‘Punch’ refers to a figure mentioned frequently in Morningside Mirror from 1847 until 1851. During this time period a vast number of articles were written by him and about him. Punch also outlives this time period, as he is mentioned in a letter from 1862.[1] The letter was written by Punch for his sweetheart; the letter mentions funny stories and missing one another. However, the mystery remains that no ‘Punch’ is documented in the case books, patient register or staff register for the asylum in this time period. Nonetheless, the figure of ‘Punch’ was clearly influential because of the important roles the Mirror records him holding, and other authors’ idolisation of him. The character ‘Punch’ makes their first appearance in 1847. At the same time, the satirical periodical ‘Punch’ was gaining public attention across the United Kingdom after its founding in 1841. As there is no record of a ‘Punch’ I rest on the theory that ‘Punch’ was a pseudonym used by a variety of patients under which they published articles which aligned with the humorous, political and critical style of ‘Punch’ magazine.
Punch’s writing style
The author ‘Punch’ used humour to mask his discussion of weighted subject areas. For example, in an article from Vol 3, No.5 Punch uses his column ‘Punch in his corner’ to publish a letter he receives from his lover Judy.[2] As seen in the forthcoming articles, Punch’s choice of words are no mistake and, here, ‘Judy’ is in reference to the popular puppet show ‘Punch and Judy’ which had reached fame in eighteenth century Britain. Consequently, the article presents as humorous but within the humour Punch details the reality of grief within the asylum. Judy’s letter reads:
‘I am delighted to learn that you are so well and happy in your Royal abode, but I hope you are at none of your old tricks, sonneteering to young ladies, and making extravagant professions of attachment to those of larger growth.’[3]
In his response, Punch’s grief is clear:
'I called for the steward, and tried to compose My griefs for awhile, with of brandy a doze; But ‘twas all of no use, for the more that I drank, The more my eyes watered, my poor heart it sank!'[4]
Here Punch is describing a common grievance within asylums which is considerably reported on in the Mirror – missing a loved one. Grief is a common theme in the Mirror’s article as patient’s were suffering from the death of a loved one or from being far away from them in the asylum. Punch is able to discuss the reality of grief in a humorous way and he continues to use humour in this way in later articles.
Who was Punch?
Based on the articles written by and about Punch, he was a man, or a group of men, who shared experiences of working at the asylum and staying there as a patient. It is not unfounded that a patient could have laboured on the wards, as Dr Hilary Marland states that pauper women helped in the wards of the Royal Edinburgh Asylum.[5] Therefore, patients did assist the medical staff in performing their duties, however, they did not have medical authority.
The Mirror presents Punch as a ‘celebrity’ figure within the asylum as he is referenced as an important individual by himself and other authors. In Vol 3, No.6 – only three Issues after his first article – Punch states that the last verse of the New Years Eve song, sung at the New Years Eve ball, read:
“Then here is a health to the Year Forty Eight, And the same to the great Mr Punch, May he soon every day have his dinner in State, And Sherry and Chicken to lunch; Who, since he has come here, has been at such pains, From us the blue devils to drive, And has promised us all a set of new brains, Will last us as long as we live!”[6]
Here, Punch becomes the ‘great Mr Punch’ and is individually recognised in the song. Therefore, the article exhibits Punch as an important figure to the asylum patients because he is individually recognised in the New Year’s Eve song.
Although the factuality of these lyrics cannot be known, Punch’s celebrity status was not simply recognised in his own articles but by others as well. After an article entitled ‘Opening for the Winter Session of the Royal Edinburgh Asylum Philosophical Institution’, published in Vol 4, No.2, his described role becomes more significant.[7] This article recounts the meeting of a distinguished Professor of Moral Philosophy from the University of Edinburgh with both male and female patients from the East House; Mr. Punch is said to be the chairman of the session. Lectures were frequently given to patients in the East House which makes this meeting and Punch’s important role very plausible.[8]
The next mentioning of ‘Punch’ is in an article entitled ‘Punch on a visit to Morningside’ in Vol 4, No.12.[9] This article delineates Punch’s travels outside of the asylum. On one occasion he visits a place called ‘The Ditch of the Fleet’ to learn from the ‘modern monks of the Athenian mode of learning’.[10] At the end of the article he returns to Morningside and is welcomed with rapture. The article states that Punch was taken ‘through the various departments of the establishment, where his attention was directed to the vast improvements effected, and in progress, since his former visit, with all of which he expressed the utmost delight and satisfaction.’[11] Then, he is accompanied to his former dormitory where Punch expresses gratitude to his doctors and to his old attendant Toby. The article describes Punch visiting the asylum after being released and travelling; the tone of idolisation with which this article is written presents Punch as an important figure and this as an important visit.
