Mummering In Newfoundland
The Artist: Ellen Jean Wareham
Mummers have been a Newfoundland tradition for many years. Mummers also called "Jannies or Johnies" are Christmas revellers who disguise themselves and go door to door seeking admission. When asking permission to enter a house, voices are also disguised. This is done by breathing in, instead of out when the question, "Any mummers 'lowed in?" is posed. If permission to enter is given, Mummers will usually entertain the hosts with accordions, fiddles, mouth organs (harmonicas) guitars, etc.
In some homes Mummers are offered an alcoholic drink or two, while in others, food in the form of cake and syrup or some other sweet is offered. The object of the disguise is to fool the hosts, and hosts will try to guess the identity of the mummers. If the host is successful in doing this, Mummers must lift their masks and show their real faces.
The Mummer's Song.
Don't seem like Christmas if the Mummers aren't here
Granny would say as she'd sit in her chair
Things have gone modern, I 'spose that's the cause
Christmas is not like it was
(knock, knock, knock) Any Mummers 'lowed in?
Hark what's the noise, out by the porch door
Granny 'tis mummers theres 20 or more
Her old weathered face lightens up with a grin
Any Mummers nice Mummers 'lowed in?
Come in lovely Mummers don't bother the snow
We can wipe up the water sure after you go
Sit if you can or on some Mummer's knee
Lets see if we know who ya be
There's big ones 'n tall ones 'n small ones 'n thin
Boys dressed as women and girls dressed as men
Humps on their backs an mitts on their feet
My blessed we'll die with the heat
There's only one there I think that I know
That tall feller standing o'er long side the stove
He's shakin' his fist for to make me not tell
Must be Billy from out on the hill
Don't 'spose you fine Mummers will turn down a drop
No home brew, nor alky whatever you got
Now the one with his rubber boots on the wrong feet
He's had enough for to do him all week
'Spose you can dance, yes they all nods their heads
They've been tappin' their feet ever since they came in
Now that the drinks have been all passed around
The Mummers are plankin' her down
Hold on to the lamp and be careful the stove
Don't swing Granny hard for you know that she's old
No need for to care how you buckles the floor
'Cause Mummers have danced here before
My God how hot is it, we better go
I 'low we'll all get the devil's own cold
Good night and good Christmas, Mummers me dears
Please god we will see you next year
Please god we will see you next year.
This mummering custom is an old one. It dates back to the middle ages and was customary in England up to the time the colonists came to North America at the beginning of the seventeenth century. With them they brought their present-day customs but they have changed somewhat with the centuries.
The original mummering was a play that was acted in the kitchen. It dates back to the middle ages. The play was very short and its cast consisted of three chief characters and three minor ones.
The leader of the group was Father Christmas who introduced the play. The other characters staged a hand-to-hand fight. There was Saint George, the patron saint of England, and a Turkish Knight or some other stalwart figure.
In the combat Saint George emerged the hero whereas his opponent, badly defeated, lay fatally wounded. But he soon recovered through the black magic performances of a witch doctor.
It was during this resurrection scene that the comic element entered the play and drew forth a torrent of uproarious laughter from the spectators. The play then ended and the group trudged off to another house to re-enact the same scene.
This old custom was practised in Newfoundland by the early inhabitants but it has faded over the years.
Granny would say as she'd sit in her chair
Things have gone modern, I 'spose that's the cause
Christmas is not like it was
(knock, knock, knock) Any Mummers 'lowed in?
Hark what's the noise, out by the porch door
Granny 'tis mummers theres 20 or more
Her old weathered face lightens up with a grin
Any Mummers nice Mummers 'lowed in?
Come in lovely Mummers don't bother the snow
We can wipe up the water sure after you go
Sit if you can or on some Mummer's knee
Lets see if we know who ya be
There's big ones 'n tall ones 'n small ones 'n thin
Boys dressed as women and girls dressed as men
Humps on their backs an mitts on their feet
My blessed we'll die with the heat
There's only one there I think that I know
That tall feller standing o'er long side the stove
He's shakin' his fist for to make me not tell
Must be Billy from out on the hill
Don't 'spose you fine Mummers will turn down a drop
No home brew, nor alky whatever you got
Now the one with his rubber boots on the wrong feet
He's had enough for to do him all week
'Spose you can dance, yes they all nods their heads
They've been tappin' their feet ever since they came in
Now that the drinks have been all passed around
The Mummers are plankin' her down
Hold on to the lamp and be careful the stove
Don't swing Granny hard for you know that she's old
No need for to care how you buckles the floor
'Cause Mummers have danced here before
My God how hot is it, we better go
I 'low we'll all get the devil's own cold
Good night and good Christmas, Mummers me dears
Please god we will see you next year
Please god we will see you next year.
This mummering custom is an old one. It dates back to the middle ages and was customary in England up to the time the colonists came to North America at the beginning of the seventeenth century. With them they brought their present-day customs but they have changed somewhat with the centuries.
The original mummering was a play that was acted in the kitchen. It dates back to the middle ages. The play was very short and its cast consisted of three chief characters and three minor ones.
The leader of the group was Father Christmas who introduced the play. The other characters staged a hand-to-hand fight. There was Saint George, the patron saint of England, and a Turkish Knight or some other stalwart figure.
In the combat Saint George emerged the hero whereas his opponent, badly defeated, lay fatally wounded. But he soon recovered through the black magic performances of a witch doctor.
It was during this resurrection scene that the comic element entered the play and drew forth a torrent of uproarious laughter from the spectators. The play then ended and the group trudged off to another house to re-enact the same scene.
This old custom was practised in Newfoundland by the early inhabitants but it has faded over the years.
