To round off this month’s theme of Folklore, the University of Sheffield’s Archives and Special Collections team has dived into their Archives of Cultural Tradition.

Beginnings of a collection

There is a veritable treasure trove of folkloric content in the Archives of Cultural Tradition (ACT) held at the University of Sheffield Library. This extensive collection grew out of the Sheffield Survey of Language and Folklore, launched by John Widdowson at the Department of English of the University of Sheffield in 1964. The Survey aimed to collect information on all aspects of English language and tradition and used collecting slips, audio and video recordings, and photographs to document everything from children’s jokes and games, local legends, calendar customs, to dialect words and sayings. There is therefore something for everyone with an interest in our shared culture and history within this archive!

While cataloguing the more than 200 recently digitised videos in the collection I have been most fascinated by the footage of calendar customs. These include traditions associated with different times of the year that I thought had disappeared long ago, but after watching the videos (which were filmed largely between 1975 and 1995) and doing some more modern research, it’s comforting to know that many of them are very much alive and well. As we head into the autumn and winter I’d like to highlight some upcoming calendar customs I have discovered in our collections.

Autumnal calendar customs

Most people are likely to be familiar with the 5th November fireworks and bonfires, and maybe some will remember burning an effigy of Guy Fawkes. However, there are other calendar customs linked to this day which may have their roots even further back in history. My favourites both originate from Devon: Tar Barrels and Turning the Devil’s Stone. Tar Barrels, to be found in Ottery St. Mary, is a lot more dramatic than the name would suggest and involves the carrying of full size, flaming tar barrels through the streets of the town. This is followed by a bonfire, of course. Turning the Devil’s Stone, in contrast, is very much as the name suggests. The people of the village of Shebbear gather around a one tonne boulder outside the local pub as the local bellringers work together to flip it over, lest they should face a year of bad luck.

Mummer’s Plays

In December, amongst the standard Christmas trees and carolling, we can also find some more niche traditional calendar customs, this time in the form of Mummer’s plays. These are also known as mumming, guising or guysing, or galoshins performances. These are humorous folk plays with themes of death and rebirth which are, or were, performed by a troupe of amateur actors from the local area, often in local pubs or door-to-door, around the 25th December. Although an honourable mention must go to the Midgley Pace Eggers and the Antrobus Soul Cakers who perform on Good Friday and Halloween respectively.

There are, to my knowledge, only three Christmas Mummer’s plays still being performed today: the Marshfield Paper Boys, which happens on Boxing Day (26th December) in Marshfield, Gloucestershire; the Derby Tup in Ridgeway, Derbyshire, performed between Christmas and New Year’s Day; and the Coventry Mummers from Coventry, West Midlands.

In the collection, however, there are a whole host including (but not limited to): the St. George’s play of Symondsbury and Eype, Dorset; the Galoshins of Morebattle in the Scottish Borders; the Dervock Christmas Rhymers play of County Antrim in Northern Ireland; the Brinsley Bull Guisers play of Brinsley in Nottinghamshire. Although many of these can no longer be seen in person, their chaotic energy, humour, and sense of community can be felt through the recordings of performances past within the ACT collection.

Further information

If this has piqued your interest, keep an eye on our online catalogue as we will be updating it regularly as cataloguing progresses. Further information about our collections, and how to book a visit to our reading room is available on our website.

Written by Stephanie Baron, Digitisation Officer, with thanks to Mariam Yamin, Senior Archivist.

Edited by Isabel Lauterjung, Blog Coordinator for Explore Your Archive.