Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-04-02
All Fools TaaV

But on this DAY are people sent
on purpose for pure merriment;
ana though the day is known before.
Ct frequently there is great store
" these fOrgetfuls to be found,
Who're sent 10 dance Mol Dieon's round
And having tried each shop and ttall,
And disappointed at them all
At last some one tells them of the cheat:
Ihen they return from their pursuit
And straightway home with shame they |
run,
And others laugh at what is done,
But It's & thing to be disputed,
which is the greatest fool reputed-
The man that innocently went,
Or he that him designdly sent"
The first of April, 1869, has been re-
corded in the book Of time, and like days
which preceded il, has vanished into the
past. The word is supposed to be derived
from Gperire, to open, because the buds
open themselves at this period. Charlie.
magne, in his new calendar, called it grass
month, the name still given TO it by the
Germans. On antique monuments, Aprilis
is represented as dancing youth with
rattle in his hand.
One of the most favoriie and venerable
diversions OF April Day is that Of sending
persons on nonsensical, or as the ancient
writer has it, sleeveless Grants" As TO
the origin of this custom, the New Ameri-
can Cycloradia has it that the orienta
scholars say that it is derived from the
hull feast among the Hindoos, where aim
| liar custom prevails. The older opinion
ia that il comes from celebration OF
| Chrisl's being sent about to and fro be-
tween Herod, PLATE: and Caiaphas. In
France the fooled man is called poisson
dauril, meaning silly fish, like mack
erel, easily caught. 10 Scotland he is
called gowk, which means a cuckoo.
Another authority says that no two an
tiquarians agree as to the origin of the jo-
cose practices peculiar to the first of April.
1t is not questioned, says that authority,
that this mirthful festival is of great an
tiquity. There is but one voice on this
point. But when we attempt TO find out
where and when it originated, IFS object
and its meaning, We are sadly at fault, for
history is entirely uncertain upon this
point. Because the Hindoos spend this
day in fun and jollity it is a conjecture
that their Hull Festival and our ALI Fools
Day are the same, and that the latter
owes its existence to the former.ls
Some of the authorities regard our All
FOOLS Day as the perpetuation of the Feast
of Asses, or of the Feast of Fools. These
holidays were only notifications of the
Saturnalis, and were observed by the pop
ulace with every demonstration of mirth.
Thedistinctions ofsociety were overlooked,
work was laid aside, pleasure held undis.
puted sway, and wisdom and dignity gave
place 10 folly and vulgarily.
1t is also stated, with somewhat Of
plausibility, that the pleasantly OF this
season was borrowed from France. We
are told that during the month of April
vast numbers of msckerel are caught in the
waters of that country, and that In cap,
turing them the fishermen facilitate their
work by practicing some simple srtifces
The ease with which these fish are de,
ceived suggested an appellation to the
ready mind of the French for the dupes Of
April Day, and they tnrmed them Poisson:
ddrrl, April Fish or Silly Mackerel, and
from this it is commended our April Fool
is derived. A learned author, who 1ouI.
ished or wrote in the year 1906, tells US
however, that the word Poissons is a cor.
ruption of Passion, and 'that as the Pas.
sion of our Savior took place about this
time Of the year (the first of April and a;
the Jews sent Christ backwards and for.
wards TO mock and torment him, i. e., from
Annas TO Caiaphas, from Caiaphas &c
Plate, from Plate 10 Herod, and from
Herod back again to Plate" the custom
of dispatching persons on bootless errand;
here took its origin.
A degree farther removed from proba.
bility is the claim of the origin of An
FoOPsOD4y set up by a class Of sntiqua.
rians, who contend that il was the first day
of April when Noah sent the dove out o.
the ark to seek land, because pereons on
this day are sent upon some sleeveless er.
rand similar TO that Intellectual message
upon which the bird was sent by the patri.
arch"
Ii the reader can trace The original o
the custom of All Fools Day in any of the
explanations to which We have referred
he will perhaps be satisfied that lac is mol
in the predicament of the bird of Noah
We will abandon the wild hunt" for the
origin, and conclude by offering our sy M
pathie5 TO those who were badly sold yes
terday.
One Of the richest sells that occurred
yesterday was among party of gentlemen
who were invited to psrtake of a dinner
prepared by an individual in the restaur.
ant business. The edibles were charming
and psrtaken of with a gusto except the
wooden surdins, which looked tempting,
but rather hard to swallow. This sell was
Of course enjoyed, bat the joke was not
over yet, for the desert was yet to come
Every mother son Of the festive parry
was furnished with a piece of pie about
the same time. The pastry was tempting
but no sooner than they commenced
champing away before it was discovered
that they had mouth full Of cotton done
up Ia custard.
| Receiving Stolen Money.
| Some Eour Or five weeks uinca a faacb or