_Josue._ In holy Chyrche 3e mowen here and rede, Of my worthynes and of my dede.
_Dauit._ After y^{ t} slayn was Golyas, By me the sawter than made was.
_Judas Macabeus._ Of my wurthynesse 3yf 3e wyll wete, Secke the byble, for ther it is wrete.
_Arthour._ The round tabyll I sette w^{ t} Knyghtes strong, Zyt shall I come a3en, thow it be long.
_Charles._ With me dwellyd Rouland Olyvere, In all my conquest fer and nere.
_Godefry de Boleyn._ And I was Kyng of Jherusalem, The crowne of thorn I wan fro hem.
Of the comparatively modern play acted by the mummers space only enables me to give two examples, although I could give many more. The first is the simplest, and only requires three principal actors, and this is still played in Oxfordshire.[70]
[Footnote 70: _Notes and Queries_, 6th series xii. 489.]
_A Knight enters with his sword drawn, and says:_
Room, room, make room, brave gallants all, For me and my brave company! Where's the man that dares bid me stand? I'll cut him down with my bold hand!
_St. George._ Here's the man that dares bid you stand; He defies your courageous hand!
_The Knight._ Then mind your eye, to guard the blow, And shield your face, and heart also.
(_St. George gets wounded in the combat, and falls._)
Doctor, Doctor, come here and see, St. George is wounded in the knee; Doctor, Doctor, play well your part. St. George is wounded in the heart!
I am a Doctor, and a Doctor good, And with my hand I'll stop the blood.
_The Doctor._ I can cure coughs, colds, fevers, gout, Both pains within and aches without; I will bleed him in the thumb.
_St. George._ O! will you so? then I'll get up and run!
_Some more Mummers or Minstrels come in, and they sing the following stanza, accompanied by the Hurdy Gourdy_:--
My father, he killed a fine fat hog, And that you may plainly see; My mother gave me the guts of the hog, To make a hurdy gourdy.
_Then they repeat the song in full chorus, and dance._
The other example is far more elaborate, and was read by J.S. Udal, Esquire, in a paper on Christmas Mummers in Dorsetshire before the Folk-lore Society, 13th April 1880. He said: "I will now proceed to give the entire rendering of the first version as it was obtained for me, some few years ago, by an old Dorsetshire lady, who is now dead, and in this the _dramatis personæ_ are as follow:--