April 1st

Hunt the Gowk (Scotland)

 On this day people would play tricks and tell lies to catch each other out. But the jokes had to stop at mid-day. Now called April Fool's Day, hunting the gowk was originally sending someone on a foolish errand to hand someone a paper with the words "Dinna laugh, an' dinna smile But hunt the gowk another mile." The "fool" would then be sent on to the next person to find.