Category Archives: Archival Moments

“Genealogy, sex, …. and the place of archives.“

Archival Moment

January 16, 1888

It has long been recognized that people are passionate about their family and their family origins, in fact genealogy is considered one of the most popular hobbies in the world.

Genealogy is the second most popular hobby in the U.S. after gardening, according to ABC News, and the second most visited category of websites, after pornography. It’s a billion-dollar industry that has spawned profitable websites, television shows, scores of books and — with the advent of over-the-counter genetictest kits — a cottage industry in DNA ancestry testing.

There was a time in Newfoundland when genealogists were frustrated; there were no official institutions in place to help them to build a family tree. One of the first residents of the colony (now province) to recognize this reality was James Murray a St. John’s, Water Street merchant. In January 1888 Murray wrote to the St. John’s newspaper the Evening Telegram:

“I cannot but express my regret; even at this late day, no effective steps have yet been taken in this colony by which genealogical records may be kept in a public, official and systematic way. As we may fairly assume that the colony has now a definite future before it, I think that no further time should be lost in supplying this lack of vital statistics, the last, but not least, distinguishing mark of civilization.”

Another decade was to pass before the recommendations of Murray were to be heeded. Civil registration started in Newfoundland and Labrador in 1891. Beginning at that time, all clergy were required to register with the government, all baptisms, marriages and burials conducted within their jurisdiction. Prior to 1891, no such central registry existed, so the only records of baptism, marriage or burial were the ones held by the churches.

It was not until 1956 that a grant from the Carnegie Foundation of New York allowed a group of academics at Memorial University of Newfoundland to begin to collect organize and describe various collections of historic government records which included marriage, birth and death registers.

In 1959 the Provincial Government of Newfoundland passed the Historic Objects, Sites and Records Act which established the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador (PANL). At that point the records were transferred to PANL located in the Colonial Building on Military Road.

In 2005 the Provincial Archives Division was established in The Rooms.

It was ironic that Murray who was so passionate about keeping records in a “public, official and systematic way’ in the Great Fire of 1892, which razed much of St. John’s, lost all that was dear to him. While the Murray premises were spared, the records (that he held so dear) were destroyed when the safe in which they were stored was opened too quickly after the conflagration.

Recommended Archives: Contact the Rooms Provincial Archives at (709) 757-8088 or archives@therooms.ca

Recommended Archival Collection: At The Rooms Provincial Archives: https://www.therooms.ca/collections-research/genealogy-research

Recommended Reading: Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland E.R. Seary (Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1976). Corrected edition by William J. Kirwin. (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1998

Mummer, struck me a violent blow with a broom

ARCHIVAL MOMENT

Mummer, struck me a violent blow with a broom

January 9, 1860

Mummer created by Stephanie Baker Sutton

On January 9, 1860 John Charles Snelgrove of Harbour Grace a fisherman swore before Robert John Pinsent, her Majesty’s Justice of the Peace in that town:

“On last Friday night (January 2, 1860) at about nine o’clock, I was on the main street in Caplin Cove, Harbour Grace in the District of the aforesaid when some MUMMERS came up and one of them named Henry Critch of Harbour Grace, Blacksmith, struck me a violent blow with a broom stick on my shoulder, I told him to leave me alone – but he would not, he struck me several blows more with the stick and knocked me down and beat me severely on my body and face, leaving marks on my face and body, he broke his broom stick on my body from the force of the blow he gave me. I did nothing at all to him. I pray that the said Henry Critch may be required to answer my complaint and be further death with according to law.”

The Justice of the Peace was not amused at the shenanigans of Henry Critch and his “mummer” friends and was quick to convict, sentencing Mr. Critch to pay a fine of one-pound sterling and to be imprisoned ten days.

In the Christmas tradition of mummering, friends and neighbours conceal their identities by adopting various disguises, covering their faces, and by modifying their speech, posture and behavior.

It was not surprising that some, using these disguises, would be up to no good. Some in disguise would use the mummering season to retaliate against those that they disliked or had some grudge to settle.

In order to control the violence associated with mummering such that had been experienced by Mr. Snelgrove, five months after the Snelgrove decision ( June 1861) the Newfoundland government passed an act which dictated that:

“any Person who shall be found… without a written Licence from a Magistrate, dressed as a Mummer, masked, or otherwise disguised, shall be deemed guilty of a Public Nuisance”. Offenders were to pay “a Fine not exceeding Twenty Shillings”, or to serve a maximum of seven days’ imprisonment (Consolidated Acts of Newfoundland, 1861: 10).

