BISLEY MUMMERS
Mumming is an ancient English tradition in which a group of strolling players visit various hostelries just before Christmas to drink ale and tell the tale of St George slaying the dragon, usually using the same script year after year.
Most performances feature an appearance by Father Christmas, the Town Crier (as a sort of narrator), good and bad knights who fight it out to the death, and a doctor who brings the good knight back to life when he is slain.
There's also wassailing.
The origins of the tradition are obscure, but that is in any case irrelevant to the Bisley Mummers - we have moved on from St George, and, while we do retain Father Christmas, the Town Crier, good and bad knights, and a doctor, our scripts are original, and tend to be aimed at our mortal enemy village, Oakridge.
We usually perform on the final Sunday before Christmas, first at The Woolpack in Slad, then at The Butcher's Arms in Oakridge, then at The Bear, and finally at The Stirrup Cup.
We collect for two local hospices along the way.
By the time of the final performance no-one can remember the words.
Most performances feature an appearance by Father Christmas, the Town Crier (as a sort of narrator), good and bad knights who fight it out to the death, and a doctor who brings the good knight back to life when he is slain.
There's also wassailing.
The origins of the tradition are obscure, but that is in any case irrelevant to the Bisley Mummers - we have moved on from St George, and, while we do retain Father Christmas, the Town Crier, good and bad knights, and a doctor, our scripts are original, and tend to be aimed at our mortal enemy village, Oakridge.
We usually perform on the final Sunday before Christmas, first at The Woolpack in Slad, then at The Butcher's Arms in Oakridge, then at The Bear, and finally at The Stirrup Cup.
We collect for two local hospices along the way.
By the time of the final performance no-one can remember the words.
Mummers 2024 report
The Mummers duly played Slad, Oakridge, The Butcher's Arms in Oakridge, The Bear, and then The Stirrup Cup on Sunday December 15, with THE ODDFATHER, their tale of Bisley's brave battle against the notorious Oakridge mafia gang The Simplanos.
The Butcher's was probably our best show, actually - the Oakridge locals really got into it and gave as good as they got, which made for a lot of fun.
We raised £476.76 for Longfields and Acorns Hospices.
Thanks in alphabetical order to: Amber, Dan, Dave, Dean, Doug, Jake, Lucca, Neil, Rob, Sam, and Toni.
Special mentions for Mark, our musical director and squeezebox maestro, and for Dean, who only moved to the village from Ireland last year and pitched straight in.
There is some discussion of staging a Summer Mummers, and the script for next Christmas has already started percolating under the working title THE OAKRIDGE SCROOGE: HOW BISLEY SAVED CHRISTMAS.
Thanks in particular to Dave Partridge for driving the whole thing; to Julian Partridge at The Stirrup Cup for allowing us to ‘rehearse' there in the weeks beforehand, to Bev and Eve for bacon sarnies on the morning, and to them all for hosting our final show; to Henry at The Woolpack, to Ben at The Butcher's Arms, and to The Bear for hosting our other ‘performances'; and, finally, to Shane and Ceri Nash for their sterling efforts with the collection buckets.
The Butcher's was probably our best show, actually - the Oakridge locals really got into it and gave as good as they got, which made for a lot of fun.
We raised £476.76 for Longfields and Acorns Hospices.
Thanks in alphabetical order to: Amber, Dan, Dave, Dean, Doug, Jake, Lucca, Neil, Rob, Sam, and Toni.
Special mentions for Mark, our musical director and squeezebox maestro, and for Dean, who only moved to the village from Ireland last year and pitched straight in.
There is some discussion of staging a Summer Mummers, and the script for next Christmas has already started percolating under the working title THE OAKRIDGE SCROOGE: HOW BISLEY SAVED CHRISTMAS.
Thanks in particular to Dave Partridge for driving the whole thing; to Julian Partridge at The Stirrup Cup for allowing us to ‘rehearse' there in the weeks beforehand, to Bev and Eve for bacon sarnies on the morning, and to them all for hosting our final show; to Henry at The Woolpack, to Ben at The Butcher's Arms, and to The Bear for hosting our other ‘performances'; and, finally, to Shane and Ceri Nash for their sterling efforts with the collection buckets.
