Mummer's Day, or "Darkie Day" as it is sometimes known (a corruption of the original ''Darking Day''), is a traditional Cornish midwinter celebration that occurs every year on Boxing Day and New Year's Day in

Padstow Padstow (; kw, Lannwedhenek) is a town, civil parish and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England. The town is situated on the west bank of the River Camel estuary approximately northwest of Wadebridge, northwest of Bodmin and ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

. It was originally part of the pagan heritage of midwinter celebrations that were regularly celebrated throughout Cornwall where people would take part in the traditional custom of guise dancing, which involves disguising themselves by painting their faces black or wearing masks. The dark face paint, masks and dark clothing are symbols of the celebration of the

winter solstice The winter solstice, also called the hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the winter ...

, and is in contrast to the "white" summer solstice festivals of Cornish towns such as the

'Obby 'Oss festival The Obby 'Oss festival is a folk custom that takes place each 1st of may in Padstow, a coastal town in North Cornwall. It involves two separate processions making their way around the town, each containing an eponymous hobby horse known as the ...

and the Golowan Festival which started in Penzance in 1991. The

Montol Festival The Montol Festival (often just Montol) is an annual festival in Penzance, Cornwall, United Kingdom, which has been held on 21 December each year since 2007. The festival is a revival or reinterpretation of many of the traditional Cornish midwint ...

in Penzance which started in 2007 is a modern recreation of a winter solstice celebration, during which people guise dance with darkly painted skin or masks to disguise themselves. There has been controversy in the British media regarding Mummer's Day, due to the blackened faces and the term ''Darkie Day'', with commentators interpreting the festival as racist. The name ''Darkie Day'' is actually a corruption of the original ''Darking Day'', which refers to the "darking" (darkening) of the faces.

Darkie/Darking Parties

Throughout the 19th century, especially in the east of Cornwall, Darkie Parties (originally Darking Parties) were common Christmas celebrations held in Cornish homes and public houses. People would have performed traditional Cornish and other seasonal music and seasonal folk drama such as

Mummers Mummers' plays are folk plays performed by troupes of amateur actors, traditionally all male, known as mummers or guisers (also by local names such as ''rhymers'', ''pace-eggers'', ''soulers'', ''tipteerers'', ''wrenboys'', and ''galoshins''). ...

plays. "Blacking up" was also a way of preventing the labourer's Lords and Masters from recognizing who they were. Having a good time and enjoyment was frowned upon and not seen to be "God-fearing".

Controversy over Mummer's Day

Once an unknown local charity event, the day has recently seen controversy due to increased media coverage. While the original celebration had no connection with black people, in modern times, it is usually considered racist for white people to "black up" for any reason. Although some commentators have linked the day with racism, Padstonians insist that this is not the case and deny both the description and the allegations.

1970s review

Long before the controversy, Charlie Bate, a noted Padstow folk advocate, recounted that in the 1970s the content and conduct of the day were carefully reviewed to avoid potential offence. The

Devon and Cornwall Constabulary Devon and Cornwall Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the ceremonial counties of Devon and Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly) in England. The force serves approximately 1.8 million people over an area of . Hi ...

have taken video evidence twice and concluded there were no grounds for prosecution. Nonetheless protests resurface annually. The day has now been renamed "Mummer's Day" in an attempt to avoid offence and identify it more clearly with established British tradition. The debate has now been subject to academic scrutiny.M. Davey, ''Guizing: Ancient Traditions and Modern Sensitivities'',

Philip Payton Philip John Payton is a Cornish-Australian historian and Emeritus Professor of Cornish and Australian Studies at the University of Exeter and formerly Director of the Institute of Cornish Studies based at Tremough, just outside Penryn, Corn ...

(ed), ''Cornish Studies 14'' (Exeter, 2006), p. 229. It is hoped that some of the more untraditional

Minstrel A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. It originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist entertainer ...

songs that were incorporated in favour of traditional Cornish songs will soon be discontinued.''The Untold - Darkie Day: Michael and the Mummers''

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

, Monday, 22 February 2016.

Minstrel songs

Although Mummer's Day is a centuries-old tradition, the act of performing

minstrel songs The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of racist theatrical entertainment developed in the early 19th century. Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that depicted people spec ...

owes its origins to the late 19th and early 20th century. Either as a result of confusion as to the real origins of disguise in the festival, or as a way of introducing more popular tunes in place of the well-preserved and still-performed Padstow carols, songs connected with

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

and the blacked-up minstrel craze of the era (which ultimately created huge stars such as

Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Eizer Yoelson; June 9, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-American Jewish singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. He was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the 1920s, and was self-billed ...

) became associated with the guise dancing practices of the festival. The works of American songwriter

Stephen Foster Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known also as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour and minstrel music during the Romantic period. He wrote more than 200 songs, inc ...

particularly featured. Other researchers claim that the spirituals sung by followers of Blue 'Oss in advance of

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. Tr ...

originate in the groundswell of support for American black people that was extremely strong in areas of the UK where Methodism was predominant. Among other events, this led to the

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

textile workers voting to refuse to make uniforms for the Confederate Army during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

. Minstrel songs and spirituals were performed to gain support for American black people, and the researchers claim the "blacking up" of traditional guise dancing was adapted to show this support. Regardless of its origins, the minstrel songs contributed to the recent controversy over the festival due to the association with black people, despite the face painting having no connection. In order to revert to the original meaning of the festival, and recognising the offence that can be caused in the 21st century, the minstrel songs are being phased out of the festival, and the alternative name of ''Mummer's Day'' is now preferred.

References

External links