Recommended Archival Collection: At the Rooms Provincial Archives, St. John’s. GN5 /3/B/19 Box 24File 1R59 – A – 3

Recommended Song: Mummer Song: Original 1987 uncut TV broadcast. Newfoundland Christmas tradition inspired this hit Simani song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8OPy7De3bk

Recommended Reading: Any Mummers ’Lowed In? Christmas Mummering Traditions in Newfoundland and Labrador. Flanker Press, St. John’s, NL. 2014. Folklorist Dale Jarvis traces the history of the custom in Newfoundland and Labrador and charts the mummer’s path through periods of decline and revival. Using archival records, historic photographs, oral histories, and personal interviews with those who have kept the tradition alive, he tells the story of the jannies themselves.

Recommended Reading: MUMMERS ON TRIAL Mumming, Violence and the Law in Conception Bay and St. John’s,Newfoundland, 1831-18631 JOY FRASER Memorial University of Newfoundland St. John’s: http://www.shimajournal.org/issues/v3n2/h.%20Fraser%20Shima%20v3n2%2070-88.pdf

Replica fighter plane to leave The Rooms

The Telegram, January 5, 2018

http://www.thetelegram.com/news/local/replica-fighter-plane-to-leave-the-rooms-174628/

First World War airplane at The Rooms. Alick Tsui Photo

Old Christmas Day

ARCHIVAL MOMENT

January 6

“Old Christmas Day” or “Twelfth Day” or “Epiphany”.

The season of Christmas ends on “Old Christmas Day,” January 6^th also known as “Twelfth Day.”

The name “Old Christmas” stems from a piece of legislation introduced before the Parliament in London, England called the Calendar Act of 1751 that came into effect in 1752. Before the calendar was reformed, England celebrated Christmas on January 6^th.

Essentially what happened in 1752 was that twelve days were dropped from the then existing calendar (Julian) calendar that was used in England and Ireland and the new Gregorian calendar (instituted by Pope Gregory XIII), was adopted.

In 1752 purists said that the “real” Christmas Day was not on December 25th, but January 6th, 365 days after the previous Christmas.

In centuries past, Christmas was deemed to start at sunset on Dec 24 and so the 12th night following it was January 5. Nowadays, people count from Dec 25 and so assume Twelfth Night falls on the 6th.

Christmas nativity

Epiphany – January 6 – is the day when the Church, theologically, marks the arrival of the wise men – magi – to give their gifts to the baby Jesus: the day when some will add the wise men to their nativity scenes.

In Newfoundland it was a night to listen and watch. It is said that at the exact stroke of midnight on Old Christmas Eve, the farm animals, some kneeling will start moo-ing and baa-ing and bellowing… not in their normal way, but almost like they were crying. In Newfoundland many children struggled to stay awake to witness the phenomena. (Sadly they would fall asleep only to hear stories from their parents.) This belief harkens back to the stable in Bethlehem, and to the animals that were present when the Christ Child was revealed to the wise men .

In Newfoundland the tradition is that the Christmas tree should be taken down on Old Christmas Night, because it is bad luck to leave it up after that. In Greespond, Bonavista Bay small gifts were distributed to the children on Twelfth Night or Epiphany in celebration of the gifts that the wise men brought to the baby Jesus

Also in Newfoundland there is the established tradition of twelfth-cake and twelfth bun and bon fires on Old Christmas Day. These traditions are cited in the Dictionary of Newfoundland English. The stories go that on the

“last night we[‘d] make a pan of sweet buns, twelfth buns, and give ’em to the people. Every house we’d go to we’d give ’em a bun for Twelfth Night.”

It is said that the cake was baked as part of the refreshments offered to the clergy who would visit homes on the feast of the Epiphany, January 6th, to bless each house in the parish.

The tradition of bonfires in Newfoundland is also supported. The Dictionary of Newfoundland English reports:

“I have heard my grandmother (born 1835) talk about the ‘Twelfth Cake’, and an old gentleman of about the same age, but living in a different part of the island, told me that he had heard his father say that it was the custom to make twelve small bonfires in the village on Twelfth Night.”

