Detective Stories by Dickens - 2nd and 3rd Summer Reads 2022 (hosted by Sara and Lori)

[Lori]

Summary #4

How goes the night now?

Saint George of Southwark strikes twelve blows. And Parker gives way to Williams who will take the group to see the houses in the Ratcliffe Highway area to see where the sailors dance.

The narrator chimes in again
I should like to know where Inspector Field was born. In Ratcliffe Highway, I would have answered with confidence, but for his being equally at home wherever we go. HE does not trouble his head as I do, about the river at night. HE does not care for its creeping, black and silent, on our right there, rushing through the sluice-gates, lapping at piles and posts and iron ring, hiding strange things in its mud, running away with suicides and accidentally drowned bodies faster than midnight funeral should, and acquiring such various experience between its cradle and its grave. It has no mystery for HIM. Is there not the Thames Police!

Running a little late, the houses are closing but the landlords all know Inspector Field and allow him to go wherever he wants to go. The sailors enjoy themselves with their entertainment and dancing but there is a watchful maintenance of order in every house, and swift expulsion where need is.

Despite that drunkenness can be lively or lethargic, the sailors demonstrate that they are romantic and attractive.

The sailors sing sentimental songs of the sea while halfpence are tossed at the singer which he must dodge as they fly near his head. The rooms are nautically decorated.

How goes the night now?

It is past one in the morning. Williams departs and Black and Green await at Whitechapel to reveal the mysteries of Wentworth Street.


Imperturbable Black and Green with their flaming eyes lead on to the next lodging-house which is hidden in a maze of streets and is closed. Detective Sergeant is able to get over a rail, open a gate, overcome a few obstacles and tap a window for the landlord. A deputy is sent.

Deputy is a shivering shirt and trousers by no means clean, a yawning face, a shock head much confused externally and internally.

They want to find someone here and are sent up with the light to look. Through a maze of rooms they search but don’t find who they are looking for. They are told that tramps and cadgers stay here. Gonophs are over there. And they leave.

Inspector Field directs Black and Green to take them to Bark’s next. Bark is a lodging-house keeper and receiver of stolen goods.

Bark is asleep in a wooden hutch near the street door. They speak to his Deputy while the red villain Bark growls and then jumps out of bed stretching his neck up from behind the half-door of his hutch.

Bark’s parts of speech are of an awful sort - principally adjectives. I won’t, says Bark, have no adjective police and adjective strangers in my adjective premises! I won’t, by adjective and substantive! Give me my trousers, and I’ll send the whole adjective police to adjective and substantive! Give me, says Bark, my adjective trousers! I’ll put an adjective knife in the whole bileing of ‘em. I’ll punch their adjective heads. I’ll rip their adjective substantives. Give me my adjective trousers! Says Bark, and I’ll spile the bileing of ‘em!

Field announces himself and the Detective Sergeant and constables and notes that they will come inside and doesn’t care whether Bark likes it or not. Bark continues to yell for his trousers and Inspector Field determines that they will come in and visit.

At two o’clock in the morning the group descends into Bark’s kitchen while Imperturbable Black and Green watch Bark upstairs.

In the kitchen is the most dangerous of thieves crammed together having a CONVERSAZIONE. Bark tries to instigate them but they are silent. The group goes back upstairs. Bark finally has got his trousers and is in a state of madness standing in a passage with his back against a door blocking the upper staircase. It is observed that Bark has his own imprint on the sheets STOLEN FROM Bark’s!.

Field makes to go upstairs, but Bark refuses their entry. He calls for the door to be shut and they are enclosed in the passage. Then Bark attempts to rile up the thieves and ruffians in the kitchen to come up and take care of the officers. Several times Bark cries out.

We are shut up, half-a-dozen of us, in Bark’s house in the innermost recesses of the worst part of London, in the dead of the night - the house is crammed with notorious robbers and ruffians - and not a man stirs.

But these ruffians know the weight of the law and Inspector Field as well.

The group leaves Bark at his leisure to think about what happened tonight. Black and Green will most likely be back again.

White waits at Holborn Hill where Rotten Gray’s Inn and other lodging houses are as well as Thieves’ Kitchen and Seminary where children learn the art. The night has almost worn away and morning is coming. It is quiet and no lights shine through the shutters indicating sleep within.

As undistinctive Death will come here, one day, sleep comes now. The wicked cease from troubling sometimes, even in this life.

This ends the story.

[Lori]

St. George’s Church

Here we have another reference by Dickens to St. George’s Church which is the church that Little Dorrit spends a night of refuge with Maggy. Jean has already prepared an excellent background on the church that was so meaningful to Dickens. Please see the link here to read about it and view the images of the church and the stained glass windows that depict Amy Dorrit.



