The famous eighteenth-century man-of-letters, Dr Samuel Johnson, author of Johnson's Dictionary and The Lives of the Poets, was well-known for his scepticism about the Rowley poems. While many of his contemporaries believed they were genuine medieval texts, Johnson always maintained they were forgeries. This conviction (which proved well-founded) did not, however, diminish Johnson's admiration for Chatterton's talents.
James Boswell, Johnson's friend and biographer, records their visit to St Mary Redcliffe, when they were shown around by George Catcott.
'On visiting Bristol, Dr Johnson took an interest in the Rowley documents, and met with George Catcott, Chatterton’s advocate, who was keen to make Johnson a ‘convert’. William Barrett, antiquarian surgeon, was called on to provide the manuscripts which, upon inspection, Johnson decided it was clear they were fakes.'
'Honest Catcot [sic] seemed to pay no attention whatever to any objections, but insisted, as an end of all controversy, that we should go with him to the tower of the church of St Mary Redcliff, and view with our own eyes the ancient chest in which the manuscripts were found. To this Dr Johnson good naturedly agreed; and though troubled with a shortness of breathing, laboured up a long flight of steps, till we came to the place where the wondrous chest stood. […] Johnson said of Chatterton, “This is the most extraordinary young man that has encountered my knowledge. It is wonderful how the whelp has written such things”.'