"The Red-Headed League" is one of the 56

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

short stories written by

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for '' A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...

. It first appeared in ''

The Strand Magazine ''The Strand Magazine'' was a monthly British magazine founded by George Newnes, composed of short fiction and general interest articles. It was published in the United Kingdom from January 1891 to March 1950, running to 711 issues, though the ...

'' in August 1891, with illustrations by

Sidney Paget Sidney Edward Paget () (4 October 1860 – 28 January 1908) was a British artist of the Victorian era, best known for his illustrations that accompanied Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories in ''The Strand Magazine''. Life Sidne ...

. Conan Doyle ranked "The Red-Headed League" second in his list of his twelve favourite Holmes stories. It is also the second of the twelve stories in ''

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' is a collection of twelve short stories by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle, first published on 14 October 1892. It contains the earliest short stories featuring the consulting detective Sherlock Holmes, w ...

'', which was published in 1892.

Plot

Jabez Wilson, a London

pawnbroker A pawnbroker is an individual or business (pawnshop or pawn shop) that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral. The items having been ''pawned'' to the broker are themselves called ''pledges'' or ...

, comes to consult Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson on a Saturday. While studying this prospective client, both Holmes and Watson notice his

red hair Red hair (also known as orange hair and ginger hair) is a hair color found in one to two percent of the human population, appearing with greater frequency (two to six percent) among people of Northern or Northwestern European ancestry and ...

, which has a distinct flame-like hue. Wilson tells them that some weeks before, his young assistant, Vincent Spaulding, urged him to respond to a newspaper advertisement by "The Red-Headed League" offering highly-paid work to only red-headed male applicants. The next morning, Wilson had waited in a long line of fellow red-headed men, was interviewed, and was the only applicant hired because none of the others had hair colour to match his. Wilson was grateful to secure the position, as his pawnshop was struggling. He was required to occupy an office from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. every day and copy out the ''

Encyclopaedia Britannica An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...

'', for which he was paid £4 per week (). The work was useless clerical labour, performed in nominal compliance with the

will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

of an American millionaire who wanted to provide for the welfare of red-headed men like himself. After eight weeks, Wilson reported to the office, only to find a note on the door stating that the Red-Headed League had been dissolved. He spoke with the landlord, who stated that he had never heard of either the organisation or of Duncan Ross, the red-headed man who had hired Wilson for the position. The landlord did remember a red-headed tenant who had given his name as William Morris and presented a business card for an artificial kneecap company, but no one there knew of either Ross or Morris. Wilson decided to immediately bring his problem to Holmes. Holmes and Watson laugh at Wilson's frustration over losing the job; Holmes points out that Wilson has earned a considerable sum of money, but promises to solve the case quickly. Wilson provides a description of Spaulding, after which Holmes and Watson visit the pawnshop. Holmes strikes the pavement in front with his walking stick, and focuses on the knees of Spaulding's trousers when he answers the door. Concluding that a crime is about to be committed at a

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

near the shop, Holmes gathers Watson,

Inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the ne ...

Jones of

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

, and bank chairman Mr. Merryweather that night. As the four hide in the darkened bank vault, Merryweather reveals that it holds a shipment of gold coins borrowed from a French bank; Holmes suspects a wanted criminal named John Clay of planning to steal them. After more than an hour's wait, Clay and his red-headed accomplice Archie break upward through the vault floor − inadvertently found to be hollow by Merryweather earlier. Clay is quickly captured while Archie flees, only to be caught by the additional police officers Jones has stationed around Wilson's shop. Back at Baker Street, Holmes explains his reasoning to Watson. Archie and Spaulding, whom Holmes had recognised as Clay from Wilson's description, concocted the Red-Headed League as a way to keep Wilson occupied during the day, so that Clay could tunnel into the bank vault from the cellar of the shop. Holmes had noticed that Clay's trouser knees were worn and dirty from digging, and striking the pavement had informed him that the cellar extended behind the shop and toward the bank. Archie had posed as Morris to rent the office, then as Ross to hire Wilson, and closed the office once the tunnel was completed.

