Part 43

FOOLS, FEAST OF (Lat. _festum stultorum_, _fatuorum_, _follorum_, Fr. _fete des fous_), the name for certain burlesque quasi-religious festivals which, during the middle ages, were the ecclesiastical counterpart of the secular revelries of the Lord of Misrule. The celebrations are directly traceable to the pagan Saturnalia of ancient Rome, which in spite of the conversion of the Empire to Christianity, and of the denunciation of bishops and ecclesiastical councils, continued to be celebrated by the people on the Kalends of January with all their old licence. The custom, indeed, so far from dying out, was adopted by the barbarian conquerors and spread among the Christian Goths in Spain, Franks in Gaul, Alemanni in Germany, and Anglo-Saxons in Britain. So late as the 11th century Bishop Burchard of Worms thought it necessary to fulminate against the excesses connected with it (_Decretum_, xix. c. 5, Migne, _Patrologia lat_. 140, p. 965). Then, just as it appears to have been sinking into oblivion among the people, the clergy themselves gave it the character of a specific religious festival. Certain days seem early to have been set apart as special festivals for different orders of the clergy: the feast of St Stephen (December 26) for the deacons, St John's day (December 27) for the priests, Holy Innocents' Day for the boys, and for the sub-deacons Circumcision, the Epiphany, or the 11th of January. The Feast of Holy Innocents became a regular festival of children, in which a boy, elected by his fellows of the choir school, functioned solemnly as bishop or archbishop, surrounded by the elder choir-boys as his clergy, while the canons and other clergy took the humbler seats. At first there is no evidence to prove that these celebrations were characterized by any specially indecorous behaviour; but in the 12th century such behaviour had become the rule. In 1180 Jean Beleth, of the diocese of Amiens, calls the festival of the sub-deacons _festum stultorum_ (Migne, _Patrol_. _lat_. 202, p. 79). The burlesque ritual which characterized the Feast of Fools throughout the middle ages was now at its height. A young sub-deacon was elected bishop, vested in the episcopal _insignia_ (except the mitre) and conducted by his fellows to the sanctuary. A mock mass was begun, during which the lections were read _cum farsia_, obscene songs were sung and dances performed, cakes and sausages eaten at the altar, and cards and dice played upon it.

This burlesquing of things universally held sacred, though condemned by serious-minded theologians, conveyed to the child-like popular mind of the middle ages no suggestion of contempt, though when belief in the doctrines and rites of the medieval Church was shaken it became a ready instrument in the hands of those who sought to destroy them. Of this kind of retribution Scott in _The Abbot_ gives a vivid picture, the Protestants interrupting the mass celebrated by the trembling remnant of the monks in the ruined abbey church, and insisting on substituting the traditional Feast of Fools.

This naive temper of the middle ages is nowhere more conspicuously displayed than in the Feast of the Ass, which under various forms was celebrated in a large number of churches throughout the West. The ass had been introduced into the ritual of the church in the 9th century, representing either Balaam's ass, that which stood with the ox beside the manger at Bethlehem, that which carried the Holy Family into Egypt, or that on which Christ rode in triumph into Jerusalem. Often the ass was a mere incident in the Feast of Fools; but sometimes he was the occasion of a special festival, ridiculous enough to modern notions, but by no means intended in an irreverent spirit. The three most notable celebrations of the Feast of the Ass were at Rouen, Beauvais and Sens. At Rouen the feast was celebrated on Christmas Day, and was intended to represent the times before the coming of Christ. The service opened with a procession of Old Testament characters, prophets, patriarchs and kings, together with heathen prophets, including Virgil, the chief figure being Balaam on his ass. The ass was a hollow wooden effigy, within which a priest capered and uttered prophecies. The procession was followed, inside the church, by a curious combination of ritual office and mystery play, the text of which, according to the _Ordo processionis asinorum secundum Rothomagensem usum_, is given in Du Cange.

