66 i LORD or MISRUL E. 
mas, in token that the feafon fhould end with the twelve 
moneths of the year; and afore hym went yche [each] 
moneth dyfgyfyd as the feafon requiryd.” Hijl. Norfolk, 
rol. ii. 
The dignified perfons above mentioned were probably 
upon an equal footing with the King of the Bean, whole 
reign commenced upon the vigil of the Epiphany, or upon 
the day itfelf. We read, that, fome time back, “it was a 
common Chriftmas gambol in both our univerfitiesand 
continued, at the commencement of the 17th century, “to 
be ufual in other places, to give the name of king or queen 
to that perfon whofe extraordinary good luck it was to 
hit upon that part of a divided cake which was honoured 
above the others by having a bean in it.” Bourne's 
Antiq. Vulg. chap. xvii. The reader will readily trace the 
veftige of this cuftom, though fomewhat differently ma¬ 
naged, and without the bean, in the prefent method of 
drawing, as it is called, for king and queen upon Twelfth- 
day. 
Selden afferts, and apparently with great juftice, that 
all thefe whimfical tranfpofitions of dignity are derived 
from the ancient Saturnalia, or Feafts of Saturn, when 
the matters waited upon their fervants, who were ho¬ 
noured with mock titles, and permitted to affume the ftate 
and deportment of their lords. Thefe foolries were ex¬ 
ceeding!}' popular, and continued to be praftifed long af¬ 
ter the eftablifhment of Chriftianity, in defiance of the 
threatenings and remonftrances of the clergy, who, find¬ 
ing it impoflible to divert the ftream of vulgar prejudice, 
permitted them to be exercifed, but changed the primi¬ 
tive objeft of devotion ; fo that the fame unhallowed orgies, 
which had difgraced the worfhip of a heathen deity, were 
dedicated, as it was called, to the fervice of the true God, 
and fan&ioned by the appellation of a Chriftian inftitu- 
tion. From this polluted flock branched out variety of 
unfeemly and immoral fports; but none of them more 
daringly impious, and outrageous to common fenfe, than 
the Fejlival of Fools , in which the molt facred rites and 
ceremonies of the church were turned into ridicule, and 
the ecclefiaflics themfelves participated in the abominable 
profanations. The following outlines of this abfurd di- 
verfion will no doubt be thought fufficient. In each of 
the cathedral churches there was a Bi/hop or an Archbifiop 
of Fools, elected ; and, in the churches immediately de¬ 
pendent upon the papal fee, a Pope of Fools. Thefe mock 
pontiffs had ufually a proper fuite of ecclefiaflics who at¬ 
tended upon them, and alfifted at the divine fervice, molt 
of them attired in ridiculous dreffes refembling pantomi- 
mical players and buffoons; they were accompanied by 
large crowds of the laity, fome being difguifed with malks 
of a monftrous falhion, and others having their faces fmut- 
ted ; in one inllance to frighten the beholders, and in the 
other to excite their laughter ; and fome, again, affum- 
ing the habits of females, praCtifed all the wanton airs of 
the loofelt and molt abandoned of the fex. During the 
divine fervice this motley crowd were not contented with 
iinging of indecent fongs in the choir, but fome of them 
ate and drank, and played at dice, upon the altar, by the 
tide of. the prieft who celebrated the mafs. After the fer- 
-vice they put filth into the cenfers, and ran about the 
church, leaping, dancing, laughing, tinging, breaking ob- 
i'cene jells, and expofing themfelves in the moll unfeemly 
attitudes with (hamelefs impudence.” Another part of 
thefe ridiculous ceremonies was, to thave the Precentor of 
Tools upon a llage, erected before the church, in the pre¬ 
tence of the populace; and, during the operation, he 
amufed them with lewd and vulgar difcourfes, accompa¬ 
nied by aCtions equally reprehenlible. The bilhop or the 
pope of fools performed the divine fervice habite_d in tire 
pontifical garments, and gave his benediction to the peo¬ 
ple before they quitted the church. He was afterwards 
i'eated in an open carriage, and drawn about to the differ¬ 
ent parts of the town, attended by a large train of eccle- 
fiaffics and laymen promifcuoufly mingled together ; and 
many of the molt profligate of the latter affumed clerical 
i 
habits, in order to give their impious fooleries the greater- 
effeCt; they had alfo with them carts filled with ordure, 
which they threw occafionally upon the populace affembled 
to fee the proceflion. Thefe fpeCtacles were always exhi¬ 
bited at Chriftrnas-time, or near to it, but not confined 
to one particular day ; being fometimes on the feall of Sr. 
