in fact I was taught to assume that it was apocryphal.

Personally, Max, I treat all history as apocryphal, and shall continue to do so until I am able to purchase Dr Who's Tardis.
(Iwonder if I'll have to enable the cookies on that as well - a scary prospect if I use it to check on King Alf - epecially if I find that the story isn't apocryphal.)