A Piece of Mummers' Play Acting

A Piece Of Mummers Play Acting The Folks That Acted Out the Mummers' Play: The Presenter Father Christmas Dame Dorothy Old Bet The Bessy Little Devil Doubt Pickle Herring Doctor Good Chorus of eight persons (high school boys) What the Mummers Wore Father Christmas — Santa Claus suit borrowed from the school. Holly in his beard. Carried a frying pan and a dead rabbit. Dame Dorothy — A man dressed in bright colored women's clothes. Veil made of an old window curtain served as a mask. Red paper pinned inside the front of her dress was displayed later as blood. Old Bet — A man dressed as an old woman. Apron, bonnet, and shawl. Mistletoe on bonnet. The Bessie — A man dressed as a woman with a cow's tail fastened on. Grotesque mask of brown paper with horns sticking up. Holly on the horns. Carried two cow bells strung across his hips. Little Devil Doubt — A boy with his face blacked. A hump on his back. Gay red paper streamers tied around his arms and neck. Holly on his hat. Pickle Herring — A man wearing a woman's "bedgown" under a man's overcoat. Carried an inflated pig's bladder colored like a balloon. A dunce cap with gay streamers served as a mask. Many floating red paper streamers. Doctor Good — A man wearing a long tailed coat, spectacles, and a high top hat. Face painted very red. No other mask. Holly on his hat. Carried a doctor's bag. Chorus — Eight high school boys wearing the white smocks of the home economics class. Paper bags over their heads as masks. Holly wreaths around their necks. According to Tom and George Fields the following parts of the costuming were "fixed by the way the old time folks decked out to go mumming." 37 The red paper or cloth pinned inside Dame Dorothy's dress and used to represent blood. The woman's clothing on Old Bet. The cow's tail, the woman's clothing, and the cow bells on The Bessie. The "bedgown," the dunce cap, and the inflated bladder for Pickle Herring. The professional garb and red painted face or red mask on Doctor Good. The white smocks on the chorus. Holly, masks, and gay streamers on the cast. Other items of costuming were merely rustic attempts at disguise. The Starting Up of the Mummers' Play Acting After the carol singing by the community folk and after a huge bonfire had been made to give heat and light, the Presenter stepped forward. Presenter: We air now aiming to give a dumb show for to pleasure the Little Teacher for not going off to the level country to keep Christmas with her kin. Hit ain't noways perfect the way we act out this here dumb show, but hit ain't been acted out amongst our settlement for uppards of twenty or thirty year, maybe more. I reckon folks all knows hit air bad luck to talk with the dumb show folks or guess who they air. Now then we aim to start. (The Presenter goes into the cabin and comes out walking backward with a broom.) Presenter: Out comes I hind part before, With my big broom to sweep up the floor. (He sweeps a wide circle, all the time muttering over and over) Room, room, gallons of room. (When a circle of sufficient size has been swept, he stops muttering and begins the presentation of characters. When each character's name is called the character struts around the outside of the circle and steps out of the circle until his part in the action of the play.) Presenter: 1. In comes old Father Christmas, Welcome or not, welcome or not, I hope old Father Christmas Never is forgot, never is forgot. 38 2. In comes old Dame Dorothy, Drinking liquor's all her folly, Wearing silks and being bawdy. 3. Old Bet comes in once a year To get her kissed and bring good cheer. 4. Oh the next that now comes in Is The Bessie as you see, He's a woman or a man With a cow's tail, can you see? 5. In steps black face...