[*] Bryant Bacha [*]

The origins of this custom are complex and a matter of much debate. It is likely a relic of the once common festivities held on the vernal equinoxn 25 March, old New Year's Day, and ended on 2 April.Though 1 April appears to have been observed as a general festival in Great Britain in antiquity, it was apparently not until the beginning of the 18th century that the making of April-fools was a common custom. In Scotland the custom was known as "hunting the gawk," i.e. the cuckoo, and April-fools were "April-gawks," the cuckoo being a term of contempt, as it is in many countries.