Hi Bernard,
Ok, I have been working on this for a long time on and off over the years…and found connections…Funny ones, French ones (man on the ‘razzle’)in England…I have tried so many angles and anagrams….but feel I owe it to Richard to keep trying :-)
The latest guess is that Sharpes Daddy was a roving French Harlequin or Comic visiting England….or a COMIQUES…by swapping the I and U in the middle you have your funny person (COMIQUES) and your horse in the form of a mixed up EQUUS
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equus_(genus)
I started thinking more about anagrams with razzle….and had a try with equine, with harlequin but could not make it work…then discovered equus
other guesses were using jesters, (wag)goners, jugglers, jousters…etc
anyways thats it for now:-)
BTW just finished 1356…Grail Quest was fun, was 1356 an ad-on, or always intended?
Best Wishes
Danny