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Mummering or Jannying... |
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"It's important to be completely covered," she explained. She showed me how to disguise my voice by sucking in my breath while talking. It was really neat. She said that a group of them would knock on a neighbour's door and call out in those strange voices. "Any Mummers allowed in?" they would ask. Once inside the house, she said, they would act really silly. They would dance and put on a little show and the people who lived in the house would try to guess who the Mummers really were. It's like a guessing game. She said they take off their masks when their names are guessed, and then they have a snack - usually Christmas cake, cookies and Purity syrup (a Newfoundland-made sweet drink). Sometimes the adults were offered an alcoholic drink. It sure sounded like a lot of fun. I couldn't wait until she let me get dressed up to go Mummering too. I found out later that Mummering wasn't always such a fun, clean game. The act of Mummering actually comes from Rome, which is an awfully long way from Newfoundland. The tradition was picked up in Great Britain, a tiny bit closer. And then when some of these people settled in Newfoundland, they brought the tradition of Mummering with them. At that time there were three types of Mummering (or "Janneying" or "Mumming"). The oldest form was the parade. In St. John's, Newfoundland's capital city, the Mummer's Parade was a yearly event. This parade was not like our Santa Claus parades of today; it was very loud and rowdy, even to the point where people got hurt. In 1861, over one hundred and thirty years ago, Mummering was actually banned in Newfoundland because a man was killed by a group of mummers. Mummers also gave a performance visit. A group would go to someone's house and put on a small play for them. The play always had a hero who was killed by a bad guy. Then a doctor would bring him back to life again. The actors in the play would ask for money before they left the house. This kind of visit stopped in Newfoundland shortly before World War I; that's eighty years ago. The one kind of Mummering activity that can still be found in Newfoundland is the house visit. But years ago even this form of Mummering was often violent and unpleasant. Mummers often carried "splits" or large sticks and fought with other groups of mummers or attacked innocent people. Horns, tails and skins from goats, sheep, caribou and seals were all used in costumes. Some even wore the dried head of a bull or cow as a mask. They did a lot of damage to houses, wharves and fences. Many people were afraid of them. As recently as 1973, Bud Davidge and Sim Savoury released "The Mummer's Song". This silly song, written in true Newfoundland dialect, tells about a visit of the mummers who come in and dance. "Be careful the lamp and hold on to the stove. Don't swing Granny hard 'cause you know that she's old." This catchy tune has probably caused more people to start Mummering again. This time, however, most Mummering is not violent, but fun. It is a really enjoyable way to visit your friends, and when they guess who you are, you invite them back to your house for a similar visit. Mummering is the chance for adults to act like kids again. They get all dressed up so that no one knows them and do crazy things. They tell lies, they steal - cakes, brooms, vegetables, even chickens! They play with water and make a nasty mess on the kitchen floor with their muddy boots. They fight and dance and sing silly songs. They come crashing down to real life, though, when someone guesses who they are and they have to take off their masks. While the fun is not over, now they have to behave like adults again. So when you've opened all your presents and you've eaten your turkey dinner, you probably feel that Christmas is over. But in Newfoundland, the fun is just starting, for the Twelve Days of Christmas (December 26 to January 6) is the time we'll be Mummering. You can watch for us, but you won't know who we are! V. G., St. John's, Newfoundland
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One night just after Christmas I watched in
awe while my mother dressed to go out. She looked pretty normal when she
started: blue jeans and a white sweatshirt. Then she put on Dad's long
woollen socks - inside out! Next came Granddad's big orange rubber jacket
and his bibbed oilskin pants. She took two pillows from her bed and pushed
them down inside the big green pants. An old pillow slip, which had two
holes cut out for eyes, went over her head. A blue wool scarf tied around
her neck would keep her mask in place. She finished the costume with some
funny red gloves and a pair of Dad's steel toe workboots.