The Strange (spurious) Will of Francesca Nortyuege
In various books of odd facts one can find, briefly related, the story of the strange last will of Francesca Nortyuege. The story goes that when Nortyuege, a famous reformer from Dieze, died in 1903 she left her fortune to her niece on the condition that the family goldfish always be kept dressed in tights.
I pasted an illustrated version of the story below, from Mindblowers (1982) by Chet Stover. But it also appears in Karl Shaw's Oddballs and Eccentrics (2004), as well as in many newspaper columns.
I suspected the story wasn't true, but it took me a while to locate its source — due to the many variant spellings of Nortyuege (Nortuega, Nortyuega, etc.). Finally I tracked it down to R.L. Ripley's 1929 Believe It Or Not!. I'm confident it's not true because there's absolutely no mention of Francesca Nortyuege in any source before Ripley's 1929 book came out.
I've posted my thoughts about Ripley before — that I think he invented many of his stories. See, for example, the post "Clothes for Snowmen" about Madame de la Bresse who was said to have died in 1876, instructing in her will that all her money be used for buying clothes for snowmen. Another Ripley invention, and one that is quite similar to the tale of Francesca Nortyuege. Ripley was evidently amused by the idea of people imposing puritanical demands on their heirs.
Perhaps the most widespread invention from Ripley's 1929 book is the story of Lady Gough's book of etiquette.
This story has been repeated all over the place (google it and see), and again it's an anecdote about an overly prudish character. But as the Faktoider blog notes, Lady Gough never wrote a book on etiquette. Nor did she even exist.
I pasted an illustrated version of the story below, from Mindblowers (1982) by Chet Stover. But it also appears in Karl Shaw's Oddballs and Eccentrics (2004), as well as in many newspaper columns.
Los Angeles Times - July 13, 1954
I suspected the story wasn't true, but it took me a while to locate its source — due to the many variant spellings of Nortyuege (Nortuega, Nortyuega, etc.). Finally I tracked it down to R.L. Ripley's 1929 Believe It Or Not!. I'm confident it's not true because there's absolutely no mention of Francesca Nortyuege in any source before Ripley's 1929 book came out.
Robert L. Ripley, Believe it or Not!
I've posted my thoughts about Ripley before — that I think he invented many of his stories. See, for example, the post "Clothes for Snowmen" about Madame de la Bresse who was said to have died in 1876, instructing in her will that all her money be used for buying clothes for snowmen. Another Ripley invention, and one that is quite similar to the tale of Francesca Nortyuege. Ripley was evidently amused by the idea of people imposing puritanical demands on their heirs.
Perhaps the most widespread invention from Ripley's 1929 book is the story of Lady Gough's book of etiquette.
This story has been repeated all over the place (google it and see), and again it's an anecdote about an overly prudish character. But as the Faktoider blog notes, Lady Gough never wrote a book on etiquette. Nor did she even exist.
Comments
Another of my childhood heroes (R. L. Ripley), dashed on the hard ground of truth. :-(
Still, I did get a lot of enjoyment from his column and the paperback compilations back in my youth.
Still, I did get a lot of enjoyment from his column and the paperback compilations back in my youth.
Posted by Patrick on 08/23/24 at 08:16 AM
Also, there's no such place as Dièze, or even Dieze. Sometimes, the story is too flimsy to withstand even a breath.
Posted by Richard Bos on 08/24/24 at 10:09 AM
Observe that Ripley gave two choices: believe it or not. In this case, not.
Posted by ges on 08/25/24 at 07:59 PM
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Category: Censorship, Bluenoses, Taboos, Prohibitions and Other Cultural No-No’s | Inheritance and Wills