Greetings.
This story, which I believe we're discussing this month, seems a straightforward
narrative from Holmes illustrating the power of friendship and set, once again,
in times not too flattering of imperial Britain's treatment of, and attitudes
toward, coloured people. See the story reproduced below, or
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/513944.stm
In this context, it may be that the lepers were angry and unsympathetic to
Godfrey Emsworth on finding them in one of their beds because of the white man's
burden [of fear and guilt].
The best Britons face up to, and are ashamed of, those days and deeds. Among
them I must number segments of the British press, who seem to make no attempt to
cover up their national past.
As to friendship's power, I knew three people [an Indian, a German and an
Australian] who claimed to have owed their lives to a friend. The first two have
since passed away in their home countries. I myself may not be living if not for
several people I can think of.
At the beginning of the story, Holmes tells Dodd, 'You have the cut of a riding
man.' What may a riding man look like? Was Dodd bow-legged, then?
Let us discuss 'The Dancing Men' in December.
Ashoke
Imperialism in the dock - the Boer War
Flashpoint: South Africa in 1899
It was called "The Last of the Gentleman's Wars", but the Boer War, of 1899-1902
was in fact far from gentlemanly.
It took the vast force of the British Army three years of fighting, three huge
sieges and many battles with considerable loss of life, to overwhelm the Boers
(Afrikaners) and achieve victory.
At least 25,000 Afrikaners died in the war, most of them in concentration camps.
The war also claimed 22,000 British and 12,000 African lives.
And now the descendants of the Boers want an apology from the Queen.
Boers besiege MafekingSouth Africa in 1899 was an uneasy mix of Boer states, the
Transvaal and Orange Free State, occupied by Afrikaners, the descendants of
Dutch and French settlers, and the British self-governing colonies of Cape
Colony and Natal.
But to make matters worse between the Boers and the British, thousands of
Uitlanders (foreigners, mainly English) had been drawn to the Transvaal by the
gold rush.
By the 1890s they were paying a considerable amount of tax and demanded equal
rights.
But the Afrikaners refused and when the British refused a demand to stop
reinforcing their troops around the Transvaal, war broke out.
In the end, the Afrikaners were subjected to British rule.
Women wash their clothes at a concentration campBut in the intervening years,
the bloodshed and cost on both sides was immense.
During the first phase, the militarily weak British - fighting in a hostile
country over difficult terrain with long lines of communications - were put on
the back foot.
Boer armies attacked on two fronts, into Natal from the Transvaal and into the
northern Cape from the Orange Free State.
In the course of Black Week (10-15 December 1899) the Boers defeated the British
in a number of major engagements and besieged the key towns of Ladysmith,
Mafeking, and Kimberley.
However, large numbers of British reinforcements were being landed, and slowly
the war turned in Britain's favour.
The British, under Lord Kitchener and Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl
Roberts, relieved the besieged towns, beat the Boers in the field, and took
Bloemfontein in February 1900, followed by Johannesburg and Pretoria in May and
June.
A farm is burned in the scorched earth policyBut the war was by no means over,
and at the end of 1900 it entered upon its most destructive phase.
For 15 months Boer commandos attacked British bases and Kitchener responded a
scorched-earth policy.
The farms of Boers and Africans were destroyed and the Boer inhabitants of the
countryside were rounded up and held in concentration camps.
The plight of the Boer women and children in these camps became an international
outrage - more than 20,000 died in the carelessly run, unhygienic camps.
The commandos continued their attacks, many of them deep into the Cape Colony,
General Jan Smuts leading his forces to within 80km (50 miles) of Cape Town.
But Kitchener's drastic and brutal methods slowly paid off. The Boers had
unsuccessfully sued for peace in March 1901; finally, they accepted the loss of
their independence by the Peace of Vereeniging.
While certain Afrikaners are calling for an apology from the Queen, Sussex
University lecturer Dr Saul Dubow, an expert in modern South African history,
told BBC News Online that their demands were "specious".
He said: "Overall, the British were the aggressors, but the primary blame for
the deaths in the concentration camps has much more to do with incompetence and
lack of medical care than a deliberate attempt to kill.
"It seems specious to demand an apology 100 years on.
"It cheapens and reduces history to a morality tale and an apology in this
context does not serve any purpose."
