For those who have visited Newfoundland and Labrador, you know that the province is rich with unique cultural traditions. Last year at this time, I wrote a post on Tibb's Eve, but for this installment of the Ship's (B)Log, I'm going to explain who the Mummers are, where they came from, and if they're allowed in so please read on!
An old Christmas custom from England and Ireland, also known as "janneying", "mummering" can trace its roots back to the 19th century in Newfoundland. It's a very creative and entertaining way to visit friends, family, and neighbours during the twelve days of Christmas as it involves disguising oneself in outlandish garb designed to fool hosts and prevent them from guessing your identity. Hosts may ask questions to determine their guests as they sing, dance, play instruments, or tell jokes. To make identifying themselves a challenge, mummers may stuff their costumes, cross-dress, and/or alter their speech. Once correctly identified, the mummers must doff their disguises, spend some social time eating, drinking, and chatting with the hosts, and then travel as a group to the next home.
Most common in rural areas, this proud tradition was nearly all but lost with modernization and urbanization, so much so, that some of the younger generation might be totally unfamiliar with the practice. After being identified as a "tradition at risk", a group of proud Newfoundlanders took action to do what they could to save it. As a result, mummering has enjoyed a resurgence over the years thanks to the noteworthy events like the creation of the Mummers' Troupe, its Christmas Mummers Play, and folklorist/author Dale Jarvis's key role in creating the annual Mummers' Parade in downtown St John's. Due to these efforts, mummering is now alive and well and will hopefully become more popular than ever.
So if you see someone who's dressed similarly to the photo above, fear not! They're not bank robbers or the ghosts of Christmas past, present, or future, they're just Mummers so have them in for a drink, a feed, and a chat and do your part to preserve this charmingly quirky tradition.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mummering
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