Black Armbands - more elusive than the Holy Grail?
I quick look at Twitter reveals that the subject of the Sherlock Holmes mourning bands has arisen once more. To be specific, it is the lack of any progress in finding evidence that has arisen (if something intangible can arise).
To recap, it has often been stated, in the aftermath of the publication of The Final Problem in 1893, that workers in the City of London wore black armbands in a show of mourning for the Great Detective.
It is a romantic idea to be sure and because of this it has been repeated so often that many books have mentioned it as a matter of course without any evidence. It is almost as if its continued repetition has had the effect of making it fact.
However, it is highly likely that this information had its origins with Adrian Conan Doyle - Sir Arthur's youngest son. There is certainly no newspaper evidence (yet) that backs this up and I think if a large group of people had mourned a fictional character it would have been worthy of official report.
For more information on Arthur Conan Doyle and his time at Undershaw please refer to my book, An Entirely New Country which is available through all good bookstores including Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Classic Specialities, and in all electronic formats including iTunes, Kobo, Nook and Kindle .
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| I miss Mr Holmes (no this isn't evidence) |
It is a romantic idea to be sure and because of this it has been repeated so often that many books have mentioned it as a matter of course without any evidence. It is almost as if its continued repetition has had the effect of making it fact.
However, it is highly likely that this information had its origins with Adrian Conan Doyle - Sir Arthur's youngest son. There is certainly no newspaper evidence (yet) that backs this up and I think if a large group of people had mourned a fictional character it would have been worthy of official report.
For more information on Arthur Conan Doyle and his time at Undershaw please refer to my book, An Entirely New Country which is available through all good bookstores including Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Classic Specialities, and in all electronic formats including iTunes, Kobo, Nook and Kindle .
The Norwood Author is available from all good bookstores, in many formats
worldwide including Waterstones UK, Amazon UK, Amazon USA, Barnes and Noble,
Amazon Kindle, iBooks for the iPad/iPhone, Kobo Books, Nook.
Close to Holmes is available from all good bookstores, in many formats
worldwide including Amazon USA, Barnes and Noble, Amazon UK, Waterstones UK, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, Nook and iBooks for the iPad/iPhone.
Eliminate the Impossible is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Amazon USA, Barnes and Noble, Amazon UK, Waterstones UK, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, Nook and iBooks for the iPad/iPhone.
Interesting. I love this kind of stuff. Thanks.
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