[debjohn]

can anyone shed light on the street mummers my granddad talked about
perhaps

'little devildoubt'

or the verse

'here comes me and our old lass
plenty of money and plenty of brass'
ring a bell with sheffielders

[Tuppie]

Hi

It's the opening verse to The Derby Tup.

Here comes me and my owd lass,
Short of .money, short of brass;
It's money I want, it's money I crave,
If you don't give me money I'll sweep you all to t' grave.

As I was going to Derby
All on a market day,
I met the finest tup, sir,
That ever was fed on hay.
Fay-a-lay, laddigo lay.

[2]

This tup was fat behind, sir,
This tup was fat before,
This tup, was nine feet high, sir,
If not a little more.
Fay-a-lay, etc.
[3]
The horns that grew on this tup's head
They were so mighty high,
That every time it shook its head
They rattled against the sky.
Fay-a-lay, etc.

{Dialogue.}
1st Speaker
Is there a butcher in this town?
2nd Speaker.
Our Bob's a blacksmith.
1st Speaker.
I don't want a blacksmith. I want a butcher.
3rd Speaker.
Well! here I am! I'm a butcher!
Where do you want him sticking? In't 'eard. or in't arse?
1st Speaker.
In't 'eard of course.
3rd Speaker
Well ! I'll stick 'im in't arse then.
{He does so and the tup falls down squealing. Then the butcher sticks him in the head.}
{Song continues.}
[All?]
[4]
The butcher that killed this tup, sir,
Was in danger of his life ;
He was up to his knees in blood, sir,
And prayed for a longer life.
Fay-a-lay. etc.

[5]

And all the men of Derby
Came begging for his eyes,
To makes themselves some footballs of,
For they were football size.
Fay-a-lay, etc.
[6]
And all the women of Derby
Came begging for its ears,
To make their leather aprons of
To last them forty years.
Fay-a-lay, etc.
[7]
And all the ringers of Derby
Came begging for its tail,
To ring St. George's passing bell
From the top of Derby jail.
Fay-a-lay, etc.
[8]
And now my song is ended,
I have no more to say ;
Please give us all a Christmas-box
And we will go away.

There's other versions. see http://www.folkplay.info/Texts/CountyIndex.htm
Tuppie

[Tuppie]

This is the last verse of Little Devil Doubt.

Little Devil Doubt

In come Little Devil Doubt,
With my breeches turned inside out.
If you think I am a fool and got no sense,
Put your hand in your pocket and give a few pence.

{Entire company sings We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year.}

Tuppie

[debjohn]

would these songs have been sung on the streets?
possibly by
'knife sharpeners'?

[Tuppie]

Hi

would these songs have been sung on the streets?
possibly by
'knife sharpeners'?

I don't know what there occupations were but they certainly came round on Christmas morning in the early 50s singing (reciting) it in the street.

In Derbyshire they came round the pubs on New Years Eve.

Tuppie

[Appolo]

Mummers' and Guisers' Plays
Calverton Plough Play, a Plough Monday play performed in Calverton village, Nottinghamshire.
Enlarge
Calverton Plough Play, a Plough Monday play performed in Calverton village, Nottinghamshire.

Mummers' and guisers' plays are performed throughout most of Great Britain and Ireland, as well as in Newfoundland and Saint Kitts and Nevis. In England, they are often associated nowadays with the Morris dance and Sword dance groups. Mummers and guisers can be traced back at least to the middle ages, although the key element was visiting people in disguise at Christmas. Similar non-acting mummers continue today in some places. At one time, in the royal courts special allegorical plays were written for the mummers each year - for instance at the court of Edward III, as shown in a 14th Century manuscript, now in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. However, apart from being in rhyme, these plays were nothing like the current traditional plays, whose history only goes back as far as the mid-18th century.

The plays are based on the themes of duality and resurrection and generally involve a battle representing good against evil and usually feature a doctor who has a magic potion which is able to resuscitate a slain character.

In mummers’ plays, the central incident is the killing and restoring to life of one of the characters. First, the characters are introduced in a series of short speeches in which each personage has his own introductory announcement; then comes the drama. The principal characters, presented in a wide variety of manner and style, are a Hero, his chief opponent and a quack Doctor; the defining feature of mumming plays is the Doctor, and the main purpose of the fight is to provide him with a patient to cure. The hero sometimes kills and sometimes is killed by his opponent; in either case, the doctor comes to restore the dead man to life.

The name of the hero is most commonly Saint, King, or Prince George. His principal opponents are the Turkish Knight (in southern England and Turkish Champion in Ireland), or a valiant soldier named Slasher (elsewhere). Other characters include: Old Father Christmas (who introduces some plays), Beelzebub, Little Devil Doubt (who demands money from the audience), Robin Hood (an alternative hero in the Cotswolds), Galoshin (a hero in Scotland), etc. Despite the presence of Saint George, the Dragon rarely appears in these plays. The few instances can all be traced back to a Cornish script published by William Sandys in 1833.

Occasionally, the performers will wear face-obscuring hats or other kinds of headgear, which create the impression of being masked. More often, mummers' faces are blackened or painted red by way of disguise. Many mummers and guisers, however, have no facial disguise at all.

In some parts of Britain and Ireland, the plays are traditionally performed on or near Plough Monday and are therefore known as Plough Plays. Tradition has it that plough boys would take their plays from house to house and perform in exchange for money or gifts, in a similar way to the American custom of Trick-or-treat.

No firm conclusions have been come to regarding the etymology of the word "mummer". It is usually believed to have originated from the Middle English word mum which means "silent" (the plays were originally silent pantomimes), though some people have suggested a connection with mommo, the Greek word for "mask", or mumme, the Danish and Dutch word for "mask". Other possible relationships exist with the words "murmer" and "mutter".

wikipedia
_________

[coyleys]

This site may be of interest to you.
The Mummers Dance, by Loreena MaKennitt
You can play part of the song and follow the lyrics

http://www.quinlanroad.com/exploreth...ets.asp?id=103

As im on the subject of Loreena MaKennitt have a listen to Bonnie Portmore.

http://www.quinlanroad.com/exploreth...isit.asp?id=81

[Myshkyn]

Mumming plays seem to have died out though I remember a revival in December 1972. A group led by Kev McKenna performed outside the catherdral and in several pubs. I'm afraid I can't remember which plays they did.