Ratcliffe Highway

This was the location of two attacks on two separate families that resulted in seven deaths. The Marr and Williamson murders occurred 12 days apart in December 1811 in homes that were located half a mile apart near the London Docklands. John Williams, the main suspect, committed suicide before he could go to trial.

If you’d like to learn more about the murders see the following link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratclif...

The Ratcliffe Highway was one of the most notorious streets in East London with the East End being the poorest. It later becomes known as St. George’s Street and now is just The Highway. In the 18th century, merchandise was brought to and from the City mainly on the river. By the 19th century, the area had become known as a hotbed of crime consisting mainly of theft, larceny or burglary and many times with a violent element (as mentioned above with the Marr and Williamson murders). It was a densely populated street and an extremely busy commercial area though it was poor.

Here there was poverty as well as legal and illegal businesses. Women were known to ply their business openly on the street and opium dens were run by Chinese immigrants. The local music halls known as ‘penny gaffs’ attracted many people and made huge profits. The Ratcliffe Highway was close to many of London’s important docks. The London Docks, St. Katherine Docks and Tobacco Dock had thousands of ships bringing goods and sailors from every part of the British Empire (all over the world). The laborers who worked in these dockyards were among the inhabitants here. You could also find people of many different ethnicities such as Chinese, Indian, African or Arabic.

One successful business was Jamarach’s Animal Emporium. This was an exotic pet store on the Ratcliffe Highway. Charles Jamarach was a leading importer, breeder, and exporter of animals selling them to noblemen, zoos, menageries and circus owners. In 1857 a Bengal tiger broke free (near Tobacco Dock). A young boy, curious about the strange creature, approached the tiger who swiped at him and then picked him up and carried him off in his jaws. Jamarach was able to save the boy but naturally he was sued for L300.

The parish of St. George, of which Ratcliffe Highway was a part of, served those visiting seamen and dockworkers who lived on the back streets. Much of the business conducted was aimed at these groups. But like other slums in London, this area also dealt with unhygienic living conditions which lead to a high mortality rate due to diseases that thrived.



Print by William John Huggins, 1829, The Opening of the St. Katherine Docks, on Saturday the 25th, October, 1828

[Lori]

Thoughts

We've gotten to the roughest part of the neighborhood and Dickens gives us a bit of humor with Bark's "adjective" trousers and "adjective" police! I loved this play on words using the word "adjective" as an expletive!

Then we get a bit of suspense as Bark tries to rouse his lodgers to do for you. Whether that implies to harm the detectives in some way or to just try to intimidate them to leave, I think it could go either way.

There are some very Dickensian poetic lines in this section. I especially noticed Dickens own thoughts regarding the river and that the detectives don't have a worry or concern for it.

What do you all think about the end?

We have until Sunday to talk about anything from the story so feel free!

[Sara]

Thanks for pointing out that St. George's is Amy Dorrit's church. I love when the reads dovetail, and it also gives me a very firm idea of where we are geographically.

Dickens has a wonderful way of showing the squalor and hinting at the dangerous nature of the area without becoming melodramatic. Barks is a mixture of humorous and frightening--a hard mix to get right.

Thanks for all the excellent information on Ratcliffe Highway, Lori. I am going to read about the murders when I have more time to spare, so thank you for the link. Who doesn't like a good true crime story? I love how all the research you have done, throughout this read, has served to really set the piece in its era and allowed us to think of it in the same context its original readers would have done.

[[deleted user]]

I love the phrase "midnight funeral" - beautiful but heartbreaking. And "flaming eye" - I think that was mentioned earlier in this piece, maybe describing Field? I don't know why but when I read that phrase, I think of a flaming eye of justice. No idea if I've come across that somewhere or if my brain is conflating this phrase with something else I've read.

Oh my, I had a good laugh at Bark's speech - adjective and substantive LOL! It also made me laugh that Dickens described the criminals having a conversazione. Anyone who's read Anthony Trollope's Barset series will remember Mrs Proudie held a conversazione. She would be so indignant that Dickens used that term in this context :D

But things became deadly serious when Dickens described how they were shut up in this house with dangerous criminals. If Bark's crew had heeded his battle cry, things could've gone sideways very quickly.

Lori thank you for the information on Ratcliffe Highway. It was mentioned in describing the town of Mudfog in the Tulrumble story, but I didn't go as deep in my research of it as you did.

Lori and Sara thank you both so much for all the work you did in putting these reads together. I've thoroughly enjoyed myself, reading about the early days of detection in London. I can see how the "ride-along" would fuel Dickens' imagination and provide him with ideas for his novels and short stories.

My favorite part of Sara's reads was the under-sofa stakeout. I've not found anyone hiding under my sofa yet lol, but that idea will stick with me for a long time! My favorite part of Lori's reads was today, with Dickens's clever and funny way of describing Bark's speech. I'll be chuckling over that for quite a while!

