Kirmington Plough-Jags Play by Ruairidh Greig
The Plough Play in Lincolnshire by Ruairidh Greig
The Kirmington Plough-Jags Play
by Ruairidh Greig
from Folk Music Journal, Vol. 3, No. 3 (1977), pp. 233-241
Published by: English Folk Dance + Song Society
The Kirmington Plough-Jags Play
RUAIRIDH GREIG
The text of the Kirmington version of the "Plough Jags" or "Plough Jacks" play was first printed in "The Mummers' Play", by R. J. E. Tiddy (OUP 1923). This particular play seems to have been added to Tiddy's collection by Rupert Thomson, who edited the book for publication after the author was killed in action on August 10th, 1916, and no information as to its origin was included other than "From Kirmington in North Lincolnshire[1]." It was then with considerable surprise and pleasure that, during a song collecting trip in North Lincolnshire, I met Walter Brackenbury of Kirmington who took the part of the Doctor in the team which performed the play immediately before the First World War. Not only did Mr. Brackenbury have a complete version of the play which he had written out some years previously, but he also remembered a wealth of details about the performance, the organisation of the team and the attitudes of both the actors and their audience. We first met in August 1970 at the New
Inn, Great Limber, to which Mr. Brackenbury at the age of 73 still occasionally cycled. The following details about the performance of the Kirmington play were recorded subsequently in a most memorable interview in Walter's wood shed and as far as possible are given here in his own words[2].
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(a) Organisation
The team was organised by the Fool, who at the time was Frank Vessey. He subsequently moved from the village to Barton-on-
Humber. Walter joined after he started work at the age of 13 on a local farm. When asked how he came to be a member of the team, Walter commented, "Well, I suppose now, he was the fool, the selected fool, and the picking of the team would revolve round him."
(T)
The composition of the team did not vary drastically from year to year, but there would be gradual changes, often as Walter commented, for financial reasons. "Well there'd be maybe one drop out ... even the fool for instance.
Some was poor, we was poor. My father died when I was 3. My
Op. cit. p. 254.
2 Transcriptions carry the suffix (T).
____________________________
mother had nine to bring up and even though we was pleased to get a
shilling or two, we still enjoyed it. You see a chap like Frank Vessey . .
he was never poor and some of us who were poor'd maybe stop on a
year or more, but he got better off you see. . ." (T)
The words of the play were not learned from print, but from the
other members of the team during rehearsals which took place for
several weeks before Christmas at the Fool's house.
Unlike most of the plough plays in Lincolnshire, which were
performed on Plough Monday, the Kirmington play was performed at
Christmas time. The performances began, "Oh, a week or ten days
before Christmas, when the Christmas spirit was getting on" (T) and
the team generally "got done by Christmas . . . except odd ones that'd
be having a party." (T) These specially requested performances were
not popular with Walter.
"You didn't like it much because you'd all to get clean. It took a
devil of a long time to clean your face you know, all that black." (T)
After the team assembled, they would decide which area to visit;
We'd map a piece out, say this street one night; there weren't so
many houses then and you nearly knew who'd have you in." (T).
The group did not restrict their visits to the village of Kirmington.
They also visited neighbouring Croxton, as well as outlying farms on
the hills around the village.
