Spaghetti trees, left-handed burgers and flying penguins – just a few of the cracking April Fool’s tricks played on us by the media over the years.
But have you ever stopped to wonder why we celebrate April 1 with a day of japes and jokes?
While the history of April Fool’s Day or All Fools’ Day is uncertain, we know the Romans celebrated a day of fun and games with the Festival of Hilaria while, in ancient civilisation, New Year was celebrated between March 25 and April 1. Anyone who observed New Year’s Day on April 1 was called a fool or an April fish.
In centuries gone by, April Fool’s Day was celebrated for two full days over April 1 and 2. On the first day people played pranks and told fibs to catch each other out and played Hunt the Gowk – gowk is the old Scots for a cuckoo, traditionally known as a foolish bird because of its habit of leaving eggs in other birds’ nests. So, if you were the gowk, you were a fool, the victim of an April Fool’s prank.
On the second day or Tailie Day, paper tails were attached to people’s backs, resulting in much merriment.
While we’re supposed to stop playing jokes and japes by 12 noon on April 1, many folks ignore this and carry on into the evening.
Jess Smith, a Scottish storyteller who was born into a large family of travellers, has fond memories of April Fool’s Day.
“My memory is trying to be the best fool and catch as many folk as you could before they tumbled that it was April 1,” she recalls.
“I’m not sure but I believe that the Scottish tradition at least belonged to the Broonies – the wee goblins who would come around at night, usually a farm, and do the work that no one else would do.
“They’d be gone by first light apart from the day that separates winter from the spring, the first day of April. It was then they’d take hens’ eggs and place them in feeding troughs or under tree roots, put ducks in the barn and cows in the pond, scatter straw on the kitchen table – you know daft stuff. Well, that’s what auld folks would say,” she continues.
“In the north I’d heard that the Queen of the Sun would come clothed in buds of all kinds, heralding birds and lambs to follow, then the ‘Gowk’ storm would fly off the mountain tops with trails of winter snow and a howling gale to fool the coming of spring. It was the crabbit Winter having one last blast of her power before her seasonal sleep.”
Jess also recalls that it was looked upon as a seriously ‘bad luck’ day and if pregnant women were in labour they would do all in their power to slow down the birth of their baby or would try to speed it up to avoid the first day of April.
While we can’t promise you the Queen of the Sun or a Gowk storm, this year’s April Fools are coming thick and fast. Our favourites include an indoor snow attraction in Manchester which has apparently launched snowboarding lessons for dogs, while, on a slightly more macabre note, Funeralbooker has introduced a home cremation service in response to spiralling funeral costs – the new service costs just £299.99 and includes door-to-door delivery of CremMate, the UK’s first domicinerator.
