Episode 188 – Tattoos

“I have made a small study of tattoo marks” [REDH] 

Tattoos. A rare topic in the Sherlock Holmes story, yet they're key in helping Sherlock Holmes to discern a little more about a few individuals.

How common were tattoos in Victorian England? Where did they originate? And who in the Canon had them? It's just a Trifle.

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Links / Notes

• This episode: ihose.co/trifles188
• History of tattooing (Wikipedia)
• How tattoos became popular in Victorian England (CNN Style / The Conversation)
• Tattoos: The Ancient and Mysterious History (Smithsonian)

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• The Baker Street Journal

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Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra
Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band
Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

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Episode 187 – Justice, Part 3: Comeuppance

“there never was a man who deserved punishment more” [IDEN] 

There are certain instances in the Sherlock Holmes stories where the villain is so foul, so deserving of punishment, that it's a relief to see them get theirs. It's justice served.

We can think of a couple, off the tops of our heads. Perhaps you have others in mind? It's just a Trifle.

Download | 11.5 MB, 25:07

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Links / Notes

• This episode: ihose.co/trifles187
• Previous episodes in this series:
• Episode 183 - Justice, Part 1: Unresolved
• Episode 184 - Justice, Part 2: Disproportionate

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• The Baker Street Journal

Music credits

Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra
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Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

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Episode 186 – Watson's Patience

“This is unworthy of you, Holmes” [SIGN] 

Sherlock Holmes wasn't an easy man to live with. Still, it's impressive that Watson didn't unload on him more frequently. Or perhaps he did and just didn't report it...

What is it about Holmes's personality that made him caustic? And about Watson's that allowed him to endure it. It's just a Trifle.

Download | 12 MB, 26:12

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• This episode: ihose.co/trifles186
• Also mentioned: Episode 130 - Watson's Club

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Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra
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Episode 185 – The Women of Influence

“accomplished, a wonder woman in every way” [ILLU]  

Each month, we look at a piece of Sherlockian or Holmesian scholarship that might be outside of your ken, and discuss its merits or faults. This month, we look at Mollie Hardwick's "Women of the Canon: 1 - Women of Influence" from The Sherlock Holmes Journal, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Summer, 1972).

Hardwick thought it was worth delving into who some of the powerful women were who were not Irene Adler. Is one of your favorites discussed? It's just a Trifle.

Download | 10 MB, 21:55

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Links / Notes

• This episode: ihose.co/trifles185
• Also by Mollie Hardwick: The Sherlock Holmes Companion (with Michael Hardwick)

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Music credits

Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra
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Episode 184 – Justice, Part 2: Disproportionate

“I do not feel justified in doing it” [HOUN] 

In the last episode, we talked about the uncertainty of justice at the conclusion of some stories. Did the perpetrators find justice raining down on them? In some cases, it was left up to the reader's imagination.

This episode we're looking at some instances of justice that may not have been in proportion to the crime – or non crime, as the case may be.  It's just a Trifle.

Download | 9.8 MB, 21:30

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• This episode: ihose.co/trifles184

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• The Baker Street Journal

Music credits

Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra
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Episode 183 – Justice, Part 1: Unresolved

“It’s every man’s business to see justice done” [CROO] 

Everyone likes a neat ending. The case is solved, the criminal is caught, and justice is served.

But what about those Sherlock Holmes stories where the criminals escape? When the final action happens off-page or off-screen? There's not the same resolution there as when a Scotland Yard inspector claps handcuffs on the accused. Or is there?  It's just a Trifle.

Download | 11.8 MB, 25:46

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• The Baker Street Journal

Music credits

Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra
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Episode 182 – Ships Ahoy

“the writer was on board of a ship.” [FIVE] 

We were inspired by two articles in the Baker Street Journal, some forty years apart. Each made a study of ships' names in the Sherlock Holmes stories.

Of the named sailing vessels, what can we infer from those named after women? Unlike some of the other ships in the Canon, they're not listed in Lloyd's Register. Was it a Watsonian influence regarding the fair sex?  It's just a Trifle.

Download | 9.3 MB, 20:19

Sherlock Holmes: Trifles · Ships Ahoy

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Links / Notes

• This episode: ihose.co/trifles182
• Richard W. Clark's "On the Nomenclature of Watson's Ships" (BSJ Vol 1, No 2, 1946) and Donald Redmond's "Ship Ahoy, Captain Basil" (BSJ Vol 36, No 4, 1986)
• Mobile Holmes

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Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra
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Episode 181 – The Historicity of Sherlock Holmes

“an historical curiosity” [MUSG] 

It's the third week of the month, which means it's our regular feature in Season 4: Mr. Sherlock Holmes the Theorist, the episode in which we investigate an old piece of Sherlockian scholarship and offer our commentary.

This month, we feature "The Historicity of Sherlock Holmes" by Prof. Dirk J. Struik. Presented to the Speckled Band of Boston, it first appeared in print in the 1947 publication The Second Cab. Professor Struik's own association with the Band is just as interesting as his paper.  It's just a Trifle.

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Links / Notes

• This episode: ihose.co/trifles181
• The Second Cab / The Best of the Cabs (AbeBooks)
• I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere Episode 135: Helene Yuhasova: Woman of Mystery

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• The Baker Street Journal

Music credits

Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra
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Episode 180 – The Eternal Triangle

“I have never loved” [DEVI]  

When you think of crimes in the Sherlock Holmes stories, many of them were crimes of passion. In a 1981 article in The Baker Street Journal, Julie Maynard makes the case that as many as twenty-five percent of the Canon involves adultery or implied adultery.

