“play tricks with me and I’ll crush you” [ABBE]   

Was Sherlock Holmes too lenient with how he handled some of the criminals he defeated? There are a number whom he caught and set free, flouting the law in the process.

Inspired by a recent article in The Baker Street Journal, we look at examples in a handful of stories and compare the fates of the accused in each. Did they get what they deserved? It's much more than just a Trifle.

If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.

  Don't forget to listen to "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack).   Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts Links

• Related episodes:
• Episode 183 - Justice, Part 1: Unresolved
• Episode 184 - Justice, Part 2: Disproportionate
• Episode 187 - Justice, Part 3: Comeuppance
• All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
• Email 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

“another thread which I have extricated out of the tangled skein” [HOUN]   

It has long been accepted that the original title of A Study in Scarlet was meant to be A Tangled Skein. While there is no surviving manuscript of the first Sherlock Holmes story, a single page of notes has long served as Sherlock Holmes's "birth certificate."

However, Matt Hall discovered a letter in Sydney, Australia that proves otherwise. His research is presented in Vol. 37 No. 2 of The Sherlock Holmes Journal.  And it's much more than just a Trifle.

If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.

  Don't forget to listen to "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack).   Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts   Links

• The Sherlock Holmes Journal
• All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
• Email 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

“put £100 down in front of him” [BLUE]   

Humans are suckers for round numbers. And 100 seems like a perfectly reasonable one to settle on. It's the first three-digit number (in Arabic numbers, that is; Romans were happy to hit a C note).

When it comes to £100 in the Sherlock Holmes stories, it's a figure often associated with some sort of scam — enough to get attention and secure the trust of the mark. Which stories feature £100 and what were the circumstances? It's just a Trifle.

If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.

  Don't forget to listen to "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack).   Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts   Links

• Related: Episode 121 - Old Money
• All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
• Email 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

“I had painted” [TWIS] 

The Morley-Montgomery Award-winning article we're discussing this month is by H.C. Potter from Vol. 26, No. 2 of The Baker Street Journal.

In it, Potter looks at Watson's prosaic way of setting the scene for us. He selects excerpts from a number of stories to prove his case. Was he successful in backing up his claims? It's just a Trifle. 

If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.

  Don't forget to listen to "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack).   Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts   Links

• The Morley-Montgomery Award
• The Morley-Montgomery Award series of episodes (Patreon | Substack)
• H.C. Potter's obituary (The New York Times)
• David McCullough: Painting with Words (IMDb)
• All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
• Email 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

“why should anyone play me such a trick?” [CARD]   

After a brief hiatus, we're back to the third in our series of The Apocrypha of Sherlock Holmes — stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle that are technically not part of the original Canon. 

This is the shortest of all of the Apocrypha and it was created for the British Royal Family in a special edition. "How Watson Learned the Trick" is a lovely addition to the non-Canonical apocrypha. It's literally a Trifle. 

If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.

  Don't forget to listen to "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack).   Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts   Links

• "How Watson Learned the Trick" (Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia) 
• Queen Mary's Dolls' House (Royal Collection Trust)
• The Apocrypha of Sherlock Holmes (The Sherlock Holmes Reference Library)
• All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
• Email 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

“Is Mrs. Watson in?” [FINA]    We all know Watson had more than one wife; the number has been debated over the years. But it's his second wife that seems to be the most intriguing.   In this "Mr. Sherlock Holmes the Theorist" episode, we look at David Hammer's article from Baker Street Miscellanea, No. 43. Who was the second Mrs. Watson? It's just a Trifle. 

If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.

  Don't forget to listen to "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack).   Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts Links

• Other episodes referenced:
• Episode 291 - The Four Violets
• Episode 318 - Watson's Marriages
• All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
• Email 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

“traces of the ancient people” [HOUN]   

When Watson noted a "difficult and dangerous quest" on "the forbidden moor" in The Hound of the Baskervilles. The moor played an outsized role in that story, providing the perfect setting for this gothic tale of terror, greed, and mystery.

What is the moor really like? How does the Canonical version differ from reality? Listener Nelson Pigeon wrote in to ask, and we answer. It's just a Trifle. 

If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.

  Don't forget to listen to "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack).   Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts   Links

• The Hound of the Baskervilles: Hunting the Dartmoor Legend by Philip Weller 
• All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
• Email 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

“What, in heaven’s name, was it?” [HOUN]   

One of the most famous Sherlock Holmes stories, The Hound of the Baskervilles, tells a terrifying story of a dog that most certainly did something in the night-time. 

But what do we know about the actual canine? In a Morley-Montgomery Award-winning article in 1975, Michael L. Burton dispels myths and narrows down the likely breed. It's just a Trifle. 

  Don't forget to listen to "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack).   Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts     Links

• The Morley-Montgomery Award
• The Morley-Montgomery Award series of episodes (Patreon | Substack)
• All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
• Email 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      

 

“I am a bit of an archaeologist myself” [3GAR]

We find ourselves digging into a reference in "The Devil's Foot" in this episode, with the help of a pair of Sherlockian scholars. 

Poul and Karen Anderson explore the truth behind Sherlock Holmes's claim to be researching the origins of the ancient Cornish language. Where might the language have originated from? It's just a Trifle. 

We also continue conversing about one of our sidebars in this episode in a separate bonus clip just for our supporters (Patreon | Substack).

  Don't forget to listen to "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack).   Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts   Links

• All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
• Email 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      

“I went into the back yard” [BLUE]   

The third week of the month means we look at a piece of Sherlockian scholarship — particularly one that may not be as widely read or generally available to most Sherlock Holmes fans.

This month, we're looking at Bernard Davies' "The Back Yards of Baker Street," which appeared in James Edward Holroyd's Seventeen Steps to 221B. Step with us through the alleyways of 1895 to see if we can make a proper identification. It's just a Trifle. 

  Don't forget to listen to "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack).   Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts   Links

• Seventeen Steps to 221B by James Edward Holroyd (Abebooks)
• All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
• Email 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