Happiest Days, G...AND Reveal Post

[tweedisgood]

Happiest Days

(From an idea by Mr Tweed, who found some *very* old documents whilst clearing out his study…)

Note: the statement “schooldays are the happiest days of your life” has been attributed to R.C. Sheriff, author of ‘Journey’s End’. I cannot locate a direct written source.



Easter Term, 1867
Watson, John H. aet. 14 y 11 mo.
Carr House, Form V
Place in form: 6th

Latin: Has made a fine fist of his Horace this term. I have hopes that some of it will stay with him.
Greek: A trier. Some of his translations are open to interpretation.
French: More ‘fromage” than “homage”, I regret to say.
English Language: Possesses a distinct way with words, and a keen sense of audience; excels at character sketches.
English Literature: Needs to read more widely than boys’ adventure papers and sea romances.
History: Has a good grasp of the sweep of events – however can be confused as to precise dates
Natural Philosophy: his essay on ‘Copernican theory and its Rivals’ won the class prize
Chemistry: more interested in immediate application than systematic knowledge
Mathematics: Struggles with the practical application of probability and trigonometry.
Games: Has scored a number of tries for the 2nd XV this year; also keeps a sound wicket and a straight bat.

Conduct: A loyal friend but an implacable enemy who needs at times to govern his temper, however righteous the cause. He must consider whether some other boys have as much enthusiasm for ‘horseplay’ as do he and his chums.



The Dower House
Millfield Court
Brent Steepleford
Northants

15th June 1869

Dear Sir Stratley,

I beg to resign my position as tutor to your younger son Sherlock. Neither inducement nor punishment have any influence on him. He will absorb, and that extraordinarily quickly, any subject in which he develops an interest. There he needs not so much a teacher as a lion tamer. Where there is no interest there is no progress, indeed not so much as a show of effort. I fear that preparing him for University is a task quite beyond my powers. Perhaps you might consider a ‘cramming’ establishment? His elder brother has also expressed a willingness to, as he picturesquely put it “squeeze a quart into a pint pot for the occasion”.
Please send any boxes care of my agency
I remain, my dear sir, Yr. Obedient Servant
H B Pevensey, MA (Oxon).

And now the ACD Holmesfest Round 7 report! Do reply to your comments, post to any platforms you care to and please link to the fest collection if posting on Ao3.

garonne wrote Impersonation for capt_facepalm

smallhobbit wroteThe Case with the Bogus Clergymen for sevs_girl72

sanspatronymic wrote Autumn in Wimpole for tweedisgood

elwinglyre wrote Kiss of the Vampire for ghislainem70

spacemutineer wrote Scars for rachelindeed

a_different_equation wrote Ingredients of Love for elwinglyre

gardnerhill wrote The Adventure of the Creeping Midlife Crisis for spacemutineer

saki101 wrote His Every Mood for garonne

sanguinity wrote Upon A Ring for violsva

ghislainem70 wrote La Fee Verte Ancienne for a_different_equation

scfrankles wrote A Mother’s Adventure for sanguinity

violsva wrote One Turf Shall Serve for mistyzeo

tripleransomwrote The Adventure of The Maidservant’s Revenge for scfrankles

methylviolet10b wrote The Adventure of the Devil’s Snare for sanspatronymic

tweedisgood wrote Number 94 for tripleransom

rachelindeed wrote Re-Writing History for methylviolet10b

mistyzeo wrote Right Hand Man for gardnerhill

sevs_girl72 wrote The Violin of Toten Hall for saki101

capt_facepalm wrote Camelot for smallhobbit

Comments

[rachelindeed]

Hurray!! Thank you so much, mods, for this wonderful fest, I was so happy to get the chance to participate and to enjoy new works from so many of my favorite authors. It's been such a nice thing to look forward to day by day throughout the month.

(Also, I loved the "Happiest Days" ficlet! Young Mr. Watson *does* need to learn that not all boys appreciate roughhousing - remember poor little Phelps! - and young Holmes will someday realize that there are things worth learning beyond what strikes his immediate interest.)

[saki101]

Thank you and your co-mods for bringing the ACD Holmesfest to life again and thank you to all the authors for their wonderful gifts!

I especially appreciate your sharing those unearthed school reports with us. Character sketches in a paragraph!!

I loved it all, but particularly the comments on these two subjects:

History: Has a good grasp of the sweep of events – however can be confused as to precise dates
Natural Philosophy: his essay on ‘Copernican theory and its Rivals’ won the class prize

I laughed about the history one. Just brilliant!

[elwinglyre]

Thanks so much for the opportunity to write for this challenge, and challenge it was. This was my first time writing a classic ACD piece. I loved doing this.

[tweedisgood]

So glad to have you on board. It's a great feeling when more people join us in this very special corner of fandom.

[tripleransom]

Hah. Poor Watson never did get over that tendency to be confused by precise dates, did he? But it does afford us so much latitude for interpretation, so I'm rather glad of it.

Thank you so much for hosting the 'fest again. It was so much fun, the fics were of such high quality, and it was wonderful to see some new faces added to the mix!

[ancientreader]

Those school/tutor reports are utterly priceless. And onward to further reading!

Thank you for running this exchange, which bystander-me enjoys no end.

[a_different_equation]

Thank you mods for running the ACD Holmesfest! It was such a great fun.

[violsva]

Holmes' poor tutor! (I say, having been that student...)

Thank you for all your work organizing this!

[capt_facepalm]

Dear Mods, thank you so much for running this exchange once again, and to all the participants and reviewers, another heart-felt thanks. Isn't this comm wonderful?

[scfrankles]

Thank you to the mods for all your hard work - it's been such an excellent round. Here's to the next one!

[garonne]

can be confused as to precise dates hehe! Good old Watson.

Thanks so much for organising this again. I know there's a lot of work involved behind the scenes, and it's very much appreciated.

[med_cat]

Love your school days vignettes :)

Thank you for running this comm, once again, to you and your fellow mods. I have very much enjoyed several of the stories from this round.

[tweedisgood]

Glad to hear it. Real Life permitting, Round 8 incoming in a few months.

[med_cat]

Thanks, looking forward to it, then :)