"The first of April
is the day we remember
what we are the other 364 days of the year."
~By Mark Twain~
"
The first of April, some do say,
Is set apart for All Fools' Day.
But why the people call it so,
Nor I, nor they themselves do know.
But on this day are people sent
On purpose for pure merriment." ~Poor Robin's Almanac (1790)~
All Fools' Day as it was called years ago was, is observed in many countries around the world.
England
In the Lake District, an April Fool is a - 'April noddy'.
April noddy's past and gone,
You're the fool an' I'm none.
In Cornwall, an April Fool is a 'guckaw' or 'gowk', another word for cuckoo (a bird). If a child succeeded in 'taking in' another, he used to shout after him ~ "Fool, fool, the guckaw." On the other hand if the person resisited the trick, he would say ~ "The gowk and the titlene sit on a tree, You're a gowk as weel as me." Titlene refers to a hedge sparrow (a bird).
In Cheshire, an April Fool is a 'April gawby' or 'gobby or gob'.
In Christow in Devon, pranks had to be played in the afternoon. The day there was known as ‘Tail-pipe Day', because it was a custom to pin an inscription ‘Please kick me' to the coat-tails of an unsupecting victim.
Scotland
The day is known ‘Gowkie Day' or ‘Hunt the Gowk'.
In the Orkney Isles, the pranks are transferred to 2nd April, which is known as ‘Tailing Day'.
France
An April Fool is called a 'fish' - 'poisson d'Avril' - and it is the custom to send friends a dainty present made up in the form of a small fish.
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