The White Boys

My good friend and fellow Weird Weekend North presenter Steve Jones was a member of a group, including cryptozoologist Richard Freeman, that ventured over to the Isle of Man in early May to look for Gef the Talking Mongoose. Unfortunately, he couldn’t be found. While in Douglas they visited The Manx Museum where, in the folklore section, Steve noticed a small paragraph about ‘The White Boys’, accompanied by a costume and a black and white photo. It briefly said that they used to visit people’s houses to beg for money. Interestingly, the costume consisted of a white robe with some coloured ribbons attached and a round, white headpiece with eyeholes in it. Given the close connection between Liverpool and the Isle of Man, Steve naturally asked if there might be a link with the Aintree Spectres [ FT399:3842], whom I describe as wearing KKKtype attire and marching around a field close to the village brandishing burning torches. After all, local author Tom Slemen has written about ‘The Lily White Boys’, who could be potential candidates.

I followed this up by checking various relevant websites, but disappointingly it does not look as if ‘The White Boys’ are involved. They are in fact a group of mummers who deliver a traditional play very similar to the Warburton Souling Plays [ FT359:76-77], but instead of taking place in early November it is delivered

at Christmastime: see www. mastermummers.org/articles/Miller-2011.htm; https://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/The_White_Boys_(mum

mers). Videos of the play are available online at https://vimeo.

com/387487768. They show that although some players are dressed in white, this is not the case for all of them. So, although there are several teasing similarities to the clothing and behaviour of the Aintree Spectres, the differences are all too apparent. But it was definitely a good lead and Steve hadn’t sent me on a wild (mon) goose chase!

Rob Gandy

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