Far more singular was the celebration at Beauvais, which was held on the 14th of January, and represented the flight into Egypt. A richly caparisoned ass, on which was seated the prettiest girl in the town holding in her arms a baby or a large doll, was escorted with much pomp from the cathedral to the church of St Etienne. There the procession was received by the priests, who led the ass and its burden to the sanctuary. Mass was then sung; but instead of the ordinary responses to the _Introit_, _Kyrie_, _Gloria_, &c., the congregation chanted "Hinham" (Hee-haw) three times. The rubric of the mass for this feast actually runs: _In fine Missae Sacerdos versus ad populum vice, Ite missa est, Hinhannabit: populus vero vice, Deo Gratias, ter respondebit Hinham, Hinham, Hinham_ (At the close of the mass the priest turning to the people instead of saying, _Ite missa est_, shall bray thrice: the people, instead of _Deo gratias_, shall thrice respond Hee-haw, Hee-haw, Hee-haw).

At Sens the Feast of the Ass was associated with the Feast of Fools, celebrated at Vespers on the Feast of Circumcision. The clergy went in procession to the west door of the church, where two canons received the ass, amid joyous chants, and led it to the precentor's table. Bizarre vespers followed, sung falsetto and consisting of a medley of extracts from all the vespers of the year. Between the lessons the ass was solemnly fed, and at the conclusion of the service was led by the precentor out into the square before the church (_conductus ad ludos_); water was poured on the precentor's head, and the ass became the centre of burlesque ceremonies, dancing and buffoonery being carried on far into the night, while the clergy and the serious-minded retired to matins and bed.

Various efforts were made during the middle ages to abolish the Feast of Fools. Thus in 1198 the chapter of Paris suppressed its more obvious indecencies; in 1210 Pope Innocent III. forbade the feasts of priests, deacons and sub-deacons altogether; and in 1246 Innocent IV. threatened those who disobeyed this prohibition with excommunication. How little effect this had, however, is shown by the fact that in 1265 Odo, archbishop of Sens, could do no more than prohibit the obscene excesses of the feast, without abolishing the feast itself; that in 1444 the university of Paris, at the request of certain bishops, addressed a letter condemning it to all cathedral chapters; and that King Charles VII. found it necessary to order all masters in theology to forbid it in collegiate churches. The festival was, in fact, too popular to succumb to these efforts, and it survived throughout Europe till the Reformation, and even later in France; for in 1645 Mathurin de Neure complains in a letter to Pierre Gassendi of the monstrous fooleries which yearly on Innocents' Day took place in the monastery of the Cordeliers at Antibes. "Never did pagans," he writes, "solemnize with such extravagance their superstitious festivals as do they.... The lay-brothers, the cabbage-cutters, those who work in the kitchen ... occupy the places of the clergy in the church. They don the sacerdotal garments, reverse side out. They hold in their hands books turned upside down, and pretend to read through spectacles in which for glass have been substituted bits of orange-peel."

See B. Picart, _Ceremonies et coutumes religieuses de tous les peuples_ (1723); du Tilliot, _Memoires pour servir a l'histoire de la fete des Fous_ (Lausanne, 1741); Aime Cherest, _Nouvelles recherches sur la fete des Innocents et la fete des Fous dans plusieurs eglises et notamment dans celle de Sens_ (Paris, 1853); Schneegans in Muller's _Zeitschrift fur deutsche Kulturgeschichte_ (1858); H. Bohmer, art. "Narrenfest" in Herzog-Hauck, _Realencyklop_. (ed. 1903); Du Cange, _Glossarium_ (ed. 1884), s.v. "Festum Asinorum."

