Let me be your privy counsellor...

My first line of thought was to do with the obvious possible reference to the Illyrian plainsman.

But then I realised the true connection. It’s a pun.

It must have been prompted by Sir John Harington's recently published A New Discourse upon a Stale Subject which appeared in 1596. Harrington’s godmother was Queen Elizabeth, a royal favour shown in recognition for the loyalty of the Harringtons at the time of Mary’s supremacy – they were imprisoned with Elizabeth in the Tower of London.

The point of Harrington’s book was a detailed and well-illustrated exposition of his new invention – the water closet (hence the ‘stale’ in the title). He nearly found himself in, er, trouble with the Star Chamber over some of his sideswipes at one or more of Elizabeth’s favourite courtiers.

Be that as it may, the book’s sub-title was The Metamorphosis of Ajax. Ajax is not a classical allusion here: it is a play on words for a jakes, being the Elizabethan term for a privy.

A Harrington water closet was installed at Betsy's Richmond Palace within a couple of years.