A tradition that had remained dormant in Newfoundland is the Irish tradition of “Nollaig na mBan” or “Women’s Christmas” this was an old custom that’s still celebrated by women all over Ireland. It goes back to the days when large families were the norm. Men never lifted a finger in the house to help, and were never expected to. But each year, after the Christmas holiday, tired women finally got a break – for one day, at least. On January 6th, men would take over of the housework, offering women a chance to go out to relax with each other. It was a tradition that is deeply rooted especially in Kerry and Cork, home to many of our ancestors. Several informants suggested that the tradition was also observed especially in Western Newfoundland, when the women gathered on Twelfth Night – Old Christmas Day. Many “new” Irish now living in Newfoundland have also revived the tradition by gathering on Old Christmas.

Recommended Archival Collection: Parsons Christmas Annual, 1899. Contains assorted articles, stories, poetry and photographs, some of which are Christmas-themed

Recommended Reading: Dictionary of Newfoundland English: http://www.heritage.nf.ca/dictionary/

NEW Royal Newfoundland Regiment postcard and photograph album now online

Royal Newfoundland Regiment postcard and photograph album now online

Eric Ellis Collection

Photo Credit: Eric Ellis: A 8-34; H Company, Newfoundland Regiment (detail)

The Rooms has in recent year made it a priority to scan and make available online material related to the First World War (1914 – 1918) and the most recent online offering is the Eric Ellis album of photographs and postcard. (VA 77). The 150 photographs and postcards were collected by Ellis, a member of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment.

Eric Ellis was educated in St. John’s. He enlisted in the First Newfoundland Regiment (later the Royal Newfoundland Regiment) on 9 October 1915, he was 20 years old. He served in the army until the end of World War I and was promoted three times: Corporal (27 October 1915), Acting Sergeant (11 August 1916) and Second Lieutenant (18 May 1917). During his service he earned a certificate from the Scottish Command School of Musketry which qualified him in small arms instruction. Following active duty in France, Belgium and Germany (1918), he was discharged on 15 February 1919 and was placed on reserve. After the war he married Elsie H. Churchill (1892-1975) in 1923; they had one daughter, Elsie C..

By 1935, Ellis was an assistant supervisor in the Butterine Factory in St. John’s. The following year, he was employed as assistant supervisor at the Browning Harvey beverage bottling plant. He worked there for many years and attained the position of plant manager of the company’s St. John’s Ropewalk Lane plant.

Ellis died in 1982 and was interred in the Topsail Road Anglican Cemetery, St. John’s.

The photographs and postcards depict members of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment and activities, scenes of war damage [1914-1919] and scenes throughout Europe including Belgium, France, Germany and Russia.

To view the collection: http://gencat.eloquent-systems.com/therooms_permalink.html?key=47963

Plane readies to take off from the Rooms

A replica of a Nieuport II, French single seater First World War fighter plane from 1917 that landed at The Rooms in November is ready for take off

This bi-plane was one of the aircraft that flew as part of a commemorative flight over the Vimy Memorial on the hundredth anniversary of the battle – April 9th, 2017.

Join us on January 4, 2018 at 2:30 PM at The Rooms as Larry Ricker one of the team that flew the Nieuport II talks about his experience at Vimy and Beaumont Hamel and the place of flight in our First World War history

Newfoundland Role in First World War Flight

During the First World War (1914-1918) Newfoundlanders were determined that ‘Our Boys’ who had signed up to fight for King and Country would be equipped as well as any other country in the world. St. John’s newspaper headlines read “Give our Boys Aeroplanes”. The St. John’s newspaper the Daily Star read; “we have given ‘ Our Boys’ to the empire to do their bit. Let us equip them to do it as effectively as possible.”

In 1915 the Patriotic Association of Newfoundland led a fundraising effort to supply aircraft for the war effort. The collection drive turned its attention toward an “Airplane Fund” to purchase warplanes for the Imperial forces. By the late summer of 1915, the fund had raised $53,000. The government immediately purchased two Gnome-Vickers airplanes, at a cost of roughly $10,000 each. After some discussion, the Patriotic Association decided to buy another airplane. Donations continued to come in and by 1917, five planes had been purchased for the British air services.

Aviation historians have identified at least thirty three (33) NL flyers, with some aces, medal winners and some truly unique experiences. Five of the more celebrated flyers were Ronald Ayre, Howard Vincent Reid, Roy S. Grandy, John M. Melee and Carl Frederick Falkenberg.

