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Folk Play Distribution Map: Step/Enter/Walk/Come in [someone] and clear the way
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Folk Play Distribution Map: Step/Enter/Walk/Come in [someone] and clear the way
Versions of this map: Interactive Google Map Static Google Map Outline Map
Key Variant
fuchsia step in [someone] and clear the way
  step in thou king of egypt and clear the way 1746-1769 8
  step in saint george and boldly lead the way 1817 28
  step prince of paradise and clear the way 1842 4
  step in turkish knight and clear the way 1864 2
  let old father christmas step in and clear the way 1880-1889 3
  step in sir william wallace and clear the way 1883 1
  step in bulgard and clear the way 1884 5
  step in beelzebub and boldly clear thy way 1900 5
  step in valiant soldier and boldly declare thy way 1900 3
  step in bold hercules and boldly clear thy way 1900 1
  step in jack tar and boldly clear thy way 1900 1
  step in paddywhack and clear the way 1913 1
  step in tosspot and clear the way 1913 1
  step in big head and clear the way 1913 1
  step in dairydoubt and clear the way 1949 1
  step in wild horse and clear the way 1949 1
lime enter in [someone] and clear the way
  enter in prince george and clear the way 1803-1818 10
  enter in saint patrick and clear the way 1803-1818 3
  so enter in oliver cromwell and clear the way 1803-1818 7
  enter in belzebub and clear the way 1803-1818 11
  enter devil doubt and clear the way 1803-1818 13
  enter in the king of egypt clear the way 1845 1
  enter in big head an he ll clear the way 1885 1
  enter in johnny funny and he ll clear the way 1886 2
  enter in jack straw and he ll clear the way 1886 1
aqua walk in [someone] and boldly clear the way
  let general hill walk in and boldly clear the way 1873 1
  walk in turkish knight and boldly clear the way 1880 1
  walk in my son room and boldly clear the way 1880 1
  walk in bawld king gaarge an clear the waaye 1888 3
silver come in [someone]and clear the way
  let the king of eagipt com in and clare the way 1785-1789 2
  let father christmas come in clear the way 1833 1
  come in brave turk and clear the way 1842 2
  come in old noll and clear the way 1842 1
  come in mr devil doubt and clear the way 1842 1
  let my son room come in and boldly clear his way 1873 1
  let my wife dolly come in and boldly clear the way 1873 1
  let one fool and four knights from the british isles come in and clear the way 1884 1
  come in come in bold soldier and bravely clear the way 1884 1
View the key in more detail.
  1. Figures indicate the number of lines that use these formulae at each location.
  2. Marker sizes represent the number of lines that use these formulae at each location.
  3. Known composite scripts prepared by known authors have been omitted.
  4. Chapbooks, broadsides, and other commercial texts have been omitted.
1. View the number of lines that use these formulae at each location
  
2. Resize the dots to reflect the number of lines that use these formulae
  

This map was generated from the Historical Database of Folk Play Scripts (Millington, 1994-2006).

Commentary

The map shows the distribution of the second line of one of the more common formulaic couplets in British and Irish folk plays, in which one character calls on the next:

And if you don't believe what I say,
Enter in [someone] and clear the way

or

And if you don't believe the words I say,
Step in [someone] and clear the way

If you view the key in more detail, you can see that this formula is used to call in over two dozen different characters. However, by far the most commonly called in character is Saint/Prince/King George, which happens in about 70% of the mapped plays. The next most common characters are Beelzebub and Devil Doubt, a long way back at about 27% of plays, and the King of Egypt at about 20%. There are also some less frequent characters who are normally called in using this formula, notably many of the characters typical of Irish plays, Oliver Cromwell, St. Patrick, Johnny Funny, etc. The reason for this will become apparent shortly.

In addition to the character names varying, the initial verb, shown above in italics, also varies. What is interesting is that this variation is regional. 'Step in' is typical of Great Britain and does not occur in Ireland, where 'enter in' is the norm. Why the difference arose is an interesting question. It is tempting to suggest that it might be something to do with the method of performance. If actors are entering a house or room one at a time when they are required, 'enter in' seems most appropriate. Similarly, if all the actors enter at the same, and each character simply steps into the performance area, 'step in' also seems appropriate. However, these are subtly differences in meaning, and the evidence is not supportive.

In the south of England, there are also small concentrations of 'walk in' and 'come in'. The latter forms have probably been influenced an independent habit in that area introducing characters with an abrupt 'Walk in [someone]' - see separate map.

As with the first line of this couplet, the map becomes more interesting when the dots are resized to reflect the number of times the formula is used at each location. It is mostly used in ones and twos in Britain, but in Ireland it is used much more, almost for every character in the play. In these cases we have a chain where each character introduces the next that is similar to the calling on songs of linked sword dances. German sword dance scholars term this a Hereinrufungskette (calling-on chain). By way of contrast, the simple 'walk in someone' formula tends to be spoken by a leading character such as Father Christmas, who announces the characters in turn. The Germans call this alternative approach a Hereinrufungskamm (calling-on stem). These concepts have been explored in the folk play context by Tom Pettitt (1988, p.53).

Repetetive use of the formula provides a clue as to how the couplet evolved. Pettitt has shown that as oral traditions evolve:

"Over the long term, the trend clearly is towards ... a more impersonal, dramatic, and stark narrative, deploying more formulas and displaying more repetition patterns"

(Pettit, 2008, p.112)

This is as true for folk drama as it is for the ballads which he was discussing. From this we can infer that the Irish plays are more recent developments of the plays that only use the formula once or twice. Therefore 'step in' preceded 'enter in'. Where 'come in' fits in this genealogy remains open.

There are a few plays in the English North West that also use the formula multiple times. This is evidence of the influence of Irish plays, which Cass et al (2003) have shown were transferred into Manchester in chapbook form in the early 19th century and affected the surrounding traditions.

Peter Millington

References

Eddie Cass, Michael J.Preston & Paul Smith (2003) The Peace Egg Book: An Anglo-Irish Chapbook Connection Discovered
Folklore, 2003, Vol.114, No.1, pp.29-52

Peter Millington (1999-2018) Folk Play Research: Texts and Contexts
Internet URL: https://folkplay.info/resources/texts-and-contexts/introduction, 1999-2018, accessed 24th Jan.2021
Retitled in 2018 - formerly 'Historical Database of Folk Play Scripts'.

Peter Millington (2004-2021) Folk Play Scripts Explorer
Internet URL: http://www.mastermummers.org/scripts/, 2004-2021, accessed 24th Jan.2021

Tom Pettitt (1988) Ritual and Vaudeville: The Dramaturgy of the English Folk Plays
Traditional Drama Studies, 1998, Vol.2, pp.45-68

Tom Pettitt (2008) From Journalism to Gypsy Folk Song: The Road to Orality of an English Ballad
Oral Traditional, 2008, Vol.23, No.1, pp.87-117     [PDF download, Accessed 19th Nov.2009]
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© 2009, Peter Millington. (Webmaster: peter.millington@mastermummers.org). Last updated: 24-Jan-2021