"The Adventure of the Priory School", one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 13 stories in the cycle collected as The Return of Sherlock Holmes. It was first published in Collier's in the United States on 30 January 1904, and in The Strand Magazine in the United Kingdom in February 1904. Doyle ranked "The Adventure of the Priory School" tenth in his list of his twelve favourite Holmes stories. The story was dramatised as part of the Granada TV Holmes series starring Jeremy Brett. Set in 1887, however, the revelation of Wilder's parentage and the ending were changed. In the dramatisation, Holmes deduces that Wilder is the illegitimate son of the Duke of Holdernesse after comparing his features with those of each ancestral portrait in the Hall. Also, in this version, Wilder takes Lord Saltire as a hostage in a chase led by Holmes, the Duke and Watson through a cavern under the moor, known as the "Cathedral". Having climbed to the top of a cliff-like structure with the boy, Wilder slips and falls to his death, while Lord Saltire is rescued. Later, the Duke volunteers a reward of £6,000 early on, but in the end, writes Holmes a cheque for £12,000.
JohnLenin
