Next came fresh April, full of lustyhed,
And wanton as a kid whose horne new buds;
Upon a bull he rode, the same which led
Europa floting through th' Argolick fluds:
His horns were gilden all with golden studs,
And garnished with garlands goodly dight
Of all the fairest flowers and freshest buds
Which th' earth brings forth; and wet he seem'd in sight
With waves, through which he waded for his love's delight.

This is the fourth month of the year. Its Latin name is Aprilis, from aperio, to open or set forth. The Saxons called it, Oster or Eastermonath, in which month, the feast of the Saxon goddess, Eastre, Easter, or Eoster is said to have been celebrated. April, with us, is sometimes represented as a girl clothed in green, with a garland of myrtle and hawthorn buds; holding in one hand primroses and violets, and in the other the zodiacal sign, Taurus, or the bull, into which constellation the sun enters during this month. The Romans consecrated the first of April to Venus, the goddess of beauty, the mother of love, the queen of laughter, the mistress of the graces; and the Roman widows and virgins assembled in the temple of Virile Fortune, and disSayer's Disquisitions.

Spenser.

closing their personal deformities, prayed the goddess to conceal them from their husbands.

In this month the business of creation seems resumed. The vital spark rekindles in dormant existences; and all things "live, and move, and have their being." The earth puts on her livery to await the call of her lord; the air breathes gently on his cheek, and conducts to his ear the warblings of the birds, and the odours of new-born herbs and flowers; the great eye of the world "sees and shines" with bright and gladdening glances; the waters teem with life; man himself feels the revivifying and all-pervading influence; and his

spirit holds communion sweet With the brighter spirits of the sky.

• Lempriere.

Or else some lady is humbly bowed to, and gravely addressed with "Ma'am, I beg your pardon, but you've something on your face!" "Indeed, my man! what is it?" "Your nose, ma'am-Ah! you April fool!"

The tricks that youngsters play off on the first of April are various as their fancies. One, who has yet to know the humours of the day, they send to a cobbler's for a pennyworth of the best "stir

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rup oil;" the cobbler receives the money, and the novice receives a hearty cut or two from the cobbler's strap: if he does not, at the same time, obtain the information that he is "an April fool," he is sure to be acquainted with it on returning to also gained by an errand to some shop his companions. The like knowledge is for half a pint of " pigeon's milk," or an inquiry at a bookseller's for the "Life and Adventures of Eve's Mother."

Then, in-door young ones club their wicked wits,
And almost frighten servants into fits-

"Oh, John! James! John!-oh, quick! oh! Molly, oh!
Oh, the trap-door! oh, Molly! down below!"

"What, what's the matter!" scream, with wild surprise,
John, James, and Molly, while the young ones' cries
Redouble till they come; then all the boys

Shout" Ah! you April fools!" with clamorous noise;
And little girls enticed down stairs to see,

Stand peeping, clap their hands, and cry "te-hee !"
Each gibing boy escapes a different way,

And meet again some trick," as good as that," to play.

Much is written concerning the custom of fool-making on the first of April, but with this result only, that it is very ancient and very general." As a better opportunity will occur hereafter, nothing will be said here respecting "fools" by profession.

The practice of making fools on this day in North Britain, is usually exercised by sending a person from place to place by means of a letter, in which is written

"On the first day of April
Hunt the gowk another mile."

This is called "hunting the gowk,"
and the bearer of the "fools' errand"
is called an "April gowk." Brand
says, that gowk is properly a cuckoo, and
is used here metaphorically for a fool;
this appears correct; for from the Saxon
geac, a cuckoo," is derived geck, which
means "one easily imposed on."
volio, who had been " made a fool" by a
Mal-
letter, purporting to have been written by
Olivia, inquires of her

46

"Why have you suffered me to be

-Made the most notorious geck and gull
That e'er invention play'd on ?"

Olivia affirms, that the letter was not
written by her, and exclaims to Malvolio
"Alas, poor fooi! how have they baffled thee !''

Teutonic geck, jocus.”*
Geck is likewise derivable "from the

The "April fool" is among the Swedes.
Toreen, one
"We set sail on the first of April, and the
of their travellers, says,
wind made April fools of us, for we
On the Sunday and Monday preceding
were forced to return before Shagen."
Lent, people are privileged at Lisbon to
play the fool: it is thought very jocose
to pour water on any person who passes,
or throw powder in his face; but to do
both is the perfection of wit.t.
a general holiday on the 31st of March,
Hindoos also at their Huli festival keep
The
and one subject of diversion is to send
people on errands and expeditions that
laugh at the expense of the persons sent.
are to end in disappointment, and raise a
Colonel Pearce says, that "high and low
join in it; and," he adds, "the late Suraja
making Huli fools, though he was a mus
Doulah, I am told, was very fond of
sulman of the highest rank. They carry
the joke here (in India) so far, as to send
letters making appointments, in the name
of persons, who, it is known, must be
absent from their house at the time fixed
upon; and the laugh is always in pro-
portion to the trouble given."

The April fool among the French is called "un poisson b Avril." Their trans

• Jamieson, in Nare's Glossary.

Southey, quoted in Brand, as also Toreen.
Asiat. Res. in Brand, from Maurice.