Context:
| Location: |
South Notts., Notts. (SK----) |
| Year: |
First Publ. 1873 |
| Time of Occurrence: |
Plough Monday, Plough Bullock Day |
| Collective Name: |
Plough Bullocks |
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Source:
C.Brown
Notes about Notts.
Nottingham, T.Forman & Sons, 1874, pp.83-85
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Cast:
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Text:
{The party forming a circle, enter the leader loquitor :-}
Bold Anthony
In comes bold Anthony
As bold as a mantle tree [sic.]
I am come to show you sport, activity.
A room, a room, a gallant room!
And give us leave to sport,
For in this house I do resort,
It is a merry day.
Step in, the King of England, and boldly clear the way.
{Enter King}
I am the King of England,
And so boldly do appear;
I'm come to seek my only son,
My only son is here.
If you don't agree to what I say,
Step in, Prince George, thou valiant knight,
And boldly clear the way.
{Enter the Prince}
I am Prince George, the valiant knight,
In fighting I took great delight;
I fought two fiery dragons, and brought about great slaughter,
And by those means I gained Selina,
the King of England's daughter.
{At this juncture, mirabile dicto, a scrimmage ensues
and the warlike Prince is overcome}
{Enter Selina}
Selina
Who calls for Selina?
The King
Selina, to thee I call, behold!
They have killed my Prince.
Oh, terrible! What hast thou done?
Thou hast ruined my, and killed my son.
Is there ne'er a doctor to be found?
To cure this deep and deadly wound.
{Enter Doctor}
Doctor
Oh, yes, there is a doctor to be found,
To cure this deep and deadly wound.
The King
What is your pay?
Doctor
Ten pounds in my pay,
But as thou art an old friend, I'll nine of thee.
King
What canst thou cure?
Doctor
I can cure the palsy and the gout,
Pains within and pains without;
Bring a woman to me aged three score years and ten,
I'll take her collar-bone out and put it in again.
The King
Then, cure me, my son.
Doctor
I'll cure your son as safe as sound
As any man on England's ground.
{Applies something to the lips of the youth.}
Doctor
Here, George, take a little of my nip-nap [sic.] ,
Put it down thy lictap [sic.] ,
Arise, and fight again.
{George arises accordingly}
Doctor
I've searched his wounds, I've drained his blood,
I've given him that that's done him good.
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Notes:
[On Plough Monday] "...The men generally met at some appointed rendezvous, and visited the residences of the tradesmen and farmers. In South Notts., after being admitted into the farmer's kitchen, they would proceed with a novel play, at which frequent rehearsals had made them proficient. We have succeeded in obtaining, from the dictation of one who had frequently taken a part in these performances, a copy of the words used on the occasion..."
"Immediately at the close of the performance contributions are solicited from the spectators, and the band proceed elsewhere to repeat the doggerel and to again go through the same antics. When the last place has been visited the treasurer accounts to his comrades as to the state of the exchequer, and a supper and jollification generally closes the proceedings on 'Plough Bullock Day'..."
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File History:
1999-07-04 - Entered by Peter Millington
2021-01-15 - TEI-encoded by Peter Millington
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Extras:
Dramaturgical Chart
The chart reveals the dramaturgical structure of the play by showing which speeches in the script are spoken by which character. Vertical lines indicate stage directions.
TEI-encoded File
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Text Relatives Map
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Other Information
There may be more about this text at:
https://folkplay.info/resources/texts-and-contexts/south-notts-plough-bullock-day-play-1873.
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