* 
10600 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1806. 
etiam circumctsionis dumini, subdia- 
‘conis et clericis de secunda forma de 
victualibus annis singulis, secundum 
morem ct cunsuetudinem ecclesi@ ab 
antiquo usitatos, debite ministrabit 
(2. e. prepositus) antigua consuetu- 
dine immo verius corruptela regis 
stultorum infra ecclesiam et extra 
hactenus usttota sublata ct extirpata,” 
This festival has by many writers 
been strangely confounded with the 
ceremony of electing a boy-bishop 
jn cathed:als and other places. 
Ducange, followed by Du Tilliot, 
quotes from Dugdale’s Monasticon, 
an inventory of ornaments, &c. 
belonging to the cathedral of York, 
jn 1510, wherein are mentioned a 
small mitre and a_ ring, for the 
** episcopus puerorum,”’ irom which 
he bas inferred that the Feast of 
Fools continued tll that period in 
England: but it is evident that this 
xefers to the election of a boy-bishop, 
a ceremony not only of a serious 
nature, and instituted in honour of 
St. Nicholas, or, as some have, I 
think erroneously, conceived, in 
remembrance of the massacre of the 
Innocents, but which uniformly tock 
place on the 6th of December, St. 
Nicholas’s Day, from which time to 
the Feast of the Innocents, this boy- 
bishop remained in office. But I 
purposely wave any further discus- 
sion of this subject, because I feel 
much pleasure in reflecting that it 
will most probably find a_ place 
amidst a general exhibition of our 
popular customs and antiquities, by 
the, masterly hand of my valuable 
and learned friend, the secretary of 
this society, and shall conclude my 
remarks on the Feast of Fools, with 
stating that numerous imitations of 
it arose in various places, and on 
different occasions. These wer 
the feast of the ass; the elections of — 
an abbe des conards on curnards, of 
an abbe des esclafiards, wf an abbe 
de malgouverne, whence our abbot, 
orlordcf mis-rule, ofa prince des sots, 
(sometimescalled mere folle, or tohe) 
of a prince de plaisance, a prince de 
Pestrille, a prevot des etourdis, @ 
roi des ribauds, and some others.of a 
similar nature. It is now ume to 
advert to the more immediate sube 
ject. of the exhibinon which has 
given rise to this imperfect commu- 
nication. It is a girdle which tra 
dilien reports to have been worn by 
the abbot of fools, in the cathedral 
of Dijon, en his election into office. 
From the style of 1, 1 conceive it 
to belong to the fourieenth century. 
It consists of thirty-five squaré 
pieces of wood, so contrived as to 
let into each other, by which means 
it easily ussumes a circular form, 
On these are carved a variety ‘of 
ludicrous and grotesque figures, 
consisting of fools, tumblers, hunts~ 
men, and animals, with others, that 
trom their heentiousness do not 
admit of a particular description. 
They bear, on the whole, a very 
striking similitude to the sculptures 
on the seats of the stalls in our cae 
thedrals and monastic buildings, 
which were, no doubt, conceived in 
ridicule of the elergy in general, but 
more particularly of the friars ; or, 
as, J have already observed, they 
may, ip some instances at least, iefer 
to the mockeries thet were practised 
in celebrating the Feast of Fools. It 
only remains to add, that for the 
possession of this, perhaps unique 
curiosity, I am indebted to the libe- 
rality of monsieur l’abbe de Terson, 
of Paris. 
MISCELLANEOUS 