"You see there are those tops up there and I think we used to go to
nearly all of them. I remember going to that one up there and it's
nearly two miles from the village." (T)
These farms were regarded as being especially worth visiting,
because of the relative prosperity of the owners;
"Well, say they'd give you five bob and that was a lot o' money i'
them days." (T)
The costumes worn by the team seem to have been determined
largely by what was available. The characters and their costumes were
as follows:-
Fool
"You'd get an old shirt off somebody or, if you could get it, an old
smock what a man has for show, you know, a garthman or a
shepherd, a white smock you know, but big shirts were generally the
rage . . . some'd be studded wi' pretty ribbon, all colours you know;
patches, different variations. Then there was the Fool's hat . . . what
we call a proper Fool's hat, it went to a peak, you know, like these
things like the roadmenders have when they're doing the roads." (T)
Sergeant
"The best you can get a man dressed to a soldier. I mean at that
time o'day . . . you could borrow a red tunic o' somebody that'd been
i' the army. He has a sword." (T)
Indian King
"He was dressed nearly like the fool; a bit more wild looking and a
round hat wi' pretty feathers." (T)
Doctor
"You'd get a black coat, a black rain coat, hard hat if you had one
and a bottle of cold tea and a stick." (T)
Ladi'
"Dressed as a lady, ordinary lady. In them days all women had big
hats on and long dresses on and big blouses and a veil." (T)
Bold Tom
"'He'd want a bigger shirt, stuffed with straw and tied round. It
weren't heavy." (T)
Old Lame Jane
"She wants to be a real old pensioner with long clothes, long boots
or shoes and an old brush for sweeping the floor."
The Fool, Indian King and Bold Tom all had their faces partially
blackened, with moustaches and dots applied with the aid of a burnt
cork;
"WThatfd make you look damn silly." (T)
(b) Performance
The team announced their presence at the kitchen door by knocking
and calling "Will you have Plough Jags in please?" If permission was
given the team would enter, led by the Fool;
"You stopped outside until it was your turn to come in." (T) When
all the team were inside, they would stand in a line, moving only as
required by the action of the play.
"You'd no need to shift, only when the Sergeant slew the ... [Indian
King I you see they'd move and then the Fool helps him up when he's
down." (T)
TEXT
Fool Good evening ladies and gentlemen,
We've come to give you a bold call,
As Christmas is a merry time
We've come to see you all
We hope you'll not be offended
By what we've got to say,
For presently there'll be a few more boys and girls
Come tripping up this way.
Sergeant: In comes I the recruiting Sergeant,
Arriving here just now.
My orders are to list all those
Who can follow horse, cart or plough
Tinkers, tailors, pedlars, nailers
Are all at my advance.
Fool Is there anything else at your advance, Sir?
Sergeant Yes, my advance is to see a fool dance, laugh, sing or
play
Or I will quickly march away.
Fool (sings)
[music]
One day I tried to stop a pig, sir
And what a lark we had
The pig went (grunting noise)
And away he ran
Right through my stunning legs, sir.
Sergeant Do you call that singing? I can sing better than that
myself.
(sings)
[music]
Come my lads it's time for listing.
Listing, do not be afraid.
You shall have all kinds of liquor
Likewise kiss the pretty fair maids.
Indian King: Ware out my lads let me come in,
For I'm the chap called Indian King.
They have been seeking me to slay,
And I am here this very same day.
I fought the fiery dragon,
And brought it to the slaughter,
And by these means I won King George's daughter.
Sergeant: Slaughter, slaughter, no more to be said
For in one instant I'll fetch off thine head.
Indian King: How canst thou fetch off mine head?
Mine head is of iron, my body of steel.
My limbs of knuckle bone,
I challenge thee to feel.
Sergeant: Slaughter! (Draws sword across Indian King's throat, who falls)
Fool: Five pounds for a Doctor!
Sergeant: Ten pounds to stop away!
Fool: Fifteen to come in on a case like this!
Doctor: In comes I, the doctor.
Fool How camest thou to be a doctor?
Doctor I travelled for it from bedside to fireside,
From fireside to my mother's cupboard
That's where I got all my pork pies and sausages from.
Fool What diseases can you cure?
Doctor Ipsy, pipsy, palsy, gout
Pains within and pains without,
Heal all wounds and cleanse your blood
And do your body a lot of good.
Fool Can you cure this man?
Doctor: Yes certainly, take hold of my bottle and stick while I feel o' this man's pulse.
(The fool takes the bottle and stick and the Doctor feels the Indian King's thigh)
Fool: Is that where a man's pulse lie?
Doctor Yes, the strongest part of a man's body.
He's not dead but in a trance.
He's swallowed a horse and cart
And can't get shut of the wheels.
Jump up, Jack and lets have a dance.
