"Ponny's" portrait, it has often been said, may be seen in the White Knight in "Alice in Wonderland;" but "the resemblance," says Sir John Tenniel, "was purely accidental, a mere unintentional caricature, which his friends, of course, were only too delighted to make the most of. P. M. was certainly handsome, whereas the White Knight can scarcely be considered a type of 'manly beauty.'" He was a great favourite with the Staff, by reason of his many charming qualities. What they thought of him may be in a measure deduced from one or two of the verses borrowed from Shirley Brooks's Birthday Ode, here reproduced from Mr. Hatton's "True Story" in "London Society":—
"Is he perfect? Why, no, that is hardly the case;
If he were, the Punch Table would not be his place;
You all have your faults—I confess one or two—
And we love him the better for having a few.
"He never did murder, like—never mind whom,
Nor poisoned relations, like—some in this room;
Nor deceived the young ladies, like—men whom I see,
Nor even intrigued with a gosling, like—me.
"No; black are our bosoms, and red are our hands,
But a model of virtue our Ponniboy stands;
And his basest detractors can only say this,
That he's fond of the cup, and the card, and the kiss.
"A warm-hearted fellow—a faithful ally,
Our Bloater's[42] Vice-Regent o'er Punch's gone by;
He's as true to the flag of the White Friars still
As when he did service with Jerrold and Gil.
"Here's his health in a bumper! "Old" Ponny—a fib;
What's fifty? A baby. Bring tucker and bib.
Add twenty; then ask us again, little boy,
And till then may your life be all pleasure and joy!"
"Ponny" Mayhew, who did not actually write anything for some years before his end, died in May, 1872; and on p. 191 of the sixty-second volume a graceful obituary notice pays tribute to his long and faithful service and his gentle good-nature.
By this time Punch's established reputation brought a great number of anonymous contributions, only a very few of which were ever used, and of fewer still was the authorship placed upon record. Early in 1843, however (p. 82, Vol. IV.), Mr. Blackwood, of Edinburgh, sent in one of the earliest of Scottish witticisms, a conundrum; Joseph O'Leary, a reporter of the "Morning Herald," is said to have contributed a poem on "The English Vandal;" and R. B. Peake, who had adapted "A Night with Punch" for W. J. Hammond, began his little series of "Punch's Provincial Intelligence," of which the most notable is a humorous report of the University Boatrace of the year; and then the elder Hood began his short but brilliant career.
THOMAS HOOD
From an Engraving by W. Hole,
after the Painting by Lewis.