Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 10, 1899.djvu/216

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Christmas Mummers at Rugby.

Newbold.

Father Christmas . . . John How.

St. George .... J. Walton.

Turkish Knight . . . Henry Clarke.

Doctor Brown . . . . T. Pacey.

Moll Finney (Mother of the Turkish Knight) . . . Edward Forster.

Humpty Jack .... J. Harris.

Beelzebub ... C. AUis.

Big Head and Little Wits . . G. Haywood.

Costumes (Newbold).

Father Christmas: Cap, long white beard, staff, the clothes deckt out with a variety of ribbons and snippets.

St. George: As becomes a British hero, he wears a military cap (of the Rugby Boy's Brigade), with stripes of tape sewn on breast and arm; on the upper arm a kind of cross or star. He bears a sword. Corked moustache.

Turkish Knight: Stripes of tape on breast, and (of all things in the world) a cross on his arm; a kind of beehive hat, quite oriental-looking, and very likely traditional. Sword, corked moustache.

Doctor Brown: Very professional tall hat, with a spray of leaves and feathers in the brim. Corked moustache.

Moll Finney: Girl's hat and skirt.

Humpty Jack: Rags and snippets all over his coat, and on his back a number of rag dolls.

Beelzebub: Face blackened, long coat turned inside out, a kind of turban on his head, and a huge club of the shape of a pestle He does nothing but "enter" and say a line or two; did he originally carry off the Turkish Knight, or is he the representative of the dragon? The Warwickshire mummers never heard of a dragon.

Big Head and Little Wits: Coat turned inside out, head padded to appear big. His object is merely to sing a song.

[The players grouped together in the background. Father Christmas steps forward.]

Enter Father Christmas.

Father C. I open the door, I enter in,