#Happy Birthday Holmes

[geeoharee]

It is Holmes's BIRTHDAY and we got him a SOLDIER WITH PTSD

I hope he likes him.

[quill-of-thoth]

Letters from Watson backlog special: Holmes' birthday

So Sherlock Holmes' birthday is often interpreted as January 6th, but why? Well, there have been a BUNCH of different scholars considering every aspect of the Sherlock Holmes stories over the years, and the common motivation among them is being considered a "Holmes Scholar" instead of a mere fan.

The evidence, as it has been presented over the years, has only one source that uh, has any connection to the actual text: The works of William Stuart Baring-Gould, best known for his only partially definitive Sherlock Holmes chronology. (AKA: The dead guy I have ongoing beef with and whose work in dating the Holmes stories I have been reviewing sporadically for the past year.) However, Baring-Gould is not automatically wrong, so let's follow his chain of logic, such as it is.

The final Holmes novel, Valley of Fear (1914-1915) starts on January 7th with Holmes being a bit tetchy

No boring Doylist explanation for Holmes' bad moods need apply.

No Watsonian explanation that Holmes is not always a good-natured roommate or considerate friend need apply either. No, Holmes, known for having no sleep schedule, no tolerance for his own failure, and no moderation in terms of taking mood altering substances more unusual than alcohol, must be hungover

Why would Holmes be hungover? He must have been up late celebrating.

What could he have been celebrating by drinking alone? His birthday! Therefore yesterday (January 6th) is his birthday! Case closed!

This conclusion is, kindly, a stretch, but in this fandom we love having answers almost as much as we love being the one to provide the answer. We must have rituals to keep a fandom alive over a hundred years, and celebrating Holmes' birthday on Jan 6 is as good as any other. I merely want to point out alternatives to the dates and timelines established by Baring-Gould like any good peer reviewer. Alternative speculation under the cut.

So... why, on his birthday, would Holmes have been celebrating by drinking alone, instead of drinking with Watson? Or going to the opera (alone or with Watson?) There is no indication at the beginning of Valley of Fear that it takes place when Holmes and Watson are living separately. They're having breakfast together. Or rather, Watson has long since finished breakfast, and Holmes has yet to start, which lends better support to the hangover theory than his momentary brusqueness, but not by a lot since the man is known to forget to eat. Reading it over without Baring Gould's conclusions in mind, I think very few fans would find this scene out of the ordinary for 221 Baker street, but since I'm willing to play along with Gould: what if the event that Holmes is celebrating privately isn't one that Watson would wholeheartedly accompany him for? What events occur on Jan 6th that Watson, the average victorian man, would not be a part of? Epiphany. No, that's literally the name of the holiday, part of the christmas season. It's cited as the date of the Wise Men's arrival to bring Jesus presents (er. presents but also you know, expensive dire omens regarding his eventual death, if you've never been forced to sing all the verses of "We Three Kings of Orient Are," which becomes grimmer as you go on.) It's the last of the 12 days of christmas and the "Twelfth Night" referenced in that one shakespeare comedy. It's not commonly celebrated in the modern (united states) conception of christianity, whether devoutly practicing or cultural. It was a great reason for the Victorians to party, however. ... which doesn't exclude Watson. Unless we imagine Watson as having been invited to an epiphany party and Holmes, either uninvited or uninterested in a party atmosphere, staying home, which is possible.

But this doesn't result in a revelation about Holmes' identity, so in the spirt of going out on a supported but not definiitive limb, I propose that Holmes is Catholic. (Not, most likely, practicing in any major way at this point in his life. There's belief and practice, and then there's culture, and if your only idea of growing up Catholic is John Mulaney skits about god not hearing you if you don't sing loud enough... well, it's far more complicated than that if you're a Victorian.) - Catholic celebration of the Epiphany has historically taken on a more somber tone than Protestant or Anglican celebration. (See: we've all had fun here during Advent and Christmas but you're obligated to remember that Jesus is gonna die. By mid spring. By the way, Ash Wednesday and Lent are coming up so if you got candy, eat it, you'll be giving it up in a month.) - Holmes' general slight out-of-step-ness with the general Victorian shared expectations and culture could be partially explained by being raised in a different iteration of Christianity. - And his reticence regarding his family history could be explained by growing up experiencing social rejection due to the anti-catholic sentiments that were absolutely all over England in the 1850's to 90's (and well the hell into more modern times too) - Anti-catholocism isn't something he could dodge by simply not actually practicing the religion he was raised in either. - Holmes' references to a french side of the family could indicate that he has, at the very least, catholic close-ish relatives, as that was the most common religion in france. - Enough scholarship has been written on "is Holmes secretly Irish?" given his surname and Doyle's background as an Irishman that I think we should spend at least a minute considering that these points could also be taken to mean that Holmes is Catholic.

People (Anglican descended Puritans, for example) were complaining about the secularized parts of christmas by the 1700's, (Meaning: any celebration that was not prayer inside the church) and the Victorian celebration of Christmas is the direct ancestor of the US and England's current Culturally Christian but not necessarily religious practice related celebrations, so I don't see Holmes having any difficulty fitting in with buying a goose, having a nice dinner, or listening to carols. But there's a chance that if he wanted to celebrate Epiphany with any family traditions, regardless of how far they were removed from actual religious practice, he might not invite Watson.

And if Watson knows, he has, loyally, not written a word.

[geeoharee]

Thomas?! Stop giving the poor man new names!

Literary history that happened on 6 January

[contact-guy]

He was a man of habits, narrow and concentrated habits, and I had become one of them.

The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, the Creeping Man

[isolabellz]

the reunion we didn’t get to see

[inahochi]

*sherliam flirting* ˎˊ˗

dedicated to lynn (@courtesanofdeath); happy birthday! ♡

[4thelneyj0nes]

This was them in baker st. today BY THE WAY in case youre wondering…

Anyway, happy birthday Sherlock Holmes 🎉🎊🥳🕺🏽

(This was part of a Secret Santa exchange with @nic0tinepatch, shes an artist too check out her stuff!)

[friday411]

🎂Happy🎂 🎂Birthday🎂 🎂Jeremy!!!🎂

Many have played Holmes, it is true Basil, Benedict, Lee, and O'Toole... But Jeremy Brett's As good as it gets He IS Sherlock Holmes through and through!!!!

-=<+>=-

Thank you for reading & reblogging!

LMK if you want on or off the list!

More @ AO3

Tags also in the comments! @calaisreno @helloliriels @naefelldaurk @peanitbear @totallysilvergirl

[universe-nero]

HBD! Dear Liam

[lid-the-kid]

Vito Holmes, Rambley’s voice actor, has his birthday today! 🎉🎂🥳

(I love that his fursona is yet another purple critter with a huge bandana).🦦🦝💜

[kimgmac63]

Happy heavenly Birthday. A beautiful man taken too soon 🖤 forever loved 🖤

[callmebrycelee]

HAPPY 41ST BIRTHDAY, HENRY CAVILL!!!

[nellarw95]

Happy Birthday Benedict 🥳🎂🎈🎁🎉

Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch

July 19,1976

Buon Compleanno 🥳🎂🎈🎁🎉

19 Luglio 1976

[nayoungs-archive]

✟ ˚ ｡⋆ ๋࣭ and i swear . . . ( +📜 )

𓇼࣪࣪ ⁺ ๋࣭⭑ i'm only cyptic and machiavellian cause i care 𓂃 ࣪˖

[spooksicl-e]

eye twitching in thirteen years

[beesholmes]

happy sherlock holmes day (big day for gay people!!!)