A few years back, a well known Irish writer (whose name I have sadly forgotten) researched the primary sources around the so-called massacres and discovered that Cromwell adhered strictly to the rules of war as then extant. The stories that now circulate were, apparently, an invention of a 19th century Catholic priest. The late politician Charles Haughey once refused to attend a meeting in the British Foreign Office because there was a portrait of Cromwell "that murderer" on the wall. Which shows how ignorant he was or more likely, a typical politician. Brian Austin "Tim Powys-Lybbe" <tim@powys.org> wrote in message news:mpro.mqovls1da7cgn007y.tim@powys.org... > On 22 Jul at 21:06, William <cyber_shark5000@hotmail.com> wrote: > >> On Monday, June 4, 2012 10:25:04 AM UTC-5, roy.st...@btinternet.com >> wrote: > > <snip for brevity> > >> > I wonder whether we have any Cromwell descendants on this list??? >> > Personally, I wish I were one but no such luck! >> > >> > -- >> > >> > Roy Stockdill > >> I'm a descendant of his line. Not sure if I'm direct, I think I came >> from one of his siblings, I need to check again (my family has the >> documentation.) I don't know why you would want to be his descendant, >> it's cool, but it doesn't really benefit me at all. ;) > > I share your relationship to Cromwell's line but, like Roy, I would like > to be his descendant. Cromwell brought order out of chaos. While he > was a butcher in Ireland, in other respects he was moderate and > tolerant. He did not have time for the many fanatics that were around > and struggled with the problem of how to install a non-monarchical > government that could survive. He may have failed in his lifetime but > his legacy lives on in the dictum that 'Parliament is Sovereign' and > decides both laws and monarchs. > > Read his writings and the biographies of him and perhaps you will > understand why he is held in such respect. > > "Paint me as I am, warts and all" - O. Cromwell. > > -- > Tim Powys-Lybbe tim@powys.org > for a miscellany of bygones: http://powys.org/