There were other jesters around the country though, one of these being Tom Skelton. He was jester at Muncaster Castle in Cumbria and worked for the Pennington Family. The castle has been owned by the Pennington family since 1208, and still is to this day. Tom Skelton was, by all accounts, not completely sane and seems to have taken a perverse pleasure in making himself as objectionable as possible, although he seems to have been shrewd enough to keep on the right side of the Penningtons. One of his least offensive "tricks" appears to have been to coat the castle bannisters in grease. When questioned as to whether he was responsible he reputedly replied "everyone had a hand in it".
It is believed also, that Tom Skelton was also called Tom Fool, and that the word "tomfoolery" derives from him.
His portrait (below) still hangs in Muncaster Castle, which is one of the most haunted places in England...Tom being credited with still haunting it. It is reputed that in order to please his master on one occasion, he killed a local carpenter, and also when travellers he didn't like the look of asked him the way to London, he directed them into quicksand and so to their deaths!!! Tom himself died in 1668 having moved to Haigh Hall in Lancashire in 1659 with the young heir of the family - William Pennington.
Muncaster Castle still has it's own jester today, and each year since 2005 there is a competition among jesters from around the country to win that honour.
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