Clumsy Tyrants

So I started reading my History of England text because I feel I ought to though the course is over. The text is, The Story of Britain by Rebecca Fraser. I trust my instructor, but the text is a little odd. For one it lacks any foot/endnotes or a bibliography, so I'm also using Simon Schama's A History of Britain documentary as a compliment. Anyway, I came across an anecdote in the text regarding William the Conqueror. Apparently upon landing at Pevensey William tripped and sprawled his full length after disembarking his ship. Fraser claims that the superstitious Normans saw this as an ill omen. William took advantage of the situation the story tells us, "the duke leaped up with earth clutched in his fists, he exclaimed that he had only wanted to grasp his new kingdom more closely."
Its a great anecdote but I don't believe it. I'm the first to admit my scarce knowledge of the subject I endeavor to teach one day but I have read the same story, almost verbatim, but with Caesar in place of William. So either both stories aren't true, William did trip and suddenly remembered his classical history or its merely a myth. It probably won't change the course of history if the truth goes one way or another in regard to the story but it can totally change my opinion of the author. Or, maybe it is true and I should change my opinion of the previous author who had recounted Caesar's story.
As historical anecdotes or stories go, this one also reminds me of the oft cited anecdote regarding military brutality. My own dad has mentioned the Japanese and their bayonets while in occupation of China. Most stories simply change the perpetrator and victim to suit their own story. The occupying force tosses up babies and tries to catch them with their bayonets in the midst of everything they are already doing. Its a nice sentence to remember in place of all the atrocities that may have actually occurred. It serves as a symbol, like saying, "Hey, if they'll bayonet babies its not hard to believe that they would do anything else!" I don't doubt that it has occurred at some point in time, but I'm also unsure of who actually did it.
Anecdotes (good & bad) make history interesting for the passing observer but we tend to confuse them. I think remembering an individual story is much better than a vague generalization. If someone wants a story about the Holocaust, Elie Wiesel or Anne Frank tops bayoneting babies any day.