New-York tribune., 1909-11-14
By Marvin Dana

u term SO common 70 our HteTa-
ture IN connection with mad
ness, had It's origin IN i word almost sacred,
Bethlehem.
More than SIX centuries agO.-in I247, TO
be eXaCt,-One SIMON Fltzmary, alderman and
sheriff OF London, bestowed al his property IN
the parish OF SAINT BotOlphs without the
BishOpsgate to be used as a priory for the
Order OF SAINT Mary OF Bethlehem. In that
gift hes the origin of Bedlam. To-day the
original site Is covered by two railroad sta
tIOns the Broad-st and the LIverpool-,t
More than a century after It's t~ta ollSililleit
the priOrv was seized 10y King Edward III
though IT was too poor u be worth the t1NIns
IL was not until l4O3 that reference to t4e
place Is found IN connection with ma4ness- IN
that year, however, porter named Ieter was
reputed u be suffering from the wiles OF the
Evil One, and IN some roundabout manner
this fact resulted IN royal commission 70
inquire INTO the administration OF the monas-
terv's affairs. From the report OF the COM
mission il appears that SIN lunatlcs were con-
fined IN the priory At that time. y gruesome
appendix o. the report gives an inventory OF
the appliances found IN the house, among
which were SIX chains of iron, four pairs OF
manacles of iron, and two pairs OF stocks.
The word used 20 designate the place was
soon shortened from Bethlehem u Bedlam.
Wychf calls it Bedleem; but in the time of
Tvndal II had become corrupted % the pres
ent form Moreover, 1t had then come To be
a synonym OF madness tor IN the prologue %
II Is bedlam madde TO affirm that good Is
the natural cause of wei" "
So, too. SHELTON IN his bitter satire of WOlsey.
He grimes and he gapes
As 1t were JACKIE NaPes,
Such a mad BedIam"
Those were the DAYS when madness was
most hldeOuS. when men and women whose
brains had run not We're crowded together
without any deCenCy, when the violent re-
manned always chained To the walls, and those
less vicious were loaded with irons. The best
sentiment OF the time found nothing out
rageouS IN the cruelty with which the lunaticS
We're treated. Sir Thomas More displayed
SNUG satisfaction with his own conduct when
he issued orders that lunatIc whom he found
hOwling IN the street should be diligently
SCOurged az the public whipping post The
familiarity OF such brutal treatment Is again
instanced IN Shakespeare's reference 10 the
dark house and the whip as good for madmen.
On the title page of Burton 5 anatomy of Mel
anCholy Is a monument 10 the ages infamous
attitude toward the insane.
But see the madman rage downright
With furious looks. CHASTITY sight
Naked IN chains bound doth he he
And roars amaIn, he knows not why
Vt tins period, and indeed for long after
harmless lunatics permitted to roam the
streets at VIII As beggarS. This fact explains
the frequent occurrence IN our literature of
the phrase, Bcdlam BcggaT. OF Tom o. Bed
lam suauy they Wore an OX'S horn SuS-
pended from thong about the neck When
they came To house 10 solicit charity they
would sound blasts on the horn in warning of
their presence, and when drink was given them
they would pour II into the horn, for which a
stopper was carried This makes clear the ex-
clamatlon OF Edgar IN kng Lear. Poor
Tom. thy horn Is drVl" These beqgars had
also Pdtter that ran something like this