The Second Shepherd's Play

Gib is the second oldest of the three shepherds. While Col attributes his suffering to the exploitation of the poor by the rich, Gib sees men as oppressed and exploited by women and attributes his own suffering mainly to his wife. He presents the Christ-Child with the gift of a bird.

Dave is the youngest of the three shepherds and often gets scolded and bossed around by the others. He complains about the bad weather, his constant hunger, and his fear of the long nights that they are forced to endure as shepherds.

Dave is the shepherd who initially remarks that Mak has a reputation as a thief and immediately suspects Mak and Gill when Col notices that a sheep is missing.

He shows a youthful impetuosity and generosity when he proposes that they return to Mak’s cottage to bring the new baby a gift, despite the fact that they know Mak to be a thief. He is also the one who discovers that the baby is the stolen sheep when he leans down to kiss it. He presents the Christ-Child with the gift of a ball.

Mak is a well-known thief and troublemaker and a character who serves to generate a great deal of the comedy in the play. He often brags and lies about himself to the shepherds, who are wary of his boasts since they are familiar with his reputation as a thief. Nonetheless, he claims that he has only been reduced to stealing because his wife keeps giving birth to children that he then must provide for. While the three shepherds are sleeping, Mak steals a fat sheep from their flocks and carries it home to Gill. The couple devises a plan to disguise the sheep as a newborn baby. When the shepherds come to search the house, they initially do not suspect anything; however, when they return to bring the baby a gift, Dave spies the child’s “long snout,” and they realize they have been tricked. They toss Mak about to punish him for his crime, but eventually let him go. 

Gill is Mak’s wife, whom he describes as a woman who “drinks without care,” “eats as fast as she can,” and “brings forth another bairn” each year (8). Gill is depicted as cunning, like her husband, and takes an active role in hiding the sheep that Mak steals from the shepherds. Indeed, she is the one who suggests that they wrap the sheep in swaddling clothes and pretend that it is their newborn child. When the shepherds enter their home in search of the missing sheep, she lies in bed and pretends to be in pain and recovering from a difficult labor. Although in some ways the character of Gill plays into medieval stereotypes of women as cunning and shrewish, her obvious intelligence and strong personality makes her an interesting and significant voice in the play. She talks back when her husband tries to insult her and counters his misogynistic remarks by pointing out that her hard work is necessary for the running of the household. The bantering relationship between Mak and Gill also suggests that they are quite equally matched in terms of wit and capacity for deceit. 

The Angel represents the Angel in the Gospel of Luke who appears to a group of shepherds and announces the birth of Christ. The Angel commands the shepherds to go to Bethlehem to worship the Christ-Child and spread the good news of his birth.

Mary corresponds to the Biblical figure of the Virgin Mary, who gives birth to the Christ-Child in Bethlehem. She only speaks once in the play, to tell the shepherds that the son of God has been born for their salvation and to ask them to spread the news of his birth after they leave.