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Accounting Information Systems, 13e, Global Edition (Romney/Steinbart)
Chapter 10 Processing Integrity and Availability Controls
1) The best example of an effective payroll transaction file hash total would most likely be
A) sum of net pay.
B) total number of employees.
C) sum of hours worked.
D) total of employees' social security numbers.
Answer: D
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
1
Copyright © Pearson Education Limited 2015.
3) Following is the result of batch control totals on employee Social Security numbers in a
payroll processing transaction:
Values
Correct Entered
Values From During
Masterfile Processing
487358796 487358796
534916487 534916487
498374526 498374526
514873420 514873420
534196487 534916487
678487853 678487853
471230589 471230589
3719438158 3720158158
The difference in the control totals is 720,000. Which data entry control would best prevent
similar data entry errors in the future?
A) Modules 11
B) validity check
C) check digit
D) sequence check
Answer: C
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Analytic
4) Which of the following data entry controls would not be useful if you are recording the
checkout of library books by members?
A) sequence check
B) prompting
C) validity check
D) concurrent update control
Answer: A
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Analytic
2
Copyright © Pearson Education Limited 2015.
5) A customer failed to include her account number on her check, and the accounts receivable
clerk credited her payment to a different customer with the same last name. Which control could
have been used to most effectively to prevent this error?
A) closed-loop verification
B) duplicate values check
C) validity check
D) reconciliation of a batch control total
Answer: A
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
3
Copyright © Pearson Education Limited 2015.
6) If invoices are processed in groups of fifty, which fields from the document shown below
would not be used to create a hash control total?
A) Amount
B) Item Number
C) Quantity Ordered
D) Sales Order number
Answer: A
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
4
Copyright © Pearson Education Limited 2015.
7) ________ is a data entry input control that involves summing the first four digits of a
customer number to calculate the value of the fifth digit, then comparing the calculated number
to the number entered during data entry.
A) Validity check
B) Duplicate data check
C) Closed-loop verification
D) Check digit verification
Answer: D
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
8) All of the following controls for online entry of a sales order would be useful except
A) check digit verification on the dollar amount of the order.
B) validity check on the inventory item numbers.
C) field check on the customer ID and dollar amount of the order.
D) concurrent update control.
Answer: A
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Difficult
AACSB: Analytic
9) The inventory tracking system shows that 12 iPods were on hand before a customer brings
three iPods to the register for purchase. The cashier accidentally enters the quantity sold as 30
instead of 3. Which data entry control would most effectively prevent this error?
A) limit check
B) sign check
C) field check
D) validity check
Answer: B
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
10) A payroll clerk accidently entered an employee's hours worked for the week as 380 instead
of 38. The data entry control that would best prevent this error would be
A) a limit check.
B) a check digit.
C) batch total reconciliation.
D) a field check.
Answer: A
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
5
Copyright © Pearson Education Limited 2015.
11) The data entry control that would best prevent entering an invoice received from a vendor
who is not on an authorized supplier list is
A) a validity check.
B) an authorization check.
C) a check digit.
D) closed-loop verification.
Answer: A
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
6
Copyright © Pearson Education Limited 2015.
15) A validity check is an example of
A) a data entry control.
B) an output control.
C) a data transmission control.
D) an input control.
Answer: A
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
7
Copyright © Pearson Education Limited 2015.
19) A batch total is an example of which control below?
A) data entry control
B) data transmission control
C) processing control
D) output control
Answer: A
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Analytic
22) A ________ ensures input data will fit into the assigned field.
A) limit check
B) size check
C) range check
D) validity check
Answer: B
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
8
Copyright © Pearson Education Limited 2015.
23) This tests a numerical amount to ensure that it does not exceed a predetermined value nor fall
below another predetermined value.
A) completeness check
B) field check
C) limit check
D) range check
Answer: D
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
24) This determines if all required data items have been entered.
A) completeness check
B) field check
C) limit check
D) range check
Answer: A
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
25) This determines the correctness of the logical relationship between two data items.
A) range check
B) reasonableness test
C) sign check
D) size check
Answer: B
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
9
Copyright © Pearson Education Limited 2015.
27) This tests a numerical amount to ensure that it does not exceed a predetermined value.
