan Doyle Estate Ltd.
Canadian Holmes Volume 35 Number 1 Fall 2012 One hundred and thirty-third issue
Contents Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 Volume 35 Number 1
Traces of Bootprints 1 By Mark Alberstat
Song for ‘The Six Napoleons’ 2 By Karen Campbell
From Mrs. Hudson’s Kitchen 3 By Wendy Heyman-Marsaw
Undershaw saved, thanks to campaigners 4
The Affair of the Resurrected Story 5 By Peter Calamai
Oh Sinner Man – Where You Gonna Run To? – Sir Arthur 8 and Sir George By Hartley R. Nathan and Clifford S. Goldfarb
Strictly Personal: Doug Wrigglesworth 17
The Fraudulent Medium and the Supernatural in The Hound of the Baskervilles 19 By David M. Beck
‘The Devil’s Foot’ Essay Contest 25 By Donny Zaldin and Barbara Rusch
The Greek Fabricator 28 By Bruce Harris
Reflections on the Cottingley Fairies – A Review 33 By Don Roebuck
Letters From Lomax 34 By Peggy Perdue
News Notes From Across the Country 36
Bootmakers’ Diary 37 By Donny Zaldin
RACES OF BOOTPRINTS
Sherlock into the Time Machine Once Again
Arthur Conan Doyle’s life has been well documented. He wrote a prodigious amount of prose, poetry, songs and plays; most of them have not stood the test of time though they are still enjoyable to read. When we think of Doyle we can conjure up a variety of pictures of him, always well dressed and looking like a man of his time. Our favourite detective, however, continues to be updated and seems to be a character not out of time, but a timeless character. This fall, CBS is updating Sherlock Holmes again; this time placing him in modern-day New York City, the metropolis that brought you Friends, not to mention endless episodes of Law and Order and CSI: NY. Of course, this timemachine for Doyle’s characters has been at work before. Rathbone updated Holmes, pitting him against Nazis. CBS’s Elementary is, in part, an American reaction to the popular BBC Sherlock series which has placed Holmes and Watson in rooms on a 21st-century Baker Street. All this at the same time that Robert Downey Jr. reminds movie goers that Sherlock is from the Victorian age. These parallel yet different interpretations give the detective not only a multiple personality but an extensive and up-to-date wardrobe gives today’s viewers a Sherlock as comfortable in Victorian tweeds as he is carrying an iPad. Taking us all back to a different time is the newly published Doyle diary Dangerous Work. In this issue Peter Calamai, author of the 2011 Cameron Hollyer lecture, reviews the newly released book for us. This work is Doyle’s diary while he was surgeon on board the S.S. Hope in 1880. We also take a further look into the life of Sir George Lewis, a well-known Victorian barrister, thanks to Hartley Nathan and Cliff Goldfarb. Results of the ‘The Devils Foot’ essay contest are also revealed with thanks to Donny Zaldin and Barbara Rusch for compiling that article. Those pieces, along with an assortment of other Sherlockian goodies, should get all of our Canadian Holmes readers in the mood for CBS’s new series and if that doesn’t tweak your Sherlockian interest get online and order a copy of Dangerous Work. It’s not every day that you get to read an unpublished work by the timeless author we all love.
Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 1 Song for ‘The Six Napoleons’
The following song parody was written and performed by Karen Campbell and Craig Brtnik for the April 28, 2012, meeting of The Bootmakers.
That’s Napoleon (sung to the tune of ‘That’s Amore’)
In Napoli the Borgias’ reign they were just greedy, not insane
When a guy gets his kicks from a weird idée fixe That’s Napoleon When he breaks bric-a-brac like his mind’s out of whack That’s Napoleon Bells will ring ting-a-ling-a-ling, ting-a-ling-a-ling on the police black Maria Folks will say, “What the hey?” Run away Like their pants were on fire.
When you search for a pearl like it was your best girl That’s Napoleon When you leave in the street plaster shards at your feet You're a thief When you act like you’re crazed but you know you're not crazy, signore Scuzza me, but you see, though we say Napoli That’s Napoleon!
2 Canadian Holmes Fall 2012
From Mrs. Hudson’s Kitchen
This column is by Mrs. Hudson herself and dictated to Wendy Heyman-Marsaw, a Sherlockian living in Halifax.
The Irregulars Come to Call
hat on earth is this? I cried, for at this moment, there came the pattering of many steps in the hall, and on the stairs, accompanied by audible expressions of disgust upon the part of our landlady. It’s the Baker Street division of the detective force, said my companion gravely; and as he spoke there rushed into the room half a dozen of the dirtiest and most ragged street Arabs that I ever clapped eyes on. - STUD You must remember that Mr. Holmes had but recently occupied rooms at 221B. I didn’t know what to think his intentions were. The urchins’ loud and disorderly conduct, filthy bodies and clothes were extremely distressing. I feared for my lovely rugs and pristine walls. Then I heard Mr. Holmes call them to attention and directed Wiggins – the eldest, and I suppose the leader of this band of mud larks, to represent the group in future. Mr. Holmes further explained their usefulness in gaining information for his cases. I had little exposure to children, as my dear husband passed away before we could start a family. I began to reconsider my first impressions and reflected on the difficult lives of the children. Some may have been orphans or cast aside by parents who could not afford to keep them. Many wore unmatched boots and ill- fitting ragged clothing. Baths and regular meals were alien to them. I discovered one to be a little girl who never had a dress or doll. Mr. Holmes was no doubt the first person of the upper classes to value them, accord them dignity and offer money to improve their lot for work well done. He paid them a shilling a day with a guinea bonus for the one who found the object of their investigation. I was shamed by my initial uncharitable and superficial response. From that day forward I invited the children into my kitchen and fed them simple, nourishing meals and a treat for their pudding. All I asked was that they wash their hands and faces in the scullery sink. Here are some recipes they particularly enjoyed:
Toad-In-The-Hole for six Ingredients: 6 oz. flour, 1 pt. milk, 3 eggs, butter, slices of leftover mutton, 2 fine diced kidneys (or substitute 6 good-quality beef or pork sausages), pepper and salt.
Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 3 Mode: Make a smooth batter of flour, milk, eggs in the above proportion; butter a baking dish, and pour in the batter. Into this place slices of mutton, kidneys or the sausages; bake about 1 hour or rather longer, and send it to the table in the dish it was baked in.
Roly-Poly Jam Pudding for 6 Ingredients: ¾ lb. suet crust, ¾ lb. any kind of jam. Mode: Make a nice, light suet crust and roll out to thickness of ½ inch. Spread jam equally over it, leaving a small margin of paste without any, where the pudding joins. Roll it up, fasten ends securely and tie it in a floured cloth; put the pudding into boiling water and boil for 2 hours. Mincemeat or marmalade can be substituted for the jam.
Undershaw saved, thanks to campaigners
Undershaw, Conan Doyle’s home, has been saved from redevelopment, thanks to a high-court decision in London in late May. Undershaw is a Grade II listed building at Hindhead Crossing near Haslemere, Surry. Doyle lived there from 1897 to 1907 and wrote 13 Holmes adventures in the house, including The Hound of the Baskervilles. John Gibson, cofounder of the Undershaw Preservation Trust, told The Guardian newspaper, “This is a place which is steeped in history and should be treated with reverence. Conan Doyle’s life and works are a fundamental part of British culture and arguably their stock has never been higher. We have been absolutely delighted to see enthusiasts from across the world get in touch and pledge their support to our efforts.” Doyle entertained many of his friends at the house, including Bram Stoker, who in a 1907 article described the house as having “all the elements of home” and said the view from the drawing room was one of “a never-ending sea of greenery to the South Downs.” The building’s current owners had proposed dividing the home into eight different residences. The persiding judge ruled the local council had made several errors in considering the redevelop- ment plans.
4 Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 The Affair of the Resurrected Story
Dangerous Work: Diary of an Arctic Adventure By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Edited by Jon Lellenberg and Daniel Stashower University of Chicago Press, 368 p., 60 colour plates, 12 halftones $35
By Peter Calamai
Peter Calamai is a Master Bootmaker and BSI (“The Leeds Mercury”) who lives in Ottawa. For a few brief minutes he actually was the helmsman on the research icebreaker CCGS Amundsen in the ice-strewn waters of the Western Arctic.
or more than a century a remarkable tale by Arthur Conan Doyle has languished out of the public eye, seen only by the author himself and a few privileged insiders. It is his first-hand account of the physical trials and adventures faced by 56 men while slaughtering seals and chasing whales through the ice floes off the west coast of Greenland for more than five months in the spring and summer of 1880. To earn money for his hard-pressed mother (and most likely to also test his manliness) the 20-year-old Doyle signed up impetuously as surgeon on a Scottish whaling ship while in his third year of medical studies. Later the author Doyle would mine his experience for two magazine articles and a chapter in his autobiography, which have allowed biographers to reconstruct some of the voyage. Readers can also trace influences of the adventure in his fiction, such as ‘The Captain of the Polestar’ and the many nautical allusions in the Canon, in particular ‘The Adventure of Black Peter,’ which has a whale harpoon as an instrument of death. Yet these were just tantalizing fragments, like the bits remaining after the Higgs Boson disintegrates. Now we have the thing itself, a facsimile of the log of that voyage kept in young Conan Doyle’s own hand and profusely illustrated with his own delightfully naïve watercolours. The log provides a vivid picture of both a waxing and a waning. The decline is that of the once vibrant Scottish sealing and whaling industry; a decade later it had effectively vanished. The emergence is that of a mature Conan Doyle. Not only did Doyle turn 21 during the voyage (“I came of age at 80 degrees north latitude,” he writes) but he also honed those attributes that would help shape his later successes – stamina, Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 5 pluck, quicksilver observation, unrelenting curiosity, a natural bent toward fellowship and – above all else – an apparently effortless naturalistic prose. “Blowing a gale all day. Nothing to do and we did it,” reads the log entry for July 19. Doyle was exceedingly fortunate in the berth, which he inherited when a fellow medical student backed out at the last minute. The S.S. Hope was purpose-built for Arctic whaling and was captained by John Gray, the 50-year- old scion of three generations of a whaling family from Peterhead, Scotland. The success of such a voyage depended directly on the harvest of seal oil, whale oil and whale bone, with the proceeds divided amongst the entire crew, according to their stations. A sizable whale was worth £1,000. The Hope returned to port with the oil from 3,600 seals plus two whales and one puny, making the journey a moderate success, especially since there was only one death (which Doyle could not have prevented.) Canadian readers of the log will be familiar with the clubbing of helpless young seals, known here as white coats, which Doyle acknowledges is barbarous (“It is bloody work dashing out the poor little beggars brains while they look up with their big dark eyes into your face.”) The spectacle of a vista of shimmering ice floes may also be known to some in Canada, including this reviewer, who spent several weeks in the high Arctic aboard a Canadian icebreaker and also lived briefly north of 80 degrees at a research station. But very few Canadian readers – probably none – will have been in a long boat as the harpoon is shot into the flank of a whale at close quarters and watched the rope shoot out beneath their feet as the leviathan sounds. And then the succession of lances being driven in until the whale expires in a frothy fury. Space does not permit a recounting of the many other insights offered into a long-gone way of life and into the evolving character of Conan Doyle. Two tangentially related aspects, however, deserve comment.
