85, 86, 312. AS WISE AS A MAN OF GOTHAM Though the traditional Gothamites were wise in their folly the proverbial phrase "As wise as a man of Gotham"-is usually applied to stupid people. The little town of Gotham, seven miles from Nottingham, England, contains over a thousand people whose intelligence is fully equal to that of other communities of the same size, yet all who dwell in the district have been regarded for centuries as devoid of understanding. There is an old rhyme that says: "The little smith of Nottingham Who doth the work that no man can." The rhyme has often been quoted as a taunt, flung at someone in the little community who pretended to have a certain ability others did not possess. Dr. Thomas Fuller in the seventeenth century said that he suspected that the little smith never lived except in the imagination of the rhymester, which is probably true, the rhyme being a taunt at those who lived in the district. That the Gothamites were not fools, may be seen from the reply of one of their number, a mere boy who, it is said, was interrupted in his work in a field by a passing stranger, who inquired: "Is this the Gotham where the fools come from?" "No, Sir," replied the lad, "this is the Gotham that the fools come to." No one knows why Gotham was thought to contain more simpletons than other towns. The story that is said to have given rise to the belief is without historic foundation. It may even have been applied to the Gothamites subsequent to the traditions of its simplicity. It is as follows: In the early part of the thirteenth century King John determined to secure an estate and build a castle in Gotham and sent a messenger to look over the ground. The townsfolk, hearing of the king's purpose and knowing that if it were carried out they would be subjected to heavy expense and loaded with burdens, sought means to circumvent their sovereign's will. After consultation they agreed to the novel expedient of pretending that they were idiots, so that when the messenger arrived he would think that no one in the district was sane. The plan worked as they expected. The King's representative came to the town, examined the ground and conversed with the people. Finding that they were all engaged in some childish employment and talked foolishly he was at first surprised and then disgusted. Returning he reported to his Sovereign that Gotham was not a fit place for a royal estate and castle, as it was inhabited by fools; whereupon King John gave up his project and permitted the people to live in peace. This absurd tale gave rise to others that were intended to prove that the people did not pretend to be idiots but acted as they did because they were actually devoid of reason. The best known of these stories is The Hedging of the Cuckoo, given in notes on the proverb, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" that gave rise to the old proverbial expression "To fence in the cuckoo." All the tales used to indicate the stupidity of the people existed long before the sixteenth century when they were brought together and applied to the Gothamites. Mr. W. H. Davenport Adams (A.D. 1829-1891) says, "It is quite possible that the best of the tales of Gotham were foreign in origin, were afterwards naturalized in England and finally located." It is certain that they are all very old and were fathered on the innocent Gothamites as a taunting joke. Among the Syrians, Homs (the ancient Amasa) was regarded as the dwelling place of dullards. Asiatics declared that there was no district that contained more idiots than Phrygia. The North Africa wandering tribes spoke of Beni Jennad as the place of shallow brained people. The Greeks had their Boeotia, whose citizens were stupid and to whom was attributed many childish deeds and sayings. The Thracians pointed to Abdera in derision as the dwelling place of noodles. The Persians referred to the Geelan townsfolk as fools. The Hindustani regard the Badauns as simpletons and refer to them as children. The Scotch derided the people of Cupar in Fife because of their reputed dullness. The French laughed at Saint Maixent where dizzards dwelt and expressed their opinion of the stupidity of the Champanese by saying, "Ninety-nine sheep and a Champanese make a round hundred." The Germans had their Swabia, also their fabled city of Schildburg where dotards found a home. The Italians compared witless men to the inhabitants of Zago, declaring that the people of Zago sowed needles to raise a crop of crowbars and fertilized a steeple to make it grow higher. Hollanders credited the dwellers in Kampan with all kinds of brainless acts. The Swiss looked at the townspeople of Belmont near Lausanne as blockheads. The Belgians laughed at the inhabitants of Dinant, and the feeling of the Jews toward the people who lived in the home town of the child Jesus was expressed by Nathaniel who asked, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" There have been few countries that have not made some town or district the object of jest; it is no wonder therefore that Englishmen should have laughed at Gotham and her people. Washington Irving showed his keen sense of humor when he nicknamed the City of New York, Gotham, because of the presumption of its citizens, who prided themselves on their wisdom. "It so happened by great mischance," he wrote in Salmagundi, “that divers light-heeled youth of Gotham, more especially those who are descended from three wise men, so renowned of yore for having most venturesomely voyaged over sea in a bowl, were from time to time captured and inveigled into the camp of the enemy." "Then to Gotham, where sure am I, RICHARD BRAITHWAITE, A.D. 1588-1673, Barnaboe Itinerarium. "Tell me no more of Gotham fools, Or of their eels in little pools Which they, we're told, were drowning; "Nor of their cheese shoved down the hill, While it they hedged around; Such tales of them have long been told "The fools are those who thither go |