FOOLSCAP, the cap, usually of conical shape, with a cockscomb running up the centre of the back, and with bells attached, worn by jesters and fools (see FOOL); also a conical cap worn by dunces. The name is given to a size of writing or printing paper, varying in size from 12 X 15 in. to 17 X 13-1/2 in. (see PAPER). The name is derived from the use of a "fool's cap" as a watermark. A German example of the watermark dating from 1479 was exhibited in the Caxton Exhibition (1877). The _New English Dictionary_ finds no trustworthy evidence for the introduction of the watermark by a German, Sir John Spielmann, at his paper-mill at Dartford in 1580, and states that there is no truth in the familiar story that the Rump Parliament substituted a fool's cap for the royal arms as a watermark on the paper used for the journals of parliament.

FOOL'S PARSLEY, in botany, the popular name for _Aethusa Cynapium_, a member of the family _Umbelliferae_, and a common weed in cultivated ground. It is an annual herb, with a fusiform root and a smooth hollow branched stem 1 to 2 ft. high, with much divided (ternately pinnate) smooth leaves and small compound umbels of small irregular white flowers. The plant has a nauseous smell, and, like other members of the order (e.g. hemlock, water-drop wort), is poisonous.

FOOT, the lower part of the leg, in vertebrate animals consisting of tarsus, metatarsus and phalanges, on which the body rests when in an upright position, standing or moving (see ANATOMY: _Superficial and Artistic_; and SKELETON: _Appendicular_). The word is also applied to such parts of invertebrate animals as serve as a foot, either for movement or attachment to a surface. "Foot" is a word common in various forms to Indo-European languages, Dutch, _voet_, Ger. _Fuss_, Dan. _fod_, &c. The Aryan root is _pod_-, which appears in Sans. _pud_, Gr. [Greek: pous, podos] and Lat. _pes_, _pedis_. From the resemblance to the foot, in regard to its position, as the base of anything, or as the lowest member of the body, or in regard to its function of movement, the word is applied to the lowest part of a hill or mountain, the plate of a sewing-machine which holds the material in position, to the part of an organ pipe below the mouth, and the like. In printing the bottom of a type is divided by a groove into two portions known as "feet." Probably referring to the beating of the rhythm with the foot in dancing, the Gr. [Greek: pous] and Lat. _pes_ were applied in prosody to a grouping of syllables, one of which is stressed, forming the division of a verse. "Foot," i.e. foot-soldier, was formerly, with an ordinal number prefixed, the name of the infantry regiments of the British army. It is now superseded by territorial designations, but it still is used in the four regiments of the infantry of the Household, the Foot Guards. As a lineal measure of length the "foot" is of great antiquity, estimated originally by the length of a man's foot (see WEIGHTS AND MEASURES). For the ceremonial washing of feet, see MAUNDY THURSDAY.

FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE (Aphthous Fever, Epizootic Aphtha, Eczema Epizootica), a virulent contagious and inoculable malady of animals, characterized by initial fever, followed by the formation of vesicles or blisters on the tongue, palate and lips, sometimes in the nostrils, fourth stomach and intestine of cattle, and on parts of the body where the skin is thin, as on the udder and teats, between the claws, on the heels, coronet and pastern. The disease begins suddenly and spreads very rapidly. A rise of temperature precedes the vesicular eruption, which is accompanied by salivation and a peculiar "smacking" of the lips. The vesicles gradually enlarge and eventually break, exposing a red raw patch, which is very sensitive. The animal cannot feed so well as usual, suffers much pain and inconvenience, loses condition, and, if a milk-yielding creature, gives less milk, or, if pregnant, may abort. More or less lameness is a constant symptom, and sometimes the feet become very much diseased and the animal is so crippled that it has to be destroyed. It is often fatal to young animals. It is transmitted by the saliva and the discharges from the vesicles, though all the secretions and excretions are doubtless infective, as well as all articles and places soiled by them. This disease can be produced by injecting the saliva, or the lymph of the vesicles, into the blood or the peritoneal cavity.

