Fool of Muncaster Castle
Muncaster Castle up in Cumberland is an interesting old house still occupied by a branch of the medieval Pennington family who inhabited the site 800 years ago. Old portraits, suits of armour and excessively polished dining tables fill its rooms, and, most appropriately for this wintry summer, the great hall’s fire was lit. Curiously, it may have hosted the original Tom Fool.
Jesters were common in late medieval and early modern palaces and castles; a king or lord’s clown could often speak bolder truth to him than his courtiers and advisors. Tom Skelton was said to have been employed as the jester or fool at Muncaster, but the sources are contradictory regarding his dates, with some claiming him as a man of the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Skelton of Muncaster seems to have been more than just a wit or prankster; a tradition says he was a murderer, too.
Foolishness we find entertaining, and light words amusing, but folly in the Bible is the state of being ignorant of God and His righteous expectations. Foolish people mock the gospel, its advocates and the great God whose salvation it brings, but they shall all one day be exposed. In that sense, ignorance and foolishness are the midwives of hell, for they distract many from the one who would offer life and health to our souls.
Muncaster Castle is a beautiful home, but it once hosted a devious, dark character, a symbol of all that is deceitful and cruel.
Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him. Psalm 2:10-12, NKJV
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