Monthly Meeting Minutes - 14th December 2021

 Date of Meeting: 14th December 2021

 

Location of Meeting:

The Sherloft, My House, Portsmouth, UK

 

Attendees:

"The Entire Canon" (Paul Thomas Miller)

 

Apologies:

I apologise for your face.

  

Motions:

"The Entire Canon" (Paul Thomas Miller) did a biggy.

 

Presentation:

"The Entire Canon" (Paul Thomas Miller) presented an essay on Christmas in The Canon

The Other Holmesian Christmas Story

 Outside of The Blue Carbuncle, Christmas only gets one other mention in The Canon - it was at Christmas in 1880 that Julia Stoner met her fiance for the first time. Julia had been spending the holiday with her maiden aunt - Honoria Westphail - near Harrow. During the festivities she was introduced to a half-pay major. She fell in love with him and they were soon engaged. Grimesby Roylott gave no indication that he objected to the match, but the wedding did not take place. Two weeks before Julia could escape Stoke Moran, she was secretly murdered by her sneaky step-father.

 Is this enough to qualify The Speckled Band as The Other Holmesian Christmas Story? Perhaps not. Until we take a closer look at the whole story. Then we find that much of the story of the Nativity is hidden in the text.

 Once they establish the facts of the case, Holmes and Watson settle into rooms at the Crown Inn near Roylott's estate. From here they are drawn to a specific location when they see a light shining through the darkness. Like the Star of Bethlehem beckoning the wise men, Helen Stoner's lamp appears in her bedroom window, calling to Holmes and Watson in the village to the East. Holmes and Watson are both intelligent men. Their ability as astronomers is demonstrated elsewhere in the Canon - Watson speaks of Copernican Theory in A Study in Scarlet, and while Holmes claimed not to know about it, it is clear this was not true as in The Greek Interpreter he is quite able to discuss the obliquity of the ecliptic. Holmes and Watson then, make for ideal representations of the wise men.

 On their journey from the Crown Inn to the Manor House, our metaphorical magi meet another character - Roylott's pet baboon. The primate throws itself on the lawn in front of them, writhes about and then disappears into the darkness. Who else could this represent but King Herod? Up until now, the Baboon has been Roylott's favoured male - in a sense he has been the ruler of the grounds of Stoke Moran. But he senses that change is afoot. His anguished writhing represents the outburst of King Herod. And the baboons disappearance into darkness represents King Herod’s own descent into the dark deed of mass infanticide.

 Following this Holmes and Watson reach the location of the light. If the analogy holds true, Helen Stoner's room must represent the stable in Bethlehem. But we find no pregnant virgin here - Helen has abandoned it in favour of her old uncomfortable room where repairs are taking place. While this may be a nod to the rough conditions Mary found herself in, it is clear she does not actually represent the Holy Mother. So who does? It can't be Johnny "Three Continents" Watson. The only other occupant of the room at this time is Holmes. Consider his own words in The Lion's Mane: "Women have seldom been an attraction to me, for my brain has always governed my heart." It is quite possible that Holmes spent his whole life as a virgin. In this Holmesian version of the Nativity, as he crawled through the window of the bedroom Holmes moved on from his role as a wise man to become the Holy Mother.

 Did Watson also change role? Perhaps. Consider that from here on in the story, he watches over Holmes. Silently he observes, ready to protect, support and care for him as necessary. The role he provides is open to interpretation: he may represent Joseph, the supportive husband, or he may represent the Shepherds and their relationship with the lamb of God. Either way, he is certainly representative of the supportive people that Mary had around her in the stable at Bethlehem.

 At this point I would like to consider Roylott's role in this allegory. It seems clear to me that he represents the Devil. Early in the story Helen Stoner provided Holmes and Watson with a brief biography of her step-father. Helen's mother fell in love with Roylott while they were in India. This suggests that he was once a likable person. Helen later mentions a change in his personality - it is reasonable to suppose, then, that he was once a good man but he became a bad man. Like the one-time-angel Lucifer, Roylott seems to have changed at a specific point in his life. The murder of his butler seems to represent Satan's fall from Heaven. It is at this point that he returns to the estate at Stoke Moran. He comes to dominate the area - the cheetah on his estate representing his mysterious and malign influence reaching ever further. If we take the Stoke Moran estate to represent the world, we can see the parallel with Roylott-Satan gaining too much power and the need for him to be stopped. In summoning Holmes to Stoke Moran to stop her step-father, Helen Stoner mirrors God's decision to send his son to Earth to combat the forces of evil.

