Ramblings of a Blue Stotter
An article published in the Morris
Federation Magazine in March, 2006
Now that the Christmas
Mumming season is over, it is perhaps time to reflect on some of our
experiences particularly in light of your recent editorial on audience
behaviour.
Firstly though perhaps we
should say a few words about PEL and how it has affected our tours. The short answer is not at all. Knaresborough Mummers take their Blue Stots
play on 5 tours between mid-December and Twelfth Night, visiting around 37 pubs
– the pubs are generally the same ones every year but in recent years there are
casualties from the greed of PubCos resulting in pub closures, being sold as
housing or a change of landlord who has different ideas on how a pub should be
run (these factors very often go hand in hand!)
With the recent changes in legislation, I sought the advice of a long
time friend and former Morris Dancer who is now the brains behind a local
successful small pub chain. Following
discussions we considered that Landlords and Managers would have enough on
their plates interpreting and filling in the extensive documentation required
for the new licences, and that trying to pin down the person responsible to
point out the intricacies and perhaps inadequacies of the new laws would result
in them taking the easy way out and saying “No”! I also consulted with the local Licencing
Authority within the Council – after initially saying it was excempt and I
pointed out it wasn’t, he went away to consult with their legal department. When he rang back he said it was their
considered opinion that it was part of a pagan festival and therefore excempt
on religious grounds. Beside that, there
were elements of stand up comedy and morris dancing which I believe are also
excempt. When I tried to discuss it he
said “You’re not going to argue, are you?!” – I got the message and proceeded
to organise the tour as in previous years.
Suffice to say we did not
encounter any problems arranging or performing the tours, indeed we even did a
Sam Smiths pub, a brewery who seem to have inflicted serious folk club
evictions due to the withdrawl of PRS payments; were we flouting the law –
surely we owe the PRS nothing for traditional material?
In common with many other
teams, I have always tried to keep performances to traditional pubs with real
ale reputations in an attempt to reach a more appreciative audience. However, there is an increasing number of conversions
to “schizophrenic” pubs that masquerade as a traditional pub by day and YPMEADU
by night (Young Persons Money Extraction and Destruction Unit) – one of our
pubs this year has become like a barn inside with a scattering of about a dozen
disinterested or bewildered youth inside, wall to wall televisions and a
bouncer on the door (to keep them in?!)
It is quite intimidating in some of the pubs and we are quite wary these
days following an incident one year when a group started throwing lighted
matches on to the “dead” King George, which prompted others to start a barrage
of verbal abuse. It is pack behaviour –
if one leads off, the others follow.
This year in what we would consider a “safe” quiet pub, there was a
group of youths who just didn’t know what to do – it was if they didn’t
understand the concept of having fun, having a laugh at these daft clowns with
their bit of silliness. Watching their
faces and hearing their monosyllabic grunts it was as if they were waiting for
some guidance as to how to behave – if I laugh and enjoy it will my mates think
I’m not ‘ard enough? I fear that many of
the current younger generation have only a moral code learnt from an electronic
box in the corner with it’s diet of such as Eastenders
with its totally unacceptable idea of family values. I regret to say that the answer to Doug’s
editorial is that it is getting worse and if someone has an idea how to
overcome it, tell the Government, as it is not only folk activities that are
suffering – it is becoming the way of life! Having got that off my chest, I do have to say
that overall I think this year we were made to feel more welcome than ever in
the pubs that do appreciate us!!
Changing the subject
entirely, I regret to have to write an Obituary to an old friend that has been
with the Mummers for around 25 years. My
Blue Stots jacket was considered earlier this year to be unwell and, indeed
when being retrieved from the garage in preparation for this year’s tours, the
unpleasant aroma which it gave off after being resident for a few hours in a
warmer environment, confirmed indeed that it was well and truly dead. The jacket started life in the early 1970s,
manufactured by Himal of Huddersfield and purchased from Greenwoods in
Finally anyone who knows me
will be aware that I have always tried to keep pretty accurate statistics of
our plays, performances and personnel over the last 31 years. Well this year I was given a Pedometer for
Christmas and just for interest I wore it on our Marton tour. Between 7pm and 1030pm I clocked up 1902
steps – and this was excluding the dance at the end of the play. Now if every performer in the play was fitted
with one, I could work out a work rate for each part in the play and thus
monitor whether every mummer was putting in a robust performance or not!! You can imagine the potential there is for pie
charts and graphs! (sorry – just wipe the drool from
the keyboard) We could also add to our workshop repertoire: Mumming Performance – Statistical Analysis. My wife says this is a recognised medical
disorder and that I can get treatment………
A personal view by Knaresborough Mummers leader,
10th January, 2006