A conical headpiece of unplaited straw with a tightly braided band at the base, and decorative braided loops at the top with a tufted straw point. — <i>Zvonimir Bebek, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives </i>

Mummer’s Mask

“For most practising mummers, the folk drama is simply carrying on a harmless folk tradition. But looking at it more closely, it is a rejoicing anarchical pagan tale about the death of the old year and the rebirth in spring.”

—Jim Ledwith, Aughakillymaude Community Mummers

Fearsome heroes of the night

To go mumming is to “make merry in a mask or disguise.” According to Jim Ledwith, leader of the Aughakillymaude Community Mummers, “rural mummers know that mumming is what their parents used to do each winter coming up to Christmastime… It was all about bringing luck.” The ancient tradition of mumming—performing masked, midwinter folk dramas—was represented by two different groups during the 2007 Northern Ireland program. The Aughakillymaude group—also known as the Fermanagh Men of Straw—consider themselves ordinary folk from rural County Fermanagh who keep on the ancient pastime and enjoy causing a seasonal ruckus by storming into homes uninvited and performing their plays. Ledwith has described the antics of their local group as:

“…a motley troupe tramping the roads at all ungodly hours, bringing luck, diversion, and mayhem to those they visit by re-enacting and performing an ancient midwinter hero/combat folk drama that is heavily pregnant with all the pagan symbolism of a midwinter European fertility play.”

Video

The “Men of Straw” of the Aughakillymaude Community Mummers troupe engage the audience before enacting a short play during the 2007 Northern Ireland program.

The mask left for our office is part of the tradition: a typical mummer’s mask, also called a “straw hat.” Said to be made by elderly farmer Patrick Murphy, it is unplaited (not braided) and crowned by a bushel at the top that is meant to portray fire. Traditionally, a green bough of holly is attached to the top of the mask, “to denote the presence of evergreen amid the surrounding decay of midwinter,” as shown above during a Festival performance. At the end of the season, the straw masks and costumes are burned.

At the Festival, the Aughakillymaude Community Mummers mounted photographs in their tent and dressed a mannequin in a straw costume each day. Straw craftsmen demonstrated how to make the straw hats, and visitors could try on different costume pieces. Before performances, the six members of the troupe paraded through the Festival site, followed by a bagpiper or two. Their self-proclaimed goal was to draw crowds for their performance—and the people always came.

—Erin Younger, exhibition curator