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A medieval comedy act has been discovered in first-ever find, researcher says

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Re: A medieval comedy act has been discovered in first-ever find, researcher says

#41
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any idea why so many lines end in ooooooo?

You can look at the manuscript. I don't think it's really supposed to be letters – more like a decorative doodle – but I'm not sure what the deal is: https://digital.nls.uk/early-manuscripts/browse/archive/1341...

Perhaps "pause for audience laughter"?

Re: A medieval comedy act has been discovered in first-ever find, researcher says

#42
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can look at the manuscript. I don't think it's really supposed to be letters – more like a decorative doodle – but I'm not sure what the deal is: https://digital.nls.uk/early-manuscripts/browse/archive/1341...

Perhaps "pause for audience laughter"?

It's every third line in this poem/song so maybe you're right about leaving a gap for the music or something.

Re: A medieval comedy act has been discovered in first-ever find, researcher says

#44
post #23

Got me thinking... what is the oldest, preserved joke? Is it still funny?

https://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/proverbs/t.6.1.05.html#t6105.p...

    73-75. A dog entered a tavern and said: "I can't see a thing. I'll open this one!"
It's not, but probably because this is a mistranslation.

Re: A medieval comedy act has been discovered in first-ever find, researcher says

#45
post #33

I saw a medieval comedy with a killer rabbit when i was a kid…by some troupe known as “Monty Python”

That film is stuffed full of jokes about British history. People wanting more might like to pick up https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1066_and_All_That

Re: A medieval comedy act has been discovered in first-ever find, researcher says

#46
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some better information in this article: https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/homenews/23557334.librar... The manuscript itself seems to be available here: https://digital.nls.uk/early-manuscripts/browse/archive/1336... I freely admit I cannot read it :)

Interesting. The table of contents is rewritten in modern cursive, though I can't read everything even there. Contents The Hunttinge of the Hare. A Mock Sermon. ... From there we can flip forward to the actual content and ... yep, can't read it. Honestly the only reason I know it says "huntinge of the hare" centred at the top is because I read it in the table of contents. I can tell it's English, but that's about all…

"What's the deal with Hare Hunting?" funky hurdy gurdy bass line

Re: A medieval comedy act has been discovered in first-ever find, researcher says

#47
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps "pause for audience laughter"?

It's every third line in this poem/song so maybe you're right about leaving a gap for the music or something.

Maybe its literal, like a bunch of people saying OOOOOohhhhhh..

Re: A medieval comedy act has been discovered in first-ever find, researcher says

#49
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any idea why so many lines end in ooooooo?

You can look at the manuscript. I don't think it's really supposed to be letters – more like a decorative doodle – but I'm not sure what the deal is: https://digital.nls.uk/early-manuscripts/browse/archive/1341...

The paper is archived here: https://sci-hub.ru/https://doi.org/10.1515/angl.2010.009

The first three stanzas translated by gpt4:

A little tale I will tell you,

I trust it will please you well,

At it, you shall have good fun.

But where it was I dare not say,

Perhaps another day,

It might turn me to blame.

Now pay good heed everyone,

How a yeoman came riding along,

He found a very fair way.

He looked beside him light gliding,

He found a hare very fair sitting,

Upon a fallow land.

He marked well where she sat then,

He rode to the town as fast as he could,

The way then did he pursue.

The first man that he met with,

Was a husband named Howkin of the hall,

A good man and a true.

The yeoman said with laughing cheer,

'Does any gentleman dwell here,

Good man, as God save you?

Over there I have found a hare sitting,

If you have any greyhounds, bring them with you,

A chase there shall you have.'

Re: A medieval comedy act has been discovered in first-ever find, researcher says

#50
post #12

In medieval England people joked about killer rabbits. Must be a direct ancestor of Monty Python's rabbit - connection! In medieval England there was a sketch about "Robin Hood, jousting bears, and partying pigs" yet there's no mention of Walt Disney. I'd say it's a load of hogwash but I'm sure somewhere Becky Ferreira has written about how medieval Britons used to bathe their swine.

Neat. Wikipedia even lists some of the antecedents. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_of_Caerbannog#Anteceden... , including specifically "The idea for the rabbit in the movie was taken from the façade of the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris."
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