Jack Devereux on the mumming tradition in south east Wexford.
Jack Devereaux from the village of Kilmore County Wexford is the holder of a wealth of local lore and traditions from his locality. He has been passing on his store of Yola words to journalist and lexicographer Diarmaid Ó Muirithe, who pays credit to his,
Extraordinary knowledge of the mumming of south east Wexford.
Mumming was one of the main forms of entertainment for the community in Kilmore when Jack Devereux was young. He also served his time with the Kilmore Mummers.
After harvest time a group of men would clean out a farm barn in advance of the performance of a play. It would not take long for local people to hear that a night out was being planned, and
All roads lead there.
The evening began with music and set dancing. At seven o'clock there would be knock on the door, and the musicians would strike up a march, as the Captain (head of the mumming group) and his men made their entrance.
A mumming play is divided into movements consisting of dancing, music and rhyming verse performed by each character in turn.
The main characters in Kilmore's mummers included the Captain, Prince George, Saint Patrick, Napoleon Bonaparte, Lord Wellington, The Grand Signor of Italy, the Turkish Emperor. The Doctor claims that his medicine is made from amongst other things,
The width of a weasel
And the wool of a frog
And fourteen ounces of September fog.
Daniel O'Connell also makes an appearance,
I am the man you call brave Dan
Your friend on each occasion
The first member to sit in Parliament
Of the Catholic persuasion.
Wrapping up the performance, the Captain thanks the hosts, musicians and all present, before a final dance and the group exit the venue to music.
This episode of 'The Pure Drop' was broadcast on 14 November 1993. The presenter is Paddy Glackin.