A) completeness check
B) limit check
C) range check
D) sign check
Answer: B
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
28) This batch processing data entry control sums a field that contains dollar values.
A) record count
B) financial total
C) hash total
D) sequence check
Answer: B
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
29) This batch processing data entry control sums a non-financial numeric field.
A) record count
B) financial total
C) hash total
D) sequence check
Answer: C
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
30) When I enter a correct customer number, the data entry screen displays the customer name
and address. This is an example of
A) prompting.
B) preformatting.
C) closed-loop verification.
D) error checking.
Answer: C
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
10
Copyright © Pearson Education Limited 2015.
31) This control ensures that the correct and most current files are being updated.
A) cross-footing balance test
B) data matching
C) file labels
D) write-protect mechanism
Answer: C
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Analytic
32) This batch processing data entry control sums the number of items in a batch.
A) financial total
B) hash total
C) record count
D) sequence check
Answer: C
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
33) This data entry control compares the ID number in transaction data to a master file to verify
that the ID number exists.
A) reasonableness test
B) user review
C) data matching
D) validity check
Answer: D
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
11
Copyright © Pearson Education Limited 2015.
35) A computer operator accidentally used the wrong master file when updating a transaction
file. As a result, the master file data is now unreadable. Which control could best have prevented
this from happening?
A) Internal header label
B) validity check
C) check digit
D) parity check
Answer: A
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
36) Sonja Greer called the IT Help Desk in a bad mood. "I'm trying to open an Excel file, but I
get a message that says that the file is locked for editing. Why is this happening to me?" The
answer is likely that
A) the file is corrupted due to a computer virus.
B) Sonja probably opened the file as read-only.
C) concurrent update controls have locked the file.
D) there is no problem. Sonja is editing the file, so it is locked.
Answer: C
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Analytic
37) This control protects records from errors that occur when two or more users attempt to
update the same record simultaneously.
A) concurrent update controls
B) cross-footing balance test
C) data conversion controls
D) recalculation of batch totals
Answer: A
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
38) Modest Expectations Investment Services (MEIS) allows customers to manage their
investments over the Internet. If customers attempt to sell more shares of a stock than they have
in their account, an error message is displayed. This is an example of a
A) reasonableness test.
B) field check.
C) validity check.
D) limit check.
Answer: A
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Analytic
12
Copyright © Pearson Education Limited 2015.
39) Modest Expectations Investment Services (MEIS) allows customers to manage their
investments over the Internet. If customers attempt to spend more money than they have in their
account, an error message is displayed. This is an example of a
A) reasonableness test.
B) field check.
C) validity check.
D) limit check.
Answer: A
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Analytic
40) The Spontaneous Combustion Rocket Shoppe in downtown Fargo, North Dakota, generates
three quarters of its revenue from orders taken over the Internet. The revenue clearing account is
debited by the total of cash and credit receipts and credited by the total of storefront and Internet
sales. This is an example of a
A) data integrity test.
B) zero-balance test.
C) trial balance audit.
D) cross-footing balance test.
Answer: B
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Analytic
41) This control entails verifying that the proper number of bits are set to the value 1 in each
character received.
A) echo check
B) field check
C) parity check
D) trailer record
Answer: C
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
42) Which of the following is not a risk associated with the data input process?
A) Data is invalid.
B) Data is incomplete.
C) Data is inaccurate.
D) Data is corrupted.
Answer: D
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Analytic
13
Copyright © Pearson Education Limited 2015.
43) Which of the following is an example of a turnaround document?
A) a receipt a customer must use to return the goods purchased
B) a telephone bill the customer must return with payment
C) a paycheck stub that must be used in the employee's tax return
D) a customer loyalty card used every time a customer purchases goods or services
Answer: B
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Analytic
44) Which of the following is a control is an important way to prevent buffer overflow
vulnerabilities?
A) limit check
B) size check
C) range check
D) field check
Answer: B
Objective: Learning Objective 1
Difficulty: Difficult
AACSB: Analytic
14
Copyright © Pearson Education Limited 2015.
2) Which of the following statements is true with regards to system availability?
A) Human error does not threaten system availability.
B) Threats to system availability can be completely eliminated.
C) Proper controls can maximize the risk of threats causing significant system downtime.
