A town (pop. about 1600) in
Nottinghamshire,
England; pronounced "goat-m".
The town's name literally means "Goats' Town" in
Anglo Saxon, and was renowned for centuries as a place of fools and idiots. The stories of how this reputation was gained vary somewhat, but usually involve a visit from bad
King John. The residents did not want this visit, because it meant a large outlay of money for the king's entertainment. So when the heralds of the king arrived, they found the inhabitants engaged in all sorts of bizarre acts, like trying to drown an eel. The King decided not to visit a town full of
lunatics, and the people of Gotham were spared the expense of supporting his court. This idea of cleverness disguised as lunacy gave birth to an old English
proverb: "More fools pass through Gotham than remain in it."
In the 16th century a book of jokes,
Merie Tales of the mad men of Gotham, first set in print the stories about the
imbeciles of Gotham that had been going around since the 12th century. The foolish inhabitants of Gotham were also mocked by
Mother Goose, in the rhyme
Three Wise Men of Gotham. It was this version of a city of
idiots that
Washington Irving had in mind when he wrote his series of essays mocking the fashionable citizens of
New York City in
1807.
(Its notable that some of former
United States President
William Jefferson Clinton's ancestors are thought to have come from Gotham, England.)