from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Flagpole sitter \Flag"pole` sit"ter\ (fl[a^]g"p[=o]l`
s[i^]t"t[~e]r), n.
A person who sits for an extended period of time on top of a
flagpole or other high column; -- a publicity stunt performed
for various reasons.
[PJC]
He [Shipwreck Kelly] was the great flagpole sitter of
the thirties, the founding father of the whole
discipline, who provided inspiration for many and even
the pseudonym for one -- Van Nolan, who also called
himself Shipwreck. Any serious polesitter believes
himself an avatar of Shipwreck Kelly, and I was then
and am now no exception. --From: John
A. Gould,
Aerie
(Berkshire
Review, Volume
XI, Number 1,
Spring, 1975).
The two other holy men in Gregory's narrative had more
exotic origins than the pair that has just been seen.
Gregory encountered one of them when on a journey to
the north-eastern parts of the Frankish kingdom. This
was a Lombard, named Vulfolaic, who had spent some
years in the arduous exercise of being a stylite, the
Christian equivalent of a flagpole sitter; in other
words, Vulfolaic was a monk whose main austerity
consisted in living on top of a pillar. By carrying out
this feat in the rain, snow, and frost of the Moselle
valley, Vulfolaic had convinced the local population to
overthrow and abandon the idol of Diana to which they
were addicted. --Walter
Goffart,
FOREIGNERS IN
THE HISTORIES
OF GREGORY OF
TOURS
(http://www.arts.uwo.ca/florilegium/goffart.html).