If we were to judge by the somewhat vague descriptions of different disorders by Greek and Roman writers, this disease has been a European malady for more than 2000 years. But no reliance can be placed on this evidence, and it is not until we reach the 17th and 18th centuries that we find trustworthy proof of its presence, when it was reported as frequently prevailing extensively in Germany, Italy and France. During the 19th century, owing to the vastly extended commercial relations between civilized countries, it has, like the lung-plague, become widely diffused. In the Old World its effects are now experienced from the Caspian Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. Hungary, Lower Austria, Bohemia, Saxony and Prussia were invaded in 1834. Cattle in the Vosges and in Switzerland were attacked in 1837, and the disease extending to France, Belgium and Holland, reached England in 1839, and quickly spread over the three kingdoms (see also under AGRICULTURE). At this time the importation of foreign animals into England was prohibited, and it was supposed that the infection must have been introduced by surplus ships' stores, probably sheep, which had not been consumed during the voyage. This invasion was followed at intervals by eleven distinct outbreaks, and since 1902 Great Britain has been free of foot-and-mouth disease. From the observations of the best authorities it would appear to be an altogether exotic malady in the west of Europe, always invading it from the east; at least, this has been the course noted in all the principal invasions. It was introduced into Denmark in 1841; and into the United States of America in 1870, from Canada, where it had been carried by diseased cattle from England. It rapidly extended through cattle traffic from the state first invaded to adjoining states, but was eventually extinguished, and does not now appear to be known in North America. It was twice introduced into Australia in 1872, but was stamped out on each occasion. It appears to be well known in India, Ceylon, Burma and the Straits Settlements. In 1870 it was introduced into the Andaman Islands by cattle imported from Calcutta, where it was then prevailing, and in the same year it appeared in South America. In South Africa it is frequently epizootic, causing great inconvenience, owing to the bullocks used for draught purposes becoming unfit for work. These cattle also spread the contagion. It is not improbable that it also prevails in central Africa, as Schweinfurth alludes to the cattle of the Dinkas suffering from a disease of the kind.

Though not usually a fatal malady, except in very young animals, or when malignant, yet it is a most serious scourge. In one year (1892) in Germany, it attacked 150,929 farms, with an estimated loss to the owners of L7,500,000 sterling. It is transmissible to nearly all the domestic animals, but its ravages are most severe among cattle, sheep, goats and swine. Human beings are also liable to infection.

The treatment of affected animals comprises a laxative diet, with salines, and the application of antiseptics and astringents to the sores. The preventive measures recommended are, isolation of the diseased animals, boiling the milk before use, and thorough disinfection of all places and substances which are capable of conveying the infection.

FOOTBALL, a game between two opposing sides played with a large inflated ball, which is propelled either by the feet alone or by both feet and hands.

Pastimes of the kind were known to many nations of antiquity, and their existence among savage tribes, such as the Maoris, Faroe Islanders, Philippine Islanders, Polynesians and Eskimos, points to their primitive nature. In Greece the [Greek: episkyros] seems to have borne a resemblance to the modern game. Of this we read in Smith's _Dictionary of Antiquities_--"It was the game at football, played in much the same way as with us, by a great number of persons divided into two parties opposed to one another." Amongst the Romans the _harpastum_, derived from the Greek verb [Greek: harpazo], I seize, thus showing that carrying the ball was permissible, bore a certain resemblance. Basil Kennett, in his _Romae antiquae notitia_, terms this missile a "larger kind of ball, which they played with, dividing into two companies and striving to throw it into one another's goals, which was the conquering cast." The _harpastum_ was a gymnastic game and probably played for the most part indoors. The real Roman football was played with the inflated _follis_, which was kicked from side to side over boundaries, and thus must have closely resembled the modern Association game. Tradition ascribes its introduction in northern Europe to the Roman legions. It has been played in Tuscany under the name of _Calcio_ from the middle ages down to modern times.

