It is more than probable that it crossed the channel in the wake of the Royalists. Apart from the general references by S. Pepys (1662) and by J. Evelyn (1667) to an Italian puppet-show at Covent Garden, the former makes mention (1669) of some poor people who called their fat child Punch, "that word being become a word of common use for all that is thick and short." An allu sion to "Punchinellos" is also to be found in Butler's satire on English imitation of the French, and Aubrey speaks of "a Pun chinello holding a dial" as one of the ornaments of Sir Samuel Lely's house at Whitehall. But, though the puppet did not travel in the train of William of Orange, allusions to it became far more fre quent after the Revolution of 1688, and the skill of the Dutch in their treatment of puppet mechanism may have enhanced its attractiveness. In 1703 it was introduced at Bartholomew Fair into a puppet play of the creation of the world; in 1709 (Tatler, No. 16) it was to be found in a representation of the Deluge, though in a different part from that of the Momus Polichinelle of Alexis Piron's Arlequin-Deucalion (1722) ; and in 1710 (Spec tator, No. 14) it is mentioned as a leading figure in Powell's puppet-show at Covent Garden. The alleged satire on Robert Walpole, entitled A Second Tale of a Tub, or the History of Robert Powell, the Puppet-Showman (1715), furnishes some de tails of Punch performances, and has an interesting frontispiece representing Powell with Punch and his wife. The Judy (or
Joan, as she appears to have been sometimes called) is not of a specially grotesque order, but the Punch is easily recognizable in all but the features, which are of the normal puppet type.
The older Punchinello was far less restricted in his actions and circumstances than his modern successor. He f ought with allegori cal figures representing want and weariness as well as with his wife and with the police, was on intimate terms with the patri archs and the seven champions of Christendom, sat on the lap of the queen of Sheba, had kings and dukes for his companions. Powell seems to have introduced a trained pig which danced a minuet with Punch, and the French (among whom Punch is now usually styled Guignol, originally a puppet hailing from Lyons) occasionally employed a cat in the place of the dog Toby, whose origin is somewhat uncertain. A typical version of the modern play, with illustrations, was published by Payne Collier and Cruikshank in 1828 (3rd ed., 1844). ( R. M. WH.)