Howard Vincent Reid joined the Newfoundland Regiment at the outbreak of the war and was one of the First 500. After arriving in Britain he transferred to the Royal Naval Air Service and became the first Newfoundland Pilot. It is likely that because Howard had joined the Naval Air Service that his father Sir William Reid purchased an aircraft for the Overseas Club.

Ronald Ayre was studying in England when war broke out. He earned his pilot’s wings and flew in Europe. Awarded the Military Cross in 1917 (after two successful bombing missions), he gained promotion to Captain. After the war, he worked in the family business, Ayre & Sons.

Roy S. Grandy was born in Bay Largent, Fortune Bay, he enlisted with the newfoundland Regiment in 1914 serving in the Gallipoli Campaign. In 1916 he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps, his natural aptitude for flying eventually saw him being transferred to the School of Special Flying Gosport as a flying instructor.

John M. LeMee in 1915 left his job in the paper mill in Grand Falls and signed up with the Newfoundland Regiment. He was one of the few survivors of Beaumont Hamel. In December 1916 he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps. In April 1917 his plane crashed into the English Channel, he survived the crash and was awarded a testimonial from the Royal Humane Society for his bravery.

Carl Frederick Falkenberg DFC (2) was born in Botwood, Newfoundland. In June 1917 he was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps, as a pilot and on February 28, 1918 joined Royal Air Force Squadron No. 84 in Flez France, flying SE5As at the start of the German spring offensive. On April 29, 1918 Falkenberg, shared, with another pilot, in the destruction of a German two-seater. Lieutenant Falkenberg was wounded a second time on May 10th 1918, when he crashed, but was soon back in combat. From May to August 1918, he served, as an instructor, in the original Canadian Air Force formed in England. On September 1st, 1918, he was awarded his first of two Distinguished Flying Crosses (DFCs).

His citation read in part as follows: “A bold and skillful airman who has destroyed four enemy machines and driven down four out of control.” By October 20, 1918 he had destroyed a total of 14 aircraft and one balloon and was awarded his second DFC. After WW1, he became a salesman for North American Life Insurance. At the outbreak of WW2, Falkenberg joined the RCAF as an administration officer, serving as Commanding Officer of 4 Training Headquarters, Calgary and at No.2 Initial Training School, Regina Saskatchewan. He died in 1980.

Do you know the names of any First World War flyers? Love to hear from you.

Landed at The Rooms

What is happening at The Rooms?

Thursday, January 4, 2018

2:30 pm: Presentation

3:00 pm: Documentary “Flightpath of Heroes” at in the theatre.

Included with the cost of admission.

This documentary presents historical information about the Battle at Vimy Ridge and covers the modern day Vimy Flight teams’ efforts to fly over the Vimy monument which happened this past spring.

Happy New Year Auld Lang Syne – Times Gone By

ARCHIVAL MOMENT

December 31

Auld Lang Syne – Times Gone By

The most commonly sung song for English-speakers on New Year’s eve,“Auld Lang

Photo Credit: The Rooms Provincial Archives: A 62-58. A Joyful New Year from Newfoundland.

Syne” is a Scottish song that was first published by the poet Robert Burns in the 1796 edition of the book, Scots Musical Museum. Burns transcribed it (and made some refinements to the lyrics) after he heard it sung by an old man from the Ayrshire area ofScotland, Burns’s homeland.

“Auld Lang Syne” literally translates as “old long since” and means “times gone by.” The song asks whether old friends and times will be forgotten and promises to remember people of the past with fondness, “For auld lang syne, we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet.”

There’s plenty of documentary evidence establishing “Auld Lang Syne” as a Hogmanay favorite since the mid-19th century:

The company joined hands in the great music room at midnight and sang ‘Auld Lang Syne’ as the last stroke of 12 sounded.
– The New York Times (1896)

It was a Canadian bandleader Guy Lombardo who popularized the song. Lombardo first heard “Auld Lang Syne” in his hometown of London, Ontario, where it was sung by Scottish immigrants. When he and his brothers formed the dance band, Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians, the song became one of their standards. Lombardo played the song at midnight at a New Year’s eve party at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City in 1929, and a tradition was born.

The song became such a New Year’s tradition that “Life magazine wrote that if Lombardo failed to play ‘Auld Lang Syne,’ the American public would not believe that the new year had really arrived.”

