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Gotham was the home of the simple folk in the 16c Merrie Tales of the Mad Men of Gotham. Perhaps based on much older folklore the book tells of the Wise Men who tried to drown an eel in the pond, who burned down a forge to get rid of a wasp's nest, who built a hedge around a cuckoo so that it will sing for them all year and who sent cheeses rolling down the hill to find their own way to Nottingham. There was the man who rode to market with two bushels of wheat around his own neck so that his horse would not bear the load.

One explanation for the basis of the tales is that the Gotham folk pretended to be made to prevent King John from building a hunting lodge in the village.



Source:
The King's England - Nottinghamshire by Arthur Mee (1946)