The city of Cambridge, Ohio, USA, in Southeastern Ohio, decks itself out in Victorian splendor in the weeks leading up the the Christmas holidays. Then, following Christmas, on the weekend of January 8 -10, they host a Sherlock Holmes weekend. It is centered around a mystery written by local playwright Anne Chlovechok, titled The Case of the Taylor Tontine.

This is one weekend before the BSI Holmes weekend in New York City. McMurdo’s Camp has no relationship with the event or organization, but we think it looks interesting. Additional information can be found at www.visitguernseycounty.com. Or you can call them at 800-933-5480.



It may appear that McMurdo has gotten a little slow or lazy with upkeep of the site.  Fact is, while we have been busy, the real constraint is our internet access.  Options are very limited here in the North Woods, but for the last couple of years we have had fairly decent access using Alltel, a cell-phone service that provides internet service through its phone system.

In August, something changed.  We were told to punch in some new codes in anticipation of the Alltel/Verizon merger, and since then our access to the internet drifted between zero and poor.  This has hampered our ability to maintain the site.

We are being told that in the middle of October things will improve.  We are keeping our eyes open  and our fingers crossed.  We appreciate your patience.

End of the month, and we don’t like to see one go by without putting up at least one new post. August has been tough; “thanks” to the merger of Verizon and Alltel, our internet connection has deteriorated to worse-than-dial-up, with only occassional short unpredictable bursts of acceptable speeds. It is supposed to get better as they work out their system problems, but it looks like up here in the thinly populated boondocks, we are probably not high on the priority list. Additionally, there are no decent alternatives for us to switch to, and we can be sure our service provider knows it.

So we decided upon a short and peculiar one for August. We have noticed that Doyle often provided imaginative descriptions of characters, and in four instances describes people as having “aggressive” facial features. In the Canon, we found two aggressive noses, one aggressive chin, and one aggressive red beard that seemed to change its hue in response to the owner’s mood. For what it’s worth, here they are.

In The Sign of the Four (SIGN), Johanthan Small’s face in repose was not an unpleasing one, though his heavy brows and aggressive chin gave him a terrible expression when moved to anger.

In The Final Problem (FINA), Colonel Sebastian Moran had cruel blue eyes, with drooping, cynical lids, and a fierce, aggressive nose, and a threatening, deep-lined brow.

In The Adventure of the Dancing Men (DANC), Abe Slaney strode up the path which led to the door. He was a tall, handsome, swarthy fellow, clad in a suit of gray flannel, with a Panama hat, a bristling black beard, and a great, aggressive, hooked nose, and flourished a cane as he walked.

In The Adventure of the Priory School, The Duke’s beard turned more aggressively red than ever against his ghastly white face. (It is possible that his beard did not actually change its hue, but merely appeared to do so as his face became pale.)

We wondered what the Internet thinks of aggressive noses, and looked up Google images of them. Turned out to be mostly automobile grilles, plus one California red wine. Had to go pretty far down the list to find a picture of a person with an aggressive nose, and it was some sort of silly-looking clay attachment to the face of a person in a Halloween costume, on Flickr.

So there you have it. We hope that we will soon be zapping bits and bytes into the ether at speeds never heretofore attained.

]]> http://mcmurdoscamp.wordpress.com/2009/08/31/aggressive-body-parts/feed/ 0 Matilda http://mcmurdoscamp.wordpress.com/2009/07/23/sherlock-holmes-tough-guy/ http://mcmurdoscamp.wordpress.com/2009/07/23/sherlock-holmes-tough-guy/#comments Fri, 24 Jul 2009 03:19:44 +0000 Matilda http://mcmurdoscamp.wordpress.com/?p=730 ]]>

Sherlock Holmes, the Bar-Room Brawler

There is a new Sherlock Holmes movie, interestingly titled “Sherlock Holmes” scheduled for release on Christmas Day, 2009. The movie is directed by Guy Richie and stars Robert Downey as Holmes, Jude Law as Watson, and Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler. It is a big-budget job with big-name stars, expected to be heavily hyped.

