maybe Wilder is some kind of Diogenes Club ‘judge’ swearing them to secret-illegal-Victorian-gay-marriage because honestly I die
Fun fact! Some 19th century gay men’s clubs would really conduct clandestine marriage ceremonies – often with invitations, guests, cake, the whole deal.
I was JUST trying to find out if this as the case, @weeesi OHMYGOD
Ahhh!!!! @cupidford yes – both London and the Culture of Homosexuality AND Strangers: Homosexual Love in the Nineteenth Century talked about this. To quote from Strangers:
“…marriages continued to be a common expression of love and sociality. A surprising number of priests and vicars were prepared to perform marriages for homosexual men or lesbians, and there were also many private arrangements. […] There is evidence from late 19th-century America, Britain, France and Germany of hotels rented for weddings, male brides in gorgeous gowns, exotic honeymoons (sometimes ruined by blackmailers) and bridal bouquets kept under glass in front parlours. These events were the feast days of small communities, dates in an otherwise blank calendar. The fact that they took place at all shows a remarkable sense of organisation.”
And now, I’m here thinking about 1895 Sherlock reliving when he met John, the choice of Wilder at the club, and the meaning of potato as described by @welovethebeekeeper He reimagined John getting married, but with him instead, in their own quiet little ceremony.
John strolling up alongside Sherlock, no wedding ring on, and Sherlock looking so happy.
YES,
Fun fact!
Some 19th century gay men’s clubs would really conduct clandestine marriage ceremonies
More fun facts…Arthur Conan Doyle was friends with/spent time playing casual games of cricket with George Cecil Ives, the man who founded, in 1897, The Order of Chaeronea, “a secret society for the cultivation of a homosexual moral, ethical, cultural and spiritual ethos…as a result of his belief that homosexuals would not be accepted openly in society and must therefore have a means of underground communication.” (x)
An elaborate system of rituals, ceremonies, a service of initiation, seals, codes, and passwords were used by the members. The Secret Society became a worldwide organization and Ives took advantage of every opportunity to spread the word about the “Cause.” [the end of the oppression of homosexuals] (x)
In Ives’ words:
We believe in the glory of passion. We believe in the inspiration of emotion. We believe in the holiness of love. Now some in the world without have been asking as to our faith, and mostly we find that we have no answer for them. Scoffers there be, to whom we need not reply, and foolish ones to whom our words would convey no meaning. For what are words? Symbols of kindred comprehended conceptions, and like makes appeal to like. (x)(x)
If clandestine marriage ceremonies were being held in 19th century gay men’s clubs, then I imagine that Ives’ Order of Chaeronea would likely be one group to conduct and support such marriages. And ACD was friends with its founder.
A little more about the Order:
The primary goal of the Order was to form a global chain of lovers, building upon the Platonic ideal of the “army of lovers” first realized by the Theban Band. The “bibles” of what amounted to a homosexual-centered (or proto-Gay/Queer Spiritual) faith included Ives’ own books of ritual as well as the Greek Anthology and Whitman’s ”Leaves of Grass” (1855). The god of the Order was Eros, that “gay, capricious angel of night” with “vast wings” of Ives’ poem “With Whom, then, Should I Sleep?”(1896).
The seal of the Order is comprised of: a double wreath of calamus (sacred to Whitman) and myrtle (sacred to the Greeks), a chain signifying the “great chain of lovers;” the number 338 referring to the Sacred Band; the letters “D” (for discipline), “L” (for learning), “and “Z” (for zeal); and the mystical word AMRRHAO.
@holmesguy THANK YOU for the additions!!! I’ve been wondering for a while now whether Eminent Order of Freemen/The Scowrers in The Valley of Fear may be alluding to Order of Chaeronea, but was lacking any collaborating evidence that suggests ACD knew George Cecil Ives – now the connection has been upgraded from possible to probable because of the information you provided…… please accept my teary gratitude 😭
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