As much as theirbizarre medical ideasand feudal life-style may make us forget it , our medieval antecedent were really not much different from us . They usedthe same turn of phrase as we do ; theychilled out in deck chairsand chowed down on anabsurd amount of chicken – and according to a new discovery out of Scotland , they also enjoyed going out to watch a live drollery show or two .
“ Most medieval poetry , Song dynasty and storytelling has been lost ” , said James Wade , Associate Professor at Cambridge University ’s English Faculty and Girton College , and generator of the study , in astatement .
But with the inadvertent rediscovery of a contract - off tone in the 15thcentury “ Heege Manuscript ” , Wade realized he had find an unprecedented record of medieval comedy . And it ’s not a perfected , respectful final draft of a play or parable , either : it ’s an account of a peculiarly raucous alive comedy show , complete with irony , slapstick , satire – and a killer cony joke suitable of its own Monty Python sketch .
Part of “The Hunting of the Hare” poem in the Heege Manuscript, featuring the killer rabbit. The first lines read: “Jack Wade was never so sad / As when the hare trod on his head / In case she would have ripped out his throat.“Image credit: National Library of Scotland
“ Manuscripts often keep up souvenir of high art . This is something else , ” Wade say . “ It ’s mad and offensive , but just as valuable . Stand - up comedy has always involved bring jeopardy and these texts are wild ! They prod fun at everyone , gamy and humbled . ”
While traveling minstrels were a mainstay of mediaeval life sentence , weave between fairs , taverns , and grand antechamber to entertain audience with medieval tales and ballads about great historic battles , we know valued little about any real - life performer . The few details wedohave are prosaic at skillful : the first name of a minstrel ; the instrument they played , and how much they bring in for the night .
Wade ’s analysis of the Heege holograph does n’t change that reality altogether : the minstrel deliver the show is still anon. , for instance . But it does allow “ an insight into someone … [ that ] is incredibly rarified and exciting , ” he said – since at least part of the school text belike came from the minstrel ’s own set notes , Wade consider .
“ These textbook … serve up everything from the satiric , wry , and nonsensical to the topical , interactive and meta - comedic , ” he explain . “ It ’s a funniness feast . ”
But that made it unmanageable to commit alone to memory , he added . “ He did n’t give himself the form of repetition or tale trajectory which would have made thing simple to remember . ”
So how did the textbook go ignored for so long ? accord to Wade , it ’s because we simply were n’t see for it : previous subject of the ms had mostly sharpen on how it was made , he explained , rather than appreciating the comedy stylings found within .
And yet the find is not only important for its perceptivity into medieval stall - up – it also has some other , more literary claim to fame . It arrest the first recorded use of the phrase “ red-faced herring ” to mean a diversionary attack , as well as an alliterative nonsense verse – very uncommon in Middle English – titledThe Battle of Brakonwet , in which Robin Hood parties with musical bumblebee and foxes .
“ Here we have a ego - made entertainer with very lilliputian training creating really original , ironic material , ” Wade enthused .
“ These text cue us that merry entertainment was boom at a clip of growing societal mobility . ”
But despite his serendipitous find , Wade cautions against getting our hopes up for much more in the way of medieval comedy reruns . Nevertheless , resources like Heege ’s note provide an priceless brainwave into a drollery tradition , which , while long fall behind , is in many ways strikingly standardized to our modern tastes .
“ you could find echoes of this minstrel ’s humor in show likeMock the Week , situational funniness and slapstick , ” Wade pointed out . “ The self - caustic remark and making audiences the butt of the prank are still very characteristic of British stall - up comedy . ”
“ People back then partied a lot more than we do today , so minstrels had plenty of opportunities to do , ” he added . “ They were really of import figures in people ’s lives powerful across the social hierarchy . These texts give us a shot of medieval life being lived well . ”
The study is published inThe Review of English Studies .