Analysis

The dates given in the story do not match the characters' descriptions of time passing. The date that Wilson sees the advertisement is 27 April 1890 and he has been at work for 8 weeks and says "Just two months ago." Thus that happened by the end of June. However, the story begins by describing Holmes's meeting with Wilson as being on "one day in the autumn of last year" and the date on the door telling of the League being dissolved is that of 9 October 1890, six months after the ad was placed.

Dorothy L. Sayers Dorothy Leigh Sayers (; 13 June 1893 – 17 December 1957) was an English crime writer and poet. She was also a student of classical and modern languages. She is best known for her mysteries, a series of novels and short stories set between th ...

analyzed this discrepancy and claims that the dates must have been 4 August and 4 October respectively.

Publication history

"The Red-Headed League" was first published in the UK in ''

'' in August 1891, and in the United States in the US edition of the ''Strand'' in September 1891. The story was published with ten illustrations by

in ''The Strand Magazine''.Cawthorne (2011), p. 56. It was included in the short story collection ''

'', which was published in October 1892.

Adaptations

Film and television

A 1921 short film was adapted from the story as part of the Stoll film series featuring

Eille Norwood Eille Norwood (born Anthony Edward Brett; 11 October 1861 – 24 December 1948) was an English stage actor, director, and playwright best known today for playing Sherlock Holmes in a series of silent films. Early life He was born 11 October 1 ...

as Sherlock Holmes. The story was adapted for a 1951 TV episode of ''

'' starring

Alan Wheatley Alan Wheatley (19 April 1907 – 30 August 1991) was an English actor. He was a well known stage actor in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, appeared in forty films between 1931 and 1965 and was a frequent broadcaster on radio from the 1930s to the ...

as Holmes. The first American television adaptation of the story was in the 1954–1955 television series ''

'' starring Ronald Howard. An adaptation of "The Red-Headed League" was used for an episode of the 1965 television series ''

'' starring

Douglas Wilmer Douglas Wilmer (8 January 1920 – 31 March 2016) was an English actor, best known for playing Sherlock Holmes in the 1965 TV series ''Sherlock Holmes''. Early life Wilmer was born in Brentford, Middlesex, and received his education at King' ...

as Holmes and Nigel Stock as Watson, with

Toke Townley John Antony Townley (6 November 1912 – 27 September 1984), known professionally as Toke Townley, was an English actor. Biography Townley was born on 6 November 1912 at Great Dunmow, Essex; his father was a vicar. His first name, "John", was c ...

as Jabez Wilson. In the 1985 television adaptation starring Jeremy Brett, the scheme was masterminded by

Professor Moriarty Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character and criminal mastermind created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to be a formidable enemy for the author's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. He was created primarily as a device by which Doyle could ...

and Clay is Moriarty's star pupil of crime (Holmes and Jones explicitly notes that Clay is usually more of an impulsive criminal who wouldn't come up with something this elaborate on his own). An episode of the animated 1999–2001 television series ''

Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century ''Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century'' is an animated television series in which Sherlock Holmes is brought back to life in the 22nd century. The series is a co-production by DIC Entertainment, L.P. and Scottish Television Enterprises and ...

'' titled "The Red-Headed League" was based on the story. In the NHK puppetry television series ''

'', Jabez Wilson is a pupil of

Beeton School is a fictional coeducational boarding school in which the NHK puppetry Sherlock Holmes is set. It is named after Beeton's Christmas Annual and Eton College. Summary The school setting is the first case in the screening history of the Seri ...

as well as Holmes and Watson and is invited to the Red-Headed Club by his senior Duncan Ross. But strangely enough, what he does in the club is painting balls, stones and bottles red. Holmes suspects that it is a means for Ross to ensure Wilson stays away from a certain place.

