Discussion Post: Silver Blaze

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

This week, the canon story we’re looking at is Silver Blaze, and the chosen topic is Horse Racing in Victorian England.

A few facts:

🏇 The Sporting Times was founded in 1865. It was a weekly newspaper devoted mainly to sport and particularly to horse racing, and was known as the Pink ‘Un as it was printed on pink paper. It does of course get a mention in BLUE: "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," said he. [Wikipedia]

🏇 In Victorian times the Epsom Derby was hugely popular, especially with Londoners: On the Derby morning all London wakes at cock-crow… The Derby is emphatically all England's day. It culminates in a result in which millions are keenly interested… We are told that Englishmen take delight in providing themselves with frequent chances of breaking their necks, and that this is a very strange trait in our character… For such a people this mad scamper of "a whole cityful" through the lovely sylvan scenes of our island to see two or three races, with the anticipation of a hundred accidents in the twilight on the way home, is a logical form of national holiday. [Victorian London - Publications - Social Investigation/Journalism - London : A pilgrimage, by Gustave Dore and Blanchard Jerrold, 1872, victorianlondon.org]

🏇 For many years the [Epsom] Derby was run on a Wednesday or a Thursday and on the day huge crowds would come from London, not only to see the race but to enjoy other entertainment… [Wikipedia] That is, the Epsom Derby Fair. When steam-driven rides were invented in the 1870s, the derby saw roundabouts, chairoplanes, switchback rides, walls of death, with every new marvel painted in bright fairground designs. [surreycomet.co.uk]

🏇 Off-track betting was made illegal in 1853. This was apparently an attempt by Parliament to save the working classes from themselves. The upper classes could bet in their private clubs though. (I’m beginning to see why Holmes might have locked up Watson’s chequebook…) [The Sporting Life: Victorian Sports and Games by Nancy Fix Anderson (2010)]


Some useful resources:

The Derby (1896) on YouTube. A 30 second film of the Epsom Derby that was filmed in 1895. (Going by what Wikipedia says, I think the “1896” in the title here refers to a reprint of the footage.)

The Sporting Times on Wikipedia.

Victorian London - Entertainment and Recreation - Sport - Racing on victorianlondon.org

The Derby Day (1856–8) An oil painting by William Powell Frith, which “presents a panorama of modern Victorian life”, on tate.org.uk


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]

And not only was the Wessex Cup an invention of ACDs (perhaps reasonably), but so was the racecourse. For anyone interested, the nearest plausible locations would have been Salisbury or Newbury.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

That is interesting, thank you. I knew the Wessex Cup was fictional but it hadn't occurred to me to consider the racecourse itself.

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

My question is how did the Colonel not know his own horse? Even if my kids were doused in paint and put in a room with a bunch of other painted kids, I'd still recognise them.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

This is a very good point that has come up in a previous discussion.

I suppose different people have different abilities when it comes to recognition. I've not got any real problems there but if someone has changed their appearance slightly or if I haven't seen them in some years, I won't immediately recognise them.

And this is a man and a horse - recognising an individual member of another species is more difficult. I also suppose the Colonel wouldn't have had much to do with the day to day care of the horse - he might not perhaps know him that well.

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Echoing Frankles - Ross was the owner, not the trainer or stable lads, who would certainly have recognised the horse.

Ross wasn't expecting to see his horse, so he wouldn't have been looking for him, unlike if you were looking in a room of painted kids for yours. At my son's wedding I turned up in my 'mother of the groom' outfit and my mother didn't recognise me at first.

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

Also reccing gardnerhill's Race Day, part of her Welcome to Bakertown series, which is based on this story.

Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/4388786

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

Oh, nice rec. Lovely to read it again ^_^

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

This discussion brings to mind all those Jeeves stories where Bertie & co are betting on all kinds of things: sermons in various villages and the ladies sack race at the church fair.

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Then there's ferret racing ...

You have heard of ferret races?

[laurose8.livejournal.com]

No. Is this a cue for - Lestrade!

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Similar to horse racing the ferrets are let loose at the end of clear pipes - the first ferret to emerge completely at the other end is the winner - although it is not unknown for the ferret to stick its nose out and then scuttle back inside.

[laurose8.livejournal.com]

Thanks for explaining. The ferret in the icon looks as if he'd do that.

It doesn't sound as pretty as horse racing.

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Not as pretty as horse racing, more the sort of thing which happens at village fairs.

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

I just said $1 worth of swear words when I realized that you weren't kidding.

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Ha! I thought that was only for Lent?

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

I have not. But I'm sure that Bertie and his pals have and lost money on them too and Bertie had to forfeit some garish belt or cravat to Jeeves to get himself out of whatever horrible bind he got himself into.

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Instructions above - and yes, I am sure Bertie would have lost money to some unscrupulous ferret racer.

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

I don't have anything very substantive to add to the discussion, but I just wanted to give this story a shout-out because I think it's so well written. It has some of my favorite dialogue in the whole canon and I also think it's one of the best -- if not the best -- mystery plots Doyle wrote. I like that it plays fair and shows you everything you need to know to solve it, if you're clever enough (I was not, when I read it at age 11).

I really enjoy the Granada adaptation of this one. I really like the actor playing Colonel Ross, I think it's a tricky part but he does a lovely job at capturing someone who is domineering and condescending but also fundamentally good-natured and high-spirited. I like a lot of the supporting performances in this episode, actually. Inspector Gregory comes across as very competent and quietly intelligent, and I really like the actress who plays the servant who has the encounter with Fitzroy Simpson.

Also, Jeremy Brett going "baaaaahhhh" at the dinner table is one of the high points of the Granada series, let's be real. <3

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

It is a good story - with some excellent characters - both two and four-legged. I've not watched the Granada version (or at least not for a long time), so thank you for bringing it back to my attention.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for taking the time to comment ^^

It is a great plot - the curried mutton, the dog that did nothing in the night-time, the reveal of the "murderer". And Watson being allowed to show how intelligent he is too.

Must admit I haven't seen the Granada adaptation since it was first broadcast, and now only have a vague recollection of a couple of the scenes. But your review has certainly encouraged me to seek it out again.