fore the supposed advent. Perhaps his features or have been handed down from time immemorial in English puppet-shows, but whether under the name of Mother Shipton, Mr. Punch, or somebody else, there is no evidence to show.
Some writers suppose Punch to be a survival of the Pontius Pilate of the Miracle Plays. A writer in Notes and Queries, Dec. 18th, 1869, "had reason to believe that 'Punch' was of Italian origin, drawing his name 'Ponchinello' from a mystery-play, wherein figured Pontius Pilate, Judas (Judy), and perhaps Tobias, otherwise Toby the dog."
Charles Mac Farlane, in his Recollections of the South of Italy (London: 1846), suggests that, as puppet plays and a kind of Punch are found all over the world, Punch had probably several distinct origins, at different times, in different countries. This is very likely, because a caricaturist who wished to distort the human form, would naturally seize upon that prominent feature, the nose, and pull it, then draw out the chin, and by a very little exercise of original genius, add a bump.
But the resemblance of Mother Shipton to
