[MR] I'm not in a play, but my persona is

["Ed Hopkins" <Ed.Hopkins@MCI.Com>]

Poster: "Ed Hopkins" <Ed.Hopkins@MCI.Com>

> >  Now, for someone to walk around CLAIMING to be a faery, dwarf or elf...
> >  THAT I would be rolling on the ground laughing at the sight of!  I also
> > consider it to parallel one walking around as the bishop or pope without that
> > actual status, quite blasphemous (but a whole lot of fun!  ;)   ).
> 
> Actually, it was a common practice in the Xmas season for big
> towns, universities, and members of the nobility to appoint a
> "boy bishop," who would satirize the role of the bishop. It was,
> in many cases, a form of permitted protest. See Hutton's Rise
> and Fall of Merry England, an excellent book.

I recall reading in a book about occupational surnames that names
like "Smith" and "Cooper" were handed down from people who
actually worked as smiths and coopers in the Period, but names
like "Bishop" and "King" were more likely from people who had
literally made a name for themselves playing those roles in
the annual pageants.

-- Alfredo

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