#mumming

[davidgahan]

Mummers where humans dressed up as animals and fantastical creatures to entertain 🎉

Bodleian Library MS. Bodl. 264, fol 21 V.

Five Mummers, 1338-44 MS Bodl. 264.

[giada-rose]

Mumming, from The Folklore Oracle

[dvoeverie-stitches]

Come all you ladies and gentlemen,

For tis here we are with our famous wran

With a heart full of cheering for every man

To rise up a booze before the year is gone.

*

Mr O’Leary we came to see,

With our wran so weak and feeble,

The wran is poor and we can’t feed him,

So we hope your honour will relieve him

*

We’ve hunted our wran three miles and more

We’ve hunted this wran all around Glandore

Through hedges and ditches and fields so green,

And such fine sport was never seen.

*

As we copied our wran again

Which caused our wran-boys for to sing,

She stood erect and wagged her tail,

And swore she’d send our boys to jail.

*

As we went up through Leaca Bhuidhe

We met our wran upon a tree,

Up with a cubit and gave him a fall,

And we’ve brought him here to visit you all.

*

This the wran you may plainly see,

She is well mounted on a holly tree,

With a bunch of ribbons by his side

And the Ballydehob boys to be his guide.

*

The wran, the wran, the king of all birds,

St Stephen’s day he was caught in the furze,

Although he is little, his family is great,

So rise up landlady and fill us a treat.

*

And if you fill it of the best,

We hope in Heaven your soul will rest,

But if you fill it of the small,

It won’t agree with our boys at all.

*

To Mr O’Leary and his wife

We wish them both a happy life,

With their pockets full of money, and their cellars full of beer,

We now wish a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

*

And now, our song is ended, we have no more to say,

We hope you’re not offended for coming here today,

For coming here this morning we think it is not wrong,

So give us our answer and let us all be gone.

———This was recorded in the 1930s by John Levis, aged 32, who took it down from Jeremiah Driscoll, aged 64 years. Jeremiah had been a Wren Boy in Ballydehob.

Wrens and Rhymers

……..In comes I the Wran, The Wran, the Wran, the king of all birds. On St Stephen’s Day I was caught in the furze. Although I am little my f

[2witt2woo]

[theatre-in-ireland-moodboard]

Mumming/Mummering & Mummers' Plays:

Mumming, Mummering or Rhyming is a Christmas tradition originating from England and Ireland, in which large groups will disguise themselves and visit local homes, requesting to be invited in. Their hosts must then guess their identities, after which the Mummers will perform songs, dances and jokes, and receive food and drink from the house.

Mummers' Plays, loosely associated with Mumming, are performed by all-male amateur troupes. Also traditionally done at Christmas-time, performers will visit different houses and act out comic plays consisting of various historical and stock characters. Main characters usually include Prince George, The Doctor, Miss Funny, Beelzebub and The Captain. In Ireland historical figures such as St Colmcille, Brian Boru, Saint Patrick, and Oliver Cromwell often also feature.

[mooncustafer]

Nalujuk Night

Nalujuk Night is an up close look at an exhilarating, and sometimes terrifying, Labrador Inuit tradition. Every January 6th from the dark of

[thefarmersblog]

The mummer’s masks and the display put on at Montacute House - it was great to see, and the craftsmanship was amazing!