Historical Circumspection and Related Facts.

I’ve just read an article by somebody called Leanda de Lisle which set out to ‘debunk the myth of Lady Jane Grey.’ It was quite depressing, really. Lady Jane was always one of my favourite historical characters, and now it seems that maybe she shouldn’t have been.

Then again, how do I know that Ms de Lisle’s view is right and the received version is wrong? I don’t, do I? And neither does anybody else, so therein lies the point.

It seems to me that there’s a big gulf between history as it’s taught in the classroom and popular culture, and history as it’s perceived by historians. One simply takes the view: ‘This is what happened.’ The other may be summarised as ‘much of what is written about the life of this historical character is actually conjecture, surmise, presumption extrapolated from the relatively few written sources which existed at the time, and which we choose to trust largely because we can’t think of a reason not to. And if we can find two or more independent corroborative sources, so much the better.’ In the end, so much of it still struggles to pass any true test of certainty.

It gets complex, of course, because history isn’t just about famous people, but also about the progress of events and general movements in which the archaeological record adds its weight. You could argue about it all day, which is what I imagine historians spend a lot of their time doing.

1^st related fact:

As a young man, my job required me to make trips to Winchester where I mostly stayed at a pub called the Eclipse Inn. It was reputedly haunted by the ghost of Lady Lisle (any relation to Leanda would probably be conjectural) who spent her last night in that very hostelry (allegedly) before being executed the following day in the street outside. I always hoped to see her, but apart from some suspiciously creaky floorboards which woke me up during some uncomfortably dark nights, the lady never manifested to ask ‘Jeffrey, Jeffrey, it’s so cold down here. May I come into your bed for some warmth?’ I’m damn glad she didn’t, actually, because I don’t suppose she would have smelt too good.

2^nd related fact:

The barman there once told me that he’d seen a woman in an archaic grey dress walk down the stairs, proceed along the back of the bar, and then disappear into a wall.

‘So who was she the ghost of?’ I asked.

‘Oh, she wasn’t a ghost.’

‘How do you know?’

‘I don’t believe in ghosts.’

I’m not sure whether that’s evidence of defective eyesight, lopsided logic, or a difference of opinion on the definition of ‘ghost.’ I remain circumspect.