George's Notes
“I cured Sir Harry of a nag-nail almost 50 yards long; surely I can cure this poor man. Here, Slasher, take a little out of my bottle, let it run down thy throttle, and if thou be not quite slain, rise, Slasher and fight again”.
Good Friday morning always seemed to be bright and sunny. For those who didn’t know the Pace Egg from start to finish (and most boys knew it by heart) copies could be bought from any newsagent for a penny. Sashes – red for St. George, blue for Slasher, pink for King of Egypt, yellow for Prince of Paradine and orange for Hector, cost 3d. each from the same newsagent.
Any shoeing-smith would knock up half a dozen swords out of garth iron for the price of a pint. As well as the characters already mentioned, the players included the Doctor and Beelzebub. Both were dressed in outlandish garb. The total number of players was seven. The normal time to start performing on Good Friday in the streets was 8 a.m. and it was always understood that we finished at noon. The afternoon was always spent at Hollingworth Lake or Belle View. Happy days indeed!
It is now many years since I heard the Pace Egg performed in its entirety, although I was lucky enough to obtain an original copy of the play a few years ago.
George Mainwaring
For information on the Pace Egg, please visit… en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pace_Egg_play