(Indian King is helped up)
Lady (sings)
[music]
I am a lady bright and fair
My fortune is my charm
It's true that I've been torn away
From my dear lover's arms
He promised for to marry me
And that you'll understand,
He listed for a soldier,
And went to foreign land.
Bold Tom: In comes I Bold Tom
A brisk and nimble fellow
Forty gallons of your best ale
Will make me nice and mellow
And a slice of your pork pie
For, believe me, we're all hungry
As well as dry.
Lame Jane: In comes I, old Lame Jane
With a neck as long as a crane
A wig behind and a wig before
Look out my lads,
Fool (sings) And I'll sweep the floor.
[music]
Madam I've got gold and silver,
Madam I've got house and land,
Madam, I've got wealth and treasure
Everything at your command.
Lady (sings)
What care I for your gold and silver,
What care I for your house and land,
What care I for your wealth and treasure,
All I want is a nice young man.
Fool (links arms with the Lady)
Friends, I've come to invite you to me and my wife's wedding. What you like best you'd better bring wi' you, for we're going to have the leg of a louse and a lop fry, a barley chaff dumpling buttered with wool. Them as
can't nag it'll have it to pull; tail chine of a cockerel also
and eighteen gallons of your best buttermilk to rinse all
down. Sing about lads while I draw stakes.
(Fool collects while the rest of the cast sing)
[music]
All Good master and good mistress
As you sit round the fire
Remember us poor plough boys
Who plough the muck and mire.
The muck it is so nasty,
The mire it is so strong,
Remember us poor plough boys
Who plough the furrows along.
We thank you for civility
For what you've given us here
We wish you a Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year.
(The fool leads the way out)
Good master and good mistress
You see our Fool's gone out
We make it our ability
To follow him about.
Two dialect words used in the Fool's last speech may require
explanation: a "lop" is a flea and "to nag" in this context means to
gnaw or to chew at something.
The team collected money from the audience, and were sometimes
offered hospitality in the form of food and beer.
(c) Attitudes
The attitudes of performers and audience towards the play are
undoubtedly of considerable importance. Only rarely have comments
on and opinions of such customs been recorded from local people,
upon whom their survival ultimately depends. From the expression of
attitudes towards the play,much may be learned about its importance
to the community which fostered it, and the social function which it
fulfilled.
Walter Brackenbury, when asked what he regarded as the reason
for performing the play commented:
"Fun more than anything, entertainment. I don't think for one
minute that the money you got was the compelling factor for going
round, even though we was all poor." (T)
In the days when the Plough plays were flourishing, for large
numbers of young men, farming was the only available occupation,
and such Christmas activities offered the opportunity for welcome
relief from everyday concerns, as well as a chance to supplement small
wages. In some villages, the Plough Jags outings were also an excuse
for violence, threatening householders who refused to contribute with
ploughing up doorsteps, or lawns, or fighting rival gangs. The Lincoln,
Rutland and Stamford Mercury noted on 31/1/1865 that at Barton-
on-Humber i. . . the usual gangs of Plough Jacks went through their
uncouth performances in the streets, which are now of such a nature
as to hardly gratify the most rigid stickler for adherence to old
customs."
However in Kirmington the performers did not seem to be of a
violent disposition;
"'There was no animosity in them days, no silly devils." (T) Despite
their peaceful nature, they still inspired a certain amount of respect in
young children.
"Oh well, some children was frightened you know ... some werereally frightened ... when the Indian King come... if he were a good un, if he was well made up see." (T)
The young performers must have got some satisfaction throughbecoming such powerful, frightening figures.
Obviously, as a performer, Walter Brackenbury could not give a
great deal of information about the attitudes of his audience, but the
act of giving hospitality or money might have acted in some small way
as an affirmation of status for the donor. No mention of bringing luck
was remembered, but if not as bringers of luck, the Plough Jags were
greeted with pleasure as an integral element in the annual celebrations.
"They took it for granted, see. Christmas was Christmas, and
Christmas was Plough Jags." (T)