There is – as with all things – a Newfoundland connection. The musical Auld Lang Syne was written by Newfoundland born playwright Hugh Abercrombie Anderson. Born in St. John’s , Anderson was the son of the politician John Anderson. In 1921 he became manager of a theatrical business in New York owned by his brother John Murray Anderson. Under the pen name of Hugh Abercrombie he wrote the musical Auld Lang Syne , a musical romance in two acts. It was used as the theme song in the 1940 movie Waterloo Bridge.

Recommended Video – Sing Along: St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. New Year’s Eve, 2012. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcwrVifbo4g

TIMES GONE BY

Should old acquaintances be forgotten,
And never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintances be forgotten,
And days of long ago!

Chorus:
For times gone by, my dear
For times gone by,
We will take a cup of kindness yet
For times gone by.

We two have run about the hillsides
And pulled the daisies fine,
But we have wandered many a weary foot
For times gone by.

We two have paddled (waded) in the stream
From noon until dinner time,
But seas between us broad have roared
Since times gone by.

And there is a hand, my trusty friend,
And give us a hand of yours,
And we will take a goodwill drink (of ale)
For times gone by!

And surely you will pay for your pint,
And surely I will pay for mine!
And we will take a cup of kindness yet
For times gone by!

Happy New Year.

I hope that you are enjoying your “Archival Moments”.

Gun salute rings in the New Year

ARCHIVAL MOMENT

The “firing off the guns” on New Year’s Eve is a long established tradition in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The “feu de joie” or “fire of joy” is a gun salute that was common place in Newfoundland in the past, an activity that is associated with bringing in the New Year.

The tradition continues in many communities in Newfoundland and Labrador, at the stroke of mid night gun shots are fired as residents bring in the New Year.

In an article entitled “The Folk-Lore of Newfoundland and Labrador,” appearing in the St. John’s newspaper “The Evening Herald,” (December 29, 1892), the Anglican Missionary priest, Rev. Arthur C. Waghorne discusses Christmas traditions that are observed in Newfoundland which “either continue to prevail, or have been only lately disused.” One of the traditions that he refers to is the “firing off the gun.”

In his article he notes that the tradition of the “firing off the gun” is not as popular as it was fifty years ago confirming that the tradition has been established in Newfoundland since at least 1842 and perhaps much longer.

One could speculate that the tradition might have been established in Newfoundland as early as 1621 with the arrival of Lord Baltimore’s first settlers in Ferryland. We do know that the practice in North America dates to at least 1642 when a law in Maryland (also established by Lord Baltimore) was passed ordering that:

“No man to discharge 3 guns within the space of ¼ hour… except to give or answer alarm.”

The law was introduced in Maryland because gunshots were the common method of warning neighbors of an emergergency (fire) or a pending attack. Because so many people were shooting guns while celebrating on New Years Eve and other celebratory occasions, it was impossible to know what was happening.

It is a tradition that is gradually fading – with the “shooting in the New Year” being gradually replaced by fire works that have the advantage of supplying both the noise and visual effect.

It is generally accepted that the practice of shooting off the guns on New Years Eve comes from the belief that evil spirits dislike loud noises. The guns were fired off to ward off any bad luck that the spirits might bring.”

New Year’s Eve Countdown & Fireworks : When the clock strikes midnight on Dec. 31, the people of Newfoundland are the first in North America to celebrate the New Year.

Pet owners are reminded that the noise associated with ‘gun fire’ and ‘fireworks’ will likely be a frightening experience for your pet – please attend to your pets, most pets would prefer to be inside during the fireworks display.

Recommended Reading: Devine, P.K. Devine’s Folk Lore of Newfoundland in Old Words, Phrases and Expressions, Their Origin and Meaning (St John’s: Robinson & Co., Ltd., 1937)

“They had veils over their faces … mummers”

ARCHIVAL MOMENT

December 27, 1862

Photo Credit: The Rooms Provincial Archives: B 4-158; Mummering inSt. John’s, Newfoundland

In Newfoundland the tradition of mummering or jannying is often associated with the mummer’s parade, home visitation, music and the occasional drink! The tradition has a darker side.

Few people know that in order to mummer in Newfoundland participants at one time needed a license to do so and that for almost 100 years mummering was outlawed!!

