Miss Stoper (Sheila Keith), Violent Hunter (Suzanne Neve), and Jephro Rucastle (Patrick Wymark) in “The Copper Beeches” (1965)
April 8, 1890: Violet Hunter went to work as governess at Copper Beeches. [COPP]
“That is enough.” She rose briskly from her chair with the anxiety all swept from her face. “I shall go down to Hampshire quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, sacrifice my poor hair tonight, and start for Winchester tomorrow.” With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both good-night and bustled off upon her way.
Source A Day by Day Chronology of Sherlock Holmes according to Ziesler and Christ by William S Dorn DWNP, BSI.
Illustration by Sidney Paget for the Strand Magazine[April 7, 1883: Grant Munro and Sherlock Holmes discovered who was behind the Yellow Face. [YELL]
It was a long two minutes before Grant Munro broke the silence, and when his answer came it was one of which I love to think. He lifted the little child, kissed her, and then, still carrying her, he held his other hand out to his wife and turned towards the door. “We can talk it over more comfortably at home,” said he. “I am not a very good man, Effie, but I think that I am a better one than you have given me credit for being.”
April 7, 1890: Violet Hunter consulted Sherlock Homes. [COPP]
Illustration by Josef Friedrich[
As he spoke the door opened, and a young lady entered the room. She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, freckled like a plover’s egg, and with the brisk manner of a woman who has had her own way to make in the world.
“You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure,” said she, as my companion rose to greet her; “but I have had a very strange experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be kind enough to tell me what I should do.”
“Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything that I can to serve you.”
Source A Day by Day Chronology of Sherlock Holmes according to Ziesler and Christ by William S Dorn DWNP, BSI.
Illustration by Sidney Paget for The Strand Magazine (1893)
April 6, 1883: Grant Munro came home early and found the cottage vacant [YELL]
I stayed long enough to make certain that the house was absolutely empty. Then I left it, feeling a weight at my heart such as I had never had before. My wife came out into the hall as I entered my house, but I was too hurt and angry to speak with her, and pushing past her I made my way into my study. She followed me, however, before I could close the door.
`I am sorry that I broke my promise, Jack,’ said she, `but if you knew all the circumstances I am sure you would forgive me.’
`Tell me everything, then,’ said I.
`I cannot, Jack, I cannot!’ she cried.
Source A Day by Day Chronology of Sherlock Holmes according to Ziesler and Christ by William S Dorn DWNP, BSI.
April 3 1883: Grant saw his wife Effie leave the cottage. [YELL]
Maybe the cottage that concealed the Yellow Face looked like this?[Source A Day by Day Chronology of Sherlock Holmes according to Ziesler and Christ by William S Dorn DWNP, BSI.
April 2, 1883 Repairs were started at Stoke Moran [SPEC]
“Two days ago some repairs were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in which she slept.”
What is going to happen? We might do well to think of the quote from this case:
“Violence does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls into the pit which he digs for another.”
A Snake coils usually before striking his victim. Could Watson/Doyle have been attempting a pun using recoil and a snake?
Illustration by Josef Friedrich (1906)
There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about to enter through the window, when out from a clump of laurel bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted child, who threw itself on the grass with writhing limbs, and then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness.
“My God!” I whispered; “did you see it?”
Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low laugh, and put his lips to my ear.
“It is a nice household,” he murmured. “That is the baboon.”
I include this picture because I always imagined what this scene looked like but I never saw it pictured until now.
April 2 1883: Effie’s Munro daughter, Lucy, moved into the cottage [YELL]
Illustration by Sidney Paget for The Strand Magazine (1893)
“Well, last Monday evening I was taking a stroll down that way, when I met an empty van coming up the lane, and saw a pile of carpets and things lying about on the grass-plot beside the porch. It was clear that the cottage had at last been let.”
I have a quote from this case that I again have to put before dear readers:
“Watson,” said he, “if it should ever strike you that I am getting a little over-confident in my powers, or giving less pains to a case than it deserves, kindly whisper `Norbury’ in my ear, and I shall be infinitely obliged to you.”
To me, proof that Holmes had been at least bested by two women in his cases when you put this one together with “A Scandal in Bohemia”.
