We have All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day – so why not All Fools’ Day? A day to remember those afflicted in the mind? In reality April Fools' Day is a purely secular holiday celebrated on April 1st and is a grand occasion for all practical jokers!
THE ORIGINS OF THE FESTIVAL
The origins of April Fools' Day go back to the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1582, when the New Year was moved (again) and fixed as January 1st. The "old New Year" had been on March 25th and was celebrated with a week of partying, ending on April 1st. Many people did not come round to the new dates for some time and these people, whether they forgot or simply refused to come round to the "new-fangled" ideas, were ridiculed by being sent silly gifts and invitations to nonexistent parties and called "April Fools."
TRADITIONS AND CUSTOMS
April Fools' Day is the delight of small boys (and small girls) throughout the British Isles. It is an excuse to play practical jokes with impunity, the best ones being the old ones, as they say. The standard "Sir, your shoelace is undone" MUST be responded to by looking, even though you KNOW what is going to come next : "April Fool!!" and the joker runs away satisfied. Schoolteachers who submit to this year in, year out, have been known to get their own back : I well remember one boy being sent to "ask Mr. Pagett if you can have a long stand." Mr. Pagett was only too willing to oblige. (Other favourites are left-handed screwdrivers or skyhooks.)
In some parts of the country the jokes are only allowed until 12 noon; after that, the joker is the "April Fool." The afternoon becomes "Leggin' - down - day" and the horseplay gets a little rougher, the object being to trip up any unsuspecting victim who gets too close.
Even the more sober institutions of the British Establishment are not immune from April Foolery. The eminently sensible BBC once broadcast a wonderful documentary on the cultivation and harvesting of spaghetti, with the result that there are now people who think that spaghetti grows on trees!
Similarly - and a lot more recently, and also on April 1st - our local newspaper published an excellent article on the development of local river craft and described a small vessel, not unlike a coracle with radiating ribs, which had been discovered not far from the (genuine) Viking ship at North Ferriby. It went on in great detail about these boats, or "Ellas" - all the more plausible because there are local placenames such as Kirkella, West Ella, East Ella and even an Ella Street. It was not until they continued their descriptions of these "Humber Ellas" that the penny finally dropped........
