Merry-andrew \Mer"ry-an"drew\ (m[e^]r"r[y^]-[a^]n"dr[udd]), n.
One whose business is to make sport for others; a buffoon; a
zany; especially, one who attends a mountebank or quack
doctor.
[1913 Webster]
Note: This term is said to have originated from one Andrew
Borde, an English physician of the 16th century, who
gained patients by facetious speeches to the multitude.
[1913 Webster]