| Where: | Morton, near Southwell in Nottinghamshire at St Denis' Church and at Southwell |
| When: | Sunday in early to mid January (near Plough Monday) |
| Time: | Blessing 10.30, Dancing from Noon |
Plough Monday was the day upon which agricultural workers returned to the land and they marked the occasion by disguising themselves and touring their local district dancing and performing plays for largesse (see Plough Monday article). At Southwell the present day celebrations are hosted by Sullivan’s Sword and are held on a Sunday near Plough Monday to make it easier for spectators to attend. The day begins with a traditional Blessing of the Plough service at Morton at St Denis’ Church (which in 2014 included some excellent performances by the talented musicians of Sullivans Sword) followed by refreshments in the Church Hall across the road, then Sullivan’s Sword and visiting Morris sides like Rattlejag perform through the afternoon at Southwell before retiring to local hostelries for further music and entertainment. Sullivans Sword also perform the Farnsfield Plough Play which is a traditional mummers play including a death and revival and colourful characters (literally!) like Beelzebub and the Recruiting Sergeant.
Helpful Hints
Dancing starts at Noon until dusk around local villages and Southwell (check Sullivan’s Sword website for timings). In 2024 it was on Sunday January 7th- 2025 details are yet to be confirmed.
Some of the performers will also be out on Plough Monday (check links for details).
For the church click here: https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/17936/service-and-events/events-all/
For Sullivan’s Sword click here : http://www.sullivanssword.co.uk/
and here: https://www.facebook.com/SullivansSword
For Rattlejag click here: http://www.rattlejagmorris.org.uk/
Many thanks to Moira Ruff for all the photos without the calendarcustoms watermark!
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Hi Averil
This is a great event see more about last year on my blog traditionalcustomsandceremonies.wordpress.com and look at January. Nottinghamshire is justly proud of its plough monday heritage and this is only one of a regular revival there are: Tollertons play at the Air Hostess every plough monday after a tour of the village, Muskham pinkies also on the day, the Clayworth plough players do North Nottinghamshire, The dolphin morris also do some performances on the night, this year in Gotham I believe, the Forresters have a long running revival at the castle usually the weekend after plough monday, Muskham Pinkies do the weekend around Newark and the oldest group running since 1977 is the Calverton team, who like, Tollerton, only do the plough plays and not Winter Morris as I call them, they do he week before or of, usually three days in Calverton, Southwell, Lambley and Woodborough villages around Nottingham. Hope that helps? Keep up the good work.