ROOM, ROOM FOR THE CHRISTMAS RHYMERS
MAIDENS View columnist Nemo asked readers to revive memories of the Christmas Rhymers tradition in East Antrim and was pleased to receive this timely contribution from M. Wilson, in Ballyclare:
It used to be a common sight to see bands of about a dozen men and youths wearing masks and 'falsefaces' and dressed in the most extraordinary fashions, roaming the countryside in the evenings before Christmas. These were the Christmas Rhymers, common enough in many parts of Ireland years ago.
The Rhymers were common in Britain and the Continent. In places they were also known as 'Mummers' from the German word 'mumme', meaning a mask.
The custom goes back to the 13th century. The plot is a very old one and variations of it occur in different parts of the country.
The original plot seems to have had a religious background. The story of St. George fighting the infidel Turkish champion and being restored to life after he is slain, is believed to be suggestive of the Resurrection.
From memory, I will try to recall the rhymes and the rhymers as performed in the East Antrim area.
As well as providing good boisterous fun, there was usually a fund-raising effort of a charitable nature as well. It was customary to collect for one or two elderly or handicapped people in need, to supply them with a few bags of coal, or a hamper of groceries to help them over Christmas. If anything was left over, the rhymers would organise a dance or social.
Some troupes of rhymers took much care in their dressing and make-up, but others were not so particular. The dominant outer covering was an old worn shirt, or an Indian meal-bag with holes cut for the head and arms.
Some wore masks, whilst others just blackened their faces with soot. The trouser legs were bound with ropes made from straw. Many favoured conical headgear made from a roll of cardboard, be-ribboned with an abundance of gaily coloured paper streamers.
The 'doctor' was attired in an old frock coat, and he wore either a bowler or a top hat. The usual 'doctor's bag' was also carried.
Jack Straw, as the name suggests, used plenty of straw in his dress, while the Devil, or Be-elzebub, could wear anything - the more fearsome, the better, and he often carried an old brush.
Johnny Funny was usually the smallest member of the party and carried a collection box, which he rattled under the nose of anyone likely to part with a coin.
Every parish had its own troupe of local lads. There were rhymers from Carncastle, Killyglen, Kilwaughter, Ballyboley, Mounthill and Raloo among others.
Sometimes two groups from different areas met and then there were fun and games it was a race to see who could get to the best houses first. I can remember two different sets arriving in our kitchen within an hour of each other.
The boys covered a good mileage and knew all the short-cuts through the fields, but sometimes they failed to negotiate a 'sheugh', with the result that many a kitchen floor had to be washed after their visit.
The play started with a bang on the door, which was pushed open and the first character appeared. He was called 'Room Room' from the first two words of his speech. He carried a stick that was supposed to clear the stage for the rest of the group. Unless you had already seen the Rhymers in action it could be quite a fearsome spectacle.
The verses that follow are common all over County Antrim, with slight variations here and there.
THE CHRISTMAS RHYMERS
Enter 'Room Room':
"Room, room, my gallant boys, come give me room to rhyme.
We've come here to show activity upon this Christmas time.
Active young and active age,
The likes of us was never acted on the stage.
If you don't believe what I say, enter in Prince George and he'll clear the way."
Enter Prince George with sword:
"Here come I, Prince George, from England I have sprung.
I've fought with many warriors and always I have won.
Show me the man that dare me stand!"
Enter Turkish Champion:
Prince George asks, "Who are you, Sir?"
Turkish Champion - "I am the Turkish Champion, from Turkey land I come to fight you, bold Sir George, by name."
Prince George - "Bring out your sword and try Sir. I'll run-my dagger through your heart and make your puddings fly, Sir."
They fight and the Turkish Champion falls, fatally wounded.
Enter Old Woman, crying and sobbing:
"Oh, George, Oh George, what's this you've done?
You've killed and slain my only son,
My only son, my only heir!
How can I stand to see him bleeding there?
Get me a doctor - ten pounds for a doctor!"
Enter Doctor Brown:
"Here comes I, old Doctor Brown
The best old doctor in the town."
Old Woman - "What can you cure, Doctor?
Doctor Brown:
"I can cure the plague within, the plague without,
The palsy and the gout. If there were nine devils in, I could drive 10 out.
There was an old woman, three score and ten.
Her big toe was broken off and I stuck it on again.
Old Woman: "What is your cure, Doctor?"
Doctor Brown:
"Hens pens, peasy weasy,
Bumble's eggs and midges gravy.
