Saturday, January 21, 2017

The Canonical village of Trumpington.

Walp, I guess it's time to look at a particular minor detail of the original Sherlockian Canon that Sherlockians haven't had a reason to focus on . . . until Friday. Because on Friday, "Trumpington" suddenly became a nickname for the capital city of Washington, D.C. So what do we know about the Trumpington that Sherlock Holmes visited that one time in 1896 or 1897?

Turning to "The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter," you can find a couple references to the little village of Trumpington. And what's the first thing Sherlock Holmes does when he gets there?

"This should be the village of Trumpington to the right of us. And by Jove! Here is the brougham coming quick around the corner! Quick, Watson, quick, or we are done!"

The first thing Sherlock does is grab the dog Pompey and hide with Watson behind a hedge because the "bro" is coming.

Hmm. That can certainly be open to some interpretations as a portent. On to the next reference.

"Their secret was known to no one save to me and to one excellent servant who has at present gone for assistance to Trumpington," Dr. Armstrong says. Yes, the servant who went to Trumpington to find medical assistance for a patient who died before any such assistance came.

Secrets. Servants. Healthcare. Broken hearts. The lonely cottage just outside of Trumpington where "The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter" takes place is full of things familiar in the Trumpington we're seeing now. Was Conan Doyle psychic?

Nawwwww. He just left us with a Canon so rich in detail you can find just about anything there. Including one of the reasons Sherlock might have dove behind that hedge: Because he thought someone might grab them by the Pompey.

Sorry. Had to go there. And sorry anyway.

Good luck if you're visiting Trumpington today! Keep an eye on where the hedges are!

1 comment:

  1. Hi, Morton here, not on m ususal computer, sorry. There is a real Trumpingnton, near Grantchester, Cambridgeshire, Uk.

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