Welcome to
Merrie England Mummers'
Founded 1974
Member of :
The English Folk Dance and Song Society
Associate Member of The Morris Ring
Bookings and further information: E-mail: clivebennett.folk@virgin.net
Page created 27 December 1999. Last updated 24 December 2008
Click appropriate ‘title’ below for:
Merrie England Mummers, Founder Members
Merrie England Mummers celebrated their
30th Anniversary on 21st April 2004
9th June 1974 Prior to 2nd public performance
on Eastbourne Western Lawns during the college Rag Week.
left to right: Bob Foyle, Terry Lees, Mike Anderson,
Colin Haverson, Ray Langton and Clive Bennett.
Bob Foyle Moved to Now living in Ireland.
Hannover,
Germany in the
Autumn of 1974
Terry Lees Living in Acclaimed guitarist, Winner of
Eastbourne National Guitarist of the Year
East Sussex competition at NEC Birmingham
in 2000 having been runner up at
Wembley in 1998
Mike Anderson Living in Still performing regularly with
Heathfield Merrie England Mummers.
East Sussex.
Colin Haverson Moved to Now living in Middlesborough.
Yorkshire in the
Autumn of 1974
Ray Langton Now living in An established Morris and
Shrewsbury Ceilidh band musician. Well
Shropshire known as the Children’s Festival
Producer at Sidmouth
International Festival.
Clive Bennett Living in Hove Co-organiser of Seaford Folk
East Sussex Song Club. East Sussex
Bagman of Merrie England
Mummers and still performing
regularly with the group.
Alastair Turner Living in Still performing regularly with
Eastbourne Merrie England Mummers.
Characters from the
Ovingdean [Sussex] play
c 1996
Father Christmas
[the late Eddie Scott]
Twin Twan
[Clive Bennett]
MERRIE ENGLAND MUMMERS (East Sussex)
The group evolved during 1974 through a series of workshops within the Merrie England Folk Song Club, Eastbourne, East Sussex. Today it is a group of friends performing traditional drama around East Sussex. The groups is now amongst the most experienced revival teams in the country with a repertoire of plays covering the entire season of English Ritual Drama. Performances may commence with an extract from the long sword dance of North Skelton, Yorkshire and normally end with a programme of English traditional folk songs.
Merrie England perform at a number of sites in Sussex during the winter months and may normally be seen on Boxing Day each year at:
The Tiger Inn, East Dean 12.30 noon
The Dewdrop Inn, Peacehaven 13.30 hours
It is customary that, having been fortunate to witness
one of these rare performances,
the onlooker contributes to the collection taken,
which in turn will assure good luck and fertility during the coming year.
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PAST APPEARANCES
In addition to regular appearances throughout Sussex each winter the group have performed at the following major events:
Bognor Regis, Sussex Folk Festival 1988
Brighton, Sussex Festival Fringe 1980, 1981, 1987,
1991, 1992, 1995
Broadstairs, Kent Folk Show 1975, 1976, 1981,
1982, 1995, 1996
Crawley, Sussex Folk Festival 1991, 1995
Eastbourne, Sussex Folk Festival 1976, 1977, 1982, 1993, 1994
Firle, Sussex Folk Festival 1991, 1992
Hastings, Sussex Jack in the Green 1997
Cecil Sharp House, E.F.D.S.S. Ceilidh 1975
London
Barbican Centre, London Foyer Show 1986 (twice), 1988
Loughborough, Leics National Festival 1976
Michelham Priory, Sussex Folk Night 1976, 1977, 1992
Rochester, Kent 'Sweeps' May Ceremony 1988
Rye, Sussex Medieval Fayre 1979, 1981
Waldron, Sussex Wassail Ceremony 1993, 1994, 1995,
1996, 1997, 1998,
2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
Wareham, Dorset Folk Harvest 1983, 1985, 1987, 1988
Wells, Somerset Medieval Fayre 1982
Tubingen, Germany Folk Festival 1977
Heidelberg, Germany Folk Festival 1977
Tauberischofsheim, Folk Festival 1986
Germany
Copyright © 1999 C Bennett
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REPERTOIRE
Merrie England Mummers repertoire includes the following traditional plays:
LOCATION SEASON PLAY TYPE
Rudheath, Cheshire Oct/Nov, All Souls Hero Combat/Soul Cake
Firle, East Sussex Dec. Christmas Hero Combat
Ovingdean, East Sussex Dec. Christmas Hero Combat
Selmeston, East Sussex Dec. Christmas Hero Combat
Cocking, West Sussex Dec. Christmas Hero Combat
Fittleworth, West Sussex Dec. Christmas Hero Combat
Steyning, West Sussex Dec. Christmas Hero Combat
Gainford, Co. Durham Dec. Christmas Sword Dance
Kempsford, Gloucester Dec. Christmas Hero Combat/Robin Hood
Cropwell Bishop, Notts Jan. Plough Monday Courtship/Plough Play
Plumtree, Notts Jan. Plough Monday Courtship/Plough Play
Far & Near Sawrey, Cumbria March/April Easter Hero Combat/Pace Egg
Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria March/April Easter Hero Combat/Pace Egg
Ulverston, Cumbria March/April Easter Hero Combat/Pace Egg
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13 April 1996 - Merrie England Mummers
at Bancroft Gardens, Stratford-Upon-Avon
left to right: Felix Byrne, Trevor Curry, Norman Hopson,
Clive Bennett, guest with the Horse, Eddie Scott, Mike Reilly
and Ben Miller
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APPEARANCES CHRISTMAS 2009:
Sat 26 Dec 12:30 The Tiger, East Dean
13:30 The Dewdrop Inn, Steyning Aven. Peacehaven
.
