This paper, which attracted general interest, was traced to Chatterton,
and when he was asked to show the original, it was soon manifest that
there was none, but that the whole was a creation of his fancy. The
question arises,--How did the statements made by Chatterton compare with
the known facts of local history?
There was in the olden time in Bristol a great merchant named William
Canynge, who was remembered for his philanthropy; he had altered and
improved the church of St. Mary, and had built the muniment-room: the
reputed poems, some of which were said to have been written by himself,
and others by the monk Rowlie, Chatterton declared he had found in the
coffers. Thomas Rowlie, "the gode preeste," appears as a holy and learned
man, poet, artist, and architect. Canynge and Rowlie were strong friends,
and the latter was supposed to have addressed many of the poems to the
former, who was his good patron.
The principal of the Rowlie poems is the _Bristowe_ (Bristol) _Tragedy_,
or _Death of Sir Charles Bawdin_.
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