I imagine the first question anyone will ask is what is a column called "Scottish Flotsam". I guess we will have to begin with what is "flotsam". Among the definitions of the word are "things washed ashore" or "miscellaneous trifles". Well, we believe you can find some great treasure on the ocean shore. But -- you will never know what you will find or its value. So we decided that is what this column is - flotsam. We wanted a place to put things that didn't fit anywhere else and might be of interest. Each item could be a column itself and might be some day but for now it will be the flotsam, which washes our way.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930)

Born in Edinburgh, Doyle studied medicine but when he could not make a living in that field, he began writing. He is best known for his Sherlock Holmes mysteries, but he also wrote historical romances and several books on Spiritualism.

In his late twenties, Doyle became interested in Spiritualism. The idea of life after death remained important to him for the rest of his life, and he spoke publicly about the validity of psychics and contact with the spirits.

Doyle was aware that his convictions sometimes left him open to ridicule, but, as his last surviving daughter, Dame Jean Conan Doyle said in an interview in 1990, his perseverence demonstrated great moral courage. Dame Doyle, who passed away in 1997, said people like her father "knew that the world would ridicule them, but they had the guts to stand by what they believed in."

The famous mystery writer was also respected for his efforts for Britain during the Boer War and World War I. Not accepted for active duty, Doyle served in the Boer War as a physician. Later, he founded the volunteer forces and the Rifle Societies, and wrote about both wars. Of course, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is best known around the world as the creator of master detective Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick, Dr. Watson. The first Holmes book was A Study in Scarlet, which was sold for 25 pounds. By 1891, six Holmes novels had been published in Stand magazine, and Doyle gave up his medical practice to write full-time.

When Doyle killed off the meticulous Holmes twelve years later, the outcry was so great that he was forced to bring his hero back to the land of the living. Some fans actually believed that Holmes was real instead of fictional, and sent letters and packages to him at Doyle's address! The much-loved detective was famous for his deductive reasoning, which Doyle modeled after a real-life professor he had worked with in university. The Literature of Crime and Detection says that it was Holmes personality "with his keen sense of observation, his lean face and hooked nose, his long legs, his deerstalker hat, his magnifying glass, and his ever-present pipe " that captured readers' hearts."

Interestingly, the well-known expression, "Elementary, my dear Watson" never appears in Doyle's stories. It probably came from one of the Sherlock Holmes movies.

Sherlock Holmes fans remain enthusiastic, and there are a number of active websites devoted to him. The Sherlockian Homepage is a good place to start.

http://www.tartans.com/articles/famscots/conandoyle.html

It is time to stop combing the library but we can not quit without some quotes from Quotable Scots another great History bookshelf resident. Let's see what quotes we can find.

Epitaphs

An mìos marbh

The dead month (December to January)

You can find more articles in the archive under Scottish Flotsam.