The Mummers coming to maintain ancient tradition at CAMRA award-winning pub
An age old tradition will be observed on Saturday night as the Aldworth Mummers return to the village's CAMRA award-winning pub for the 48th year.
The roving players, who by custom remain anonymous, will perform outside The Bell at 6pm.
Mummers’ plays, traditionally performed in villages around the midwinter solstice, are loosely based on the legend of St George and the dragon, and symbolise the struggle between good and evil, death and rebirth.
Cheered on and heckled by the pub customers, a number of characters take centre stage at Aldworth. Two of them engage in bloody swordplay – one a Turkish knight, the other King George. The loser is revived in a comedic ‘miracle’ by a Quack doctor, representing the reawakening the earth from the death of winter.
The players, in various guises, have performed regularly since 1976, at numerous local hostelries in the area. Former Aldworth villager Michael Claridge, now living in Beedon, was part of that original cast. He recalls that there have been many memorable moments over the years, but one that sticks in his memory happened in the second year of the play.
“As we strode on the forecourt of The Bell we noticed that Jack [the late Jack Macaulay, then landlord] in his role as Doctor - sporting a frock coat and top hat and carrying his black bag - was also equipped with his ‘over and under’ shotgun.
“No one thought for a moment it was loaded - how wrong we were! At a prescribed moment he discharged it into the night air and this was immediately followed by a dead pheasant crashing to the ground among us.
“The bird had been surreptitiously propelled from a bedroom window by a young Hugh [Jack’s son and now landlord] under the cover of darkness. A historic moment!”
The actors identities are kept a strict secret, although it is rumoured that some may actually come from Aldworth itself and have been engaging in secret rendezvous behind the closed doors of The Bell taproom. Maintaining the anonymity of the players is key, as they say bad luck follows if a performer is recognised.
Some accounts date the mumming tradition back to pagan times, others to the medieval period, but it is now thought that the type of play popular today dates from after the mid-18th century.
Although the term mummers has been in use since the Middle Ages, no scripts survive from then and it may have been a term for various types of strolling players.
• Prior to the mummers performance, at 5pm, villagers will gather around the well for Carols @ The Bell with St Mary's Church to sing some classic carols and enjoy refreshments together. Everyone is welcome.
