I love your magazine and have been reading it for years. I am sending a short story that I wrote about mummering in Newfoundland. I have fond memories of this, growing up in Newfoundland as a young boy, and think of it often when I dress up in costumes. Mummering in Newfoundland at Christmas Time As remembered by Brendan Madden I’d like to introduce you to mummering in Newfoundland through my own personal experience. Mummering originated during the 16th century by way of Irish and U.K. tradition. A mummer is defined by Dictionary.com as “A person who wears a mask or fantastic costume while merrymaking or taking part in a pantomime, especially at Christmas and other festive seasons.” Mummers disguised themselves in old clothing and wore masks over their faces, going door to door in search of refreshment. It was popular in the smaller communities and outports in Newfoundland from Boxing Day and into the New Year (Old Christmas). I was born on the southside of Newfoundland in St John’s in 1953. At the age of 12, we moved to the Southern Shore and settled in a small fishing community. It was during our first Christmas in our new home that I had my first experience with mummering. It was Boxing Day in 1965 when there was a knock on the door. I opened the door and there stood three of the strangest characters I had ever seen. One looked like a man and the other two appeared to be women. I ran from the living room, yelling for my dad, and he let them in. They were dressed in very old clothes, and their faces were disguised so they looked like beggars. One of the women had an accordion and immediately started playing it. My dad, an avid tap dancer, jumped to the middle of the floor and started dancing like crazy. All of my brothers and sisters were laughing and clapping and having a great time. When the music stopped, my mom was the first one to try and guess who they were. She guessed wrong, and my dad poured two of them a drink of screech. They lifted their masks a little and drank their drinks. The lady gave the accordion to another mummer, who I thought was a man, and he started to play another song. The women grabbed my mom and started dancing a Newfie jig. We all started clapping and laughing all over again. When the music stopped, my mother and the other lady sat on the couch side by side, laughing. My dad jumped up from his chair and said to the woman, “I know who you are, you are John Boyle, you live just up the road!” Sure enough, the woman pulled off her mask, laughing hysterically and revealed himself to be John Boyle. My mom looked at the man and yelled, “Ann.” He pulled of his mask and there was John’s wife Ann. I looked at the other woman and said, “Janice” (my school friend). She too, pulled off her mask. That was my first experience with mummering, and to this day I enjoy hearing the accordion and dressing up in costume at Halloween.   Submitted By: NULL