Mummers Night in Oshawa

Mummers Night in Oshawa, about homesick Newfoundland Mummers who moved to Oshawa in Ontario to find work, is by A. Frank Willis, a popular Canadian entertainer who performed as a one-man band. He died in 2011 but lives for evermore on YouTube.


The boys they left their Newfoundland and went to Oshawa
Got a job and settled down, in no time at all
The second Christmas off the rock, they missed the folks back home
They’d keep up their tradition, so they wouldn’t feel alone
Now Edna was from Oshawa, she’d lived there all her life
When she married Jake, she became a Newfie’s wife
She’d never heard of mummering nor tasted fish and brewis
She never thought tonight, they’d all be on the news

     Chorus 1:
     Mummers night in Oshawa, it was quite a show
     ’Twas on the television and the radio
     The boys were just a-having fun and you can safely bet
     Mummers night in Oshawa was a night they won’t forget
     Mummers night in Oshawa was a night they won’t forget

Jake was at the Newfie bar, drinking with the boys
Playing darts and shooting pool, telling each other lies
He was the instigator of the mummers plot
They tried it out on Edna and she nearly got them shot
Tom was dressed up as his wife, and Charlie dressed as him
Fred the plumber dressed up as a fisherman
With their faces covered they were such a scary sight
When they knocked upon the door, Edna screamed with fright
Mummers night in Oshawa, it was quite a show

      Chorus 1:

Someone in the neighborhood, must-a called the cops
They threw the boys upon the ground and put ’em in the cuffs
Flashing Lights, guns drawn, sirens filled the air
Explaining ’bout the mummers didn’t get them anywhere
The judge was in the Christmas spirit, so he let ’em go
The boys they left , Jake went home, his head was hanging low
When Edna met him at the door, she said, Oh what a night
Now I like your mummering, but I didn’t need the fright

     Chorus 1:

     Chorus 2:
     Mummers night in Oshawa, it was quite a show
     Dressing up in scary clothes, how were the boys to know?
     Tossed into a paddy wagon, Jake and all his friends
     Mummers night in Oshawa, they’re locked up in the pen
     Mummers Night in Oshawa, they’re locked up in the pen


© Golden Hind Music