LAUREATE, adj. Crowned with leaves of the laurel. In England the Poet Laureate is an officer of the sovereign's court, acting as dancing skeleton at every royal feast and singing-mute at every royal funeral.
Source: The Devil's Dictionary, 1911.
-- Ambrose Bierce, (Jun 24 1842-1914), US journalist, short-story writer; He was a noted wit, satirist and sardonic short story writer who disappeared while covering the Mexican revolution.