Flatulist

[1] There are a number of scattered references to ancient and medieval flatulists, who could produce various rhythms and pitches with their intestinal wind.

Saint Augustine in The City of God (De Civitate Dei) (14.24) mentions some performers who did have "such command of their bowels, that they can break wind continuously at will, so as to produce the effect of singing."

Juan Luis Vives, in his 1522 commentary to Augustine's work, testifies to having himself witnessed such a feat,[citation needed] a remark referenced by Michel de Montaigne in an essay.[which?]

[2][3] An entry in the 13th-century English Liber Feodorum or Book of Fees lists one Roland the Farter, who held Hemingstone manor in the county of Suffolk, for which he was obliged to perform "Unum saltum et siffletum et unum bombulum" (one jump and whistle and one fart) annually at the court of King Henry II every Christmas.

"[5] The term He-gassen (屁合戦), "farting competitions", is applied to Edo-period art scrolls depicting flatulence.