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Chronologically-challenged Brits think that Robin Hood, Biggles andSherlock Holmes were real people while questioning whether the likes ofWinston Churchill, Montgomery of Alamein and Mahatma Gandhi ever walkedthis Earth.
The shocking findings were uncovered by British TV station UKTVGold, which is funny, as anyone who watches the channel knows that itbroadcasts little else but "historical" material.
The Reg wrote:
Over two thirds of Brits reckoned King Arthur was an actual realperson, as opposed to a confection of half-remembered Celtic mythologyembroidered by medieval writers. Almost as many – 58 per cent –reckoned that Sherlock Holmes was a real personage, apparentlyoblivious to the fact that his "biography" is found in the fictionsection of the local library. (Er, what's a library?)
Robin Hood was described as authentic by 51 per cent of respondents– presumably because he's got an airport named after him - while 47 percent seemed to think Eleanor Rigby was actually the fifth Beatle.
When it came to real historical figures, Richard the Lionheart wasdescribed as a myth by 47 per cent – which is bizarre as he is aboutthe only real character in the Robin Hood myth. Winston Churchill wasdoubted by 23 per cent, with a similar number thinking FlorenceNightingale is nothing but a figment of a scriptwriter's feveredimagination.
UKTV rejects the suggestion that UK citizens' inability todistinguish fact from fiction bodes badly for the country. Rather, itchose to claim that the figures are a simply a "fascinating insight"into the role that crap popular TV, film and fiction has had in this country over the last 50 years.
UKTV itself runs a channel devoted to history, which uses large chunks of its broadcast time to reruns, particularly of Sharpe,a saga set in the Napoleonic era detailing the exploits of fictionalofficer Richard Sharpe. Perhaps it is thanks to this that a mere fourper cent of the population think the Duke of Wellington is a fictionalconstruct.
NB: UKTV Gold found that 34 per cent of the British public thoughtthat Dick Turpin was real, making him number six in the chart offictional characters. The only problem being he was real, although he has been the subject of a number of TV series and a cracking Carry On movie.
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