D) Threats to system availability include hardware and software failures as well as natural and
man-made disasters.
Answer: D
Objective: Learning Objective 2
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
5) A facility that contains all the computing equipment the organization needs to perform its
essential business activities is known as a
A) cold site.
B) hot site.
C) remote site.
D) subsidiary location.
Answer: B
Objective: Learning Objective 2
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
15
Copyright © Pearson Education Limited 2015.
6) A facility that is pre-wired for necessary telecommunications and computer equipment, but
doesn't have equipment installed, is known as a
A) cold site.
B) hot site.
C) remote site.
D) subsidiary location.
Answer: A
Objective: Learning Objective 2
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
7) When a computer system's files are automatically duplicated on a second data storage system
as they are changed, the process is referred to as
A) real-time mirroring.
B) batch updating.
C) consistency control.
D) double-secure storage.
Answer: A
Objective: Learning Objective 2
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
8) ________ enables a system to continue functioning in the event that a particular component
fails.
A) An incremental backup procedure
B) Fault tolerance
C) Preventive maintenance
D) A concurrent update control
Answer: B
Objective: Learning Objective 2
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Analytic
9) A copy of a database, master file, or software that will be retained indefinitely as a historical
record is known as a(n)
A) archive.
B) cloud computing.
C) differential backup.
D) incremental backup.
Answer: A
Objective: Learning Objective 2
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
16
Copyright © Pearson Education Limited 2015.
10) While this type of backup process takes longer than the alternative, restoration is easier and
faster.
A) archive
B) cloud computing
C) differential backup
D) incremental backup
Answer: C
Objective: Learning Objective 2
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Analytic
11) ________ involves copying only the data items that have changed since the last partial
backup.
A) Archive
B) Cloud computing
C) Differential backup
D) Incremental backup
Answer: D
Objective: Learning Objective 2
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
12) ________ copies all changes made since the last full backup.
A) Archive
B) Cloud computing
C) Differential backup
D) Incremental backup
Answer: C
Objective: Learning Objective 2
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
17
Copyright © Pearson Education Limited 2015.
14) The maximum acceptable down time after a computer system failure is determined by a
company's
A) recovery time objective.
B) recovery point objective.
C) recovery objective.
D) maximum time recovery objective.
Answer: A
Objective: Learning Objective 2
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Analytic
16) The accounting department at Aglaya Telecom records an average of 5,000 transactions per
hour. A cost-benefit analysis leads management to conclude that the maximum acceptable
amount of data loss is 20,000 transactions. If the firm's recovery time objective is 60 minutes,
then the worst case recovery time objective is
A) 1 hour.
B) 2 hours.
C) 3 hours.
D) 4 hours.
Answer: D
Objective: Learning Objective 2
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
18
Copyright © Pearson Education Limited 2015.
17) The accounting department at Aglaya Telecom records an average of 5,000 transactions per
hour. By cost-benefit analysis, managers have concluded that the maximum acceptable loss of
data in the event of a system failure is 50,000 transactions. The firm's recovery point objective is
therefore
A) 50,000 transactions.
B) 5,000 transactions.
C) 10 hours.
D) 4 hours.
Answer: C
Objective: Learning Objective 2
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
18) The accounting department at Aglaya Telecom records an average of 2,500 transactions per
hour. Managers state that the maximum acceptable loss of data in the event of a system failure is
2,500 transactions. The firm's recovery point objective is therefore
A) 2,500 transactions.
B) 5,000 transactions.
C) 1 hour.
D) 2 hours.
Answer: C
Objective: Learning Objective 2
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
19
Copyright © Pearson Education Limited 2015.
21) Discuss how cloud computing could both positively and negatively affect system
availability.
Answer: Cloud computing significantly reduces the risk that a single event would result in
system unavailability, since the 'cloud' consists of banks of redundant servers, in multiple
locations. However, since users don't own the cloud, if a provider goes out of business, users
may find it very difficult to access applications and data stored in the cloud. Additionally, users
should evaluate the security and availability controls of the cloud provider before transacting
business.
Objective: Learning Objective 2
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
22) Define and contrast a recovery point objective and a recovery time objective.
