How He Cut His Stick | M. McDonnell Bodkin | A Bitesized Audio Production
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- Опубликовано: 12 сен 2024
- A classic "locked room mystery" set on the railway, involving an audacious and inexplicable theft from a locked carriage on a train travelling at 60 miles per hour. Dora Myrl, "the Lady Detective", investigates...
A new, original recording of a classic public domain text, read and performed by Simon Stanhope for Bitesized Audio.
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Matthias McDonnell Bodkin (1850-1933) was born in County Galway, Ireland, the second son of a doctor. Over the course of a long career he was a journalist, newspaper editor, barrister (QC during the reign of Victoria), county court Judge (for County Clare) and, for a brief period (1892-95), a Member of Parliament for North Roscommon, sitting in the House of Commons as an Irish Nationalist during Gladstone's fourth and final term as prime minister. Somehow alongside all this he managed to find time to write fiction, which he produced quite prolifically from the 1890s through to the late 1920s.
In this capacity he created two popular "rivals of Sherlock Holmes" in the 1890s: Paul Beck, "the rule of thumb detective", and Dora Myrl, "the lady detective". He subsequently had the ingenious idea of having them meet and work together, get married and produce a son (Paul Beck junior) who became a detective in his own right, appearing in stories from 1911 onwards. The character of Dora is notable as not only a relatively rare (for the time) female fictional detective, but also one with impressive academic accomplishments: a Cambridge wrangler, trained in medicine, who worked as a journalist, amongst other things, before becoming intrigued by crime and deciding to set up as as consulting detective.
'How He Cut His Stick' was one of the first stories to feature Dora Myrl, and was published in book form as part of a collection of Bodkin's stories entitled 'Dora Myrl, the Lady Detective' in 1900.
Recording © Bitesized Audio 2020.
That was one helluva story, with a narration that carries it off perfectly. Thank you so much.
Glad to know you enjoyed it! Thanks for listening
A mystery story.... thankyou so very much. Absolutely love mysteries ! Thanks again.
Thanks BlueFriend - yes, I recalled your recent request for more mystery/detective stories when I recorded this one
@@BitesizedAudio What a kind spirit you are ! Greetings from Beautiful B.C. :-))
Yes! More mysteries / detective storylines please! Great work as always Simon 😊
Absolutely magnificent as always, thank you so much for your tremendous reading.
Thank you Catharine. So glad you enjoyed it!
Sparkling storytelling with cut- glass diction, as always. What a delight - thankyou!
Simon is preserving the King's English. It is doomed here in the US.
Lovely another story to chill too.Sometimes I listen again to some of them🤗Thank you 🌹
Glad you like them! Thanks Stella
Simon is so great. Love his readings. Here we go again. Fun. I'm to the point now where I'm left to wonder: can I fall asleep without Simon's voice, lol? What an introduction!? He, his lordship, turns to Dora for help first. She's impressive, she delivers.
I am always happy to hear your wonderful narrations. A great way to unwind after a long day. Thank you Sir
Excellent entertainment. Many thanks.
What a thrilling chase this piece of detective fiction was for the readers then (and the listeners of today!). His Lordship, Matthias McDonnell Bodkin had the gift of writing but I dare say he was rather ahead of his time... just as his character, Miss Dora Myrl was hardly the norm for the conventional femininity in her time:
>making a man she just met blush by her mere touch (albeit through cloth)
>staying in a hotel room with that same man for weeks (posing as his sister)
>bicycling in a full speed chase
>climbing walls nimbly (despite wearing a long skirt)
>and wielding a revolver confidently (claiming to be "a good shot")
Yes, she was plucky but she had her own genius. She was portrayed by Judge Bodkin, as a real lady but with the mind of a man, something of an Emily Jane Bronte. Like Holmes, she had recourse to playing music when in deep thought.
I loved her... Just as I loved listening to this story THRICE already.
Oh, Stanhope is splendid ...as always! 😉☕
Thank you G Vivo, very kind of you!
@@BitesizedAudio Thank you, Mr. Stanhope... you helped revive these precious authors from obscurity.
M. Bodkin's photo gives us a glimpse of the author but I wish the judge described Ms. Dora Myrl's appearance in the story. I felt curious and formed my own image of Ms. Dora as young and alluring.
Most amazing narration, great voice you have aswell.
Thanks Carl, very kind of you
I had to giggle at, "She touched his protruding biceps professionally with her fingertips." Thank you for these wonderful stories. Your hard work is much appreciated!
