Winter It Is Coming On
Picture masked figures appearing at your door on a dark winter's evening, their faces hidden behind soot and disguise, ready to perform ancient rituals of death and resurrection. This is mumming, a tradition stretching back centuries. From medieval Europe to its journey across the Atlantic to its dramatic transformation in modern Philadelphia, this episode brings you the story of Christmas mumming and how folk traditions are constantly remade.
Researched, written, and produced by Corinne Wieben with original music by Purple Planet.
Cover image: Illustration from: The Romance of Alexander; Bodleiana Ms. 264, fol. 21v, by Flemish illuminator Jehan de Grise and his workshop, 1338-1344 - http://archivalia.tumblr.com/image/78015168911, Public Domain.
Music
Purple Planet - In the Land of Make Believe
Purple Planet - Our Christmas
Purple Planet - The Gift of Giving
Humoresque
Purple Planet - Sense of Loss
Purple Planet - Shadowlands
Sources
Brody, Alan. The English Mummers and Their Plays: Traces of Ancient Mystery. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1970.
Clegg, Sarah. The Dead of Winter: Beware the Krampus and Other Wicked Christmas Creatures. Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books, 2024.
Fees, Craig. “Mummers and Momoeri: A Response.” Folklore 100, no. 2 (1989): 240-247.
Helm, Alex. Eight Mummers’ Plays. London: Ginn, 1971.
Masters, Patricia Anne. The Philadelphia Mummers: Building Community Through Play. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2007.
Morgan, Gareth. “Mummers and Momoeri.” Folklore 100, no. 1 (1989): 84-87.
Orso, Anna, Valerie Russ, and Chris Brennan. “Given the Mummers’ History, Will they Ever Manage to Not Offend?” TCA Regional News, Jan 11, 2019.
Pearson, Hesketh. Modern Men and Mummers. New York: Harcourt, Brace and company, 1922.
Phythian-Adams, Charles. “Folklore, Customs, and Civic Ritual.” In The Oxford Companion to Local and Family History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
Sponsler, Claire. Ritual Imports: Performing Medieval Drama in America. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2018.
Wickham, Glynne William Gladstone. The Medieval Theatre. 3rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1974; 1987.
