14
ORIGIN OF PUNCH IN ITALY.
[PUNCH.
speculation, and that Pulcinella and
Maccus had anything in common, but hump and nose, is at least as questionable. The Vice, as he was called, of the ancient Moralities was common, we apprehend, to the early theatrical representations of most countries: his business was to relieve the weightier part of the performance by his ridiculous actions, jests, and buffooneries. He was unquestionably the original of the Clown, or Fool, of the old English Drama; and we think the conjecture is at least plausible, that he was the original also of Harlequin,
[1] and his near relative Pulcinella. The chief appendage of the Vice was a gilt wooden sword, and this also belonged to the old Clown, or Fool, not only in England, but abroad. Rabelais, speaking of certain presents made by Panurge to the fool Triboullet, says; "Panurge à sa venue luy donna une vessie de pore, bien enflée et resonnante, à cause des poys qui dedans estoient: plus une espée de boys bien dorée; plus, une petite gibessiere faicte d'une cogue de tortu:"
[2] which we thus translate for the benefit of such as may not understand the antiquated French,—"Panurge, on his arrival, gave him a pig's bladder well inflated, and resounding by reason of the peas that were within it: moreover, a wooden sword well gilt: moreover, a small pouch, made of a shell of a tortoise," Those who consult Mr. Douce's "Illustrations," and particularly his essay on the "Clowns and Fools of Shakespeare," will find that the bladder at the end of a stick, the gilt wooden sword,
[3] and the pouch or budget, formed part of the equipments of that personage in this country. The wooden sword directly connects Harlequin with the ancient Vice, and more modern Fool,
[4]
- ↑ Riccoboni, "Histoire du Theatre Italien," quotes several authorities, to shew that a Mime like Harlequin was known to the ancients: he relies chiefly on an expression of Apuleius, Mimi centunculo, with reference to the patch-work dress.
- ↑ Chap. 42, edit. 1553.
- ↑ If this coincidence had occurred to Mr. D'Israeli, he would not have said (Curiosites of Literature, vol. 3, p. 10, note) that "the light lath-sword of Harlequin had hitherto baffled his most painful researches."
- ↑ In Spain he is called the Gracioso, and his dress and equipments are nearly the same as they were in England: the mor-
