false a OED ~ III 13 e (1818, 1833); EDD adj 5 (5) (a) 'a mask' [worn by Christmas guisards] Sc. Comb false face: a mask, usu home-made, worn by a Christmas mummer; also a Hallowe'en mask; FACE.
   1928 Nfld Qtly Dec, p. 15 The merry party of 'Jannies,' or 'Mummers,' made the welkin ring with their weird shouts and cries, and their 'false faces' sent many a frightened child in haste to its mother's knee. T 22-64 Some more would make them out of cardboard, the false faces, and whiskers—put the whiskers on, and a moustache and all of it; trim it all up. M 68-22 We went mummering every night, clear of Sunday, for two weeks. We made our false faces and firked out all the old clothes we could find. 1969 Christmas Mumming in Nfld 131 Anything which disguises the head is called a 'false face.' C 71-113 ~ A mask either home-made or store bought. The mask would be used by children at Halloween [and] by adults during the Christmas hohdays when [they] would go out for a night jannying. 1979 TIZZARD 175 Each one with a 'false face' disguised his or her voice, but in the event that they were guessed the 'false face' was generally removed.

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