March 5, 2020 • 10 mins
Pranks are a great way to get into trouble, but they can also land a person in the Cabinet of Curiosities, as today's tour will prove.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history
is an open book, all of these amazing tales right
there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome
to the cabinet of Curiosities. When it comes to storytelling,
(00:28):
everything eventually comes back to Shakespeare. He's widely regarded as
the greatest play right of all time, and for good reason.
His works continue to be adapted for the stage, film, television,
and literature, finding new audiences through each retelling. With a
body of work spanning thirty nine plays and four sonnets,
William Shakespeare's contributions to English literature as well as the
(00:51):
English language cannot be overstated. Phrases such as short shrift
and with bated breath or all of a sudden can
trace their roots back to the Bard, and even if
he didn't originate them, he certainly popularized them enough to
cement them as mainstays of our modern lexicon. Shakespeare and
his bibliography have been studied to death since his own
(01:13):
passing in sixteen sixteen. Throughout that time, he's been accused
of plagiarizing and stealing the work of others, with Francis
Bacon and Christopher Marlowe being named among his many victims,
but not many academics believe the claims. In fact, somethink
more of his plays and poems are still out there
waiting to be discovered. In seventeen ninety four, it was
(01:33):
twenty year old William Henry, Ireland, who had stumbled across
several items allegedly written and signed by Shakespeare himself. A
friend of Ireland's who wanted to stay anonymous, had given
him a collection of old papers in his possession. Among
them were a letter written by Shakespeare, as well as
a deed bearing his signature. He presented everything to his father, Samuel,
(01:53):
a collector of Shakespearean memorabilia. Samuel was a static and
the more William dug around, the more he found. He
discovered letters Shakespeare had written to his wife Anne Hathaway,
as well as some to Queen Elizabeth. There were even
original manuscripts of Hamlets and King Lear, their author had
scribbled notes in their margins. Samuel consulted with Shakespearean scholars
(02:15):
on what his son had given him. They confirmed everything
was real. Samuel saw an opportunity to capitalize on his
newly acquired historical artifacts. One year later, he compiled copies
of the letters and notes into a book, which went
on to be a big hit with readers. That same year,
his son William made another incredible discovery. There was a
(02:36):
new play well in old play, but one that had
never been seen by a single soul other than its
author Shakespeare. It was called Vortigern and Rowena. Naturally, he
gave that to his father, and in no time another
playwright named Richard Sheridan offered Samuel three pounds to be
the first to produce it for the stage. Sheridan, however,
quickly saw a problem with his purchase. For one, the
(02:59):
plot was far simpler than any of Shakespeare's other works.
He passed the play along to a colleague, who also
thought something was off about it. Doubts about the script
went public, and academics from all over started to pick
through Ireland's compendium of documents looking for inconsistencies. The show
did go on, though Sheridan's production survived a single performance
(03:20):
before critics toured apart. One of those critics was Edmund Malone,
a lawyer by trade. Malone had spent almost a decade
publishing volumes of Shakespeare's works, complete with analytical essays and
copious research to back up his arguments. He put out
a rebuttal against Samuel Ireland's Shakespearean collection in sevente In
his opinion, the letters, promissory notes, Marginalia, and especially the
(03:44):
New Play had all been forged. His accusations inspired others
to come forward. They went after Samuel, as he had
been the one to assemble everything from his son. But
William couldn't bear to see his father attacked in such
a hideous fashion, and so he took matters into his
own hands. He published a confession titled an Authentic Account
(04:04):
of the Shakespearean Manuscripts. William confessed everything he had forged,
the signatures, the documents, and the play, and nobody believed him.
They said there was no way that someone so young
could have pulled off such convincing fakes by himself. It
just wasn't possible. So Samuel continued to bear the brunt
of the criticism from his peers even after his passing
(04:26):
in eighteen hundred. William published another confession five years later
and tried to find work as a writer of original stories.
Success though eluded him for years. His reputation had been
too greatly tarnished, and he often found himself borrowing money
from anyone kind enough to lend it. William Ireland did
eventually marry and have a family, but he died poor,
(04:48):
leaving his wife and daughters with almost nothing. His play
Vortigern and Rowena remained relatively obscure for over two hundred years.
