" In the second place, the only
authority whom Grainge could rely upon was Deane, either directly or
indirectly, and Deane could not have made the discoverer to be a boy of
nine years of age (not fourteen) for he must have known Sir William
Slingsby, a contemporary. Finally, Grainge only consulted the summary of
"Spadacrene Anglica" and not the actual work, and it is to be noted that
Deane in Chapter 6 says the first discoverer "so far forth as I can
learn." These words are not in the summary, but they show that Deane had
given care to his work, and if Sir William Slingsby had been the
discoverer, Deane could have obtained his information at first hand, and
would have given Sir William Slingsby as his authority.
Grainge was an eminent and careful historian, and he has written a
number of valuable works. He had the acumen to see that Sir William
Slingsby could not possibly have been the discoverer in 1571, and it is
fairly certain that if he had had access to Deane's work, he would have
rectified the error as regards Sir William, instead of questioning the
accuracy of Deane's statement.
Little has been added to the account of Mr. William Slingsby as given by
Deane, but it has been shown at any-rate that the facts of his life fit
in perfectly with that account.
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