University of Virginia Library

Supplementary Note
on Smith's Rumored Visit to Ireland

A direct accusation made in Jamestown in 1607 claimed that Smith had
been in Ireland before he came to Virginia. If so, it must have been late in
1604 on his way back to England from Morocco or sometime in 1605 as a
side excursion from England. By the summer of that year, Smith seems to
have been in England and to some extent involved in the plans for the
establishment of the Jamestown colony.

However it was, the uncertain
passages that point to an Irish detour are these.

In September or October 1607, Edward Maria Wingfield, deposed
president of the council in Virginia, said of Smith that "it was proved to his
face, that he begged in Ireland like a rogue, without lycence."

Wingfield
had been in Ireland himself, but it may have been one Francis Magnel who
made the charge (Magnel was an Irish mariner who sailed with Capt.
Christopher Newport on the first Jamestown voyage, 1606–1607). In any
event, there was bad blood between Smith and Wingfield, to the general
detriment of the colony.

Although Smith himself refers to Irish mantles,

Irish rugs, and so on,
this does not prove that he was ever in Ireland. Many people (in addition to
Smith) drew comparisons between the Irish and the North American
Indians, or between Ireland and Virginia. William Strachey, who had never
been in Ireland, compared Indian mantles with Irish "falinges" and Indian
"stockings" with Irish "trouses"; George Percy, who had been in Ireland,
likened an Indian trail to an Irish "pace," or path. On the basis of such
conflicting evidence, we cannot say that Smith's references to things Irish
prove that he had seen them in Ireland. The matter must remain open.