A Case of Identity
Mary agreed to Hosmer’s demand,
That she accept no one else’s hand.
Though affectionate,
She stayed celibate,
Alone and forever unmanned.
– Don Dillistone April, 2004
On May 24th…
“Chips” writes:
There is no activity recorded for May 24th in our Chronology. So, we are going to stray into one of my passions in the Sherlockian world.
From my Limerick Corner: I have a rather large collection of Sherlockian Limericks, and I am going to post a few on the case that our chronological dating just started on yesterday. The first limerick is by a rather well-known Sherlockian.
The Adventure of the Naval Treaty
by Isaac Asimov, BSI
Poor old Phelps faces prospects of doom
And yet all he can do is fume.
The pact’s gone — He was sentry —
There’s no sign of an entry
But our Holmes can decode the locked room
The next one was composed by a gentleman I had the pleasure of meeting and corresponding with on the first Sherlockian discussion forum on the Internet. The group is the Hounds of the Internet, which is still going, and I have the pleasure of being a member of it.
The gentleman I met was posting quite wonderful limericks of his own creation, one for every short story in the Canon. After talking about each limerick as he posted them, he asked for my email address as he had a little gift for me he wanted to send me. I received a copy of every one of his limericks with his permission to publish wherever I felt Sherlockians would enjoy them. I miss Don every day when I hear of or read a limerick… which is every day. I still wish I could have talked him into writing a limerick or two for each of the 4 novels. His answer was always the same, “I am too lazy to do that, It might take too much work.”
Rest in peace, Don.
The Adventure of the Naval Treaty
by Don Dillistone
Responding to Phelps’s entreaty
Holmes found the lost Naval Treaty
But the absconder
Was not from Yonder,
But brother to Phelps’s own Sweetie.
–Don Dillistone, April 2002
A Limerick for March 21st
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.
May God bless you Don where ever you are.
Ron
Limericks
There is no event on file for August 17th or 18th. Since the last case was CREE, how about three limericks by a wonderfully talented Sherlockian and Hound of the Internet who is sorely missed? Which ending line do you like? Let me know, and on with the show!
The Creeping Man
He ventured out every ninth night,
To scramble up trees in delight.
But then he was seized
By the dog he’d teased
Whose fangs tore his throat with one bite.
-Don Dillistone, November, 2002
The Creeping Man
He ventured out every ninth night,
To scramble up trees in delight.
But then he was seized
By his dog whom he’d teased,
Who slashed his throat with a well-placed bite.
-Don Dillistone, November, 2002
The Creeping Man
He ventured out every ninth night,
To scramble up trees in delight.
But then he was seized
By the dog he’d teased,
Who ripped his throat with a savage bite.
-Don Dillistone, November, 2002
The Speckled Band: Limericks
To All:
I became intrigued with the idea of how many different ways that a limerick could be written about the same story. So I copied the different limericks that I had about the short story “The Speckled Band” and put them here for you to enjoy.
“Chips”
The Speckled Band
Doctor Roylott takes every precaution
to cling to each stepdaughter’s portion.
To avert Helen’s fate,
our friends lie in wait,
and he dies with a dreadful contortion.
– Mr. Henry Baker (in the light of common day, Oliver Mundy)
“He spoke in a slow staccato fashion,
choosing his words with care,
and gave the impression of a man of learning and letters
who had had ill-usage at the hands of fortune.”
The Speckled Band
Helen’s bed ‘neath the ventilator,
meant the snake by the rope could locate her.
So ran the plot
of Doctor Roylott
who was trying to liquidate her.
-Don Dillistone, June, 2004
The Speckled Band
Her annuity was the key factor
in why Helen’s stepfather attacked her.
He was mad as a hatter,
for a pet, kept an adder,
and the adder was meant to subtract her.
-The Dancing Man
The Speckled Band
In the bedroom a milk-drinking snake
wanted a nice piece of cake.
He crawled down the rope;
he just couldn’t cope
with more tasteless food, for Pete’s sake.
— Matilda – from the lumber camps of Michigan aka Bill Briggs
The Speckled Band
You would not want this in your hand,
though it could crawl up a silk strand;
it would never fight,
but it could bite;
it was the maligned speckled band.
–William S Dorn BSI, ,DWNP; from his book The Limericks of Sherlock Holmes; Pencil Productions 2005.
Bill emailed me that he found 10 copies of his book that he would be offering for sale at $18.00 postage included. In my opinion the book is one you should get if you love limericks. Contact Bill at: billdorn@mac.com