fact, the mummery _is_ the chief matter--which is what makes the
play so attractive to children, and, it may be added, so suitable for
their performance. In its rudeness, its simplicity, its fancy
dressing, the rapid action of the plot, and last, but not least, its
_bludginess_--that quality which made the history of Goliath so dear
to the youngest of Helen's Babies!--it is adapted for nursery
amusement, as the Drama of Punch and Judy is, and for similar reasons.

For some little time past I have purposed to try and blend the various
versions of "Peace Egg" into one Mummery for the nursery, with as
little change of the old rhymes as might be. I have been again urged
to do so this Christmas, and though I have not been able to give so
much time or research to it as I should have liked, I have thought it
better to do it without further delay, even if somewhat imperfectly.

To shuffle the characters and vary the text is nothing new in the
history of these "Mock Plays," as they were sometimes called.

They are probably of very ancient origin--"Pagan, I regret to say," as
Mr. Pecksniff observed in reference to the sirens--and go back to "the
heathen custom of going about on the Kalends of January in disguises,
as wild beasts and cattle, the sexes changing apparel," (There is a
relic of this last unseemly custom still in "The Old Tup" and "The Old
Horse"; when these are performed by both girls and boys, the latter
wear skirts and bonnets, the former hats and great-coats; this is also
the case in Scotland where the boys and girls go round at Hogmanay.)

In the 12th century the clergy introduced miracle plays and Scripture
histories to rival the performances of the strolling players, which
had become very gross. They became as popular as beneficial, and
London was famous for them. Different places, and even trade-guilds
and schools, had their differing "mysteries."

Secular plays continued, and the two seem occasionally to have got
mixed. Into one of the oldest of old plays, "St. George and the
Dragon," the Crusaders and Pilgrims introduced the Eastern characters
who still remain there. This is the foundation of "The Peace Egg."
About the middle of the 15th century, plays, which, not quite
religious, still witnessed to the effect of the religious plays in
raising the standard of public taste, appeared under the name of
"Morals," or "Moralities."

Christmas plays, masques, pageants, and the like were largely
patronized by