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Sherlock Holmes: Trifles

Scott Monty & Burt Wolder

Discussing details in the Sherlock Holmes stories

  • 21 minutes 8 seconds
    The Long Road from Maiwand
    “at Maiwand without losing my nerve” [STUD]  Maiwand: Saving the Guns by Richard Caton Woodville, 1883 (Wikimedia Commons)  

    It is generally accepted that A Study in Scarlet, when Dr. Watson first met Sherlock Holmes, took place in 1881. Watson was just back from the war in Afghanistan, where he had been wounded at the Battle of Maiwand.

    But in 1940, Edgar W. Smith took a closer look at the timing between the battle, Watson's recovery time, travel to London and hotel stay, and came to a much different conclusion. He wrote it up in a pamphlet and it's just a Trifle.

    You can make suggestions as well — if we choose a topic you recommend, we'll send you a Sherlockian prize.   All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers receive thank you gifts. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today.   BONUS: a digital scan of Smith's original pamphlet is available to our  Patreon or Substack supporters.     Links / Notes

     

      Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra  Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band  Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0      
    15 May 2024, 12:01 pm
  • 19 minutes 4 seconds
    Sherlock Holmes, Cabby
    “Stop at a telegraph-office, cabby!” [SIGN]     

    Cabbies are everywhere in London – indeed, so common in some cases that they're simply overlooked (we see you, Jefferson Hope!). Could Sherlock Holmes have passed himself off as a cabby?

    There are certainly points in his career when it would have made sense. And a paper given at a Sherlock Holmes society in Denmark points in that direction. Hop on board with us in this monthly travel series episode! It's just a Trifle.

    You can make suggestions as well — if we choose a topic you recommend, we'll send you a Sherlockian prize.   All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers receive thank you gifts. Join our community today.   Become a Patron!   Links / Notes
    • "The Thomas Hogram Letters" by Sven Ranild is an expanded and translated version of a paper delivered in Copenhagen on September 19, 1987, at the Centenary Dinner of the Sherlock Holmes Klubben i Danmark and it appeared in the Summer 1991 issue of The Sherlock Holmes Journal.
    • Episode 124 - Odd Jobs
    • All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
    • Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com
    • Join our community on Patreon or Substack to hear bonus material and be eligible for drawings. 
      Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra  Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band  Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0      
    9 May 2024, 3:17 am
  • 29 minutes 53 seconds
    Wordplay
    “very curious phraseology” [WIST]     

    Here's an interesting little subject that ought to intrigue many Sherlock Holmes fans: words. We are a literate bunch, and when we get to learn more about words — especially words with which we're unfamiliar —  that makes us happy. 

    This topic was suggested by listener Jennifer Cassasanto, who was curious about some of the foreign and antiquated terms in the Canon. Fair warning, though: this is a pun-filled zone. Word nerds unite! It's just a Trifle.

    You can make suggestions as well — if we choose a topic you recommend, we'll send you a Sherlockian prize.   All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers receive thank you gifts. Join our community today.     Links / Notes

     

      Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra  Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band  Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0      
    2 May 2024, 3:04 am
  • 23 minutes 43 seconds
    Will the Real Devil's Foot Stand Up?
    “kept as a secret among them” [DEVI]     

    When Dr. Leon Sterndale said there was only one known specimen of radix pedis dioaboli – devil's foot root – in a laboratory in Buda, it was clear that it was a poison unknown to science.  

    Just what was it that was "used as an ordeal poison by the medicine-men in certain districts of West Africa"? Dr. Robert Ennis had an idea related to a substance we know well today, based on his observations in emergency rooms. And it’s anything but a Trifle.

    All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers receive thank you gifts. Join our community today. Become a Patron!   Links / Notes

     

     

      Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra  Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band  Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0      
    25 April 2024, 3:35 am
  • 25 minutes 11 seconds
    The Second Collaboration
    “His collaboration may be very necessary” [ILLU]     

    There's a curious phrase in the beginning of A Study in Scarlet that requires a little more consideration. Do you know what it is? John Ball, Jr. did. 

    And his theory about what that phrase signified is an intelligent and plausible one, lifted from a 1954 issue of The Baker Street Journal and The Baker Street Reader. Along the way, we uncover a surprising fact about Ball. And it’s anything but a Trifle.

    All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers receive thank you gifts. Join our community today.   Find Trifles wherever you listen to podcasts.   Links / Notes   Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra  Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band  Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0      
    18 April 2024, 2:18 am
  • 22 minutes 19 seconds
    To Go to Norwood
    “we shall certainly have to go to Norwood” [SIGN] 

    The latest in our travel series takes us to Norwood. In particular, the Norwood in The Sign of Four. Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, and Mary Morstan take a cab to a seedier part of London, and then a four-wheeler south to Norwood.

