Evening star., 1933-12-03
Many Things Ne
Think Ne Kn0zv
AboAt the PaHAre
Simply Legends,
Says a British An-
Hropologist, Who
Urges That Science
Sort Ont the Myths
From Really De-
bendabR Histori-
aIEarts.
BY EMILY C.. DAVIS.

- your great-great- grandmother and
what she is supposed to have said
to George Washington? Or about
Lafayette sleeping in the spare bed
room of your old homestead when the famous
marquis visited about in America?
If you have a family tradition, prepare for a
shock. For British lord who Is also an an
thropologiSt declares fatty that traditions are
unreliable most unreliable
Understand, of course that Lord Raglan is
talking about tradition just that He is not
talking about family history that Is duly re-
corded in the family Bible. or in the diary of
your t-greatgrandmother written the very
night she danced with the heroes Of the Rey0-
luton.
He is talking of traditions-the stories that
are recited. or sung, or enacted by one genera
ton for another until after q hundred years
or every one takes it for granted that Of
course, the things happened. just the con-
trary, when a story does get long, running
start that way, by word of mouth, it is safer to
assume that it never did happen. At least, so
you must believe if you accept Lord Raglan's
verdict on the matter.
HE Raglan attack tradition was made
recently at Engands most important gath
ering of scientists, the great annual meeting
OF the British Association for the Advance
ment of Science. Lord Raglan made a presi-
dental address before the anthrOpol0giStS at
tending the meeting. The fact that he was
the leader of their group specializing in studies
of man lent weight to the titled scientists unex-
pected and emphatic onslaught
If there have been traditions his lord
ships own family, they are apparently going
to die natural death in this generation. For
the anthropolcgist takes no more stock in
them than would take in ghosts or fairies
He said to his audience: My great-grand-
father the first Lord Raglan, was a man OF
some distinction And yet though I often
visited his daughters who lived well into
the present century, know practically nothing
about him that is not in print"
And to the scientists he put the question:
produce single fact about his greatgrand-
father which has not been placed on record?
Apparently could.
If traditions about great-grandfathers
so unreliable you can imagine what the an
thropologst thinks about traditions kept alive
since the Middle Ages
In England there many families that
proudly claim ancestors who fought in the
Norman Conquest But it does not matter
whether the supposed ancestor fought the
side of the SaXons who were already in Eng
land or. on the side of the Normans who ar
rived with William the Conqueror in that
memorable year 1066-none of those gallant
ancestors can be linked into an unbroken
human chain down to today. So Lord Raglan
unhesitatingly declared
mo English family he put it, "can trace
a genuine descent to the Sax0nS And though
there few families with genuine Norman
descent, this in goes back far
the eleventh century. All are the work of
pedigree takers who have 1ouriShed from very
early times. and there is not word of truth
in any of them
Here is how the pedigree game was played
back in the Middle Ages The Wake family
is a interesting example.
THE fourteenth century Wakes. told,
aspired to getting fancy pedigree
for themselves. They looked over the eligible
ancestors and chose the Saxon hero Hereward
because he was a suitable figure and had been