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A jester, or court fool, was a buffoon or person maintained by the noble and wealthy to entertain them by jests. The professional jesters usually wore a motley or brightly coloured dress and a cap or cowl of bright colours furnished with bells and asses' ears, or crowned with a cockscomb. Licensed jesters carried a short stick ornamented with ass's ears, known as a bauble. In Britain the last jester regularly attached to the royal household seems to have been Archie Armstrong, the jester of James I and Charles I.
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Gosling was an old English term for a simpleton, a fool.
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A Gothamite is a person from Gotham. The term is also used to describe a fool or an American cockney.
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Joseph Van Cleef (known as the Fool) was a Belgian painter. He was born in 1480 at Antwerp and died in 1529. He was one of the most celebrated painters of his time, who in regard to beauty of colouring may challenge comparison with the Italian masters.
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The Spanish April Fool Virus is a computer virus which infects .EXE files. The virus is loaded into memory by executing an infected program and then affects the computer's runtime operation and corrupts program or overlay files.
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Bean is a comedy starring Rowan Atkinson, Peter MacNicol, Pamela Reed, Harris Yulin, Burt Reynolds, Larry Drake and Chris Ellis in a story about an accident prone fool who, causing so much chaos while working as an attendant at London's National gallery is sent to the USA to represent the governors at the unveiling of the Grierson Gallery's new purchase. Bean was directed by Mel Smith in 1997.
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Durak is a popular card game in Russia. It would hardly be an exaggeration to say that every Russian who plays cards knows this game. 'Durak' means fool, the fool in this game being the loser - the player who is left with cards after everyone else has run out. The game described on this page is properly called 'Podkidnoy Durak', which means 'fool with throwing in'. This name refers to the fact that after an attack is begun, it can be continued by 'throwing in' further cards whose ranks match those already played.
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A fool (from the French foule, meaning mashed or pressed) is a dish comprising a scalded fruit which is then pounded together with cream. Fools, such as gooseberry-fool, are traditionally served in England as a desert or sweet.
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The morris dance (named from the Moorish Morisco) is a traditional English folk dance characterised by the gay costumes of the men who take part adorned with bells and holding staves which they clash together. According to Brewer, the Morris dance was brought to England by John of Gaunt in the reign of Edward III from Spain, where it was a military dance performed by the Moors under the name the Moriscos. Other sources cite the morris dance as a fertility rite, encouraging the crops to grow.
In England the morris dance was performed at puppet-shows, May games etc and was very popular during the reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII when it was a principal feature of the popular festivals. In the May games of Robin Hood, and the pageant of the Lord of Misrule, morris-dancers formed an important part. The more ancient May game and morris consisted of the following characters: Robin Hood, Little John, Friar Tuck, Maid Marian, the queen or lady of the May, the fool, the piper, and several dancers variously dressed. A hobby-horse and a dragon were afterwards added. In the reign of Henry VIII, were dressed in gilt-lrather and silver paper, and sometimes in coats of white and spangled fustian. Bells to the number of thirty of forty hung from their garters, and purses were stuck in their girdles.
The morris is danced in variations around England, each area having its own style. The morris waned over the years and was almost extinct by the start of the 19th century. In 1934 the Morris Ring was formed in England by six of the revival sides in order to 'encourage the dancing of the morris and the preservation of its traditions'. The morris ring extended during the course of the 20th century, reaching several hundred member groups by the end of 2005.
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Dulce est desipere in loco is Latin for it's sometimes pleasant to play the fool
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The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
©1993 - 2009 The Probert Encyclopaedia
Southampton, United Kingdom
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