Reprinted from Dangerous Work courtesy of Conan Doyle Estate Ltd.
6 Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 First, elements of the British press, working from advance copies of the book, claimed to have discovered the “seed” of the Sherlock Holmes stories. And yes, indeed, a fellow surgeon on another whaler resembles Watson and news of the disastrous battle at Maiwand features in the log’s penultimate entry. Second has been the erroneous speculation about the three volumes of the log being “discovered” in the depths of the British Library. In fact, the log was inherited by Conan Doyle’s son Adrian, passed to his widow Anna, and Reprinted from Dangerous Work courtesy on her death in 1990 to four of Conan Doyle Estate Ltd. heirs, at least three of whom have visited Toronto. It was offered for sale at Christie’s in 2004 but the bidding failed to reach the reserve. Playing such Sherlockian “Gotcha” games devalues the log. With the excellent introduction and accompanying annotated transcript by Doylean experts Jon Lellenberg and Daniel Stashower, plus the reprints of Doyle’s other Arctic writings, this is the perfect armchair volume for that looming Canadian winter – when thoughts of freezing gales and ice-strewn waters come naturally.
Reprinted from Dangerous Work courtesy of Conan Doyle Estate Ltd.
Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 7 Oh Sinner Man - Where You Gonna Run To?1 — Sir Arthur and Sir George
By Hartley R. Nathan and Clifford S. Goldfarb Hartley Nathan is one of the founders of the Bootmakers of Toronto and has twice been Meyers. Cliff Goldfarb is Chair of the Friends of the Arthur Conan Doyle Collection at the Toronto Reference Library. Editor’s Note: This is the second of a two-part article. It is also the fifth in a series based around the Jewish connection in the Canon. It is based on a presentation given at the SinS conference in Toronto in October 2011.
n Part I of this article (Canadian Holmes, Summer 2012) Sir George Lewis’ public history was examined. Involved in many high-profile legal cases, Lewis made a name for himself in Victorian times as the go-to lawyer in causes célèbres. He was well-known enough to have been caricatured in Vanity Fair magazine in 1876 and Punch magazine in 1884. Lewis was especially talented, and called upon, in cases involving libel and blackmail. The most prominent case of blackmail in the Canon is ‘Charles Augustus Milverton,’ set in 1899 and published in The Strand Magazine in 1904. In this story a woman guns down Milverton, the man who had blackmailed her with evidence of an indiscretion.2 Obviously, Doyle could not have been influenced by the 1907 “blackmail attempt” involving an American who tried to forge Lewis’ signature on a compromising letter. Doyle, however, could well have known about Lady Charles and Lady Brooke, who were involved in a Lewis case that also featured the Prince of Wales. The theme of blackmail does appear in a number of cases, including ‘A Scandal in Bohemia,’ 1891; ‘The Boscombe Valley Mystery,’ 1891; ‘Gloria Scott,’ 1893; ‘The Reigate Squires,’ 1893; The Hound of the Baskervilles, 1901; ‘The Second Stain,’ 1904; and ‘Black Peter,’ 1904, and there are references to blackmail in a number of cases Sir George Lewis from Sept 2, where it does not appear as a plot element.3 1876 edition of Vanity Fair.
8 Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 The Bravo Murder case, variously known as The Balham Mystery or Murder at the Priory, in 1876, was the case that made Lewis famous. The Bravos lived in The Priory, a large, attractive house in Bedford Hill, Balham, London. Charles Bravo took laudanum, a well-known cure for toothache. He and his wife Florence had separate rooms. At about 9:45 p.m. on April 18, 1876, Bravo dashed from his room shouting for hot water to drink. Mrs. Cox, a live-in companion of Florence, rushed to Bravo’s aid. He was very ill and soon lapsed into unconsciousness. Florence was called from her sleep and a local doctor was called. The doctor suspected poison but could find no trace. When Bravo came to, he was questioned. He stated that he had taken some laudanum for neuralgia. Florence called in the eminent physician Sir William Gull, one of the most notable doctors of the time and later a favourite Ripper candidate among enthusiasts. He questioned Bravo, who persisted with his story that he had taken nothing but laudanum. Gull told the family that Bravo was dying from poison and he eventually died April 21st, 1876, at age 30. A post- mortem examination revealed that Bravo had died from poisoning by antimony, probably administered in a dose of 20 to 30 grains. Lewis describes the case in his own words in an interview in the December 1893 edition of The Strand:
“There was the Balham mystery,” said Sir George, as he remembered some of these “sensations.” “I represented the family of the late Mr. Bravo; Sir Henry James, Mrs. Bravo; Serjeant Parry, Dr. Gull; while Mr. Murphy was for Mrs. Cox. A verdict had been obtained that Mr. Bravo had committed suicide and not been poisoned, but the friends of Mr. Bravo not being satisfied, the Court of Queen’s Bench did a most unusual thing and ordered a fresh inquest. The jury found a new verdict of willful murder against some person or persons unknown.4
At both inquests, Dr. Gull was unswerving in his assertion that Bravo had committed suicide. Lewis’ cross-examination of Florence Bravo dragged out every detail of her long-standing relationship with one Dr. James Gully, also a prominent physician, who had become her admirer at the time of the death of her first husband, Alexander Ricardo. After the case, Lewis was called the “torturer” or “Avenging Angel” by the press on account of this cross-examination.5 According to a commentary on the interviewers:
Their awe was probably deepened by the disclosure that Sir George had told The Strand Magazine in confidence, the name of the poisoner in the famous Bravo case.6
The effect of this case on Lewis’ career was significant: “A ruthless examiner, he was to receive a fee of £1000 for his services, his participation serving as the springboard for a very successful legal career.”7
Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 9 In contrast, Doyle’s annual income from his medical practice in the 1880s, before he left Portsmouth, was less than £500 and he ran a decent household on that amount. There are numerous cases in the Canon that involve poison but none parallel the facts in the Bravo Murder case, nor was antimony one of the poisons.8 The Doyle story that does draw some parallels is ‘The Nightmare Room.’9 In this melodrama, Lucille is poisoning her husband, Archie Mason, a wealthy young man of affairs. He finds a vial in her jewelry case, which he has analyzed to show it contains 12 grains of antimony. He confronts Lucille and seizes a letter she tries to hide. It was from Captain Campbell, who has begged her to run away with him. Campbell shortly arrives at their flat. They square off at cards to see which will drink the poison. At this point it is revealed that they are making a film and the cameraman stops shooting for the day. All of the Bravo elements are here – a young woman, a successful businessman, a cuckolded husband and the poisoning of the husband with antimony. As in the real-life Bravo case, the wife is the prime suspect in the poisoning. The Bravo Murder case has become familiar to succeeding generations. In 2004, Julian Fellowes, well-known writer and television producer, launched the BBC series Julian Fellowes Investigates A Most Mysterious Murder, which investigated the case of Charles Bravo. Lewis also played a prominent role in the Tranby Croft Scandal, also called the Baccarat Case, of 1891. In 1890 Lieutenant-Colonel Sir William Gordon-Cumming, of the Scots Guards, was accused of cheating while playing baccarat, an illegal game,10 with the Prince of Wales and other guests of Arthur Wilson, a wealthy ship owner. The game took place at Tranby Croft, Wilson’s country home. During the evening, several players observed Sir William apparently cheating by altering the amount of the bets he had on the table after he won or lost a hand. Alerted to this, other players watched him more closely the next evening and confirmed his actions. Sir William won a total of £228 during the two days of playing. The case compelled the Prince to enter the witness box – not for the first time – to testify on the plaintiff’s behalf. A word about Gordon-Cumming: he claimed descent from Charlemagne, served with great distinction in the Zulu War and survived the fearful battle of Abu Klea during the Gordon Relief Expedition. He was tall, handsome and, while unmarried, was a tireless and successful seducer of other men’s wives. With a huge estate in Scotland and an income of £60,000 a year, he was well qualified to be a friend of the Prince and would often lend the heir to the throne his house in London for an unspecified but fairly obvious purpose. Gordon-Cumming had been forced to sign a paper, to which the Prince of Wales11 and other guests put their signatures, bearing the following most ambiguous wording:
10 Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 In consideration of the promise, made by the gentlemen whose names are subscribed, to preserve silence with reference to an accusation made in regard to my conduct at baccarat on the nights of Monday and Tuesday, 8th and 9th September, 1890, at Tranby Croft, I will on my part solemnly undertake never to play cards again as long as I live.
The letter was given to Lewis for safekeeping. Perhaps if only “gentlemen” had been in the know, that promised silence might have been kept; but there were ladies in the house party. When, on the following day, the Prince left Tranby Croft to watch the last day of the Doncaster races, with His Royal Highness spending the night with the 10th Hussars, someone from Tranby Croft began to talk.12 There was only one thing for Gordon-Cumming to do now that the secret was out, and that was to bring an action for libel against his original accusers, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Wilson, Mr. and Mrs. Lycett Green and Berkeley Levett, one of Gordon-Cumming’s own subalterns. The single issue at trial was whether Gordon-Cumming had cheated at the game during the house party. The lawsuit Gordon-Cumming v. Wilson and others was opened June 1st, 1891 before the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Coleridge, and concluded June 9. Gordon-Cumming lost the case. Lewis was the solicitor instructing counsel for the defence. Many Sherlockians may find a similarity in that scandal with ‘The Five Orange Pips,’ when John Openshaw visits Holmes and Watson seeking advice. He says:
“I heard from Major Prendergast how you saved him in the Tankerville Club Scandal.” “Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards.”