Photographs courtesy of the Anglo Boer Museum.
Ashoke Dasgupta
14-519 William Avenue
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3A 0J7
Tel.[204] 786.3059 www.geocities.com/lemuriaca/information.html
'There is a difference between imitating a good man and counterfeiting
him.'--Benjamin Franklin.
---------------------------------
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> Watson was not there to make notes or it was modesty on the part of
> Holmes that he never referred to them?
Maybe it was just that ACD believed that Holmes' mystique would be
enhanced if his origins were kept obscure. Also, I don't think Holmes
told Watson a great deal about his past. I can't recall the exact
quote now, and I don't have a copy of the Canon handy, but I think
Watson comments on the fact that Holmes never discussed the early
cases with him. Possibly in the Musgrave Ritual itself? Or perhaps in
the Gloria Scott? Anyway, I've located 221B; I shall go there next
weekend.
Of course, this lack of knowledge is like manna for pastiche-writers.
Recall the brief discussion, some months ago, on Nicholas Meyer's
[frankly, quite shoddy] Seven-percent solution, and his speculations
about the origins of Holmes' dedication to justice.
Dear Rishi,
Sherlock Holmes lived in Montague street which is near the British
Museum.I read something about British Museum in 1860-1870's , it was
very difficult to be member of the museum , firstly one had to
apply , one had to be of noble birth. There would be an interview ,
then persons were allowed to go around the Museum in groups (
guided), that is if he passed the interview.
I think Sherlock Holmes would be interested in British Law and
toxicology
sumal
Members who may like to know more about Arthur Conan Doyle’s outlook and
interests can try to find a publication titled ‘The Unknown Conan Doyle:
Letters To The Press’. This compilation was first published in England by
Martin Secker & Warburg in 1986 ISBN 0-436-13303-2. These letters for
public consumption commence in 1879 and end in 1930. On the very day he
died, the Daily Telegraph published his last letter.
I have no idea of the original cost but I purchased a copy of the
publication for Sterling £5 recently.
Conan Doyle certainly comes over as a ‘man of his time’ though less
jingoistic than, say, Kipling. The two writers in the end lived quite close
to each other, in Sussex. As I understand it, Conan Doyle was first buried
in somewhere like Somerset, in the West Country, but later his remains were
moved back to where he ended his life, in Sussex.
Tim Symonds
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Is there a way to filter out material that does not seem to be in the spirit
of examining Sherlock Holmes as a detective? There are loads of other for a
form people to express anti-Islamic views, anti-colonial views,
anti-everything views - the Internet is littered with such exercises! If
India was ruled by 'mediocrities' such as Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke
of Wellington), it was because India made that most appalling of mistakes -
it allowed itself to be divided and ruled. A small island in the North Sea
like Britain could never have controlled such a large country as India,
thousands of miles away, for centuries if India had not been divided into a
lot of squabbling smaller entities.
-----Original Message-----
From: Ashoke Dasgupta [mailto:lemuriaca@...]
Sent: 28 October 2004 03:51
To: SherlockHolmesSocietyofIndia@...
Subject: [sherlock holmes society of india] The Musgrave Ritual.
Came across this in another group, which bears out the fact that
mediocrities and incompetents ruled the roost in the days of what
James Joyce called 'The Brutish Empire,' attested to in 'The Three
Students' and 'Musgrave Ritual.'
Meanwhile, Indians were deemed unfit for all but clerical positions.
This must never be lost sight of, if not to be repeated. The mindset
may, in passing, be noted to probably have caused suffering to the
lower British [enlisted] classes as well, which may in turn be why
they considered it appropriate compensation to rape and loot in the
time-honoured traditions of British fair play:
". . . in the good old days, when the Navy was run by men who were
men --any insubordination or excuses or recourse to 'personal-safety
first' rules would have resulted in the tar's getting the tar whaled
out of him at the hands of the Captain.
"The following historical snippet is interesting in this connexion --
though it's not clear what was the actual insubordination. (From the
Hon'ble East India Company records:)
"Bombay Orders 1825.No.59
"Sub-Assistant Surgeon HUNTLY, employed on board the Vestal Cruizer,
having conducted himself in a highly irregular , and improper manner
towards his Superior Officers, The Hon'ble the Governor in Council is
pleased to remove him from his situation of Sub-Assistant Surgeon,
and he is accordingly remanded back to the Regiment of Artillery as a
Gunner."