Chances are, as a visitor to this web site, you are more interested in Sherlock Holmes than is the average person. The site is not intended for the those who have only a passing or casual interest in the Great Detective, although of course, all are welcome to read and explore. In the months leading up to the movie’s release we can expect to see commentary from those who know Holmes well, and from those who know him not-so-well. A couple of early comments we have seen indicate the movie will attempt to be somewhat contemporary in presenting Holmes. Some traditionalists fear the portrayal of a Victorian James Bond. Movie trailers that are available tend to back this up, although they must be taken lightly, as they are made to entice a general audience with scenes a few seconds long showing the most exciting action but none of the plot. Here is a link to one:

http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00025726.html

We have already seen interviews with film “industry” insiders telling us to expect more emphasis on physicality than on intellect. Our comment at this time is that we should reserve judgment until we see the movie. The notion of Holmes being an armchair detective who will not or cannot handle himself in a fight is not a correct one. He fought, and fought tough, and fought well, and did not back away from physical dangers. There is plenty of evidence of this in the 56 short stories and 4 novels that make up the Canon, as we call it. Here are a few samplings.

Our favorite is the bar-room brawl in The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist (SOLI), in which Homes takes on Mr. Woodley. Here is Holmes relating the incident to Watson. (Don’t mistake his genteel Victorian description of the brawl as meaning it was a genteel encounter.)   “(Mr. Woodley) walked in. He had been drinking his beer in the taproom and had heard the whole conversation. Who was I? What did I want? What did I mean by asking questions? He had a fine flow of language, and his adjectives were very vigorous. He ended a string of abuse by a vicious backhander, which I failed to entirely avoid. The next few minutes were delicious. It was a straight left against a slogging ruffian. I emerged as you see me. Mr. Woodley went home in a cart.” So after being sucker-punched, Holmes mopped the floor with him, in modern vernacular.

It seems Holmes did not win all his fights. In The Adventure of the Empty House (EMPT) Holmes told Watson of one which took place in a railway station. Holmes mentions Mathews, “who knocked out my left canine in the waiting-room at Charing Cross.” This was a passing mention, with no relation to the plot of the story, nor any mention of what caused the dispute in the first place.

Holmes was not averse to gun-play. Here are his instructions to Watson as they set off to capture the suspect in The Adventure of the Speckled Band (SPEC): “And now, Watson, this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs, so if you are ready we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your pocket. An Eley’s No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a toothbrush are, I think, all that we need.” (Note: An Eley’s No. 2 was a cartridge for Watson’s handgun.)

Similarly, in The Red-Headed League (REDH), Holmes told Watson: “There may be some little danger, so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket. If they fire, Watson, have no compunction about shooting them down.”

In The Adventure of the Copper Beeches, (COPP) Holmes makes another coy reference to gun-play, when he says “having met you, (he) succeeded by certain arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your interests were the same as his.” Here, by “metallic argument” Holmes meant using a gun to back up a position in a dispute.

Holmes tended to favor his riding-crop as a weapon, and often left the gun-play to Watson. However, in The Hound of the Baskervilles (HOUN) Holmes maintained his cool and shot and killed the “Hound of Hell” when they were attacked in the foggy night;  Watson and Lestrade being too scared and shocked to act.

In the new Sherlock Holmes movie, Holmes will do some bare-knuckle boxing and fist-fighting. These activities are nothing new to Holmes. After Holmes and Watson first meet, in A Study in Scarlet (STUD), Watson, who at the time was a invalid, set about to list the personal characteristics of Holmes. He noted that Holmes “Is an expert singlestick player, boxer, and swordsman.” To get an idea of the original Holmes engaging in violence, let’s take a look at these three.

Sword-fighting. Other than that reference, there is no instance in the original Holmes stories of him engaging in sword-fighting, or any standard fencing.