In future articles, Punch continues to come back to the asylum. In the article ‘Mr. Punch’s Midsummer visit to Morningside’ he comes back to see old friends and to go fishing.[12] Similarly, in an article entitled ‘British association for the advancement of science, unreported meeting held at Morningside Asylum’ he assist with arrangements for the guests.[13] Again, in an article entitled ‘Laying the foundation stone of a new potato house in Morningside asylum’ Punch is, reportedly, the one who is asked to lay the foundation stone.[14]
However, in Vol.6, No.3 Punch is reported to be ‘unhappily labouring, at present, under the influence of one of his melancholy delusions.’[15] Consequently, Punch becomes an asylum patient at Morningside again but recovers quickly as in the next Issue Punch is ‘happily recovered.’[16]
‘Punch’ continues to be a subject of interest for the authors and readers of the Mirror as in the same volume of the articles mentioned above, Punch’s love letters to the cook are published.[17] The publication of these letters bolsters my hypothesis that eventually ‘Punch’ becomes a pseudonym under which patients publish humorous and scandalous news. This is because the chronology of Punch’s ‘madness’ is lost and random articles, such as this one, using his name begin to appear. In the article entitled ‘A love letter to the Cook’ by PUNCH the author proclaims admiration for the cooks apple pie and says ‘Tomorrow I will come to lunch – Be kind to your admirer.’[18] The cook’s reply is also published in the same issue. The cook (Dorothea) states: ‘I shall be glad to see at lunch, My clever charming Mr. Punch, Who I sincerely hope will be a, True lover to his DOROTHEA.’[19] This article comments on the nature of relationships between patients and asylum staff, blanketed in satire. The nature of the relationship between Punch and the cook is unprofessional as, although Punch sends the first letter, the cook hopes Punch to be a ‘true lover’.[20] Consequently, this article is satirically commenting on the unprofessional relationships patients and could have with asylum staff. Although the article does not prove such a relationship existed as this time – as the article could simply reflect a fantasy – it is a thought provoking choice of subject and the satirical execution even more so. Furthermore, this article continues to represent a charming and well-known person.
After this article, Punch is referenced in an article which better matches the chronology from before. ‘Mr. Punch in the Chair’ is published in Vol 6, No.8 and states that Punch has transferred from patient to manager and, importantly, views himself as hierarchically above the patients.[21] Furthermore, in a following article entitled ‘Mr. Punch’s likeness’ it is reported that Punch has become a Lord and that when he dies a statue will be ‘hung up in the Ball-room’ to commemorate him.[22] One of the final articles I examined with Punch mentioned is entitled ‘Mr. Punch’s sudden departure from Morningside, and his equally sudden and unexpected return’ where, after leaving Morningside for Sunderland, he returns to Morningside four days later.[23] The author suspects that he left because: ‘he has been a thorn in the sides of the authorities, lay and ecclesiastical, of Edinburgh, Leith, and parts adjacent, from the day that he came among them, and we much suspect that he will prove the same wherever he goes.’[24] The author goes on to say ‘poor Punch! What is he to do? Will he hang himself?’[25] This quote reflects the authors concern for Punch’s mental health, as the Mirror recorded that he was frequently readmitted for melancholy. The quote ‘poor Punch! What is he to do? Will he hang himself?’[26] satirically represents decisions patients in the asylum faced while separated from their previous life. It suggests that coming back into the asylum generates more issues for the patient as, once he is readmitted, the author questions what should become of him and, instead of accepting treatment from the asylum, suggests committing suicide as the first option. Hence, ‘Will he hang himself?’[27]
Overall, the status of ‘celebrity’ is well earned by ‘Punch’ due to the Mirror’s fascination with reporting – whether factual or fantasy – key developments in Punch’s life. We learn that Punch both worked at the asylum and stayed there as a patient. Additionally, Punch’s legacy can be followed by his representation in the Mirror and the record of events that idolised him, such as the report that a statue will be built in memory of him.
Punch’s criticism of medical authority and his exploration of ‘insanity’
‘Punch’ used his platform to conjure clever criticisms against medical authority at the asylum and, also, to explore the abstract concept of ‘insanity’.
