Why Wasn't Druitt Thanked?

[Fisherman]

What does that mean Fisherman?

The book is called "They All Love Jack", David, named after a Michael Maybrick song. But I donīt think the title "They All Love Bruce" would be objected to by the author.

Hence Freud.

PS. It just hit me that your article can have carried the Freudian name... Correct?

[David Orsam]

The book is called "They All Love Jack", David, named after a Michael Maybrick song. But I donīt think the tile "They All Love Bruce" would be objected to by the author.

Hence Freud.

PS. It just hit me that your article can have carried the Freudian name... Correct?

Yes, my article is called "They All Love Bruce".

http://www.orsam.co.uk/theyalllovebruce.htm

[Fisherman]

Yes, my article is called "They All Love Bruce".

http://www.orsam.co.uk/theyalllovebruce.htm

Makes sense - I originally thought that you had gotten the name wrong, in a way that made it more right than the original name.

And no, I am no fan of Robinson - too much for my taste.

Anyways, sorry for the intrusion. Carry on!

[Pierre]

I have to say, I entirely agree with Abby's analysis of Jonathan's posts.

Post 31. By David Orsam.
Post 32. By David Orsam.
Post 33. By David Orsam.
Post 34. By David Orsam.
Post 35. By David Orsam.
Post 36. By David Orsam.
Post 37. By David Orsam.
Post 38. By David Orsam.
Post 39. By David Orsam.
Post 40. By David Orsam.
Post 41. By David Orsam.
Post 42. By David Orsam.
Post 43. By David Orsam.

[David Orsam]

In response to apparent public demand, a full and complete list of my posts in this thread (including this one) is as follows:

Post 19. By David Orsam.
Post 21. By David Orsam.
Post 23. By David Orsam.
Post 24. By David Orsam.
Post 25. By David Orsam.
Post 31. By David Orsam.
Post 32. By David Orsam.
Post 33. By David Orsam.
Post 34. By David Orsam.
Post 35. By David Orsam.
Post 36. By David Orsam.
Post 37. By David Orsam.
Post 38. By David Orsam.
Post 39. By David Orsam.
Post 40. By David Orsam.
Post 41. By David Orsam.
Post 42. By David Orsam.
Post 43. By David Orsam.
Post 45. By David Orsam.
Post 47. By David Orsam
Post 50. By David Orsam.

They are all great posts and definitely worth reading. Many thanks.

[Pierre]

In response to apparent public demand, a full and complete list of my posts in this thread (including this one) is as follows:

Post 19. By David Orsam.
Post 21. By David Orsam.
Post 23. By David Orsam.
Post 24. By David Orsam.
Post 25. By David Orsam.
Post 31. By David Orsam.
Post 32. By David Orsam.
Post 33. By David Orsam.
Post 34. By David Orsam.
Post 35. By David Orsam.
Post 36. By David Orsam.
Post 37. By David Orsam.
Post 38. By David Orsam.
Post 39. By David Orsam.
Post 40. By David Orsam.
Post 41. By David Orsam.
Post 42. By David Orsam.
Post 43. By David Orsam.
Post 45. By David Orsam.
Post 47. By David Orsam
Post 50. By David Orsam.

They are all great posts and definitely worth reading. Many thanks.

Honour problems.

[martin wilson]

What a joy it is to read any post by Mayerling.
Tom's latest magnum opus appeared as an offer in my email box from Amazon. Couldn't resist.
Having dipped my toes back in I thought I would see if JH had made any progress on proving MJD to be the Ripper or if not, certainly up to bleedin' something.
I will have to buy the book I see.
Does it include Esther Delaforce, the Portuguese wife of a wine seller?
Who is this woman and why is she writing in the Pall Mall gazette that the Whitechapel murders 'are for the nonce allayed, if not extinct'? (Cardiff Times 15/12/1888)
There is a genealogy site. Excited I sent an email. Tell me more I pleaded.
It got aborted after four seconds. Possible spam. Probably fair enough.
I will enjoy the book. All the best JH.

[Mary Mary]

I have cruised through the MJD forums off and on for a while now, and would like to throw out a tidbit or two.

For those who confuse depression and menopause when discussing his mother's health problems, stop that.

Next, I posit that MJD found himself falling into the sort of fugue state that people with major depressive disorder suffer, and it sounds like his mother experienced them. This could easily be the 'like Mother' from the suicide note. It could also explain his going AWOL from his entire life. People with serious depression can pretty much just shut down. You don't feel like you have the energy or mental will to brush your teeth, much less go to work. And these spells can come and go, which explains why he could be athletic and then suddenly withdraw from the cricket team.

