20 horse thieves

[happythoughts 0]

Ever hear someone talk about being related to the Duke of Whatever?

The supposition is that it, somehow, confers dignity or status upon the relative.

Besides, it's all in the math. I like to assume that a generation is 20 years. Go back 10 generations and it is 200 years, and a little of 1000 relatives.

You should be able to find one Duke out of the 1000.
Of course, there is about 20 horse thieves in there too.
The assumption is that the Duke is better than the horse thieves also.

If this works, I need to find a cousin who is a surgeon so that I can start practicing medicine.
(Not that it didn't work for "Dr." Phil.)