The name ‘Punch’ first appears in Volume 3, No.2 in November 1847 where the first ‘Punch in his corner’ is published.[28] ‘Punch in his corner’ was a regularly printed article in which the author discussed current events within and outside the asylum. In his first article, Punch discusses the act of laughing in the mirror and dictated that if you are not deemed mad then laughing in the mirror is dangerous: ‘should there be any dangerous symptoms from laughter among the ordinary subscribers to the “Mirror,” the Physicians and Lawyers, ordinary and extraordinary, of the Establishment, are prepared to wait upon the patients, and administer proper remedies, at a moments notice.’[29] Here, Punch states that physicians and lawyers – the two professionals most involved in the committal and care of the insane – are always watching for symptoms of insanity and that innocently laughing in the mirror could lead to commitment to an asylum. As such, Punch is mocking the current legal definition of ‘insanity’ and its treatment as he implies that people are deemed insane too easily and, therefore, have to consciously avoid certain actions.
In Vol 3, No.4 a ‘Punch in his corner’ article reporting on the New Year’s Eve Ball reads:
“Then here is a health to the Year Forty Eight, And the same to the great Mr Punch, May he soon every day have his dinner in State, And Sherry and Chicken to lunch; Who, since he has come here, has been at such pains, From us the blue devils to drive, And has promised us all a set of new brains, Will last us as long as we live!”[30]
Interestingly, Punch promises the inmates of the asylum ‘a set of new brains’ that will endure as long as they live. This promise is given to the patients with medical authority, however, as Punch is said to be a patient he possesses no medical authority. Therefore, in this article Punch bypasses the authority of the medical staff to give comfort to his fellow patients. At this time in the history of the psychiatric profession, experience and knowledge of mental illnesses was low. Medical superintendents were usually medically trained but had little experience treating mental illnesses; Constance McGovern argues that American psychiatrists became asylum superintendents as the job offered a stable career, rather than having a keen interest in mental illnesses.[31] As such, Punch’s offer of reassurance could be a plausible way of overturning the limited knowledge of the medical attendants they encountered on a daily basis.
Punch continues his coded attack on asylums in an article entitled ‘A Chapter: on the mania perennially exhibited by the modern Athenians in their migration from flat to flat, flat to self-contained, and vice-versa, – with observations moral, economical and comical’.[32] In the article he states that: ‘I have no unfriendly feeling towards cabinet-makers and upholsterers, nor have I any ill-will to undertakers who, in a place like Edinburgh, blessed by the presence of so many medical men, need not fear starvation.’[33] Here, Punch demonstrates that undertakers will never starve because of the high number of medical men in Edinburgh. Therefore, he implies that medical men cause people to die at a rapid and unnecessary rate. As such, he is criticising the quality of care provided by the medical men of Edinburgh and, being a patient within an asylum, he is clearly attacking the authority of the asylum’s medical staff.
Furthermore, in Vol 6, No.1 Punch authors an article called ‘Departure from Skae’s hotel for England.’[34] The title is interesting as the asylum is referenced as ‘Skae’s hotel’ which implies two things. Firstly, the term references the great comforts that patients of the East House encountered – especially those writing for the Mirror – which makes the asylum more of a nice hotel than an institution.[35] Secondly, in referring to the asylum as a hotel the author strips the asylum of its medical authority and, instead, displays the institution as a place where ‘insane’ people are held comfortably but not cured.
Punch was not alone in both his direct and discrete attacks on medical authority and questioning of the definition of ‘insanity’. Many other authors deliberated over both topics; an introduction to this theme can be found on the ‘Morningside Mirror 1845-1852’ page.
Punch and activism
Punch used his articles to project his personal political beliefs. For example, in Vol 3, No.8 ‘Mr.Punch’ authors an article entitled ‘Grand chartist demonstration in the Royal Edinburgh Asylum.’[36] Chartism was a movement for political reform in Britain that existed from 1838 to 1857.[37] The movement was popular among working people and demanded six reforms in a manifesto called the ‘People’s Charter’. The reforms wanted to make a more democratic political system by introducing male suffrage, removing the property qualification in becoming an MP and four other reforms. Punch describes the Chartism ideology as ‘insane’ and wants to remove all Chartist support from the asylum. At the end of the article, Punch is happy as:
“Chartism is now at a miserable discount within the walls of this House, which we have a confident expectation it will soon be everywhere else, and that there will be no more such lamentable waste of skeepskin, in the shape of monster petitions, which can be applied to so many other more useful purposes.”[38]
Punch does not conceal his thoughts on Chartism as The People’s Charter is described as a waste of time – a, so called, ‘monster petition’.[39] Punch’s passionate disbelief in the Chartist ideology could speak to his affluent standing in society as he believes a petition which supports the working masses achieving a more significant voice in politics is a waste of time.
