There is no agreement on the origins of April Fools’ Day. Nearly every story has at least one fatal flaw. The oldest reference, a quote from Chaucer’s Nun’s Tale, turns out to be a mistaken translation. Some thought that this derogatory name was given to those bumpkins who, after New Year’s Day was rationally set to January 1st, still celebrated the new year on Lady Day, with the week of celebration closing on April 1st — except that the name unambiguously precedes the calendar reforms that placed New Year’s Day on January 1st. Some believe that this is the day that Noah sent a dove out on a fool’s errand to find dry land before the waters had receded, but that tale doesn’t explain the mischief associated with the day. Others believe the day marks victory in battle — and therefore ignominious defeat of those other people, but stories of this type don’t explain why all the Others also have this day in their calendar.
The French and Italians think that the day is associated, not with the beginning of the new year, but with the end of the old, specifically the last day of Pisces on the vernal equinox. In both French and Italian, the day is called some variant of “April fish day”. The common prank for this Poisson d’Avril is to stick a picture of a fish on someone’s backside. This is the ancestor of a joke that was popular in American high schools of the 1950s or so. Tape a sign that reads “kick me” on someone’s back and let loose on the hapless victim. The April Fish was similarly abused until he discovered and removed the fish. This might actually be rooted in antiquity, though there is no particular reason it should be associated with April or the New Year. However, as the early Christians used a stylized fish to not-so-secretly identify themselves, tacking a fish onto a person was inviting all the calumny that Romans visited on that persecuted sect. Still… abuse of Christians was perennial — and usually far more grave than schoolboy aggression. So that origin story is also a bit of a stretch.
Scotland has possibly the most elaborate tradition. They call it Huntigowk Day, or hunt the gowk day, gowk being the cuckoo, a common euphemism for foolish folk. Some in the UK have interpreted this hunting of the cuckoo too literally and have made a national game of listening for the first cuckoo calling in the springtime. But originally, hunting the gowk meant playing pranks on the gullible. The most common of these was to ask the mark to deliver a sealed message, always implying that the message is begging the recipient for urgent help. Those who receive the message may or may not be in on the prank, but they don’t have to be part of a conspiracy because the message actually reads “Dinna laugh, dinna smile; hunt the gowk another mile”. The recipient reads this request and then explains to the fooled that they can’t give help without the assistance of someone else. Another false plea for help is dispatched to another recipient — who reads exactly the same message. The fool is sent all over the countryside. This only ends if he wises up and opens the seal (given that he can read, which was not always the case before the 20th century), or someone takes pity on him and stops the chain, or the clock strikes noon…
… because in nearly all April Fool traditions, all pranks must end by noontide. Why this must be so is not at all obviously comprehensible within any of the foolish traditions. It’s just another mystery of the day, I suppose.
What I find mysterious is why anyone would enjoy these pranks. Most are rather mean. Very few are all that clever. And if we know to expect capers on April 1st, then an April practical joke doesn’t even have the element of originality or shock. April Fools’ Day becomes simply another bit of annoyance or abuse to endure — and carte blanche to those who get their jollies from the pain of others. I get sort of disdainfully sneery on 1 April… probably not an endearing quality either, but…
The April Fool
The April Fool
awoke at dawn
with nothing in his head,
and with a smile
and lusty cry
he sprang up from his bed.
He donned his cap
and grabbed his sack
to see what was about,
and into April’s
chilly morn
he boldly ventured out.
To market fair
he turned his feet,
but ‘ere he had gone long,
saw neighbor
looking doleful
and stopped to ask what’s wrong.
Said neighbor
to the April Fool
“I’ve task I can’t fulfill —
a message
of importance
delivered o’er the hill.
But I have other
pressing needs
and so am torn in two.”
Then said the Fool,
“I’m not engaged.
I’ll take your note for you.”
The neighbor grinned
and said, “That’s fine!” —
and clapped him on the back.
“Just o’er the hill,
you’ll see the place.
Just there beside the track.”
The Fool, he went
and found the place
and knocked upon the door.
And when the yeoman
read the note, to Fool
he said, “There’s more.”
The yeoman said
“I can’t comply.
I’ve naught for this request.
Please, go along
to yonder house
and give them this behest.”
So pliant Fool
did as was asked,
took note from door to door.
And yet each time
the note was read,
was sent to yet one more.
The morning waned,
the hours grew long,
yet task remained undone.
He trudged along
with weary feet
‘neath balmy spring-tide sun.
Just when he thought
it’d never end
— he’d started seeing double —
a man looked up
from missive read
and thanked him for his trouble.
Now tired Fool
turned aching feet
back to his own front door.
All morning thoughts
of wandering
tempted him no more.
He dropped his sack
and tossed his cap
and, rubbing throbbing head,
— though noontide sun
still brightly shone —
the Fool went back to bed.
©Elizabeth Anker 2025
By My Solitary Hearth 
This is such a fun read and I LOVE the Norman Rockwell painting! We used to get piles of the “Saturday Evening Post” from my grandfather, which is where I first encountered Norman Rockwell. The poem is great too!
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