Where North by Shakespeare Goes South

By Robert Boog

Ever overhear a couple arguing, and you missed the beginning and don't know whose side you're on? The Shakespeare authorship question is like that because in 2021, researchers ran Shakespeare’s plays through computer software used to catch plagiarism in college students. They discovered that Shakespeare borrowed passages from translator Thomas North. So, a new theory is that Thomas North originally wrote the plays and Shakespeare bought them. Then he and his troupe of actors adapted them into his masterpieces. The problem? No plays by Thomas North have ever been found. So academics claim the North theory is implausible, however, no expert has come up with a different compelling theory.
If you are a true Shakespeare lover, however, that's not all. Researchers also discovered that Shakespeare also ripped off passages from George North - a possible cousin of Thomas North. These recycled passages can be found in eleven of Shakespeare's plays! Not only that, descriptions from Thomas North's handwritten travel journal are found in Shakespeare's play King John.
You might be thinking, "What's the big deal? So what if Shakespeare plagiarized? There were no laws against copyright infringement." But that's missing the point. George North's 1575 manuscript was NEVER published. According to researchers, the manuscript never left Kirtling Hall, the home of Thomas North's older brother So,how did William get ahold of it without some kind of connection to Thomas North? Certainly, ten-year-old William Shakespeare did not hitch a ride to Kirtling Hall in 1575, right?
If you are a fan of one central author, I understand how you feel. Many people have felt the same way, too, that just one person wrote Shakespeare. However, the software program used by the research team helped the FBI catch the Unabomber.
However, ever hear an old saying about how when one door closes, another one opens? The North theory may not be entirely correct, but perhaps there is a silver lining. One that leads to revealing the real author of the Shakespeare canon.
What if a ghostwriter helped Thomas North translate some of his books? That's the idea behind this book. It offers an alternate "ghostwriter" theory. This mystery person got ahold of George North's manuscript from Queen Elizabeth, and then wrote the poems, plays, and sonnets and attributed them to William Shakespeare. Does it make sense?
Where North by Shakespeare Goes South shows that it's not only okay to question but healthy to think that there may be something going on more than what we see on the surface. The investigation, the hint of scandal. These are both great hooks for me to want to read something. There has to be that attention grabber to make me want to keep reading and this book had me turning pages to find out more.
Reading through this book was fun. It was interesting, conversational, and definitely not too text-booky. Why should we care about something that happened nearly 500 years ago? For several reasons. Who doesn’t love intrigue? Every good mystery will capture your attention and keep you hooked. Scandal? Yes, please. Like anyone else, if there’s a prospect of something illicit going on, I’m going to be nosey about it. Busted for plagiarism, you say? Tell me more. Your writing kept me entertained. Memes and pithy comments were added to it, and it flowed together quite smoothly.
It’s a very thought-provoking book. Acknowledging that the audience for it is possibly or probably college students, it’s something that I wish I would have read while in college. It was fun and engaging and even though I got turned around a few times, there were enough context clues to get me back on track. Along the way, your realization that Shakespeare was really just a son looking for his mother's love deeply struck me. Heartbreaking. When one door closes and another one opens, you might also be in prison.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Robert Boog
• Release date: Jun 30, 2023
• ISBN: 9780966613063

Robert Boog

My name is Bob Boog and I pronounce "boog" like "boogie man" although someone from Holland told me the word "boog" means "bow" like a bow and arrow. I write as a hobby: Facebook posts, books, poems, songs, and screenplays - my hobbies include petting my dogs, watching movies, and hanging out with my wife & kids, friends and family.

Book preview

Introduction

If you are a fan of the TV show Dateline and true-crime mysteries, the question of whether William Shakespeare wrote the plays attributed to him might be of interest to you.

Some folks believe this question has already been asked and answered. They will tell you William Shakespeare's name can be found in the First Folio, the collected edition of his plays published in 1623, seven years after his death. In addition, no one has ever doubted Shakespeare’s authorship during the time when he lived, and for two hundred years after. Therefore, there is no mystery. None. Zero. Zilch.

But does the fact that no one has doubted his authorship for over two hundred years seem like a legitimate answer? Didn’t most people believe in a flat earth for hundreds of years? Or that the sun revolved around the earth? Yes, likewise, evidence exists that Shakespeare may have acted in plays, but the proof that he wrote anything is not as clear cut as you might think: in fact, it is as hazy as San Francisco fog. No letters exist, for example, which prove William Shakespeare wrote to anyone, nor are there letters sent by collaborators to him, A good reason to doubt Shakespeare’s authorship comes from Malcolm X who wrote:

"The King James translation of the Bible is considered the greatest piece of literature in English... They say that from 1604 to 1611, King James got poets to translate, to write the Bible. Well, if Shakespeare existed, was he then the top poet around? But Shakespeare is nowhere reported connected with the Bible. If he existed, why didn't ¹King James use him?"

