Sherlock Holmes: Trifles

"I was well aware that the fiend was not dead, but sleeping" [MISS]

Sherlock Holmes infamously used cocaine. Indeed, his habit was such that Dr. Watson, both as a friend and a medical man, was concerned for his health. But addictions in the Canon go beyond that. In this month's "Mr. Sherlock Holmes the Theorist" episode, we turn our attention to Baker Street Miscellanea No. 42 (Summer 1985) in which Robert S. Katz turned his own medical mind to the attention of Holmes's and Watson's addictions, and how they may have been inextricably linked. And 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. Our Merch Store is open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today. "Trifling Trifles" is short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. How busy was Dr. Watson, in all reality? Make sure you're signed up so you don't miss this is exclusive benefit 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 84 - Inside 221B: The Morocco Case
• Episode 285 - Watson's Hidden Addiction
• Episode 431 - The Alleged Use of Cocaine by Sherlock Holmes
• 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 keep a bull pup" [STUD] Among all of the Canonical canines we run into — the spectral Hound, the inveterate Toby, both Carlos, the irascible and protective Roy — there is one that escapes our attention. We of course refer to Watson's bull pup. But maybe there's a reason for that. Maybe — just maybe — it wasn't a dog at all. But what was it? Join us as we investigate the curious incident of the bull pup in the night-time. 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. Our Merch Store is open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Take a look around. "Trifling Trifles" is short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. How busy was Dr. Watson, in all reality? Make sure you're signed up so you don't miss this is exclusive benefit 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 Bull Pup: Canine? Gun? Or Something Else?" by James O'Leary (I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere)
• 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

"services which may perhaps some day be described" [3GAR] In "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs," we're famously told that "Holmes refused a knighthood". Watson beguilingly only referred to it in passing, and we have no further information on the topic. Peter Calamai, BSI ("The Leeds Mercury") developed a plausible theory that he put to the test in the Autumn 2012 issue of The Baker Street Journal titled "Why He Isn't 'Sir Sherlock' Today." It garnered him the Morley-Montgomery Award that year. And 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. Our Merch Store is open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today. "Trifling Trifles" is back — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. How busy was Dr. Watson, in all reality? Make sure you're signed up so you don't miss this is exclusive benefit 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

• Peter Calamai on Episode 121 of I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere
• The Morley-Montgomery Award episode series (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

"Would that annoy you?" [STUD] Sherlock Holmes was not always the most patient of men. Then again there were others who had no capacity for tolerating delays, incompetence, or simple interruptions. There are all manners of annoyances in the Sherlock Holmes stories and all kinds of people to annoy. Let's get to work! 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. Our Merch Store is open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Take a look around. "Trifling Trifles" is short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. This time, "Watson's Cases" show the influence of the good doctor. Make sure you're signed up so you don't miss this is exclusive benefit 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

"A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" [BLUE] One thousand pounds sounds like a lot of money — now and in Sherlock Holmes's time. How much would £1000 in 1895 be worth today? In which stories do we find a mention of "a thousand pounds"? And what is going on around each of those sums? Answers to all of these questions and more are ahead. 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. Our Merch Store is open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Take a look around. "Trifling Trifles" is back — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. This time, "Watson's Cases" show the influence of the good doctor. Make sure you're signed up so you don't miss this is exclusive benefit 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

• Episode 445 - £100
• Check out all of our money episodes, handily curated in these collections on Patreon and 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

"departed to my rooms with a goodly volume under my arm" [ILLU] In this month's "Mr. Sherlock Holmes the Theorist" episode, it's a matter of a listener-suggested topic. After our Trifling Trifles look at Lomax the sub-librarian, Maxine Reneker wrote to us with an idea. In 2020, Maxine teamed up with Marsha Pollak to pen "Watson, Lomax, and the Goodly Volume: Observations on the Illustrious Client," in The Baker Street Journal. It gives us a much better idea of what Watson was reading as he prepared for his encounter with Baron Gruner. And 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. Our Merch Store is open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today. "Trifling Trifles" is back — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. "Watson's Cases" show the influence of the good doctor. Make sure you're signed up so you don't miss this is exclusive benefit 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 London Library
• Trifling Trifles: "Lomax" (Patreon | Substack)
• The Baker Street 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

"a little wisp of pink" [STUD] The Sherlock Holmes stories are filled with colors, from the stories with colors in the titles to the rich scenic details in each. What a great opportunity to explore the rainbow! We take this opportunity to explore the context of the color pink across the Canon. We even set it up like something of a quiz so you can play along in real time. Do you think you have what it takes to name the stories? 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. Our Merch Store is open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Take a look around. "Trifling Trifles" is back — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. This time, "Watson's Cases" show the influence of the good doctor. Make sure you're signed up so you don't miss this is exclusive benefit 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

"him who has the Holland Grove beat" [STUD] Harry Murcher. There's a name from the Sherlock Holmes stories that could be the answer to a particularly dastardly quiz. In this episode, we'll get to meet Harry, courtesy of Sonia Fetherston, BSI ("The Solitary Cyclist"), whose article "I Met Harry Murcher: Getting Acquainted with Holland Grove's Elusive P.C." appeared in the Spring 2011 issue of The Baker Street Journal and won the Morley-Montgomery Award that year. 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. Our Merch Store is open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today. "Trifling Trifles" is back — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. This time, "Watson's Cases" show us the good doctor's influence. Make sure you're signed up so you don't miss this is exclusive benefit 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 episode series (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

"some novel and suggestive circumstance" [BRUC] We've talked about victims before — people down on their luck, women powerless to do anything, and the like. Then we thought a little more about victims of circumstance. There are a handful of clients and even side characters in the Sherlock Holmes stories who, through no intention of their own, find themselves in difficult straits. These are such victims. And 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. Our Merch Store is open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today. "Trifling Trifles" is back — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. This time, "Lomax" emerges from the sub-library. Make sure you're signed up so you don't miss this is exclusive benefit 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 199 - The Victims
• Episode 257 - Damsels in Distress
• Episode 493 - Up Against It
• Episode 495 - Female Villains
• 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 see that there was nothing in it, after all." [REDH]

In this month's "Mr. Sherlock Holmes the Theorist" episode, we're getting aggressive: we're taking on a number of trifling things at once. Greg Darak, BSI ("The Engineer's Thumb") wondered about various troubling items in "The Red-Headed League," a story popular not only for its plot but for its many problems. Dates, practical matters and more face Holmes and readers. These are many Trifles. 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. Our Merch Store is open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today. "Trifling Trifles" is back — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. This time, "Lomax" emerges from the sub-library. Make sure you're signed up so you don't miss this is exclusive benefit 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 Baker Street 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