Date of Meeting: 12th March 2023
Location of Meeting:
The Sherloft, My House, Portsmouth, UK
Attendees:
"The Entire Canon" (Paul Thomas Miller)
Apologies:
No.
Motions:
"The Entire Canon" (Paul Thomas Miller) moved for the removal of face-masks at meetings. No one seconded.
Presentation:
"The Entire Canon" (Paul Thomas Miller) presented the following paper on Holmes's heritage:
Sami Holmes
On a recent visit to Tromsø in northern Norway, I was fortunate enough to visit the nearby Sami Arctic Reindeer experience which is run by the indigenous Sami (sometimes Sámi or Saami) people of the region. It was a great day out and was very educational. But the thing which I was really struck by was an elderly Sami gentleman who was dressed in traditional Sami clothing. It was not the colourful gákti tunic which caught my eye, but the reindeer fur hat he was wearing. The hat was worn leather out and fur in. Possessing two large, cosy looking earflaps, which he had tied together above the hat, it looked remarkably like a deerstalker adapted for arctic conditions. When he brought a pipe to his lips, I was thrust upon an inevitable train of thought. Could this be the “ear-flapped travelling-cap” Watson spoke of in “Silver Blaze”? A little research shows that variations of this style of hat were common among the Sami people, though usually they seem to have been less bulky.
Immediately I began to think of that passage from “The Empty House” where Holmes recounts his adventures during the Great Hiatus:
“You may have read of the remarkable explorations of a Norwegian named Sigerson, but I am sure that it never occurred to you that you were receiving news of your friend.”
Notably, Holmes didn’t say he was posing as a Norwegian. He merely said that when Watson was reading about the Norwegian, he was reading about Holmes. Was Holmes admitting his true ancestry then? Having looked at the evidence I believe there is a good case for suggesting that his true heritage was from the Sami people of northern Norway. (I should note here that the Sami inhabit not just northern Norway, but also the north of Finland and Sweden and the Russian Kola Peninsula. However, as will become clear, I am drawn to the notion that Holmes was one of the north Norway Sami people. Indeed, this is the most likely as about half of all Sami live in Norway.)
It is well known that Holmes was cagey with Watson about his family history. He never really gave a lot away. The most we learn comes from the introductory section of “The Greek Interpretter”:
“My ancestors were country squires, who appear to have led much the same life as is natural to their class.”
This is incredibly vague. Perhaps this is deliberate. While it immediately conjures up images of landed gentlefolk in rural England, could it not also refer to the Sami going about their routine business in the countryside of northern Norway?
Certainly, this is possible, but I must next ask myself why, if it were true, Holmes would wish to keep his Sami heritage secret. The simple answer is persecution. I’m not going to go into great detail because I fear I will not do the subject justice. However, in short, like many indigenous peoples across the globe, the Sami have suffered a great deal of discrimination and abuse at the hands of the dominant cultures who have invaded their lands. While things have improved for them in recent years, the “Norwegianization” of the Sami people which was active government policy from the 1850s through to the 1980s attempted to destroy the Sami and their way of life. To avoid any prejudice which might follow him, Holmes may have chosen not to be up front about his Sami roots.
Accepting, then, the possibility of a Sami Holmes, I sought further evidence in The Canon to support the hypothesis. For starters there is the name Holmes gave himself when he reverted to his Norwegian persona – Sigerson. It was my Norwegian friend Chris Aarnes Bakkane who first drew my attention to the fact that Sigerson is not a Norwegian name. As a Norwegian, Holmes knew this. So why would he choose an incorrect name? It must have further meaning for him. Siger is actually a Swedish name meaning a military victory. By calling himself Sigerson, Holmes is suggesting that he is the child of a military victory. Could he be subtly referring to the invasion of Sami lands by the Norse people? That is, his “SHerlock Holmes” persona was born out of the victimisation of his Sami ancestors by the Norse people?
The fact that Holmes chose to be Norwegian in “The Empty House” is telling enough, but it should be noted that at the end of “Black Peter” Holmes announces that he is leaving the country to go “somewhere in Norway”. While there is some tying up of loose ends to do there from the case, this is very unusual behaviour for Holmes. He normally would send a few telegrams and let someone else do the donkey-work. This exceptional trip may be seen as evidence of Holmes seizing an opportunity to return home for a while.