Singlestick.  Singlestick was a form of fencing using a wooden stick as the weapon, loosely based on the idea that a gentleman could defend himself using his walking-stick. It was a popular sport for a few decades around the turn of the century (1900), and was even an Olympic sport in the 1904 summer games. The sport was somewhat in decline even then, and did not last long as an Olympic event. Only 2 countries competed in 1904, the USA and Cuba. The Cuban won the gold, but he was actually an American.

There is only one record of Holmes engaging in singlestick competition, and he came in second-best. To his credit, he was defending himself against more than one assailant. He ended up with serious injuries, but suffered no permanent harm. Then he exaggerated his injuries to lure his suspect into a trap. Holmes description of the encounter: “I’m a bit of a single-stick expert, as you know. I took most of them on my guard. It was the second man that was too much for me.” From The Adventure of the Illustrious Client (ILLU).

Boxing. In addition to the brawl with Mr. Woodley, Holmes did well as an amateur boxer. This encounter with the professional, McMurdo, took place in The Sign of the Four (SIGN). The pro remembered his match with Holmes:

“That you, Mr. Thaddeus? (said the boxer) But who are the others? I had no orders about them from the master.”

“No, McMurdo? You surprise me! I told my brother last night that I should bring some friends.”  .  .  .  “This is too bad of you, McMurdo!” he said. “If I guarantee them, that is enough for you. There is the young lady, too. She cannot wait on the public road at this hour.”

“Very sorry, Mr. Thaddeus,” said McMurdo, inexorably. “Folk may be friends o’ yours, and yet no friends o’ the master’s. He pays me well to do my duty, and my duty I’ll do. I don’t know none o’ your friends.”

“Oh, yes, you do, McMurdo,” cried Sherlock Holmes, genially. “I don’t think you can have forgotten me. Don’t you remember the amateur who fought three rounds with you at Alison’s rooms on the night of your benefit four years back?” “Not Mr. Sherlock Holmes!” roared the prize-fighter. “God’s truth! how could I have mistook you? If instead o’ standin’ there so quiet you had just stepped up and given me that cross-hit of yours under the jaw, I’d ha’ known you without a question. Ah, you’re one that has wasted your gifts, you have! You might have aimed high, if you had joined the fancy.”

“You see, Watson, if all else fails me, I have still one of the scientific professions open to me,” said Holmes, laughing. “Our friend won’t keep us out in the cold now, I am sure.”

This incident establishes Holmes’ credentials as an expert boxer, regardless of the incident at the Charring Cross station where he lost his tooth. (Note: The boxer McMurdo in this story has no relationship to the Society, McMurdo’s Camp.)

Holmes engaged in some illegal and thuggish behavior in The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax (LADY). He was looking for the missing Lady Carfax, whom he had good reason to believe was dead or imprisoned in a particular house. He knew the police were on their way with a warrant, but time was short.

“I mean to find her,” said Sherlock Holmes. “I’m going through this house till I do find her.”

“Where is your warrant?”

Holmes half drew a revolver from his pocket. “This will have to serve till a better one comes.”

“Why, you are a common burglar.”

“So you might describe me,” said Holmes cheerfully. “My companion is also a dangerous ruffian. And together we are going through your house.”

Obviously, Holmes was by no means hesitant to use his “metallic argument” to get the job done.

The above examples illustrate that Sherlock Holmes was a “tough guy” by any standards. A Victorian gentleman, certainly, but physical enough to dominate the world he lived in, populated by highly proper Victorians, criminals, and dangerous miscreants. The stories are full of other examples, and we may provide more in the coming weeks, in plenty of time to expand our premise prior to the release of the new movie. Robert Downey with his modern interpretation of Sherlock Holmes shouldn’t surprise anyone who is a true follower of the master if he has to muscle his way out of some tough spots.

Readers are encouraged to give us more examples of Holmes the tough guy, using the “comments” feature. Click “Leave a Comment” just below.  In the meantime, if you read about the new movie being a more modern, more physical and violent Holmes, take it with a grain of salt. The original Sherlock Holmes was no wimp!

