Mummering
mummering christmastime housevisiting tradition practiced newfoundland labrador ireland city philadelphia part united kingdom also known mumming janneying typically involves group friend family dress disguise visit home within community neighboring community twelve day christmas mummer welcomed house often variety informal performance may include dance music joke recitation host must guess mummer identity offering food drink may poke prod mummer ask question make challenge host mummer may stuff costume crossdress speak inhaling ingressive speech mummer identified remove disguise spend social time host travel group next home old christmas custom england ireland mummering version modern form traced back newfoundland th century although unclear precisely tradition brought newfoundland english irish earliest record date back state tradition brought newfoundland irish immigrant county wexford tradition varied continues vary community community formal aspect tradition mummer play largely died informal housevisiting remaining predominant form june act make provision prevention nuisance introduced response death isaac mercer bay robert mercer murdered group masked mummer december bill made illegal wear disguise public without permission local magistrate mummering rural community continued despite passage bill although practice die larger town city mummering experienced revival thanks locally popular musical duo simani wrote recorded mummer allowed commonly referred mummer song folklorist dr joy fraser noted common many folk revival resurgence christmas mummering newfoundland largely based selective idealised conceptualisation custom part revival one particular form mummering informal housevisit described come represent custom newfoundland whole form equally prominent island’s cultural history received comparatively little attention heritage foundation newfoundland labrador intangible cultural heritage office established would become annual mummer festival culminating mummer parade st john success festival influenced part another revitalization increase interest tradition province ugly stick koliada ķekatas annual mummer festival st john newfoundland christmas tradition memorial university intangible cultural heritage website