Discussion Post: A Study in Scarlet, Pt. 2

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

This week, the canon story we’re looking at is A Study in Scarlet (part 2, chapters 1-7), and the chosen topic is Cabs and Cabbies.

And welcome to our new contributor to the discussion post! Here are some interesting facts courtesy of garonne:

◎ People actually owned something called a cab whistle, specifically for 'whistling up a cab'. One blast summoned a four-wheeler, and two blasts summoned a hansom.

◎ In STUD, Holmes says: “All these considerations led me to the irresistible conclusion that Jefferson Hope was to be found among the jarveys of the Metropolis.” The word 'jarvey' was the usual term for a London hackney coachman in the 17th and 18th century, but it had gone out of fashion by the 1880s, to be replaced by 'cabbie' or 'cabby'. [Taxi Library: Bloomsday] Actually Doyle/Holmes/Watson most often use 'cabman'.

[Note from the mod. In Norman Beattie’s article on Taxi Library, he says: By the 1880's "jarvey" had passed out of fashion in England and was replaced by the more familiar "cabby"... and he adds ...but it remained popular in Ireland. I realise when Holmes uses the term what we’re seeing is ACD’s (a Scot of Irish ancestry) familiarity with the word—but could it give us some clue to Holmes’s ancestry too?]

◎ Cab-drivers didn't own the cabs themselves: they hired them from cab-owners, paying around 10 to 12s per day for a hansom cab (the two-wheeled, one-horse cab Holmes and Watson would normally be taking) in low season in 1879. The fare for a cab ride was set by law, but cab-drivers always charged over the legal fare—in fact if they charged only the legal fare they would barely have been able to afford to pay for the hire of the cab from the owner. [J Thomson and A Smith, 'Street Life in London', 1879]

◎ As well as the cab-drivers themselves, the other man to be found working at a cab-stand was the waterman (bringing buckets of water for the horses.)


Some useful resources:

Sherlock Peoria: Hansom Cabs “A look at the old two-wheeler and its place in the recorded cases of Mr. Sherlock Holmes” by Brad Keefauver

Victorian History: The Case of the "Growler" and the Handsome Hansom

Victorian London: The Character of Cabs and Cabmen

Victorian London: Cab Fares

Historic UK: Joseph Hansom and the Hansom Cab by Helen Monger


Please feel free to discuss this topic in the comments.

Please also feel free to comment about the canon story itself or any related aspects outside this week’s theme. For example, any reactions, thoughts, theories, fic recs, favourite adaptations of the canon story… Or any other contribution you wish to make. And if you have any suggestions for fic prompts springing from this week's story, please feel free to share those in the comments as well.

Comments

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

This is all extremely useful, considering the number of times I have Holmes and/or Watson taking cabs.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

I'm really starting to see all the possibilities in this new twist on the discussion post. Great idea of yours, madam ^^

And Garonne has come up with some truly interesting points. I hadn't even considered about the horses needing water ^^"

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

We'll have our own archive of useful information!

Not to mention all those minor details for fic writing - Holmes speaking to the water man, who knew which horses he'd seen ...

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

Ditto small hobbit's comment. Even knowing that Doyle's term was archaic is helpful.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

Yes, I hadn't known that "jarvey" had even been archaic at the time. It must have jumped out at the first English readers.

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Oh, fascinating! I wonder how many times those cab whistles did double duty for our heroes as police whistles? or simply as last-minute calls for help to one another when they found themselves in a tight spot and hoped the other was close enough to hear!

Little lifelines, I imagine.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry to say that my mind went immediately down the silly route - Holmes blowing his cab whistle for help and a horde of hansom cabs coming to the rescue ^^" (I don't know if you've ever seen Carry On Cabby...)

I wonder how different the two kinds of whistles sounded - I assume there must have been a difference between them..? In SIXN Horace Harker actually refers to his "police-whistle", so I assume just any old whistle wouldn't attract the police.

[debriswoman]

Thank you...I don't write in much detail in fics so my research is sparse...fascinating to learn more about the every day routines and procedures and fares and etiquette of the day. The only specific whistle I have heard of, is the acme thunderer used by railway men. Must be different tones as the requirements for police, train or cab would otherwise be a bit tricky to sort out...
A link
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/J_Hudson_%26_Co

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

These posts are indeed bringing up some fascinating stuff.

And yes - I assume the whistles must have sounded different. Thanks for the link - some interesting information. And of course the company had to be founded by two brothers called Hudson ^_^