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This concerns the names for "fools" that have sometimes been used. I was aware that "Hanswurst" was the common name for Shrovetide & other fools in German and Austrian popular culture; and that, in the Revesby sword dance play of 1779, "Pickle Herring" is one of the characters. But I just came across, in a Polish-language history of Yiddish literature, a comment that in the 17th century, and "Pickelhering" (and Hanswurst) was turning up in Yiddish-language Purim plays as well. (Chone Shmeruk, *Historia litratury jidysz* Wroclaw 1992, p. 49). Boggles the mind. Anyhow, can anyone give me some information or references about central European/ English contacts in comic theater in this period, and the names of these particular characters? Shmeruk is an eminent scholar of Yiddish literature, so he should be trustworthy. He also mentions in this book as a well known fact, that central European comic theater developed in the late 16th-17th centuries under the influence of English traveling players. I hope this is of interest to this list. Apologies, in advance, if it's out of bounds. Steve Corrsin