(no subject)

[tinyjo]

[Poll #1490404]

Inspired by last night when I asked Alex to pick out a medieval This Sceptred Isle for me. He read out the dates on the box and I said sleepily "So, Elizabeth I and James I probably" and he was very impressed that I actually knew that from the dates. I asked him which century Henry VIII reigned in and he found it hard. So am I weird for knowing this stuff, or is he unusual for not knowing it. I can't really remember where I got taught it, I just kind of picked it up. I can also name all the Kings and Queens since William I in order, given a little thinking time, which I know is weird.

Comments

[e-pepys.livejournal.com]

22 years late, which is pretty poor given the interminable time we spent on the Tudors in history.

You can go back quite some way listing the monarchs (I can go back to Richard III, though I might get some regnal numbers wrong - I'm impressed that you remember all those Plantaganets), since they come in groups (eg. lots of Georges) and a reign usually lasts quite a long time.

But as a republican (small r), I somehow think it's more important to know the Prime Ministers. They usually come much more quickly, so was embarrassed recently (when listening to This Sceptred Isle, 20th Century) to have forgotten some even in the last century. I could go a little further back with US Presidents, but its still poor.

[rufusfrog.livejournal.com]

I think you mean Henrys and Edwards - Georges only arrived with the Hanoverians...

Still I'm impressed you can do PMs - I could probably do all of them but only if you accept that the first PM was in about 1904 (as QI claimed).

[rufusfrog.livejournal.com]

...checks memory against Wikipedia. Damn. Forgot Bonar Law. But he's very forgettable. And Canadian (by birth) rather than Scottish, I didn't know that.

[e-pepys.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid you misunderstood my confused sentence structure.

The Hanoverian Georges and the like make it easier to remember the monarchs, which is one reason I can go back as far as Richard III, but start to dry up before that.

Also, my embarrassment was that I didn't remember all the the PMs, even though I think that is more important than poxy Kings. Bonar Law is the least of my problems: there are all the PMs that came back to confuse the issue (IIRC, there were only two monarchs who did that, switching roles: Wikipedia reminds me that they were Henry VI and Edward IV).

[tinyjo.livejournal.com]

I am rubbish on US presidents. I can do quite a lot of 20th century priministers but can't keep them in the right order in my head.