Reminds me of that line from "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home": "Don't leave him in the hands of 20th century medicine!" What modern devices and treatments will be disdained by doctors in future centuries?
Great! I LOVE asparagus. And sweet potatoes, and Brussels sprouts, and spinach (my classmates thought I was weird - I have loved spinach since I was small!), and broccoli. Other faves I am glad to see on this list include mushrooms and tomatoes.
I'm not finding an online version of the church guide book that dates first publication of this legend to the 1840s, (well after the lifetime of any who directly knew Lady Anne), but it also is said to claim plenty of documentary evidence in the church records of her 'piety' and participation in educating the young of her time in the traditional church doctrine of life-after-death etc.
On Google books there are lots of accounts from the latter half of the 1800s that call the legend ridiculous, saying that it was quite clearly made up after the fact to explain the condition of the grave. Such condition, they point out, is not really that unusual for churchyards at that time. One such account is from a book by William Chambers called "A Week At Welwyn":
"Here, again, we have an instance of a mythical legend being inconsiderately raised on a visionary substratum of fact.
Lady Anne died in 1713, and was buried here; her tomb being a structure of stone raised a few feet from the ground, environed by an iron railing. To the surprise of the worthy parishioners of Tewin, there in time sprung up a number of sycamore and ash trees from the crevices of the structure. The natural explanation of the unforeseen phenomenon would have been, that the tomb was constructed among the unexhausted roots of these trees, or that their seeds had been accidentally dropped into the earth; and that springing from these sources of vitality, the shoots had, through a vigorous growth due to soil and climate, forced their way to the surface. This, however, was too simple a way of accounting for the marvel.
A superstitious legend was invented, and found credence even among those who should know better. The story ran that Lady Anne, in dying, had professed her disbelief of the Resurrection; declaring that 'she should as soon think that seeds would force themselves from the stone-work of a tomb, as that a dead body should do so, or that trees should spring out of her grave, as that she in any form should rise therefrom/ and 'that if the word of God were true, seven ash trees should spring from her grave.'
It is melancholy to think that such trash as this should still be gravely printed in local guide-books, with the remark appended, that 'the lesson is grand and obvious, and may be received by every Christian without the smallest tinge of superstition.' There is actually a sermonising tract, sold in the shops at Hertford, giving currency to this preposterous legend.
The growth of the trees from the tomb cannot but be considered something remarkable in vegetation. The trees, six or seven in number, have displaced the stone-work and railing, so as to produce a confused and fantastic group of slabs, stones, and twisted iron rails. As observable from the diagonal pathway across the churchyard, the tomb is haunted by crowds of visitors. ...
As regards the calumny which has been so indiscreetly propagated against Lady Anne Grimston, it has been contradicted in a letter from the Earl of Verulam, in the number of Notes and Queries above quoted. (Here, again, we have an instance of a mythical legend being inconsiderately raised on a visionary substratum of fact. As regards the calumny which has been so indiscreetly propagated against Lady Anne Grimston, it has been contradicted in a letter from the Earl of Verulam, in the number of Notes and Queries above quoted (Notes and Queries, Feb. 25, 1871). His lordship says, in writing to the editor:
'I do not believe that there is the slightest foundation for the legend which you have printed about Lady Anne Grimston, to be found in the character of that lady'."
Not only is that not true, nor funny, but it's a pretty bigoted description of life in Africa.
To start, in Tanzania with one of the highest rates of lion attacks, about 50 people die from lion attacks (I can't find solid numbers; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion#Man-eating says about 37 per year in the 1990s), while 18K people die from traffic accidents.
The usual explanation is lack of education, especially for women, distrust of prophylactics, religious views (eg, the strong influence in Africa of the Catholic Church's fight against condom use), and the view that children will provide more help with the household chores. Yes, the Catholic Church is far more responsible than any fear of lions.
A friend of mine was once volunteering in an elementary school in Indiana, and witnessed this exchange: Teacher: “Okay, Johnny, spell ‘warsh.’” Johnny: “Warsh. W-A-R-S-H. Warsh.” Teacher: “No, Johnny, I’m sorry, the ‘r’ is silent.” Friend: [Facepalm]
The people who made sure she was that old are rather pissed off here in France...
Kind of Hard Not to See a Pattern
Interesting pros and cons as to her identity.
On Google books there are lots of accounts from the latter half of the 1800s that call the legend ridiculous, saying that it was quite clearly made up after the fact to explain the condition of the grave. Such condition, they point out, is not really that unusual for churchyards at that time. One such account is from a book by William Chambers called "A Week At Welwyn":
"Here, again, we have an instance of a mythical legend being inconsiderately raised on a visionary substratum of fact.
Lady Anne died in 1713, and was buried here; her tomb being a structure of stone raised a few feet from the ground, environed by an iron railing. To the surprise of the worthy parishioners of Tewin, there in time sprung up a number of sycamore and ash trees from the crevices of the structure. The natural explanation of the unforeseen phenomenon would have been, that the tomb was constructed among the unexhausted roots of these trees, or that their seeds had been accidentally dropped into the earth; and that springing from these sources of vitality, the shoots had, through a vigorous growth due to soil and climate, forced their way to the surface. This, however, was too simple a way of accounting for the marvel.
A superstitious legend was invented, and found credence even among those who should know better. The story ran that Lady Anne, in dying, had professed her disbelief of the Resurrection; declaring that 'she should as soon think that seeds would force themselves from the stone-work of a tomb, as that a dead body should do so, or that trees should spring out of her grave, as that she in any form should rise therefrom/ and 'that if the word of God were true, seven ash trees should spring from her grave.'
It is melancholy to think that such trash as this should still be gravely printed in local guide-books, with the remark appended, that 'the lesson is grand and obvious, and may be received by every Christian without the smallest tinge of superstition.' There is actually a sermonising tract, sold in the shops at Hertford, giving currency to this preposterous legend.
The growth of the trees from the tomb cannot but be considered something remarkable in vegetation. The trees, six or seven in number, have displaced the stone-work and railing, so as to produce a confused and fantastic group of slabs, stones, and twisted iron rails. As observable from the diagonal pathway across the churchyard, the tomb is haunted by crowds of visitors. ...
As regards the calumny which has been so indiscreetly propagated against Lady Anne Grimston, it has been contradicted in a letter from the Earl of Verulam, in the number of Notes and Queries above quoted. (Here, again, we have an instance of a mythical legend being inconsiderately raised on a visionary substratum of fact. As regards the calumny which has been so indiscreetly propagated against Lady Anne Grimston, it has been contradicted in a letter from the Earl of Verulam, in the number of Notes and Queries above quoted (Notes and Queries, Feb. 25, 1871). His lordship says, in writing to the editor:
'I do not believe that there is the slightest foundation for the legend which you have printed about Lady Anne Grimston, to be found in the character of that lady'."
To start, in Tanzania with one of the highest rates of lion attacks, about 50 people die from lion attacks (I can't find solid numbers; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion#Man-eating says about 37 per year in the 1990s), while 18K people die from traffic accidents.
The usual explanation is lack of education, especially for women, distrust of prophylactics, religious views (eg, the strong influence in Africa of the Catholic Church's fight against condom use), and the view that children will provide more help with the household chores. Yes, the Catholic Church is far more responsible than any fear of lions.
Teacher: “Okay, Johnny, spell ‘warsh.’”
Johnny: “Warsh. W-A-R-S-H. Warsh.”
Teacher: “No, Johnny, I’m sorry, the ‘r’ is silent.”
Friend: [Facepalm]