Yahoo! Groups Links
Came across this in another group, which bears out the fact that
mediocrities and incompetents ruled the roost in the days of what
James Joyce called 'The Brutish Empire,' attested to in 'The Three
Students' and 'Musgrave Ritual.'
Meanwhile, Indians were deemed unfit for all but clerical positions.
This must never be lost sight of, if not to be repeated. The mindset
may, in passing, be noted to probably have caused suffering to the
lower British [enlisted] classes as well, which may in turn be why
they considered it appropriate compensation to rape and loot in the
time-honoured traditions of British fair play:
". . . in the good old days, when the Navy was run by men who were
men --any insubordination or excuses or recourse to 'personal-safety
first' rules would have resulted in the tar's getting the tar whaled
out of him at the hands of the Captain.
"The following historical snippet is interesting in this connexion --
though it's not clear what was the actual insubordination. (From the
Hon'ble East India Company records:)
"Bombay Orders 1825.No.59
"Sub-Assistant Surgeon HUNTLY, employed on board the Vestal Cruizer,
having conducted himself in a highly irregular , and improper manner
towards his Superior Officers, The Hon'ble the Governor in Council is
pleased to remove him from his situation of Sub-Assistant Surgeon,
and he is accordingly remanded back to the Regiment of Artillery as a
Gunner."
>Is it not an irony that sucessive generations of Musgraves could
>not decipher the significance of the Ritual whereas Brunton could
>get to the bottom of the matter so easily. So much for public
education at Eton and Oxford
Well, I'm a medical transcriptionist, as I've said before. Sometimes, I don't
get a particular word or phrase even after I've listened to it a hundred times,
but my roommate, who is in no way connected to MT, gets what the doctor is
saying almost immediately. Why is that? Me with almost 5 years of experience and
a wet-behind-the-ears fresher? It's because I keep listening to the same
word/phrase from the same angle and that sticks to my mind not allowing new
ideas, but my friend listens to it from a fresh perspective... a different
angle. Maybe, that's what happened here!
Sridhar
sumalsn <no_reply@...> wrote:
Hello Sherlockians,
Is it not an irony that sucessive generations of Musgraves could
not decipher the significance of the Ritual whereas Brunton could
get to the bottom of the matter so easily. So much for public
education at Eton and Oxford
sumal
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Greetings, all.
My friend Eva Luk is a Winnipeg-based immigration lawyer. See
http://www.luk-law.com/
She'll be visiting Indian cities next month and is looking for Indian
agents to work with.
Please contact her through her website if interested. Alternatively,
contact me and I'll refer you to her.
Cordially,
Ashoke
--- In SherlockHolmesSocietyofIndia@..., sumalsn
<no_reply@y...> wrote:
>
> Hello Sherlockians,
> Is it not an irony that sucessive generations of Musgraves could
> not decipher the significance of the Ritual whereas Brunton could
> get to the bottom of the matter so easily. So much for public
> education at Eton and Oxford
> sumal
A well-educated man, Brunton may've been an Oxford/Cambridge product
himself, though it isn't mentioned. His education seems incompatible
with his status in life. Poetic license, perhaps?
I also find it odd that a man of Brunton's talents stayed in the UK
as a butler, while his mediocre colleague presumably went to a colony
to live the high life, at story's end.
Hello Sherlockians,
Is it not an irony that sucessive generations of Musgraves could
not decipher the significance of the Ritual whereas Brunton could
get to the bottom of the matter so easily. So much for public
education at Eton and Oxford
sumal
Hello Everybody,
I have just posted the link of this society in www. wikipedia.com ,
the free encyclopedia, so that more persons who visit the Sherlock
Holmes entry come to know of our site. Please try doing it
sumal
Hello Sherlockians,
Can any of you think of the reason why the early career of Holmes
was seldom covered by Sir ACD. except for the Musgrave Ritual and
Gloria Scott , there is very few stories which feature cases
belonging to this period of Holmes. Is it because His Boswell , Dr
Watson was not there to make notes or it was modesty on the part of
Holmes that he never referred to them?
sumal
> I am wondering whether members have any examples of Holmes' sense
of humour? Did he possess one? The few instances seem at the most
wry, for example when he solved a case but Scotland Yard took the
credit.
