beyond for Joe
Gledhill's benefit, but he and his company, finding how it "caught on,"
performed it up and down the district. But its fate was soon sealed, for
while it was being played at Lancaster, I received an edict from the Lord
Chamberlain to withdraw the drama from the boards under pain of a heavy
penalty, as the last trial of the Tichborne case was pending at the time.

AS A COMIC AUTHOR

Returning to Keighley, I turned my pen to writing for a comic annual,
which I had brought out under the title of "The Haworth, Cowenheead, and
Bogthorn Almenak." This I produced for several years, its contents
consisting of rhymes and local dialect sketches. I also started a monthly
paper called, "The Keighley Investigator." After the first issue I
enrolled on my staff Theophilus Hayes, a gentleman well known in the
town, who assumed the editorship of the journal. He wrote the leading
articles, while I supplied the comic matter, satires, dialect letters,
&c. The periodical had enjoyed an eight months' existence when,
unfortunately, my worthy friend, Mr Hayes, was served with a writ for
libel. He was summoned to Leeds Assizes, and although the paper engaged
eminent counsel (Mr Wheelhouse, Q.C., M.P.), we lost our case, and had to
pay a fine of 50 pounds and costs. Mr Hayes underwent a night's
incarceration in Armley Gaol, but next morning I managed to secure his
release by paying the fine and all costs. The libel action was, I must
say, taken with an object by a party of Liberals, through a certain
auctioneer in the town. The fact was that the paper was too "hot" to live
amongst the mighty men of Keighley. These times were very eventful ones
to the town in many ways, particularly in regard to libel actions, for at
each of five or six successive Assizes there was a libel case from
Keighley--a circumstance which caused the Judge to remark on one occasion
that Keighley ought to be called "The City of Libels." I next turned my
attention to writing my celebrated work, "T'History o'th' Haworth
Railway." I say "celebrated" because the pamphlet ran through so many
editions, about 100,000 copies in all, being sold. With the returns I was
placed in clover; and now that I look back to the time, I appeared to
have money for any purpose except saving it. In collaboration with a
young man named Benjamin Hopkinson, son of the late Mr Barber Hopkinson,
surveyor of this town, I subsequently undertook the production of "The
Keighley Specta