Posted by: Blog Administrator
on Dec 10, 2010
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Mummers’ plays were an important part of Christmas for many agricultural labourers in the 19th and early 20th centuries. These seem to be first recorded in the mid 18th 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'...
Posted by: Blog Administrator
on Mar 17, 2010
Tagged in:
tradition ,
spring ,
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Eoste ,
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Easter was the feast of the pagan goddess of spring, Eoste. It was a tradition to give a gift of coloured eggs which represented the new life of the countryside.
Hot cross buns were baked on Good Friday and were ‘carefully hung up in the inglenook, and kept for medicinal purposes’! A small piece of the dried bun was grated and mixed with water – it was drunk as a cure for diarrhoea, but to work it must be hand baked on a Good Friday! The provision of hot cross buns on Good Friday is thought to be one of the strongest surviving symbols of pre-reformation England.
Wiltshire Times, March 26th, 1910; front and second page
It has been said that to wash clothes on Good Friday was considered an 'awful sin'. A story is told ‘A young woman went a –washing on Good Friday. As she were about it, up comes a gentleman, and he asks the way somewhers, most pleasant like’. While he stands talking, the woman chances to look at his feet, and discovers he has a cloven foot; so she answers him very shortly, and refuses the money he offers her. ‘Whereupon the gentleman, who, of course, is the Devil, walks away, and the woman, in a fright, puts aside her washing’. You should always wear something new on Easter Sunday, ‘for good fortune’. A new pair of gloves was the luckiest item, and these were often given as an Easter present. Told by A. Clark in 1893. To find out about the 16th century Cuckowe King and the 'ales', please 'read more'...