    How long would it have taken them? And what else might we find in this London suburb? Michael Harrison assists with an essay from In the Footsteps of Sherlock Holmes, and it’s just a Trifle.

     

    All of our supporters on Substack and Patreon are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers on Patreon receive thank you gifts. 

    Find Trifles wherever you listen to podcasts.

     

    Links / Notes

     

    Music credits

    Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra 

    Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band 

    Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

    11 April 2024, 3:00 am
  • 22 minutes 54 seconds
    The Manor House Case
    “consult me over that Manor House case” [GREE]    In addition to fascinating cases and clients, the Sherlock Holmes stories saw some wonderful house names. How did some of them get their names?   We look at the history of house names, call out the story names that were also house names, and mention a few of our favorite lesser-known country houses in the Canon. It's just a Trifle.   Oh, and just for our Patreon and Substack supporters, we have some additional analysis in a bonus episode. All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers receive thank you gifts. Join our community today.   Find Trifles wherever you listen to podcasts.   Links / Notes   Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra  Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band  Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0      
    4 April 2024, 3:45 am
  • 25 minutes 17 seconds
    B Is for Biscuit
    “one of biscuits” [GLOR]    It's not often we find ourselves with a Muppets crossover, but after stumbling across a few trifling references in the Sherlock Holmes stories, we began to think about the Cookie Monster in Baker Street.   Of course, there were no cookies in Baker Street. Only biscuits. Where might we find mentions of biscuits in the Canon? And what do we know about their variety and history? It's just another treat – a Trifle.   Oh, and just for our Patreon supporters, we have a link to a very special Cookie Monster-themed Sherlockian item. All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers receive thank you gifts. Join our community today.   Find Trifles wherever you listen to podcasts.   Links / Notes Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra  Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band  Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0      
    28 March 2024, 3:19 am
  • 30 minutes 35 seconds
    The Effect of Trades on the Body
    “the weaver by his tooth or the compositor by his thumb” [COPP]    On the third week of every month, we look at a piece of Sherlockian scholarship in a series we call "Mr. Sherlock Holmes the Theorist." In this episode, the article "The Effect of Trades on the Body" by Remsen Ten Eyck Schenck from Vol. 3, No. 1 of The Baker Street Journal in 1953 serves as our anchor.   Schenck offers a look at one of the monographs Holmes mentioned in The Sign of Four and proceeds to compare it with medical literature to draw conclusions about Holmes's work. And it's just a Trifle. Don't miss the bonus material we have for you - available on both Patreon and Substack. All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers receive thank you gifts. Join our community today. Become a Patron! Find Trifles wherever you listen to podcasts.   Links / Notes   Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra  Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band  Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0      
    21 March 2024, 3:08 am
  • 31 minutes 58 seconds
    Canonical Luggage and Railway Journeys
    “whatever luggage you intend to take” [FINA]     We're back on the rails this week, with our monthly travel-related episode. This time, we turn to an article written by H.J. Curjel for The Sherlock Holmes Journal, Vol. 12, Nos. 3 & 4, Summer 1976.    Specifically, we review his survey of stories in which railway journeys long and short took place, and specifically those in which luggage was mentioned or when people traveled without luggage. It's just a Trifle.   If you have a suggestion for a Trifles episode, let us know at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your idea on the air, we'll send you some Sherlockian goodies.  

    All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers receive thank you gifts. Join our community today.

        Have you left us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts yet? You don't need to own an Apple device, and every review helps more people find the show.    Links / Notes   Sponsor We are open to sponsorship. Please get in touch with us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com.    Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0        
    14 March 2024, 3:20 am
  • 26 minutes 13 seconds
    Half Measures
    “half-humorous, half-cynical” [DEVI]     Celebrate our terquasquicentennial with us as we take a full look at "half" mentions in the Canon. While there are nearly 400 instances of the word, there are a select few that tell us something about hte personality of Sherlock Holmes.    Namely, that Sherlock Holmes used the term "half" strategically when he wanted to sound a certain way. It's just a Trifle.   If you have a suggestion for a Trifles episode, let us know at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your idea on the air, we'll send you some Sherlockian goodies.  

    All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers receive thank you gifts. Join our community today.

      Have you left us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts yet? You don't need to own an Apple device, and every review helps more people find the show.    Links / Notes   Sponsor We are open to sponsorship. Please get in touch with us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com.    Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0        
    7 March 2024, 2:37 am
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