Nowadays most of us have short attention spans. We want rapid results. We do not want to watch what we eat or work out to lose weight. No, we want to take a purple pill once a day and be able to eat doughnuts, ice cream, and French fries and still lose weight. We do not want to understand the context of Shakespeare’s time either. We want ten bullet points that tell us, Here is the evidence that proves Shakespeare did not write the Shakespeare canon. Then we will do our best to disprove them!

If this is you, I understand how you feel and that many people have felt the same way. However, what we have found is that circumstantial evidence points to a different author than William Shakespeare. The life of Thomas North might shed light on him, and what you learned in high school may not have been a true story. So, if you enjoy a good mystery, you have come to the right place!

A person and person looking at each other

There’s Just One Thing

For those of you who do not know me, my name is Robert Boog and I live in Valencia, California. I graduated from UCLA with a BA in English and became interested in Shakespeare in college. Nowadays, I prefer to watch Shakespeare on TV using subtitles. I am a perennial student, not a scholar.

A picture of Robert Boog. He has a white complexion, wears glasses and has on a baseball cap. Behind him is a green plant.

I work in real estate and a while ago I helped a client solve an appraisal issue. He told me You remind me of Columbo.  He may have meant that as a compliment but looking back on it, I am not so sure. I tend to ask a lot of dumb questions. My wife will dutifully verify this for you too.

        When it comes to England, for example, I have often wondered, Setting aside the story of a boy pulling a sword from a stone, why crown one man the King of England and not another? Ever ask yourself that question? In this book, I am going to try to answer it.

My book title claims that North by Shakespeare goes south. What does that mean? By this I mean the North theory makes a mistake. It misses the mark, however; I am not going to nit-pick and argue with every single error. Nor am I going to complain about the methodology used or claim that everyone plagiarized back then. Mc Carthy and Schlueter blunder by trying to link William Shakespeare with Thomas North. The correct connection should have been between Thomas North and Edward de Vere. Yes, I am an Oxfordian.

People who believe Edward de Vere wrote the works of Shakespeare are called Oxfordians. It sounds impressive, like you have attended a prestigious English university, doesn’t it?

One of the problems that some people have with attributing the Shakespeare authorship to Edward de Vere is that it tarnishes Queen Elizabeth’s reputation as well as William Shakespeare’s.

Many Oxfordians, for example, believe that Edward de Vere (18) and Queen Elizabeth (36) had an affair and a love child named Henry Wriothesley resulted from their union.

We will talk about this a bit later, but for argument’s sake, let us say that Queen Elizabeth did give birth to a son. He would NOT be the next King of England unless she were married.

As a single woman, would Elizabeth want people to know she gave birth? Not really. In 1570, the Pope had excommunicated Elizabeth and openly called for her assassination. If you were Queen Bess and you knew that your child could be kidnapped or tortured and used as a pawn against you for political reasons, would it be to your benefit to declare that you had given birth?

Not claiming him as your son might better protect him. It might offer better political leverage too. As a single lady, the Queen could accept a marriage proposal from a French King to create an alliance that might help the citizens of England.

    People have an almost obsessive desire to remain consistent. Queen Elizabeth had claimed she never had sex, so she would direct her actions to remain seen that way. Once a person takes a stand, we will try to behave consistently with that position. Personal consistency is valued over inconsistency too which is seen as indecisive, two-faced, or confused. Would we know if Queen Bess was pregnant if she said she was not?

A painting of a Queen Elizabeth I. It says, is this a pregnant Queen Elizabeth?

In this book, I am going to lay out my cards on why I believe Shakespeare did not write Shakespeare, but if you have already made a stand on who you believe wrote Shakespeare, is it likely that I am going to change your mind today?

Do not answer that. Yet.

Who Cares Who Wrote it?

If you were to ask the average Joe, "What if the plays, poems, and sonnets of Shakespeare were not written by William Shakespeare? Most people will answer, Who really cares?"

There is a general feeling of indifference. If things do not personally affect me, then why should I be bothered? We should be happy we have Shakespeare’s plays, poems, and sonnets.

But here is the thing. What if our high school teachers were inconsistent? Some may have only told part of the story because they did know there was an alternative. Others may have known but dismissed it. Might learning about the other choice be of interest?

When I first learned about Shakespeare, for example, my English teacher told me that Shakespeare had authored a poem called Venus and Adonis to gain patronage from a wealthy earl named Henry Wriothesley. (His name is pronounced like Roselee.)  Have you ever heard this story?

My teacher said Wriothesley possessed one of the largest fortunes in all of England, so I pictured him like a middle-aged Donald Trump. A white guy with a bad comb-over hair-doo.

It turns out, Henry Wriothesley, born in 1573, was younger than Shakespeare. In 1589, the year his legal guardian arranged for him to be married, Henry had just turned sixteen years old.

Henry’s father had died so the law required Henry to live under the royal guardian at Cecil House in London, where William Cecil served as his legal custodian. William Cecil also happened to be the grandfather of Elizabeth Vere, the fourteen-year-old daughter of Edward de Vere.