The Rowley Poems
Preserved but no longer current.
Certain poems written by Thomas Chatterton (1752-70), and said by him to have been the work of a 15th-century priest of Bristol named Thomas Rowley, who, in fact, was purely fictitious. Chatterton began to write them before he was 15, and after having been refused by Dodsley, they were published in 1769. Many f prominent con- noisseurs and litterateurs, including Horace Walpole, were hoaxed by them.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “The Rowley Poems” mean?
Certain poems written by Thomas Chatterton (1752-70), and said by him to have been the work of a 15th-century priest of Bristol named Thomas Rowley, who, in fact, was purely fictitious. Chatterton began to write them before he was 15, and after having been refused by Dodsley, they were published in 1769. Many f prominent con- noisseurs and litterateurs, including Horace Walpole, were hoaxed by them.
Is “The Rowley Poems” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.