There is no question of the connection to the Tranby Croft Scandal. Even though ‘The Five Orange Pips’ is set in September 1887, it was first published in The Strand Magazine in November 1891, a scant few months after the trial.13 Doyle also used the theme of a prominent member of society caught cheating at cards in Rodney Stone, published in 1891. This story features Lord Avon, who is presumed dead because he has gone into hiding to save the family honour against an accusation of his brother’s cheating at cards. In 1894, Doyle adapted Rodney Stone into a play, The House of Temperley, but expanded the card- cheating theme into a “trial” held in the Committee Room at Watier’s gaming club. As a result of the trial, Sir John Hawker is banished from the club after signing a damning letter in which he virtually admitted to cheating at cards.14 Doyle re-visited this theme with a short story, ‘The End of Devil Hawker,’ adapted from Temperley, published posthumously in The Strand in 1930.15 Clearly the card cheating at Tranby Croft, and its effect on the social position of Cumming, had a great influence on Doyle’s work. In ‘The Adventure of the Empty House,’ published in 1894, Doyle was again to use this theme of a respectable military man being caught cheating at cards and resorting to drastic
Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 11 means to protect his reputation. But this time, instead of a disastrous lawsuit, Colonel Sebastian Moran committed murder. Sir Charles Russell, counsel for the defendants, focused on Cumming’s demeanour in addressing the Court in the Tranby Croft case:
Sir William Gordon-Cumming’s explanation for his strange conduct is that he ‘lost his head.’ You have seen him in the witness box, cool, clever, and intelligent. There was nothing about his appearance or in his manner in the witness box to show that he ‘lost his head’ there. Was it the conduct of a man who had ‘lost his head,’ when he coolly scanned the document presented for his signature and debarring him from ever playing cards again and said: ‘Why, this will even prevent me from playing the regimental shilling whist!’ He had not ‘lost his head’ then. He was content so long as secrecy in regard to his conduct was maintained.16
Doyle would have been well aware of Cumming’s cool composure: Holmes says of Moran, “He was always a man of iron nerve, and the story is still told in India how he crawled down a drain after a wounded man-eating tiger.” Another real-life event which may have influenced a Doyle story began in April 1892 at the Kingsclere stables. The Duke of Westminster’s horse, Orme (the son of Ormonde and Angelica), was thought to have been poisoned. Professor Williams, a veterinary surgeon, confirmed on April 26 that the horse was suffering from “virulent poison.” The Duke of Westminster let it be known that the matter was in the hands of his solicitor, George Lewis. It made the headlines as Orme was the Derby favourite for that year.17 ‘The Adventure of Silver Blaze’ was published in The Strand for December 1892, a scant eight months after the Orme incident in which Lewis was consulted. Here Colonel Ross, the owner of Silver Blaze,18 the favourite horse for the Wessex Cup Sir George Lewis. From The Strand running at 3 to 1 odds, informs Magazine Holmes the horse had gone missing. Ultimately the horse is found and wins the race. The underlying recurring theme is the same in both cases. Someone wants to prevent a horse from winning. While there is no poison as such in ‘Silver Blaze,’ one of the stable lads, Ned Hunter (the one on guard duty the night of the crime), was drugged with powdered opium that someone had put in his supper. Instead of poison, the horse is to be damaged by cutting one of its tendons.
12 Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 There were other incidents in Lewis’ career that might well have formed suitable plot material for Doyle but seem not to have found their way into his work. In The Strand interview:
I asked the solicitor what was the smartest robbery he had ever met within his experience. “Well,” he answered, “the Hatton Garden diamond robbery was certainly one of the most ingenious. I acted for the Alliance Marine Insurance Company, but possibly the smartest of modern times was the famous gold robbery. I will tell it in a few words. Some boxes of bar gold were in transit from London to Paris. The boxes were weighed at London Bridge, put into the locker in the guard’s van, and locked up. The packages were weighed again at Dover, again at Calais, a fourth time at the station at Paris, and the weight was found to be exactly correct to the turn of a scale. When the boxes were delivered to the owners in Paris and were opened, they contained nothing but – shot!”
The guard was in on the robbery. False keys were obtained, and during the transit from London, confederates got into the guard’s van, filled the boxes with shot to the exact weight, got out at Dover, took tickets back to town, and the men were in London with the gold before the boxes were opened in Paris! The robbery remained undiscovered for two years, when one of the men turned Queen’s evidence. The guard and his accomplices were tried and convicted.19 The cleverness of this plot could easily have been in Doyle’s mind when he set out to write his two apocryphal Holmes’ short stories, ‘The Lost Special,’20 and ‘The Man With the Watches,’21 both of which turn around deceiving the authorities by using clever tricks involving trains. Another common acquaintance between Doyle and Lewis was Oscar Wilde. The history of Doyle’s dinner with Wilde on August 30, 1889, and the genesis of The Sign of Four is well known. It is also well known that the description of Thaddeus Sholto is modelled on Wilde. Doyle, given his connection with Wilde, would have followed Wilde’s trials and travails, starting with his improvident lawsuit against the Marquess of Queensberry for criminal libel in 1895. As early as July of 1894 Wilde had written to Lewis seeking his advice about the ongoing pressure from Queensberry to stay away from his son ‘Bosie.’ Here is how Sir George replied:22
Dear Mr. Wilde I am in receipt of your note. The information that you have received that I am acting for Lord Queensberry is perfectly correct, and under these circumstances you will see at once that it is impossible for me to offer any opinion about any proceedings you intend to take against him. Although I cannot act against him, I should not act against you.
In fact Lewis did act against him in a manner of speaking by acting for the Marquess of Queensberry at his bail hearing.23 After Wilde received
Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 13 Queensberry’s note, left at the Albemarle Club, on Feb. 28, 1895, and which started the criminal libel process, Wilde again turned to Lewis for advice, and was reminded that he had been previously engaged by Queensberry. Sir George stated:
“What is the good of coming to see me now?” … “I am powerless to do anything. If you had had the sense to bring Lord Queensberry’s card to me in the first place, I would have torn it up and thrown it in the fire, and told you not to make a fool of yourself.”24
In ‘The Illustrious Client,’ Watson states:
Sir James carried away both Baron Gruner’s purloined diary and the precious saucer. As I was myself overdue,25 I went down with him into the street. A brougham was waiting for him. He sprang in, gave a hurried order to the cockaded coachman, and drove swiftly away. He flung his overcoat half out of the window to cover the armorial bearings upon the panel, but I had seen them in the glare of our fanlight none the less. I gasped with surprise. Then I turned back and ascended the stair to Holmes’ room. “I have found out who our client is,” I cried, bursting with my great news. “Why, Holmes, it is___”
There is no doubt that the ‘Illustrious Client’ was the Prince of Wales. Lewis’ friendship with the Prince had begun with the lawyer advising him on matters concerning with the royal mistresses. The relationship was to be confirmed – and deepened – during the Tranby Croft Scandal. But several years before that, Lewis had to deal with difficulties arising from another of Edward’s passions — horse racing. He tried to renege on a deal made with Lady Stanford to run her two horses under the royal colours and split the winnings. Sir George negotiated a satisfactory outcome. It need hardly be said that the so-called “sport of kings” was just as repugnant to his mother, Queen Victoria, as all of his other pursuits.26 It also seems evident that Sir James Damery was modelled on Sir George Lewis. Perhaps the reference The Coat of Arms to Lewis was a red herring inserted by Doyle to for Sir George obscure this fact. Even as late as 1922, literate readers Henry Lewis would have been well aware of Lewis’ reputation and would likely have thought of him as the model for Damery. Or, could this be a ‘double blind’ or a ‘red red herring’? Could Doyle have inserted the name of Sir George in this passage to alert the reader to the true identity of Damery? There was every reason for Doyle to have named Sir George Lewis in ‘The Illustrious Client.’ Their lives intersected on numerous occasions, as Lewis was
14 Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 well known in English society. We know Doyle would have known of his career and the events that made him famous. The influence Sir George had on scandalous events of the day was the stuff of legend. The storyteller in Doyle could not resist the temptation to immortalize some of these cases in his fiction.
NOTES [1] From the song by Nina Simone, © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc. [2] Our good friend John Linsenmeyer suggests [email June 19, 2011] this description of the murderess in this story could well be a subtle Edwardian description of a Jewess: “the woman, without a word, had raised her veil and dropped the mantle from her chin. It was a dark, handsome, clear-cut face which confronted Milverton – a face with a curved nose, strong, dark eyebrows shading hard, glittering eyes, and a straight, thin-lipped mouth set in a dangerous smile.” [3] ‘The Yellow Face’ [1893], ‘The Red Circle’ [1911], ‘Lady Frances Carfax’ [1911], The Valley of Fear [1914] and ‘The Three Gables’ [1926]. [4] Vol VI, July-December 1893, pp. 655. [5] Juxon: Lewis and Lewis; Collins (London, 1983) at page 136. [6] Reginald Pound, Mirror of the Century: The Strand Magazine 1891-1950, (Heinemann, London, 1966), p.87 [7] Bernard Taylor and Kate Clarke: Murder at the Priory, Grafton Books (London, 1988) at p. 100; See also John Williams: Suddenly at the Priory: Penguin Books, (London, 1989). As an aside, Sir Leslie Ward (“Spy”) states his study of Sir George was made during the Bravo trial. See Ward: Forty Years of Spy. Chatto & Windus (London, undated). [8] See the following cases: VEIL - Acid. STUD - Alkaloid and acqua tofana and poison (unspecified); DYIN – Belladonna; GREE - Charcoal fumes; LADY & LAST – Chloroform; SUSS - Curare and Venom and Poison (unspecified); LION – Cyanea; RETI – Pellet; GOLD - Poison (unspecified); DEVI - Radis Pedis Diaboli; SIGN – Strychnine; SPEC - Venom. As a matter of interest, “George Chapman” (Severin Koslowski), suspected by some as Jack the Ripper, was hanged in 1902 for the murders of three women who died by antimony poisoning. [9] Volume 62 The Strand Magazine, December, 1921 at pp. 545-459. [10] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Baccarat_Scandal. [11] The Prince of Wales was a one-man scandal industry for George Lewis. [12] Probably Lady Daisy Brooke, known popularly as ‘Babbling Brook,” the Prince’s soon to be discarded mistress. Refer to our earlier discussion about Lady Brooke and Lady Beresford in Part I of this article. [13] One wonders whether if Sir George Lewis had acted for Gordon-Cumming instead of the defendants, his name might have been cleared, as Sherlock Holmes had done for Major Prendergast in ‘The Five Orange Pips.’
Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 15 [14] The House of Temperley, The Play Pictorial, Vol. 15, No. 90 n.d. [Jan. or Feb. 1, 1910] ― published on the first of each month. The play opened December 27, 1909 at The Adelphi. [15] Vol. 80, June-Dec. 1930. [16] New York Times, June 3, 1891. [17] Our thanks to Andrew Lycett for bringing this connection to our attention. [18] Charles Higham in The Adventures of Conan Doyle, Pocket Books (New York 1976.) pp. 81-2 refers to the fact that in the Harper’s Weekly edition of the story, there is reference to the fact the horse is described as being of “Somomy” stock. He suggests this was a veiled reference to Oscar Wilde and the Marquess of Queensberry’s card calling him a “somdomite.” Sam Rosenberg has the same comment. See Naked is the Best Disguise, Bobbs Merrill (Indianapolis ― New York, 1974) at p. 134. However, the card was left at Wilde’s club on Feb. 18, 1895, which makes this seem improbable. See Richard Ellman, Oscar Wilde, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1988, p.438. See also Chris Redmond’s brilliant paper A Study in Gray: More About Doyle and Wilde, published in Naval Signals in 1982. Thanks to Peggy Perdue (Violet Westbury, BSI) of the Toronto Reference Library for providing us with a copy of this paper. [19] Op. cit. n4, p.655. [20] The Strand Magazine, August 1898, Vol. 16, pp.153-162, and collected in Round the Fire Stories, 1908. [21] The Strand Magazine, July. 1898, Vol. 16, pp.33-43, and collected in Round the Fire Stories, 1908. [22] Richard Ellmann: Oscar Wilde, Supra, footnote 18 at p. 420. [23] After Sir George Lewis appeared at the bail hearing, he resigned the retainer. “Lewis told his client that he could no longer act for him and he must find another solicitor. No doubt this was because Lewis knew Wilde socially and he was unwilling to appear for the defence in a sensational private prosecution brought by a man in whose house he had been a guest.” See H. Montgomery Hyde: Lord Alfred Douglas, Methuen London Ltd. (London, 1984). [24] H. Montgomery Hyde, The Trials of Oscar Wilde, Dover Publications, (New York, 1962), pp. 150-1. [25] See W.S. Baring-Gould: The Annotated Sherlock Holmes p. 689 footnote 23. The explanation given was that his fiancée Mary Morstan was waiting for him. [26] See Juxon at p. 174.
16 Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 Strictly Personal
Canadian Holmes puts a prominent Canadian Sherlockian under the microscope.
Name: Doug Wrigglesworth
Age, birthplace: Born on Aug. 7, 1940, in Georgetown, Ont. – and proud to share a natal anniversary with Dr. John Hamish Watson.
Occupation: Retired for several years from a most rewarding career in education – beginning with many years in the chemistry classroom, before moving to involvement in science education issues on a broader stage.
Current city of residence: Holland Landing, Ont. – a rural suburb north of Toronto.
In school I excelled at: I was Commanding Officer of the local High School Cadet Corps!
A great evening for me is: Sharing a meal with friends whose interests inspire the sharing of ideas and opinions. If those include thoughts on recent books and movies, or concern over the state of Canadian politics – so much the better.
Goal in life: At this age and stage – to keep active and interested and to try to keep my library pared down to fit the shelves available.
Other hobbies and interests: Books! Besides a Sherlockian and Doylean collection, books with a focus on British and military history fill the shelves. I try to keep up with the toys of technology, and I can be found making sawdust in my woodshop.
Favourite dining experience: A memorable dinner with the late Richard Lancelyn Green at Simpson’s in the Strand!
Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 17 First Sherlockian memory: At my first Bootmaker meeting, being introduced to Cameron Hollyer, this gentle, kind, rumpled librarian, who became one of my important guides on my Sherlockian adventure.
Three favourite Canonical tales: Without question, “Thor Bridge,” Sign of Four, and Hound of the Baskervilles
Least favorite Canonical tale: Valley of Fear
Favourite Non-Sherlockian reading: For sheer entertainment, a literate mystery set in 20th-century Britain. For more serious consideration, a personal memoir from a person who actually experienced history.
Favourite Sherlockian movie: They Might Be Giants with George C. Scott portraying a marvelous Sherlock, and Joanne Woodward as a Dr. Watson whom ACD could not have dreamed of!
Most prized item in my Sherlockian collection: A City Guide to London dated 1887, with a large map inscribed by Vincent Starrett: “London in 1887, as when A Study in Scarlet first appeared.”
If I could live anywhere in the world it would be: An English village with convenient rail connections to London.
If I could live at any time in history, it would be: If one were of independent means – Edwardian England, but realistically we have a pretty fine life right now.
If I could ask Holmes, Watson and Doyle each one question, they would be: Holmes: “How did you manage never to be evicted by Mrs. Hudson?” Watson: “Were you never tempted to move out?” ACD: “Tell us REALLY what your opinion was of Oscar Wilde.”
18 Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 The Fraudulent Medium and the Supernatural in The Hound of the Baskervilles
By David M. Beck
David Michael Beck recently completed his PhD at the University of Hull in the UK. His lifelong interest in Sherlock Holmes culminated in a thesis that explores the scientific and supernatural elements in the works of Arthur Conan Doyle. Of particular interest are the historical and cultural contexts of The Hound of the Baskervilles and ‘The Adventure of the Devil’s Foot.’
here was never any magic – only conjuring tricks,” Sherlock Holmes declares during his final confrontation with Lord Blackwood in the recent cinematic adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes (2009). Holmes then explains how he uncovered the truth about Blackwood’s apparent mastery over the occult, revealing a series of brilliantly orchestrated ruses and scientific tricks. Blackwood’s scheme to overthrow the British government and to secure the nation’s imperial future is regressive, threatening to undo a century of industrialisation and scientific progress. Therefore, it is apt that Blackwood’s second and final execution takes place upon London’s unfinished Tower Bridge, an extra-ordinary feat of engineering and a symbol of Britain’s industrial might.1 Holmes, as the representative of progressive empirical rationalism, diametrically opposes Black- wood’s ambition and tactics. It is curious that a modern adaptation of Sherlock Holmes should revolve around the opposition of rationalism and the occult. However, it is a theme that Doyle himself developed in his novel The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902). As with Blackwood’s occult mastery, Stapleton and the hound of the Baskervilles are successfully opposed and the supernatural is exposed as nothing more than an elaborate fraud which deludes the superstitious and attracts the gullible. There in the centre lay the The 1939 film starring Basil Rathbone and unhappy maid where she the 2001 BBC television adaptation featuring had fallen. Richard Roxburgh are two dramatic
Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 19 interpretations of The Hound that incorporate and develop the supernatural in the form of a spiritualist séance.2 This is unsurprising, considering Doyle famously advocated spiritualism and investigated mediums and the supernatural and also joined the British Society for Psychical Research. In Doyle’s last book, The Edge of the Unknown (1930), he argues, “[w]e who believe in the psychic revelation” have “hurled ourselves against the obstinacy of our time.”3 What Doyle was appealing for here was a sustained examination of such phenomena and a tolerance for the findings of serious investigations. Importantly, a contemporary article in The Times newspaper argues that scientists must “meet the ‘mediums’ on their own ground and, if possible, cut that ground from under their feet.” “Surely,” protests The Times, “a scientific man is a match for a medium, even in the dark.”4 One may argue that the séances in the film adaptations of The Hound are more than merely an amalgam of Doyle’s personal spiritual beliefs. They touch upon a wider historical context of the novel that involves the interpretation of and response to spiritualism in the 19th century. In Doyle’s novella The Parasite (1894) the narrator, Professor Gilroy, reveals some of the problems prevalent in visiting a séance during the late-Victorian period. Gilroy speculates as to a course of action should he encounter fraudulent behaviour in the domestic séance room. Gilroy asks “[a]re you to hurl cochineal over her [the spiritualist medium’s] evening frock when she steals round with her phosphorus bottle and her supernatural platitude.”5 Gilroy’s use of “cochineal,” a dark coloured dye obtained from pulverised insects, is intended to cover an apparent spirit projection created by the medium marking the culprit and thereby exposing his or her fraudulent activity.6 Typically in a séance, a hidden item such as a glove or piece of cloth would be coated in “luminous oil, made of phosphorus” and mixed with other chemicals that would glow faintly in a darkened room.7 Such obvious trickery was usually accepted by those desperate to believe. In Spiritualism Versus Christianity; or, Spiritualism Thoroughly Exposed (1856), J. W. Daniels records an account of a séance during which spirit hands were alleged to have materialised. To enable those sitting at the table to witness the hand movements, “a weak solution of phosphorus” (Daniels’s italics) was prepared in advance.8 The hands would be immersed in this solution to provide enough light for the witnesses to see them by. The account continues by stating, “spirit-hands with phosphorus upon them passed around the room,” adopting “various ways and positions, which no mortal hand could assume or occupy – demonstrating them to be veritable spirit-hands” (p.25). While such exhibitions were fraudulent, the use of phosphorus in this case was to enable a witness to see an object that was supposed to have been a supernatural materialisation. Similarly, phosphorus was employed by the Davenport brothers, Ira and William, in their stage shows that crossed the Atlantic from America in the mid- 19th century.9 A report for The Manchester Weekly Times describes the events occurring during a private séance held by the Davenport Brothers.10 The writer notes, “[s]mall phosphoric points were seen floating dimly in the air, and carried almost to the ceiling, without, of course, visible intervention.” The tone of the
20 Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 article is sceptical, regarding such phenomena as being entertaining puzzles rather than spiritually enlightening. The article concludes by judging that the Davenports’ “displays” are “sufficiently good, puzzling, exciting and inexplicable to merit the highest commendation.” The fact that the orchestrators of some séances employed phosphorus in an attempt to convince an audience as to their supernatural ability is of significance regarding Stapleton and his use of it on the hound of the Baskervilles. Intriguingly, the presence of séances and mediums are absent from The Hound of the Baskervilles, at least in its form as a novel. In the 1939 adaptation, Mrs. Mortimer is a medium who offers to contact Sir Charles Baskerville’s spirit to resolve the mystery surrounding his death.11 In this film, Mrs. Mortimer’s séance is disrupted by the sound of the hound howling on the moor. The 2002 BBC adaptation of The Hound also includes the séance.12 In this adaptation, Mrs. Mortimer succeeds in contacting Sir Charles although she too is interrupted by the hound. What is of significance here, however, is that the hound itself makes an appearance. The séance is interrupted by its giant paw striking the window. It is not, however, random chance that the hound arrives at Merripit House. It is, in fact, summoned by Stapleton blowing a dog whistle, a movement disguised by his hand rising to his face to cover a cough. In this adaptation of the novel, Stapleton’s actions are very similar to those of a fraudulent medium. A letter published in the Liverpool Mercury records the experiences of an “investigator” at a private séance held by the Davenport Brothers.13 Immediately before the alleged supernatural phenomena begins the letter notes:
Mr. William Davenport begins to give a series of low coughs, as if he had an affection of the throat, which does not trouble him when the gas is lighted.
