Will try my best to write this post tonight...now I am on some medication that says it can cause drowsiness, so for me, it might as well as say...this drug will knock you out!
Do I have a lot of things to write about? You bet! My purse is stuffed with all the notes that I have jotted down about people, places and things that I want to tell you about. For today, I will tell you that it is the anniversary of the birth of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the man who gave us the character, Sherlock Holmes! (Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on May 22, 1859.) There is the most wonderful site devoted to him, you may find it just here! Be sure to read his biography while you are there. What a fascinating man!
One thing that I learned, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle when he was only 25 years old, wrote a short story, a fictionalized account about the ship, the Mary Celeste, called "Habakuk Jephson's Statement", but it was written in the form of a first person testimony by a survivor. He called the ship, the MARIE Celeste in his story. Perhaps because of his influence, you can often hear people discuss this ship using his name for it.
(I do hope you know the true story...the Mary Celeste is famous for the mysterious disappearance of all those who were aboard. On Dec. 5, 1872, the ship was found deserted in the Atlantic ocean, off the Azores islands, completely abandoned. Once again, I have a link for you here. And of course, there is a non fiction book that I can tell you about...
"Ghost Ship: The Mysterious True Story of the Mary Celeste and Her Missing Crew" by Brian Hicks.)
Okay, now back to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle...
Did you know that he never once said, "Elementary, my dear Watson" in any of his stories? He might have come close to those words but he never actually said them. One thing that he DID say, and I only found this out today, but his last words were directed to his wife and he said to her..."You are wonderful."
I also read that every spring he gave to his wife Jean, the very first snowdrop flower that bloomed in their garden. And she kept every one of them! There, isn't that just the sweetest thing to know? ( A few years back, I think that one of those snowdrops were auctioned off...)
Also, I read that there will be a new 50 pence coin that will come out this year in Britain. You may see it just here. The coin will have a likeness of Sherlock Holmes in his famous deerstalker cap, along with titles of some of his most famous stories. The words are so tiny, you will need a ...wait for it...a magnifying glass! Isn't that just the perfect touch?
Sidney Paget is the man who illustrated the Sherlock Holmes stories that were published in the Strand Magazine. He did 356 published drawings!
What a wonderfully informative post...elementary, my dear Kay! I have to look that ship up. My grandboy will be fascinated by that! I hope you are feeling better soon. Those drugs are awful, aren't they? xo Diana
ReplyDeleteIt is a fascinating true story and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle must have thought so too, since he wrote about it, but in a fictionalized way. Drugs just make me goofy and I don't need any help in that department. You know that's true! xx
DeleteYou may be drowsy, Kay, but you haven't lost your positive, uplifting voice! I enjoyed your post on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes. I am most impressed with Doyle's last words. What they must have meant to his wife. I hope that you are not still dealing with the poison ivy encounter. Feel better! xox!
ReplyDeleteI love his last words, from someone who brought us a character that lived by his brains, and yet, the author lets us know that the heart is the most important. He just seemed like a great guy to me.
DeleteWe have a trivia question ever day at our bookstore and today's was what did he study at the university of Edinburgh? Medicine! and his practice wasn't very busy so he wrote.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your meds.
Cathy
I'm glad that he took up writing instead!
DeleteHe was a fascinating person, and it's amazing that more people know about his character Sherlock Holmes than know anything about him.
ReplyDeletePoor guy, he wanted to write about other things but he had to give the public what they wanted. Shame really, he couldn't do what he wanted and write about other things.
DeleteWell that's very disappointing to learn he never said Elementary My Dear Watson......my bubble just burst. Cute story about the flowers every spring. Hope you adjust ok to your new meds. Take care.
ReplyDeleteWell, of course, he DID say it, in many, many stage productions and films! I love that he was so in love with his wife and not afraid to show it. My kind of guy!
DeleteDo hope the medication, will help, whatever you have to take it for....
ReplyDeleteThat "Elementary...." saying, that wasn't. Like the "Play it again Sam" line, from Casablanca. Don't think that was in the script, either.
The Mary Celeste! What an intriguing real mystery.
Love that pic of the Sherlock Holmes Pub and Bar, which I have seen before. How delightful a tribute to him. :-) Looks like a movie set, but it's real.
Gentle hugs...