Of hand , I can think of two instances , the first in the Adventure
of the Norwood Builder where he smokes out the culprit and the second
one in The adventure of the Naval treaty where he hides the treaty
under a tea cozy and asks Percy Phelps to open the treaty , giving
poor Percy , a shock.
Ashoke , the transalation was very well done
sumal
I am wondering whether members have any examples of Holmes' sense of humour?
Did he possess one? The few instances seem at the most wry, for example
when he solved a case but Scotland Yard took the credit.
Tim Symonds
>
> I doubt it, sumal. From the little I know, Baritsu was a fairly
> obscure martial art, basically restricted to Victorian England,
> rather than one that was of East Asian origin. But it was inspired
by Jujitsu- which you will find taught in some places in India, I
think. If you find any information about existing baritsu societies,
though, let me know!
Yes , you are right . I ran a google search for Baristu but could
not find anything . I think there must be some remanants of it even
now , it could'nt have died out so abruptly. What do you say, Rishi?
sumal
I would myself be interested to know more about the martial techniques of
Okinawa-te, the fighting technique used by the people of Okinawa. I have
sketched out a story about Holmes and Watson and have mentioned this
practice.
Tim Symonds
-----Original Message-----
From: rishiiyengar [mailto:no_reply@...]
Sent: 19 October 2004 09:51
To: SherlockHolmesSocietyofIndia@...
Subject: [sherlock holmes society of india] Re: Information sought!!!!
I doubt it, sumal. From the little I know, Baritsu was a fairly obscure
martial art, basically restricted to Victorian England, rather than one that
was of East Asian origin. But it was inspired by
Jujitsu- which you will find taught in some places in India, I think.
If you find any information about existing baritsu societies, though, let me
know!
--- In SherlockHolmesSocietyofIndia@..., sumalsn
<no_reply@y...> wrote:
>
> Hello Sherlockians,
> I am keen to know whether there is any place in India in which
> Baristu is taught . Can any member help me out on this sumal
Yahoo! Groups Links
>I think Holmes phenomenal knowledge on subjects was due to the fact
> that his lodgings were near the British museum.
I think that is a good point. The Museum library in Holmes' time was,
I think, open only to serious researchers. The young Holmes would
obviously fit that category- not only was he very clear on the
subjects that he wished to learn about, he had very specific lines of
enquiry that he wanted to follow- and of course, when Watson first
met him, he was actually engaged in an experiment. I'll see if I can
turn up some information about the contents of the Museum Library in
the 1860s/70s- and compare it to Holmes' interests. Would anyone care
to help me list out the subjects? For example, three that I can think
of are: anatomy, pharmacology and the history of crime.
I doubt it, sumal. From the little I know, Baritsu was a fairly
obscure martial art, basically restricted to Victorian England,
rather than one that was of East Asian origin. But it was inspired by
Jujitsu- which you will find taught in some places in India, I think.
If you find any information about existing baritsu societies, though,
let me know!
--- In SherlockHolmesSocietyofIndia@..., sumalsn
<no_reply@y...> wrote:
>
> Hello Sherlockians,
> I am keen to know whether there is any place in India in which
> Baristu is taught . Can any member help me out on this
> sumal
> I would like the name of some nightclub spots that are popular
> now - please, with description of any you send.
Well, I'm not much of a clubber, but Fabric and Oxygen are very
popular clubs. Oxygen-which, I think, is an international chain, has
at least three levels: the ground floor is the pub/bar area;
downstairs is the dance floor- and it is packed to the rafters on
Friday nights. Upstairs, you have the area that gives the club its
name: the oxygen bar where, for £ 10, you can reputedly get a tray
full of vodka shots, which you alternate with whiffs of pure Oxygen.
Leicester square is a place that is known for its nightlife and
aggro people- funnnily enough, for many of the locals whom I know,
Soho is a much less aggressive place, even though it has a [accurate]
reputation as being a sleazier place. Most of the very happening
places are outside my price range! Tell me what you'd like to know,
specifically, and I can ask around.
Will one of you translate my haiku poem into
Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Bengali, Tamil, or Marathi. Please.
