English Folk Drama - History of Plough Plays
History of Plough Plays
The history of the Plough or Wooing Play is a little different. As it has come down us, this play seems to be a combination of three different customs.
By far the oldest part is the least 'dramatic', and focuses on the plough.
In late medieval and early modern times, one of the religious activities of the post-Christmas year in rural areas was the burning of 'plough lights' or candles in the parish church
Only the rich could afford their own plough, and most people relied on the 'common plough' which was kept in the parish church when not in use. The plough was blessed in a special service at the beginning of the main winter ploughing season - starting on Plough Monday, the first Monday after Twelfth Night.
Special candles, called 'plough lights' were kept burning in the church, and these were paid for by farm-workers going round the village - with the plough - collecting money. As the years went by, this perambulation with the plough became less to do with the church and more to do with collecting money for the men themselves.
It is likely that the ploughboys danced and sang at people's doors as they went round the parish, but we do not know how or when this entertainment took on the attributes of a mumming play. It is clear that the 'wooing' parts were taken from stage plays and/or pleasure garden routines of the eighteenth century.
The Hero-Combat play, which provides the third section, also seems to date from the middle of the eighteenth century, so it seems most likely that this in the time that the seeds of the Plough Play as we know it, were sown.