“Investigator” argues that the “series of low coughs” are a pre-arranged signal for a hidden person to begin manipulating the various props in the darkened room. Stapleton, in the 2002 movie, acts in a similar way. The fact that he uses a séance to produce his supernatural phenomenon illustrates the extent to which he can be compared with a fraudulent medium. This notion is not isolated to these adaptations, as even Doyle’s original novel offers an insight into Stapleton the trickster. In The Hound, Stapleton cultivates a friendship with Sir Charles in order to discover a weakness to exploit, notably his nervous disposition and weak heart. Stapleton confesses to Holmes that Sir Charles’ nerves were so “worked up that the appearance of any dog might have had a fatal effect upon his diseased heart.”14 This type of research into the backgrounds of potential targets was frequently undertaken by fraudulent mediums who, like Stapleton, were interested in financial gain. Associates of a medium would visit churchyards to investigate the tombstones for information, or to research old newspapers, or even to interview distant family members or friends.15 Later in the novel, Holmes tells Watson that Stapleton’s plot was “suggested, of course, by the story of the family hell-hound, and by the desire to frighten old Sir Charles to Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 21 death.”16 Stapleton was already aware of Sir Charles’ fear of the supernatural, as he admits to Watson that the legend of the hound of the Baskervilles “took a great hold upon the imagination of Sir Charles, and I have no doubt that it led to his tragic end,” ironically and coldbloodedly admitting to the baronet’s murder (p.706). Stapleton effectively gathers enough information to perpetrate a crime based on the appearance of a devil- hound, a trick dependent on the object of the crime’s belief in the supernatural. Stapleton’s hound is frightening enough to convince even the most stalwart of witnesses of its super- natural origin. With it, he is able to manipulate the superstitious fears of Sir Charles, although its appearance is terrible enough to affect those who are disinclined to believe. Holmes defines it as a “paralysing spectacle,” a reference to the hound being partly covered in phosphorus by Stapleton to make it appear supernatural (p.765). After the hound is killed, Watson examines it and discovers how its “huge jaws seemed to be dripping with a bluish flame” (p.757). This The Hound of the Baskervilles substance is immediately recognised by Holmes as phosphorous, a chemical in common use in industry until its corrosive effects were later discovered.17 Holmes describes the phosphorus as a “cunning preparation,” allowing Stapleton to not only re-create a fraudulent spectacle of the supernatural, but also a brilliant re-creation of the legend of the hound of the Baskervilles.18 Its appearance, combined with the fog on the moor, is enough to threaten the investigators’ sanity, as did the spectacle of the hound in the original legend. Once the hound has been killed, the threat of Stapleton has still to be overcome. Early in his investigation, Holmes admits that his case against Stapleton remains mostly circumstantial. Holmes recognises that in order to dismiss the supernatural, it has to be investigated objectively and exposed. In order to prove this, Holmes argues that he had “no alternative but to catch [Stapleton] red-handed” by using Sir Henry as “bait” (p.765). The use of Sir Henry as bait proves to be a dangerous tactic but Holmes succeeds in exposing the supernatural hound of the Baskervilles as Stapleton’s fraudulent creation. Holmes’ investigative tactics are similar to those advocated by ‘Spiritualism and Science’ printed in The Times and noted above. He confronts Stapleton on his own territory to cut the ground from under his feet. Holmes, as The Times
22 Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 suggests, meets the fake medium on his own ground by challenging Stapleton’s supremacy of the moor. In The Hound, superstition is brilliantly utilised by Stapleton, who makes use of Sir Charles’ ill health and morbid fear. Stapleton is not presented as a medium but his use of phosphorus, a chemical regularly used during séances in this period, is just one tactic that he has in common with other fictional frauds, such as Lord Blackwood in the 2009 movie Sherlock Holmes and conjurors like the Davenport brothers. Stapleton researches the histories and characters of his intended victims — a feature of elaborate deceptions of the clients of some mediums, who booked ‘sittings’ in advance. Modern interpretations of The Hound, or more generally the exploits of Sherlock Holmes, reveal an overlooked aspect to Doyle’s most famous novel, namely that The Hound is rooted within the 19th-century discourse about the validity of spiritualism and a central tenet of this novel is the exposure of fraudulent supernatural and occult phenomena. This context is not immediately apparent in Doyle’s novel and it prompts the reader to heed Blackwood’s instruction to Holmes — a man he believes to be entirely empirical in nature: “Mr. Holmes, you must widen your gaze.”
NOTES [1] Incidentally, the events in this film occur at some point around 1894, the year Tower Bridge was completed. [2] The Hound of the Baskervilles. Dir. Sidney Lanfield. 20th Century Fox. 1939. and The Hound of the Baskervilles. Dir. David Attwood. BBC. 2002. [3] Arthur Conan Doyle, The Edge of the Unknown (London: John Murray, 1930; repr. Teddington: The Echo Library, 2006), ‘Preface.’ Further references are given in the text. [4] ‘Spiritualism and Science,’ The Times, 26 December 1872, column 6, p. 5. [5] Doyle, The Parasite by Arthur Conan Doyle and The Watter’s Mou by Bram Stoker, ed. Catherine Wynne (Kansas City: Valancourt Books, 2009), p. 7. [6] See Wynne, p. 7. [7] Deborah Blum, Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life after Death (London: Century, 2007), p. 29. [8] J. W. Daniels, p. 24. Further references are given in the text. [9] Later in life Doyle had no doubt as to the veracity of such performances, despite the Davenports’ exposure for fraud. Writing in 1926, Doyle claimed the brothers had “submitted successfully to every test that human ingenuity could devise” and now “they had to begin all over again” in The History of Spiritualism Volume 1 (San Diego: 2007), p. 214.
Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 23 [10] All quotations are from ‘The Davenport Brothers,’ The Manchester Weekly Times, 16 February 1865, column 6, p. 2, in 19th Century British Newspapers
Write for Canadian Holmes!
We are looking for articles, reviews, toasts and more. If you are reading these pages, you, too, can write for us. E-mail Mark today
24 Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 ‘The Devil’s Foot’ Essay Contest
By Donny Zaldin and Barbara Rusch
n the winter 2011-2012 issue of Canadian Holmes, an essay contest was extended by the BOT Quizzards Donny Zaldin and Barbara Rusch to readers for written submissions in answer to the following question, with the winning entry to be published in a future issue of the BOT’s quarterly Journal:
What with devils and vicars and the like, ‘The Devil’s Foot’ contains religious overtones and undertones. Interestingly, all seven of the Christian sacraments (Catholic) – Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Matrimony, Holy Orders, Penance and Extreme Unction – are represented explicitly, symbolically or perversely within the story. How is each sacrament represented?
Employing the method of Jay Finley Christ [who devised a convention of four characters (letters and numbers) for each of the 60 stories in the Sherlockian Canon in 1947], this exercise will be referred to as the 7SAC. Because of the excellence of all five of the entries submitted, it proved impossible to select one as winner over the other four. The Quizzards, the Bootprints and the Bootmakers of Toronto join together to congratulate the five co-winners (in alphabetical order) of the BOT Devil’s Foot Essay Contest for their answers on the 7SAC: 1. Bruce D. Aikin, Newfane, N.Y., BOT and An Irish Secret Society at Buffalo; 2. Susan Ruth Fitch, Montreal, of the BOT and The Bimetallic Question; 3. David Iggulden, Toronto, BOT; 4. Mikkel Lund, Denmark, BOT and the SH Klubben I København; and 5. Brenda Rossini, Winnetka, Illinois, Criterion Bar and the Scotland Yarders. The Seven Sacraments were instituted by Christ to dispense eternal life and provide grace to that end. Brenda recalls the Jesuit education of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who was attracted to the “mystical, spiritual and sacramental” and “dabbled perversely and symbolically with those not-so-subtle motifs” in the story. Mikkel finds examples of each sacrament present in “The Cornish Horror.” Susan describes how these religious ceremonies deviated from traditional Catholic dogma. Bruce finds either the representation of these signs or unholy perversions of them. David calls these perversions “shadows … which have nothing to with the genuine article,” in the adventure which Holmes “rates as the ‘strangest case I have handled.’ ”
(1) Baptism is the first and basic sacrament of the Catholic Church, performed by the pouring on of water. Mikkel identifies how Holmes stumbles over a
Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 25 watering pot and spills its contents in order to obtain an impression of the footprint of suspect Mortimer Tregennis. David points out that Holmes resorts to the “somewhat clumsy water-pot expedient” for this purpose “though the only thing in common with Baptism is the water.” Although intended to effect a cleansing of guilt, Bruce describes Holmes’ upsetting of the water pot as a use of baptismal water to determine guilt. Brenda contrasts a “baptism by fire at the Tregennis home, nearby a stone cross which does not save the acolytes.” Susan finds Holmes’ “surrender … to complete rest … to avert an absolute breakdown” as a baptism or rebirth of his health by reason of overwork and personal health indiscretions of even his “iron constitution,” and, Mortimer’s breaking of the fifth commandment as a perversion of the requirement to openly renounce Satan.
(2) Confirmation is an affirmation of faith on Earth. Bruce calls Holmes’ rest cure a strengthening of spirit. David finds confirmation of his theory of the case by conducting a life-threatening experiment with radix pedis diaboli, until there is “no longer … [any] doubt.” Mikkel expands this theory to prove that Mortimer was responsible for the mysterious tragedy (resulting in his brothers’ madness and his sister’s death), which took place at his siblings’ country cottage, and, that Dr. Sterndale killed Mortimer. Susan postulates that Mortimer’s murderous claim to a financial life legacy he believed had been unfairly denied him is a perversion of the aspiration of a spiritual life legacy. According to Brenda, Watson demonstrates his confirmation as believer in his sponsor, Holmes, on their Eucharistic friendship and commitment.
(3) The Eucharist or Communion (partaking of the body and blood of Jesus Christ) signifies dining with Christ for salvation. Mikkel points to the final meal partaken by the four siblings before one of their number attempts to kill the other three. So does David, who contrasts the family communion as a denial rather than affirmation of life. Brenda points out that the “sacramental verisimilitude of body (represented by a wafer) and blood (represented by wine) is intended to transfer spiritual power,” not put an end to it. Bruce notes the perversion of this sacrament when George, Owen and Brenda Tregennis have their last supper with their brother Mortimer, their destroyer, not their saviour. Susan comes to the same conclusion, finding “the family’s destruction … evocative of the Last Supper,” through a “deadly Eucharist … with evil intentions that are exactly opposite to … the redeeming aims of the Catholic Mass.”
(4) Matrimony is the exclusive and permanent bond between baptized spouses. Mikkel points to Dr. Sterndale’s marriage to his wife. David and Susan note that this sacrament is absent in this tragic story, represented by the frustrated love of Dr. Sterndale, who because of the “deplorable laws of England” cannot divorce his wife who has left him, so that he might marry his love, Brenda Tregennis.” Bruce finds this form of holy marriage in the “secret of
26 Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 the Cornish seclusion,” the love between Dr. Sterndale and Brenda Tregennis. For Brenda, “the sacrament of eternal union brought pain to Sterndale and Brenda Tregennis; the devil’s root brought them death.”