Then in two thousand and eight, Pembroke College and in
And produced a version for the stage. Several years later,
the American Shakespeare Center in Virginia put on its own performance,
giving the late Mr Ireland one last chance to have
(05:10):
his work appraised by the theater going public. Apparently, opinions
haven't changed all that much, as the play hasn't been
produced since. Everyone has a bad day now and then,
(05:33):
the kind of day when no matter what you do,
everything seems to go wrong. You burn the dinner, you
pour too much detergent into the washing machine, or you
suddenly hear a drip, drip drip under the kitchen sink.
It becomes a twenty four hour embodiment of Murphy's law,
the idea that anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
(05:54):
In eighteen o nine, Mrs Tottenham of London experienced the
worst day of her life when her modest home on
burn N Street caused a citywide panic. It all started
on the morning of November. A chimney sweep had arrived
at dawn to clean Mrs Tottenham's chimneys. There was just
one problem. She had never asked for such a thing.
The maid who answered the door sent him on his way.
(06:15):
Almost as soon as he left, though, there was another
knock at the door. Another sweep had come to clean
the chimneys as well. The maid dismissed him, then answered
the door one more time for yet another chimney sweep.
Throughout the early morning hours, she wound up sending a
dozen soot covered men away from the premises. And then
things got even stranger. The chimney sweeps were replaced by
(06:38):
a caravan of coal carts. They'd all had orders placed
for fifty four burners streets Mrs Tottenham's address. She herself
came out to address them, and it formed the delivery
drivers that they all had the wrong address. She never
ordered any coal. The carts soon left their drivers confused
and frustrated, but the peace and quiet didn't last too long.
(06:59):
Next to arrive was a line of bakers armed with
tall and expensive wedding cakes, at which point Mrs Tottenham
couldn't get rid of them fast enough. Almost as soon
as one order arrived, another of a different kind quickly followed.
Suit Lawyers, doctors and apothecaries swarmed Burners Street. Clergymen who
had been told of a dying man inside came to
give last rites, and right behind them were the undertakers,
(07:22):
toting brand new coffins for the soon to be deceased,
despite no such person being present in the house. Cobblers,
habit dashers, butchers and fishmongers only added to the spectacle.
But perhaps the pinnacle of the day came when twelve
pianos arrived, accompanied by six men carrying an organ. Soon
heads of states and business got wind of what was
(07:44):
going on at the Tottenham residence. The Governor of the
Bank of England, the chairman of the East India Company,
and the Lord Mayor of London came to Burner's Street
to see it for themselves, as did Mrs Tottenham's neighbors,
who poured out from their homes to witness the growing
crowd of tradesmen eathered at her door. They'd all come
to deliver goods and services, none of which she had
(08:04):
ever ordered in the first place. One of Mrs Tottenham's
neighbors was a Mr Samuel Beasley, who lived across the
street from her. He watched the calamity unfold along with
his friend Theodore Edward Hook. At one point, Beasley begrudgingly
slipped Hook a guinea and the plan had worked. Hook
had made a bet with Mr Beasley in which he
(08:25):
claimed that he could turn any house in London into
the talk of town. He did it by putting in
over four thousand orders with businesses, politicians, clergy and anyone
else who would show up at fifty four Burners Street
on the morning of November and show up they did.
His stunt forced the police to come and break up
the crowds of both tradespeople and neighbors. Once peace was
(08:48):
finally restored to London, a bounty was put out, offering
a reward for the capture of whoever had played such
a disruptive, practical joke. Hook, of course, played it cool
and hit out for a few weeks, claiming illness. When
officers and onlookers discussed who might have caused the rucus,
Hook inevitably came up as the prime suspect. Apparently his
(09:08):
reputation preceded him. Once the fervor died down, though, Hook
retreated to the country and was never caught, but he
did get the last laugh. Hook didn't just plan elaborate hoaxes.
He was also a playwright. The protagonist of his play
titled Gilbert Gurney at a small speech beginning with this
line what else made the effect in Berner Street, I
(09:32):
am the man. It was about as close to a
confession as anyone was going to get. I hope you've
enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe
for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the
show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was
(09:53):
created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works.