Radio

Edith Meiser Edith Meiser (May 9, 1898 – September 26, 1993) was an American author and actress, who wrote mystery novels, stage plays, and numerous radio dramas. She is perhaps best known for bringing adaptations of Sherlock Holmes stories to radio in the ...

adapted the story as the third episode of the radio series ''

'', which aired on 5 January 1931, starring

Clive Brook Clifford Hardman "Clive" Brook (1 June 1887 – 17 November 1974) was an English film actor. After making his first screen appearance in 1920, Brook emerged as a leading British actor in the early 1920s. After moving to the United States ...

as Sherlock Holmes and Leigh Lovell as Dr. Watson. Other episodes adapted from the story aired on 24 May 1933 (with Richard Gordon as Holmes and Lovell as Watson) and 8 February 1936 (with Gordon as Holmes and Harry West as Watson). Edith Meiser also adapted the story for the radio series ''

The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes ''The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' is a radio drama series which aired in the USA from 1939 to 1950, it ran for 374 episodes, with many of the later episodes considered lost media. The series was based on the Sherlock Holmes stories by Ar ...

'' with

Basil Rathbone Philip St. John Basil Rathbone MC (13 June 1892 – 21 July 1967) was a South African-born English actor. He rose to prominence in the United Kingdom as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in more than 70 films, primarily costume ...

as Holmes and

Nigel Bruce William Nigel Ernle Bruce (4 February 1895 – 8 October 1953) was a British character actor on stage and screen. He was best known for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in a series of films and in the radio series ''The New Adventures of Sherlock H ...

as Watson. The episode aired on 27 October 1940. Other episodes adapted from the story aired on 28 May 1943, and on 2 June 1947 (with

Tom Conway Tom Conway (born Thomas Charles Sanders, 15 September 1904 – 22 April 1967) was a British film, television, and radio actor remembered for playing private detectives (including The Falcon, Sherlock Holmes, Bulldog Drummond, and The Saint) ...

as Holmes and Bruce as Watson). The story was also read by Basil Rathbone in a 1966 recording released by

Caedmon Records Caedmon Audio and HarperCollins Audio are record label imprints of HarperCollins Publishers that specialize in audiobooks and other literary content. Formerly Caedmon Records, its marketing tag-line was Caedmon: a Third Dimension for the Printe ...

. A radio adaptation starring

Carleton Hobbs Carleton Percy Hobbs, OBE (18 June 1898 – 31 July 1978) was an English actor with many film, radio and television appearances. He portrayed Sherlock Holmes in 80 radio adaptations in a series of Sherlock Holmes radio dramas (1952–1969), ...

as Holmes and

Norman Shelley Norman Shelley (16 February 1903 – 21 August 1980) was a British actor, best known for his work in radio, in particular for the BBC's '' Children's Hour''. He also had a recurring role as Colonel Danby in the long-running radio soap opera ''T ...

as Watson aired on the

BBC Home Service The BBC Home Service was a national and regional radio station that broadcast from 1939 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 4. History 1922–1939: Interwar period Between the early 1920s and the outbreak of World War II, the BBC ...

in 1953, as part of the 1952–1969 radio series. Hobbs and Shelley also played Holmes and Watson respectively in a 1957 radio adaptation on the BBC Home Service, and a 1964 radio adaptation on the

BBC Light Programme The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 1. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the ...

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Briti ...

played Holmes and

Ralph Richardson Sir Ralph David Richardson (19 December 1902 – 10 October 1983) was an English actor who, with John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, was one of the trinity of male actors who dominated the British stage for much of the 20th century. He wo ...

played Watson in a radio adaptation of "The Red-Headed League" which aired on 19 October 1954 on the BBC Light Programme. The production also aired in January 1955 on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

radio and in May 1956 on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

radio. A radio adaptation aired on 26 April 1977, on the series ''

CBS Radio Mystery Theater ''CBS Radio Mystery Theater'' (a.k.a. ''Radio Mystery Theater'' and ''Mystery Theater'', sometimes abbreviated as ''CBSRMT'') is a radio drama series created by Himan Brown that was broadcast on CBS Radio Network affiliates from 1974 to 1982, an ...

''.

