William Herbert "Skip" Boyer, 32° 15817 N. 6th Place, Phoenix. Arizona 85022 Skip.Boyer@bestwestern.com  Perhaps tongue in cheek, the author offers his personal speculations on the alleged Masonic membership of Dr. John Watson and Sherlock Holmes.

Let us consider the evidence: Dr. John Watson left 56 short case studies and four much longer, almost novel-length accounts of Holmes's work. Watson's literary agent and fellow physician and Brother, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, first shared this work with the public in 1891.

From this basic Canon (known reverently as The Sacred Writings by true students of the Holmesian method) has come nearly 300 movies, 630 radio plays, 32 stage plays, more than 50 television shows, two regularly published magazines, nearly countless case studies by other authors (including two by Holmes himself) and a very large bookshelf full of biographies.

By the way, nearly one-third of all Londoners believes without question that Holmes was a real person. More than 1,000 letters a year are received at 221-B Baker Street, one of the world's most well-known addresses. And they are answered by a private secretary who explains to each writer that Mr. Holmes is now retired and living on the coast.

It is a matter of record that Watson's old friend and literary agent, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, was a Mason. It is fair to speculate that Watson was, as well. Both were physicians, professional men. It is likely that Watson took his Degrees in a Military Lodge while serving in India.

When Holmes came to the Craft is not a matter of record. The circumstances of Watson and Holmes meeting suggest a fraternal tie. Neither knew the other, yet they immediately agreed to share lodgings. Would you do the same with a perfect stranger? Only, perhaps, if you both recognized in each other a stronger bond, perhaps Freemasonry.

Bro. John Watson was a clever writer. Without ever announcing membership in a Lodge, Bro. John scatters hints through his case studies. Before examining some of those hints, it is wise to ask why the cloak of secrecy? What made it necessary to conceal their standing as Masons? There are two reasons at work here, I believe. The first was Bro. Sherlock's natural inclination towards privacy. A society that also protected its privacy would have been appealing to him. The second reason is a bit darker from a Masonic standpoint. For many years and even today, the general British public has harbored suspicions about Freemasonry. It would have been to Bro. Sherlock's advantage to keep his membership secret.

Bro. Dr. John Watson, however, has left a clear trail for the seekers of light to discover the truth of the matter. No fewer than four individuals in the recorded case studies are actually identified as Freemasons. Another four are named "Mason." It is clear Bro. John did not use real names in many of the recorded cases. Instead, he uses names of people and places to give us the hints we seek. St. John's Wood is an important location in "Scandal in Bohemia." Marylebone Lane is another critical location, appearing in "The Final Problem." Master Masons will recognize this sound-alike word for what it really is. And, in "The Valley of Fear," Bro. John goes into great detail about the Ancient Order of Freemen, a benevolent fraternal order clearly based on Freemasonry.

When Bro. Sherlock retired from active practice, he chose a hobby that also says something about his understanding of Masonic symbols. He became a beekeeper. There is more. Bro. Sherlock was a master of disguise. On at least three occasions, he chose the guise of a seafaring man. The real evidence, however, is the mystery of the famed Diogenes Club.

To consider this fully, we must also examine Bro. Sherlock's older brother, Mycroft Holmes. Mycroft, we are informed, was a founder of the Diogenes Club, a private club that worked very hard at remaining very private. Let us consider his Diogenes Club. We must assume that, again, Bro. Watson is playing with names for our benefit. Diogenes was, of course, the traveler seeking an honest man by the light of his lantern, a traveler seeking light. Much research has been done to determine the actual name of the Club, for clearly it was not Diogenes. Judge S. Tupper Bigelow in 1968 published his study and demonstrated beyond a doubt that the Diogenes Club was, in reality, the Travellers' Club at 106 Pall Mall. The Travellers' Club, a club for traveling men seeking light, was, in reality, a Masonic Lodge wherein the Brothers Holmes and Brother John Watson sat regularly with the leading men in British government.

Now, if we accept all of this on the square, why have we not reached these conclusions earlier? I believe it was at Bro. Sherlock's specific request that his Masonic career was hidden from view. In an effort to reduce the glare of fame, he faked his own death at Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland. As serious students of the Holmesian Canon know, the next six years are a period known as the Great Hiatus.

I believe he used this period to study the legends of Masonic tradition. With his ability to research and deduce, he must have felt that he could reestablish the truths behind Masonic legends extending back to the days of King Solomon's Temple and beyond. During the Great Hiatus, Bro. Sherlock was in the Middle East and Jerusalem, seeking, I believe, more light in Freemasonry by seeking the very roots of the Craft.

There are two possible outcomes of his search. Either he found nothing and returned to 221-B Baker Street bitterly disappointed, whereupon he forbade Bro. John Watson to record the truth of the matter. Or—and this I believe to be closer to the truth—he did find confirmation among the ruins of Solomon's great Temple. And in his wisdom, the wisdom of a master—perhaps a Worshipful Master—Bro. Sherlock chose to keep that knowledge within a faithful breast until such time as the Craft was more ready to receive it.

So, Brothers, I commend to you two more Brothers of note, Bro. Sherlock Holmes and Bro. John Watson, true Brothers of the heart and of the Craft, and, considering that the years of their greatest work parallel the great work of another Brother, Albert Pike, I think we can safely assume that Brothers Holmes and Watson were also at home in the Lodge of the Double-headed Eagle.

William H. Boyer is the Director, Executive Communications, Best Western International, Inc. He is a member of Paradise Valley–Silver Trowel Lodge No. 29, Phoenix, Arizona, and serves as editor of the Lodge's trestleboard. Brother Boyer is a member of the Philalethes Society and writes a regular column in the Society's popular magazine. A Chevalier of the Order of DeMolay, a member of the Brotherhood of the Blue Forget-Me-Not, the Scottish Rite Bodies of Phoenix, Arizona, and the Scottish Rite Research Society, he is a native of Omaha, Nebraska, and holds the prestigious Accredited Business Communicator (ABC) designation from the International Association of Business Communicators. Brother Boyer has earned more than 70 regional and national awards for his writing and editorial work.