Christmas Mummering

---

Being raised in Newfoundland and Labrador, Gary celebrates several holidays in conjunction with Christmas that were new and unfamiliar to his Kansas wife. Boxing Day which is celebrated on December 26th is once such holiday. This is a legal Canadian Holiday and in Labrador is traditionally a day when people go visiting house to house. January 6, referred to in the song, The Twelve Days of Christmas, marks the official end of the season. If you take down your Christmas decorations prior to this time, you are considered like Scrooge and not enjoying the full holiday.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, you can go mummering any time during the Twelve Days of Christmas. Gary says mummering is basically a semi-Halloween experience during Christmas. People dress up in costumes and try to camouflage who they are. They stop at neighbors' homes and knock on the door and yell, "Any mummerers allowed?" The neighbors let them in and try to guess who they are. While they are guessing, they feed them, give them a drink, dance a few jigs or reels with them, and then send them on their way. Men may dress as women or women may dress as men. Often sweaters are put on over heavy winter coats to help conceal the identity of the mummerer. Unmatched shoes, often worn on the opposite feet may be part of the disguise; it is not uncommon to see a running shoe on one foot and a snow boot on the other. About anything goes as long as the mummerer is dressed for the cold weather and his or her identity is hidden.

Minors, their identities and ages concealed by costumes, go mummering in hopes of getting a drink of alcohol.

Unfortunately, the mummering tradition is fading because of the aging population and the fear that incidents which have occurred in other areas where people in the guise of mummerers enter a home to cause mischief or commit criminal acts.