Christmas is our most important holiday, and its literature is correspondingly rich. Yet until now no adequate bundle of Christmas treasures in poetry and prose has found its way onto the Internet for Winter, Christmas, the birth of Christ, Santa Claus, and so much more..Mummers’ Play
This custom was practiced in Port Kirwin. There were fourteen men, each portraying a different character. The theme of the play seemed to be one of conflict between two English aristocrats. Some of the characters were King William, Beelzebub, the knight, the knight’s lady, the doctor, the doctor’s lady and the old horse. Each person in the play had a piece of dialogue to speak.
The play was presented in different houses each of the twelve nights of Christmas. Each night the last house in which the mummers gathered was the site of a dance and a “scoff”. This meant that for every night of Christmas there was a dance in the community.
The costumes these mummers wore were simply their “Sunday best”.
This was a suit of clothes, a shirt, and a tie. Rosettes made from crepe paper and colored ribbons were pinned on the jacket of the suit. They wore paper hats made from colored crepe. Each character had some artifact pertinent to his role; for example, the knight carried a wooden sword.
It seems that throughout Ferryland District this mummers’ play existed only in Port Kirwin. The players were invited by other communities to visit and perform the play.
This custom seems to have originated in Ireland, and was taught to the people of Admiral’s Cove (Port Kirwin) by the old (Irish) schoolmaster William O’Neill, or “Old Tack” as he was called when he came here in the early 1800s.
On second thought:
An Act to Make Further Provision for the Prevention of Nuisances
Para VII — Any Person who shall be found, at any Season of the Year, in any Town or Settlement in this Colony, without a written License from a Magistrate, dressed as a Mummer, masked, or otherwise disguised, shall be deemed to be guilty of a Public Nuisance, and may be arrested by any Peace Officer, with or without a Warrant, and taken before any Justice of the Peace, in the District or Place where such Person may be found; and on conviction, in a summary manner, before such Justice, may be committed to Gaol for a Period not exceeding Seven Days, unless he shall pay a Fine not exceeding Twenty Shillings; such License to be numbered, and a corresponding Number worn by the Person so licensed, on a conspicuous part of his Dress.
Act Passed 25 June 1861