Stephen, $t. John, the Innocents, the Circumcifion, the 
Epiphany., See. See Encyclopedic Francois, under the ar¬ 
ticle Fete des FousX- Grotefque ceremonies, lomething fimi- 
lar to thofe above mentioned, certainly took place in Eng¬ 
land ; but probably they were not carried to that extent 
of impiety, nor fo grofsly oft'enfive to decency. We had 
a King of the Fools; but his office was fuppreffed at an 
early period, (1391.) and, we believe, not revived in the 
fucceeding times. 
The election and the inveftment of the Boy-Bifwp 
was certainly derived from the Feftival of Fools. In ,all 
the collegiate churches, at the feaft of St. Nicholas, or of 
the Holy Innocents, and frequently at both, it was cufto- 
mary for one of the children of the choir, completely ap¬ 
parelled in the epifcopal veftments, with a mitre and cro- 
iier, to bear the title and ftate of a bifhop. He exaCted a 
ceremonial obedience from his fellows, who, being dreffed 
like priefts, took pofleffion of the church, and performed 
all the ceremonies and offices which might have been ce¬ 
lebrated by a bilhop and his prebendaries. Colet, dean 
of St. Paul’s, though a wdfe and good man, countenanced 
this idle farce ; and, in the ftatutes for his fchool at St. 
Paul’s, exprefsly orders that the fcholars “fhall, every 
Childermas, that is, Innocents-day, come to Paule’s 
churche, and hear the childe-byjhop's fermon, and after be 
at high matte, and each of them offer a penny to the childe- 
byfhop: and with them the maifters and furveyors of the 
fchole.” Knight’s Life of Colet, p. 362. and fee the ar¬ 
ticle London, p. *4.14 of this volume. After having per¬ 
formed divine fervice, the bilhop and his affociates went 
about to different parts of the town, and vifited the reli¬ 
gious houfes, collecting money: upon which Warton ob¬ 
serves, “I take this opportunity of intimating, that the 
cuftom at Eton of going ad montem, originated from 
the ancient and popular practice of thefe theatrical pro- 
ceffions in collegiate bodies.” Hiflery of Englifi Poetry , 
vol. iii. p. 390, Thefe ceremonies and proceflions were 
formally abrogated by proclamation from the king and 
council, in the thirty-third year of Henry VIII. anno. 
1542. The concluding caufeof the ordinance runs thus: 
“ Whereas heretofore dy vers and many fuperftitious and 
chyldyfti observances have been ufed, and yet to this day 
are obferved and kept, in many and fundry places of this 
realm, upon St. Nicholas’, St. Catharine’s, St. Clement’s, 
and Holy Innocents, and fuch-like holydaies; children 
be ftrangelie decked and apparayled as counterfeit priefts, 
bilhops, and women, and fo ledde with fongs and dances 
from houfe to houfe, bleffing the people, and gathering of 
money ; and boyes do finge maffe, and preache in the pul¬ 
pits, with l'uch other unfitting and inconvenient ufages, 
which tend rather to deryfyon than enie true glorie to 
God, or honor of his fayntes.” This idle pageantry was 
revived by his daughter Mary; and in the lecond year of 
her reign an edict was ifi'ued from the bilhop of London 
to all the clergy of his diocefe, to have a boy-bifhop in 
proceflion. The year following, 1555, “the child-bifhop 
of Paule’s church, with his company,” were admitted into 
the queen’s privy chamber, where he fang before her on Saint 
Nicholas-day and upon Holy Innocents day.” Again the 
next year, fays Strype, “ on Saint Nicholas even, Saint Ni¬ 
cholas, that is, a boy habited like a bifhop in pontificahbus , 
went abroad in molt parts of London, finging after the 
old fafhion; and was received by many ignorant but well- 
difpofed people into their houfes, and had as much goed 
cheer as ever was wont to be had before.” We may obfen © 
here, that moft of the churches in which thefe mock ce¬ 
remonies were performed, had dreffes and ornaments pro¬ 
per for the occafion, and fuited to the fize of the wearers, 
but in every other refpect refembling thofe appropriated to 