Camper Jim Zych (rhymes with bike) has presented an article telling us how and where to find and download MP3 files of all the Holmes tales.  You will find this in the “PAGES” in the box on the right, under “Trifling Monographs”.  It’s free, legal, and simple.  Help yourself.  It has all the Holmes stories read by good readers, as they were originally published.  These are not radio shows or dramatic re-enactments.

Camper Jim Zych (rhymes with bike) attended this year’s syposium and provides the following report, which was delayed slightly.  Jim had a singular mineral adventure on the way home, but that is all in the passed, and everything is fine.

Sherlock Holmes 28^th Symposium

Dayton, Ohio

May 15-17, 2009

The Merry Wives of Watson

Friday evening there was a Reception Party hosted by the Agra Treasurers of Dayton. I had a chance to meet several of their members. There were refreshments, munchies and ham and cheese sandwiches. Everybody was looking forward to the papers that were going to be presented and, unlike last year, were very happy with the weather (last year was a blizzard which resulted in this year’s Symposium being scheduled for May).

Saturday morning was registration, which mainly meant pickup the information packets, any T-Shirts or Sweatshirts that participants ordered and tickets for dinner that evening. Since that took about 5 minutes, there was a lot of time left for browsing though the vendor tables. There were 7 or 8 vendors selling anything from books to photographs and prints as well as other Sherlockia such as pins, embroidered items and records.

Saturday afternoon was the main part of the conference. A total of 10 papers were presented including a skit of what Dr. and Mrs. Watson’s life at home may have been like.

There was a cocktail hour, buffet dinner and Readers’ Theater afterwards. Unfortunately I had a commitment on Sunday to attend so I was not able to stay for these.

On Sunday morning they traditionally have a continental breakfast and a “Brain Buster” quiz. Although these quizzes are tough, everyone has a great time with them.

Next year, the theme of the conference will be “Investigating the AmeriCanon” which will concentrate on Americans that Holmes deals with, American Villains and answer the question “Did Holmes ever travel to the Americas?” It will be held May 14-16, 2010 in Dayton.

Contact Cathy Gill for more information. Her email is chirpsworth@fuse.net

Jim Zych

While in Dayton, Jim presented information on downloading and saving readings of the Canon, in complete original form.  McMurdo’s Camp will place this information in our “Trifling Monographs” section in the next few days.

]]> http://mcmurdoscamp.wordpress.com/2009/05/27/dayton-symposium-2009/feed/ 0 Matilda http://mcmurdoscamp.wordpress.com/2009/03/12/hibernian-holmes/ http://mcmurdoscamp.wordpress.com/2009/03/12/hibernian-holmes/#comments Fri, 13 Mar 2009 01:07:48 +0000 Matilda http://mcmurdoscamp.wordpress.com/?p=492 ]]>

Soon we will recognize St. Patrick’s Day, when everyone seems to have a little of the Irish blood in them, or maybe the Irish spirit(s).  What about Sherlock Holmes?  He had family who were country squires, and some French relatives, but there is no obvious connection to the Emerald Isle, even though he passed himself off as an Irish-American in his last case.  But were there other Irish connections in Holmes’ world?  Of course!  The Irish are everywhere.

It looks like the novel The Valley of Fear (VALL) is the most Irish-rich of all the stories in the Canon.  With the main character, Jack McMurdo, aka Birdy Edwards, aka John Douglas, we see Irishness manifested in many ways.  At his introduction we are told he is a pleasant brown-haired young Irishman.  Then at Shafter’s, we learn the young Irishman is of a different calibre than the other boarders, and he charms his landlord’s daughter Ettie with his glib Irish tongue.  Shortly later, upon his meeting Councillor McGinty, he is told he has an Irish tongue in his head.   Then after a stand-off with Ted Baldwin, McMurdo blames his hot Irish blood for the altercation.  Near the end of his Vermissa assignment, he meets up with Ettie, and the dancing Irish devilry is gone from his eyes, as he prepares earnestly for the final stages of his assignment.  The scene plays out in the house of the widow McNamara, an easy-going old Irish-woman, his new land-lady.  McGinty himself was probably Irish, too, but that is not stated.   Later in his life we find that McMurdo, then known as Douglas, is said to have emigrated to America from Ireland when he was a very young man. He had prospered well after his stint with the Pinkertons and in the gold-fields of California.

