DV is a prominent member of colgaffneyis who knows a lot of 17^th century history, but not nearly as much as he thinks he does. He also has been known to promote some really goofy ideas about history, notably the one I debunked here. The sad part is that he rarely gets called on this sort of thing. He goes on and on promoting misinformation, which other members take at face value and then repeat to the public.

Go back to February 2007. There was a discussion on colgaffneyis e-mail about who wore Highland dress in the early 1600’s. He wrote (colgaffneyis members can follow the links):

Many of them [Highland Clan chiefs] were appointed by the crown (not the clan – a policy begun by James VI), were absentee landlords usually living in London, and sometimes were not even related to the families they led by our period.

To which I replied:

Examples, please. I am tired of argument by blatant assertion. I cannot think of any case of a _chief_ appointed by the crown. Certainly all the Campbell, MacLeod and MacDonald chiefs were Gaels. I cannot think of any Highland Chief of our period who fits this distinction. “Highland Chief” by definition refers to the Gaelic social structure. James VI certainly worked hard to assert crown control of the highlands, but he had no respect for Highland titles. His policy was to insist (with varying degrees of success) that the chiefs get normal Scottish grants and titles for their land. But their status as _chief_ came from their Gaelic role.

He never provided an example, or any documentation suggesting one. I then wrote:

I am thoroughly sick of members who suggest …[something] without specific evidence and without dealing with the examples … cited [to the contrary]. I will challenge these assertions whenever I see and hear them (subject to the restriction of not doing so in front of the public at events). I will furthermore be keeping a “pig-headedness” scorecard of repeat offenders.

Down with blatant assertion! Up with Evidence!

So over the weekend we were at colgaffneyis show in Perham, Minnesota. Over lunch this member repeated this same nonsense about King James appointing Highland Chiefs. I again challenged him to name one. He could not. He just repeated his assertion. I repeated my demand for evidence. He apparently did not, again, think this was worthy of reply. So I got up from the table and walked out. Note that this was a private lunch conversation. It was not a presentation to the public.

I did not stay out long. I came back after a few minutes and apologized to colgaffneyis President. She is a good friend, and by opening my mouth I had made her job much harder.

I am still quite upset about this. I do not like making a scene, but I don’t see what else I could have done. DV pretends to be a scholar, but he will not provide scholarly evidence when challenged. He acts like scholarly standards of accountability do not apply to him.

I am once again frustrated by how some members of colgaffneyis are uninterested in learning anything that contradicts the received traditions of the 1990’s. I would not mind discussing, even arguing, issues with them. Being ignored is a far worse insult.

Besides, I grew up in an academic family. I understand evidence and have standards of accuracy. I do not want to be associated with nonsense. rhymeswithghoti once told me a lot of professional historians do not take reenactors seriously. As time passes, I am beginning to understand why.