Further ties to the Sami regions can be seen by the frequent help Holmes offers to Scandanavian royalty. This comes up in The Noble Batchelor, A Scandal in Bohemia and The Final Problem. Could his ties to this monarchy have been diplomatically motivated? Was Holmes attepting to alter policy towards the Sami people in a quid pro quo manner?
Holmes’s dressing gown has drawn much attention from Holmesian scholars in the past due to its colour changing properties. In “The Man with the Twisted Lip” it was blue. In “The Blue Carbuncle” is was purple. And in “The Bruce-Partington Plans” it was mouse-coloured. This seems excessive for a dressing gown. But what if Watson was mistaken. What if these were actually three different gákti – the robe like garments traditionally worn by the Sami people. These come in a variety of colours including reds, blues and medium-browns which could easily match up with the colours of robe Watson recorded. At those times of day when English gentlemen would relax in their dressing-gowns, what could be more natural for Sami Holmes than to relax in the traditional garments of his home.
In my research into Sami culture I came across some interesting images associated with noaidi - something akin to a Sami version of a shaman. One of the common tools of the noaidi is a Sami drum. These drums are used by the noaidi to induce a trance like state and to predict the future. A kind of die would be placed upon the skin of the drum which is decorated with various symbols. The symbol upon which the die stopped held meaning about the future. The symbols seemed reminiscent of others encountered by Sherlock Holmes:
Sami drum decoration
These stick man images are very similar to the images used in the code of “The Dancing Men”. In that adventure Holmes was very quick to suggest that the stick figures held definite meanings. Could this have been because he had seen such figures hold definite meanings in his past?
One of our guides at Sami Arctic Reindeer even spoke to us a little of the old Sami indigenous polytheistic religion. Specifically she told us about the many spirits they believe in, including one who protects each dwelling place. Compare this idea to Holmes’s statement in The Valley of Fear: “I'm a believer in the genius loci.” The genius loci is a very similar spirit from classical Roman religion.
At this point, Holmes’s Sami heritage seems indisputably evident. But I would even take my theory further and identify the specific type of community he came from. The Sami have traditionally pursued one of four livelihoods: sheep herding, reindeer herding, fur trapping or coastal fishing. I am convinced that Holmes’s heritage was in one of the fishing, or Sea Sami, communities. This would make sense for a Norwegian Sami - the fishing in this area is especially productive, although it is fair to note that the Mountain Sami of the region still do well with reindeer. Looking to The Canon, while there is little reference to deers, sheep or fur trapping in Holmes’s day-to-day speech, fishing comes up repeatedly. For example, Holmes twice uses the metaphor of net fishing when speaking about catching Moriarty and his gang in “The Final Problem”:
“I have woven my net round him until now it is all ready to close.”
“It was a net from which it seemed to me a few hours ago that there was no possible escape.”
And again in “The Mazarin Stone”:
“I've cast my net and I have my fish.”
Holmes is keen to highlight the attractions of fishing at his friend’s home in “The Gloria Scott”:
“There was excellent wild-duck shooting in the fens, remarkably good fishing…”
The tool he reaches for in “The Musgrave Ritual” is of note:
“Then I took two lengths of a fishing-rod, which came to just six feet, and I went back with my client to where the elm had been.”
In “Shoscombe Old Place” Holmes seems much excited about one aspect of his journey to this manor house:
“Is there good fishing in that part of Berkshire?”
In the same adventure, Holmes proves his talent in this area:
“My companion seemed to have no further plans for the day, and we did actually use our fishing tackle in the mill-stream, with the result that we had a dish of trout for our supper.”
In “The Lion’s Mane” his first observation at the crime scene is that of fishermen going about their business:
“On the sea two or three fishing-boats were at no great distance.”
Indeed, might Holmes’s retirement to a coastal region not be considered telling in itself?
Here then, I rest my case. The evidence seems to me to be piled in favour of my assertion that Holmes was of north Norwegian Sea Sami heritage, which goes a long way to explaining his reluctance to speak about his ancestry with Watson.
Any other business:
As the previous day had been International Hug-A-Holmesian Day, "The Entire Canon" (Paul Thomas Miller) sat in the corner hugging himself for two hours. He did not cry very much.
