LETTERS Arrogance
Sir: A propos Dr A. L. Rowse's stimulat- ing letter (6 July), I regard myself as a second-rate person rather than a third-rate one, and I hope this evaluation will be accepted without submission of proofs of any kind, and that it will follow that I am entitled to make some kind of comments about the views of a first-rate person. I should admit absolutely frankly that I am not in Who's Who so far as I know.
A year or so ago I had occasion as a fellow-traveller of the Richard III Society to take exception to Dr Rowse's howler of accepting in defiance of the best evidence that the saintly Richard III had murdered his nephews. I had looked forward to a first-rate defence from Dr Rowse. But there has been only silence. How interest- ing it would be if Dr Rowse would write a two-page article for you defending his view, and if this should lead to a con- troversy in your columns. It is a far more interesting subject than, for example, whether Haile Selassie's father was or was not the Emperor Menelik's nephew, or indeed many other matters ventilated in your pages. Also, as regards Dr Rowse's claim to be a first-rate Elizabethan histo- rian it is a bit of a 13th stroke of the clock, i.e. it casts doubt on whether any other chimes from that particular clock can be relied on.
So, to adopt the first-rate idiom of our hero, come on Dr Rowse, put up or shut up.
G. F. G. Watson
Tara, Woodland Rise, Wildernesse, Sevenoaks, Kent
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