In The Red-Headed League (REDH), Pope’s Court looked like a coster’s orange barrow.  The red-haired pawn broker should not have thought there were so many red-headed men in the whole country as were brought together by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they were – straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; but there were not many who had the real vivid flame-coloured tint.

Sir Charles Baskerville’s head was of a very rare type, half Gaelic. Hound of the Baskervilles (HOUN)

In The Adventure of the Crooked Man (CROO), Colonel James Barclay, a gallant veteran, commanded The Royal Mallows, one of the most famous Irish regiments in the British Army. Of course, Col. Barclay had not been so gallant in his handling of Henry Wood.

In The Adventure of the Illustrious Client (ILLU), Colonel Sir James Damery hired Holmes on behalf of the illustrious one.  Damery had gray Irish eyes, from which frankness shone.  He also had a large, bluff, honest personality, a broad, clean-shaven face, and a pleasant, mellow voice.

In His Last Bow (LAST) the German spy, Von Bork, takes credit for stirring up a “devil’s brew of Irish civil war, window-breaking furies, and God knows what to keep (England’s) thoughts at home.”  Von Bork and Baron Von Herling, the Chief Secretary of the German Legation prepared to meet Altamont, whom they believed was a bitter Irish-American spy, but was actually Sherlock Holmes engaging in some post-retirement service to his country on the eve of the World War.  They observe that their most pan-Germanic Junker is a sucking-dove in his feelings towards England compared to the Irish-American Altamont.   Holmes explained how he started his pilgrimage at Chicago, graduated in an Irish secret society at Buffalo, gave serious trouble to the constabulary, and got himself identified as a potential spy for the Germans to use against the English.   Holmes as Altamont was described as a tall, gaunt man of sixty, with clear-cut features and a small goatee beard, which gave him a general resemblance to the caricatures of Uncle Sam.

In The Adventure of the Cardboard Box, Jim Browner did the deed, cut off the ears, and sent them to Miss Cushing from Belfast.  A red-herring in the story is the medical students, who came from the north of Ireland.

There are some other mentions of Irish-sounding names in the Canon, but not specifically being identified as  Irish:

McCarthy, the murdered neighbor and his son, the erroneously accused, in The Boscombe Valley Mystery (BOSC).

There was an establishment known as McFarlane’s carriage-building dep’t adjacent to the Suburban Bank and the Vegetarian Restaurant in The Red-Headed League.

In The Five Orange Pips (FIVE), McCauley had the pips set on him and was cleared.

The Noble Bachelor’s wife met her original husband Frank in ‘81, in McQuire’s camp, near the Rockies, where her father was working a claim. (NOBL)

John Hector McFarlane, Holmes’ young, pale, palpitating, wild-eyed, and frantic client in The Adventure of the Norwood Builder (NORW).

McLaren on the top floor, a brilliant fellow and one of the three students. (3STU)

Fitzroy McPherson, the science-master, met his end down on the admirable beach in The Adventure of the Lion’s Mane (LION).  Likewise, his dog.

Patrick Cairns, a harpooner and a man of gigantic strength, was the true murderer of Peter Carey in The Adventure of Black Peter (BLAC).

Kennedy, the famous Westminster electrician, was the business partner of Cyril Morton who married Violet Smith, the Solitary Cyclist (SOLI) after she inherited her fortune.

Fitzroy Simpson, one of those damned touts, hung around the stables at King’s Pyland, but could not have caused curry to be served the night Silver Blaze went missing.  (SILV)

Kilburn, a neighbourhood or district with an Irish-sounding name, to which Jem Ryder carried a goose with an empty crop, to see Maudsley, his criminally inclined friend.  Note:  there is a city in England called Kilburn, but it is up near Manchester and too far to carry a goose in one night.  The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle (BLUE)

Reilly, the Vermissa lawyer, who handled legal affairs for McGinty and the Scowrers, in The Valley of Fear (VALL).

