Holidays - Seasons Greetings!

“The first Christmas Eve according to the new testament, and the centerpiece of Christian celebrations of Christmas”.

Now it came about in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all were proceeding to register for the census, everyone to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which was called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register, along with Mary who was engaged to him, and she was with child.

And it came about while they were there; the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her first-born son; and she wrapped Him in clothes and laid Him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.

In the same region there were some shepherds, staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an Angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the Glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. And the Angel said to them:

Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which shall be for all the people; for today in the city of David, there has been born for you, a savior, Who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you; you will find a baby wrapped in clothes, and lying in a manger.

And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace among men with whom He is pleased.

And it came about when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.

And they came in haste and found their way to Mary and Joseph and the baby as He lay in the manger. And when they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all they had just heard and seen, just as been told them.

And when eight days were completed before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.

And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord as it is written in the Laws of the Lord, every first-born male that opens the womb shall be called Holy to the Lord, and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord “A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”

And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon Him. And it had been revealed to him that he would not see death before he has seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, and he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said “Now Lord, Thou dost let thy bondservant depart in peace, according to thy word; for my eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou has prepared in the presence of all people, a light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel.

And His mother and father were amazed at the things which were being said about Him. And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, His mother “Behold, this Child is appointed for the rise and fall of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed-and a sword will pierce even your own soul-to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with a husband seven years after her marriage, and then as a widow to the age of 84. And she never left the temple, serving night and day with fasting and prayers. And at the very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth. And the Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.

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

Christmas was a time of the year when the people of the district broke away from their drab lives to enjoy themselves for a few nights. Like today, the people “dressed out” as mummers. The only difference was that the older ones were usually the ones to dress out. They wore costumes called the “bull” and the “hobby horse”.

The “bull” consisted of the skin of a bull, with two horns sticking out of the top of a head which was stuffed with old rags. The eyes were made of old insulators from light poles, and the whole thing looked strikingly real.

“The hobby horse” was made in the following manner: an old oats sack was hauled down over the person’s head; two pieces of board on hinges were pushed through the top of the sack; a line came down through this and was controlled by the person inside. The mouth of the horse, made by two boards usually gaped open. When the string was pulled, the mouth shut. The horse could take things up in his mouth and many of the people were frightened by it.