Naughty.
Another great story with perfect narration. Thanks
Thanks Ricky
A very clever ending. Beautifully read as always. . .
Thanks again for a great production.
You're very welcome, thanks aunty. Also, I see you've just bought me some coffee - thank you so much for your support, it's much appreciated. Best wishes
@@BitesizedAudio I pleased to send some concrete support. The gifts are still rather one sided, however I can “join” your other supporters from my marvellous Mac and will do so.
Your audio classics are even more important these days as we retreat to our homes and try to control the spread of COVID here in Canada. Thank you again. 😊
What a great story, economical, elegant - and (of course) well read! Thank you for the three-story introduction to M.M. Bodkin!
Always exciting to see a new story pop up :) Bravo once again! Hope to hear more of Ms. Dora Mel!
@Missy Thank you! Yes I hope to record more of her adventures at some point
Wonderful, as ever
Brilliant narration/ reading/ performanc!
Whatever the story, characters come alive as though puppets on strings by the narrator. Amazing talent.
Thank you Simon Sir.
So glad to see a new upload! You made my day. :)
Wonderful! Thanks for your support
I love your voice which is everything when reading. 😁❤😁
Thank you!
Love the strong, self-confident character of the lady detective, quite remarkable at this time I think, too. Delicately narrated!!
Thanks Natalie. Yes, she's a great character. Actually, perhaps surprisingly, there were one or two other female detectives in popular fiction at the time, Dora wasn't quite the first. I'm hoping to narrate a story featuring one of the others fairly soon!
@@BitesizedAudio oh, that's great, I will be all ears!
Thank you so much.
Again thanks to you a perfect Sunday evening relaxing in my armchair trying to second guess the ending of another Bitesized yarn .
Wonderful, lovely to hear that Bob. And thank you so much too for joining as a channel member, your support is very much appreciated
G'day guy's, awesome story, Simon's a great narrator, nearly on par with one of my favorite
Holmes/Watson narrator's
"Mr Greg Wagland"
from (Magpie Audio) Brilliant voice actor.
Really enjoyed this 1, cheers thanks for upload @Bitesizedaudio. Keep em' comin'.... from Melbourne Australia.
Thank you Deon. Yes indeed I concur, Greg Wagland's narrations are excellent, highly recommended. Thanks for listening, and for taking the time to comment, much appreciated.
Bitesized Audio Classics I too like Greg...I’d say yall are equally brilliant! 👏
@@tedar3986 ita
@@Frenchblue89 10 😁 not quite as clever as yours but all I could think of on the spot lol
Thank you, Simon, for your excellent narration. It was great fun to listen to visualising all the action unfolding in front of me. I love detective stories such as these.
Great choice and thanks again. Greetings from Rebecca in Australia
Thanks Rebecca, glad you enjoyed it - best wishes to you
Excellent... Thank you!
💯class as always! Tysm Simon!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks Teda
Another work of perfection!! Thank you so much for these-- I just can't get enough of them and they all merit many more than one listening.
Another short story, which I have been thoroughly entertained by. It is your superb narration, which brings the characters in my imagination to life and really makes the story come alive…… Thank you.….
Thank you very much!
Is it just me or is it Ms Dora Mel the female equivalent to Sherlock Holmes the master detective that is a good piano player ? In opposition to the Sherlocks 🎻 😃😃
@Alonso Tristen guess what no one cares😑😑😑
Very good. These are a treat to listen to. Thank you kindly.
Thanks for this as always
You're welcome, and thanks for your support Dean - much appreciated
A very clever plot and all the voices done so well!
Thank you. 👌💕
Dora Myrl reminds me of Tuppence Bereford or rather the other way round in chronological order! And Jim Bollock:)
Beautifully read as always, but a highly unbelievable story on this occasion IMO!
Superb as ever, most enjoyable
"In a football rush".A reference to to old style rugby. A tactic known as a foot-rush. The Irish province of Munster were adept at it, apparently.
A good story.
Thanks for listening
great
Second time's a charm. Cheers again.
What a wonderful story I enjoyed it so much! Dora is a certified genius indeed. So fun and different to have a female detective in charge of things :), bit of a variation from my usual ACD story line up! Thank you for the excellent narration
Thanks Heather, glad you enjoyed it. Yes indeed, there were actually a couple of female "rivals of Sherlock Holmes" who were popular in the 1890s; I hope to record more of these stories in the new year
What a delightful smart sleuth is Dora! Reminds me of Emma Peel.
