Gotham (SK5330), Nottinghamshire

C.Brown (1891)

Cornelius Brown (Auth.)
A HISTORY OF NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
London: Elliot Stock, 1891, pp.265-280

The chapter on "Legend, tradition and anecdote" lists the following contents;

"Robin Hood and his Band - Ballads of the Period - The Gothamites - The King and the Miller of Mansfield - Ancient Instruments of Torture - The Plough Bullocks - 'Riding the Stang' - The Fair Maid of Clifton - St. Catherine's Well at Newark - Nan Scott's Chamber at Holme - Dick Turpin and his Accomplice - The Poets of the Newark Sieges - Hercules Clay and his Dream."

The piece on Plough Monday, Plough Bullocks says; "The writer has a distinct recollection of a party of them visiting his father's house at night adorned with paint and feathers, and performing a play. [This would be Lowdham, Notts.] He then refers to a play given by W.Hone (1837), but gives the cast as; [an Introducer], Plough Bullock, Turkish Knight, St. George, Doctor, Old Squire, Hub Bub, and the Box Holder.

This account has been much quoted by later authors, sometimes giving the erroneous impression that the play described came from Notts.

Nottingham Traditional Music Club (1972)

Nottingham Traditional Music Club (Research Group) (Auth.)
Centuries-old custom that is fading from memory [Plough Monday]
Mansfield & North Nottinghamshire Chronicle Advertiser, 20th Jan.1972, No.5249 (New Series 1033), p.7 h-i

This article gives a potted history of the activities of Plough Bullocks on Plough Monday or Plough Bullock Night around Mansfield, Notts., and asks for information.

Plough blessing is mentioned (at Newark, East Drayton and Gotham, Notts.), as is malicious ploughing. Fragments of play text are given, characters being: [an Introducer], Saint George, Slasher/Soldier, Doctor, Beelzebub, Mickey Bent, Rake, Molly Mop, Tommy Tup, and Polly Flinders.

The author on behalf of the club was P.T.Millington - There was no response.

Nottingham Evening Post (1974a)

[Anon.] (Auth.)
ON THE SQUARE: ANTICS TO BEAT THE GLOOM [Plough Monday Play at Gotham, Notts.]
Nottingham Evening Post, 7th Jan.1974, No.29730, p.6 b-f

Photo and description of the revival of a Plough Monday play at Gotham, Notts., by the EMMA Theatre Company. The play entitled "And Make Thy Buttons Fly" was based on traditional Plough or Wooing plays. "It is set in Gotham in 1206, in the winter season of ghosts and devils and shows how the isolated village prepares for its annual mummeries."

P.T.Millington Collection (1974)

Peter Thomas Millington (Col.)
*[Plough Monday custom at Gotham, Notts.]
P.T.Millington Collection, Col. Dec.1974

*Brief note of children going round with black faces and lanterns on Plough Monday in Gotham, Notts., possibly in the 1920s. There was no play, only solicitations. This information was collected from an audience member after a performance in Gotham by the Owd Oss Mummers of Nottingham.

* indicates data that not yet been validated against the original source and/or has yet to be completely indexed.