Source A Day by Day Chronology of Sherlock Holmes according to Ziesler and Christ by William S Dorn DWNP, BSI.
March 30, 1894: The Honorable Ronald Adair was murdered. [EMPT] Paul Lacoux as the Hon. Robert Adair in The Return of Sherlock Holmes: The Empty House (1986)
Source A Day by Day Chronology of Sherlock Holmes according to Ziesler and Christ by William S Dorn DWNP, BSI.
March 28, 1895: Bannister denied that he revealed who had stole the Fortesque exam. [3STU]
Illustration by Sidney Paget for The Strand Magazine (1904)
March 28, 1895: Gilchrist confessed to copying the Fortesque exam. [3STU]
Illustration by Sidney Paget for The Strand Magazine (1904)
March 28, 1902: Don Murillo vanished, but Miss Burnett escaped. [WIST] Illustration of Murillo and Burnet by Arthur Twidle for The Strand Magazine (1908)
Source A Day by Day Chronology of Sherlock Holmes according to Ziesler and Christ by William S Dorn DWNP, BSI.
March 27, 1895: Gilchrist copied the Fortesque exam. [3STU]
Illustration by Sidney Paget for The Strand Magazine (1904)
“I have a letter here, Mr. Soames, which I wrote to you early this morning in the middle of a restless night. It was before I knew that my sin had found me out. Here it is, sir. You will see that I have said, `I have determined not to go in for the examination. I have been offered a commission in the Rhodesian Police, and I am going out to South Africa at once.’ ”
“I am indeed pleased to hear that you did not intend to profit by your unfair advantage,” said Soames. “But why did you change your purpose?”
Gilchrist pointed to Bannister.
Illustration by Arthur Twiddle for The Strand Magazine (1908)
March 27, 1902: Constable Downing was bitten by Cook. [WIST]
“It was about two hours ago. The light was just fading. I was sitting reading in the chair, I don’t know what made me look up, but there was a face looking in at me through the lower pane. Lord, sir, what a face it was! I’ll see it in my dreams.”
Cover illustration by Frederic Dorr Steele for Collier’s (1908)
“Chips” says: To me this picture represents Holmes inside a room working to Thwart Evil. While Evil is is outside waiting to overwhelm Good.
Source:A Day by Day Chronology of Sherlock Holmes According to Zeisler and Christ by William S Dorn DWNP, BS
Leonard Nimoy was born March 26, 1931 in Boston, Massachusetts.
From 1973 on, he played Star Trek‘s Mr Spock on television and in films, so he is best known for that role. But he also played Sherlock Holmes in a touring production of William Gillette’s play. Asked about Holmes, he said:
He’s an asocial man, hardly your average 9-to-5 worker with a family. Instead, he’s chosen a very special kind of life, and he has very little respect for most of the people around him who are also involved in his profession. He’s an outsider, in so many ways—particularly in his relationships, with women. Holmes is very much an alien, all right, and I felt that I could understand him the same way I understood Spock.
“Chips” was fortunate enough to see the show, and he writes:
I have been in love with Leonard Nimoy since Star Trek. I was so lucky to get tickets to see him in person when he came to Denver in the William Gillette play. I wish he could done more as Holmes. The oddball casting was Allan Sues, a off the wall comedian who overplayed Moriarty but was completely outdone by Nimoy’s serious acting ability. Nimoy only varied once into Spock once during the play and he did it so well it fit right in.
I still have the play souvenir program that I keep in a place of honor.
from Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Source:
Information provided by A Curious Collection of Dates by by Leah Guinn (JHWS “Amber”) and Jaime N Mahoney (JHWS “Tressa”).
Posted by The Dynamic Duo of “Chips” (aka Ron) and “Selena Buttons” (aka Beth)
March 24, 1889: Irene and Godfrey Norton left for the Continent. [SCAN]
Portrait of Irene Adler in the Granada Television adaptation of “A Scandal in Bohemia”
March 24, 1889: Holmes received a portrait of Irene Adler. [SCAN]
“What a woman – oh, what a woman!” cried the King of Bohemia, when we had all three read this epistle. “Did I not tell you how quick and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? Is it not a pity she was not on my level?”
