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A BRIEF HISTORY OF MUMMERS PLAYS There are many forms of folk play appearing throughout history and the roots of the Mummers Play, just as with Morris Dancing, is not entirely clear. The traditional Mummers play proceeds along the lines of: an introduction by one of the actors, a fight between two of them, the slaying of one, a revival by a Quack doctor, and a finish with a seasonal song. Other characters are added in various versions of the play. The earliest of this type of play appears on record in 1377 with an increased number appearing on record after. During the 18th century folklorist and theatre historians started to take interest and the collecting and recording of the plays began. These over enthusiastic folklorists claimed that the plays were ancient and pagan, and set out to use the plays to prove that but this theory no longer finds favour. The performance of plays probably did not decline in the way Morris dancing did but certainly the First World War dealt a crippling blow, and it wasnt until the sixties that a revival took place with the increased interest in folk tradition at that time. The word Mummers may be derived from the Greek word MOMMO meaning a mask or may have come from a mime show or from a Middle English word MUM. Mummers plays are traditionally performed in association with certain annual festivals such as Christmas, Halloween, New Year, Easter and so on. The festivals have played their part in the evolution of the Mummers play, but other influences have been early pantomime, folk dance and song. The plays would have served a basic need of survival for performers, particularly in mid winter. It would be a form of cadging and performed within the house of wealthy folk and door to door in the local area, and would be performed many times over the season. Today many Mummers sides exist, performing at certain times of the year, and are often connected with modern day Morris sides. for comments on the above: email

Marshfield Mummers - The Old Time Paper Boys Longparish Mummers circa 1930 more information can be found at the Folk Play Research (this link will take you off this website) Times and Star article on Mummers in Workington eighty years ago (this link will take you off this website)

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