"Love Knots" by Maggie Blue
I feel at home here
Among poets who love words,
who treasure love knots.
Sumal is right that Sherlock Holmes' first lodgings, before he was
introduced to Watson, were very close to the British Museum but after that
he moved to Baker Street for the whole of the Holmes/Watson years. It is
quite surprising that as far as I can see not one reference to the British
Museum by name exists, or am I wrong?
-----Original Message-----
From: sumalsn [mailto:no_reply@...]
Sent: 16 October 2004 11:59
To: SherlockHolmesSocietyofIndia@...
Subject: [sherlock holmes society of india] well
Dear Sherlockians,
It was a very interesting discussion on imperialism and its effects
on literature. We shall continue to examine them in detail.
We should also get on with our discussion on the Musgrave ritual.
I think Holmes phenomenal knowledge on subjects was due to the fact
that his lodgings were near the British museum. Even Karl Marx wrote
his Das Kapital will researching in the British museum. How about
that , Rishi
sumal
Yahoo! Groups Links
I have seen the word spelt as 'Barista'; if this is the word, have a look on
www.worldbaristachampionship.com/
-----Original Message-----
From: sumalsn [mailto:no_reply@...]
Sent: 16 October 2004 12:05
To: SherlockHolmesSocietyofIndia@...
Subject: [sherlock holmes society of india] Information sought!!!!
Hello Sherlockians,
I am keen to know whether there is any place in India in which
Baristu is taught . Can any member help me out on this
sumal
Yahoo! Groups Links
Dear Sherlockians,
It was a very interesting discussion on imperialism and its effects
on literature. We shall continue to examine them in detail.
We should also get on with our discussion on the Musgrave ritual.
I think Holmes phenomenal knowledge on subjects was due to the fact
that his lodgings were near the British museum. Even Karl Marx wrote
his Das Kapital will researching in the British museum. How about
that , Rishi
sumal
I have not yet managed to find bookshops in London which carry a good supply
of Sherlock Holmes' material. However, do e-mail a fairly small book-shop
in a town on the south coast of England - Eastbourne - who has some
interesting stuff but would also probably know of likely London book-shops
worth trying. The owners' names in Eastbourne are Camilla Francome and
Stuart Broad, on e-mail: camillasbooks@...
Re. a film-script, how about the idea of the Sherlock Holmes Society of
India dividing into regional groups of two or three or four members, each
contributing a part of the script - how it opens, what develops, how it
comes to a climactic conclusion? Not only is there a vast potential market
in India for such a film but it would be entirely in keeping with the
late-Victorian/Edwardian atmosphere in which Conan Doyle himself existed.
As a start, does anyone know anything about India's equivalent of Scotland
Yard circa 1888-1910?
Tim Symonds
-----Original Message-----
From: rishiiyengar [mailto:no_reply@...]
Sent: 15 October 2004 11:50
To: SherlockHolmesSocietyofIndia@...
Subject: Re: [sherlock holmes society of india] The Master is back
> I watched the first of this series and was frankly disappointed.
Really? Oh, well, pity. I wonder if you know of any good second hand
bookshops in London? I'd certainly like to *go* to a bookstore and
browse around for Holmesiana, possibly even something for the library
planned for our society.
> would certainly be happy to offer script ideas - I can see Holmes
and Watson arriving in Bombay....
Interesting idea. I personally like the idea of Holmes investigating
some massive financial fraud, a la Baron Maupertuis. What kind of
script ideas do you have in mind?
Have you read the Mandala of Sherlock Holmes? It is set in India/
Tibet. And yes, it has the odd dash of Kipling and the Great Game.
Yahoo! Groups Links
> I watched the first of this series and was frankly disappointed.
Really? Oh, well, pity. I wonder if you know of any good second hand
bookshops in London? I'd certainly like to *go* to a bookstore and
browse around for Holmesiana, possibly even something for the library
planned for our society.
> would certainly be happy to offer script ideas - I can see Holmes
and Watson arriving in Bombay....
Interesting idea. I personally like the idea of Holmes investigating
some massive financial fraud, a la Baron Maupertuis. What kind of
script ideas do you have in mind?
Have you read the Mandala of Sherlock Holmes? It is set in India/
Tibet. And yes, it has the odd dash of Kipling and the Great Game.
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