“From what I have seen of the lady, she seems, indeed, to be on a very different level to your Majesty,” said Holmes, coldly. “I am sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty’s business to a more successful conclusion.”
Another favorite Canonical moment from “Chips”.
Source A Day by Day Chronology of Sherlock Holmes according to Ziesler and Christ by William S Dorn DWNP, BSI.
Posted by The Dynamic Duo “Chips” (aka Ron) and “Selena Buttons” (aka Beth)
For today, “Chips” shares two favorite moments from “A Scandal in Bohemia” that show Dr Watson’s taste for adventure and loyalty to Holmes.
Illustration by Sidney Paget for The Strand Magazine (July 1891)
First, a bit of Canonical conversation:
“By the way, Doctor, I shall want your co-operation.”
“I shall be delighted.”
“You don’t mind breaking the law?”
“Not in the least.”
“Nor running a chance of arrest?”
“Not in a good cause.”
“Oh, the cause is excellent!”
“Then I am your man.”
“I was sure that I might rely on you.”
Second, the moment when Irene Adler determines whom she has been fooled by and cannot let the moment go without passing her compliments along to him.
Illustration by Sidney Paget for The Strand Magazine (July 1891)
We had reached Baker Street, and had stopped at the door. He was searching his pockets for the key, when someone passing said: –
“Good night, Mister Sherlock Holmes.”
There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had hurried by.
“I’ve heard that voice before.” said Holmes, staring down the dimly lit street. “Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have been.”
Friday, March 22, 1889: The King of Bohemia visited Holmes. [SCAN]
Illustration by Sidney Paget for The Strand magazine [July, 1891]
The man sprang from his chair, and paced up and down the room in uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. “You are right,” he cried, “I am the King. Why should I attempt to conceal it?”
“Why, indeed?” murmured Holmes. “Your Majesty had not spoken before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and hereditary King of Bohemia.” [SCAN]
On episode three of Trifles, I made this comment to Scott Monty, dealing with this image: “You mentioned in this post the burger King of Bohemia. I saw an ad for a burger at Burger King. They were discussing a new product. So I think we could call Wilhelm Gottsreich Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and hereditary King of Bohemia “The Bacon Burger King of Bohemia who also told Holmes quite a few whoppers”.
Scott thought it funny – any comments from any who read this? -Chips aka Ron
Source: A Day by Day Chronology of Sherlock Holmes According to Zeisler and Christ by William S Dorn DWNP, BSI
For my posting on this date I am going to publish a limerick that I promised some one near and dear to me that I would. I hope my partner and co-columnist will understand. I think she will. [Of course! -Selena Buttons]
So, to honor the Author’s memory and to keep my word, here is a special limerick for the start of “A Scandal in Bohemia” written by a Special Sherlockian as part of his series.
When the King had his way with Irene,
The pictures they took were obscene.
But her consortin’
With Godfrey Norton
Meant those pictures remained unseen.
Illustration by Sidney Paget for The Strand magazine [July 1891]
One night – it was on the 20th of March, 1888 – I was returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. [SCAN, emphasis added]
In A Curious Collection of Dates, Leah Guinn (JHWS “Amber”) and Jaime N Mahoney (JHWS “Tressa”) write about this opening sentence:
“Although Watson is (atypically) quite clear on the date for ‘A Scandal in Bohemia,’ it’s a puzzling one. First, he describes a Lenten wedding – a Victorian faux pas. More bizarrely, however, he claims to be married, when – if the dating of The Sign of the Four is correct – he has yet to meet his wife.”
Over the years, of course, Sherlockians have tried to reconcile this puzzle in various ways. Baring-Gould puts the case in May of 1887, while Zeisler argues for March of 1889. Whenever it happened, I think we’re all glad that it did.
Source:
Information provided by A Curious Collection of Dates by Leah Guinn (JHWS “Amber”) and Jaime N Mahoney (JHWS “Tressa”)
Posted by The Dynamic Duo: “Chips” aka Ron and “Selena Buttons” aka Beth.
