Jane & Derek Oliver

Derek is an Information Systems Audit & Control specialist with over 15 years experience. He is a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). His background in computer programming is represented by Fellowship of the Institution of Analysts & Programmers and Membership of the British Computer Society.

Following his early years in the "Travel Trade" with Thos. Cooks and Trans World Airlines, Derek spent 15 years with H. M. Customs & Excise, spending time in the uniformed "preventive" service at Heathrow as well as airfreight clearance, bonded warehouse control and VAT fraud investigation before becoming a systems programmer.

He was then recruited to the Computer Audit Branch and he spent the last 5 years of Customs service as a Higher Executive Officer conducting audit and security reviews of Excise applications all over the UK.

In 1987 he joined what was then the Joint Credit Card Company and rose to be the Principal IS Auditor of the First Data Corporation of Omaha, USA, the world’s largest processor of credit and debit card transactions. In this capacity, he was the senior member and manager of their UK audit team, based at First Data Resources in Basildon, Essex.

He left First Data in 1995 to respond to the challenge of consultancy and founded Ravenswood Consultants Limited.

Derek is past President of the Information Systems Audit & Control Association in London (ISACA) and is currently a member of the CISA Certification Board. In 1996 he was made a Freeman of the City of London.

The "Fabulous" Thameside Mummers & their Plays

The tradition of the Mummers Play can be traced as far back as ancient Greece, when groups of strolling players would call at private houses and perform a short play, either depicting a mythical or historical tale or a story of love and wooing, in return for food and wine. Their visit was generally associated with bringing good luck to the household and fertility to the land by their praise of the Ancient Gods.

By the time this concept reached these fair shores, the Britons were emerging from a race of Pagans who's religious beliefs led them to celebrate the turning of the Winter (Saturnalia) in what is now "December", and the birth of Spring at the beginning of "May" (Jack-in-the-Green). These celebrations generally took the form of much partaking of the ale and wine and some form of sacrifice to the relevant Deities.

At this time, the Christian Church was trying to wean the villagers away from the traditional Gods and Pagan sacrifices but was faced with the difficulty of replacing most enjoyable "booze ups, sing-songs and general debauchery" with their Latin chants, piety and especially sobriety !

The answer came with the Mummers Play which provided a replacement for the "sacrifice" in the form of a symbolic killing of "evil" by "good" followed by "rebirth" in the form of a resurrecting "cure". In most cases, St. George fights and kills the evil Turkish Knight who is cured by the Doctor and repents of his evil ways, symbolising the death of the "Old Year" and birth of the "New" (and pacifying the Gods with the sacrifice).

The plays were performed around the time of the Christian festivals which, co-incidentally, are at similar times to the Old Religion, Christmas (Winter) and Easter (Spring), also known as "Pace Egging Time", and are generally associated with feasting, albeit more civilised.

There are three distinct themes, each of which was adapted by individual villages to their own, unique Village Play :

Plays have been "discovered" from villages all over England, mostly collected by local gentry or churchmen and written in their diaries or books of "local customs": the tradition even reached Wales where the Mari Llwyd (Grey Mare) and her entourage would visit homes and perform a ritual song/play in return for food.

The villagers would perform their play but once each year, the parts being handed down from Father to Son; the costumes would be a suit of rags, with each character being introduced by the wording of the play, "In comes I .....", or by a "calling-on" song. These rags would be simple and cheap to produce but would also hide the "real" identity of the performer, important if the play included some line, or ad-lib, critical of the Church or the local Gentry: for this reason, the Mummers would frequently blacken their faces with soot.

Traditionally, as with the Ancient Greeks, the performances of the Play would be associated with gifts from the audience, normally in the form of food and drink. The Mummers would, of course, perform for the Lord of the Manor and his guests, expecting (and probably receiving) a considerable amount of reciprocal entertainment in the kitchens and wine cellars. Nowadays, the remuneration tends to be in the form of cash, though a free pint or two and the occasional meal are gratefully received and faithfully applied !

Few village plays are still performed in their original locations, but many have survived to this day and are kept alive by some teams of Morris Dancers who include one or two plays amongst their dances and by a few teams of Mummers who perform many different plays both at the traditional celebrations and throughout the year at Festivals and Fairs.

The group have now collected over 30 traditional plays from all parts of the country and perform throughout the year at many events, both local and national; they have appeared on a number of occasions at International Folklore Festivals at Sidmouth, Devon and Whitby, Yorkshire.

They number all types of play within their repertoire, Hero/Combat, Ritual Slaughter and Ploughjack, and just to show that the "art" is still developing, they have several "modern" plays, written by members of the side, generally with a comic theme, such as "Omelette, Prince of Denmark", "The Ritual Slaughter of the Brussel Sprout" and "'allo 'allo": these being performed as the occasion demands. Most of the plays are performed in suitable costume, though the traditional "Ribbon Coats" are worn for one particular play in order to maintain contact with the "roots".

Traditionally, since in less enlightened times females were not expected to do anything but look after their Husbands and bear children, the Mumming Plays were strictly MEN ONLY, with all female characters being played by men. Although evolution and civilisation is now achieving a measure of sexual equality, which is most definitely recognised by the side, the Thameside Mummers have remained true to the tradition and are, and will remain, restricted to males. Since most performances are associated with large quantities of local Ale, their collective partners tend to regard this situation as quite acceptable !

The "Bagman" (Secretary) :

Freemasonry

There are many, many links to Masonic Lodges and Grand Lodges throughout the world. Simply the best way for a simple soul like Worshipful Brother Derek J. Oliver, London Grand Rank, is to refer you to what is fast becoming THE definitive reference site for Freemasonry on the Web, that of the Internet Lodge . . . . .