The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-07-11
IMPUDENT FORGERY.
1T WAS THE MOST BRILLIANT THING
OF IT'S KIND ON RECORD.


Century Ago-written by q Youth
Named ireland and Attributed te
Shakespeare-Prcsente Only Once.
Just about a century ago "vortigern and
Howena" was performed for tho first and
last time at Drury Lane. UP TO the very
evening OF the performance great numbers
OF people hoped and many believed that a
genuine play of Shakespeare had been dis.
covered. But one representation was suf.
flcient to dispel these hopes.
The real author of this blank verse play,
William Henry Ireland, was almost q boy.
Born In 1777, by the time he was 10 he
Ind proved himself almost as marvellous"
boy as Chatterton, whose story always
had u remarkable fascination for him from
the time when his father read it aloud to
him. Old Samuel ireland was himself a
remarkable man, who, starting In life as a
Spitalsfield weaver, had become an en-
grayer and an author of some note and had
received q medal from the Society of Arts
There is considerable doubt as to the
legitimacy of his son William Henry, but
however that may have been the father
spared no pains In the education Of the son,
and after course of private schools in
London and France took up the finishing
of his instructions himself Perhaps the
two times which told most upon the BOYS
subsequent career were that reading aloud
of the story of Chatterton and visit to
Stratford- on-Avon about 794 in the course
of which they imbibcd number of ridic-
ulous fables, particularly one as to a recent
destruction of mass of Shakespearean
manuscripts by an ignorant owner of Clop-
ton House.
In the autumn of 1894 william Henry
ont rnl l. t. ~.
hold of some old looking kind of ink, he
inscribed on the fly leaf of an Elizabotban
tract dedicatory letter from the author
TO Queen Elizabeth. Encouraged by the
complete manner in which this document
duped his father, he proceeded in Decem-
Der to the first of the Shakespearean for
gerteS which he was soon to carry to such
lengths
On q piece cut out of an Elizabethan
parchment decd, to which he had access.
he drew up deed of mortgage between
Shakespeare and John Hemminge on the
one part and Richard Fraser and his wife
on tho other, initiating the poets sigma
ture from facsimile of genuine deed of
1912 and adding seals abstracted from va
rious genuine deeds of Shakcspeare's time.
Renewed success encouraged him to a per.
feet hailstorm of "Shakespearcan" relics
Verses and letters of the poet inscribed on
fly leaves, old printed books with Shakes
peare's name on the title page and notes
and verses in the same handwriting on the
margin followed In bewildering succession
There We're even extracts from Hamlet"
and transcript of King Lear" the latter
differing in q few small details from the
current vcrsion-a highly ingenious stroke
on the forger's part
a young friend of tho youth accident
ally discovered him constructing one of
these relics, but was prevailed upon to say
nothing and even to corroborate the great
Nj. ii. story, which he invented to OK
plain the mystery" of these discoveries"
to his father IN. II. D." was rich gentle
man, in whose possession these documents
were and who was so fond of Ireland that
he put them at his disposal. In fact, M
ID. " presently began to send letters about
it to the old man, inclosing among other
things play called William the Con-
queror, admittedly by young Ireland and
highly commended by his generous patron
IN H"
In February, 1895, there was show of
all the relics at old Ireland house, and
many of the leading literary men OF the
day were deceived The officers of the
college of Arms announced themselves rs
champions of the authenticity of the relics.
DR.. Joseph Wharton declared that certain
. profession of faith by Shakespeare" was
finer than anything in the Liturgy. Bos-
well fell on his knees and kissed the docu-
ments, and the Laureate Pye and 16 other
literary lights signed "a certificate of belief.
Finally, in March, the young man pro-
duced "Vortigern" and Henry II, ;" the
last in his own handwriting, but protesting
to DO q copy of Shakespeare play of that
name. There was also corroborate deed
showing that an Ireland of Shakespcare's
day had saved the poet from drowning and
had been rewarded by having the privilege
of publication OF Shakespeare unknown
plays assigned to him and his descendants.
1t was afterward contended that youth
of 10 could never have been clever enough
to produce such forgery as 'Vortigern,
but Ircland's subsequent publications
sufficiently disprove this objection, and he
satisfactorily confuted it himself in after
days. Old Ireland and Others were COM
pletely deceived at the time, and the old
man, even after his sons confession, seems
to have gone to his grave in the belief that
Shakespeare really wrote "Vortigern.
But Malone, Stevens and Others saw
through the fraud from the first
There was an exciting newspaper war
about the question and Person, by way of
ridiculing the affair, published Greek
version of ''Three Children Sliding on tho
Ice, which he attributed to Sophocles.
Sheridan Of Drury Lane agreed to present
the play, but Kcmble's doubts caused Its
production to be delayed. Mrs. Palmer
backed out of appearing in 1t on the ground
of 'ill health, and Ireland rejected the
prologue written for it by Pyc as not being
confident enough. On the very eve of Its
production appeared Malone's Enquiry
Into Authenticity, to which Ireland re-
piled by handful begging the public to
give the play chance And so, on April