Conclusion
So…who is ‘Punch’? The mystery remains as there is no record of a ‘Punch’ in the case books, patient registers or staff registers. Nonetheless, his name continues to be used in the Mirror and is found in a letter from 1862. The erratic nature and chronology of the articles later on suggest that there were, mostly likely, multiple authors covering multiple story lines. Even so, the voice behind the articles remain consistently aligned with the magazine ‘Punch’ and, as such, I believe the name to be a pseudonym under which patients wrote humorous, political and critical articles, similar to those published in the popular magazine.
[1] Letter by Punch[?] to Louise, 12 May 1862, REA Case Book LHB7/51/15.
[2] Punch in his corner’, Morningside Mirror, 3.5 (1848), 55-56.
[3] Ibid, p. 55.
[4] Ibid, p. 56.
[5] Hilary Marland, Dangerous Motherhood: Insanity and Childbirth in Victorian Britain (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), p. 86.
[6] ‘Punch in his corner’, Morningside Mirror, 3.4 (1848), 34-36 (p. 35).
[7] ‘Opening for the winter session of the Royal Edinburgh Asylum Philosophical Institution’, Morningside Mirror, 4.2 (1848), 14-15.
[8] Both articles in the Mirror (e.g. ‘Our annual retrospect’, Morningside Mirror, 7.4 (1852), 25-29 (p.27)) and the Annual Reports (e.g. David Skae, Annual Report of the Lunatic Asylum at Morningside (Edinburgh: Royal Edinburgh Asylum, 1852), p. 36) recount lectures given to patients.
[9] ‘Punch on a visit to Morningside’, Morningside Mirror, 4.12 (1849), 106-111.
[10] Ibid, p.110.
[11] Ibid, p. 110.
[12] ‘Mr. Punch’s Midsummer visit to Morningside’, Morningside Mirror, 5.10 (1850), 204-208.
[13] ‘British association for the advancement of science, unreported meeting held at Morningside asylum’, Morningside Mirror, 5.11 (1850), 209-218.
[14] ‘Laying the foundation stone of a new potato house in Morningside asylum’, Morningside Mirror, 5.12 (1850), 225-230.
[15] ‘Of the vanity of human expectations’, Morningside Mirror, 6.3 (1850), 22-24 (p. 22).
[16] ‘Retrospect of the past and advent of the present year in Morningside’, Morningside Mirror, 6.4 (1851), 25-28 (p. 27).
[17] PUNCH, ‘A love letter to the Cook’, Morningside Mirror, 6.7 (1851), 50-51.; DOROTHEA, ‘The Cook’s reply’, Morningside Mirror, 6.7 (1851), 51.
[18] PUNCH, p. 50.
[19] DOROTHEA, p. 51.
[20] Ibid, p. 51.
[21] ‘Mr. Punch in the Chair’, Morningside Mirror, 6.8 (1851), 58.
[22] Sir John Watson Gordon, ‘Mr Punch’s likeness’, Morningside Mirror, 6.8 (1851), 58-59.
[23] ‘Mr Punch’s sudden departure from Morningside, and his equally sudden and unexpected return’, Morningside Mirror, 6.8 (1851), 59-60.
[24] Ibid, p. 60
[25] Ibid, p. 60.
[26]Ibid, p. 60.
[27]Ibid, p. 60.
[28] ‘Punch in his corner’, Morningside Mirror, 3.2 (1847), 16.
[29] Ibid, p. 16.
[30] ‘Punch in his corner’, 3.4 (1848), p. 35.
[31] Constance M. McGovern, Masters of madness: Social Origins of the American psychiatric profession(London: University Press of New England, 1985).
[32] Mr. Punch, ‘A Chapter: on the mania perennially exhibited by the modern Athenians in their migration from flat to flat, flat to self-contained, and vice-versa, – with observations moral, economical and comical’, Morningside Mirror, 3.9 (1848), 82-84.
[33] Ibid, p. 83.
[34] ‘Departure from Skae’s hotel for England’, Morningside Mirror, 6.1 (1850), 8.
[35] Margaret Sorbie Thompson, The Mad, the Bad and the Sad: Psychiatric care in the Royal Edinburgh Asylum (Morningside), 1813-1894, (PhD thesis: Boston University, 1984).
[36] Mr. Punch, ‘Grand chartist demonstration in the Royal Edinburgh Asylum, reported by Mr. Punch’, Morningside Mirror, 3.7 (1848), 74.
[37] Malcom Chase, Chartism: A New History (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2007).
[38] Mr. Punch, ‘Grand chartist demonstration in the Royal Edinburgh Asylum, reported by Mr. Punch’, p. 74.
[39] Ibid, p. 74.
Emmay Deville URSS Project 2020/21 