P.T.Millington (1972b)
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Transcription
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Local Guysers' Plays
Sir,- Since my article recently
appealed in the Advertiser, a
number of people have written to
me giving information on the cus-
toms of the Guysers and the
Plough Bullockers. Most of the
letters concerned Underwood, but
I also received some concerning
Brinsley, Heanor, Kimberley,
Pinxton, Selston and even Scot-
land. I still have no information
on the Eastwood version, though.
I have personally acknowledged
all the letters I have received,
where this has been possible. Some
correspondents did not give their
names and/or full addresses, and
so I would Like to take this oppor-
tunity to thank them now. One of
these was the person who told me
about the Scottish version, and
from whom I would like some
further details (such as exactly
where the play was performed), if
she could contact me again. I
would also welcome letters from
people who remember the custom
from elsewhere, too.
Every piece of information has
contributed something new to the
record, even though some of the
letters gave only a few words.
From the information I now have
it appears that most of the local
towns and villages have their own
variant of the play. Thus in the
Eastwood/Underwood area we
have one type of Guysers play
and a slightly different one from
Heanor. In the Selston area they
have "Bull Guysers," whilst in
Kimberley, although the play was
more or less the same, it was per-
formed on Plough Monday (the
second Monday in January) by
actors called "Plough Bullockers"
instead of Guysers at Christmas.
Despite this, the record is still
incomplete. For instance, around
Eastwood, Guysers, at one time,
used to learn their words from a
booklet bought from Brittains
(stationers). Unfortunately, I have
not been able to examine or
photocopy one of these, as Brittains
do not now have a copy and
neither does the library. I would,
therefore, be grateful to anyone
who may have a copy, who would
be trusting enough to loan me one
for a week or so, so that I can
have it photo-copied.
Although useful, the number of
letters I got was surprisingly small
considering how well known the
custom is in the area. As the cus-
tom still exists in places, I was
disappointed that I did not get
any information from younger
people. This was not so surprising
really when one thinks that not
many younger people will have
read my article. If any information
is to be received from the younger
generation it will be up to the
adults to take the initiative, and
the people with the best oppor-
tunity to do this are, of course,
teachers, since they can get hold
of it as class work. Local Rotary
Clubs could also help, and if
either group would like any in-
formation from me I will be glad
to provide it.
Copies of all the information I
have received so far have been
deposited in the archives of the
Leeds University Institute of
Dialect and Folk Studies, but I
eventually hope to present copies
to local libraries so that they are
available to anyone. Meanwhile,
all further information will be
most welcome.-Yours etc.,
PETER T. MILLlNGTON
85 Woodland Lane, '
Chapel Allerton,
Leeds.
LS7 LQC. |
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