Mumming with the neighbors in West Tyrone (Northern Ireland, craic, Christmas, folk drama)

While conducting fieldwork on commemoration and collective memory in Northe rn Ireland, I was invited by my neighbors to join their Christmas mumming g roup. That experience led to this short, informal piece, which offers insig hts-from my perspective as a newly initiated mummer-into the motivations, g roup dynamics, and improvisational play of a contemporary mumming group. By describing how the group assembled and practiced, the essay touches on how this tradition is transmitted from veterans to new recruits. By recalling specific performances, the piece describes the contexts in which mumming is performed today. As a result of my mumming experience, I relaxed my initial compulsion to do cument folklore a a thing and came to appreciate being part of folklore as a process. Although folk drama was not the primary focus of my fieldwork, m y experience as a mummer was foundational in my relationships with new neig hbors and to my understanding of my role as a fieldworker. Thus, this "enco unter with folklore" also allows for some reflection on fieldwork and metho dology.