Kevin McCarthy Kevin Owen McCarthy (born January 26, 1965) is an American politician, serving as House Minority Leader in the United States House of Representatives since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he served as House Majority Leader under spea ...

was the voice of Holmes. An adaptation aired on BBC radio in June 1978, starring Barry Foster as Holmes and

David Buck David Keith Rodney Buck (17 October 1933 – 27 January 1989) was an English actor. Buck was born in London, the son of Joseph Buck and Enid Marguerite (née Webb). He starred in many television productions from 1959 until 1989. One of his ea ...

as Watson. It was adapted by

Michael Bakewell Michael Bakewell (born 1931) is a British television producer. Bakewell was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire in England. He is best known for his work during the 1960s, when he was the first Head of Plays at the BBC, after Sydney Newman divid ...

. "The Red-Headed League" was dramatised for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

in 1990 by Vincent McInerney as an episode of the 1989–1998 radio series, starring

Clive Merrison Clive Merrison (born 15 September 1945) is a British actor of film, television, stage and radio. He trained at Rose Bruford College. He is best known for his long running BBC Radio portrayal of Sherlock Holmes, having played the part in all 64 ...

as Holmes and Michael Williams as Watson. It also featured

James Wilby James Jonathon Wilby (born 20 February 1958) is an English actor. Early life and education Wilby was born in Rangoon, Burma to a corporate executive father. He was educated at Terrington Hall School, North Yorkshire and Sedbergh School in Cu ...

as Vincent Spaulding. A 2014 episode of the radio series ''

The Classic Adventures of Sherlock Holmes ''Imagination Theatre'' is an American syndicated radio drama program airing on FM and AM radio stations across the United States. It features modern radio dramas. The program first aired in 1996. Originally produced by Jim French Productions, t ...

'' was adapted from the story, and starred

John Patrick Lowrie John Patrick Lowrie (born June 28, 1952) is an American actor, musician and author best known for voicing the Sniper in ''Team Fortress 2'' and various characters in '' Dota 2''. He has played Sherlock Holmes in the radio series ''The Further A ...

as Holmes and Lawrence Albert as Watson.

Stage

The story, along with "

The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax "The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax" is one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It is one of the eight stories in the cycle collected as '' His Last Bow'' (1917), and one of the few stories in which ...

", "

The Adventure of the Empty House "The Adventure of the Empty House", one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 13 stories in the cycle collected as '' The Return of Sherlock Holmes''. It was first published in '' Collier's'' in ...

", and "

The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton" is one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It was originally published in ''Collier's'' in the United States on 26 March 1904, and in ''The Strand Magazine'' in ...

", provided the source material for the play ''

The Return of Sherlock Holmes ''The Return of Sherlock Holmes'' is a 1905 collection of 13 Sherlock Holmes stories, originally published in 1903–1904, by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. The stories were published in the '' Strand Magazine'' in Britain and ''Collier's'' i ...

''.

Video games

Multiple references to the story are made in the two ''The Great Ace Attorney'' games. In the first game, '' The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures'', Herlock Sholmes (who is Doyle's Sherlock Holmes in the original Japanese version, with his name changed for legal reasons as part of localization) incorrectly deduces that one of the involved parties in the final case was trying to dig a tunnel into a bank from a pawnshop, which is quickly disproven by protagonist Ryunosuke Naruhodo. In the second game, '' The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve'', Sholmes is fooled by a fraudulent advertisement from the "Red-Headed League" and drinks a potion that turns his hair red before being scammed out of five shillings. Sholmes later has the two leaders of the "league" arrested, and their testimony about the scam proves important in revealing the truth of the international conspiracy at the heart of the game's plot. In addition, the name John Clay is briefly mentioned in another case, though as the name of a policeman rather than a criminal, and a character is named Duncan Ross, although he is seemingly unrelated to the Red-Headed League.

References

;Notes ;Sources * * *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Red-Headed League, The 1891 short stories Sherlock Holmes short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle Works originally published in The Strand Magazine