Mummers, Murder and Mayhem
It was December 28th, 1860. The year was fast drawing to a close. All of Newfoundland seemed to be celebrating the Christmas season. Lamplight streamed from parlour windows brightening the night all along the coast.
It was no different in Bay Roberts.
The community was alive with the festive season. Mummers had been making their rounds for two nights already. Some were visiting friends and family, others were wandering the streets and, maybe, a small group was lying in wait.
The Murder
Earlier in the day, Isaac Mercer had been in the woods.
Before he went home, he decided to stop for a social call at the house of John Brown. When he got to the door, he set his hatchet down and proceeded inside.
It was a nice visit but, when the time came to leave, Mercer hesitated. He didn’t want to make the trek home by himself — he was afraid of the mummers.
Despite the generally positive regard we have for mummers today, the truth is they were often feared, and not just by children. Besides the jovial house-visiting mummers, there was often a contingent of disguised men, who were up-to-no-good, especially in more populous communities.
These mummers took advantage of their anonymity to settle scores, engage in mischief and do things that otherwise they’d be reluctant to do.
If Mercer was afraid, it may have been because he knew there were unscrupulous mummers about… or maybe it was because he knew there were people who might like to do him harm.
In any case, Mercer didn’t have to go home alone — John Brown and another gentleman, Abraham Russell agreed to walk with him.
Mercer picked up his hatchet and they set out.
It’s not clear how it all unfolded but, when they reached Wilcox Lane, they saw the mummers — 5 or 6 of them.
Mercer had been right to be afraid —things were about to take a disastrous turn.
There was an altercation and somehow one of the mummers got Mercer’s hatchet.
Mercer was struck in the head.
He fell to the ground, injured but still breathing. He had to be taken home.
By the next morning, he was dead.
Mummers at Court
If the details of the night were unclear, the full story of the investigation and trial aren’t much better.
A man named John Dawson was accused of Mercer’s death. He, and his four mummer-accomplices, were taken to St. John’s.
On November 20, 1861 an indictment was laid before the Grand Jury. Chief Justice, Sir Francis Brady instructed them that they must determine whether the mummers had been lying in-wait for Mercer or had just happened across him — the distinction being the difference between murder and manslaughter.
Testimony was to be challenging. A gentleman named Hedderson, who provided evidence in the investigation, died before the trial. The Chief Justice warned the jury to take the testimony of another witness “with great care and caution, and with all regard to his mental infirmity…”
Justice Brady cautioned the jury, “if you entertain a doubt about the guilt of any of them, you ought to ignore the bill as to such party or parties in respect to whom you entertain that doubt.”
Apparently, they had doubts.
On Nov 27, it was reported that the jury had ignored the bill against Dawson and his companions. The trial ended there and, to the best of my knowledge, there was no resolution to the Issac Mercer murder mystery.
It was not determined whether Mercer’s death was premeditated or manslaughter and, ultimately, no one was held responsible, at least officially.
While the Mercer trial was over, it wasn’t the end of the legal ramifications for mummering.
Curbing Mummering
It’s often said that mummering became illegal in Newfoundland because of Mercer’s death but that’s not the whole story. His murder was just the very-heavy-straw that broke the camel’s back.
Mummering had been getting out of hand for quite some time. According to research gathered by Joy Fraser, in 1860 there were 4 incidents of mummering violence in the Conception Bay North area resulting in legal action. Some of it was pretty horrific.
On January 9, 1860, John Charles Snelgrove of Harbour Grace was beaten by a mummer with a broomstick. At trial Snelgrove testified:
”I told him to leave me alone – but he would not, he struck me several blows more with the stick and knocked me down and beat me severely on my body and face, leaving marks on my face and body, he broke his broom stick on my body from the force of the blow he gave me”.
Clearly this was not good, clean fun. It was in the public interest that something be done to stop the violence. in 1861 Legislative Council debated the measures required. One possible solution was to require mummers to affix a number to their costume so as to be identifiable. Ultimately, it was decided that those going about in disguise were going to require a license from a magistrate.
