Walrus, as a sometime adopted son of Lichfield, I think it's safe to say that you should take anything Dr Johnson said cum grano salis: his attitude was, "if it gets a laugh, keep it in the act", regardless of accuracy.

William Bligh -- was there ever a man so misrepresented by posterity? His curse was to be a scrupulously honest and fair man who couldn't understand why people weren't all as honest and fair in return; he took any deceit to be a betrayal. I reccomend Gavin Kennedys Bligh. Don't read Nordhoff & Hall's Mutiny on The Bounty unless you bear in mind it's a pack of lies.

Steve