Answer: A recovery point objective is the maximum amount of time that a firm is willing to risk
the possible loss of transaction data. A recovery time objective is the maximum amount of time
that a firm is willing to risk losing access to its accounting information system due to disaster.
Objective: Learning Objective 2
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Analytic
23) What is the primary objective of ensuring systems and information are available for use
whenever needed?
A) to minimize system downtime
B) to minimize system expense
C) to maximize system processing speed
D) to maximize sales
Answer: A
Objective: Learning Objective 2
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Analytic
20
Copyright © Pearson Education Limited 2015.
25) With regards to systems availability, deploying and using multiple components provides an
AIS with
A) fault tolerance.
B) cost savings.
C) enhanced processing speed.
D) maximum sales.
Answer: A
Objective: Learning Objective 2
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Analytic
26) Which of the following is not a common design feature of housing mission-critical servers
and databases?
A) adequate air-conditioning systems to reduce the likelihood of damage due to overheating
B) overhead sprinklers to provide protection from fire
C) cables with special plugs that cannot be easily removed
D) surge-protection devices to provide protection against temporary power fluctuations
Answer: B
Objective: Learning Objective 2
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Analytic
27) To protect against malware, it is important that antivirus software automatically examine
________ introduced into a system.
A) CDs
B) e-mail
C) flash drives
D) all of the above
Answer: D
Objective: Learning Objective 2
Difficulty: Easy
AACSB: Analytic
28) Which of the following is a key control regarding the minimization of system downtime?
A) fault tolerance
B) disaster recovery plans
C) backup procedures
D) all of the above
Answer: A
Objective: Learning Objective 2
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Analytic
21
Copyright © Pearson Education Limited 2015.
29) Which COBIT5 management practice addresses system backup procedures?
A) DSS01.06
B) DSS04.07
C) DSS03.05
D) DSS04.04
Answer: B
Objective: Learning Objective 2
Difficulty: Difficult
AACSB: Analytic
30) Whose responsibility is it to determine the amount of time an organization can afford to be
without its information system?
A) the board of directors
B) senior management
C) external auditors
D) COBIT
Answer: B
Objective: Learning Objective 2
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Analytic
31) Is it best practice for an organization to practice periodically restoring a system from its
backup files?
A) No, doing so might introduce errors into the system's data.
B) No, doing so takes the system offline and prevents customers from being able to access the
system.
C) Yes, doing so verifies the procedure and backup media are working correctly.
D) Yes, doing so improves the efficiency of the system.
Answer: C
Objective: Learning Objective 2
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Analytic
22
Copyright © Pearson Education Limited 2015.
33) Which of the following is incorrect with regards to a data archive?
A) Archives can be a copy of a database.
B) Archives should be stored in different locations.
C) Archives are usually encrypted.
D) Physical and logical controls are the primary means of protecting archive files.
Answer: C
Objective: Learning Objective 2
Difficulty: Difficult
AACSB: Analytic
34) Loreen Tina is the chief lawyer for Tamara Incorporated. The CEO of Tamara Incorporated
asks Loreen whether the company should periodically delete all company e-mail. If Loreen is
well-versed in AIS best practices, she would mostly likely respond,
A) Yes, if we are ever sued, the other attorney will not be able to comb through our e-mail for
evidence.
B) Yes, since e-mail requires a lot of storage space, deleting it periodically will reduce the
amount of information we need to store.
C) No, deleting an organization's e-mail is against the law.
D) No, if we are ever sued we will not be able to draw upon our e-mail records to defend
ourselves.
Answer: D
Objective: Learning Objective 2
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Analytic
35) Identify the most important component of a disaster recovery plan below.
A) documentation
B) operating instructions
C) periodic testing
D) on-site and off-site storage
Answer: C
Objective: Learning Objective 2
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Analytic
36) Identify one organization that quickly recovered from September 11th, 2001 due to its
disaster recovery and business continuity plan.
A) New York Stock Exchange
B) NASDAQ
C) New York Fire Department
D) United Airlines
Answer: C
Objective: Learning Objective 2
Difficulty: Moderate
AACSB: Analytic
23
Copyright © Pearson Education Limited 2015.
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Lyon, too, chevauchées of a similar type seem to have been much in
vogue[1361].
