Guise dancing

Guise dancing (sometimes known as goose, goosey or geese dancing) is a form of community mumming practiced during the twelve days of Christmastide, that is, between Christmas Day and Twelfth Night (traditionally also Plough Monday, and some parish feasts) in Cornwall, England, UK.

Guise dancers dress in a disguise to hide their identity allowing them to perform in an outlandish or mischievous manner in the hope of receiving payment of food or money. The principal activities associated with guise dancing have changed through time. These have included the performance of 'traditional' Christmas plays such as Duffy and the Devil or St George and the Turkish Knight and traditional Cornish dance, music and song.

Guise dancing was observed in the late 19th century by Cornish antiquarian M. A. Courtney who reported that the practice had been largely eliminated by 1890 in Penzance due to a decline in the traditional nature of the celebrations and a rise in anti-social behaviour, the practice however could be found in St Ives, Newlyn and Mousehole St Ives finally ceasing in the 1970s. Mummer's Day in Padstow is considered by many to be the last form of traditional Guise dancing left, but is distinguished by the use of different music and the lack of masks, which are replaced by blackened faces.

Masks are the most notable feature of Guise dancers both historic and modern with "Bal masqué" being a common type of mask on display, animal masks, and plainer masks also present.

William Bottrell in his book Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall (1870–80) describes in detail the guise dancers in Penzance, including their traditional costume.

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