The Buckland Shag Morris Men

A dancing tradition since 1987

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Every Boxing Day, the Buckland Shag Morris Men perform The Legendary Buckland Shag Mummers' Play at the Skimmington Castle pub on Reigate Heath. This is our interpretation of one of the standard English folk play themes with a loose adaptation to incorporate the legend of the Shag.

English folk play texts are mostly in rhyme, and some include songs or even dances. The mummers' play is the most common form of English folk play. Although the scripts vary throughout the country they all follow the same basic theme. It starts with an introductory prologue and is followed by challenges and a sword fight between a hero (St George in our case) and an antagonist.

As a result of this, one of them is "slain" and a quack doctor is brought in to perform a cure, and the dead man is miraculously revived. It may be that the plays are a memory of a much older ritual evoking the death of the old year and the birth of the new one.

A key character is the comical quack doctor, who is brought in to revive the loser of the sword fight between a hero and an adversary. The heroes vary regionally and include Saint George, Robin Hood and in Scotland, Galoshin. The adversaries may include a Valiant Soldier Hector and the Turkish Knight.

Additionally, there is a variable number of extra characters, such as Beelzebub, and often a Dragon (which part is taken in our version of the tradition by the Buckland Shag). Scripts vary in detail, and are often updated with topical comment, and past errors tend to be incorporated and become part of the tradition.

The plays are often called Mummers' Plays after one of the common names by which the actors are known. However, Mummers is only one of the collective names used. Others are: Tipteerers, Guisers, Christmas Rhymers, Plough Jags, Plough Bullocks, etc.