The Washington herald., 1911-01-22
STORIES OF FAMOUS POEMS
lode to a Skeleton"
Author Unknown.

Peale, the great American artist. He Is
credited with no other poems. and it
would seem that any one possessing the
ability to write such a fine poem as the
above could not have curbed a natural
desire to write other poems.
In Notes and Queries of September
3, 1892, appeared the following communi-
cation signed by E. Wilson Dobbs: About
four years before Coles "rhe Thousand
Best Poems in the World was printed
(about 1850. i came across the poem in
a news-scrap. with this prefix:
The following verses were published
anonymously in the London Chronicle
nearly sixty years ago. and. notwithstand-
ing the offer of a reward Of fifty gum
cas-. the authors name remained Sc
cret until quite recently. when it was
learned that the lines were written by
Robert Philip. of Bormyre Cottage. Scot
land. Toward the end of the year 1926
he wrote the verses while watching for
body snatchers in the parish churchyard
of Torphichen. where. during the repair
ing of the church. the unearthing Of a
skeleton suggested a subject. The verses
were shown to DR.. John Afford, who pro-
cured a copy. and either by accident or
intention. dropped the lines in the Royal
College Of Surgeons. where they were
found. The author is still living at the
ripe age of seventy-four.
This story, like many others, has been
discredited. and the most recent anthol-
ogies printing the poem still give it as
J Anonymous.
The story of the finding of this poem
is an interesting one. 1t was written
by some unknown hand in the library of
the museum Of the Royal College of
Physicians and Surgeons of London. 1t
Is related that an attendant of the mu-
scum was passing through the library
on a holiday and observed two sheets
OF paper carelessly lying on the table
A pen. ink. and skull were the only other
objects. He picked up the sheets and
noticed that they were still damp. He
blotted them very carefully, and turned
them over to the librarian. who at once
demanded to know who had been admit
ted on a day when no visitors were
allowed. The rebuked attendant hurried
away in search of the offender. Only
professor and two janitors were to be
found in the building. He hurried back
to his superior and recommended that
the verses be burned. as they had evil
IDENTIFY been written by some supernatural
hand This was seriously considered by
the librarian. but after thinking 1t over
he decided to show them to the dean of
the college upon his arrival next morning
They lay upon the deans desk for some
days and were. read and copied by a
great many professors and visitors One
of the visitors. ii is said, sent them to
the London Morning Chronicle. and
they were promptly printed in that jour
nal. The poem made a remarkable i'm
preston on the mind of the public and
a great demand arose for the name of
the author 1t was thought. for a time.
that some professor of the college had
written the verses. but each of them dis
claimed all credit. For ten years follow
ing this incident the question of author
ship was frequently revived, and finally
a reward was offered for any one who
could furnish proof $50 being offered for
sucn information. No one has ever been
able to claim the reward.
Some dispute has arisen as to whether
or not the original poem contained but
the fist three verses. and that the sec
ond two were added later in imitation
With the mystery that has surrounded
the time it was written, the hidden iden-
fifty OF the author and the dispute that
has arisen over the authenticity of parts
of il. il has proven one of the most eN-
asperating of the minor mysteries of
literature. The poem has been assigned
TO the works of nearly all its contem-
porary authors at one time or an
other. but the mystery of the writer's
identity seems to deepen with the years.
Chance alone will ever discover who the
unknown Was who sat at the library
table with the skull before him and
unused so POLITICALLY upon the problem
of life