Also in VALL, McMurdo told Jacob Shafter that he got the address in Chicago, from a man by the name of Murphy, who in turn had had it from someone else.

Elsie Patrick, an American lady who was staying at a boarding-house in Russell Square  and married Mr. Hilton Cubitt, of Ridling Thorpe Manor, Norfolk.  Her father, old Patrick, was a clever man and had been a gang boss in Chicago.  He invented the dancing men code.  The Adventure of the Dancing Men (DANC)

In The Hound of the Baskervilles (HOUN), Murphy,  a tipsy gipsy horse-dealer, was on the moor at no great distance when Sir Charles died. He heard cries, but could not tell or remember the direction.

Futher information received: We posed the question, about more Irish references, in the Holmes Internet discussion group The Hounds of the Internet, and received an interesting addition.  The group heard from Mr. Peter Liddell, who has written a scholarly article about Watson’s service in India.  Watson’s unit’s full correct name was “The 5th Regiment of Foot (Northumberland Fusiliers)”.  The history of this regiment shows that it was first constituted in 1674 (on the 8th of August) as The Irish Regiment.  In 1685 it was transferred to the British establishment and on 1st July 1751 it became the 5th Regiment of Foot.

The entire article is available on the Holmesian.net Forum under the general title “The Chronology of A Study in Scarlet”, appearing in the section “The Dispatch Box”.  We heartily recommend it to readers of McMurdo’s Camp.  You do not have to be a member of the discussion group to view the postings.

To our loyal readers and fans of McMurdo’s Camp: If you know of or can find any Irish connections in the Canon that we did not list, we would appreciate hearing from you.  Just click comments at the lower right.

A quiet Saturday, among the lumber camps of Michigan. Here we are, holed up in the house watching the ice fishing action on the lake, which is about as exciting as a submarine race. But now it looks like the snowstorm that was supposed to immobilize Detroit and Cleveland misbehaved slightly, and either expanded or took a left turn, maybe both. It was expected to pass to the South of us, but it did not. Oh, well, Cleveland’s gain is our pain, but we are probably better at handling it around here. No stormy petrel to warn us though, only the Weather Channel.

So, you say, “Just exactly what is a stormy petrel?” In the Canon, we hear of them twice.

In The Reigate Puzzle (or Squires, or Squire), Holmes says to his host, Colonel Hayter, after a murder investigation was completed, “My dear Colonel, I am afraid that you must regret the hour that you took in such a stormy petrel as I am.”

Then in The Naval Treaty, Holmes tell Watson, as Watson brings him the note from Tadpole Phelps introducing Holmes to the case, “You are the stormy petrel of crime, Watson.”

A stormy petrel is a bird, a type of sea bird that has learned to seek shelter during storms on the leeward (downwind) side of ships. The stormy petrels seem to have a knack for knowing when they will need shelter, so their appearance often fortells a storm at sea. Over the centuries sailors have learned this, so the term “stormy petrel” is often used to mean something like “trouble brewing”, which was the meaning meant by Holmes.

They are  interesting birds. The stormy petrels are among the smallest of sea birds, and spend all their time a sea, except for 10 to 12 weeks when they go on shore to lay eggs, hatch them, and rear the young. Stormy petrels are found in all oceans, primarily in the northern hemisphere. There are a dozen or so species and sub-species, and the birds are quite plentiful. A couple of types have gone extinct or are endangered, because of their habits of living on specific islands where they have fallen prey to introduced mammals, mainly rats and feral cats.

When raising chicks, the parents eat during the day, and return to the nests at night to feed the chicks by regurgitation. A special stomach gland secrets a highly nutritious oil that becomes part of the chicks’ diet. After fledging, they all go back to sea and feed on surface swimmers, small organisms or mollusks.

A Stormy Petrel

Petrels get their name from the Latin name for St. Peter, who was known to walk on the water. As surface feeders, the petrels fly close to the surface, their legs dangling, giving the appearance of walking on the water.

