Monday, February 27, 2012
Family connections with a celebrity
Oh bother!
My dear brother - the one who I shared the weekend with - has killed something today.
He has killed a family myth.
I didn't know it was a myth..... I believed my Great Aunt when she told us the tale of her meeting with Buffalo Bill.
I have never been hot on American history, but it did cross my mind that it was a bit strange to have Buffalo Bill crash landing in the Sussex village of Firle.
But if my elders told me it was so, then surely they were right.
Only now do I understand that it is the job of a great aunt to love, cherish, advise, congratulate......and also to tease.
But I still don't know if Great Aunt Nellie was teasing or she had come to believe her own tale.
The myth began with an aeroplane and a Cody - that much is true.
The aeroplane landed at Firle - crashed? Maybe not.
Where did that horse come from?
Colonel Cody was not Buffalo Bill (also with the Cody surname). He was Samuel Franklin Cody - an American.
Actually our aviator was not born Cody.....he stole the name in admiration of Buffalo Bill.
Having just learned that I can well believe that he was happy to let the English peasants think they were in the presence of Buffalo Bill.
It does seem that my Great Uncle was good at tinkering with machines and managed to help get the plane's engine going again. Well that was Great Uncle Frank's story.
The man was not just an inventor and aviator - he began his life in England as a creator of successful wild west shows (just like Buffalo Bill) and music hall acts.
The Colonel became a celebrity of his time and when he crash landed a plane he was testing and was killed, less than a year after this photo was taken, he was buried with full military honours at Aldershot and 100,000 people came out to witness the funeral procession.
He has an impressive grave - perhaps it is one to visit.
Now, how did all this knowledge come about? My brother was searching EBay pages for post cards connected with family history locations.
Maybe he always knew the truth - wiser than me and less gullible.
So a family myth has been killed - but a new tale has been established in its place.
I will just add some pleasing news - the chest infection/pneumonia that our French antique shop colleague was taken into hospital with has been knocked on the head.
There is much talk of getting care plans into place and seeing how well she can cope at home.
My dear brother - the one who I shared the weekend with - has killed something today.
He has killed a family myth.
I didn't know it was a myth..... I believed my Great Aunt when she told us the tale of her meeting with Buffalo Bill.
I have never been hot on American history, but it did cross my mind that it was a bit strange to have Buffalo Bill crash landing in the Sussex village of Firle.
But if my elders told me it was so, then surely they were right.
Only now do I understand that it is the job of a great aunt to love, cherish, advise, congratulate......and also to tease.
But I still don't know if Great Aunt Nellie was teasing or she had come to believe her own tale.
The myth began with an aeroplane and a Cody - that much is true.
The aeroplane landed at Firle - crashed? Maybe not.
Colonel Cody was not Buffalo Bill (also with the Cody surname). He was Samuel Franklin Cody - an American.
Actually our aviator was not born Cody.....he stole the name in admiration of Buffalo Bill.
Having just learned that I can well believe that he was happy to let the English peasants think they were in the presence of Buffalo Bill.
It does seem that my Great Uncle was good at tinkering with machines and managed to help get the plane's engine going again. Well that was Great Uncle Frank's story.
The man was not just an inventor and aviator - he began his life in England as a creator of successful wild west shows (just like Buffalo Bill) and music hall acts.
The Colonel became a celebrity of his time and when he crash landed a plane he was testing and was killed, less than a year after this photo was taken, he was buried with full military honours at Aldershot and 100,000 people came out to witness the funeral procession.
He has an impressive grave - perhaps it is one to visit.
Now, how did all this knowledge come about? My brother was searching EBay pages for post cards connected with family history locations.
Maybe he always knew the truth - wiser than me and less gullible.
So a family myth has been killed - but a new tale has been established in its place.
I will just add some pleasing news - the chest infection/pneumonia that our French antique shop colleague was taken into hospital with has been knocked on the head.
There is much talk of getting care plans into place and seeing how well she can cope at home.
