Mummers are an important part of Christmas in Newfoundland. They bring laughter into people's homes. Cal Coish, Angela Stokes and Craig Foley grew up in different communities in Newfoundland. However, they all share the same memories of when mummers came to visit. Cal grew up at Stag Harbour, on Fogo Island. He says, "As a child, I enjoyed getting dressed up and going from door to door. There would always be a crowd of us -- brothers, sisters, cousins and friends." Angela grew up in Fortune Harbour more than 50 years ago. She remembers how excited she would get when the mummers knocked on the door. There wasn't any electricity in Fortune Harbour, and the mummers would dance by the glow of a kerosene light. "When we'd hear the mummers coming we would run upstairs and peek out the window," says Angela. "Sometimes 10 or 15 people would come to our house. We would try to see who they were before they covered their faces." Craig Foley also got excited when mummers visited his family's cottage in Colinet. Craig is from St. John's. His family would spend Christmas in Colinet. Their friends would visit during the holiday season. "We'd run down the stairs and watch as the mummers came in," says Craig, who is 28 years old. "They'd be dressed up and dancing around. We were only kids, but we'd go around trying to find out who they were." "The mummers wore all kinds of costumes," says Cal. "Children would often wear their parents' old clothes. Sometimes men wore dresses and women wore men's clothing. Everybody wore a veil or mask of some kind. The mummers would usually travel in groups of at least five or six. Sometimes there would be a dozen or more. They could be pretty noisy sometimes. There would be a lot of laughing and carrying on as the mummers went from door to door. Most mummers would carry a split for knocking on doors. When someone answered the door, the mummers would ask, 'Any mummers allowed in'."

"I enjoyed it when mummers came to visit," says Cal. "It was always fun to try to figure out who was who." Angela says most of the people in Fortune Harbour enjoyed having Mummers visit their homes. "People would dress up and go out mummering during the twelve days of Christmas." The Foley's cottage was the last place the mummers would visit. "Our place was the place to be," says Craig. "The mummers would visit all the other places before coming to our place. When they finally got here, they would sing and dance until three or four o'clock in the morning." "It was just like the mummer's song," says Angela. "I remember mom going around with a mop and wiping up the water. The mummers would all stand around the kitchen. Some of them would play an accordion, a set of spoons or a Jews Harp. The other mummers would sing and dance." Cal says, "The Mummer's Song paints a perfect picture of what mummering was like. Many of the things in the song are just like I remember them from my childhood. Sometimes people could tell who a mummer was by the way the mummer walked or talked or stood or sat. If someone guessed who a mummer was, the mummer would lift his or her veil or take off their mask." Angela says, "There was one guy who came to our house wearing underwear with a trap door. He was dancing around and the buttons flew off. His trap door came open." She also remembers another man who visited their home. His face was covered by a dish towel that was filled with holes. The man spoke in a funny voice, but they knew who he was because they could see his face through the holes in the towel. People still dress up as mummers and visit family and friends. Craig says, "The people in the outports really enjoy mummering. They know how to have a good time."