The Cry of Oh Murder! - Why No Response?

[perrymason]

Hi JS,

At least one of the women who heard the noise seems a bit on the nervous side anyway, placing furniture in front of her door in her room inside the house, so Im not so sure even if that cry had been loud and clearly a call for help, that she wouldnt have just looked out the window, or crawled under the covers. I dont see her as a rescue type.

Which makes me think that when she is awakened by Diddles, likely to the sound or the arrival of the killer downstairs, and hears that faintish "oh-murder", had she thought it sounded real my bet is she wouldnt have gone back to sleep for a while. But she says she drifted off again after hearing no sounds following.

And Sarah Lewis who heard it as if at her door, didnt even go to the door to see whats up.

As I said earlier, with the multiple uses of that same phrase during that period, one at least is fairly benign. And when used in that context, perhaps not so loud, and with inflection well never know about....like "oh-MURDER" I broke my bloody heel, or "OH-murder" you would say anything but your prayers...or "OH-MURDER", I am being killed.

In this case I believe it was , open the door, see whos there, "oh-murder"....Im sleeping, what are you doing here now?

My best regards.

[Sam Flynn]

In this case I believe it was , open the door, see whos there, "oh-murder"....Im sleeping, what are you doing here now?

That sounds a bit too "literary" for me, Mike. Unless you wish to suggest that Mary Kelly was somewhat above the occasional shout of "F***ing hell!", which I don't quite see either. What it doesn't explain is why there may have been more than one cry of "Murder", either - nor the description of a loud scream by Sarah Lewis. If there was a scream at all, then it was one of alarm, not surprise. Still less does it seem to resemble a mild reproach.

[Suzi]

That sounds a bit too "literary" for me, Mike. Unless you wish to suggest that Mary Kelly was somewhat above the occasional shout of "F***ing hell!", which I don't quite see either. What it doesn't explain is why there may have been more than one cry of "Murder", either - nor the description of a loud scream by Sarah Lewis. If there was a scream at all, then it was one of alarm, not surprise. Still less does it seem to resemble a mild reproach.

Sam!
I have always said that if I woke up in mi' nightie/chemise (NO NO NO!) to find a loonie with a knife a) standing over me or b) getting into bed with me The last thing that I would have thought to say was 'Oh Murder!'....as you say how literary!....More to the point Ooooooooooooooh F *** or get the F*** outta here........and take the key with you! ........would may........just may!(lol) HAVE BEEN MY FIRST RESPONSE!!!!

I suppose an Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggggggggggggggggggh hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Murrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrddddaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrr rrrrrrr may have been what Mrs P heard!! Yep BUT I doubt she'd have gone back to sleep after that Dids or no Dids! hmmmmmmmmmm

[perrymason]

That sounds a bit too "literary" for me, Mike. Unless you wish to suggest that Mary Kelly was somewhat above the occasional shout of "F***ing hell!", which I don't quite see either. What it doesn't explain is why there may have been more than one cry of "Murder", either - nor the description of a loud scream by Sarah Lewis. If there was a scream at all, then it was one of alarm, not surprise. Still less does it seem to resemble a mild reproach.

Hi Sam, Suz,

I will agree with you on that point heartily Sam, Im sure she could come out with some doozies when provoked and drunk. She was recently in court for a D & D that same Fall/Summer wasnt she?

Why I think this is different is the perhaps 2 hours of sleep she may have had, after being drunk and enteraining someone for over an hour. Its also around 3:45am. Right there are two reasons for a "faintish" cry, as heard by the woman in much closer proximity than Sarah Lewis, being in the far corner of the court at the Keylers, .....one is the time. If its not "Bloody Murder" then you might want to consider the neighbors, and if she knows the man but is annoyed at being woken, you have the context for the softer calling of "oh-murder".

I suspect that the reason Sarah thought it was louder was simple acoustics of the court, if Marys door was open, the voice would be amplified by the time it hits Sarah....and it would sound muffled if Elizabeth only hears it courtesy of the partition wall, allowing sounds to reach her from Marys room. How Liz hears it is an issue,....from a window in the court, or one facing Dorset, cause if its the one facing Dorset the voice could well have originated from the entrance to the archway to the court, and be heard by both.

My best regards youse two.

[Gman992]

Oh maybe someone came upon the body through the window? I don't know...if someone attacks me, the first instinct is to cry "HELP!"

[richardnunweek]

Hi.
Lets look at the form book...
Elizabeth Prater said at the inquest, the cry she heard was like 'Awaken from a nightmare'
The words used were said to have been 'Oh Murder'
Three years later the canadian reporter Kit Watkins interviewed a woman called Lottie who was then staying in room 13, [ in 1888 resided further down the court] and she said that she had known the dead woman, and remembered Kelly telling her that she had a nightmare that she was being murdered, and it had frightened her.
What words would you possible yell out if awakening from such a dream?
Well what about 'Oh Murder'.
Some nightmares especially horrific ones have a tendency to repeat themselves, so I would suggest that the cry out at 4am was precisely that, a reoccuring dream.
Leaving the morning scenerio wide open.
Regards Richard.

[DirectorDave]

"Oh, Murder" does sound staged.....but perhaps that’s where it came from.

Just like the phrases we use today like "Don't Panic" or "Were Doomed" they spread from entertainment of the day into our vocabulary in every day life.

Is it possible in the many plays and shows of the day "Oh, Murder" was a dramatic call on stage by the dying victim perhaps this transposed into the language of the time?

Perhaps someone can check if this phrase was also used in the "Penny dreadfuls" of the time?

People are people and if we nick things of the Telly or Films I think it is feasible to surmise that 1880's London folk would do the same.

[DVV]

Hi Dave,

not only the penny dreadfuls. In fact one encounters many "Murder!" in the press reports on the W murders.
Already in Tabram case (the Hewitts, I think, and also Mrs Reeves if I'm correct).
They said they heard such cries from the street almost daily.

Amitiés,
David

[DirectorDave]

Thanks David,

I just feel the dramatic slant to the cry is somewhat irrelevant especially in light of what you have said.

Just as a slight alternative I would have thought a good Catholic girl like Mary might have yelled "oh mother of god!"

Could the "Oh, murder" been a misheard, interrupted "Oh murther of gawd" with an Irish (or Welsh) twang?

lol perhaps not....but who knows?

[DVV]

...and in Richard's scenario (reoccuring dream), it would have been : "Oh, murder again...!"

Seriously, the cry seems to have been heard by two women... I think it tells us the time of the attack.

Amitiés,
David