Thank you for an enjoyable story.
You're most welcome, glad you enjoyed it
I feel a tiny bit cheated that anyone not local wouldn't have a hope of getting the embankment-zipline connection (I thought he'd hooked the bag to something, possibly a signal-box) but with a well-trained himbo, a dashing all-out bicycle chase and bemused police in the same story I can hardly complain. Well read, sir!
I shall now go back to haunting the ghost stories, but I couldn't resist the title.
Well the author had a vivid imagination on how the criminal departed the train carriage…But an excellent story expertly narrated many thanks .
Wow a female Sherlock Holmes & an excellent story!
"Don't whine; you played a bold game and lost the odd trick and you ve got to pay up that's all"
How cool is Dora Mryl?! If only I could fit that line into a conversation somewhere,
(I mused, eyeing my four-year-old...)
Delightful!
I like his last name...Bodkin
❤❤
Funniest episode
21 : 00
Jim Pollock came crashing through the underwood like an elephant through the jungle
I loved this story. Being a woman it’s fun to have the detective to be one, too. Great narration! (Does it get monotonous hearing that? Hope not, cause you have a big fan base that thinks just that, you know.)
Why, thank you Rachel! It's very kind of you to say so, I'm touched. Yes, I hope to do more Dora Myrl adventures at some point; also you may enjoy another Victorian female detective (in fact, the first one) elsewhere on the channel - Loveday Brooke, created by Catherine Louisa Pirkis. I've done 'The Redhill Sisterhood', and have another Loveday story coming up quite soon all being well.
Bitesized Audio Classics Hope you’re feeling well and on the mend!
Didn’t the original Clark had to be in on it? I mean how else could the thief had known About the delivery route, the amounts, it’s time of delivery and so On?
Good point... that strand of the plot wasn't really followed up
I'd also like to know how he got off the train with both the window closed and the door locked.
McDonnell Bodkin is an Irish politician.
9 : 20
...a nolle prosequi...
Dear Simon,
What does it mean?
"Nolle prosequi" is a (Latin) legal term, meaning a decision not to prosecute / not bring charges.
Brilliant what is your name please?
Thank you Jan. I have replied to you a couple of times as you've asked me this before - it would seem you're not receiving the notifications for some reason, so my apologies if you think I've been ignoring you! My name is Simon Stanhope, details in the story descriptions and on the About page if you'd like to know more. Thanks for your kind feedback
3:35...ooo...that might be interesting...let's go foreard...
It's really interesting.Thank you very much.Have you ever posted any other novels written by Mr.McDonnell Bodkin?
I haven't, yet, but hope to at some point.... so many authors, so many stories....
@@BitesizedAudio not so often you can read " на одном дыхании" ...ohohoh...don't know suitable english idiom...might be you know...?...quickly+with great interest+during one breath... = my question.
There's an English idiom "in the same breath", which usually means to say two contradictory things at once. Otherwise "in one breath" would probably be the way to express reading or saying a lot in a short space of time...
@@BitesizedAudio OMG...got it..read your replies in one breath...you're polite clever intelligent experienced professional as usual...thanks again.
10 : 30
Not from Adam.
Is this an idiom?
What does it mean
Might be
Never ?
Hello Natalya, I see you've posted a series of queries this morning! I shall endeavour to answer them as best I can. Yes, "I don't know him from Adam" is indeed an English idiom, meaning "I don't know him / don't know anything about him / don't recognise him, etc". I assume it references Adam in the Bible, but I'm not absolutely sure about the origin.
@@BitesizedAudio Ooo...nice to meet you here dear Simon..many thanks for detailed explanation.
By the way, what are you reading yourself for yourself in October?
Do you celebrate Halloween this year?
When is the birthday of your fantastic a u d i o channel?
No particular birthday, the channel just sort of evolved... I'm not sure about Halloween, it's been a rather strange year hasn't it, and nothing is really close to being back to normal yet. As for my own reading, my personal reading for pleasure has been considerably reduced since I started the channel, as I now spend a lot of time preparing stories to read aloud, and researching new (old) ones, especially the long-forgotten ones. (Unfortunately when I read some of them I discover they've been forgotten for a good reason.... but I do enjoy rediscovering occasional lost gems.)
@@BitesizedAudio yeah...the strange year...but we must beleive...we may hope...we have the very strong gun - our interest to read amazing novels and our possibility to post queries and to get answers ...to communicate as well.Keep at it.Stay positive.We are all together.
Thanks again.
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