I know some of you are interested in the customs from different parts of the world, so I thought you might like this one. Here in England we have Plough plays , performed on, or near to, Plough Monday. (The first Monday after Epiphany) These plays have been going for hundreds of years and all contain similar characters (recruiting sergeant, doctor, fool, horse, Beelzebub, Dame Jane and Besom Betty) The female parts are always played by men, usually with beards! The plot always contains a courtship, a death and a miracle cure. The whole thing has traditional songs and dances to keep it together. The make-up is also traditional and was to disguise the players so their employers didn't recognise them!

Feeling rather embarrassed as I have never hear of this. Thank you Sue for this post. Sarah

1 comment

by spendlove 12 Jan 2015

Don't be embarrassed, Sarah. Quite a lot of passers by hadn't a clue what was going on!

Interesting reading about Plough plays. So now, just so we understand.....how does one pronounce "Plough".....and I know this is probably a silly question but....does it rhyme with: enough.....though.....through....dough....cough...or hiccough ??? And yes, I'm just joking but it's easy to see how customs and languages can change around the world. It is a wonderful thing that on this site many have become friends and neighbors through our mutual interests in sewing and crafts and each other. Cheers to Friendship!!

1 comment

by spendlove 11 Jan 2015

LOL "ough" is one of those combinations which has so many pronunciations! However, plough has been spelled like that for hundreds of years so who are we to question it?

Interesting!! Thanks for the insight! Suzanne

Wow, Sue! Thanks for telling us about these! It kind of reminds me of our melodramas.... How cool is this!!!

Looks very interesting...would love to see it in person one day!

I am loving the sharing of customs This is so interesting to me. I can see why you love going to the Plough plays. The costumes are amazing.

Thank you for sharing this, to me this is the way to get to know a people and a country. Not by watching the television or the news reports. This is real life and customs. The news is made up by lots of drama Queens and people who want their 15 minutes of fame.

1 comment

by spendlove 10 Jan 2015

Absolutely!

Sounds interesting. Is there is a video somewhere?

1 comment

by spendlove 10 Jan 2015

Just search for "Plough play" on YouTube.

That's a very interesting group of players. I'd love to be able to see and hear this. Thanks for sharing it with us.

A wonderful tribute to celebrate the arrival of the three Kings! Thank you Sue for sharing this with us!~hugs~

Is it Plough Monday because holiday is over and it's back to work? This is new to me. Love the idea of the play and the rough structure. I love to go to the festival. as they say in "into the Woods".

4 comments

by graceandham 10 Jan 2015

P.S.I'm thinking if you polled Christmas shoppers in the U.S.,80% or so would not know what Epiphany is!

by Leaha 10 Jan 2015

This is so true and such a tragic shame...

by spendlove 10 Jan 2015

Plough Monday is the start of the agricultural year, but also when the Christmas period was over and they had to go back to work.

by hightechgrammy 10 Jan 2015

Thank you sooo much for teaching us!