P.T.Millington (1972a)

Main Variant

Transcription
OUT GOES I SAINT
GEORGE?

Have you seen the Guysers this
year. our answer will depend
on where you live. For instance,
around Newthorpe, Guysers (or
Moly Guysers) have not been
seen for over ten years, but in
Brinsley, Underwood, Selston and
a few other places, children still
black their faces and go round
with their short play. Unfortu-
nately, Guysers are not seen as
much nowadays as they used to
be, and the play seems to get
shorter each year. Thus, when
the Guysers went round Brinsley
this Christmas, there were only
three oharacters, where once
there were six or seven.

It is not easy to say why the
custom 'has ,been declining. Older
people tend to say it is because
modern youth cannot be
bothered. Others say they are too
keen on the money and not
enough on the quality. Then one
has to take into account the
effects of the two world wars, of
television and of a certain amount
of official activity. All these
reasons are valid to some extent
so that now, on the face of it,
the Guysers do not appear to
warrant many tears - but it would
be a good idea to look at some
facts before we dismiss this cust-
tom as a cripple:

  "Whether we stand,sit or fall,
  We'll do our duty to please
  you all."

For a start the Guysers enter-
tain, and still manage to do so
even in this age of pre-packaged
entertainment. Over the centuries,
millions of people must have
laughed at the strange antics and
as cross-talk of the Guysers' play, so
if they have put any money in the
hat afterwards, they have gener-
ally had good value. True, there is
not as much tunny talk as there
used to be in the past, and many
people bemoan the fact, but if
these same people were to tell
today's Guysers what they used
to do and give them the words
which are now forgotten, then the
Guysers would get a new lease
of life.

  "I've searched this world all
  round and round,
  But a man my equal I've
  never 'found."

The Guysers are unique to this
area, that is they are no longer
found anywhere else.

At one time nearly every village
in England had its group of Guy-
sers (although they may have
called them something else, such
as Plough Bullockers, Mummers,
etc.), but now after several
 social upheavals, the only area in
the country where they are still
found is the Notts./Derbys. col-
liery dislrict. Guysers are, there--
fore, something to be proud of,
and as such should, be kept alive.

What then is to be the future
of the -Guysers? .

At the moment, their future
would seem to depend on how
much adults are prepared to
bother with them. If adults were
to encourage and prompt them
as explained above the standard
of the performances would in-
crease and so revive interest. Or-
ganisation could also help the
Guysers. Local schools and
charities could have their own
groups of Guysers as a means of
raising money and of encouragi
ing the custom. Several schools
at one time had schools' Guy-
sers and they always seem to
he have been profitable.

Whether the Guysers live or die,
one thing that must be done is
to keep a record of them for
future generations. At the
moment, no one has been able
to write down the words of th'e
by play properly because bits have
been lost over the years and
some elder people find difficulty
remembering everything. Making
a record is therefore like doing a
big jig-saw puzzle, fittng the bits
together to get the whole picture,
only at present a lot of the bits
are missing. If everyone were to
sit down and spend a few
minutes writing down what they
know about the Guysers and send
it to one of the addresses below.
then the Guysers would never be
forgotten.

Besides not having a decent
written record, there are no
photographs of the Guysers apart
one which may have come
from Underwood, but could have
come from anywhere in Notts.

This is not for the want of trying,
the Eastwood and Kimberley Ad-
vertiser nearly got a photograph
of the Guysers at Brinsley this
Christmas Eve, but they got away.

If you have any information on
the Guysers, you can send it to
the following addresses, or you
can hand it in at your local
library. All contributions will be
of use, whether there are only
nine words, or 900 words.

Eastwood Historical Society,
c/o 38 Robey Drive, Eastwood
Notts.; Peler . T. Millington, 82
Moorgreen, Newthorpe, Notts.

(We are indebted to Mr. P. T.
Millington for his patient research
into this old custom and his
interesting article.)