 So exactly where is the representation of Jesus in this analogy? It is, of course, Holmes himself. This further transformation takes place as Roylott-Satan exerts his influence over the world in the form of a serpent thrust through the ventilator. At this moment, Virgin-Mary-Holmes gives birth to Jesus-Holmes. He strikes a match to provide light in the darkness and drives the serpent back. How can this represent anything other than the light of Jesus driving evil back. As evil recoils upon evil, Holmes points out that "Violence does, in truth recoil upon the violent." Evil is defeated and mankind - in the form of Helen Stoner - is freed from its grasp.

 Now we see the last transformation that Holmes makes - having captured the snake, he places it carefully in a safe, locks it and leaves it for the police. No doubt the police welcomed this gift of evidence. The whole scene, of course, is supposed to represent Santa Claus wrapping and distributing his presents to the new, brighter world. Holmes has made his final metamorphosis, from Jesus to Santa - the true meaning of Christmas.

Any Other Business:

"The Entire Canon" (Paul Thomas Miller) shared his new song:

Monthly Meeting Minutes - 16th November 2021

Date of Meeting: 16th November 2021

 

Location of Meeting:

The Sherloft, My House, Portsmouth, UK

 

Attendees:

"The Entire Canon" (Paul Thomas Miller)

 

Apologies:

Brenda the Headless Mannequin tried to get in, but we told her to "f off basically because of your f-ing attitude". She then apologised. But we pretended not to hear.

 

The Toasts:

"The Entire Canon" (Paul Thomas Miller) provided the following toast to Slater from Black Peter:

Slater was a stonemason

Who lived in Forest Row.

I'd like to tell you more of him

But that is all I know.

  

Motions:

"The Entire Canon" (Paul Thomas Miller) winced.

 

Presentation:

"The Entire Canon" (Paul Thomas Miller) presented his great new game:

Canonical Carrotchters

You must figure out which character from the Canon each of the following carrots is impersonating.

(You can click on them to see bigger versions if that helps)

If you want to check your results, the correct answers are HERE.

Any Other Business:

No thanks.

Monthly Meeting Minutes - 16th October 2021

  The Shingle of Southsea Holmesian Society

Monthly Meeting Minutes

Date of Meeting: 16th October 2021

 

Location of Meeting:

The Sherloft, My House, Portsmouth, UK

 

Attendees:

"The Entire Canon" (Paul Thomas Miller)

 

Apologies:

Nope.

 

The Toasts:

"The Entire Canon" (Paul Thomas Miller) provided the following toast to Dr. Watson's egg spoon:

Egg spoon -

Spoon for egg -

Used by doctor

Who was shot in leg.

Or possibly arm.

  

Motions:

"The Entire Canon" (Paul Thomas Miller) made a sort of shifty motion with his left hand.

 

Presentation:

"The Entire Canon" (Paul Thomas Miller) gave the following presentation of an essay he wrote regarding Canonical cheese.:

The Cheeseboard of Sherlock Holmes

 

One of the important yet neglected branches of Holmesiana is that of Sherlock Holmes's association with cheese. There is clear evidence in The Canon for the great detective's turophile status which has, hitherto, gone unnoticed. I list here, then, the many cheeses spoken about in The Canon in the hopes of highlighting another facet of Holmes's character.

 

Holmes’s love of cheese might surprise some readers of The Canon. At first glance, there appear to be only three mentions of the dairy product.

Once in A Study in Scarlet:

“The theories which I have expressed there, and which appear to you to be so chimerical are really extremely practical—so practical that I depend upon them for my bread and cheese.”

Once in The Blanched Soldier:

“It wasn't merely that ghastly face glimmering as white as cheese in the darkness.”

And once in The Sussex Vampire:

“The doorsteps were worn into curves, and the ancient tiles which lined the porch were marked with the rebus of a cheese and a man after the original builder.”

 

But The Canon hides many secrets in plain sight and one need only take a second look to spot the many other references to cheese. For example, were you aware that Holmes was a fan of edam?

In chapter five of A Study In Scarlet we find:

““Old woman be damned!” said Sherlock Holmes, sharply.”

Edam is right there, hidden in Holmes’s sharp exclamation. And that’s not the only place it can be found. From The Engineer’s Thumb we find:

“…the plaster was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in green…”

From The Three Gables:

“But she is the ‘belle dame sans merci’ of fiction.”

The Sign of the Four:

“‘Then my comrade and I will swear that you shall have a quarter of the treasure which shall be equally divided among the four of us.’”

There are a total of thirty-two such references to edam scattered throughout the stories. Holmes must have been a massive fan of this mild-flavoured, semi-hard cheese. And that’s not surprising – it makes great cheese on toast.

