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    Sherlock in the Spring Time
    Sherlock in the Spring Time
    Sherlock in the Spring Time
    Ebook136 pages3 hours

    Sherlock in the Spring Time

    By Molly Carr

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    About this ebook

    The 'thoughts' in this book are the fruit of nearly ten years spent studying the canon and the life of Sir Arthur (Ignatius) Conan Doyle, writing two pastiches (The Sign of Fear and A Study in Crimson), a Biography of Doctor Watson and A Sherlock Holmes Who's Who. In it readers will find much to entertain, along with enough out of the way information to interest even the most knowledgeable Sherlockian. For those new to the iconic pair I have tried, as far as possible, to present material which will make them want to read more about the man and his doings and perhaps become fervent Sherlockians themselves.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMX Publishing
    Release dateJun 24, 2014
    ISBN9781780923420
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      Book preview

      Sherlock in the Spring Time - Molly Carr

      Title page

      Sherlock in the Spring Time

      Some Idle Thoughts on Holmes and Watson

      From Molly Carr

      Publisher information

      © Copyright 2012 Molly Carr

      First Edition published in 2012

      2014 digital version by Andrews UK Limited

      www.andrewsuk.com

      The right of Molly Carr to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998.

      All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without express prior written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted except with express prior written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damage.

      Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this book, as of the date of publication, nothing herein should be construed as giving advice. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and not of MX Publishing.

      Published in the UK by MX Publishing

      335 Princess Park Manor, Royal Drive, London, N11 3GX

      www.mxpublishing.co.uk

      Cover design by www.staunch.com

      Dedication

      For Elizabeth

      Note on the Cover Illustration

      Fervid fans of Holmes, and/or sharp-eyed readers, will see that Sherlock is holding a rose, which is hardly a spring-time flower. But the author claims poetic licence.

      Introduction

      To study Sherlock Holmes is to go on a long and exciting journey. People the world over recognise his name. Most know he is the detective. They are familiar with the deerstalker, the lens and the ulster. But the problem is how to present a book which will interest the general reader without attracting the scorn of those who are obsessive about the man and his doings. For many lovers of the canon are obsessive when it comes to playing the ‘Grand Game’. Societies exist the world over for ever-eager members, who sometimes seem to think of little else but dressing up as Doyle’s characters, visiting the scenes of Sherlock’s triumphs (and even his occasional failures) and reading, or even writing, about him.

      The most popular tales seem to be those from pseudo-Watsons who copy (as far as they are able) the style and subject matter of the original. Others are pastiches which aren’t at all in his style, or even close, but make free use of the characters the Doctor has told us about. Some are stories which bring in characters from other books, and sometimes real-life people as well.

      Films have been made from very early days in almost every language. Some are conscientious copies of the canon. Most take liberties with it. Debates rage over who is, or was, the best Sherlock on stage and screen. Nothing has caused more division among fans than the most recent television series and the most recent movies.

      Quite as much material has been produced about Doyle. The houses he inhabited and their subsequent fate, what he did before he decided to put pen to paper, how he rescued real-life people accused of real-life crimes, his devotion to spiritualism, his part in the Boer War and his friendships with Oscar Wilde, Harry Houdini, J. M. Barrie and one of Britain’s most flamboyant kings, Edward VII, who awarded him a knighthood in the Coronation Honours list of 1902.

      These ‘thoughts’ are the fruit of nearly ten years studying the canon and the life of Conan Doyle, writing two pastiches, a Biography of Doctor Watson and a Sherlock Holmes ‘Who’s Who’: and I hope that in Sherlock In The Spring Time readers will find much to entertain, with enough esoteric information to catch the interest of even the most knowledgeable Sherlockian. For those new to the iconic pair, I have tried as far as possible to include material which will tempt them to want to read more about the man and his doings.

      Doyle’s characters have inspired hundreds of imitations, some good, some very good and some indifferent or, frankly, bad: two men who are household names, written about by professors, clergymen, novelists famous in their own right - and a host of others. So happy Holmesian reading!

      A Tric’ky Problem - Episode One

      Stopping for lunch at a Carvery on the way home from a visit to the American Cemetery at Madingly, near Cambridge, England, wouldn’t (I suspect) normally result in a mysterious encounter with Sherlock Holmes.

      But the walls of this particular inn were plastered with pictures and artefacts of every kind supplied on a rotating basis by a firm appropriately named ‘Elegant Clutter’; and a leisurely look round after the meal revealed a cartoon by someone called ‘Tric’. To me, it resembled nothing so much as a not very flattering drawing of Richard Lancelyn Green, a man famous for his interest in all things Holmesian. However, the pipe was there; and a small brass plate bore the legend that it was indeed Sherlock, or at least his head.

      Later that week, after reaching home, I wrote to ask for information about this particular piece of ‘Clutter’, so much out of place with the rest of the decorations, but received no reply. A second letter was also ignored, along with several emails. Somewhat piqued by this, my next step was to send an email to the brewery. This resulted in a courteous letter from the Guest Services Department asking if I could supply a contact number as the manager of the relevant restaurant was suddenly very anxious to get in touch. Contact number naturally supplied, this called forth a friendly telephone call. Did I want to know about something on the wall? The manager of the Carvery would do more than that: remove whatever it was at once and send it to me.

      There were at least two reasons for thinking the girl had done as she said: a pause, and the sound of her high heels clattering away in the distance before she came breathlessly back to the telephone to say that the drawing was now in her office and would be immediately despatched in my direction. Six months later I was still waiting so made another telephone call, which again resulted in profuse apologies but no picture. The restaurant was very busy. My telephone number and address had unfortunately been mislaid, could she have them again, didn’t have pencil and paper to write anything down, only that morning she’d discovered the drawing in her room. If it hadn’t arrived by Friday (this was Monday) I was to ring again.

      Well it didn’t, and I didn’t. Instead, thinking nothing was likely to happen after so long, I got in touch with the editor of a prestigious journal, sent out periodically to fellow members of an equally prestigious Sherlockian Society, giving the exact position of the artefact as I had seen it so many months earlier. To my surprise and gratification the President himself went along to find out what he could discover. But he was unable to spot Tric (so the cartoon had been taken off the wall?) and was naturally ‘reluctant to lean over the other diners and peer at each picture.’

      I decided to send an email to ‘Elegant Clutter’. Even though they had upwards of 1750 things to choose from when it came to perking up pubs, they should surely know something? The result was the same as when I first contacted the Carvery. Dead silence. So, after licking my wounds for a while, I fired off a salvo in the shape of a postcard to the manager of the said Carvery, saying I didn’t think the artefact, an ugly object surrounded by an intricate silver-coloured metal frame of incredible vulgarity and with the addition of the small brass plate already mentioned, was hers to give away. If she cared to send it I would pay postage, inspect the thing at my leisure (and more thoroughly than I had been able to do in the restaurant) photograph and then rapidly return it.

      Readers who have come this far will have already guessed what happened next, or rather what didn’t, and hasn’t, happened next. Perhaps I should have given my address as 221B Baker Street and called myself Doctor Watson.

      This, and the piece following, first appeared in ‘The Baker Street Bugle’, the newsletter of The Deerstalkers of Welshpool - ‘The only Sherlock Holmes Society in Wales’.

      A Tric’ky Problem - Episode Two

      The influence of the Deerstalkers obviously extends far beyond the borders of Welshpool. After more than a year of fruitless letters, emails, telephone calls and enlisting the help of others, the cartoon I wrote about in the March

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