BAKER STREET GRIS GRIS*

By David Landis

"I see I have alluded above to his powers upon the violin. These were very remarkable but as eccentric as all his other accomplishments. That he could play pieces, and difficult pieces, I knew well because at my request he has played me some of Mendelssohn's lieder, and other favorites. When left to himself, however, he would seldom produce any music or attempt any recognized air. Leaning back in his arm chair of an evening he would close his eyes and scrape carelessly at the fiddle which was thrown across his knee. Sometimes the chords were sonorous and melancholy. Occasionally they were fantastic and cheerful." (STUD)

Classically trained musical Sherlockian scholars recoil in horror and disbelief at this passage for three reasons: the posture of the player, the position of the violin and the use of chords on an instrument that is notable for single note melodies, not chords. The composer of the Baker Street Suite for violin and piano, Harvey Officer, defied any violinist to produce sonorous or melancholy chords on a violin lying carelessly across a knee.1 But what if the violin wasn't lying in this position carelessly but rather on purpose? And what if the player was not playing the violin at all? Might we find our plausible explanation then? You can bet Sam Cooper's bar tab we will.

Five seemingly disparate pieces of evidence serve as our pole stars as we navigate this journey in detection.

First, Holmes played "airs" with dexterous facility. Watson's reward for Holmes' musical melancholia was a series of favorite airs played in quick succession. (STUD)
Second, the tones of Holmes's violin were deep, for Watson remarks he heard the "low, melancholy wailing of his violin". (STUD) This passage prompted Rolfe Boswell to speculate in the Baker Street Journal that Holmes was playing the viola, not the violin.2 A viola is somewhat larger than a violin with a deeper tone. It has been called the pot bellied violin. If the Commandant was a violin, then John Stevens Berry would be a viola. Or rather Robert Batt would be the viola and Berry would be a cello.
Third, Holmes was descended from the French, his maternal grandmother was a Vernet, sister and daughter to leading French artists. (GREE) 3

Fourth, Holmes spoke and read French. He dropped French phrases in his conversation, "partie carrie" or party of cards, in the Red Headed League, "a menage" or household in the Solitary Cyclist. I would recite more proofs but the longer phrases defy my disobedient tongue to pronounce them accurately. While the fear of being deeply and obviously mistaken never stops Don Wright, it gives me pause. Suffice it to cite Dean H. Dickinson in "Sherlock Holmes Linguist," Holmes spoke fluent French, idiomatic American, German, Italian, Norwegian and Gaelic.4

Fifth and last, Watson, in a rare flash of insight, about as rare as Robert McMorris leaving a glass of brandy unfinished, identified the instrument across Holmes' knee as a fiddle ; a fiddle that produced airs Watson could not recognize.

What is the difference between a fiddle and a violin? Physically they are the same. But the violin is a classical instrument for classical music. The fiddle is a folk instrument for folk music. One is high brow, the other bohemian. This is roughly equivalent to the table manners of Frank Walter and Jerry Prazan. They both have them yet they are very different, as those of us who dined at Jerry's table know.
Our mandela of evidence has come full circle. I would have thought you would have arrived at my conclusions before me. But I take that lost look on the face of everyone except Bob Cryne as a sign that I have not been clear. Cryne's lost look is not a sign since it is a permanent fixture. But for the rest of you, let me make my conclusion so clear even Bruce McMorris will get it.

Holmes, a descendant of French artists, fluent in the French language, played "airs" or folk tunes used for dancing as the dictionary declares airs Watson could not recognize, in a posture classical musicians cannot fathom, in a low tone, using chords a violin does not usually produce. So what was Holmes doing when producing strange music in this strange way? Holmes, and here dear comrade, I suggest you quaff your drink and hold onto an immobile object within reach, was playing traditional cajun fiddle in the accepted tradition of cajun fiddlers.

First, cajun fiddle sounds low because it is low. The seven note diatonic scale of the accordion used for cajun music forces almost all songs into the key of G. The violin plays easiest in the key of A. Cajun fiddlers tune their instrument a whole step lower than normal, producing a low tone between the violin and viola. 5
Second, cajun music is filled with chords, for much of the music is played with an open drone string sounding along with the melody. There are constantly two tones and sometimes three. The drone sound of cajun fiddles should have awakened an appreciation in Watson since the bagpipes of his homeland utilize the same principle.

Third, cajun music is both melancholy and fantastical. In Allons a Lafayette , a history of cajun recordings, Steve Winick points to the recurring themes in cajun music: death, loneliness and ill fated love.6 Holmes, who was fluent in the language cajun songs are written in, probably found these melancholy themes resonated with his professional life, even his personal life.

Lastly, as to the playing posture that has dumbfounded classical violinists, there is a simple answer. Of course if one tucks the instrument under ones' chin and then places the violin in proximity to the knee, one resembles nothing so much as David Wallace in complete alcohol induced collapse. However, tuck the fiddle at the base of the arm, hold it virtually perpendicular to the ground and you can lay the fiddle across your knee. And who plays the fiddle in this position? Cajuns . At least some of them, Doug Kershaw the Ragin' Cajun, most notably. But a recent article in "Fiddler" magazine shows several French Canadians on Prince Edward Island playing in this posture. 7

How Holmes came in contact with his French roots, how he learned the folk ways that in the new world became the Cajun tradition one can only speculate about. Watson and classically trained Sherlockian musicians fail to understand the traditional folk art form Watson witnessed at 221 B Baker Street. But stripping his description of opinion, the facts are clear. Holmes played cajun fiddle. Pass the red sauce for those beans and rice, Jolie Blon.

*Gris Gris is cajun for voodoo magic.