(5) Holy Orders represent the dedication to Christ by an ordained ministry as successors to the Apostles. For Mikkel and Bruce, vicar Victor Roundhay of the local parish, who summons Holmes to deal with a “devilish” situation, represents this sacrament. David rejects Roundhay, an Anglican, in favour of Dr. Sterndale, who has chosen an ascetic, monk-like lifestyle “amid his books and maps … [in] an absolutely lonely life … almost like an anchorite.” Brenda identifies Mortimer Tregennis as “a rogue priest with the devil’s foot as his ‘special providence’ ” and Dr. Sterndale as “another priest in the thicket.” Susan finds that “Holmes and Watson, for so long our high priests of detection,” mirror this sacrament, “strengthening and re-ordaining themselves in their vocations as crime solvers.”
(6) Penance involves confession in order to expiate sin as a means of healing. Brenda and Bruce recognize this sacrament in the form of Sterndale’s confession and his absolution by Holmes, who sends the doctor off to “bury” himself in central Africa to complete his half-finished work. Mikkel argues that Mortimer Tregennis is also repentant when he does not struggle when confronted with the devil’s foot but accepts his death. David rejects this because his punishment is not self-undertaken but the “perfect justice” imposed by another. Susan suggests that Holmes absolves a penitent Sterndale, musing, “I have never loved, but if I did, and if the woman I loved had met such an end, I might have acted even as our lawless lion hunter has done.”
(7) Extreme Unction, one of the last rites, involves the laying on of hands or anointing the sick with oil as a means of healing. Mikkel argues that Holmes and Watson perform this rite by absolving Sterndale in return for his confession. According to Brenda, this sacrament is performed “by Sterndale for Mortimer Tregennis, the criminal in the first tragedy but a victim in the second.” David finds the rite administered by an admitted murderer acting as judge and executioner. Susan sees Sterndale acting “both as judge and executioner” by poisoning Mortimer Tregennis as he poisons his siblings to be a perversion of this sacrament because Sterndale is motivated not to heal but to exact revenge. Bruce finds this sacrament represented when Watson breaks through the cloud of terror of the devil’s root to throw his arms around Holmes and together lurch outside, saving both of their lives. All of our five award-winning entries identify the explicit, symbolic and perverse representations of each of the seven Catholic sacraments (7SAC) and offer a cogent analysis of their significance in the story. Sincere thanks to all five entrants — extending over three nations and two separate continents — for their first-rate contributions!
Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 27 The Greek Fabricator
By Bruce Harris
Bruce Harris is the author of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson: About Type (www.batteredbox.com). His articles have appeared in Canadian Holmes, The Baker Street Journal and The Sherlock Holmes Journal.
onald A. Knox’s highly regarded 1934 essay ‘The Mystery of Mycroft’ raises a number of questions about Mycroft Holmes’ queer behaviour in GREE.1 In true Holmesian fashion, Knox skillfully demonstrates that Mycroft’s peculiar actions were both rational and consistent with the theory that Sherlock’s elder brother was a double agent, working simultaneously both for and against his younger sibling and the late Professor Moriarty.2 Knox posits that Mycroft also allied himself with the two villains Wilson Kemp and Harold Latimer, who in turn were connected to Professor Moriarty. Why else, questions Knox, would Mycroft wait two days before informing Sherlock about Melas’ story if he wasn’t linked to the villains and indifferent to Melas? Knox also questions Mycroft’s placement of advertisements in local newspapers seeking Sophy Kratides’ whereabouts. This was no mistake, according to Knox, who theorizes it was done to inform Kemp and Latimer that Melas had talked and that their game was up. Monsignor Knox also accuses Mycroft of purposefully wasting time by proposing a visit to see the mysterious J. Davenport in Brixton when the Kratides’ Beckenham address was already known and timing was critical. The list goes on. At first glance, Knox’s arguments are compelling. While Holmes points out that circumstantial evidence could be very interesting (NOBL), he cautions that, “circumstantial evidence…is a very tricky thing. It seems to point very straight to one thing, but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to 1993 stamp from Great something entirely different.” (BOSC) Britain. This is one stamp Benjamin S. Clark, however, took from a set of five. umbrage with Monsignor Knox’s con- 28 Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 clusion that Mycroft was a double agent.3 Clark re-examined the facts of the case, shifted his viewpoint and questioned Knox’s conclusions about Mycroft. Rather than anything nefarious, Clark concluded that Mycroft’s behavior in GREE proved only that Mycroft was inept as a practising detective. Clark’s theory does not put Mycroft in the best light either but Clark contends it is more palatable to the Holmes family, the Sherlockian community and members of the Diogenes club. Since Knox’s seminal work, GREE has elicited several other interpretations, re-interpretations and raised eyebrows. In 1978, Charles J. Thomas agreed with Knox that the story contains a hidden Moriarty connection but Thomas contends that it was only Wilson Kemp, not Mycroft, who worked for the professor and that Kemp was actually Moriarty’s fourth brother!4 Robert S. Pasley raised a number of interesting questions and pointed out a number of inconsistencies in Watson’s narrative. Like Clark, Pasley concludes that Mycroft was incapable of true detective work.5 Charles A. Meyer was the first to focus attention on Mr. Melas.6 Meyer believes the details in GREE are consistent with the hypothesis that Melas was one of Mycroft’s chief intelligence analysts. Lucille Westfall Kiefer also zeroed in on Mr. Melas but concluded that Melas was a secret agent.7 Ms. Kiefer suggests that the entire tale was designed to test whether Melas was ready for a promotion from secret agent to more serious spy work and that Latimer and Kemp worked with Mycroft, albeit unbeknownst to Watson and Melas. What really went on in GREE? As Meyer and Kiefer intimated, the key to the story lies with Mr. Melas. Mycroft’s seemingly enigmatic behavior makes sense if we accept the theory that the entire story told by Mr. Melas is a fabrication and that Mycroft and Sherlock knew Melas was a fraud from the start. Remember, not even the police bought Melas’ ridiculous story. Not surprisingly, Watson did. Given this point of view, Mycroft’s apparent indifference to Melas’s story, for example, is not proof that Mycroft was working in conjunction with Kemp and Latimer as surmised by Knox; rather, Mycroft felt no urgency to involve his younger brother because he didn’t believe a word Melas said. What was the tip off? It could have been any number of things Melas said but did Melas really expect Mycroft, or Sherlock for that matter, to believe that Wilson Kemp, a cold-blooded killer and one who instilled fear in those within his grasp, offered Melas five sovereigns to remain silent about the affair? Taking things a step further, let’s theorize that there was no such person as Harold Latimer. Rather, Melas and Latimer are one and the same. After all, no one (Mycroft, Sherlock nor Dr. Watson) had actually seen Latimer.8 Joseph A. Kestner rightfully finds Sophy Kratides’ attraction to the worthless Harold Latimer puzzling.9 It was, no doubt, Melas himself who hooked up with poor Sophy Kratides and it was he, along with Wilson Kemp, who murdered the unfortunate Paul Kratides. Watson’s account of the story is full of holes. D. Martin Dakin10 and Harald Curjel11 point out the inefficient, clumsy and unlikely means by which Kemp
Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 29 and Latimer attempted to murder Mr. Melas. Is it a coincidence that Melas survived? Or did he and Kemp stage the stick attack and faux murder attempt on himself? We can picture Kemp hitting Melas with a stick. “Not too hard, Wilson,” Melas would have said. “Make it look good, but don’t hurt me too badly.” And what about the so-called attempt on Melas’ life by subjecting him to carbon monoxide poisoning? Lest we forget that although the door behind which Melas waited was locked, “…the key had been left on the outside.” [italics added] How convenient! Mary P. De Camara and Stephen Hayes contend, “It almost looks as though they were waiting for Holmes to rescue Melas.”12 Furthermore, Alvin E. Rodin and Jack D. Key point out that if a serious attempt had been made on Melas’ life in the fashion described, his skin would have turned a cherry-red colour (not blue-lipped, as described by Watson) and death would have been sudden.13 Melas played a daring game, no doubt, counting on Sherlock and Mycroft to rescue him. But the entire charade was staged. Knox questions the so-called coincidence that Melas and Mycroft both lived in Pall Mall and both belonged to the Diogenes Club. He believes Mycroft lured Melas into living quarters at Pall Mall. If Charles Meyer is correct in stating that Melas worked for Moriarty, it isn’t a stretch to hypothesize that it was Melas’ task to get Sherlock involved in the case. Sherlock wouldn’t turn down an early opportunity (the case occurred in 1890) to spar with Moriarty. Robert S. Pasley questions why a man as apparently gregarious as Melas belonged to the Diogenes Club.14 The path to Sherlock was clearly through Mycroft. That it was Melas’ job to get Sherlock involved in the case is evident from his reaction upon meeting Holmes for the first time. “He shook hands eagerly with Sherlock Holmes, and his dark eyes sparkled with pleasure when he understood that the specialist was anxious to hear his story.” [italics added] Knox, it will be recalled, says the advertisements placed by Mycroft were not mistakes. Rather, it was Mycroft’s way of informing the villains that Melas had talked. With all due respect, if Mycroft were in bed with Kemp and (the phantom) Latimer, why wouldn’t he simply send a telegram? The entire advertisement / J. Davenport connection is perplexing. Robert S. Pasley finds it improbable that an acquaintance of Sophy Kratides (J. Davenport) would supply Mycroft, a complete stranger, with Sophy’s personal information.15 Mycroft was having some fun with the advertisement and J. Davenport’s response.16 That is why he suggested a visit to see Mr. J. Davenport in Brixton rather than going directly to
30 Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 The Myrtles, in Beckenham, where Mr. Melas was in so-called danger of his life. Mycroft wasn’t wasting time, as Knox suggests. He was toying with Watson. Ironically, Watson is frequently given credit in this case for reminding Sherlock and Mycroft to first stop and pick up Melas before heading to The Myrtles (see Kiefer or Thomas for examples). Imagine the look between Sherlock and Mycroft at Watson’s suggestion? Both brothers knew that Melas would not be found at his lodgings. Sherlock and Mycroft also knew there was no rush at all in heading to Beckenham because Melas was in no real danger and it was, of course, too late to save Paul Kratides. But they played along and humored Watson. And it also explains why Sherlock uncharacteristically decided to stop at Scotland Yard to acquire the proper legal paperwork needed to investigate the house in Beckenham, causing yet further delays in their efforts to “save” Melas. What actually transpired in Budapest is anyone’s guess. But one thing is certain, two men were stabbed and a woman was involved. Sophy Kratides lost her brother at the hands of two villains, Kemp and Melas, and revenge is understandable. Interestingly, nothing more is said of Mr. Melas once he receives Watson’s panacea of ammonia and brandy following his staged-murder attempt. He, no doubt, joins up with Kemp and Miss Kratides in Hungary and was killed along with Kemp. It is likely that Sophy Kratides did away with the two. Dalma H. Brunauer makes a solid case that Irene Adler, who happened to be in Budapest at the time of the killings, “…found enough evidence as to the true nature of the two fiends’ deaths to convince Holmes that there was more to the two…deaths than what met the eyes of the Hungarian police…”17 The Greek name Melas translates to “black” or “dark.” Is it coincidental that of the 231 characters named throughout the Canon that are referred to by surname only, that only four are main characters and three of these four are villains? 18 Joseph Green and Peter Ridgway Watt have this to say about GREE: “Watson’s narrative ends in a tangle of unanswered questions and manifest absurdities, most of which defy analysis.” 19 Unanswered questions? Absurd? Perhaps to Green and Watt but not to us, if we simply take the Master’s advice and shift our own point of view a little and discover the facts point very directly to one thing.
