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Peter the Wild Boy (born ''c.'' 1713; died 22 February 1785) was a boy from Hanover in northern Germany who was found in 1725 living wild in the woods near Hamelin (Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg), the town of Pied Piper legend. The boy, of unknown parentage, had been living an entirely feral existence for an unknown length of time, surviving by eating forest flora; he walked on all fours, exhibited uncivilized behaviour and could not be taught to speak a language. He is now believed to have suffered from the very rare genetic disorder Pitt-Hopkins Syndrome. Peter was found in the Hertswold Forest by a party of hunters led by George I while on a visit to his Hanover homeland and brought to Great Britain in 1726 by order of his daughter-in-law Caroline of Ansbach, the Princess of Wales.〔Extract from the parish register of St Mary's Church, Northchurch, Hertfordshire: "Peter, commonly known by the name of ''Peter the Wild Boy'', lies buried in this church-yard, opposite to the porch. – In the year 1725, he was found in the woods near Hamelen, a fortified town in the electorate of Hanover, when his Majesty George I with his attendants, was hunting in the forest of Hertswold. He was supposed to be then about twelve years of age, and had subsisted in those woods upon the bark of trees, leaves, berries, &c. for some considerable length of time. How long he had continued in that wild state is altogether uncertain; but that he had formerly been under the care of some person was evident from the remains of a shirt-collar about his neck at the time when he was found. As Hamelen was a town were criminals were confined to work upon the fortifications, it was then conjectured at Hanover, that Peter might be the issue of one of those criminals who had either wandered into the woods, and could not find his way back again, or, being discovered to be an idiot, was inhumanly turned out by his parent, and left to perish, or shift for himself. – In the following year, 1726, he was brought over to England, by the order of Queen Caroline, then Princess of Wales, and put under the care of Dr. Arbuthnot, with proper masters to attend him. But, notwithstanding there appeared to be no natural defect in his organs of speech, after all the pains that had been taken with him he could never be brought distinctly to articulate a single syllable, and proved totally incapable of receiving any instruction." Reprinted in ''A Selection of Curious Articles from the Gentleman's Magazine'' (4 vols, London, 1811), vol. 4, Appendix, p. 584.〕〔http://www.marie-angelique.com/peter-the-wild-boy〕 ==Life in London== After Peter's transportation to Britain, curiosity and speculation concerning Peter was excited in London. The craze was the subject of a biting satire by Jonathan Swift, and of another entitled ''The Most Wonderful Wonder that ever appeared to the Wonder of the British Nation'', which has been attributed to Swift and John Arbuthnot. Daniel Defoe also wrote on the subject in his pamphlet ''Mere Nature Delineated''.〔(Mere Nature Delineated – an account of Wild Peter by Daniel Defoe )〕 James Burnett, Lord Monboddo in his ''Origin and Progress of Language'' presents Peter as an illustration of his theory of the evolution of the human species. Caroline Princess of Wales took an interest in Peter's welfare, and in 1726, after the initial public curiosity began to subside, she arranged for Dr Arbuthnot to oversee his education. All efforts to teach him to speak, read or write failed. The interior designer and painter William Kent included a depiction of Peter in a large painting of King George I’s court that today hangs on the east wall of the King’s Staircase at Kensington Palace in London. Peter is shown wearing a green coat and holding oak leaves and acorns in his right hand. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Peter the Wild Boy」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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