The first use of the idiom “red herring” has been discovered in medieval texts dating back more than 500 years.

Records from a sober scribe at a merry comedy feast tell of a minstrel regaling crowds with a stand-up routine and grand, nonsensical stories.

The tales from the travelling entertainer, likely working a regular beat, was recorded by a local scribe in the Derbyshire area in the year 1480, giving a rare insight into the storytelling culture of the Middle Ages.

A University of Cambridge researcher was analysing medieval manuscripts at the National Library of Scotland when he discovered that a writer named Richard Heege had jotted down the details of a routine from a wandering entertainer.

Dr James Wade, the director of studies from the university’s Girton College, published his analysis in the journal The Review of English Studies and said the 543-year-old document is an “intriguing display of humour”.

In it, the minstrel is described as poking fun “at everyone, high and low”.