If you are a literary type, you might be interested in The Song of the Stormy Petrel, by Maksim Ghorky, a poem written in 1901, in Russian.  It glorifies the bravery of the storm petrel flying high in the face of a storm, while other types of  birds cower in fear.

The stormy petrel in the poem was meant to represent the bravery of the Russian Revolutionaries.    It was dangerous to speak out against the Czar, even allegorically.   Ghorky was arrested, but released.  You can read the poem here, in English and in the original Russian:

http://www.marxists.org/archive/gorky-maxim/1901/misc/x01.htm

It is the fourth of February in the year 2009. It has been a severe winter, and the snow lies deep in the gorges, the valleys, and upon the hillsides and frozen lakes. The county snow-ploughs have, however, kept the roads open, and life is going on pretty much as usual, but with fewer down-state tourists.

Here, among the lumber-camps of Michigan, we like to pause on this day and drink a toast to honor one of our own, who traveled down to Chicago looking for better opportunities, and from there went on to achieve eternal fame as a man who almost fooled Sherlock Holmes, but not quite. Sadly, he didn’t fool Moriarty either.

To Bertrand Edwards !

This weekend, the year’s major gathering of Sherlock Holmes admirers and fans has been going on in New York City, headquartered at the Algonquin Hotel in midtown Manhattan. The gathering is sponsored by the Baker Street Irregulars, the prestigious parent organization of all scion societies great and small, including McMurdo’s Camp (which is small). Many events are held, some by invitation only, but most open to all Sherlockians and wannabe’s. It is held at this time of year is to honour Holmes on his birthday, which is believed to be January 6, 1854.

How do we know the date? Good question. In His Last Bow, the last Holmes story, Holmes had come out of retirement and was operating as a British spy  in North America, using the name Altamont. He is described as a “man of sixty”. Since the story clearly occurs the eve of the war (WWI) we learn Holmes was born in 1854 depending upon the actual date. (Britain declared war on Germany on August 4, 1914, in response to a German ultimatum regarding passage through Belgium on August 2nd.)

Now, the tricky question. How was the actual date of Holmes birthday determined? Not as simple as you might think. Nowhere in The Canon is  it mentioned, either directly or indirectly. All we can be sure of is that Holmes must have had a birthday. We don’t know if he admired birthdays or disdained them, or if he celebrated them at all. We know nothing about any contemporaries recognizing his birthday or anyone else’s.

Someone had to engage in some real detective work and apply a little imagination to the question. (More imagination than anything, in our opinion.) The culprit was Christopher Morley, an American writer and intellectual, who was a devoted fan of Holmes and founder of the Baker Street Irregulars. He also wrote the preface to The Complete Sherlock Holmes, the standard collection of the 56 stories and 4 novels that make up The Canon.

Morley noted that Holmes often quoted or paraphrased Shakespeare in his conversation, and that of all Shakespeare’s works, only one, Twelfth Night, was quoted twice. He concluded, based on this, that Twelfth Night was Holmes’ favorite. Why would this be, he thought? Simple. Because it had to be Holmes’ birthday. (In much of western Christianity, January 6th is Epiphany, or the twelfth night of Christmas. It also represents the visit of the Magi (the three wise men) who, after visiting the Christ child, left town without reporting to King Herod as they had  been instructed to do.

So Morley believed Holmes birthday was January 6, 1854. Since Morley was one of the most prestigious Sherlockians of his time, and he felt very strongly that his conclusion was correct and important, it became the generally accepted date.

Back-up evidence of this is given as an incident in the opening of The Valley of Fear, which took place on a January 7th. Holmes seemed unusually testy in his morning conversation with Watson. This is taken as indicative of Holmes not feeling up to snuff; perhaps a little hung over from a celebration the night before. What could he have been celebrating? Why, his birthday, of course!

And there you have it. January 6 seems as good as any other possible date, and has been accepted for years. If you would like to celebrate Holmes’ birthday and want to do it on another day, feel free to do so. But you will be out of synch with the rest of the world.

And now that you know all this, you should probably to your best to forget it!