 

Brie also seems to be a favourite. For example, in The Dancing Men:

“A nice old brier with a good long stem of what the tobacconists call amber.”

This is just one of eighteen such mentions.

 

The Welsh cheeses are given a far more vague reference. As, for example, in A Study in Scarlet:

“In one place he gathered up very carefully a little pile of grey dust from the floor, and packed it away in an envelope.”

There can be no doubt that this is a reference to the sound-alike Caerphilly cheese. The hard crumbly pale cheese is indeed quite like a “little pile of grey dust” in both appearance and flavour.

 

From The Greek Interpreter there is the following scene in The Diogenes Club:

“…cautioning me not to speak, he led the way into the hall. Through the glass paneling I caught a glimpse…”

“Hall-through-the”. How obtuse would one need to be not to immediately recognise the presence of Halloumi – the goat cheese which is often used as a substitute for meat? The dubious similarity in sound between “hall-through-the” and “halloumi” no doubt represents the dubious similarity between the taste of halloumi and actual food.

 

But that’s not the only cheese to be found in The Greek Interpreter – the English staple cheddar also appears:

“My companion let down the window, and I caught a glimpse of a low, arched doorway with a lamp burning above it.”

It is, perhaps, surprising not to find more references to cheddar. It is, after all, the best cheese in the entire world. But the only other mention I could find was in this same story:

“We had reached our house in Baker Street while we had been talking.”

 

The Six Napoleons adds a classic Swiss cheese to the cheese board, albeit with one “m” issing:

“No explanation save mental aberration can cover the facts.”

 

Blue cheese comes from The Blanched Soldier in the form of some delicious stilton:

“All evening, though I tried to think of other things, my mind would still turn to the apparition at the window and the rudeness of the woman.”

 

The Final Problem sees some Greek cheese join the cheese board:

“The question now is whether we should take a premature lunch here, or run our chance of starving before we reach the buffet at Newhaven.”

The context seems to suggest starvation is an option on a par with eating feta. This is because feta is awful.

 

So there we have it, the cheeseboard of Sherlock Holmes would contain edam, brie, Caerphilly, halloumi, cheddar, emmental, stilton and feta. No doubt there are more still to be found, but I believe this will do to be going on with.

 

Any Other Business:

Noooooooooooooooooooooope.

Announcement

You may have noticed that there was no 2021 September meeting of The Shingle of Southsea. This was due to tensions created by political differences between members of the society.

We are engaging in mediation and hope to resolve these differences in time to have an October meeting.

Monthly Meeting Minutes - 22nd August 2021

  The Shingle of Southsea Holmesian Society

Monthly Meeting Minutes

Date of Meeting: 22nd August 2021

 

Location of Meeting:

The Sherloft, My House, Portsmouth, UK

 

Attendees:

"The Entire Canon" (Paul Thomas Miller)

 

Apologies:

"The Entire Canon" (Paul Thomas Miller) smelt it, dealt it and then said sorry.

 

The Toasts:

"The Entire Canon" (Paul Thomas Miller) said the toaster was broken.  

Presentation:

"The Entire Canon" (Paul Thomas Miller) presented the following five Holmesian "how to" videos:

How to think like Sherlock Holmes:

How to observe like Sherlock Holmes:

How to dress like Sherlock Holmes:

How to play violin like Sherlock Holmes:

 

How to tell different ashes apart like Sherlock Holmes:

 

Monthly Meeting Minutes - 24th July 2021

  The Shingle of Southsea Holmesian Society

Monthly Meeting Minutes

Date of Meeting: 24th July 2021

 

Location of Meeting:

The Sherloft, My House, Portsmouth, UK

 

Attendees:

"The Entire Canon" (Paul Thomas Miller)

 

Apologies:

Yes.

 

The Toasts:

"The Entire Canon" (Paul Thomas Miller) provided the following toast to Watson's egg spoon:

Egg Spoon - 
Spoon for some eggs.
Eggs which pop out
Between chicken legs.

  

Motions:

"The Entire Canon" (Paul Thomas Miller) moved that we should advertise the Doyle's Rotary Coffin six month long Treasure Hunt which can be found here:

Doyle's Rotary Coffin Treasure Hunt

 

Presentation:

"The Entire Canon" (Paul Thomas Miller) has been taking taking film posters and substituting the tag lines for quotes from the Sherlock Holmes Canon. He presented these posters in three formats. A link to a PDF book of them:

LINK TO A PDF BOOK OF THEM

A tedious video:

And finally, as the actual pictures: