Master Mummers updates and other folk play news

Here's what's been added to the Master Mummers website recently - plus some folk play news from elsewhere.

New Reviews

• Review: 'The Ordish Collection: Transcriptions of Folk Plays collected by Thomas Fairman Ordish'. ed.by Andrew Bennett
  http://www.mastermummers.org/articles/Ordish-DVD-2011.htm
  Transcriptions on disk of this important collection in the Folklore Society's archives, with hundreds of play scripts.
• DVD Review: 'Mummers Plays of England: In Comes I: Wessex'. by Morris Dancers of England.
  http://www.mastermummers.org/articles/Mummers-Plays-of-England-2009.htm
  Compilation of performances and interviews, featuring: Frome Valley Morris, Babylon, Marshfield Mummers, Wessex Morris Men, and Symondsbury Mummers

Photographs

• Calverton Ploughboys, Notts., 2011
  http://www.mastermummers.org/photos/Calverton2011.htm
• Clayworth PloughPlayers, Notts., 2011
  http://www.mastermummers.org/photos/Clayworth2011.htm
• Marshfield Mummers, Gloucestershire, 2010
  http://www.mastermummers.org/photos/Marshfield2010.htm
• Muskham Pinkies, Notts., 2011
  http://www.mastermummers.org/photos/MuskhamPinkies2011.htm
• Tollerton Ploughboys, Notts., 2011
  http://www.mastermummers.org/photos/Tollerton2011.htm

Other Folk Play News

• Georgina Boyes (2011) '...our dancers will appear': Popular culture and early records of English traditional dance
  Early Dance Lecture, 2011
  http://www.earlydancecircle.co.uk/, accessed 3rd Apr.2011. [Click on the 'EDC Lecture' link]
  A re-examination of the early history of sword dances, including their associated plays.
• Eddie Cass (2010) Presidential Address given to the Folklore Society, 24th Apr.2009: T.Fairman Ordish and the British Folk Play
  Folklore, Apr.2010, Vo.121, No.1, pp.1-11
  A biography of the first folklorist to research folk plays seriously. It leans heavily on earlier biographical work by Paul Smith.
• Eddie Cass (2011) Presidential Address given to the Folklore Society, 28 March 2010: Alex Helm (1920-1970) and his Collection of Folk Performance Material
  Folklore, Apr.2011, Vol.122, No.1, pp.1-15
  A biography drawn from from family sources, and from the colleagues with whom Helm compiled major indexes of folk plays, morris dancers, and other customs.
• Alan Gailey (2011) Irish Mummers' Play Texts: Their content and Development - Part 2
  Ulster Folklore, 2011, Vol.55, pp.1-26
  Final part of the article reviewed on the Master Mummers Blog last year (http://mastermummers.org/blog/?p=48). Covers Gailey's arguments and conclusions, and a useful list of the sources used.
• Stephen Miller (2011) "Who wants to see the White Boys Act?": The Mumming Play in the Isle of Man: A Compendium of Sources
  [Onchan]: Chiollagh Books, 2011, ISBN 978-1-898613-20-6, 225pp.
  A comprehensive collection of source information for Manx folk plays. This will be reviewed on the Master Mummers website shortly.