Annotation:Symondsbury Mummer's March
X:1 T:Symondsbury Mummer’s March M:C L:1/8 R:March K:A e>e|feec d2 e>c|dcBA E2 AB|c2 cd e2 dc|B6 e>e| feec d2 e>c|dcBA e2 AB|ceef e2B2|A6:| |:e>e|fefg a2 ga|fedc B2 AB|c2 cd e2 dc|B6 e>e| fefg a2 ga|fedc B2 AB|ceef e2B2|A6:|]
SYMMONDSBURY MUMMER'S MARCH. English, Morris tune? (4/4 time). A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Symmondsbury is in West Dorset, where a famous Mummers’ Play was kept alive in oral tradition, first written down by Bert Legg in the 1920’s or 1930’s when he was age 80 or more. As is typical with mumming tradition, the play is performed in public at the year-end holidays: New Year’s eve in the village pub, and by arrangement at other local places. In 1975 it was discovered that in the late 19th century there were two rival groups of mummers, one group from Symondsbury and one from neighbouring Burton Bradstock, that vied for local attention with each competing for a bigger audience (and a bigger gate) through innovations in both music and words. Evidently a fight between the two groups held at Ryberry Hill, Symondsbury, resulted in the Symondsbury group retaining a sword that became the discovered artefact.
