I believe that is important to know the festivities of the several places where people speak the languages that I study and, of course, some customs and habits of the locals who inhabit in it. For variuos reasons. For example, for respecting for cultural diversity and differences which is linked to the desire to know, to love and to understand the differents universes about learning already at deeper levels of the language.
In this sense and given that we are in the spring I thought it right to bring up in this article for the magazine of our school something called "Mumming."
Mumming is an ancient tradition that makes reference to the representations , more or less manners -traditionalists- of popular oral knowledge -lore-, transmitted from generation to generation.
Establishing a paralelism we could say that these different representations to which are referred are likeness, perhaps, with our Minstrels of the Middle Ages, or saving distances, with circuses.
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A mumming is a type of folk play, known in many areas of Europe but particulary common in England, Scotland and Ireland, that combines music, dance and sword fighting in episodes involving the ancien legends and histories.
A mumming is a type of folk play, known in many areas of Europe but particulary common in England, Scotland and Ireland, that combines music, dance and sword fighting in episodes involving the ancien legends and histories.
This name derives from a French word meaning masked.
The sword dances, in turn, may derive from the folk festivals of agricultural communities.
Mummers plays were formerly performed troughout most of English-speaking Ireland, Europe and Great Britain, as well as in other English-speaking parts of the world including Newfoundland and Saint Kitts and Nevis.
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When these practices happens during the winter solstice or Haloween or Candlemas in February can provide a powerful means of catharsis like happens with many popular traditions. There are also practices mummings that show around the time of Carnival, in early spring and again at Mai Day, especially in Britain. These processions brings good luck, prosperity and fertility to the people and the earth. Also, nowadays, they can be a fun way to create a sense of tradition and cohesiveness in the comunity.
When these practices happens during the winter solstice or Haloween or Candlemas in February can provide a powerful means of catharsis like happens with many popular traditions. There are also practices mummings that show around the time of Carnival, in early spring and again at Mai Day, especially in Britain. These processions brings good luck, prosperity and fertility to the people and the earth. Also, nowadays, they can be a fun way to create a sense of tradition and cohesiveness in the comunity.
In fact, we can say that the Mummers play are seasonal Brithis flok plays, performed by troups of amateur actors know as mummers or guisers or by local names.
Originally from the British Isles, the practice has spread to a number of former British colonies.
Etymologically speaking, the word mummer is sometimes explained to derived from Middle English or Greek but is more likelly to be associated with Early new High German nummer (attested in Johann Fischart and others.)
The mummers or entertainers masked, dressed in costumes adorned with tapes, rags and masks, in times of straw. They parade through the neighboring streets singing songs and carrying branches. Sometimes, its aspect is considered something gloomy but it must be because it is adequate for the particular colorful traditions of the region where it originated in which inhabited Celts and Normands.
We can say that their aesthetics is nothing unusual when compared with other folk traditions at world level in such a way that we can catalog it as unique in its kind, highlighting on other folklórica themed as we say.
The stories represented by these traditional characters ranging for the representation of battles between the good and the bad and reflection on the same until some representations of legends such us those of Saint George and the dragon, passing by the evocation including the art of comedy.
On their performances we can learn many lesson of history and the history of everyday life, old customs, regular habits and the ways of life of the ancient Bretons, Jutos or Saxons villages
The mummers or entertainers masked, dressed in costumes adorned with tapes, rags and masks, in times of straw. They parade through the neighboring streets singing songs and carrying branches. Sometimes, its aspect is considered something gloomy but it must be because it is adequate for the particular colorful traditions of the region where it originated in which inhabited Celts and Normands.We can say that their aesthetics is nothing unusual when compared with other folk traditions at world level in such a way that we can catalog it as unique in its kind, highlighting on other folklórica themed as we say.
The stories represented by these traditional characters ranging for the representation of battles between the good and the bad and reflection on the same until some representations of legends such us those of Saint George and the dragon, passing by the evocation including the art of comedy.
On their performances we can learn many lesson of history and the history of everyday life, old customs, regular habits and the ways of life of the ancient Bretons, Jutos or Saxons villages
The Celts were the dominant people in europe shortly before their displacement by Romans and Germanic. They practiced a religion who generally know only a few but inspires us much. In fact, your world of magicians, druids and heroes has inspired legends later, as Myths Artúricos.
To speak of the Celtics myths would be exciting but perhaps too extensive for the space that I have here what... I refer you to my readers, for more to be information about this theme, to classical works such us Julio Caesar. Lucano or Posidonio, among others.
In effect, the mummers appear in the Celtic tradition as interpreters of classic stories and legends that were take place in the oral tradition of the people who where living in the region of Great Britain and Ireland.
Perhaps for this reason these celebrations would not only take place in the present in Great Bretain, also in many English-speaking countries and in some other place more. I could cite as an example, nowadays, the current Mummers parade in Philadelphia, single event, where you can see a gateway of extravagant costumes, in adittion to a lot of music and entertainment.
This is the oldest folk festival of the United States since 1800 when was used to celebrate the arrival of the new year, when the customes were very elaborated but there were no choreographies as a spectacle as at the present.
There are several tipologies of Mumming. You can read about this in the book, wrote by Herbert Halpert, named "Christmas mumming in Newfoundland." He tells us these practices I can to categorize it in the various way wich can be carried out: the informal visit, the house-visit, the visit with the formal performance with dances (Sword dance, Morris dance), the folk plays, like Sword dance play, Plough or Wooing Play, Hero-combat play, etc.
