Everybody knows that it is bad luck to commit trickery or mischief after noon on April Fools Day. What is less well known is the practice in certain counties to incarcerate those who have committed this particular sin.
In Shropshire, for example, (according to the records of All Saints Claverley), in 1672 the county sheriff Michael Scott, issued warrants for Bernard Treaching for "salting hif wife's tea at half paft the noon"; for Sarah Trentwise for "faying the 'moon if gone for good' at one of the clock" and most notably for farmer Patrick Ostler who "haf painted hif neighbour's entire herd of sheep in huef of woad and that at four of the clock on April the firft." These travesties did not go unpunished and the miscreants were held for 6 days before their release on the 6th April.
These traditions continued for several centuries and may be celebrated still in certain quarters if only in a ceremonial sense. For this reason April 6th is often known as "Fool's Release Day" or "The Feast of the Emancipation of the Mischief-Maker".
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