“Any Person... without a written licence from a magistrate, dressed as a mummer, masked, or otherwise disguised, shall be deemed guilty of a Public Nuisance”
Some people did comply with the restriction — a small number of licences were issued — but other people disregarded the law and mummered as they always had. They were pretty bold about it, too.
In January 1862 the police attempted to arrest a mummer in St. John’s. The man, identified as Dooley, did not have a licence. His companions, who were also in disguise, objected to the police interfering. They armed themselves with pickets from a nearby fence and began swinging at the police. Thankfully, serious injury was avoided.
By March the legislature had decided it needed to get stricter: the practice of mummering was banned completely (at least in the larger population centres). Police officers were given the power to detain mummers and, if they were convicted, they could be jailed for a week.
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An Act to amend the Laws now in force for the more speedy abatement of Nuisances, and to make
further provision for the prevention of the same, in the Towns of Saint John’s, Harbor Grace, Carbonear, and other Places. (Passed 27th March, 1862.)
Whereas it is expedient to amend the Laws now in force for the more speedy abatement of Nuisances,
and to make further provision for the prevention of the same, in the Towns of Saint John’s, Harbor
Grace, Carbonear, and other Places:Be it therefore enacted, by the Governor, Legislative Council and Assembly, in Session convened:
III. Any Person who shall be found at any Season of the Year, in any Town or Settlement in this Colony, dressed as a Mummer, masked or otherwise disguised, shall be deemed to be guilty of a Public Nuisance, and may be arrested by any Peace Officer, with or without a Warrant, and taken before any Justice of the Peace in the District or Place where such Person may be found, and, on conviction, in a
summary manner, before such Justice, may be committed to Gaol for a period not exceeding Seven
Days, unless he shall pay a Fine not exceeding Twenty Shillings.
The stronger law didn’t eliminate the problem of nuisance mummering altogether, there were still some neighbourhoods to be avoided during the Christmas season.
In 1889 a piece in The Evening Telegram described Harbour Grace as follows:
“…owing to the mumming …this town is in such a state of disorder every night after eight o'clock, that no respectable women, or even men, can, with safety, go along…”
“No law enforcement officer worthy of the name would dream of apprehending any of the mighty host of fun makers”
Then in 1896, a newspaper report in St. John’s, written upon the witnessing mummers in town, stated "the custom had declined until it has almost appeared to have died out."
Sporadically, in the early 20th century reports of mummer-related violence made their way into the newspapers and the law against mummering stayed on the books until 1992.
For many the law was not taken especially seriously. The following is an excerpt from the Twillingate Sun, January 7, 1950:
However, it is gratifying to note that this old, old custom [mummering] is not dying out even though there is a law on the statute books somewhere (or at least there was before confederation) which provides a penalty for any person found on the streets in disguise. But like many another law this was not intended to deprive persons of innocent pleasure and no law enforcement officer worthy of the name would dream of apprehending any of the mighty host of fun makers which have roamed the town since Christmas Eve.
A Myriad of Mummers
In the present day, most people have pretty much forgotten about the dark elements of mummering and tend to lean into the Fortune Bay Christmas version of mummers…unless they’re making horror films.
And that duality is fine.
Just as Newfoundland had many terms for mummers (jannies, darbys, johnnies, etc.), it had many sorts of mummers.
Mummers could be found playing music at a kitchen party or throwing fists on the corner. They were sometimes adults sharing a drink and, other times, children eating cake. Mummers performed plays and held parades, and sometimes wore false-faces at night and and ribbons in the afternoon.
It has always been a diverse and evolving custom…
but, hopefully, the days mummer murder and mayhem are well, and truly, behind us.
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Mummers on Trial, Joy Fraser, Shima Journal
Some Comments on The Social Circumstances
of Mummering, Cyril Byrne, NQFought a Mummer, The Evening Telegram, 1907
Mercer Murder, Daily News, Jan 03, 1861
Mercer trial coverage, The Courier, Nov 23, 1861
Mercer trial coverage, Daily News, Nov 21, 1861
John Dawson in Decisions of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland : the reports, 1854-1864
Old Time Politics, Addison Bown
Jury Ignored Bill, Courier, Nov 27, 1861
Statutes of Newfoundland, 1861
Parliamentary Documents, Daily News, March 3, 1862