The Mumming includes an assortment of characters like the crazy which also appears, in one way or another, in various cultural manifestations of other people with other languages; thus, we will be able to find it since in The Dance Morris until the representations of puppets from the ancient Greece and Turkey and even in the moralists works from the Middle Ages.
Also, this autor tells us about the formal outdoor behavior in these traditions: formal processions like parades or pageants or groups moving to give performances at fiexd points, etc.
There are sometimes performed in the street, but more usually as hopuse-to-house visits and in local pub.
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It is clear that it is an very ancient custom dating from the pre-Christian times but...
the previous surveys on the ritual dance and drama have produced little evidence before 1800.
But not for having what some consider few mesurable data we can say -as some do it- that are most recents habits in the temporal line of the human history.
That this is clearly there is some conection between the recent customs and the other ones. And yet again there are testiomonies like paintings, from the abbots since about s. XVII or, for example, how the early Christian writers tells about the processions. There are surveys that says the mumming may have precedents in German and French Carnival customs, as well as in late medieval English folk practices.
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There are a few surviving traditional teams of mummers in England and Ireland, but there have been
many revivals of mumming, nowadays often asociated with sword dance groups and Morris.
Although usually broadly comic performances, the plays seem to me based on underlying thems of duality and resurrection and in general involved a battle between two or more characters, perhaps representing good against evil.
Usually they feature a doctor who has a magic potion which is able to resuscitatea slain character.
In fact, there are autors and researchers who tendet to view these plays as debased of a pre-Christian fertility ritual.
Becuase... primarily, the Mumming is related with the changes of stations in general and more specifically with the spring in particular, with the blessed natural and wonderful fertility that this station entails.
But what it´s clear is that there are traditions that persist, even with other forms -or that are very related- as for example in Italy, in the old craft workshops of puppets and representations that can be done with them, which continue to delight children and old people.
Along the west coast of Ireland, Loreena Mckennitt tells us, people held an unusual version of Halloween, on the Island of Inishmore. The characters enter in the local pub, drink pints, dance at times, but whitout saying anything, next to the murmur of the Ocean.
There are beautiful and melodious traditional mumming songs with lyrics rich in references to natures, to the spring. You can see an example of this in the song that had inspired me to deal with this subject in this writing. Its autor includes one of them, from Abingdon -in Oxfordshire-.
There are also ancient narrations of theater mumming groups -so to denominate them- that they addressed to the vessels become bogged down in the bays of the coasts of United Kingdom, Ireland, etc, for entertain the sailors, for example, of New Year´s Eve.
There are also ancient narrations of theater mumming groups -so to denominate them- that they addressed to the vessels become bogged down in the bays of the coasts of United Kingdom, Ireland, etc, for entertain the sailors, for example, of New Year´s Eve.
Simply point out that the ancient priests druids devoted to his cult several elements of nature, especially caves, springs of pure water, ancient trees and even lush forests and villages. One of the most excellent frameworks for the interrelationship of the divine with the human.
There are many events, rites and celebrations that are hopelessly united with the passage of time, to honor even to the own time in its various manifestations. For example, in Padstow, people celebrate the feast of first of May starting it the night before. It would not be surprising to find a celebration of these featuresin one of the places more Celt of England.
Begins with a ritual song, sung a capella, rich in references to Saint George and the spring. When the morning comes, the participants sing another version or rendering of this song, complementing it with the addition of accordions and drums that will accompany a procession to whose head are the "obby oss" that are, nothing more and nothing less, than the figure of a "horse", dressed in a tunic with hood and a mask that almost seems African.
There are people which related this ancient folk tradition with the still current and current celebration of Halloween, which is becoming ever more extensible to countries even non English, speaking, such as our own.
Even with the Christmas and the New Year celebration as we commented to talk about the case of Philadelphia. For example, there are scholars of this topic that date this ancient Celtic celebration -also called Dark Day- between 26 December and first January. Anyway we already said nearly at the begining of this review that the Mumming is associated with the changing seasons in general and with other dates in addition to the spring.
Thus, the mummers parade through the main streets and avenues of the city as if a procession of masks are treated and act and pay lip the service to the so-called Mummers Plays, that are parts that have never been written, continuing with the essence of the purest oral tradition.
In this sense, It is also often associated with the Carnival celebrations, as currently presents in many parts of the world.
Really it is a fascinating subject to investigate but, at the same time, also long extensive as to reduce it to only a few lines in an article, but at least with this, I have sought to establish a closer relationship with one of the tradition of the foreign language which, as I said, currently I study in this school and also with the ancestors whose worldview is behind it.
Then I want to show you a verse of the song of Loreeena Mckennitt which it let me to have this item in my inkwell today and that has a special meaning for me. Precious, indeed.
"And so they linked their hands and danced
round in circles and in rows
and so the journey of the night descends
when all the sades are gone".
"When all the sades are gone"...
To finish, happily imbued the purest charitable and Celtic spirit healer, after this humble immersion in a so fantastic world, give to all that I have read... ¡¡an old blessing!!
Ana M. Gª Contreras (Anna)
Mayo 2016. E.O.I. L.P.G.C.
GOOD LOOK FOREVER.
(Photos found on internet in the bank of immages´Google and in Wikipedia)
If you want to know more about this topic you can visit my blog of the Spanish languague -Castilian language, to be exact-: http://aprendocastellanoconanna.blogspot.com.es/
And... if you want to know more about the song that inspired me to documentated about the same and to write this article, visit my English blog. Thanks!!
