Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Gloria Scott

[Gem , Moderator]

The Complete Sherlock Holmes
The Adventure of The Gloria Scott (The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes)

Availability The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/834

Background Information

"The Adventure of the Gloria Scott", one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 12 stories in the cycle collected as The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. It was first published in The Strand Magazine in the United Kingdom in April 1893, and in Harper's Weekly in the United States on April 15, 1893.

It is chronologically the earliest case in Sherlock Holmes canon. This story is related mainly by Holmes rather than Watson, and is the first case to which Holmes applied his powers of deduction, having treated it as a mere hobby until this time. This is one of numerous Sherlock Holmes stories in which a protagonist is haunted by an old acquaintance for an old crime. The others include "The Boscombe Valley Mystery" "Black Peter", "The Sign of Four", "The Five Orange Pips", "The Resident Patient", etc. It is also one of his many stories that deal with the fate of characters who return to England after having spent time abroad in the colonies of the British Empire.

Publication History

The story was published in the UK in The Strand Magazine in April 1893, and in the US in Harper's Weekly on April 15, 1893. It was also published in the US edition of the Strand in May 1893. The story was published with seven illustrations by Sidney Paget in The Strand Magazine, and with two illustrations by W. H. Hyde in Harper's Weekly. It was included in the short story collection The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, which was published in the UK in December 1893 and in the US in February 1894.

A Short Review

"The Adventure of the Gloria Scott" is different from most other stories in the original Sherlock Holmes canon, for it is a story told from the perspective of Holmes rather than Dr Watson, and has the detective telling his friend about his very first case.

The story allows Conan Doyle to introduce new information about Sherlock Holmes, despite the character having appeared monthly in the Strand Magazine for two years. We find out that Holmes had been at university, but he had been virtually friendless there, in a similar vein to his adult life. Holmes, though, does acknowledge that this was his own fault and recognises it as a fault, having put too much time into his work.

As with many of the short stories, Conan Doyle provides the framework for the storyline, but the reader has all the details required to use their own imagination to expand on the story itself. The reader can imagine the people, the buildings, and in this story, the ship, in their own way.

There are common features between "The Boscombe Valley Mystery" and "The Adventure of the Gloria Scott," which means that for regular readers of Sherlock Holmes, there is no great surprise in the story.

Sherlock Holmes’ youth is a theme taken up by many writers, but there is a problem of incorporating Watson into that storyline. Some stories introduce a young Dr. Watson, whilst others do away with the friend altogether. This issue might be the reason why "The Adventure of the Gloria Scott" was a story not adapted by Granada TV for Jeremy Brett to play Holmes, although the concept of the code from the story does appear in Sherlock in "The Empty Hearse."



Discrepancy

The confession account contained a scribbled footnote from the elder Trevor that recorded the fatal note delivered to him. This contradicts the stated fact that Trevor never regained consciousness until the very end of his life, at which time he merely revealed where the confession lay.

According to Trevor's confession, the Gloria Scott left Falmouth "thirty years ago" and precisely in 1855, but that would set Holmes's inquiry in 1885 and not in his college years, as he told Watson. Since further in the story the elder Trevor writes also: "For more than twenty years we have led peaceful and useful lives", we can assume that the exact date is around 1875, which would fit Holmes's reference to his college years. It is also possible that the "thirty years" was a rounding of twenty-five years, which would place the case in 1880.

[Gem , Moderator]

The Complete Sherlock Holmes
The Adventure of The Gloria Scott (The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes)
Discussion Questions

1) Why is this particular case significant to Holmes? How has it contributed to his career following the case?

2) Why is Trevor Sr. wary of Holmes once he reveals how clever he is? What is he worried about Holmes inferring?

3) Why does Trevor Sr. work so hard to satisfy Hudson? Why does he endure the rudeness and uncivil environment that Hudson causes at his home?

4) What code does the letter that caused Trevor Sr.’s death use? How does Holmes figure this out?

5) Do you agree with Holmes that Trevor Sr. misinterpreted the letter, and as a result died untimely? Why or why not?

[Trev]

Rather too gruesome a tale for my liking. It reminded me a little of R.L. Stevenson’s The Master of Ballantrae, one of the few novels I stopped reading because of the proliferation of ugly violence.

As a member of the mutinous gang, I held Old Trevor just as responsible for the multiple deaths on board the ship as the ringleader. Maybe he should not have been transported in the first place for his low level crime. I was surprised Trevor was allowed to live by the ringleader, even if he was cast adrift with the others who had had enough of the killings.

So Conan Doyle decided that in this story the son would hear all about his father’s nefarious past whilst in the ‘Boscombe Valley’ story the daughter was allowed to remain in blissful ignorance.

The disappearance of both Hudson and Beddoes left the ending up in the air. If Hudson was still alive, couldn’t he come back to blackmail the son? Could there have been a law to confiscate an escaped convict’s possessions especially if he was exposed as a mutineer and multiple murderer?