Bauble

A fool should never hold a bauble in his hand. “ʹTis a foolish bird that fouls its own nest.” The bauble was a short stick, ornamented with ass’s ears, carried by licensed fools. (French, babiole, a plaything; Old French, baubel, a child’s toy.)

If every fool held a bauble, fuel would be dear. The proverb indicates that the world contains so many fools that if each had a separate bauble there would be but little wood left for lighting fires.

To deserve the bauble. To be so foolish as to be qualified to carry a fool’s emblem of office.

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.