Saturday, January 9, 2010

Time To Clean Your Plow...!


Well, it's that time again!

All the folks that took vacation time or just extra time off for the holidays should now be ready to go back to work. Enough fun with the kids, the new toys, the visiting relatives, and the left-overs! Time to get serious...!

Enter Plough (plow) Day...!!


The first Monday after Epiphany (January 6) was the day for the menfolk to return to work after the holidays -- although no work was actually done on this day. Dressed in clean white smocks decorated with ribbons, the men dragged a plow (plough) through the village and collected money for the "plow light" that was kept burning in the church all year. Often men from several farms joined together to pull the plow through all their villages. They sang and danced their way from village to village to the accompaniment of music. In the evening, each farmer provided a Plough Monday supper for his workers, with plentiful beef and ale for all.

I think the old timers had the right idea! I figure that if you gotta go back to work, then this is the way to spend the first Monday back in the saddle !

Sort of takes the sting out of the whole "going back to work thing", don't you think? I wonder if this is where the term " back into harness" came from?

So, my friends, let's get some fresh coffee and sit in the kitchen for a bit. Oh, and thanks to the Old Farmer's Almanac for this little tid-bit!

15 comments:

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

I´ve never heard of this tradition before. But is sounds a great way to start the new work year :-)
Take care in thecold weather now!
Christer.

Momlady said...

Well, at least they stayed warm pulling the darn thing. You stay warm, too. Me....I'm enjoying my coffee and trying not to think about the fact that the temp is in the teens. Brrrr.

JoJo said...

Good Morning My Special Friend, Sounds like they had fun too before the hard work came. Fun post.
Hope your staying warm, a good way to keep the kitchen warm is to bake something yummie, I'll bring the fresh ground coffee.
warm hugs in the kitchen.

HermitJim said...

Hey Christer...
I agree that it does sound like a great way to spend the first work day after the holidays.

I wonder if I could just show up for the food and ale?

Thanks for coming by today!


Hey Momlady...
Probably was good exercise, pulling that old plow! Wonder if anyone thought to put wheels on it?

Must have been an interesting sight, for sure!

temp in the teens is way too cold for me! In the 20's is cold enough!

Hey, thanks for the visit!

HermitJim said...

Hey JoJo...
Always a bit warmer in the kitchen! There's an old rhyme that goes...

"no matter where I serve my guest
They seem to like my kitchen best!"

Makes sense to me! Hey, sweetie, thanks for coming by!

Kyddryn said...

Now why amd I picturing Morris dancers hauling a lough from place to place?

I like the idea of celebrating like that.

I think I'll bake some banana bread to go with that coffee...it's cold outside and a day in the kitchen sounds nice!

Shade and Sweetwater,
K

HermitJim said...

Hey K...
Maybe this is a tradition we should start up again!

Gotta admit, it makes for an interesting way to spend a Monday!

I certainly like the idea of fresh banana bread...may I have a slice?

Thanks for the visit, my friend!

TEAM HALL said...

You had me at "plentiful beef and ale". LOL
You have a grand day, sir!
It's major clean-up day around here...

HermitJim said...

Hey Cath...
It does indeed sound good, even at this time of the day!

No wonder those guys were ready to hit the road and pull the plow!

Enjoy the clean-up! And thanks for the visit this morning!

Ryan said...

I like the idea of plentiful beef and ale.

HermitJim said...

Hey TOR...
Sounded like a pretty good idea to me as well!

Some of the older traditions had some good logic to them. Give a guy enough steak and ale, he'll pull that plow anywhere!

Thanks for coming by today!

Survival Chic said...

I provided Ale to the guys who used the front blade (plough) on my tractor to remove an irrigation berm that has been a problem for a year... :-)

thanks ...

HermitJim said...

Hey Survival Chick...
I figure whatever works...is worth trying, right?

If it gets the problem solved, good for you!

Thanks for coming by!

DianeLynn said...

Great post and I almost post about the same thing the other day. Glad I didn't...yours was better :)

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