King George and Turkey Snipe, along with Fire Bright, Crwmpyn John, Dr. Brown, Happy Jack, and Johnny Funny are characters in versions of a mummers’ play performed in the coal-mining valleys of South Wales until the mid-1950’s.   This particular mummers’ or guisers’ play was a children’s tradition, passed on from boy to boy, with the littlest boys tagging along, learning the words, and getting a portion of the money, cakes, and fun.

        This mummers’ play may have been brought to the valleys by English workers many generations earlier.   In a delightful unfolding of the folk process, the standard battle between St. George and The Turkish Knight is transmuted through the children’s ears into King George versus a Turkey Snipe!

        In some locations, the mummers would go out at Halloween --the old Celtic New Year (Nos Galan Gaeaf in Welsh, Samhuin in Gaelic).   More often, they would go out in the Christmas season or at New Year’s.   These are the turning points of the year, when darkness deepens and the earth turns inward, waiting for the rebirth of the light.

        There are many luck-visit rites in the British Isles, including the Scottish custom of first-footing on New Year’s Day.   The seasonal mummers’ plays are part of this rich tradition: even in the 1950’s, villagers still believed that opening their doors to the band of roving boys would bring them good luck, or even drive out unwanted spirits.   An old man who had played Johnny Funny (who asks for money) in the early 1950’s recalled, “People said that we drove the spirits out of the house, and that's why they opened the windows."

        The party of men which accompanied the Mari Lwyd sometimes wore mummers’ costumes, but the traditions were quite distinct.   Mummers spoke an English play and acted out a battle of good versus evil; Mari Lwyd parties sing in Welsh and engage in a battle of wits.

        But both mummers’ plays and the Mari Lwyd do share the themes of death and resurrection.   King George always kills the Turkey Snipe or other villain.   Then there is always a cry for a doctor, who always revives the opponent.   The bones of the dead horse Mari Lwyd rise in the dark of the year to bring fertility and good luck to the households who let her in.   Both traditions bring humor and hospitality to lighten the darkness; both harold the rebirth of the year.