Tom o' Bedlam
Encyclopedia
"Tom O' Bedlam" is the name of a critically acclaimed anonymous poem written circa 1600 (it can be definitely dated back to 1634) about a Bedlam
ite.
The term "Tom O' Bedlam" was used in Early Modern Britain and later to describe beggars and vagrants who had or feigned mental illness (see also Abraham-men
). They claimed, or were assumed, to have been former inmates at the Bethlem Royal Hospital
(Bedlam). It was commonly thought that inmates were released with authority to make their way by begging, though this is probably untrue. If it happened at all the numbers were certainly small, though there were probably large numbers of mentally ill travellers who turned to begging, but had never been near Bedlam. It was adopted as a technique of begging, or a character. For example, Edgar in King Lear
disguises himself as mad "Tom O'Bedlam".
It was a popular enough ballad that another poem was written in reply, "Mad Maudlin's Search" or "Mad Maudlin's Search for Her Tom of Bedlam" (the same Maud who was mentioned in the verse "With a thought I took for Maudlin / And a cruise of cockle pottage / With a thing thus tall, Sky bless you all / I befell into this dotage." which apparently records Tom going mad, "dotage") or "Bedlam Boys" (from the chorus, "Still I sing bonny boys, bonny mad boys / Bedlam boys are bonny / For they all go bare and they live by the air / And they want no drink or money."), whose first stanza was:
The remaining stanzas include:
It was apparently first published in 1720 by Thomas D'Urfey
in his Wit and Mirth, or Pills to Purge Melancholy
. "Maudlin" was a form of Mary Magdalene
.
Bethlem Royal Hospital
The Bethlem Royal Hospital is a psychiatric hospital located in London, United Kingdom and part of the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. Although no longer based at its original location, it is recognised as the world's first and oldest institution to specialise in mental illnesses....
ite.
The term "Tom O' Bedlam" was used in Early Modern Britain and later to describe beggars and vagrants who had or feigned mental illness (see also Abraham-men
Abraham-men
The Abraham-men were a class of beggars claiming to be lunatics allowed out of restraint, in the Tudor and Stuart periods in England....
). They claimed, or were assumed, to have been former inmates at the Bethlem Royal Hospital
Bethlem Royal Hospital
The Bethlem Royal Hospital is a psychiatric hospital located in London, United Kingdom and part of the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. Although no longer based at its original location, it is recognised as the world's first and oldest institution to specialise in mental illnesses....
(Bedlam). It was commonly thought that inmates were released with authority to make their way by begging, though this is probably untrue. If it happened at all the numbers were certainly small, though there were probably large numbers of mentally ill travellers who turned to begging, but had never been near Bedlam. It was adopted as a technique of begging, or a character. For example, Edgar in King Lear
King Lear
King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
disguises himself as mad "Tom O'Bedlam".
It was a popular enough ballad that another poem was written in reply, "Mad Maudlin's Search" or "Mad Maudlin's Search for Her Tom of Bedlam" (the same Maud who was mentioned in the verse "With a thought I took for Maudlin / And a cruise of cockle pottage / With a thing thus tall, Sky bless you all / I befell into this dotage." which apparently records Tom going mad, "dotage") or "Bedlam Boys" (from the chorus, "Still I sing bonny boys, bonny mad boys / Bedlam boys are bonny / For they all go bare and they live by the air / And they want no drink or money."), whose first stanza was:
- For to see Mad Tom of Bedlam,
- Ten thousand miles I've traveled.
- Mad Maudlin goes on dirty toes,
- For to save her shoes from gravel
The remaining stanzas include:
- I went down to Satan's kitchen
- To break my fast one morning
- And there I got souls piping hot
- All on the spit a-turning.
- There I took a cauldron
- Where boiled ten thousand harlots
- Though full of flame I drank the same
- To the health of all such varlets.
- My staff has murdered giants
- My bag a long knife carries
- To cut mince pies from children's thighs
- For which to feed the fairies.
- No gypsy, slut or doxy
- Shall win my mad Tom from me
- I'll weep all night, with stars I'll fight
- The fray shall well become me.
It was apparently first published in 1720 by Thomas D'Urfey
Thomas d'Urfey
Thomas D'Urfey was an English writer and wit. He composed plays, songs, and poetry, in addition to writing jokes. He was an important innovator and contributor in the evolution of the Ballad opera....
in his Wit and Mirth, or Pills to Purge Melancholy
Wit and Mirth, or Pills to Purge Melancholy
Wit and Mirth: Or Pills to Purge Melancholy is the title of a large collection of songs by Thomas d'Urfey, published between 1698 and 1720, which in its final, six-volume edition held over 1,000 songs and poems. The collection started as a single book compiled and published by Henry Playford who...
