It was eventually revealed to be a Shakespeare hoax, the product of prominent forger William Henry Ireland and part of his wider series of forgeries.

[3] Hearing of a newly recovered "lost" Shakespeare play, Irish playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan purchased the rights to the first production at Drury Lane Theatre in London for 300 pounds and the promise of half the revenues to Ireland's family.

Samuel himself continued to regard the play as authentic and edited it in 1799, including a foreword in which he attacked Malone's findings and denounced the "illiberal and injurious treatment" he had received.

[7] The original 1796 Drury Lane cast included John Philip Kemble as Vortigern, Robert Bensley as Constantius, William Barrymore as Aurelius, Thomas Caulfield as Uter, John Whitfield as Wortimerus, Charles Kemble as Pascentius, Robert Benson as Hengist, Thomas King as Fool, Vincent De Camp as Servant, Dorothea Jordan as Flavia, Jane Powell as Edmunda, Charlotte Tidswell and Elizabeth Heard as attendants.

Charles Dignum, George Frederick Cooke, Samuel Thomas Russell and John Hayman Packer appeared in additional roles of the entertainment.

Constantius' sons Aurelius (Ambrosius Aurelianus) and Uter (Uther Pendragon), studying in Rome, receive word of Vortigern's treachery and go to Scotland to raise an army against their father's killer.

He falls in love with Hengist's beautiful daughter Rowena, and proclaims her his queen, much to the chagrin of his wife Edmunda and his two remaining sons, Wortimerus (Vortimer) and Catagrinus (Catigern), who flee.

The play is essentially a pastiche of Shakespeare, with Vortigern serving as a Macbeth figure; other Shakespearean elements include the use of Holinshead and Flavia's cross-dressing.