Almost all the traditional Mummers plays collected in and around Warwickshire seem to end with a minstrel song: Camptown Races, Old Bob Riddley and Not For Joe are the favourites. This is because they were collected in the late 19th or early 20th century, long after the minstrel craze had swept Britain. The old songs previously sung were simply swept away by the new craze.

We would love to sing the songs that pre-1840 mummers used to sing rather than sing the minstrel songs, but there is no evidence for us to go on. We have been looking for some possible mummers songs for a while now with no success.

In the meantime, for lack of anything more traditional, we are forced to stick to the songs given by the collectors. Can anyone help with old material?