{"id":3122,"date":"2015-12-28T17:59:40","date_gmt":"2015-12-28T17:59:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=3122"},"modified":"2016-01-08T00:01:23","modified_gmt":"2016-01-08T00:01:23","slug":"heres-to-plough-monday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=3122","title":{"rendered":"\u201cHere\u2019s to Plough Monday!\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

January 6 \u2013\u00a0last of the\u00a012 Days of Christmas<\/a><\/strong><\/em>\u00a0\u2013 leads to \u201cPlough Monday\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Christmas Day<\/em> has come and gone. \u00a0But that doesn\u2019t mean the Christmas season<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0is over. \u00a0As noted last year here, the Twelve<\/em><\/strong> Days of Christmas<\/a>\u00a0are \u201cboth a festive\u00a0Christmas season<\/a><\/em>\u201d and the title of a \u201chost of songs and spin-offs (including one on a\u00a0Mustang GT<\/a>):\u201d<\/p>\n

The Twelve Days of Christmas<\/strong>\u00a0[begin] on Christmas Day<\/a>\u00a0(25 December)[, they celebrate] the birth of Jesus [and are] also known as Christmastide<\/a>\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 The Feast of the Epiphany<\/a> is on 6 January [and] celebrates the visit of the Wise Men (Magi<\/b><\/a>) and their bringing of gifts to the child Jesus.\u00a0 In some traditions, the feast of Epiphany and Twelfth Day overlap.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The post also said that technically<\/em> this holiday season really <\/em>started back on Halloween.<\/p>\n

The thing is, winters back in the really<\/em> old days \u2013 when life was\u00a0nasty, brutish and short<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 were really<\/em> long and really<\/em> boring. \u00a0So folks back then looked for any good reason to throw a party and get sloshed. \u00a0(Which explains why the \u201cparty season\u201d started on Halloween.<\/em>)<\/p>\n

So in one sense you could say the end of that extended holiday season comes on January 6.<\/p>\n

But in another sense you could say the season extends to the Monday following January. \u00a0That\u2019s the Monday known as\u00a0Plough Monday<\/em><\/strong>. \u00a0(Which is another way of saying some of the post-Christmas holidays and\/or Feast Days can be extremely confusing.) \u00a0<\/em>So the end of that extended holiday season \u2013 this year, on January 11 \u2013 was also known as\u00a0Plough Monday<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Getting back to January 6, another name for it was\u00a0Twelfth Night<\/em><\/strong>. \u00a0That in turn was the name of famous play by William\u00a0Shakespeare. \u00a0The play \u201cexpanded on the musical interludes and riotous disorder expected of the occasion,\u201d to\u00a0wit:\u00a0the \u201coccasion of the \u2018drunken revelry\u2019 of\u00a012th Night<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

And finally, January 6th has yet another name.\u00a0 It is perhaps best known as\u00a0the\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Epiphany<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"But getting back to\u00a0Plough Monday<\/a>: \u00a0In England it marks the start\u00a0of the new\u00a0Agricultural Year<\/a><\/em>. \u00a0The\u00a0Church<\/em> of England<\/a>\u00a0had a long church service to mark the occasion, with prayers for a bountiful harvest. \u00a0And<\/em> that service included both a blessing of the seed to be planted and a \u201cblessing of the plough\u201d \u2013 as illustrated at right:<\/p>\n

Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation:\u00a0 for in your abundant care you have given us fertile land, rich soil, the seasons in their courses\u2026 \u00a0By your blessing, let this plough be a sign of all that you promise to us. \u00a0Prosper the work of our hands, and provide abundant crops for your people to share.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In turn, Plough Monday was preceded by\u00a0Plough Sunday<\/a>. \u00a0Plough Sunday<\/em> was seen as a way of celebrating farming and the work of farmers, in church<\/em>. \u00a0But since you weren\u2019t supposed to work on Sundays \u2013 back in the good old days \u2013 the new agricultural year didn\u2019t really start until the next work day: \u00a0\u201cwork in the fields did not begin until the day after<\/em><\/strong> Plough Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Put another way: \u00a0Since Epiphany always came on January 6, Plough\u00a0Sunday<\/em>\u00a0came\u00a0on the Sunday after<\/em><\/strong> the Epiphany<\/a>. \u00a0(The Sunday between January 7 and January 13.) \u00a0Thus\u00a0Plough Monday is usually the first Monday after Twelfth Day (Epiphany)<\/a>, 6 January.<\/p>\n

