While working on our Shakespeare guides, we jotted down a list of Elizabethan job titles. A couple of officials in Shakespeare's day were The Master of Revels (whose job was to make sure that the plays didn't offend anyone - they could be naughty, but not too blasphemous or political) and The Keeper of the Heads (whose job was to keep an eye on the traitor's heads displayed on London Bridge). When we were thinking of "Elizabethan Jobs We'd Like To See," one that came up was "Her Majesty's Royal Poopsmith."
This WAS a real job, though - the official title of one to dug up latrines was "gong farmer." "Gong" was from an old-fashioned word that meant "to go." The pay was low, and gong farmers couldn't live too close to others.
Nice to have something to fall back on if head-keeping doesn't work out.