“First Edition Wines” from 221B Cellars (photo courtesy Ashley Polasek)
“They are not all successes, Watson,” said he, “but there are some pretty little problems among them. Here’s the record of the Tarleton murders, and the case of Vamberry, the wine merchant, and the adventure of the old Russian woman, and the singular affair of the aluminium crutch, as well as a full account of Ricoletti of the club foot and his abominable wife.” [MUSG]
In A Curious Collection of Dates, Leah Guinn (JHWS “Amber”) and Jaime N Mahoney (JHWS “Tressa”), dedicate this day to Arminius Vamberry, born March 19, 1832 (possibly). They write:
“According to Leslie Klinger’s New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, Arminius Vamberry (German: Hermann Bamberger) was a wine collector. But the Hungarian language professor, who may or may not have been born on this date in 1832, was so much more.”
Their concise account of his adventurous life (including the reason he is featured on the day that might not have been his actual birthday) ends with this interesting speculation:
“In 2005, the British National Archives released a collection of late 19th-century secret service documents. There were several revelations, one being that Vamberry had served for over a decade as a foreign agent, providing information about the Turkish government and its relations with Austria-Hungary and Russia. Records reveal that he frequently asked for cash and was known for being ‘alarmist.’ One has to wonder if it was in this capacity that he ended up as one of Holmes’s ‘pretty little problems,’ sent to 221B by way of the Diogenes Club and a particular minor government official.”
Source:
Information provided by A Curious Collection of Dates by Leah Guinn (JHWS “Amber”) and Jaime N Mahoney (JHWS “Tressa”)
Posted by The Dynamic Duo Ron (JHWS Chips) and Beth (JHWS Selena)
Illustration by Frank Craig for The Strand (July 1898)
At five o’clock on the evening of the 18th of March in the year [1892] a train left Euston Station for Manchester. It was a rainy, squally day, which grew wilder as it progressed, so it was by no means the weather in which anyone would travel who was not driven to do so by necessity. The train, however, is a favourite one among Manchester business men who are returning from town, for it does the journey in four hours and twenty minutes, with only three stoppages upon the way. In spite of the inclement evening it was, therefore, fairly well filled upon the occasion of which I speak. The guard of the train was a tried servant of the company – a man who had worked for twenty-two years without a blemish or complaint. His name was John Palmer. (from “The Man with the Watches”, emphasis added)
“The Man with the Watches”, a short story by Arthur Conan Doyle, appeared in The Strand magazine in July 1898, with illustrations by Frank Craig. It could be inferred that the detective in the story is Sherlock Holmes (though he’s never named), so the story is considered by some to be an extra-canonical case. It is one of the stories collected in Jack Tracy’s Sherlock Holmes: The Published Apocrypha. A review of that book by James O’Leary (JHWS “Pippin”) is available via our friends at I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere: Classics of Sherlockiana: the Apocrypha of Sherlock Holmes.
Sources:
Brought to our attention by A Curious Collection of Dates by Leah Guinn (JHWS “Amber”) and Jaime N Mahoney (JHWS “Tressa”). The full text of The Man with the Watches is available online.
Posted by The Dynamic Duo of Ron (JHWS “Chips”) and Beth (JHWS “Selena Buttons”)
Denis Stewart Percy Conan Doyle was born on March 17, 1909, the third child of Arthur Conan Doyle, and the first child of his marriage to Jean Leckie. Arthur Conan Doyle originally suggested the name James Denis Pack Conan Doyle, honoring the baby’s maternal grandfather (James Blythe Leckie) and paternal grandmother’s family (the Packs). Arthur’s mother, however, insisted on the name Percy.
Arthur later wrote to his mother, “I have never seen so bright and intelligent a child. His head too is wonderfully formed. He will do deeds if he lives.”
Denis did live, marrying Georgian princess Nina Mdivani in 1936, working with his brother Adrian in managing the Conan Doyle estate, and enjoying motor racing and big game hunting. He died on March 9, 1955.
Source:
Information provided by A Curious Collection of Dates by by Leah Guinn (JHWS “Amber”) and Jaime N Mahoney (JHWS “Tressa”).
Posted by The Dynamic Duo of Ron (JHWS “Chips”) and Beth (JHWS “Selena”)