I make another award winning show called Lore, which is
a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can
learn all about it over at the World of Lore
dot com. And until next time, stay curious. Yeah,
Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history
is an open book, all of these amazing tales right
there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome
to the cabinet of Curiosities. When it comes to storytelling,
(00:28):
everything eventually comes back to Shakespeare. He's widely regarded as
the greatest play right of all time, and for good reason.
His works continue to be adapted for the stage, film, television,
and literature, finding new audiences through each retelling. With a
body of work spanning thirty nine plays and four sonnets,
William Shakespeare's contributions to English literature as well as the
(00:51):
English language cannot be overstated. Phrases such as short shrift
and with bated breath or all of a sudden can
trace their roots back to the Bard, and even if
he didn't originate them, he certainly popularized them enough to
cement them as mainstays of our modern lexicon. Shakespeare and
his bibliography have been studied to death since his own
(01:13):
passing in sixteen sixteen. Throughout that time, he's been accused
of plagiarizing and stealing the work of others, with Francis
Bacon and Christopher Marlowe being named among his many victims,
but not many academics believe the claims. In fact, somethink
more of his plays and poems are still out there
waiting to be discovered. In seventeen ninety four, it was
(01:33):
twenty year old William Henry, Ireland, who had stumbled across
several items allegedly written and signed by Shakespeare himself. A
friend of Ireland's who wanted to stay anonymous, had given
him a collection of old papers in his possession. Among
them were a letter written by Shakespeare, as well as
a deed bearing his signature. He presented everything to his father, Samuel,
(01:53):
a collector of Shakespearean memorabilia. Samuel was a static and
the more William dug around, the more he found. He
discovered letters Shakespeare had written to his wife Anne Hathaway,
as well as some to Queen Elizabeth. There were even
original manuscripts of Hamlets and King Lear, their author had
scribbled notes in their margins. Samuel consulted with Shakespearean scholars
(02:15):
on what his son had given him. They confirmed everything
was real. Samuel saw an opportunity to capitalize on his
newly acquired historical artifacts. One year later, he compiled copies
of the letters and notes into a book, which went
on to be a big hit with readers. That same year,
his son William made another incredible discovery. There was a
(02:36):
new play well in old play, but one that had
never been seen by a single soul other than its
author Shakespeare. It was called Vortigern and Rowena. Naturally, he
gave that to his father, and in no time another
playwright named Richard Sheridan offered Samuel three pounds to be
the first to produce it for the stage. Sheridan, however,
quickly saw a problem with his purchase. For one, the
(02:59):
plot was far simpler than any of Shakespeare's other works.
He passed the play along to a colleague, who also
thought something was off about it. Doubts about the script
went public, and academics from all over started to pick
through Ireland's compendium of documents looking for inconsistencies. The show
did go on, though Sheridan's production survived a single performance
(03:20):
before critics toured apart. One of those critics was Edmund Malone,
a lawyer by trade. Malone had spent almost a decade
publishing volumes of Shakespeare's works, complete with analytical essays and
copious research to back up his arguments. He put out
a rebuttal against Samuel Ireland's Shakespearean collection in sevente In
his opinion, the letters, promissory notes, Marginalia, and especially the
(03:44):
New Play had all been forged. His accusations inspired others
to come forward. They went after Samuel, as he had
been the one to assemble everything from his son. But
William couldn't bear to see his father attacked in such
a hideous fashion, and so he took matters into his
own hands. He published a confession titled an Authentic Account
(04:04):
of the Shakespearean Manuscripts. William confessed everything he had forged,
the signatures, the documents, and the play, and nobody believed him.
They said there was no way that someone so young
could have pulled off such convincing fakes by himself. It
just wasn't possible. So Samuel continued to bear the brunt
of the criticism from his peers even after his passing
(04:26):
in eighteen hundred. William published another confession five years later
and tried to find work as a writer of original stories.
Success though eluded him for years. His reputation had been
too greatly tarnished, and he often found himself borrowing money
from anyone kind enough to lend it. William Ireland did
eventually marry and have a family, but he died poor,
(04:48):
leaving his wife and daughters with almost nothing. His play
Vortigern and Rowena remained relatively obscure for over two hundred years.
