Tag: “Cooper”

Kenneth Siarkiewicz

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Weekly Quiz 2014-4

Here is the weekly quiz for the fourth week of 2014.  It is all about place names. Please submit solutions to buttons@johnhwatsonsociety.com by 12 N on Wednesday, 29 January 2014.

RESULTS: Great participation this week. The honours for perfect performance of 25/25 + 5 = 30 points go to Denny Dobry “Kirby,” Michael Ellis “Lobo,” Kenneth Siarkiewicz “Cooper,” and our never-to-be-stumped team of Margie Deck “Gwen,” and Sheila Holtgrieve “Daisy.” Congratulations to all!

Please download the questions and answers below.

file_download.pngDownload Week 4 Questions and Answers.

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How About Just a Tiny Quiz to Tide Us Over . . .?

AND THE RESULTS ARE . . . It would seem that this question could be the basis of a very interesting paper for The Watsonian. There are echoes in both solutions below to indicate the presence of myth, folklore, religion, and supernatural belief. And, there may well be additional names that fit the specter of the Hound.

Dean Turnbloom “Stoker” sends this interesting and historically pertinent solution to the question:

Cusith or Cù-Sìth was a Hellhound, harbinger of death (Scotland, the Hebrides, Ireland). According to Scottish folklore, the Cù-Sìth is said to be the size of a young bull with the appearance of a wolf. Its fur is shaggy, and usually cited as being dark green though sometimes white. Its tail is described as being long and either coiled up or plaited (braided). Its paws are described as being the width of a man’s hand. The Cù-Sìth is thought to make its home in the clefts of rocks in the Highlands, and also to roam the moors and highlands. The Cù-Sìth was feared as a harbinger of death and would appear to bear away the soul of a person to the afterlife, similar to the manner of the Grim Reaper. In this role the Cù-Sìth holds in Scottish folklore a function similar to that of the Bean Sidhe, or banshee, in Irish folklore.

According to legend, the creature was capable of hunting silently, but would occasionally let out three terrifying bays, and only three, that could be heard for miles by those listening for it, even far out at sea. Those who hear the baying of the Cù-Sìth must reach safety by the third bark or  be overcome with terror to the point of  death.

Congratulations to Mr Turnbloom who resides in Santee, California.

Kenneth Siarkiewicz sends his analysis and suggests “Lucifer” as the hellhound’s name, a name that seems eminently logical, fitting and in keeping with the supernatural speculation of the story.

“Cooper” also suggests the name might be ‘Black Shuck” from one of the English folk-legends. This legend bears quite a close resemblance to the Hound. It is spectral and foreboding and deserves to be read in its full description on Wikipedia (follow the link) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Shuck

Congratulations to “Cooper” who resides, reads and thinks in Tucson, Arizona. Kenneth joined the Society in August and we appreciate his contribution in helping us to think about this unique question.

Question

The hound in The Hound of the Baskervilles is not given a name in the text by Dr Watson. From the Canonical textual evidence and from inference, what is the likely name of the hound?

Submit answers to buttons@johnhwatsonsociety.com by 12 Noon (Pacific) Friday. The answers will be judged and the results will be posted here by Saturday.

Have fun . . .

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Welcome to New Charter Members!

The Society is delighted to welcome four additional new Charter Members. Please join in our traditional greeting as we bring these new Watsonians among our fold:

“You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive.”

Kenneth Siarkiewicz, JHWS “Cooper”

Mr Siarkiewicz joins us from Tucson, Arizona. He has been a Sherlockian since the early 1900’s and reads deeply in the Canon and the Baker Street Journal. We look forward to his participation and contribution to the Society.

Eric Swope, JHWS “Punch”

Mr Swope joins us from Mishawaka, Indiana.  He is a member of the following:

» The  Society of the Solitary Cyclists
» The Illustrious Clients of Indianapolis
» The Sherlock Holmes Society of London
» The Norwegian Explorers of Minnesota
» The  Red Circle of Washington, D.C.
» The Bootmakers of Toronto
»  The Mycroft Holmes Society of Syracuse
» The Younger Stamfords
» The Nashville Scholars of the Three Pipe Problem
» The John H Watson Society

He writes:

“I am a third generation Californian with a life long affection for both John H. Watson and the Great Detective himself. I specialize in rare Sherlockiana and enjoy my involvement with numerous societies. I am the secretary for the Society of the Solitary Cyclists and just recently attended my first Sherlockian conference in Minneapolis. I enjoy reaching out to the younger generation about Sherlockian
interests.”

We welcome “Punch” and look forward to his participation in “things Watsonian.”

Margaret Nelson, JHWS “Annie”

Mrs Nelson lives in Seattle and is a member of The Sound of the Baskervilles (SOB’s). Margaret was a member of the Open Team Competition that won First Place in the First Annual John H Watson Canonical Treasure Hunt with a perfect score of 100 points. She enjoys growing old garden roses. Recently she wrote a mini-monograph, Moss Roses in Two Classic Victorian Mysteries. Of course it includes the rose in The Naval  Treaty. 

Allen Nelson, JHWS “Trix”

Mr Nelson resides in Seattle with his bride Margaret and was also a member of the winning Open Team Competition in the JHWS Treasure Hunt.

He is also a member of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London and the Sound of the Baskervilles. In 2009 he went to a meeting of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London to hear a lecture on the battle of Maiwand. The next year, we both traveled to Salisbury where he again met the lecturer, Colonel (Retired) M.J. Cornwell, who is the Curator of the Rifles, Berkshire (Watson’s regiment) and Wiltshire Museum.They have a large copper beech tree on the grounds. They also had displays about the first battle of Maiwand and the modern war in Afghanistan. Ironically, the Nelson’s new son-in-law is in the infantry and has been to Afghanistan twice. He was several times asked “I perceive you have been in Afghanistan…” when he came to a SOB meeting.