Mumming
Mumming
Where
All over England with strong parallel traditions in Scotland, Ireland and Newfoundland.
Context
Mumming plays are a type of drama which was historically performed by local men rather than professional actors, at specific times of the year such as Boxing Day, Easter or Halloween. In the 18th and 19th centuries mumming plays were part of a wider number of cadging activities, they were performed on the street, in pubs and in people’s homes in return for money, food and drink.
There are normally four recognisable plots for mumming plays:
1) The hero-combat play which normally has St George facing an opponent who is killed and then brought back to life.
2) A female is wooed (asked out) by a number of men but chooses the fool.
3) The lady’s love is recruited into the army and she goes off with the fool.
4) The Robin Hood play based around stories of the legendary hero Robin Hood.
You can download a school friendly version of a Robin Hood Play script from the PDF tab at the top of this panel.
You can also refer to the Beginner's Guide to English Folk Drama for further information on all of these plays.
Mumming costume
Many historical teams had a special mumming costume which was used by the whole group, sometimes with minor variations or additions to represent different characters. These costumes were quite varied, in Lancashire simple sashes were sold alongside toy swords for the play in the local shops. One 19th century costume shows cut out animals and figures in red and black sewn onto a white shirt alongside words “In comes I …” a phrase frequently used in mumming plays. Some costumes look very strange with clothes turned inside out or layers of thick wallpaper or fabric cut into strips and attached to the jackets and legs of the performers. Some teams or characters were even known as ribboners after this form of disguise!
Many teams had elaborate head-gear with high hats covered in flowers and rosettes. Sometimes strips of fabric would hang over the face of the performers which would have added an element of disguise, some teams were even known as Guisers! Other teams applied face colouring made from soot and lard (see face blacking) sheep dye, brick dust or white-wash.
The plays were not performed in the naturalistic manner that we see in theatre or on TV today. It is thought that people would have declaimed their lines, where actors would step forward to say their words without any attempt at being realistic. Having a special distinct costume would have matched the performance of the play as a special custom or event, rather than as a performance as we would understand it today.
Dressing in Character
Although not performed in a naturalistic, manner some historical teams did have naturalistic costumes. The costumes represented the characters, they look like the sort of clothing that the character might actually wear. In some places some characters had their own special costume which became traditional. For example: St George wearing a white tunic with a red cross, Beelzebub (the devil) having horns, the Doctor wearing a top hat and frock coat or the Fool parti-coloured clothing (see The Fool). The women’s roles were played by men who cross-dressed, normally in horrible clothing for the role of the old woman, or nice clothing for the role of the Lady (see The Fool).
Today
Most mumming plays are now performed in a much more engaging naturalistic style. Men and women act and whilst there is still some cross-dressing for comic effect increasingly the female roles are played by women. Some teams replicate the distinctive mumming costumes which look very striking and some teams include an element of disguise, often through face paint.
Key words: Cadging, custom, disguise, naturalistic, parti-coloured, ribboners, Robin Hood, rosettes, sashes
