by A.C. Fisher Aldag
A plow play, or in the old-fashioned way of spelling, Plough Play, was held around Twelfth Night or the Epiphany, or around Imbolc or Candlemas during olden times in the British Isles. A holiday called “Plow Sunday” or “Plow Monday” featured decorating a plow, which was taken from house to house. Participants often sang, danced, played music, performed a dramatization, and begged for “money for the plow” which was used for a charity. In Christian times, this was sometimes a light in a church called a “Plow Light”. During years when the economy was poor, it may have been a way for workers to earn money. Young men called “Plow Jacks”, “Plow Stotts” or even “Plow Witches”, wearing rags or funny clothing and with blackened faces, would threaten to plow up the front yard of anyone who refused to give an offering.
Some scholars believe that the plow play was originally a Pagan ritual, perhaps to ensure the fertility of the fields, a custom that was later adopted by Christians. In much of Great Britian, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, Imbolc was the day to begin plowing the fields, as the climate was warmer during the Bronze and Iron ages. Pliny the Elder noted in the first century C.E. that the Celts had better plows than the Romans, and that they began plowing “early”. These tools were also used to cut turf for fuel. However, plowing the fields may have begun even earlier, as evidenced by a poem that signifies the end of the Christmas season, when Jack returns to his plow, and Jenny to her loom, traditionally sung or recited on Twelfth Night.
On Plow Sunday or Monday, plowing games and races were and are enjoyed, dances were held, including the Morris, with attendant feasting and drinking. The Ploughboys are sometimes accompanied by a Molly or Malkin, a man dressed as a woman who performs a lively rustic dance. Sometimes a person dressed in a costume made of straw, called a “Straw Bear”, proceeds the dancers. The custom of the Plow Play was first written about in the sixth century, when some plow jacks got into trouble for plowing up the kirkyard in Scotland. The tradition all but died out early last century, except in the most rural areas of Britian and Ireland. Recently, the Plow Play custom has been revived by communities for fun and tourism, as well as by neo-Pagans as a type of sacred ritual to honor the land.
The Magickal Media crew was seen decorating an old-fashioned horse drawn plow for Imbolc, blessing it, then placing it outdoors to protect the home and to bring fertility to the garden. You can try this ritual for yourself, or with your family or coven – if no plow is readily available, you can decorate a garden cultivator, or make your own plow from two broomsticks and cardboard. Adorn it with silk flowers, ribbons, tinsel and streamers. Paper flowers can also be used, if your plow is kept indoors. This tradition has helped to bless our home and make our garden fertile for years.
Plow Monday held this year in the UK, celebrated by middle schoolers. With photos and a video. ...
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Plow Jacks tow a plow through a town in the UK. …
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