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the entertainment of the
sociétés joyeuses was largely dramatic. We find them, as indeed we
find the participants in the strictly clerical feasts of Fools[1362] and of
Boys[1363], during the same period, occupied with the performance
both of miracles and of the various forms of contemporary comedy
known as farces, moralities, sotties and sermons joyeux[1364]. Of
their share in the miracles the next volume may speak[1365]: their
relations to the development of comedy require a word or two here.
That normal fifteenth-century comedy, that of the farce and the
morality, in any way had its origin in the Feast of Fools, whether
clerical or lay, can hardly be admitted. It almost certainly arose out of
the minstrel tradition, and when already a full-blown art was adapted
by the fous, as by other groups of amateur performers, from
minstrelsy. With the special forms of the sottie and the sermon
joyeux it is otherwise. These may reasonably be regarded as the
definite contribution of the Feast of Fools to the types of comedy.
The very name of the sermon joyeux, indeed, sufficiently declares its
derivation. It is parody of a class, the humour of which would
particularly appeal to revelling clerks: it finds its place in the general
burlesque of divine worship, which is the special note of the
feast[1366]. The character of the sotties, again, does not leave their
origin doubtful; they are, on the face of them, farces in which the
actors are sots or fous. Historically, we know that some at least of
the extant sotties were played by sociétés joyeuses at Paris, Geneva
and elsewhere; and the analysis of their contents lays bare the ruling
idea as precisely that expressed in the motto of the Infanterie
Dijonnaise—‘Stultorum numerus est infinitus.’ It is their humour and
their mode of satire to represent the whole world, from king to clown,
as wearing the cap and bells, and obeying the lordship of folly.
French writers have aptly compared them to the modern dramatic
type known as the revue[1367]. The germ of the sottie is to be found
as early as the thirteenth century in the work of that Adan de la Hale,
whose anticipation of at least one other form of fifteenth-century
drama has called for comment[1368]. Adan’s Jeu de la Feuillée
seems to have been played before the puy of Arras, perhaps, as the
name suggests, in the tonnelle of a garden, on the eve of the first of
May, 1262. It is composed of various elements: the later scenes are
a féerie in which the author draws upon Hellequin and his mesnie
and the three fées, Morgue, Maglore and Arsile, of peasant tradition.
But there is an episode which is sheer sottie. The relics of St. Acaire,
warranted to cure folly, are tried upon the good burgesses of Arras
one by one; and there is a genuine fool or dervés, who, like his lineal
descendant Touchstone, ‘uses his folly as a stalking-horse to shoot
his wit’ in showers of arrowy satire upon mankind[1369]. Of the later
and regular sotties, the most famous are those written by Pierre
Gringoire for the Enfants-sans-Souci of Paris. In these, notably the
Jeu du Prince des Sotz, and in others by less famous writers, the
conception of the all-embracing reign of folly finds constant and
various expression[1370]. Outside France some reflection of the
sottie is to be found in the Fastnachtspiele or Shrovetide plays of
Nuremberg and other German towns. These were performed mainly,
but not invariably, at Shrovetide, by students or artisans, not
necessarily organized into regular guilds. They are dramatically of
the crudest, being little more than processions of figures, each of
whom in turn sings his couplets. But in several examples these
figures are a string of Narren, and the matter of the verses is in the
satirical vein of the sotties[1371]. The Fastnachtspiele are probably to
be traced, not so much to the Feast of Fools proper, as to the spring
sword-dances in which, as we have seen, a Narr or ‘fool’ is de
rigueur. They share, however, with the sotties their fundamental idea
of the universal domination of folly.
The extension of this idea may indeed be traced somewhat
widely in the satirical and didactic literature of the later Middle Ages
and the Renascence. I cannot go at length into this question here,
but must content myself with referring to Professor Herford’s
valuable account of the cycle, which includes the Speculum
Stultorum of Wireker, Lydgate’s Order of Fools, Sebastian Brandt’s
Narrenschiff and its innumerable imitations, the Encomium Moriae of
Erasmus, and Robert Armin the player’s Nest of Ninnies[1372].