Notes
[1] Ronald A. Knox, “The Mystery of Mycroft,” In H.W. Bell, ed., Baker Street Studies, New York: Otto Penzler Books, 1995. [2] For a summary of various theories written about Mycroft, see Leslie S. Klinger, ed., The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (The Sherlock Holmes Reference Library), Indianapolis: Gasogene Books, 1999, pg. 213. [3] Benjamin S. Clark, ‘Mycroft Come Back; All is Forgiven,’ The Baker Street Journal, Vol. 21, No. 3 (September 1971), pp. 169-174.
Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 31 [4] Charles J. Thomas, ‘Interpreting the Greek Interpreter,’ The Sherlock Holmes Journal, Vol. 13, No. 3 (Spring 1978), pp. 81-83. [5] Robert S. Pasley, ‘The Greek Interpreter Interpreted,’ The Baker Street Journal, Vol. 35, No. 2 (June 1985), pp. 106-111. [6] Charles A. Meyer, ‘An Investigation into the Greek Interpreter,’ The Baker Street Journal, Vol. 55, No. 1 (Spring 2005), pp. 43-45. [7] Lucille Westfall Keifer, ‘The Greek Interpreter Interpreted,’ The Baker Street Journal, Vol. 59, No. 2 (Summer 2009), pp. 23-26. [8] The same cannot be said for Wilson Kemp. The laughing monster was seen by Mycroft’s landlady. [9] Joseph A. Kestner, Sherlock’s Men, Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 1997. [10] D. Martin Dakin, A Sherlock Holmes Commentary, New York: Drake Publishers, Inc., 1972. [11] Harald Curjel, ‘Death by Anoxia,’ The Baker Street Journal, Vol. 28, No. 3 (September 1978), pp. 152-156. [12] Mary P. De Camara and Stephen Hayes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes Stories: The Short Stories, New York: Monarch Press, 1975, pg. 46. [13] Alvin E. Rodin and Jack D. Key, Medical Casebook of Doctor Arthur Conan Doyle, Malabar, FL: Robert E. Krieger Publishing Company, Inc., 1984. [14] Pasley, 1985. [15] Pasley, 1985. [16] Who was J. Davenport? He was none other than Paul Kratides, forced under duress to write the letter to Mycroft. As previously stated (footnote 14), it is too farfetched to believe that Mycroft received a legitimate answer to his advertisement. According to Mycroft, the letter was written by “a middle-aged man with a weak constitution.” The description fits Paul Kratides to a tee. The starving and abused Kratides was of weak constitution and although we are never told his actual age, we know Sophy is described as a “young lady,” so that Paul, in all likelihood her older brother, was probably approaching middle age. [17] Dalma H. Brunauer, ‘Sherlock Holmes and the Hungarian Connexion,’ The Baker Street Journal, Vol. 34, No. 2 (June 1984), pp. 98-105. [18] The three villains are Coram, Murillo and Von Bork. See D.A. Redmond, ‘Sherlockian Sourcenotes,’ Baker Street Miscellanea, No. 20 (December 1979), pp. 22-28. [19] Joseph Green and Peter Ridgway Watt, Alas, Poor Sherlock, Kent: Chancery House Press, 2007, pg. 180.
32 Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 Reflections on the Cottingley Fairies
By Frances Griffiths ― JMJ Publications, 2009, 117 pages, £8.99
Reviewed by Don Roebuck
rances Griffiths was the younger of the two girls who took the Cottingley fairy photographs — and then maintained, for the next 60 years, that the photographs were genuine. In the early 1980s, Griffiths started to write a memoir of those events, which she intended to publish, but she stopped writing when psychic researcher Joe Cooper published an article, based on interviews with Griffiths and her confederate Elsie Wright, in which he — traitorously, in Griffiths’ view — revealed the deception. Griffiths died in 1986 and this book is that unfinished memoir, supplemented by some recollections by her daughter, Christine Lynch. To summarize the main points, Griffiths admits that the first four photographs were faked but she says that she regularly saw real fairies around Cottingley Beck, and that the fifth (“fairy bower”) photograph was genuine (disagreeing, on this last point, with Wright, who told Cooper that all five photographs were faked). None of this is new, but at least it’s in Griffiths’ own words. Sherlockians will be particularly interested in what Griffiths has to say about Arthur Conan Doyle. Other writers have expressed surprise that the creator of the ultra- rationalistic Sherlock Holmes should have been so gullible with regard to these photographs. Griffiths turns this line of reasoning on its head. She complains that Doyle and Theosophist Edward L. Gardner “never sought for any explanation of fairy life .... If they had only suggested some ways of finding out more about ‘my’ little men and the fairies, who knows what might have been discovered:” (p. 16) Lynch adds, “Frances constantly expressed amazement that the creator of the famous detective did nothing to encourage the girls to find out more, other than look for more photographs .... Frances would have expected Doyle to encourage Elsie and herself to take field notes . . . When were they seen? What time of day, or months of the year? Did she ever see young or elderly ones? Ones with facial hair? (pp. 87-88) (Of course, one could always argue that, one way or the other, ACD’s un- Sherlockian response to the photographs is evidence that he did not create Holmes and he is as real as the fairies.)
Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 33 Letters From Lomax
Musing and comments from Peggy Perdue, Curator of the Arthur Conan Doyle Collection of the Toronto Reference Library.
his is the 21st ‘Letters from Lomax’ column to appear in Canadian Holmes. How the time has flown. It’s been a fascinating endeavour to look at what the Arthur Conan Doyle Collection holds on various subjects ranging from games to poetry to children’s books. The other day, I guess I was bragging about the collection a little, because I mentioned to my husband Pat that I thought I could find something in our holdings that connects Sherlock Holmes with anything imaginable. “How about wheat?” he retorted, “I bet you can’t find anything about wheat.” Well then. Those of you who have been married to the same person for more than two decades, as I have, know how easy it is to lose status over a little thing like this, and you will understand why the remainder of this column will be devoted to the subject of Sherlock Holmes and wheat. There is a certain amount of evidence that Holmes’ creator was what we might call “wheat conscious.” Arthur Conan Doyle mentioned the golden wheat fields of Utah admiringly several times in A Study in Scarlet, making them part of the story almost as the moor provides a backdrop for HOUN. The wide places of the new world apparently held great appeal for Sir Arthur and he even did some investing during his travels in Canada and the United States. This might help explain the following entry in a notebook he kept during his 1923 North American tour:
Cost him 60 cent per bushel Sold for 24 wheat & oats 320 acres.
We know that ACD made some land investments in Canada. Did he also invest or consider investing in the grain market? Moving on to Holmes himself, our detective is not seen trading in wheat or admiring its waving glory but he does regularly make practical use of one of its most popular end products — bread. In his own words, the art of deduction is how Holmes earns his “bread and cheese,” and he often relies on this and little else as a quick mid-case meal. For example, we see Holmes as a sort of investigatory Earl of Sandwich in this quote from BERY:
“He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition.”
34 Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 In PRIO, Holmes uses bread to clarify his thought processes:
“Can you recall that the tracks were sometimes like that, Watson,” — he arranged a number of bread-crumbs in this fashion — : : : : : — “and sometimes like this” — : . : . : . : . — “and occasionally like this” — . ‘ . ‘ . ‘ .
As you may recall from the story, Holmes’ explanation doesn’t actually make the point any clearer to Watson but to be fair I think most of us would have trouble reading bread crumbs. Beyond the Canon, we find other wheat-related items in the ACD Collection as well. There’s Robert Fish’s parody Schlock Holmes: the complete Bagel Street saga and, although this is stretching the point a bit, there’s even a pastiche writer by In the 1980s Ben’s Bakery in the name of Carolyn Wheat. Her short Halifax produced a series of stories ‘The remarkable worm’ and English Muffins featuring a well- ‘Water from the moon’ can be found known Englishman. in Murder in Baker Street and Sherlock Holmes: The Hidden Years, respectively. Parodies and pastiches are fun but our highest assurance of the goodness of Providence rests in the flours. To take advantage of this, have a look at the recipes for buns and such in the Arthur Conan Doyle Collection’s many cookbooks. Try for example, ‘Copper Beaches Crumpets’ from The Sherlock Holmes Victorian Cookbook, ‘Mrs. Hudson’s Biscuits’ found in Dining with Sherlock Holmes or ‘Hot Sign of the 4-Cross Buns’ from The Sherlock Holmes Cookbook. If home baking is not on your agenda, there are also prepared goods on sale. Bakers and other purveyors of wheat goods have used the image of Sherlock Holmes in advertising fairly regularly, perhaps because of his “Baker” Street address. Sherlockian advertisements in the ephemera collection include ads for bread from Granary Bakers, Cobb’s Bread and ‘Baker Street English Muffins’ from Ben’s Bakery, as well as for the breakfast cereals Carnation Quick Wheat and All-Bran. This article has admittedly been something of an exercise in absurdity but I hope that it has made its point. The worlds of Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle are so large that one really can find something on just about anything in the ACD Collection. Now it’s your turn. What topics would you like to see explored in this column? Please contact me at [email protected] with your suggestions.
Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 35
ews Notes From
Across the Country
Halifax — The Spence Munros’ last meeting was on Sunday, May 27th at The Spitfire Arms in Windsor. The story discussed was ‘The Adventure of the Second Stain.’ Nine members attended this meeting and were met with one of Grant Bradbury’s quizzes. Doug Pass came away with first prize.
