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 CHAPTER I.

ORIGIN OF PUNCH IN ITALY.

, (whose original family name was probably Pulcinella,) first came into existence at Acerra, an ancient city at a short distance from Naples. The date of this event is differently stated by authors who have incidentally mentioned him; Riccoboni fixing it before the year 1600, and Gimma and Signorelli after the commencement of the seventeenth century. The words of Gimma are very precise, and as he enters into particulars, it seems safe to rely upon his authority for this important fact: he says, "Silvio Fiorillo, comedian, who procured himself to be called the Captain Matamoros, invented the Neapolitan Pulcinella; to which Andrea Calcese, who had the surname of Ciuccio, by study and natural grace added much. Calcese was a tailor, and died in the plague of the year 1656: he imitated the peasants of Acerra, a very ancient city of Terra di Lavoro, not far from Naples." Signorelli expressly calls Punch, un buffon dell' Acerra; and of the