On Wednesday, November 14th, over twenty members of the Greek Interpreters and four guests met at Hershey's Steak and Seafood restaurant in East Lansing for our Fall meeting. The story on which the evening's quiz and discussion focussed was "The Musgrave Ritual", a tale which our group has not studied over the past three decades.
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The meeting opened with the customary Canonical Toasts to Mrs. Hudson, Mycroft Holmes, second Mrs. Watson and The Woman. We also "stood on the terrace" in tribute to J. Morgan Sweeney, a member who died on August 9th in London, while teaching in the Study Abroad program at Michigan State University. Following the dinner, a resolution of the quiz was carried out by Bill Reusch (the chemist). This quiz and many earlier quizzes may be viewed in our archives.
A vigorous discussion concerning the many appaent inconsistencies and inaccuracies in this story made up the final part of the meeting. First among these was whether the oak would have grown in the 200 years since the ritual was set down. We were fortunate that one of our guests, a faculty member in the Forestry Department, pointed out that very old trees stop growing higher, usually broadening their crown and increasing their girth. Consequently, an oak dating back to the Norman conquest is unlikely to have increased in height. A second issue was the date at which Holmes visited Hurlstone manor and decoded the ritual. At least two respected authorities have offered answers. Baring-Gould fixes it as October of 1879; and Brad Keefauver (Birlston Railway) at June of 1881. The latter date is close to the summer solstice, making the problem of varying shadow lengths less critical. In this respect, we note that the latitude of Sussex is roughly that of Moosejaw, Saskatchewan, so that the path of the sun changes severely near the equinox. On the other hand, the October date would account for Brunton wearing his muffler, which was found tied to the iron ring. Yet another group of related topics concerned Brunton: Why did Reginald's father hire him at age twenty? Why did the talented Brunton stay on so long? Why did it take Brunton so long to solve the ritual?
At the meeting's conclusion, Bill Ballenger: recited Vincent Starrett's "221B" poem, followed by our singing of The Anthem.
