Plough deep while sluggards sleep:
and you shall have corn to sell and keep.
Turn out for Plough Monday
Up, fellows now
Buckle the horses
And follow the plough.
From the looks of traffic headed downtown this morning, it was "get back to work day." Today is Plough Monday in England, the first Monday after Twelfth Night and the end of the long holiday--the traditional start of the agricultural year, when farmers prepared their fields for spring sowing. In medieval times, the ploughs were blessed at church the day before.
Itinerant field workers returned to the farms, and started to look for employment. The raucous customs of Plough Day varied by region, but a plough was often hauled in a procession by disguised beggars collecting money.
No such thing as a New Year's diet in those days! Plough pudding, a boiled suet pie containing spiced meat and onions, was traditionally served.
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