Lastly, I have a crazy idea as to why his family might have thought he was Jack, and who knows, he might have as well. It is mentioned in the doctor's letter about his mother that she was diabetic. He sounded a bit unsure about it, but testing back in those days was not exactly reliable. As we all know, diabetes, both Type I and II, is often passed through families. Now, here comes the crazy part. Some people, and I'm one of them, suffer from an odd symptom when our diabetes gets out of control. Their skin splits in places like the fingertips and the webbing between the thumb and forefinger. These splits look like knife or razor cuts. And you don't feel them happening, at least I never did, they're just suddenly there.

Imagine MJD started waking up with blood and what look like knife wounds on his hands. Or looking down during a class and realizing he is smearing blood everywhere? (Cleaning a bloody keyboard is not fun.) Then imagine his family, after his death, finds clothing and personal items with mysterious blood stains, plus a suicide note that shows that Druitt thought he was insane?

This is all purely speculative, but I thought I would bring some personal experience to the discussion.

[Wickerman]

.....
.... Some people, and I'm one of them, suffer from an odd symptom when our diabetes gets out of control. Their skin splits in places like the fingertips and the webbing between the thumb and forefinger. These splits look like knife or razor cuts. And you don't feel them happening, at least I never did, they're just suddenly there.

It sounds to me that you are describing dry skin, which often cracks in certain places, finger tips being very common.
I was not aware these splits bled. From what I have seen there is little blood in the area because this is a symptom of dehydration, so the skin is very dry & hard.

Regardless, if this was diabetes, and therefore inherited, why wouldn't his family be quite familiar with the 'bleeding' condition of the fingers?

[Darryl Kenyon]

I read somewhere that to go abroad is an obsolete British euphemism to accept a challenge to a duel. Since dueling was illegal in 19th century England but not in France. Maybe it was also used in a wider context to accept any type of challenge. So perhaps Druitt at the time was embroiled in a scandal involving the clubs finances or at the school and he was attempting/vowed to clear his name, [ which he failed to do, hence contributing to his state of mind when he committed suicide ] but removed from his position in the meantime.

[Herlock Sholmes]

It's an interesting suggestion Darryl. It's also possible that, due to some seemingly dishonourable action, Druitt was forced to resign and that the club allowed him to 'save face' by using the excuse that he'd gone abroad. After all we know that he didn't go abroad!

[Wickerman]

I read somewhere that to go abroad is an obsolete British euphemism to accept a challenge to a duel.....

Some Victorian expressions still exist today, but the meaning has changed.
'Abroad', is one of them. Today we use that to indicate being overseas, but the Victorians simply meant being away from home.

[rjpalmer]

"MRS. WELDON GONE ABROAD."

A letter from Mrs. Weldon was produced in the Chancery Court on Wednesday, addressed to the Associate of the Law Courts, dated from the Hotel Flandre, Calais, in which Mrs. Weldon stated that it was her intention to reside permanently abroad and avoid the law sharks.

South Wales Echo, 4 October 1889.

Druitt had flown the coop. They knew he wasn't coming back.

[Mary Mary]

It sounds to me that you are describing dry skin, which often cracks in certain places, finger tips being very common.
I was not aware these splits bled. From what I have seen there is little blood in the area because this is a symptom of dehydration, so the skin is very dry & hard.

It isn't dry skin. Occasionally it resembles dry skin because it peels like a sunburn, but the skin is soft and pliable under that first layer of skin. And yes, the splits can bleed. The splits don't drip or anything, but it does enough that you leave bloody fingerprints and smears on things you touch. Plus, I've been told by my doctor that it is from out of control diabetes.

Regardless, if this was diabetes, and therefore inherited, why wouldn't his family be quite familiar with the 'bleeding' condition of the fingers?

Not every sufferer of a condition has every symptom. From what my doctor told me, the bleeding splits are not a common thing. He believed that it was possibly because some types of vasculitis run in one side of my family. A person could get diabetes from one side and have something contributed from the other side that aggravates their condition.

[Wickerman]

Abroad, found in any English Cambridge Dictionary (because the subject is in 19th century England), originally meant "to be outside", or "not at home".

adv.

mid-13c., "widely apart," from Old English on brede, which meant something like "at wide" (see broad (adj.)). The sense "out of doors, away from home" (late 14c.) led to the main modern sense of "out of one's country, overseas" (mid-15c.).

Context of the usage often will clarify whether the meaning was to be taken as 'original, or 'modern'.