. "Maudlin" was a form of Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus' most celebrated disciples, and the most important woman disciple in the movement of Jesus. Jesus cleansed her of "seven demons", conventionally interpreted as referring to complex illnesses...
.
Structure and verses
At least 25 stanzas of 4 lines each comprise the complete poem. The existence of a chorus suggests that it was originally sung as a ballad. Both "Tom O' Bedlam" and "Mad Maudlin" are difficult to give a definitive form, because of the number of variant versions and the confusion between the two within the manuscripts. This version is taken from Bloom,- From the hagg and hungrie goblin
- That into raggs would rend ye,
- And the spirit that stands by the naked man
- In the Book of Moones - defend ye!
- That of your five sound senses
- You never be forsaken,
- Nor wander from your selves with Tom
- Abroad to beg your bacon.
- While I doe sing "any foode, any feeding,
- Feedinge, drinke or clothing,"
- Come dame or maid, be not afraid,
- Poor Tom will injure nothing.
- Of thirty bare years have I
- Twice twenty been enraged,
- And of forty been three times fifteen
- In durance soundly caged.
- On the lordly lofts of Bedlam,
- With stubble soft and dainty,
- Brave bracelets strong, sweet whips ding-dong,
- With wholesome hunger plenty.
- With a thought I took for Maudlin
- And a cruse of cockle pottage,
- With a thing thus tall, skie blesse you all,
- I befell into this dotage.
- I slept not since the Conquest,
- Till then I never waked,
- Till the roguish boy of love where I lay
- Me found and stript me naked.
- When I short have shorne my sowre face
- And swigged my horny barrel,
- In an oaken inn I pound my skin
- As a suit of gilt apparel.
- The moon's my constant Mistrisse,
- And the lowly owl my morrowe,
- The flaming Drake and the Nightcrow make
- Me music to my sorrow.
- The palsie plagues my pulses
- When I prigg your pigs or pullen,
- Your culvers take, or matchless make
- Your ChanticleerChanticleer- Fiction :*A rooster appearing in fables about Reynard The Fox**The Nun's Priest's Tale, a version of Chanticleer and the Fox told in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales**By metonymy, any rooster**A character in the movie Rock-a-Doodle played by Glen Campbell...
s, or sullen.
- When I want provant, with Humfrie
- I sup, and when benighted,
- I repose in Powles with waking souls
- Yet never am affrighted.
- I know more than ApolloApolloApollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
, - For oft, when he lies sleeping
- I see the stars at bloody wars
- In the wounded welkinWelkinWelkin is an archaic, English term; it refers to the sky, the upper air, the firmament, the heavens or the Celestial sphere. Especially the highest celestial sphere e.g...
weeping,
- The mooneDiana (mythology)In Roman mythology, Diana was the goddess of the hunt and moon and birthing, being associated with wild animals and woodland, and having the power to talk to and control animals. She was equated with the Greek goddess Artemis, though she had an independent origin in Italy...
embrace her shepherdEndymion (mythology)In Greek mythology, Endymion , was variously a handsome Aeolian shepherd or hunter or a king who ruled and was said to reside at Olympia in Elis, but he was also said to reside and was venerated on Mount Latmus in Caria, on the west coast of Asia Minor.... - And the queen of LoveVenus (mythology)Venus is a Roman goddess principally associated with love, beauty, sex,sexual seduction and fertility, who played a key role in many Roman religious festivals and myths...
her warriorMars (mythology)Mars was the Roman god of war and also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome. He was second in importance only to Jupiter, and he was the most prominent of the military gods worshipped by the Roman legions...
, - While the first doth horne the star of morne,
- And the next the heavenly Farrier.
- The Gipsie Snap and Pedro
- Are none of Tom's companions.
- The punk I skorne and the cut purse sworne
- And the roaring boyes bravadoe.
- The meek, the white, the gentle,
- Me handle touch and spare not
- But those that crosse Tom Rynosseros
- Do what the pantherLeopardThe leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...
dare not.
- With a host of furious fancies
- Whereof I am commander,
- With a burning spear and a horse of air,
- To the wilderness I wander.
- By a knight of ghostes and shadowes
- I summon'd am to tourney
- Ten leagues beyond the wild world's end.
- Methinks it is no journey.
In modern fiction
- Kenneth PatchenKenneth PatchenKenneth Patchen was an American poet and novelist. Though he denied any direct connection, Patchen's work and ideas regarding the role of artists paralleled those of the Dadaists, the Beats, and Surrealists...
