Posted by Tom Napier on June 10, 2010 at 15:14:31 user Didymus.
In Reply to: Dates of events in Picts and Martyrs posted by Ed Kiser on June 10, 2010 at 12:56:07:
I too thought that PM took place in 1933 as the position of the moon on the night of the burglary matches so well. Unfortunately, assuming that Ransome at least looked at a calendar when plotting the book, August 6th was a Sunday. To quote my Mixed Moss article, (The Moon and the Picts, Winter 2003), "So what happens on the 6th? Jacky is going to the market with his father to sell pigs. The postman makes a normal delivery. The Ds go to Rio collect Scarab . . ."
None of these is likely to happen on a Sunday. In 1932 the 6th was a Saturday. Nothing rules out the 7th being a Sunday but then in 1932 the moon wouldn't be visible during the burglary.
And, yes, I do conclude that it's only fiction.