Re: Old newspapers

In message <4rg3g290t7viuvbqls7ts6nah8gerva4ro@xxxxxxx>
Phil C. <philstoxicwaste@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Fri, 08 Sep 2006 10:49:19 +0100, Graeme Wall
<Graeme@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

More likely to have been a large squid than an octopus from that
description.

That does sound likely. It would also seem to fit their predatory
behaviour. Both Jules Verne and Melville had published well-known tales of
encounters with giant squid by then. I'd say that my ancestor's basic
account is given authenticity by its ignorance of those - he just wrote
what he thought he saw rather than tailoring it to fit any preconceptions.


I'd agree with that. The mistakes he makes, eg referring to claws, tend to
support the authenticity as he is describing exactly what he saw, not working
from prior knowledge.

It seems that giant squid sightings were so rare that they were seen as
semi-mythical until _very_ recent years. But it's interesting to see -
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2661691.stm> and
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4288772.stm>

Family history takes us in all sorts of odd directions but I wasn't
expecting sea monsters.

That's the beauty of it.

--
Graeme Wall

My genealogy website:
<http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/genealogy/index.html>
.

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