Tag: William S Dorn

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The Hound and the Bittern: A Sherlockian Sonnet by William S Dorn

The Hound and the Bittern

In the days of yore the old tales tell,
Of a spectral hound Sir Hugo much did dread.
It followed him till last he fell,
Then tore at his throat until he was quite dead.

Anon Sir Charles by the moor he did wait.
Next morn the gentle man’s remains were found.
He laid face down quite near a lonely gate,
Beside him prints of a gigantic hound.

Then Watson came to Baskerville, the Hall,
He strolled the moor and heard a frightening noise.
One man did say it was a bittern’s call,
So fierce it was the doctor lost his poise.

Alas it was the massive hound that glows,
In phosphor spread in globs from jowls to nose.

Illustration of a bittern swallowing a frog from A History of British Birds, 1st Edition, 1843, by William Yarrell
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The Hound and the Bittern: A Sherlockian Sonnet by William S Dorn

I found a Sherlockian sonnet written by William S Dorn, BSI, DWNP, who is so talented in his writings. A member of our local society and a man who does me the high honor of calling me his friend. I am sure after you read this you will agree with me as to the high quality of his work.

The Hound and the Bittern

In the days of yore the old tales tell,
Of a spectral hound Sir Hugo much did dread.
It followed him till last he fell,
Then tore at his throat until he was quite dead.

Anon Sir Charles by the moor he did wait.
Next morn the gentle man’s remains were found.
He laid face down quite near a lonely gate,
Beside him prints of a gigantic hound.

Then Watson came to Baskerville, the Hall,
He strolled the moor and heard a frightening noise.
One man did say it was a bittern’s call,
So fierce it was the doctor lost his poise.

Alas it was the massive hound that glows,
In phosphor spread in globs from jowls to nose.

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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

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Ron Lies “Chips” and the Weekly Limerick

Here is “Chips'” Limerick of the Week:

In the 1940s Edgar W. Smith wrote, “We love the times in which he lived, of course, the half-remembered, half-forgotten times of snug Victorian illusion, of gas lit comfort and contentment, of perfect dignity and grace. And we love the place: the England of those times, fat with the fruits of her achievements, but strong and daring still with the spirit of imperial adventure. But there is more than time and space and the yearning of things gone by to account for what we feel toward Sherlock Holmes. Not only there and then, but here and now, he stands as a symbol, if you please, of all that we are not, but ever would be. We see him as the fine expression of our urge to trample evil and to set aright the wrongs with which the world is plagued. He is Galahad and Socrates, bringing high adventure to our dull existences and calm, judicial logic to our biased minds.”

Limerick for The Hound of the Baskervilles

So here’s to that wonderful Hound,
Who crossed the moor with a bound,
He glowed in the night,
A terrible sight,
And did make a frightening sound.

Author William S Dorn BSI, DWNP,from his book and card set, The Limericks of Sherlock Holmes, published by Pencil Productions, 2005.

All my best,
Chips

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Weekly Limerick: “Chipping” Away at the Humorous Art

Ron Lies “Chips” gives us these two delightful limericks this week. Thank you, as always.

“I have wrought my simple plan if I give one hour of joy to the boy who’s half a man, or the man who’s half a boy.”
— Doyle, Arthur Conan; The Lost World

That dedication describes me to a “T.” That is why my favourite story from the Canon is The Sign of the Four. These limericks are my favourites of them all.

All my best, Chips

The Sign of the Four

Miss Morstan was quite a nice doll,
for her good old Watson did fall,
but with feelings hid,
he joined Holmes and did
down The Thames chase Tonga and Small.

Author: William S Dorn, BSI, from his book, The Limericks of Sherlock Holmes, produced by Pencil Productions, 2005.

I am adding a limerick from that noted Sherlockian, Isaac Asimov, that describes my romantic love affair with my wife Mary for forty-one years and forever.

The Sign of the Four

Muttered Holmes, “Never mind cocaine’s pleasure,
let us seek out the famed Agra Treasure.”
Answered Watson, “No pearls
for myself—only girls;
and it’s Mary that’s made to my measure. “

Author: Isaac Asimov, BSI, from his book, Asimov’s Sherlockian Limericks, published by The Mysterious Press New York, 1978.

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Limerick of the Week

Here is Ron Lies’ Limerick of the Week:

A STUDY IN SCARLET

Now Watson did have a bull pup,
Although it did never show up.
Though where it did go, there is no way to know,
Perhaps they had pup for their sup.

Author: William S Dorn  BSI, DWNP 2005
From his Book The Limericks of Sherlock Holmes and his card set
Produced by Pencil Productions, 2005.

A note from Chips:  As a animal lover I was a little disturbed by this limerick’s last line. It seemed to be a put-down of Mrs. Hudson’s dinners as to just what the meat might be. I brought up these points to Bill. He thanked me and said if I would like to write a better one I was welcome to try. I tried and failed. Maybe someone in our group would like to try?

Chips

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Limerick of the Week

Here is Ron Lies’s, “Chips” Limerick of the Week:

Here is the second of the limericks for the week of the 23rd.

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes was the great master sleuth,
For he always discovered the truth.
He assisted the poor
Using logic quite sure,
And he never did one thing uncouth.

Author is William S Dorn, BSI, DWNP, From his book THE LIMERICKS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES and his card set, Pencil Productions 2005, both currently out of print with no plans to reprint.

A note of interest (at least to me).  Dr. Dorn’s is the only set I have found to include limericks about characters from the Canon as well as the two stories that surfaced after Doyle’s death and thought by some to be written by Doyle.

Yours in the willing service of Dr. Watson,

Chips/Ron

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A Small Watsonian Jewel Found by Ron Lies, JHWS “Chips”

John H Watson

Watson wrote all those wonderful tales
Besides which every other tale pales,
What more can we say,
That up to this day,
Each attempt to improve upon them fails.

— William S Dorn BSI, DWNP.
from his book and card set The Limericks of Sherlock Holmes; Pencil Productions Limited, 2005.

Thank you, “Chips!”