A Critic's Mistake
A Critic's Mistake is an article published in The Shields Daily Gazette and Shipping Telegraph on 25 june 1900.
Editions
- in The Evening News (21 june 1900 [UK])
- in The Shields Daily Gazette and Shipping Telegraph (25 june 1900 [UK])
Article
The other day the Times had a slashing comment on Sir Henry Irving's appearance in "A Story of Waterloo," by Dr Conan Doyle:— "It is really deplorable that our leading actor should so far forget his historical sense and his feeling for artistic canons as to introduce into the piece references to the Boer war. He cannot mean us to believe that the corporal is 105 or 110 years old, which would have to be the case if the date of the piece were the present day."
This has brought forth a reply from Sir Henry, who writes to the Times saying that he is surprised at this comment. "Permit me to say," he adds, "that the references to the Bonn are in the original text of Dr Conan Doyle's play, and have, consequently, nothing to do with the present war."
The text of "A Story of Waterloo" has not been published, but the play is founded on a story by Dr Conan Doyle, called "A Straggler of '15." That story was included in the volume of short stories under the title "Round the Red Lamp," a book which appeared several years before the present Boer war.
The following passage, which occurs in the story, is perhaps the cause of the distress of the Times's mistaken critic:
"By the Lord, sir," cried the sergeant hotly; "they need some change out in South Africa now. I see by this morning's paper that the Government has knuckled under to these Boers. They're hot about it at the non-com. mess, I can tell you, sir."
"Eh, eh," croaked old Brewster. "By gosh! it wouldn't ha' done for the Dook; the Dook would ha' had a word to say over that!"
