#Debunking the House of Stuart and the Number 88

Another book I want to run through the debunking process is a thin paperback titled Famous Curses (1979) by Daniel Cohen. I don't know how it got into my library. Still, I remember reading and returning to it when something I read elsewhere jogged by memory about obscure topics, including the Tichborne claimant, the Lambton worm, or Lord Kitchener.

The "Fatal Twnety' chapter in Famous Curses helped spawn the Operation Assassination paper I put together years ago (and discussed elsewhere). Cohen threw a handful of other tidbits into this chapter, such as the coincidences about Shakespeare and Cervantes dying on the same day (April 23, 1616) and presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson dying on the same day (July 4, 1826).

One piece that caught my eye as I rummaged through the book for the first time in ages is about the Stuart royal family. The House of Stuart, originally spelled Stewart, was a royal house of Scotland, England, Ireland, and later Great Britain. The first monarch of the Stewart line was Robert II, whose male-line descendants were kings and queens in Scotland from 1371 and in England, Ireland, and Great Britain from 1603 - until 1714.

Amid the American presidential coincidences, Daniel Cohen's Famous Curses (1979) included the claim the royal Stuart family disliked the number 88. Reviewing this data with contemporary eyes reveals the list is not as impressive sounding as first thought. For example:

• Robert II, the first Stuart king, died in 1388
• Well, no: Robert II died April 19, 1390 - two years later than Cohen's book. If you're looking for something taking place in 1388, there was the victory of the Scots over the English at the Battle of Otterburn in August. Tell your friends.
• James II of Scotland, killed in battle in 1488
• Cohen had the wrong James. It was James III who died during the Battle of Sauchieburn in June of that year, supposedly thrown from a horse - so, ouch.
• Mary Stuart was beheaded in 1588
• Sorry, no, again: Mary was executed July 24 but in the previous year, 1587.
• James II of England was dethroned in 1688
• 'Tis true: the reign ended December 23 of that year.
• Charles Edward, the last Stuart to the English throne, died in 1788
• Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir Stuart was the elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart, making him the grandson of James VII and II (mentioned above) and the Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1766 as Charles III. During his lifetime, he was also known as "the Young Pretender" and in popular memory as Bonnie Prince Charlie. He did indeed die in January of 1788.

Three of the five dates are correct, and two are off by a few years. I chalk it up to lousy research on the original list or someone having poor reference materials.

Family trees of descendants are online if you want to try and pin something eventful in 1888 or 1988. See you at the reunion in 2088.

Your thoughts?