Hunting the gowk

In Scotland April fooling went further than in England. The victim was sent with a letter to a friend two miles off, supposedly asking for help, but it only said to hunt the gowk further, so he was sent on from house to house until someone took pity on him. Gowk means a cuckoo and so a fool, and an April fool was an April gowk. The day is still kept with tricks.