Thank you, I didn't think I would ever get over that rash and the problems with the meds! Yes, there are many things that we think that we hear, and we just don't get them right!
DeleteThe Mary Celeste...it is still a mystery really, no one really knows, they are all just guesses.
Yes! My husband took that photo when we were last in London. And I thought it would be nice to go with this post!
Sweet hugs to you too, I love your name..Wisps of Words...that is lovely.
Is that the Sherlock Holmes pub in London, just off Trafalgar Square? If so, I've been there! I love Sherlock Holmes so I enjoyed your post very much.
ReplyDeleteIt was on Charing Cross Rd, we were walking back to our hotel which was near Russell Square.
DeleteThanks, Debra! I was half asleep when I did this post, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle should have been given more write up than this!
Thanks for writing the bio about this great writer. And that ship the Marie Celeste, wow, who knew?
ReplyDeleteI only like to read non fiction books so I know a lot of stories like this one! :-)
DeleteHi Kay - well done and I do hope you're feeling easier now. I enjoy Sherlock's stories ... and they've stood the test of time. Interesting about the Marie Celeste story ... I didn't know that. The 50p piece looks really interesting ... clever design. Cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteI hope to get hold of a magnifying glass in England just so I can get a close look at that 50p piece when I am there! :-)
DeleteI've been in the pub named after him in Edinburgh a few times. Nice history. Lost count of the famous quotations attributed to people that they never actually said, often more long-winded or less memorable and the media, or friends, have improved it over time. "You Dirty Rat" J.C. "Well he would say that, wouldn't he?" etc...
ReplyDeleteOften the newspapers tidied the original quotes up.. lot of good writers in the press with a keen eye/ear for a snappy retort/punchline.
Keen eye/ear...that is so true. Sometimes, they know what will stick in our heads the most! That is what good songwriters do also! You know what I am like about songwriters.
DeleteI was never a huge fan of Sir ACD. The Hound Of The Baskervilles was required reading in junior high.
ReplyDeleteI have mixed feelings about required reading. The books that we were made to read. I never liked "Catcher In The Rye" and I never, ever will!
DeleteGreat post, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHey, John! Thanks! Nice to see your daisy comment here!
DeleteAuthor known in the world!
ReplyDeleteNice to meet your blog.
Thank you! Please visit again!
DeleteI am a fan of SAC-D...I always was, but on our '92 sabbatical to Hungary a complete works of this author was one of the few English books we could get. But daughters, especially Alice, all but memorized the stories. I know he got into some strange beliefs later in life, but what a creative man he was.
ReplyDeleteYes, and I think that must have hurt him, the things that he got into in his later life, that people no longer respected him. He seemed like a really kind, intelligent soul to me.
DeleteAnd I LOVE your beautiful header with the sea (I'm assuming, but maybe a large lake) and the lone sailboat.
ReplyDeleteThat was taken from Beachy Head, that is the English Channel on a calm day.
DeleteThere is a picture of Sherlock Holmes just outside Baker St. Station, which is amusing considering that he never existed. But perhaps if they had put Sir Arthur up there he would not have been quite so eye catching!
ReplyDeleteHe must have thought to himself that he had created a monster! He could only write more Sherlock Holmes stories, that is what the public wanted.
DeleteI can't believe you wrote this wonderful post while fighting sleep. This is so interesting. I love the snowdrop story and now you've got me wondering about the Mary Celeste. I actually didn't hear about that ship. The Smithsonian never does really answer what happened to the people onboard.
ReplyDeleteIt is all still a mystery about the Mary Celeste, no one really knows.
DeleteWhat a super post … very interesting and informative.
ReplyDeleteI do hope you feel better soon.
All the best Jan
Thank you, Jan! I am better now, still have scars from that poison ivy. Hopefully, they will fade.
DeleteIt was necessary to invent Sherlock Holmes, a character who could exemplify a broader spectrum of reason, logic, ratiocination than Poe's Auguste Dupin --to show people that the world need not be so baffling after all. I was born 90 years after Doyle, under electric light. But when I read his stories, it's always a gas-lit, foggy night, and it's always 1895.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, George! I wonder if the character of Sherlock Holmes had not become so very popular then Sir Arthur Conan Doyle could have written other things..but it seems he came to accept he had created a monster, so to speak!
DeleteThanks again for becoming a follower, much appreciated.