And we are in the heart of Twixtmas: those days between Christmas and the New Year.
At times like these one needs a pick-me-up; something to raise the spirits as we look introspectively towards the milestone of a New Year. The sands of time trickle with inevitability through our life’s hour glass, and now I have half a lifetime’s Winters and Summers to look back upon, when once I had only twenty one.
The Shakespearean heroines of old would have turned to their fool at a time like this.
Take the beautiful Olivia, in that magical romance of Shakespeare’s, Twelfth NIght. She is lost: a widow, who mourns and will see nothing of the bright side of life.
The fool has displeased Olivia. Yet he barters his way back dextrously, as he has promised he will. He has a clever mind with a deep rooted affection for his mistress, and a habit of alienating those he despises. “Now you see, sir,” she berates him affectionately, “how your fooling grows old, and people dislike it.”
He does not stop telling the truth. He does not curb his distaste for Olivia’s arrogant, humourless steward, nor does he disguise his affection for the lady’s inebriate uncle. He tells it how it is, sharp-bladed, witty and sardonic.
I would love such a fool as that.
Fools, it is said, disappeared with Oliver Cromwell. A political Malvolio, he had no truck with entertaining folk and laughing unnecessarily. And when Charles II returned, well, he patronised all the arts and the theatre; but he did not keep a professional fool close. Perhaps he did not care for someone who would know him that well, and speak that plainly.
A good fool could keep anyone sweet: even Henry VIII. Will Somers was his fool, a wit of such magnitude that whilst wives were being bumped off and rejected left right and centre. Will kept his job from the moment he was presented to the King in 1525 to Henry’s death. Indeed, he was so honoured it was said he could make Mary laugh, and his last professional engagement was at the coronation of Elizabeth I.
The crux of the matter is this: life, for a person with great power, is a lonely business. But somehow the fool was sanctioned to slip past the pomp and ceremony and speak to the powerful one with frank, clever sincerity.
A fool was the closest someone like that had to a friend.
Today I jumped in the car and motored through lashing rain up to Hampton Court, where England’s foremost fool was making crowds chuckle.
For we have a fool, still. More than 350 years after Muckle John -Charles I’s jester – bowed out, English Heritage held a competiton for a National State Jester.
And they found the perfect candidate for the job. Kester the Jester was crowned State Jester.
But something happened which could only happen in England: the Guild of Jesters intervened.
This is not an ancient guild. It was formed in 1996, and formalised in 1999. WIth around 30 members, the Guild’s representatives complained that there had been scant notice for auditions for this prized post; and there was no approval by the government for the title of state jester.
English Heritage gave in. These days their fool is called the English Heritage National Jester. And there he was on a rainy Twixtmas afternoon in the Clock Court at Hampton Court: Peterkin the Fool. Unlike his predecessors, He can rest easy that his patrons will not cut off his head, or worse, if he ventures a comment which is de trop.
He knows his trade. Today he mixed the driest of English wit with bawdy slapstick in a routine which involved recruiting onlookers to help him mount a pair of stilts. He affably maligned those who supported him and they all loved it, there in the damp grey dwindling English light.
Nothing like a fool to chase those Winter blues away.
Kate Shrewsday 
Charles II did have a jester of a kind about the court, in the form of his friend the Earl of Rochester who is said to have written on the King’s bedroom door:
“Here lies our Sovereign Lord the King
Whose word no man relies on;
He never said a foolish thing,
Nor ever did a wise one.”
Charles was apparently amused by this and replied “This is very true: for my words are my own, and my actions are my ministers’….”
He was the king who brought back partying, Jan 😀 Hope you’re having a lovely festive break and may a very happy new year stretch before you!
I LOVE this!
Glad to hear it Julie: and I hope very much that this Christmas there have been a few moments of humour. You have been in my thoughts.
‘A fool is bent upon a twig, but wise men dread a bandit.’
Why didn’t the fools work towards proper auditions and government approval? Because to do something that sensible would lose them their status as fools?
This, Col, is something the journalist in me would love to fathom. It was a bit of a bunfight when the title was announced and the Guild intervened. The head of the Guild even wrote to his MP. Yet there has been no move to identify a national national jester. Well done English Heritage, I say, for bringing back this old craft and brightening up my rainy afternoon!
Well done indeed, but why can’t the others run with the ball and make the whole thing official? It obviously goes down well.
I love it too! Twixmas, fools and the need for entertainingly told home truths – something we all need from time to time 🙂
We do. It’s a welcome reprise. And this fool is very, very good indeed.
Whenever I need to laugh myself silly, I turn to Abbott and Costello and their wonderful “Who’s on First” skit. Vaudeville at its best.
They are consummate clowns, Lou!
The ability to laugh at ourselves and Tom Foolery are this countries saving grace.
They are. I love all the satire that flies around: so that political squabbles can be aired with the minimum of rancour.
It’s unfortunate that we have so many witless fools in power who, being witless, don’t realise how foolish they are. We, however, are the greatest fools as we continually contrive to elect greater fools.
Quite: the strength of the fool is that he starts from that position and can be wise. The fools running England right now are very definitely unlicensed ones.
You caught the jest of the jester’s gestures with these snaps, Kate! 😆
He was fabulous, Nancy….
I have to say that the guild of fools looked a little foolish indeed with such vacuous behaviour.. I love your fool and your photographs are perfect, it is so healthy to have a good laugh! Happy New Year my friend.. c
Have you seen the Chinese laughers who laugh every morning, religiously, to better their lives? Word is, it works…
Reminds me instantly of the movie “The Court Jester” from back in the ’50s. To this day I’ve not forgotten the hilarious “flagon with the dragon” scene. (You’re too young too recall it.)
Have a Happy New Year, Kate!
Nothing to do with the vestle with the pestle, PT??
What a happy looking fellow and a new addition to my Kateisms – “twixtmas” made me smile 🙂 Festive greetings my friend and best wishes for an utterly superlative 2013, may it be a wonderful year for you and your special family xxx
Thanks, Linda, and you too!
I might enjoy seeing a singular jester — an opportunity to understand their wit and humour, but here we have these gigantic ‘festivals’ where many such fools are crammed into one space and it is anything but enjoyable. I find them nasty, mean-spirited affairs and avoid them at all cost. Great pics, the guy has a nice smile.
Mean-spirited fools! Methinks that is shooting the profession in the foot,Kathy!
Though there are overtones which intimate that the Guild of Jesters here is not all rosy….
The UK has Monty Python and court jesters. We have a bunch of clowns in Washington!
Though I believe the Washington Clowns are not always aware they are in fine fooling, Gale! Happy New Year to you…
Fabulous, a new Guild.
I know. Just what the doctor ordered. Though they seem a little cybersluggish. Their last entry on their web site appears to be 2008!
What fun photos, Kate. With the history of jesters, I like the idea of the profession continuing forward. It seems that no matter where we go there is a Board or Guild just waiting to rain on someone’s parade! Who knew that crowning a State Jester could undermine a tradition. I like the idea of a professional fool! 🙂
It’s a nice touch, Debra….certainly cheered up my Twixtmas.
I’m sure he would make me smile … and others as well.
The Beatles’ “Fool on the Hill” always sounded sad and alone. Perhaps, as you suggest, he was because of the truths he told. Or, because of the bureaucracy he had to deal with … Thanks, Kate.
Sometimes I wonder who the real fools are…
It seems that fools have lost their way and can no longer be trusted. 🙂
I’m still smiling over the idea of “Twixtmas.” This year was one in which we could have used a fool for sure. For the laughter and the frank illumination.