Goathland Plough Stots
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The Goathland Plough Stots are a team of long sword dancers based in the village of Goathland, North Yorkshire, England. The traditional dance that they perform had died out by the start of the twenti
The Goathland Plough Stots at Whitby Folk Week, 2018
Goathland Plough Stots in action
Plough Monday
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Plough Monday is the traditional start of the English agricultural year. It is the first Monday after Epiphany, 6 January. In England, customs associated with the beginning of the ploughing season can
Goathland Plough Stots
…Yorkshire, concentrated around York and the ironstone-mining communities of Boosbeck and Lingdale. The Goathland Plough Stots Dance originated around Plough Monday, usually the first Monday after Epiphany, and had the dancers wearing either pink or blue tunics. It is known that the accompanying play was heavily…
Plough Monday, from George Walker's The Costume of Yorkshire, 1814
A plough being pulled through the streets of Whittlesey as part of the Whittlesey Straw Bear Festival procession. Ploughs were traditionally taken around by Plough Monday mummers and molly dancers in parts of eastern England and in some places were used as a threat: if householders refused to donate to the participants their front path would be ploughed up.
Whittlesey Straw Bear