The juice o' the poker, the sap o' the tongs,
Three turkey eggs, nine miles long.
Put that into a mouse's bladder
And stir it up with a grey cat's feather,
And pour a drop in Jock's left lug
And he'll rise up and sing a song.
Turkish Champion rises up and sings:
"Once I was dead, but now I'm alive,
God bless the doctor that made me survive."
Prince George comes forward and they shake hands and promise to fight no more."
Enter Big Head:
"Here comes I that never came yet, big heid and little wit.
My heid's sae big and my wit's sae small
I'll dae my best tae please ye all.
If ye don't believe what I say, enter in Big Bellied Ned and he'll clear the way."
Enter Big Bellied Ned:
"Here comes I, Big Bellied Ned.
If you don't give us money, give us plenty of bread.
A half of a bap and a herap of cheese and a penny or two, if you please.
If you don't believe what I say, enter in Oliver Cromwell and he'll clear the way."
Enter Oliver Cromwell:
"Here comes I, Oliver Cromwell, as you may suppose.
I've conquered many nations with my long copper nose.
I've made my foes to tremble and my enemies to quake,
And I nearly broke the gander's back, coming home from Paddy's wake. If you don't believe what I say, enter in Jack Straw and he'll clear the way."
Enter Jack Straw:
"Here comes I, Jack Stray, Straw, strew, striddle.
Kick the devil through a riddle, through a riddle,
Through a reel,
Through an old woman's spinning wheel,
Through a miller's hopper,
Through a bag of pepper,
Through a sheep's shank, shin and bane
And into the same auld hole again.
If you don't believe what I say, enter the Devil Himself and he'll clear the way."
Enter the Devil:
"Here comes I, the Devil himself.
If you don't give me money I'll break all your delph.
For it's money I want, and it's money I crave,
If you don't give me money I'll sweep you all to your grave."
Here he brandishes his brush and continues:
"Get up, auld wife and shake your feathers
And give me none of your impudent blethers.
If you haven't a penny, a ha'penny will do
If you haven't a ha'penny, God bless you.
If you don't believe what I say, bring in Johnny Funny and he'll clear the way."
Enter Johnny Funny:
"Here comes I, Johnny Funny,
I'm the lad that lifts the money,
All silver, no brass,
Bad ha'pennies won't pass.
If you don't give me money, I'll take a bonnie wee lass."
Here, he goes round with the collection box.
All the rhymers now gather in the middle of the floor and dance round in a circle and sing:
"With your pockets full of money
And your belly full of beer,
We wish you a merry Christmas
And a happy New Year."
Occasionally, a member of the household visited will respond with a song and then it's off to the next house with the same performance all over again.
It was a strenuous night's work, but this was soon forgotten and arrangements would be made for the next night out.
There are still many places where the young folk do the odd night's rhyming at Christmas, but on nothing like the same scale as 50 years ago. Those were the days when the people had to make their own entertainment and a visit from the rhymers brightened up many a country house on a dreary foresupper in December.
OTHER VERSIONS
NEMO'S NOTE: I am indebted to those readers who very kindly called with my friends at the Larne Times with Mummers Play scripts.
The version related above appears to have been the most popular with East Antrim Mummers, though one reader, David Morris, provided us with the script for a play which he and colleagues performed at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, in 1975.
It differs in that the first character is referred to as Captain Mummer who, before introducing Oliver Cromwell, recites:
Here comes I, Captain Mummer, and all me men;
The door is open; we shall enter in.
Room, room, gallant boys, give us room to rhyme
And act our activities, for this is Christmas time.
We'll act the young, we'll act the age,
We'll act what was never acted on any stage.
We'll dance within, we'll dance without,
We'll dance your house all round about!
Cromwell relates his blood curdling exploits in battle and Beelzebub boasts:
Here comes I, Beelzebub.
On my shoulder I carry a club,
In my hand a drippin' pan.
Amn't I the jolly old man?
The banter between Prince George and the Turk is more animated, as in the latter's threat:
I'll beat him up and hack him, as small as any fly.
I will throw him to the Devil to make a Christmas pie".
The fight, when it comes though, is between Prince George and Sir Patrick, when the Irish knight takes offence at the insult:
Who are you but St. Peter's stable boy,
Who fed his horse on hay
For seven days and then he ran away?
Other characters include The Wran (wren) and Miss Funny, bringing the play to its conclusion with the finale that is common to all versions – the collection.
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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