Sherlock Holmes: Trifles

"a singular set of people, Watson" [WIST] Image credit: The Baker Street Irregulars

This podcast is a by-product of being active in the world of Sherlockians. But how did Sherlock Holmes societies first gain footing? What was the origin?

In the inaugural episode of our new series on Morley-Montgomery Award winners (exceptional Sherlockian scholarship from The Baker Street Journal), Robert Keith Leavitt puts pen to paper in 1961 on what had only been an oral tradition until that time, putting everything in perspective for our little hobby. It's probably a little more than a Trifle.

Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at [email protected] and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift. 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. In Season 9, we'll be adding "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode — as an additional channel of content exclusively for our paying subscribers. Don't miss it! Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts. Links / Notes

• The Morley-Montgomery Award
• 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

"the compliments of the season" [BLUE]

There is only one Sherlock Holmes story that takes place at Christmas: "The Blue Carbuncle," which took place on "the second morning after Christmas."

In his Gas-Lamp for the 1959 Baker Street Journal Christmas Annual, editor Edgar W. Smith, BSI ("The Hound of the Baskervilles") entertained the idea of what was happening at Baker Street on Christmas Day. And that seemed like a Trifle.

Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at [email protected] and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift. 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. And in Season 9 (debuting in 2025) we'll be adding "Trifling Trifles" as an additional channel of content only for our paying subscribers. Don't miss it! Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts. Links / Notes

• 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 have always had an idea that I would have made a highly efficient criminal" [CHAS]

In some cases, Sherlock Holmes was a bit of a vigilante in his pursuit of justice. He didn't mind breaking the law in a good cause. That led to him burgling various households.

Or did it? S. Tupper Bigelow, BSI ("The Five Orange Pips") was a lawyer by trade and disabuses us of the notion that Sherlock Holmes was a burglar. Some of it is a mere technicality, but it's all a Trifle.

Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at [email protected] and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift. 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. Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts. Links / Notes

• 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

"You look like a general who is planning a battle" [HOUN] The Battle of Marengo, by Louis-François Lejeune (public domain - Wikimedia Commons)

One simple sentence in "The Abbey Grange" served as the spark to the fuse of this Trifles episode. In one sentence, Sherlock Holmes referenced two of Napoleon's battles — each with a different outcome.

But it made us curious: what other famous battles were mentioned, either outright or by implication, throughout the Canon? We chose to discuss six of them. It's just a Trifle.

Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at [email protected] and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift. 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. Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts. Links / Notes

• Battle of Maiwand
• Battle of Malplaquet
• Battle of Agincourt
• Siege of Khartoum
• Battle of Marengo
• Battle of Waterloo
• Chicken Marengo recipe
• Other episodes mentioned:
• Episode 385 - The Long Road From Maiwand
• 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

"He disappeared upon the 3d of December" [SIGN]

"The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" is inextricably linked with the month of December. But what about the other cases Sherlock Holmes handled in the final month of the year?

Our research picked up only one other, and it isn't obvious by a careful reading of the Canon. Jay Finley Christ helps us out with a clever bit of detection and chronology to identify that second story. We compare and contrast these two December babies and it's just a Trifle.

Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at [email protected] and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift. 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. Leave Trifles a five-star rating and listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts. Links / Notes

• Other episodes mentioned:
• Episode 6 - Dating the Missing Three-Quarter
• Episode 49 - Sherlock Holmes and Rugby
• Episode 52 - The Second Morning After Christmas
• 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

"You seem to be a walking calendar of crime" [STUD]

Sherlock Holmes used the calendar to help him determine the significance of certain cluse and actions, noting phases of the moon and recurring events.

But there was another calendar that was useful to Holmes, which he mentioned in passing: the Newgate Calendar. It wasn't a calendar the way we refer to calendars. What was it and why was it of use? It's just a Trifle.

Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at [email protected] and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift. 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. Leave Trifles a five-star rating and listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts. Links / Notes

• The Calendrical Holmes
• Newgate Calendar entries (Pascal Bonenfant)
• The Newgate Calendar (Wikipedia)
• 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

"it was a dramatic one" [GLOR]

One of Sherlock Holmes's traits was that he was a master of disguise. And in the very first short story, "A Scandal in Bohemia," we find him in not one but two disguises.

However, it's more than costuming that made him successful at subterfuge. Curtis Armstrong shares his insights on why Sherlock Holmes was able to fool so many people, including Watson. And it's just a Trifle.

Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at [email protected] and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift. 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. Leave Trifles a five-star rating and listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts. Links / Notes

• Bohemian Souls (BSI Press)
• Revenge of the Nerd by Curtis Armstrong
• Previous episodes mentioned:
• Curtis on IHOSE Episode 143: P.G. Wodehouse and 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

"the Continental express" [FINA]

When Sherlock Holmes was trying to outrun Professor Moriarty, the trail led from London to Switzerland. It was anything but a straight route. Our travel series traces their trip.

What did Holmes and Watson's journey onto the Continent entail? How long did it take? And what might we say about their choices? It's just a Trifle.

Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at [email protected] and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift. 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. Leave Trifles a five-star rating and listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts. Links / Notes

• Previous episodes mentioned:
• Episode 218 - Buffets
• 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

"you have erred, perhaps" [COPP]

We have John H. Watson, M.D. to thank for the Sherlock Holmes stories, and we typically take them at face value. That is, we trust that Watson was telling us the truth.

While Sherlock Holmes complimented Watson for his choice of cases, he also had criticisms of Watson's writing, taking issue with his storytelling process. Does this mean Watson's accuracy might also be called into question? It's just a Trifle.

Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at [email protected] and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift. 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. Leave Trifles a five-star rating and listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts. Links / Notes

• 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

"gone—stolen, vanished" [BRUC] A few episodes ago, we investigated various items that clients brought to Sherlock Holmes and items that acted as vital physical clues. It was something of a show-and-tell. This time, we're flipping the idea on its head and considering various stories where something—or someone—goes missing. What and who will be it? Tune in for this Trifle. Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at [email protected] and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift. 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. Leave Trifles a five-star rating and listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts. Links / Notes

• Previous episodes mentioned:
• Episode 402 - Something to Show For It
• Episode 166 - Infectious Diseases
• Episode 271 - On the Scent with Sherlock Holmes, Part 3
• Bonus artwork for our supporters 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