's surrealist novelNovelA novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
The Journal of Albion Moonlight is loosely based on and makes frequent reference to the poem. - Part II of Alfred BesterAlfred BesterAlfred Bester was an American science fiction author, TV and radio scriptwriter, magazine editor and scripter for comic strips and comic books...
's novel The Stars My DestinationThe Stars My DestinationThe Stars My Destination is a science fiction novel by Alfred Bester. Originally serialized in Galaxy magazine in four parts beginning with the October 1956 issue, it first appeared in book form in the United Kingdom as Tiger! Tiger! – after William Blake's poem "The Tyger", the first verse...
is introduced with a section of the poem. - Robert SilverbergRobert SilverbergRobert Silverberg is an American author, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple nominee of the Hugo Award and a winner of the Nebula Award.-Early years:...
's science fictionScience fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel Tom O' Bedlam (1985) includes several quotations from the poem. - John BrunnerJohn Brunner (novelist)John Kilian Houston Brunner was a prolific British author of science fiction novels and stories. His 1968 novel Stand on Zanzibar, about an overpopulated world, won the 1968 Hugo Award for best science fiction novel. It also won the BSFA award the same year...
's 1968 novel Bedlam Planet prefaces each chapter with entire stanzas from the poem, titling the chapter after the subject of the stanza. - Mercedes LackeyMercedes LackeyMercedes "Misty" Lackey is a best-selling American author of fantasy novels. Many of her novels and trilogies are interlinked and set in the world of Velgarth, mostly in and around the country of Valdemar...
has co-authored a series of books whose titles are taken from verses of the poem. - A character named Tom O' Bedlam is an important mentor/mystic/revolutionary in Grant MorrisonGrant MorrisonGrant Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer, playwright and occultist. He is known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings, as well as his successful runs on titles like Animal Man, Doom Patrol, JLA, The Invisibles, New X-Men, Fantastic Four, All-Star Superman, and...
's graphic novel The InvisiblesThe InvisiblesThe Invisibles is a comic book series that was published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics from 1994 to 2000. It was created and scripted by Scottish writer Grant Morrison, and drawn by various artists throughout its publication....
. - A College of Magics by Caroline StevermerCaroline StevermerCaroline Stevermer is a writer of young adult fantasy novels and shorter works. She is best known for two series of historical fantasy novels.With Patricia C...
mentions the song often, in quotes and as the party anthem of the Monarchist party in Aravis. - Dan AbnettDan AbnettDan Abnett is a British comic book writer and novelist. He is a frequent collaborator with fellow writer Andy Lanning, and is known for his work on books for both Marvel Comics, and their UK imprint, Marvel UK, since the 1990s, including 2000 AD...
's Legion, part of the Horus HeresyHorus HeresyIn the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe, the Horus Heresy was a galaxy-spanning civil war that marked the end of the Great Crusade which took place in the 31st millennium. First described in the 1988 Games Workshop book Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness, it was used as the background for the...
series of Warhammer 40,000Warhammer 40,000Warhammer 40,000 is a tabletop miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop, set in a dystopian science fantasy universe. Warhammer 40,000 was created by Rick Priestley in 1987 as the futuristic companion to Warhammer Fantasy Battle, sharing many game mechanics...
novels, uses the first 4 lines of the poem. - In Mark TwainMark TwainSamuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
's The Prince and the PauperThe Prince and the PauperThe Prince and the Pauper is an English-language novel by American author Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada before its 1882 publication in the United States. The book represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction...
, John Canty says of Edward "Gone stark mad as any Tom o' Bedlam!" - Tom O'Bedlam is an important inspiration for the character of Tom Tyson in the Rynosseros cycle of Terry DowlingTerry DowlingTerence William Dowling, born at Lystra Private Hospital , is an Australian writer, freelance journalist, award-winning critic, editor, game designer and reviewer...
. Tom Tyson in these stories has emerged from the Madhouse (here, a place where the Aboriginal tribes of the future Australia have confined rebels). Tyson has no memories and the cycle largely concerns his quest to recover these lost memories. - Parts of Derek WalcottDerek WalcottDerek Alton Walcott, OBE OCC is a Saint Lucian poet, playwright, writer and visual artist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992 and the T. S. Eliot Prize in 2011 for White Egrets. His works include the Homeric epic Omeros...
's poem, The Bounty (1997), are addressed to "mad Tom."
External links
- Comments by Isaac Disraeli in "Curiosities of Literature"