Regarding the origin of the game in Great Britain the Roman tradition has been generally accepted, although Irish antiquarians assert that a variety of football has been played in Ireland for over 2000 years. In early times the great football festival of the year was Shrove Tuesday, though the connexion of the game with this particular date is lost in obscurity. William Fitzstephen, in his _History of London_ (about 1175), speaks of the young men of the city annually going into the fields after dinner to play at the well-known game of ball on the day _quae dicitur Carnilevaria_. As far as is known this is the first distinct mention of football in England. It was forbidden by Edward II. (1314) in consequence of "the great noise in the city caused by hustling over large balls (_rageries de grosses pelotes_)." A clear reference is made "ad pilam ... pedinam" in the Rotuli Clausarum, 39 Edward III. (1365), memb. 23, as one of the pastimes to be prohibited on account of the decadence of archery, and the same thing occurs in 12 Richard II. c. 6 (1388). Both Henry VIII. and Elizabeth enacted laws against football, which, both then and under the Stuarts and the Georges, seems to have been violent to the point of brutality, a fact often referred to by prominent writers. Thus Sir Thomas Elyot, in his _Boke named the Governour_ (1531), speaks of football as being "nothyng but beastely fury and extreme violence, whereof proceedeth hurte and consequently rancour and malice to remayne with thym that be wounded, wherefore it is to be put in perpetual silence." In Stubbes' _Anatomie of Abuses_ (1583) it is referred to as "a develishe pastime ... and hereof groweth envy, rancour and malice, and sometimes brawling, murther, homicide, and great effusion of blood, as experience daily teacheth." Fifty years later (1634) Davenant is quoted (in Hone's _Table-Book_) as remarking, "I would now make a safe retreat, but methinks I am stopped by one of your heroic games called football; which I conceive (under your favour) not very conveniently civil in the streets, especially in such irregular and narrow roads as Crooked Lane. Yet it argues your courage, much like your military pastime of throwing at cocks, since you have long allowed these two valiant exercises in the streets."

An evidence of its old popularity in Ireland is that the statutes of Galway in 1527 forbade every other sport save archery, excepting "onely the great foot balle." In the time of Charles II. football was popular at Cambridge, particularly at Magdalene College, as is evidenced by the following extract from the register book of that institution under the date 1679:--

"That no schollers give or receive at any time any treat or collation upon account of ye football play, on or about Michaelmas Day, further than Colledge beere or ale in ye open halle to quench their thirsts. And particularly that that most vile custom of drinking and spending money--Sophisters and Freshmen together--upon ye account of making or not making a speech at that football time be utterly left off and extinguished."

It nevertheless remained for the most part a game for the masses, and never took root, except in educational institutions, among the upper classes until the 19th century. No clubs or code of rules had been formed, and the sole aim seems to have been to drive the ball through the opposing side's goal by fair means or foul. So rough did the game become that James I. forbade the heir apparent to play it, and describes the exercise in his _Basilikon Doron_ as "meeter for laming than making able the users thereof." Both sexes and all ages seem to have taken part in it on Shrove Tuesday; shutters had to be put up and houses closed in order to prevent damage; and it is not to be wondered that the game fell into bad repute. Accidents, sometimes fatal, occurred; and Shrove Tuesday "football-day" gradually died out about 1830, though a relic of the custom still remained in a few places. For some thirty years football was only practised at the great English public schools, many of which possessed special games, which in practically all cases arose from the nature of the individual ground. Thus the rough, open game, with its charging, tackling and throwing, which were features of football when it was taken up by the great public schools, would have been extremely dangerous if played in the flagged and walled courts of some schools, as, for example, the old Charterhouse. Hence at such institutions the dribbling style of play, in which Mr Montague Shearman (_Football_, in the "Badminton Library") sees the origin of the Association game, came into existence. Only at Rugby (later at some other schools), which from the first possessed an extensive grass field, was the old game preserved and developed, including even its roughness, for actual "hacking" (i.e. intentional kicking of an opponent's legs) was not expressly abolished at Rugby until 1877. The description of the old school game at Rugby contained in _Tom Brown's School Days_ has become classic.