These are called
Court Fools or Jesters. Until within a comparatively short time ago,
every king had his Jester, whose duty it was to furnish mirth and
merriment for the royal household. The real Court Fool was in reality a
fool by birth, while a Jester was a _pretended_ fool. The former was
dressed in "a parti-colored dress, including a cowl, which ended in a
cock's-head, and was winged with a couple of long ears; he, moreover,
carried in his hand a stick called his bauble, terminating either in an
inflated bladder or some other ludicrous object, to be employed in
slapping inadvertent neighbors."
[Illustration: SAVING THE SHINGLES.]
On the other hand, the Jester selected his clothes not only with a view
to their grotesqueness but also with an eye to their richness. While the
real fool "haunted the kitchen and scullery, messing almost with the
dogs, and liable, when malapert, to a whipping," the pretended fool was
comparatively a companion to the sovereign who engaged his services.
Berdic, the Jester of the Court of William the Conqueror, for instance,
was considered of so great importance that three towns and five
carucates were conferred upon him.
[Illustration]
***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONNOR MAGAN'S LUCK AND OTHER
STORIES***
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