Tell Tale Signs - Tellings in Different Times and Locations

Since it was first told, whenever that is, the story has been told as taking place in multiple times and locations. The kernel of truth may have laid at the heart of the story at one time, now it has been manipulated and adjusted by tellings and retellings over pints of beer and whisky. This doesn't mean there's no truth to the story, but the story that we have, and the one that keeps being told over and over is likely quite different from whatever the original might be.