Punch throughout the empire

[CvdC]

It is interesting to come across this in a newspaper from Tasmania in 1861



It refers to a print that is often seen. given this was at the very far reaches of the Empire the article will explain why these prints are still so commonly available.

[CvdC]

In the 19th century colonists from England suffered dreadfully from home sickness. The appearance of a Punch show could bring on an attack of tearful nostalgia. In the early 1980's the shows I did had this same effect on elderly people who had come out after the war.
The poem was printed in a newspaper called: Empire (Sydney, NSW) Monday 6 March 1865

AN INCIDENT IN SYDNEY LIFE TWELVE
YEARS AGO.

From tho north, across the ocean,
Once a strolling player came ;
For in over-busy England
There was neither food nor fame.

He had shown his Punch and Judy
At a score of village fairs ;
Few were now tho public pennies,
Many now the snowman's cares.

Then he heard of foreign countries,
Of a land where all was now,
Where tho public pence were plenty,
And tho shows and showmen few.

So he took a weary voyage -
To this land of hope he sped;
And in reckless busy Sydney
Thought to find his daily bread.

Ah! the showman's heart was beating
As tho careless crowd passed by.
Underneath a comic seeming
What a world of care may lie.

Now the puppets all are ready,
And the poor old show begins.
Telling in tho new-built city
All the list of Punch's sins.

And the crowd come to a standstill,
One by one their eyes are caught.
What, a Punch - old Punch in Sydney,
O, how near old times are brought!

Closer comes a bearded bushman,
Rough - a colonist for years,
O'er the kind, but sunburnt features
Conics a dimness like to tears.

Once again, a little school-boy
In tho foggy London streets,
He is idling at tho corner,
Last to look at Punch's feats.