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The Peace Egg: a mummers play


metalman

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As it just so happens, today I bought a book of Yorkshire dialect poems published in 1917, and towards the back there is one called the Sheffield Mummers song, which (according to a footnote which references S.O. Addy's Sheffield Glossary) was part of a play called The Peace Egg, which was performed around Christmastime in the villages around Sheffield.

 

The Peace Egg was written by local authoress Juliana Horatia Ewing (who was of course one of the children of Rev. Gatty of Ecclesfield) and you can find a complete version here. So is there anyone on the forum who remembers seeing this play performed? Or indeed is there anywhere where it still is performed?

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As a young boy I remember going to my Uncle Jack's house in the Rudyard at New Year and Jack Glossop and his brother Tom used to act out a Mummer's play in the front room.

 

They used the kitchen as a changing room and used anything that came to hand to dress up to perform the different parts.

 

For St George they used a cullinder as an helmet and a corset for armour.

 

In turn they played out the parts quoting verse after verse of the play.

 

I cannot state they struck dstrictly to the original but it was enjoyed by all the family.

 

Happy Days?

 

PopT

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When I lived in Newfoundland, mummering was a tradition practiced by the older generation. I always thought it originated in Ireland as Newfoundlanders originate from Irish stock, also from the south west of England. They had a mummers' parade recently in St. John's, the capital city. See this:

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2011/12/17/nl-mummers-parade-1217.html

 

The 3 minute video is worth plowing through the initial ads to see.

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