Wireker was an Englishman, and the ‘Order’ founded in the
Speculum by Brunellus, the Ass, was clearly suggested by the
sociétés joyeuses. Traces of such sociétés in England are, however,
rare. Some of the titles of local lords of misrule, such as the Abbot of
Marrall at Shrewsbury or the Abbot of Bon-Accord at Aberdeen, so
closely resemble the French nomenclature as to suggest their
existence; but the only certain example I have come across is in a
very curious record from Exeter. The register of Bishop Grandisson
contains under the date July 11, 1348, a mandate to the archdeacon
and dean of Exeter and the rector of St. Paul’s, requiring them to
prohibit the proceedings of a certain ‘sect of malign men’ who call
themselves the ‘Order of Brothelyngham.’ These men, says the
bishop, wear a monkish habit, choose a lunatic fellow as abbot, set
him up in the theatre, blow horns, and for day after day beset in a
great company the streets and places of the city, capturing laity and
clergy, and exacting ransom from them ‘in lieu of a sacrifice.’ This
they call a ludus, but it is sheer rapine[1373]. Grandisson’s learned
editor thinks that this secta was a sect of mediaeval dissenters, but
the description clearly points to a société joyeuse. And the
recognition of the droits exacted as being loco sacrificii is to a folk-
lorist most interesting.
More than one of the records which I have had occasion to quote
make mention of an habit des fous as of a recognized and familiar
type of dress. These records are not of the earliest. The celebrants
of the ecclesiastical Feast of Fools wore larvae or masks. Laity and
clergy exchanged costumes: and the wearing of women’s garments
by men probably represents one of the most primitive elements in
the custom. But there can be little doubt as to the nature of the
traditional ‘habit des fous’ from the fourteenth century onwards. Its
most characteristic feature was that hood garnished with ears, the
distribution of which to persons of importance gave such offence at
Tournai in 1499. A similar hood, fitting closely over the head and cut
in scollops upon the shoulders, reappears in the bâton, dated 1482,
of the fools in the ducal chapel of Dijon. Besides two large asses’
ears, it also bears a central peak or crest[1374]. The eared hood
became the regular badge of the sociétés joyeuses. It is found on
most of the seals and other devices of the Infanterie Dijonnaise,
variously modified, and often with bells hung upon the ears and the
points of the scollops[1375]. It was used at Amiens[1376], and at
Rouen and Evreux probably gave a name to the Cornards[1377].
Marot describes it as appropriate to a sot de la Basoche at
Paris[1378]. It belongs also to the Narren of Nuremberg[1379], and is
to be seen in innumerable figured representations of fools in
miniatures, woodcuts, carvings, the Amiens monetae, and so forth,
during the later Middle Ages and the Renascence[1380]. Such a
close-fitting hood was of course common wear in the fourteenth
century. It is said to be of Gaulish origin, and to be retained in the
religious cowl. The differentiae of the hood of a ‘fool’ from another
must be sought in the grotesque appendages of ears, crest and
bells[1381]. Already an eared hood, exactly like that of the ‘fools,’
distinguishes a mask, perhaps Gaulish, of the Roman period[1382]. It
may therefore have been adopted in the Kalendae at an early date.
But it is not, I think, unfair to assume that it was originally a
sophistication of a more primitive headdress, namely the actual head
of a sacrificial animal worn by the worshipper at the New Year
festival. That the ears are asses’ ears explains itself in view of the
prominence of that animal at the Feast of Fools. It must be added
that the central crest is developed in some of the examples figured
by Douce into the head and neck, in others into the comb only, of a
cock[1383]. With the hood, in most of the examples quoted above,
goes the marotte. This is a kind of doll carried by the ‘fool,’ and
presents a replica of his own head and shoulders with their hood
upon the end of a short staff. In some of Douce’s figures the marotte
is replaced or supplemented by some other form of bauble, such as
a bladder on a stick, stuffed into various shapes, or hollow and
containing peas[1384]. Naturally the colours of the ‘fools’ were gay
and strikingly contrasted. Those of the Paris Enfants-sans-Souci
were yellow and green[1385]. But it may be doubted whether these
colours were invariable, or whether there is much in the symbolical
significance attributed to them by certain writers[1386]. The Infanterie
Dijonnaise in fact added red to their yellow and green[1387]. The
colours of the Clèves Order of Fools were red and yellow[1388].