. ..
.
Belzeeub [Mike Reilly] &
King George [Trevor Curry]
.
. .
.
Turkish Knight [Felix Byrne]
& Doctor [Ben Miller]
13 May 1977 M.E.M. At
The Star, Heathfield
Mike Anderson, Clive Bennett
and Keith Duke
7 May 1979
M.E.M. at The Juggs Arms,
Kingston, East Sussex
Colin Burge [Molly Masket]
Ed Ford [Doctor]
Dave Fisher [Turkish Knight]& Trevor Curry [St George]
ENGLISH RITUAL DRAMA (Mummers Plays)
By the end of the nineteenth century, despite changes within society resulting from the industrial revolution, the villages of England remained socially isolated and much of everyday life was ruled by folklore and local customs. This was often based on superstition and primitive rituals with wisewomen, country cures and medicines and charms for events such as birth, death, marriage and tasks like churning butter, baking or brewing. Alongside this was the rural calendar, which reflected the ever changing seasons, welded the population into a tight community with dancing, plays and ritual.
Even today many of these customs linger on as part of the collective wisdom of village communities. Of these practices, Mumming Plays have proved to be the most persistent and while few 'traditional' performances survive, they were widely known in towns and villages - each with their own variant - until the 1914-18 war decimated the male population.
The origins of this Ritual are lost in history and while the early theories about it being based on pre Christian primitive magic with a theme of death and rebirth are not substantiated by any evidence there are, nevertheless, records of the custom dating back some 250 years.
Historically, in England, the drama was performed in the old style winter months commencing at All Souls (31 October) and ending at Easter although appearances were most common at Christmas when players collected money to augment low winter earnings. It is this socio-economic aspect of the performance which modern theories focus on as a key element in the birth and survival of the tradition.
Traditionally performers were always men, even when a female character was required. While early theories suggested that to be recognised broke the 'luck' brought by the players causing them to hide their identity by dressing in disguise consisting of strips of paper or rag attached to ordinary clothes which completely covered the wearer, including the face, modern thinking tends to see the disguise as a simple means of avoiding identification by authorities concerned with the 'rough' behaviour and begging aspect of the performance. This style of costume appears to have survived longest in the rural Southern counties but eventually performers began to dress according to the character.
In this country three distinct forms of the play exist. The most common is called Hero Combat in which each performer enters in turn, introduces his character by name and proceeds in rhyme to issue challenge and counter challenge. A fight follows in which a player is 'killed' only to be revived by a Quack Doctor. This form includes both Soul Cake plays from Cheshire performed at All Souls in the autumn and Pace Egg plays from the North West performed at Easter.
Of the other forms, one - from the East Midlands - is normally performed in early January on Plough Monday and has, in addition to the Hero Combat scene, a courtship sequence and representation of three generations of life with an old couple, a young couple and a baby while the other, found only in the North East, combines the dramatic action with an intricate 'sword' dance in which performers link themselves together with strips of wood or metal and the 'death' results from the action of the entire group.
These forms of the ritual are unique to England but similar traditions have been noted from the Pyrenees, through the Swiss-German border area, Rumania, Thrace and Macedonia in the Balkans to Skyros in the Aegean.
Recommended references:
English Ritual Drama [Geographical Index] E C Cawte, Folklore Society 1967
Alex Helm & N Peacock
The English Mummers and Their Plays Alan Brody Routledge & Kegan Paul 1969
Irish Folk Drama Alan Gailey Mercier Press [Cork] 1969
The English Folk Play Sir E Chambers University Press Oxon R 1969
The Mummer' Play R J E Tiddy Oxford University Press 1972
Irish Folk Drama Alan Gailey Folklore Vol 85 Folklore Society [Spring 1974]
The English Mummers' Play Alex Helm Folklore Society 1981
Rites and Riots Bob Pegg Blandford Press 1981
By Rite Bob Bushaway Junction Books 1982
Popular Culture & Custom in 19th C England R D Storch Croom Helm Ltd 1982
Galoshins [The Scottish Folk Play] Brian Hayward Edinburgh Univ Press 1992
Room, Room, Ladies and Gentlemen
- an Introduction to the English Mummers' Play Eddie Cass & Steve Roud EFDSS 2002
The Lancashire Pace-Egg Play Eddie Cass Folklore Society 2002
Folk Music Journal [various] E.F.D.S.S. 1961-1999
Contacts:
Ron Shuttleworth [Mumming archivist for The Morris Ring]
E mail: mumming@usa.net
In addition Ron was, in 1966, a founder member of the highly respected Coventry Mummers http://www.brinklow-57.freeserve.co.uk/pwmum1.htm
David Staveley is also running a 'Mumming' site which is devoted specifically to Sussex on: http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/aspen/sussex/mumming.html
