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Archiver > GEN-MEDIEVAL > 1998-02 > 0888605579


From: "D. Spencer Hines" <>
Subject: Re: Countess Ida and the Bradenstoke Cartulary
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 1998 08:52:59 -1000


Vide infra.

D. Spencer Hines
--

"Well, that's what I mean. You know, if all the people who are named
...deny it....That's all, I mean, I expect them to come looking into it and
interview you and everything, uh, but I just think that if everybody's on
record denying it you've got no problem.....I wonder if I'm going to be
blown out of the water with this. I don't see how they can...if they don't,
if they don't have pictures."

Governor Bill Clinton --- Telephonic Advice to Gennifer Flowers [1991]

James C. Woodard wrote in message <6d6u2o$ern$1@gte2.gte.net>...
>D. Spencer Hines wrote:
>
>>What I do object to is people who have never even sighted the Cartulary of
>>Bradenstoke Priory or determined its origins and provenance --- making
><unqualified and categorical statements about it. That way lies lunacy in
>>all things Historical. One does not accept hearsay and rumour as fact in
>>Law, History or Genealogy.
>
>And have you sighted the sources for all the things you post? I sometimes
>think you hold others to a higher standard than you are willing to follow
>youself. [sic]

>Jim

Yes, I have personally sighted the sources for the things that I post. If I
cite a source I have sighted it. I do not work from hearsay, innuendo,
rumour and "Family Tradition." But then, I've been educated in the
methodologies of History and Law.

Further, I urge others to do the same. Resist the "impulse to post" until
you have your corn all in one sack.

Qualify your remarks, "Tentative evidence suggests" --- "Allegedly" ---
"Reportedly" ---- "The preponderance of evidence indicates that..." ---
"There are four competing theories as to who was the Mother of Q. None of
them is completely convincing, but I shall present the evidence for each."

No, it doesn't make for "Authoritative Slam-Bang Narrative" designed to Awe
and Impress the Unwashed Masses with one's Omniscience --- but it makes for
much better Genealogy.

So, your "off the top" assumption, "I sometimes think you hold others..." is
quite mistaken and erroneous.

Quod erat demonstrandum.

D. Spencer Hines

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