St George and The Dragon

[RichardB]

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St George and the Dragon

From Sidney Oldall Addy, A Glossary of Words used in the Neighbourhood of Sheffield, Part I, 1888, p. 153.

"In the villages about Sheffield a play called St. George and the Dragon is acted at Christmas by mummers. They have rude swords, made apparently by the rudest of village blacksmiths, and they are dressed in all sorts of bright colours and ribbons. The play which they act is contained in a little chap-book printed at Otley in Yorkshire, the title of it being 'The Peace Egg'. In this neighbourhood the following verses, which do not appear in the printed chap-book, are always sung at the end of the play:—

Come all ye jolly mummers

That mum in Christmas time,

Come join with us in chorus;

Come join with us in rime.

And a mumming we will go, we'll go,

And a mumming we will go,

With a white cockade all in our hats

We'll go to the gallant show.

It's of St. George's valour

So loudly let us sing;

An honour to his country

And a credit to his king.

And a mumming we will go, we'll go,

And a mumming we will go,

We'll face all sorts of weather,

Both rain, cold, wet, and snow.

It's of the King of Egypt

That came to seek his son;

It's of the King of Egypt

That made his sword so wan (sic).

And a mumming, &c.

It's of the black Morocco dog

That fought the fiery battle;

It's of the black Morocco dog

That made his word to rattle.

And a mumming we will go, we'll go,

And a mumming we will go,

With a white cockade all in our hats

We'll go to the gallant show."

Addy printed no tune for the song, but the form is very recognisably that of the popular Nut(ting) Girl (Roud 509). A-Hunting we will go was sung to that tune, and it was also used for a number of topical and political pieces during the 19th century, the best known perhaps being With Henry Hunt We'll Go from the time of the Peterloo Massacre, itself based on With Wellington We'll Go. A form of it was also known in Ireland as The Jolly Ploughman, which Percy French used for his song The Lowback'd Car.

The tune here is adapted from a fragment of Henry Hunt that Frank Kidson got from a Mr James B. Shaw of Cornbrook, Manchester (Traditional Tunes, 1891, 163); but of course it's only a guess at what might have been; we don't know how it was really sung in Sheffield.