In the tradition of mummering, friends and neighbours conceal their identities by adopting various disguises, covering their faces, and by modifying their speech, posture and behavior.

In order to control mummering and the violence associated with it in June 1861, the Newfoundland government passed an act which dictated that:

“any Person who shall be found… without a written Licence from a Magistrate, dressed as a Mummer, masked, or otherwise disguised, shall be deemed guilty of a Public Nuisance”. Offenders were to pay “a Fine not exceeding Twenty Shillings”, or to serve a maximum of seven days’ imprisonment (Consolidated Acts of Newfoundland, 1861: 10).

On December 27, 1862 in the Town of Harbour Grace, Constable Joseph Nichols arrested and dragged before the local magistrate, Joseph Pynn and a few of his friends, Constable Nichols told the court:

“they had veils over their faces and was disguised in female clothing and the other in men’s dress, they were acting in all respects as mummers.”

The magistrate was not amused, Jospeh Pynn was “fined each 20 pounds sterling or 7 days imprisonment.” Pynn and his friends were not about to spend Christmas in jail – the court record shows that “Stephen Andrews paid the fine and all discharged.”

The idea of a license to mummer did not go over very well. Mummering was a passion ingrained in the culture of the Newfoundland people. The St. John’s newspaper the Public Ledger in January 1862 suggested that 150 licenses had been issued during the preceding Christmas season, but that many more participants in the custom had failed to comply with the new legislation.

Recommended Archival Collection: The Rooms Provincial Archives: GN5 /3B/19 Box13, File Number 3

Recommended Song: Mummer Song: Original 1987 uncut TV broadcast. Newfoundland Christmas tradition inspired this hit Simani song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8OPy7De3bk

Recommended Reading: Any Mummers ’Lowed In? Christmas Mummering Traditions in Newfoundland and Labrador. Flanker Press, St. John’s, NL. 2014. Folklorist Dale Jarvis traces the history of the custom in Newfoundland and Labrador and charts the mummer’s path through periods of decline and revival. Using archival records, historic photographs, oral histories, and personal interviews with those who have kept the tradition alive, he tells the story of the jannies themselves.

An Act Outlawing Mummering

ARCHIVAL MOMENT

December 28, 1860

Hobby Horse one of the traditional mummer disguises.

On December 28, 1860, in Bay Roberts, Nfld., Isaac Mercer was strolling home from work with his two brothers-in-law when unexpectedly they became victims of a crew of rowdy masked mummers. The three men were beaten until Isaac Mercer’s body went limp. When the brutes scattered and disappeared into the night, Mercer’s friends, bruised and battered, carried him to help. The next day, Mercer was pronounced dead.

The use of disguises also permitted those of the poorer classes to harass the wealthy merchant classes or often allowed rival religious sects the opportunity to vent their hostility while in masquerade. Newfoundland historian D.W. Prowse observed that “men were often beaten badly for old grievances by the fools.”

The mummers are almost always described as carrying some combination of hatchets, sticks, ropes and whips, all of which clearly have the capacity to serve as aggressive weapons. Court records describe men and women armed with “bludgeons & swabs dipped in Blubber” which they rubbed into their victims’ faces and clothing, as well as swords and “loaded guns”, carpet brooms, blown bladders filled with pebbles, the weapon of choice was a hobby horse, used to charge individuals.

The tragedy of Mercer’s death combined with other abuses that were inflicted while in masquerade fueled a decision that lead on June 25, 1861, to the passing of an act outlawing mummering. The Act dictated that:

“any Person who shall be found… without a written License from a Magistrate, dressed as a Mummer, masked, or otherwise disguised, shall be deemed guilty of a Public Nuisance”. Offenders were to pay “a Fine not exceeding Twenty Shillings”, or to serve a maximum of seven days’ imprisonment (Consolidated Acts of Newfoundland, 1861: 10).

Recommended Archival Collection: The Rooms Provincial Archives: GN5 /3/B/19 Box 13, File Number 3 and explore GN 2/1-3 and GN 5. Criminal trials involving mummers and mummering.

New Term: blown bladders: inflated animal bladder used as a mock weapon by Christmas mummers … chasing people and striking them with whips at the ends of some of which were attached inflated bladders.

Recommended Song: Mummer Song: Original 1987 uncut TV broadcast. Newfoundland Christmas tradition inspired this hit Simani song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8OPy7De3bk