Montreal — The Bimetallic Question held two summer-time meetings, one in June and the other in August. The June meeting was well attended and included a few new members. This meeting featured toasts and a quiz on ‘The Veiled Lodger,’ prepared by Roger Burrows. Carol Abramson squeaked out a win of 37 points, beating Patrick Campbell by one point. The August meeting was also well attended. Patrick Campbell gave the following toast:
A Sonnet to the Society
Let me only to our Society be true, admit impediments, hoping all the while to lay before our oh so motley crew a glimpse of truth, or failing that a smile.
Oh no. it is an ever fix’ed rule, That to the Canon all of us be true. It is our single aim, how ‘ere so cruel, To plumb its depths and see it all anew.
‘Tis thus we spend an evening with our friends, eliciting the truth from every tale, assessing clues on which the plot depends, solving the case that sends the thief to jail.
The game’s afoot for all who wish to play, so welcome all who come to join the fray.
To the Society!
36 Canadian Holmes Fall 2012
OOTMAKERS’ DIARY
… it is a page from some private diary. - The Five Orange Pips
By Donny Zaldin, BOT Diarist. (Readers are encouraged to submit Diary entries to [email protected])
Thursday, June 28, 2012: Illustrated Titanic Presentation
In his youth, ACD developed a fascination for ships and sea travel, serving as doctor on a Greenland whaling vessel in 1880 and as ship surgeon on a voyage to West Africa the following year. In 1884, his non-Sherlockian writings featured doomed and spooky ships, including the Polestar and the Marie Celeste; and, the Canon is awash in shipwrecks, amongst them the Lone Star (FIVE), Gloria Scott (GLOR), Norah Creina (RESI) and Sophy Anderson (FIVE). The White Star Line’s RMS Titanic, best known as a luxury ocean liner but also an immigrant and mail ship, was hit by an iceberg on its maiden voyage and sank beneath the frigid waters of the north Atlantic on April 15, 1912, with 1,514 casualties of her 2,223 passengers and crew. Although the wreck was located 73 years later and remains about one-quarter of a mile below on the ocean floor, it has risen into myth to become the most iconic maritime disaster of all time. Following the catastrophe, Arthur Conan Doyle weighed in on the controversy, engaging in a war of words with none other than George Bernard Shaw. These two great luminaries of the literary world engaged in a very public dispute as to who at was fault, with ACD praising Captain Smith and the White Star Line, and GBS holding them accountable. Barbara Rusch and Donny Zaldin were amongst the 1,307 passengers aboard the Titanic Memorial Cruise, which marked the centenary of the ill-fated ocean liner, sailing April 8-20, 2012, from Southampton UK to Cobh, Ireland (formerly Queenstown), to the wreck site, where a moving memorial was held, then on to Halifax, where 150 victims are buried, and finally to New York, the site of numerous Titanic monuments and memorials. Barbara and Donny deliver an illustrated presentation, sponsored by The Canadian Royal Heritage Trust, at Holy Sacrament Church, Toronto, titled, ‘Titanic: From Myth to Memorial.’ The enthusiastic audience of 85 includes 19 fellow Bootmakers: Kathy Burns; Karen Campbell; Bob Cartlidge; Dave and
Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 37 Lynn Drennan; Philip Elliott; Arlene and Stan Gelman; Garry Marnoch and Jacqueline Todd; Hartley Nathan; Dayna Nuhn; Jean, Doug and Bill Paton; Marilyn Penner; Peggy and Pat Perdue, and David Sanders. The presentation describes Barbara and Donny’s sense of disorientation travelling through a space-time continuum, with one foot on the Titanic in 1912 and the other on the Titanic Memorial Cruise in 2012, with harrowing tales of both the celebrated and the nearly forgotten, of a century ago. Bootmakers Jean and Doug Paton thank Barbara and Donny on behalf of Jean’s great-uncle, George Graham, an employee of Eaton’s Winnipeg store, who did not survive the sinking, and for all the victims and survivors, for being “sensitive, compassionate and eloquent chroniclers” of the tragedy.
Saturday, July 14, 2012: The Silver Blaze Event (at Woodbine Race Course, Toronto)
Twenty-eight Bootmakers and guests (Suzanne Adams, Bruce Aikin, Zeljko Bibic, Kathy Burns, Don Cubitt, Anne Dearden, Paul Dearden, Michael Dow, Dave Drennan, Lynn Drennan, Philip Elliott, Arlene Gelman, Stanley Gelman, Renée Mactaggart, Garry Marnoch, Jane Marnoch, Dayna Nuhn, Goldie Rash, Jan Raymond, Trevor Raymond, Barbara Rusch, Larry Swartz, Lily Swartz, Sheryl Ubelacker, Doug Wrigglesworth, Donny Zaldin, Gabbi Zaldin and Ronald Zaldin) attend this year’s 25th annual Bootmakers of Toronto Silver Blaze Event in the second-floor Favourites Dining Room at Woodbine Race Course, Toronto. The sporting/social/culinary activity is arranged by Donny Zaldin, who is reprising his role as Colonel Ross of the inaugural Donny Zaldin, aka Colonel Ross, poses and following 12 years of the with the Silver Blaze Award. The plaque event. Thanks to outgoing on the statue reads: “Winner: Annual Colonel Ross, Karen Silver Blaze Event. Woodbine Racetrack, Campbell, for 11 years of able July 14, 2012.” Photo by Bruce Aikin. stewardship.
38 Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 Guest Don Cubitt wins the prize for the best Sherlockian name, and is warmly welcomed and thereafter addressed as “Hilton” (FIVE) by one and all. This year’s Silver Blaze Event is the 1-1/16 mile, $74,800 purse, Allowance Optional Claiming Race number 2 of six three-year olds and upward. Bowman’s Causeway (#2), Cold Harbor (#4) and Safety Zone (#5) take win, place and show. Following the race, six members of our company, chosen by random draw, Don Cubitt (dressed in an Inverness cape and Woodbine baseball cap), Stanley Gelman, Anne and Paul Dearden (visiting from the U.K.), Lily Swartz and Trevor Raymond grace the winner’s circle to present the winning owner (Entourage Stable), trainer (Roger L. Attfield) and jockey (Patrick Husbands) with an engraved trophy from the BOT of a thoroughbred with jockey at full gallop. Donny Zaldin and Barbara Rusch hold their 15th annual non-consecutive Silver Blaze Event (Notional) Betting Contest, which is won by Suzanne Adams (who picks the top three horses, in exact order), with honourable mention to Garry Marnoch and Lynn Drennan, each of whom receive a Sherlockian prize. Donny and Barbara also hold a contest (with Sherlockian prizes) for finding the best Sherlockian link from the name of one of the entered horses, its programme number, jockey, owner, trainer or colours:
No. Horse Name Jockey Trainer Owner Colours
1 Lord of Greatness L. Contreras R.P. Tiller Entourage Stable yellow blue 2 Bowman’s Causeway P. Husbands R.L. Attfield Attfield & Werner black white 3 Peasant E-J. Wilson R. Baker Stronach Stables black, red, gold 4 Cold Harbor S. Callaghan C. Grant Fieldstone Farms gold red 5 Safety Zone G. Olguin S.H. Fairlie C.E.C. Farms green orange 6 At the Sagamore T. Kabel T. Jordan P. Redekop B.C black fuchsia
Runner-up entries include: Baker, trainer of Peasant (suggesting the street of that world-famous address); Cold Harbor (where the many sea-going vessels in the Canon may have embarked or disembarked); and Peasant (a disguise used by Holmes on the Moor in HOUN and by Neville St. Clair in his portrayal of the beggar Hugh Boone in TWIS). BOT eminence grise Trevor Raymond submits the winning entry, the horse Safety Zone, which calls to mind the cordon sanitaire breached by Holmes and Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls in FINA. For this silver anniversary of the BOT Silver Blaze Event, the Bootmakers receive a greeting card with best wishes on the occasion from retirees Silver Blaze, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, and posted from Dartmoor, England. Everyone enjoys the sumptuous buffet luncheon of cold appetizers, hot entrées and sweet desserts, served over the course of the first six races. Thanks to Woodbine’s catering representative, Danielle Monaco, and our hostess Carla for their gracious hospitality.
Canadian Holmes Fall 2012 39 Sat.-Sun., August 4-5, 2012: The BSI Silver Blaze Weekend at Saratoga, N.Y.
This year, the Baker Street Irregulars mark the 60th anniversary of the BSI Silver Blaze Race by partnering with the Bootmakers of Toronto for the Inaugural Can-Am Silver Blaze Race at Saratoga Racetrack, Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The occasion is highlighted by the presentation to the BSI from the BOT of a handsome trophy of a thoroughbred at full gallop with jockey astride. Official weekend functions include the sponsored race on Saturday and a brunch with four presentations at the Desmond Hotel, Albany, on Sunday. The two weekend events are organized by Lou Lewis and Candace Lewis of the Hudson Valley Sciontists and Mary Ann Bradley, and headed by BSI Wiggins Mike Whelan. Forty Irregulars, including five Bootmakers, Barbara Rusch, Donny Zaldin, Dayna Nuhn, Edwin Van der Flaes and George Vanderburgh, attend the weekend events, giving the event an “international” flavour which added to the Sherlockian scholarship, camaraderie and fun. On Saturday, August 4th, the N.Y. State Racing Commission serves up a buffet luncheon at which Donny presents each member of the BSI horsey set with a reversible pin-on badge, announcing “I won / I lost … at the 2012 BSI Silver Blaze Race.” Barbara and Donny judge and award prizes for their notional betting and Sherlockian Link contests. Ben Vizoskie wins the first- prize trophy for the horse Tritaps, calling to mind “smack, smack, smack,” the sound six year-old Edward Rucastle makes while killing cockroaches in ‘The Copper Beeches.’ On Sunday, August 5th, the weekend concludes with a brunch, chaired by Lou Lewis, at which Donny and Barbara present a Quiz, won by Michael Pollak; Roger Donway conducts ‘The Hunt for Grandmother Vernet;’ art historian, Candace Lewis presents ‘Art in the Blood is Liable to Take the Strangest Forms: The Vernet Connection;’ and, Charles Blanksteen reads from his new tale, The Real Story behind ‘The Adventure of Silver Blaze.’ Each attendee receives a wonderfully illustrated book titled Saratoga Studies, a Collection of Essays by Susan Vizoskie, Ben Vizoskie, Albert M. Rosenblatt, Roger Donway and Candace J. Lewis. In July 2013, a contingent of BSIs from scion societies in several states looks to attend Woodbine Racetrack, Toronto, for the second Can-Am Silver Blaze Event.
40 Canadian Holmes Fall 2012
Return Postage Guaranteed The Bootmakers of Toronto PO Box 1157 T.D.C. Postal Station 77 King Street West Toronto, ON M5K 1P2