Folklorists have uncovered well over 1000 references to the English Folk Play in its various forms, though they are still arguing about its origins. ‘Mummers’ referred to in much earlier times seem to have been travelling entertainers, actors, jesters and some pretentious actors call themselves ‘mummers’ to this day, but the familiar and more or less universal ‘Hero-Combat’ form does not appear to have emerged before the 18th century. Very basically the ‘plot’ is that a master of ceremonies (Father Christmas is popular) introduces the players, a hero challenges all comers, there is a fight (often alarmingly violent, but sometimes merely symbolic), one combatant is killed, the Doctor revives him, ancillary characters do their turn, then the audience pays and everyone has a pint. By the end of the 19th century countless villages had their own version, popular in the pubs, streets and ‘big houses’ around Christmas particularly, but at All Souls, Plough Monday or Easter in some areas, at any rate during winter. Alas, two world wars almost put a stop to the Folk Play; by the end of WW 2 there were only about a dozen left. However all is not lost; in the last thirty years or so ‘revival’ groups (mostly morris men looking for something to do in the winter) have either resurrected, or adapted, known plays or made up versions of their own. There seems to be hundreds of them about, though Collections can only offer a couple of examples.