Mother Shipton Investigated: Chapter Sixth

The cover of the earliest pamphlet extant in relation to Mother Shipton, namely, that dated 1641, has a coarsely executed alleged likeness of her on the front page. The artist seems to have had no deliberate intention to make her specially ugly; she has no hooked nose, hump, or abnormal dress. The portrait would equally well have done for Queen Elizabeth or any other respectable woman of about Mother Shipton's time.

The 1663 pamphlet has a picture of a more dramatic nature, on the front page. An accurate copy of it is given in the engraving printed upon page eight herein. In this cut Cardinal Wolsey, suitably attended, is represented on Cawood Tower, viewing York Minster in the distance, In front of the tower and larger than that edifice, is Mother Shipton uplifting her hand in an attitude of warning, whilst down in the right-hand corner is a portrait of "Mr. Saltmarsh," emerging from an uncomfortably small tent, which he has been clever enough not to ignite with the blazing torch he is bringing from its limited recesses. King Henry VIII is represented in the left hand lower corner of the cut.

Mr. Saltmarsh was a native of "Yilford" in Essex. On the 4th of December, 1647, he told his wife that he had a mission from God to make known to the army what the Lord had revealed unto him. He procured a horse, made his way to Windsor, where "without any respect" he announced to various officers and military authorities that evil days were in store for the army, and "that God was purposed to destroy the wicked, and draw the Saints to Himself." The chronicler adds, "Some said that he looked like one distracted, and that he had been sick and was not well recovered," which Mr. Saltmarsh

The Mother Shipton depicted in this cut, in several respects bears a striking resemblance to Mr. Punch of Fleet Street; they may be seen face to face in the frontispiece to this work. The points of resemblance are--(1) The hooked nose and chin. (2) The peaked cap. (3) The hump. (4) The dress with prominent lines. (5) The uplifted hand. (6) The grasping of a weapon with the other hand. (7) Each of them faces an important individual in a peculiar cap, perched upon an elevated structure-Cardinal Wolsey in the one instance; Toby in the other.

The first volume of Punch was issued in 1841, and in the first article admits its ruling personality to be derived from the Punch of the puppet-shows. The front page of the first number represents Punch in his little street theatre, hanging the Devil, who in the agonies of strangulation, with his tongue lolling out, seems loth to drop his pitchfork from his weakened hand. Nine years previously, in January, 1832, a comic weekly paper, Punchinello, had been started in the same office, 13, Wellington Street, Strand, but expired with the issue of its tenth number. Punchinello was represented with the nose of the modern Punch, but be had no bump or peaked cap.

The origin of Punch is veiled in obscurity. The general belief of the few writers on the subject is that Silvio Fiorillo invented Pulcinella about the year 1600, and introduced him into the staff of theatrical buffoons at Naples. Quadrio in his Storia d'ogni Poesia, would spell the name "Pullicinello" from Pulliceno or "turkey-cock," an allusion to the beak of that bird. Baretti has it Pulcinella, or "hen-chicken," whose cry is said to resemble the voice of Punch. The earliest record in relation to the existence

But the resemblance of Mother Shipton to Mr. Punch of Fleet Street extends not alone to these points, but to attitude and to dress: hence in ancient times there apparently must have been some bond of union between the two celebrities. Have I succeeded in restoring an affectionate son to his long lost mother, or is Mr. Punch none other than Mother Shipton herself, cunningly disguised? Every boy knows that except when he is singing a song of triumph, Mr. Punch's squeal does not reveal the nature of his emotions, rage and pleasure provoking from him the same squeak. Hence, if Mr. Punch first learns from these pages that his disguise in male attire is discovered, so that he squeals with rage, or if it be that he finds himself restored to his long lost Reverend Mother, consequently squeaks with pleasure, wild noises, calculated to frighten cab horses and to make pedestrians turn pale, may be expected to be heard issuing from the Fleet Street Office for three or four days after the publication of this book, but by a little carefully planned assistance from Scotland Yard, street accidents may be prevented. As Ingoldsby might have said:--

In the absence of evidence as to the origin of the physical frame of the English Punch, perhaps as good a speculation as any may be that in the English puppet-shows of the olden time were one or more conventional figures which were ordinarily used for comic work, their dresses being slightly altered to suit the particular character represented. Economy would naturally bring this to pass. A figure with a hooked nose and hump might have been Mother Goose one day, and somebody else the next; thus, when Punchinello proper came from Italy, his figure may have been already here, as depicted in the portrait of Mother Shipton engraved in 1663. The minds of the artists in former times, who drew rough pictures of celebrities for engraving, would be likely to limn them as they were commonly exhibited to the public. However this may have been, one fact is clear, namely, that in the Punch of to-day are the leading characteristics of Mother Shipton's portrait engraved in 1663; so

A wax effigy of Mother Shipton stood in Westminster Abbey until a somewhat recent date. Wax effigies of other noted dead persons were once exhibited there, including Edward VI, Queen Elizabeth, James I, Oliver Cromwell, King William, Queen Mary, Queen Anne, and others. They were richly robed, and formed one of the sights of London, known to the public as "The Play of the Dead Volks," and later still, after the dresses had become ragged and dilapidated, as "The