Peter Millington's Web Space

This website records my research on English folk plays and other folklore.

The Thoroton Society has published my resource guide for Notts Folklore and Customs on their Nottinghamshire Heritage Gateway.

The full text of my PhD thesis can now be downloaded from White Rose eTheses Online.

Bibliography

Full list of my publications and web resources for traditional drama and folklore.

Web Resources

• Folk Play Research Website - http://www.folkplay.info/
  I built this website for the Traditional Drama Research Group, who now manage it independendly. My own main contributions were the Scripts Collection and the Bibliography of Nottinghamshire Folk Plays. It also has good collections of photographs and links, the online newsletter Traditional Drama Forum, and several other databases.
• Master Mummers Website - http://www.mastermummers.org/
  Designed to be a colour supplement for the Folk Play Research website, my new website includes a Directory of Folk Play Groups, an interactive Folk Play Scripts Explorer, Electronic ERD: An Index to English Folk Drama, FAQ, plus other bits and bobs.

Full Text Articles

• Mapping the Uncharted Territory of Folk Drama [Introduction to the problems of folk play data - PDF download (878kB) - and a case study for the Master Mummers Folk Play Scripts Explorer - PDF download (874kB)]
• Do you recognise this costume? [Investigating an 1829 sword dance clown's costume]
• Father Christmas in English Folk Plays [A snippet for Christmas 2006]
• 'Plough Bullocks' and other Plough Monday Customs in the Nottingham Area, 1800-1920
• Folklore on the Internet. Asset? Liability? Opportunity? Threat? [Seminar Notes]
• "This is a Mummers’ Play I Wrote": Modern Compositions and their Implications
• Textual Analysis of English Quack Doctor Plays: Some New Discoveries [PDF Download - 841kB]
• The Origins and Development of English Folk Plays
  [Extended abstract of my Ph.D. Thesis. Full text PDF also available - 2.7MB]
• Mystery History : The Origins of British Mummers' Plays
• A New Look at English Folk Play Costumes
• Plough Monday in and around the City of Nottingham
• Correspondence to Folk Music Journal: "The Ploughboy and the Plough Play"
  [Differentiating Recruiting Sergeant & Wooing plays]
• The Origins of Plough Monday

Work in Progress

Geographical Distribution of Folk Play Times of Appearance [Map & Notes]

Links

links for some of my favourite organisations and people.

Teaching

Discovering our Traditions and Customs - I taught this evening class for the Leicestershire WEA at Castle Donington in Autumn 2004 and Coalville in Autumn 2005 - Course Description