Context:
| Location: |
Forfarshire, Scotland (NO----) |
| Year: |
Publ. 1888 |
| Time of Occurrence: |
New Year |
| Collective Name: |
Mummers |
|
Source:
W.G.D.
The New Year Mummers' Tale of Golaschin
The Scotsman,
31st December 1888, No.14192, p.5d
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Cast:
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Text:
Sir Alexander {Sings}
Good people all come round
And listen to my song
My name is Sir Alexander
I won't detain you long;
There are but five of us, sirs,
And merry boys are we,
And we are going a-hunting
Some houses for to see:
Some houses for to see, sirs,
Some pleasure for to have,
And what you freely give to us
We freely shall receive,
The first young man that I call in,
He is a farmer's son,
He is afraid he'll lose his love
Because he is too young.
{Calls, Farmer's Son enters.}
Farmer's Son {Sings}
Though I be too young, sirs,
I've money for to rove;
And I will freely spend it all
Before I lose my love.
Sir Alexander {Sings}
The next young man that I call in
He is a hero fine;
His cap is to the Admiral,
And all his men are mine.
{Calls Admiral, who enters.}
Admiral {Sings}
Here come I, the Admiral,
The Admiral stout and bold,
Who fought the battle on the deck,
And gained three crowns of gold.
Sir Alexander {Sings}
The next young man that I call in,
Golaschin is his name,
The bravest knight in all the land
Of glory and of fame.
{Calls Golaschin, who enters.}
Golaschin {Sings}
Here come I, Golaschin,
Golaschin of renown;
With sword and pistol by my side,
And hope to gain the crown.
Admiral {Sings}
The crown, sir, the crown, sir,
Is not into your power;
I'll slay you and slash you
In less than half-an-hour!
Golaschin {Sings}
Me head is made of fire, sir,
My body is well steeled,
And with my bloody weapon
I'll slay you on the field.
Admiral {Sings}
I'll do the best that I can do
While I have power to stand;
While I have power to wield my sword
I'll fight with heart and hand.
Sir Alexander {Sings}
Here are two champions going to fight
That never fought before;
I'm not going to separate them,
Pray, what could I do more?
Fight on, fight on, my merry boys,
Fight on, fight on with speed
I'll give any man a thousand pounds
To lay Golaschin dead.
{They fight, Farmer's Son joining the melee.
Golaschin is slain.}
Sir Alexander
Oh what is this, oh what is this,
Oh what is this you've done,
You have slain Golaschin
And on the ground he's lain!
Farmer's Son
It was not me that did the deed,
Quite innocent of the crime,
It was the fellow behind my back
That drew his sword so fine.
Admiral
Oh you are the villain,
To lay the blame on me,
For my two eyes were shut, sir,
When that young man did dee!
Sir Alexander
Why could your eyes be shut, sir,
When I was looking on,
When could your two eyes shut be
When both the swords were drawn?
Admiral
If I have slain Golaschin,
Golaschin I will cure,
And I will make him rise and sing
In less than half an hour.
{shouts}
Call for the doctor. Is there any doctor to be found?
{Enter Doctor Brown, stout and portly.}
Doctor {Speaks}
Yes, here come I, Doctor Brown
The best doctor in all the town.
Admiral {Speaks}
What makes you so good, sir?
Doctor
Why, for my travels.
Admiral
And where have you travelled?
Doctor
From Hickerty-pickerty-hedgehog,
three times round the West Indies, and back to old Scotland.
Admiral
Is that all, sir?
Doctor
No, sir.
Admiral
What more?
Doctor
Why, I've travelled from fireside to chairside,
from chairside to stoolside,
from stoolside to tableside,
from tableside to bedside,
from bedside to press-side,
and got many a good lump of bread and butter from my mother,
and that's the way my belly's so big.
Admiral
Is that all, sir?
Doctor
Yes, sir.
Admiral
What will you take to cure a dead man?
Doctor
Nine pounds and a bottle of wine.
Admiral
I'll give you six.
Doctor
Six won't do.
Admiral
I'll give you eight.
Doctor
I wouldn't take it.
Admiral
Nine, then, and a bottle of wine.
{Doctor takes bottle, and, putting it to Golaschin's nose, says:}
Doctor
Put the smell of the bottle to his nose,
and make him rise and sing.
Golaschin {Rises and sings}
Once I was dead, sir
And now I am alive;
Blessed be the doctor
That made me revive.
{And then with hands joined, dance round, singing:}
Bless the master of this house,
The mistress good also
And all the little children
That round the table go.
We'll all shake hands
We'll never fight no more;
With our pockets full of money,
And our barrels full of beer,
We'll all go a-drinking
Around the Spanish shore.
Hooray, for a Happy New Year!
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Notes:
WGD's Notes:
"Hamilton, December 27, 1888.
Sir,
The following version of this ancient and curious play (of which, I believe, traces are found in most countries in Europe) I have taken down from the lips of an old lady relative, according as she remembers it to have been said, sung and acted in her young days' in Forfarshire and the eastern counties of Scotland.
I do not know whether it has ever been printed in its present form, but it is worth preserving. Though the rhyme is somewhat halting, I give it in its original doggerel form as recited to me.
Dramatis Personae: Sir Alexander, Farmer's Son, Admiral, Golaschin, Doctor Brown.
I am etc.
W.G.D.
Peter Millington's Notes:
Scanned from the transcript in:
B.Hayward (1992) Galoshins : The Scottish Folk Play. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 1992, ISBN 07486 0338 7, pp.100-105.
Hayward Notes:
"'Forfarshire' is now known as 'Angus', in which the only known play location is Arbroath. Otherwise this ascription to 'Forfarshire and the eastern counties' is unsupported by particular evidence. The text given here closely resembles STIRLING(a) , and may represent the version favoured c.1820 in east central Scotland."
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File History:
1999-09-10 - Encoded by Peter Millington
1999-12-28 - layout adjusted by Peter Millington
2021-01-15 - TEI-encoded by Peter Millington
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Extras:
Dramaturgical Chart
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The chart reveals the dramaturgical structure of the play by showing which speeches in the script are spoken by which character. Vertical lines indicate stage directions.
TEI-encoded File
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Text Relatives Map
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Other Information
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https://folkplay.info/resources/texts-and-contexts/new-year-mummers-tale-galaschin-forfarshire-1888.
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