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

Wonderful posts, thank you so much Lori!

Just to be clear "conversazione" is from the Italian meaning "a meeting for conversation especially about art, literature, or science".

Horace Walpole first used the word "conversazione" in English, in a 1739 letter:

"After the play we were introduced to the assembly, which they call the conversazione."

As this Italian borrowing was used through the years, it gained nuances of meaning. In Italy, it generally referred to a gathering for conversation, but in England it began to be used more for a private meeting. By the 19th century, "conversazione" also referred to assemblies and soirees of people connected with the arts or sciences.

Both these times when Charles Dickens or Anthony Trollope have used it, (also perhaps with Signora Madeline Neroni) will be to add a sarcastic note, or to describe a pretentious or affected person.

(Derivation: Italian, literally, conversation, from Latin conversation, conversatio.)

[Connie]

Lori, thank you for your fascinating research. It really enriched my reading of this story.

[Kathleen]

About the ending, I love the comparison between “Stop Thief!” and “Stolen from Bark’s,” One emphasizing the person forced to live there, and the other their oppressor. And of course, the humor that exists in all the trouble. Dickens’ "adjectives" just cracked me up.

I was looking forward to your posts, Lori, but your info about the Ratcliffe Highway was even more than I hoped for. Fascinating stuff I knew nothing about. Thanks so much for leading the discussion of this surprisingly deep little story!

[Sara]

Finally found the time to read the Wiki piece about the murders! Oh my! I kept thinking how very different this was from a modern day police investigation and then the very real possibility that the knife was finally planted in Williams' rooms and that he might not have killed himself but been murdered as well. It really brought home how much we depend upon forensic evidence and that people were literally hanged on evidence that would be found insubstantial for even bringing a person to trial now.

Thank you so much, Lori. I really enjoyed reading this account and finding that the murders were mentioned in so many subsequent stories, including A Study in Scarlet.

[Lori]

Cozy Yes, you have heard the flaming eye throughout the story. It's the lantern used by the Sergeants who lead the group in each section of town.

Here is some more info on them with different examples to see as well.

https://heritagearmssa.com/2018/06/26...


Jean thank you for the clarification of the term "Conversazione". I assumed it was from the Italian and I particularly like that you pointed out the ways the term has altered in England.

[Lori]

Kathleen thanks for pointing out the sheets at Barks. He definitely doesn't sound like a nice guy at all. Oppressor is a great word to use to describe him. He's brash as well and pretty funny with his choice of wording! (Of course, Dickens was responsible for that and so very clever!)

Sara The Ratcliffe Murders were brutal and it's disheartening to think that those who were investigating did their best, but like you say, without forensics any evidence could be taken and used to convict whether true or not. Very frightening story for sure.

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

What a fantastic feature on Bullseye Lanterns, Lori! I wish I'd found that for our reading of Bleak House; I had just found a picture LINK HERE.

No doubt we will come across them again in Charles Dickens's writing - and perhaps he will have yet more euphemisms for them!

Thank you :)

[Sara]

I'm with Jean, Lori, that was a great article and I really loved seeing all the variety of styles they came in and how many were "invented" by the policemen themselves.

[Paul]

Many thanks to brilliant readers, commenters and moderators. No question that the challenge of reading Dickens' work, be it fiction or non-fiction, is made more informative, more interesting, and infinitely more enjoyable by reading it with such a group.

Here's the review that I posted this afternoon for ON DUTY WITH INSPECTOR FIELD. I hope everyone feels that I've done it justice even though it obviously didn't sweep me away and make me swoon with enjoyment, LOL!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Bionic Jean, "Dickens Duchess"]

Today we begin our new thread, so this one moves to the "Short Reads" folder as a valuable resource, and for further observations.

Thank you so much to Lori, for an abundance of informative posts, as well as orchestrating and leading this read with such incisive comments. When Sara set such an exceptionally high standard for these detective stories, I thought it likely that it would be impossible to keep up. But I needn't have worried ... you're both stars :)

[Bridget]

Sorry I fell behind on the read. I've just finished and I hope its okay to post this thank you to Lori for all the wonderful background information. It added to my understanding of this story so much. I never would have known who Jack Shephard was or why Ratcliffe Highway was significant.

I loved the ending Lori quoted: As undistinctive Death will come here, one day, sleep comes now. The wicked cease from troubling sometimes, even in this life.. It has been such a long, long night for our narrator and Inspector Field. It seems so appropriate that the story would end with sleep - an all too brief respite from the violence and strife we witnessed all night.

Thank you everyone (especially Lori and Sara) for making this not just fun but educational too. I really appreciate it!