The Top 10 jesters

A league table of state-sponsored speakers of true words disguised by humour

The nation readies itself to say farewell to a prime minister of infinite jest (Getty Images)

Suggested by Richard Morris a year ago, but its time has come as the nation readies itself to say farewell to a prime minister of infinite jest.

1. Yorick. The late funnyman who reminded Hamlet of his mortality. “Where be your gibes now? Your gambols? Your songs? Your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar?” Also featured in Top 10 Skulls. The Fool in King Lear was also nominated, by Paul Edwards and Adam Behr, but Shakespeare can have only one name in the list. He was a different kind of truth-teller; the “all-licensed fool”.

2. Mark Selby. Four-time snooker world champion nicknamed “The Jester from Leicester” on account of his good humour. Thanks to James Dinsdale.

3. Jamie Fleeman, the Laird of Udny’s fool (1713-78). Said to be the last family jester in Scotland and known for his response on being asked whose fool he was: “I’m the Laird of Udny’s Fool. Whose Fool are you?” Perhaps you had to be there. Nomination from David Alston.

4. Rigoletto. The Duke of Mantua’s court jester in Verdi’s opera. Bit of a cautionary tale about the dangers of making fun of people. Thanks to David Sutherland.

5. Len Shackleton. Bradford-born professional footballer (and Minor Counties cricketer), 1922-2000. Played for Sunderland 1948-57, and was known as the “Clown Prince of Soccer”. He took that as the title of his autobiography, which included a chapter called “The Average Director’s Knowledge Of Football”, consisting of a blank page. Thanks to Graham Fildes.

6. Rahere, a favourite of Henry I, sometimes described as a minstrel or jester, who had a vision on his way back from a pilgrimage to Rome and founded the Priory of the Hospital of St Bartholomew in 1123, now the London teaching hospital. Nominated by Simon Cook.

7. Hoid, Wit and Entertainer to King Elhokar in the Stormlight Archive books by Brandon Sanderson. “Insulting others was beneath the dignity [of] the king, so just as one used gloves when forced to handle something vile, the king retained a Wit so he didn’t have to debase himself to the level of rudeness.” Thanks Arieh Kovler.

8. Danny Kaye as the Court Jester in the 1955 film of that name. “A witty spoof of medieval swashbuckler movies,” according to Rotten Tomatoes. Not a commercial success but now a classic. Another from Arieh Kovler.

9. Patchface, a jester slave from Volantis in A Game of Thrones, whose freedom was bought by Steffon Baratheon, Lord of Storm’s End, and who serves, having lost his mind, as the court fool at Dragonstone. “Has to be the most disturbing jester ever to appear in print,” said Paul Turner.

10. Timothy Claypole. Another dead one: the jester’s ghost played by Michael Staniforth in the BBC children’s television comedy series Rentaghost, 1976-84. One of Richard Morris’s opening nominations.

Next week: Fake George Orwell quotations, after “In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act” had another outing on social media.

Coming soon: Most powerful people ever, after Janan Ganesh wrote in The Financial Times that President Truman in mid-1945 was “the most powerful human being who has ever lived”, because of the US’s nuclear monopoly and vast share of world economic output.

Your suggestions please, and ideas for future Top 10s, to me on Twitter, or by email to top10@independent.co.uk