Then in two thousand and eight, Pembroke College and in
And produced a version for the stage. Several years later,
the American Shakespeare Center in Virginia put on its own performance,
giving the late Mr Ireland one last chance to have
(05:10):
his work appraised by the theater going public. Apparently, opinions
haven't changed all that much, as the play hasn't been
produced since. Everyone has a bad day now and then,
(05:33):
the kind of day when no matter what you do,
everything seems to go wrong. You burn the dinner, you
pour too much detergent into the washing machine, or you
suddenly hear a drip, drip drip under the kitchen sink.
It becomes a twenty four hour embodiment of Murphy's law,
the idea that anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
(05:54):
In eighteen o nine, Mrs Tottenham of London experienced the
worst day of her life when her modest home on
burn N Street caused a citywide panic. It all started
on the morning of November. A chimney sweep had arrived
at dawn to clean Mrs Tottenham's chimneys. There was just
one problem. She had never asked for such a thing.
The maid who answered the door sent him on his way.
(06:15):
Almost as soon as he left, though, there was another
knock at the door. Another sweep had come to clean
the chimneys as well. The maid dismissed him, then answered
the door one more time for yet another chimney sweep.
Throughout the early morning hours, she wound up sending a
dozen soot covered men away from the premises. And then
things got even stranger. The chimney sweeps were replaced by
(06:38):
a caravan of coal carts. They'd all had orders placed
for fifty four burners streets Mrs Tottenham's address. She herself
came out to address them, and it formed the delivery
drivers that they all had the wrong address. She never
ordered any coal. The carts soon left their drivers confused
and frustrated, but the peace and quiet didn't last too long.
(06:59):
Next to arrive was a line of bakers armed with
tall and expensive wedding cakes, at which point Mrs Tottenham
couldn't get rid of them fast enough. Almost as soon
as one order arrived, another of a different kind quickly followed.
Suit Lawyers, doctors and apothecaries swarmed Burners Street. Clergymen who
had been told of a dying man inside came to
give last rites, and right behind them were the undertakers,
(07:22):
toting brand new coffins for the soon to be deceased,
despite no such person being present in the house. Cobblers,
habit dashers, butchers and fishmongers only added to the spectacle.
But perhaps the pinnacle of the day came when twelve
pianos arrived, accompanied by six men carrying an organ. Soon
heads of states and business got wind of what was
(07:44):
going on at the Tottenham residence. The Governor of the
Bank of England, the chairman of the East India Company,
and the Lord Mayor of London came to Burner's Street
to see it for themselves, as did Mrs Tottenham's neighbors,
who poured out from their homes to witness the growing
crowd of tradesmen eathered at her door. They'd all come
to deliver goods and services, none of which she had
(08:04):
ever ordered in the first place. One of Mrs Tottenham's
neighbors was a Mr Samuel Beasley, who lived across the
street from her. He watched the calamity unfold along with
his friend Theodore Edward Hook. At one point, Beasley begrudgingly
slipped Hook a guinea and the plan had worked. Hook
had made a bet with Mr Beasley in which he
(08:25):
claimed that he could turn any house in London into
the talk of town. He did it by putting in
over four thousand orders with businesses, politicians, clergy and anyone
else who would show up at fifty four Burners Street
on the morning of November and show up they did.
His stunt forced the police to come and break up
the crowds of both tradespeople and neighbors. Once peace was
(08:48):
finally restored to London, a bounty was put out, offering
a reward for the capture of whoever had played such
a disruptive, practical joke. Hook, of course, played it cool
and hit out for a few weeks, claiming illness. When
officers and onlookers discussed who might have caused the rucus,
Hook inevitably came up as the prime suspect. Apparently his
(09:08):
reputation preceded him. Once the fervor died down, though, Hook
retreated to the country and was never caught, but he
did get the last laugh. Hook didn't just plan elaborate hoaxes.
He was also a playwright. The protagonist of his play
titled Gilbert Gurney at a small speech beginning with this
line what else made the effect in Berner Street, I
(09:32):
am the man. It was about as close to a
confession as anyone was going to get. I hope you've
enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe
for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the
show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was
(09:53):
created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works.
I make another award winning show called Lore, which is
a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can
learn all about it over at the World of Lore
dot com. And until next time, stay curious. Yeah,
Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities News
Host
Aaron Mahnke
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