The point of all this \u2013 January 6, Plough Monday, etc. \u2013 was to have one more big blast before getting back to work. \u00a0(Resuming farm-work after the extended Christmas holiday season.<\/em>)\u00a0 As such it was one more occasion for general\u00a0tomfoolery<\/a>, as shown in the top picture:<\/p>\n

In some areas, particularly in northern England and East England, a plough<\/a> was hauled from house to house in a procession, collecting money. \u00a0They were often accompanied by musicians, an old woman or a boy dressed as an old woman, called the \u201cBessy,\u201d and a man in the role of the \u201cfool<\/a>.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In turn it may \u00a0help to remember that one big reason<\/em><\/strong> for all this general tomfoolery was that \u2013 otherwise \u2013 life back then was indeed \u201cnasty, brutish and short<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"And finally, people usually celebrated Plough Monday<\/em> by eating\u00a0Plough Pudding<\/a>, as seen at left:\u00a0 A \u201cboiled suet pudding, containing meat and onions. \u00a0It is from Norfolk and is eaten on Plough Monday.\u201d<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

All of which brings up the topic of Ringing In The New Year<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/em>That web article noted that bells – as in the ringing of bells – are “a deeply spiritual part of ushering in both life and death for ancient cultures.\u00a0 (In a practice that serves as an “apt metaphor for the changing of the New Year.”<\/p>\n

Or see New Year \u2013 Wikipedia<\/a>, which noted that New Year’s Day<\/em> wasn’t always January 1:<\/p>\n

During the Middle Ages<\/a> in western Europe … authorities moved New Year’s Day variously, depending upon locale, to one of several other days, among them: March 1, March 25, Easter, September 1, and December 25.\u00a0 These New Year’s Day changes generally reverted to using January 1 [with] local adoptions of the Gregorian calendar<\/a>, beginning in 1582…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Note also that the ancient Hebrews celebrated a type of New Year with Rosh Hashanah<\/a>.\u00a0 (Hebrew<\/a> for “head of the year.”)\u00a0 Rosh Hashanah is a two day holiday “commemorating the culmination of the seven days of Creation<\/a>, and marking God’s yearly renewal of His world.”<\/p>\n

As for January 1<\/em>, that started in Rome:\u00a0 “During the Roman Republic<\/a> and the Roman Empire<\/a> years began on the date on which each consul first entered office.”\u00a0 But then in 45 BC – and the new “Julian calendar<\/a>” – the Roman Senate fixed January 1 as the first day of the year.<\/p>\n

At that time, this was the date on which those who were to hold civil office assumed their official position, and it was also the traditional annual date for the convening of the Roman Senate. This civil new year remained in effect throughout the Roman Empire, east and west, during its lifetime and well after, wherever the Julian calendar continued in use.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So here’s wishing you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2016 in advance!<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cBaby New Year<\/a> 1905 chases old 1904 into the history books\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

Note that this post was modeled on a similar one at DOR Scribe<\/a><\/em>, my other blog.<\/em><\/p>\n

Re: Mustang GT. \u00a0See also\u00a0Jeff Foxworthy \u2013 Redneck 12 Days Of Christmas lyrics<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Re: \u201cNasty, brutish and short.\u201d \u00a0That\u2019s a quote from the book\u00a0Leviathan<\/a>, written by Thomas Hobbes and published in 1651. \u00a0Hobbes described the natural state of mankind as a \u201cwarre of every man against every man,\u201d a life which was in turn\u00a0\u201csolitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.<\/em>\u201d \u00a0See\u00a0Wikipedia<\/a>, and also\u00a0Nasty, brutish and short \u2013 meaning and origin<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

The lower image is courtesy of\u00a0New Year \u2013 Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia<\/a>. \u00a0The full caption: \u00a0\u201cBaby New Year<\/a> 1905 chases old 1904 into the history books in this cartoon by John T. McCutcheon<\/a>.\u201d \u00a0See also\u00a0\u2018Ringing\u2019 Or \u2018Bringing In The New Year:\u2019 A History<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

January 6 \u2013\u00a0last of the\u00a012 Days of Christmas\u00a0\u2013 leads to \u201cPlough Monday\u2026\u201d   Christmas Day has come and gone. \u00a0But that doesn\u2019t mean the Christmas season\u00a0is over. \u00a0As noted last year here, the Twelve Days of Christmas\u00a0are \u201cboth a festive\u00a0Christmas season\u201d and the title of a \u201chost of songs and spin-offs (including one on a\u00a0Mustang […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3122"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3122"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3217,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3122\/revisions\/3217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}