It will not have escaped notice that the costume just described,
the parti-coloured garments, the hood with its ears, bells and
coxcomb, and the marotte, is precisely that assigned by the custom
of the stage to the fools who appear as dramatis personae in several
of Shakespeare’s plays[1389]. Yet these fools have nothing to do with
sociétés joyeuses or the Feast of Fools; they represent the ‘set,’
‘allowed,’ or ‘all-licensed’ fool[1390], the domestic jester of royal
courts and noble houses. The great have always found pleasure in
that near neighbourhood of folly which meaner men vainly attempt to
shun. Rome shared the stultus with her eastern subjects and her
barbarian invaders alike; and the ‘natural,’ genuine or assumed, was,
like his fellow the dwarf, an institution in every mediaeval and
Renascence palace[1391]. The question arises how far the habit of
the sociétés joyeuses was also that of the domestic fool. In France
there is some evidence that from the end of the fourteenth century it
was occasionally at least taken as such. The tomb in Saint Maurice’s
at Senlis of Thévenin de St. Leger, fool to Charles V, who died in
1374, represents him in a crested hood with a marotte[1392].
Rabelais describes the fool Seigni Joan, apparently intended for a
court fool, as having a marotte and ears to his hood. On the other
hand, he makes Panurge present Triboulet, the fool of Louis XII, with
a sword of gilt wood and a bladder[1393]. A little later Jean Passerat
speaks of the hood, green and yellow, with bells, of another royal
fool[1394]. In the seventeenth century the green and yellow and an
eared hood formed part of the fool’s dress which the duke of Nevers
imposed upon a peccant treasurer[1395]. But in France the influence
of the sociétés joyeuses was directly present. I do not find that the
data quoted by Douce quite bear out his transference of the regular
French habit de fou to England. Hoods were certainly required as
part of the costume for ‘fools,’ ‘disards,’ or ‘vices’ in the court revels
of 1551-2, together with ‘longe’ coats of various gay colours[1396];
but these were for masks, and on ordinary occasions the fools of the
king and the nobles seem to have worn the usual dress of a courtier
or servant[1397]. Like Triboulet, they often bore, as part of this, a
gilded wooden sword[1398]. A coxcomb, however, seems to have
been a recognized fool ensign[1399], and once, in a tale, the
complete habit is described[1400]. Other fool costumes include a long
petticoat[1401], the more primitive calf-skin[1402], and a fox tail
hanging from the back[1403]. The two latter seem to bring us back to
the sacrificial exuviae, and form a link between the court fool and the
grotesque ‘fool,’ or ‘Captain Cauf Tail’ of the morris dances and other
village revels.
Whatever may have been the case with the domestic fool of
history, it is not improbable that the tradition of the stage rightly
interprets the intention of Shakespeare. The actual texts are not very
decisive. The point that is most clear is that the fool wears a ‘motley’
or ‘patched’ coat[1404]. The fool in Lear has a ‘coxcomb[1405]’;
Monsieur Lavache in All’s Well a ‘bauble,’ not of course necessarily a
marotte[1406]; Touchstone, in As You Like It, is a courtier and has a
sword[1407]. The sword may perhaps be inherited from the ‘vice’ of
the later moralities[1408]; and, in other respects, it is possible that
Shakespeare took his conception of the fool less from contemporary
custom, for indeed we hear of no fool at Elizabeth’s court, than from
the abundant fool-literature, continental and English, above
described. The earliest of his fools, Feste in Twelfth Night, quotes
Rabelais, in whose work, as we have just seen, the fool Triboulet
figures[1409]. It is noticeable that the appearance of fools as
important dramatis personae in the plays apparently coincides with
the substitution for William Kempe as ‘comic lead’ in the Lord
Chamberlain’s company of Robert Armin[1410], whose own Nest of
Ninnies abounds in reminiscences of the fool-literature[1411]. But
whatever outward appearance Shakespeare intended his fools to
bear, there can be no doubt that in their dramatic use as vehicles of
general social satire they very closely recall the manner of the
sotties. Touchstone is the type: ‘He uses his folly like a stalking-
horse, and under the presentation of that he shoots his wit[1412].’
CHAPTER XVII
MASKS AND MISRULE