Nottinghamshire Local History Council Collection (1960, T.Johnson)
Source:
Thomas Johnson (Auth.)
MEMORIES OF A VILLAGER: BALDERTON [Plough Monday]
Nottinghamshire Local History Council Collection,
Written 2nd Feb.1960, Ref.DD/121/1/6, 11pp. [sheets numbered 130-141]
Entry to an essay competition on old village life at Balderton,
Notts. It gives details of local customs, including Harvest Home and Dole
Day. Pages 138-139 give the following;
"Plough Monday Plays
I have seen a Plough Monday Play only once.
A friend of mine described the play as an Elizabethan travesty. Locally the
boys kept up their custom until about the end of the last century.
The version I saw was as follows:-
Each character wore adornments to suit his particular role. A player entered
the house and recited his piece and the others followed with additions to the
story. I only remember Beelzebub and the Doctor. Beelzebub's lines started
with
'In comes I old Beelzebub.
In my hand I carry a club' (perhaps to slay the dragon)
The doctor came in his turn with his bottle of Paregoric. The performance ended
with the whole company chanting some doggeral."
Index Terms:
| Locations: |
Balderton, Notts. (SK8151)
|
| Years: |
Col. 1960; Perf. c. 1900
|
| Subjects: |
Essay; Plough Monday; Plays; Beelzebub; Doctor; Text Fragment; Dole Day; Harvest Home
|
| People: |
Nottinghamshire Local History Council (Col.)
|
| Archives: |
TDRG Archive, Ref. TD00402
|
Last Updated Mar 1992 by Peter Millington.
|
