The 14^th of February is a date which many of us either love or hate, as a time to celebrate romantic love; be bludgeoned over the head with one’s single status; or feel obliged to spend money much too soon after Christmas, depending on your outlook! However it has roots which go back a lot further than the modern commercial jamboree.

The origins of the festival date back to the Roman festival of ‘Lupercalia’ which took place from 13^th – 15^th February and involved nudity and a good deal of unruly behaviour which I won’t go into here but which was designed to promote fertility for the year ahead!

Then around AD197 a Christian known as Valentine of Terni was martyred in the reign of Emperor Aurelian. He was apparently imprisoned, tortured, and beheaded on the Via Flaminia in Rome – hardly the stuff of romance! According to legend he died on 14^th February but this is, in fact, unlikely to be true. Another Christian martyr in the time of Emporar Claudius was Valentine of Rome, a priest or bishop who gave aid to prisoners. There are apocryphal stories that he was carrying out clandestine weddings, and that his execution took place on 14 February.

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Mummers’ plays were an important part of Christmas for many agricultural labourers in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. These seem to be first recorded in the mid 18^th century and although there are medieval precedents the connections between the two are uncertain. The later ones provided an opportunity for poorly paid labourers to make some extra income by taking their play around the houses of local farmers and gentry where they would normally receive food, drink and some money.

The characters included a hero, often St. George or King George, his adversary, often a Turkish Knight, a doctor, a fool and a narrator, often Father Christmas in later versions, and a character who collects the money at the conclusion. Normally the Turkish Knight is killed by St. George and revived or resurrected by the doctor. There are many elements in the plays, both pagan and Christian and the plays and the names of characters may have changed from generation to generation.

The Salisbury Mummers, c. 1932
Ref: P7940

The plays, normally each village would have its own version, were kept alive by ordinary people who had an interest in being able to supplement their wages once a year. Many did not survive the First World War although in Wiltshire mumming plays were still being performed at Alton Barnes in 1930 and at Shrewton in 1936.

This year an adapted version of the Limpley Stoke Mummers’ play is being performed as the Peaceful Gudgeon Mummers Play on Saturday 18 December at 7.00 p.m. at St. Michael’s Without, Broad Street, Bath. Please 'read more' to find out more'...

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