What was going on here? Was it an unconscious attempt from Conan Doyle? Or perhaps a conscious one? It's just a Trifle.

Download | 9.2 MB, 20:09

       

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• The eBSJ

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Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra
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Episode 179 – I Must Confess

“Indeed, if I may make a full confession to you” [FINA]  

They say confession is good for the soul. It's also good for the detective story. Sherlock Holmes found the suspects he sought in many cases, but he didn't have the backstory for all of them.

The solution? A confession. Driven by fear, love or finality, a number of characters in the stories have reasons for confessing. And one was extracted by a clever trick by Holmes. It's just a Trifle.

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• The Baker Street Journal

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Episode 178 – Insomnia

“It may give him a sleepless night” [FIVE]  

Have you had trouble sleeping lately? You're not alone. There were plenty of people in the Sherlock Holmes stories who struggled to sleep as well.

Whether it was because they were horrified by something that happened to them, troubled by something they did, or were determined to crack a problem, they lost sleep over it. It may not seem like it to you, but it's just a Trifle.

Download | 14.2 MB, 31:19

         

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Links / Notes

• This episode: ihose.co/trifles178
• On the Sleepless Lives of Writers (LitHub)
• Charles Dickens: Observer of Sleep and Its Disorders (American Sleep Disorders Association and Sleep Research Society)
• Short film: Honoré de Balzac's 50 Cups of Coffee a Day (Amazon Prime Video)

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• The Baker Street Journal

Music credits

Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra
Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band
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Episode 177 – Billy the Page

“Billy advanced and drew away” [MAZA]  

We're used to reading about Mrs. Hudson ushering clients in and out, and providing various domestic services for Sherlock Holmes. But now and again, we find ourselves in the presence of young Billy, the page.

What was a page? And was Billy the only one at 221B Baker Street? In Vol. 2, No. 3 of The Sherlock Holmes Journal, G.B. Newton made an assessment of who served and when in his article "Billy the Page," and in our monthly "Mr. Sherlock Holmes the Theorist" feature, we test his hypothesis. It's just a Trifle.

Download | 9.8 MB, 21:19

            

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Links / Notes

• This episode: ihose.co/trifles177
• Page (servant) - Wikipedia
• The Sherlock Holmes Journal

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• The Baker Street Journal

Music credits

Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra
Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band
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Episode 176 – Friend or Foe?

“we have got a foeman who is worthy of our steel” [HOUN]  

There are a handful of cases where Sherlock Holmes meets an opponent who is formidable and antagonistic, but where he later turns out to be an ally.

Who were some of these individuals? Which stories did they appear in? And just what was it that made them seem as if they were on he wrong side of the case? It's just a Trifle.

Download | 10.4 MB, 22:45

           

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• The Baker Street Journal

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Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra
Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band
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Episode 175 – We Have Much to Hope From the Flowers

“a highly sensational and flowery rendering” [SIXN]   

Flowers appear in a handful of spots in the Sherlock Holmes stories. More than the famous rose scene from "The Naval Treaty," they literally dot the countryside and color the scenery.

From a flower that lent its name to one of the stories and a country house, to an obscure statesman, you may be surprised to discover the botanical connections in the Canon. It's just a Trifle.

Download | 13.0 MB, 28:23

          

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Sponsor

• The Baker Street Journal

Music credits

Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra
Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band
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Episode 174 – A Colonel of Truth

“the Colonel’s manner has been just a trifle cavalier” [SILV]  

Having spent the last episode discussing the unusual setting and Holmes and Watson's friendship as displayed in "The Reigate Squires," our minds turned toward their host, Colonel Hayter. Or rather, of his fellow ranking military officers in the Canon.

In fact, we realized that in the Sherlock Holmes stories, the title “Colonel” usually means bad news. Consider with us the various colonels and see how it strikes you. It's just a Trifle.

Download | 11.9 MB, 26:06

         

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• This episode: ihose.co/trifles174
• Episode 45 - Military Morality

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Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra
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Episode 173 – Squiring Around

“the fellows are still at large” [REIG]  

In "The Reigate Squires," we find Sherlock Holmes ill and uprooted — staying in a country house — which, although it's a bachelor establishment, isn't quite what he's accustomed to. Although it may not be one of Holmes’s truly great cases, there is much to love in this story.

Watson was right there to back up Holmes in every way: reacting in horror to Holmes’s fainting fit, taking the blame for the overturned table, and even rescuing Holmes from the clutches of the murderers. It's just a Trifle.

Download | 12.9 MB, 24:51

        

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• The Baker Street Journal

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Episode 172 – The Mystery of Watson's Second Wound

“Your hand stole towards your own old wound” [CARD] 

Watson returns from Afghanistan, recovering from a wound in the shoulder and the aftereffects of disease. But we later discover that he had a leg wound as well.

Could it be the delirium that caused him to misstate his injuries? Or was there another reason for his error? Two old pieces of Sherlockian scholarship – one from the 1940s and another from the 1950s – each have a different theory. Which is correct? It's just a Trifle.

Download | 10.9 MB, 23:51

       

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• The Battle of Maiwand
• John Watson's Youth, Part 2

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Episode 171 – Jumping to Conclusions

“the best and only final clue” [3STU] 

In "The Adventure of the Three Students," Holmes has a litany of clues at his disposal. From balls of doughy clay to a tear in the leather of a desk, and more.

And yet, he's fixated on this one clue that he claimed was "the best and only final clue." What was it? And was it truly the definitive clue in the story? It's just a Trifle.

Download | 12.5 MB, 27:15

      

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• The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance by Henry Petroski (Amazon)

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Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra
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