dual personalities

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about the perils of misquoting Shakespeare. Since then I’ve come across another problem involving the Bard — casual attribution. We’ve all had the experience. Some pithy quote comes up that you can’t identify so you figure it must be Shakespeare, right? There’s a 50/50 chance that you are correct so it’s probably a risk worth taking. But if you are wrong and you post your mistake on the internet, guess what happens? People believe you, they repeat you, and it becomes ‘true’. Take, for example, this wonderful witticism:

It’s everywhere. You can buy t-shirts and hats that say it. You can even find it on ‘period’ ceramics at a nice etsy shop:

But did Shakespeare really say this? Well, no. His plays are full of great insults, but not this one. So what’s the moral of the story? Shakespeare is not the source of every quotable quote and the internet is not to be trusted. And, yes, I did spend time on this, but it’s better than watching a SciFi original movie.

Not all my time on the web was a waste. I found the Scottish Castles Association where you can discover which Scottish castles are for sale, such as Colliston Castle, built in the 16th and set in more than 10 acres of gardens and woodland. 10 beds, 3 baths, 3 kitchens, 5 receptions, turret, outbuildings. Asking price: a mere £650,000.

You can also find out which castles are available for weddings

Eilean-Donan Castle — perfect wedding location

and which contain recently discovered secret rooms where Jacobites hid after the battle of Cullodin

Drum Castle near Aberdeen

Yes, perceptive reader, I did experience a period of disinclination last week and once again, I spent far more time fooling around on the internet than productively working. But “tomorrow is another day” — and we all know who said that, right?