S.R.Hole (1901)
Source:
Dean S. Reynolds Hole (Auth.)
THEN AND NOW [7th ed.]
London: Hutchinson & Co., 1901, pp.142-158
The chapter on "Recreations" includes descriptions of Plough Monday, club
feasts, harvest homes and harvest suppers, a dance game called "Prinkum
prankum", and a song - "Colonel Kelly's Son". These all relate to the time
the author lived in Caunton, Notts.
The description of Plough Monday (pp.150-152) has been much reprinted and cited
by later authors. It reads;
"... I remember the morris dancers paying their annual visit on 'Plough
Monday' - so-called because on that day the farm labourer went back to his work after
the holiday of Christmas - walking round the big kitchen with their faces
raddled and a few bits of ribbon and coloured rags sewn on their smocks by their
wives and sweethearts, and favouring us as they passed by with brief notes as to
their personal history.
First Rustic (carrying bow and arrow, with peacock's feathers in his hat):-
Here come I, bold Robin Hood
As used to shoot the deer i' th' wood.
Second Rustic (similarly adorned and armed):-
And here comes I. I'm Little John,
I'm Robin Hood's compan-i-on.
Third Rustic (large labourer in woman's attire - bonnet and shawl, and hobnailed
boots appearing below scanty skirt):-
And here comes I, a lively dame;
Maid Marion it is my name.
Fourth Rustic (supposed, with good reason, to be a fool or clown):-
And here comes I, as it is fit,
With my great head and little wit.
Then they danced, shaking a tin box, which contained the coins they had
collected, and calling out 'Largesse, largesse!' received additional donations,
were refreshed with ale, not having tasted that beverage for a period of twenty
minutes, and with cheers and a bow, and a curtsey from Maid Marion which brought
down the house, they took their departure."
Index Terms:
| Locations: |
Caunton, Notts. (SK7460)
|
| Years: |
Publ. 1901
|
| Subjects: |
Plough Monday; Club Feasts; Harvest Homes; Harvest Suppers; Dance Game; "Prinkum Prankum"; Song; "Colonel Kelly's Son"; Morris Dancers; Costumes; Text Fragments; First Rustic; Robin Hood; Second Rustic; Little John,; Third Rustic; Maid Marion; Fourth Rustic; Fool; Clown; Play
|
| People: |
Samuel Reynolds Hole (Auth.)
|
| Archives: |
TDRG Archive, Ref. TD00061
|
Last Updated Oct 1987 by Peter Millington.
|
