Nowadays, most people pretend to be too mature and sensible to be amused by the scatalogical.
Those of us who do revel in the comedic potential of, say, holding down your own father and trumping onto his eyelids, are seen as juvenile, puerile, somehow less sophisticated.
And yet, a few hundred years ago, farting was seen as such a legitimate form of entertainment that there were even professional farters employed by royal courts.
Most of us have heard of the great French flatulist Le Petomaine, who died in 1945, but go back even further and you'll find the likes of Roland le Fartere entertaining King Henry II (and making a good enough living from it to be able to afford a 30-acre estate in Suffolk), and references to "musical farters" in the book City of God - written by no less than Saint Augustine himself.
William Langland's 14th Century allegorical poem, Piers Plowman, even appears to rank farting as a valued social attribute akin to playing the harp: "As for me, I can neither drum nor trumpet, nor tell jokes, nor fart amusingly at parties, nor play the harp".
Indeed, farting - and other bodily functions - can often be found illustrating medieval manuscripts. Here's a whole bunch of them (NSFW, if your employer is likely to be appalled by mostly bad drawings of monks having a poo).
Those of us who do revel in the comedic potential of, say, holding down your own father and trumping onto his eyelids, are seen as juvenile, puerile, somehow less sophisticated.
And yet, a few hundred years ago, farting was seen as such a legitimate form of entertainment that there were even professional farters employed by royal courts.
Most of us have heard of the great French flatulist Le Petomaine, who died in 1945, but go back even further and you'll find the likes of Roland le Fartere entertaining King Henry II (and making a good enough living from it to be able to afford a 30-acre estate in Suffolk), and references to "musical farters" in the book City of God - written by no less than Saint Augustine himself.
William Langland's 14th Century allegorical poem, Piers Plowman, even appears to rank farting as a valued social attribute akin to playing the harp: "As for me, I can neither drum nor trumpet, nor tell jokes, nor fart amusingly at parties, nor play the harp".
Indeed, farting - and other bodily functions - can often be found illustrating medieval manuscripts. Here's a whole bunch of them (NSFW, if your employer is likely to be appalled by mostly bad drawings of monks having a poo).
22. THE BELLOWS
At least... we're assuming that's a bellows. It could just as easily be a gourd. Either way, it's little wonder the fellow bent over the table looks so miserable. He only dropped in for a pedicure.
21. A 21 BUM SALUTE
You don't see this at the Horse of the Year show. More's the pity. More's the pity...
20. PICK YOUR OWN
"Careful with it! They don't grow on trees, you know...". Except... in medieval England they apparently did.
19. MONKEY MEAL
These two look worried that they're about to be caught out, like they're playing a prank on someone. "Eee! Eee! Here are your sausages, master!"
18. THE MORNING AFTER
Apparently, the first curry recipe was published in the UK in 1747. This illustration, dating from several hundred years before that, begs to differ.
17. THE SNIFFERS
Coming soon to the CBeebies channel...
16. MY BEAUTY
Who he is, and why he is doing that, is negligible. But would you just look at those calf muscles? Somebody's been working it old school at G-A-Y...
15. MONKEY BUSINESS
Is the one at the back blowing or sucking?
14. DINNER TIME!
Old Red Shirt on the left there has a smile on his/her face, like they know what they're doing is wrong on a number of levels. Still... a boar's gotta eat.
13. A DIRTY RAM
Look at the ram-thing's face. Whatever he's pumping out isn't coming easy to him.
12. NO IDEA
Let's just move on.
11. PLEASE FORGIVE ME
"You shouldn't be doing that!"
"Put some clothes on, Geoffrey, and then you can lecture me. Amen."
"Put some clothes on, Geoffrey, and then you can lecture me. Amen."
10. BAD MONKEY
"Dave... Dave... what are you doing up there? Why are you doing that? Daaave!"
9. ANOTHER DIRTY RAM
Look at that guilty face. It's like somebody's told him to do it against his better judgement.
8. MOONING THE GAMES NIGHT
Uh-oh. The guy on the left is feeling pretty neglected that he wasn't invited to the big chess game...
7. FLORAL FARTING
Beautiful. And isn't that Dipsy out of the Teletubbies?
6. NO NO NO... TOO MUCH
"This?"
"No no no."
"No no no."
5. FACE-ARSE
Forget the musical cherubim on the right there. What's going on with that bird?
4. MORE FLORAL FARTING
Everybody's going for those kinky boots, kinky boots (boop, boop)...
3. JAPAN'S FART WARS
Japan also had a bit of a culture of "heppiri otoko" - or "farting men" - during its Edo period... as illustrated by these beautiful and touching paintings.
2. FARTING THROUGH A DOOR
This is quite the tableaux. It makes western flatulism quite tame by comparison. Or, at least, significantly less powerful.
1. FARTING AT A CAT
Not just farting at a cat... but farting a cat into the air, while eating a Peperami. Slik skillz, blud.
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