MUSG: An Ancient Error

[smoothe1.livejournal.com]

Canon Story: The Musgrave Ritual
Title: An Ancient Error
Author: smoothe1
Rating: G

My Sovereign,

Ere I goeth unto battle, knoweth thou thy bidding 'tis done. Thy treasure hideth in wait. Shouldst thou call ere my return, inquirest of my eldest. A keen riddle I've left him. He shall easily reckon and leadeth thou. The sharp Musgrave intellect shall preseveth my honor and thy trust.

Thy humblest servant,
Sir Ralph Musgrave of Hurlstone

A/N: The Musgrave Ritual intrigues me in an almost comical sense. What was originally intended to lead the holder of the note to hidden treasure turns into a mundane family ritual performed by rote for generations.

It seems to me that old Sir Ralph miscalculated the ability of his heirs to mentally cope with a riddle whose solution is rather ordinary. His overconfidence is seen in this, his last note to Charles the 2nd, before Sir Ralph is killed in battle.

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Comments

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

No doubt poor Sir Ralph had hoped his son would be equally intelligent - or maybe Charles never knew to ask him.

[hisietari.livejournal.com]

Héhé, a very apt characterisation of this odd ritual, and a good reminder not to take oneself too... Musgraveish.

[smoothe1.livejournal.com]

Musgraveish...I love it! I must use this from now on when politeness will not allow me to be blunt. Although that requires another Sherlockian at the other end of the conversation! ;)

[hisietari.livejournal.com]

Oh, but it's all the more fun if they have no idea...

[ennui-enigma.livejournal.com]

Nice perspective. Well written. A reminder that brains don't always pass on to the next of kin.

[sabrinaphynn.livejournal.com]

Excellent.
Perhaps the intellect degraded slowly, over generations. Certainly someone needed to leave a copy of your epistle somewhere safe, like the family bible.

[smoothe1.livejournal.com]

Yes. It was strange that generations had come and gone yet two men, albeit of superior intellect, solve it in short succession.

[debriswoman]

Excellent. You can just picture the scene:-)

[hardboiledbaby]

Heh, and what a miscalculation! Great job :)

60 for 60, week 2: The Musgrave Ritual

[livejournal.livejournal.com]

User spacemutineer referenced to your post from 60 for 60, week 2: The Musgrave Ritual (http://dispatch-box.livejournal.com/194486.html) saying: [...] by An Ancient Error [...]

[spacemutineer.livejournal.com]

This is awesome. I adore the idea that Sir Ralph overestimated his descendants' abilities to reason out his riddle, and that set everything in very gradual motion. So glad someone covered the original writing of the ritual!

[impulsereader.livejournal.com]

A wry observation indeed. It's hardly surprising that an ancient family line would observe a ritual which made absolutely no sense and served no useful purpose after all...but if you dig just a bit further down...

[castiron.livejournal.com]

Oh, I like this take on it!

[snycock.livejournal.com]

Heh, I love the idea that Sir Ralph set this up with no worries that his descendants wouldn't figure it out. Just imagine what would have happened if Charles HAD shown up for the crown! :-)