plough witchn.
/ˈplaʊ wɪtʃ/, U.S. /ˈplaʊ ˌwɪtʃ/ English regional (south midlands and East Anglian). Now historical.
A mummer participating in the celebration of Plough Monday. Frequently in plough-witch Monday n. = Plough Monday n. Cf. plough bullock n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > breaking up land > ploughing > [noun] > celebration
plough feast1355
Plough Monday1498
plough day1550
plough-witch Monday1827
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > mime > mumming > [noun] > mummer > types of
witch-mana1538
plough bullock1762
plough stot1817
witch-chap1827
plough bullocker1848
plough jag1852
plough jack1859
plough witcher1860
oonchook1885
janney1896
plough witcha1903
hodener1909
1827 J. Clare Shepherd's Cal. 156 On Plough-witch-Monday, I was in the barn.
1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words II. 123 Plough-witch Monday, the first Monday after Twelfth Day.
1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words II. 124 Plough witches, the rustics who personate the different characters that accompany the plough.
a1903 E. Smith MS Coll. Warwicks. Words in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1903) IV. 554/1 Down to 1874..the plough witches presented themselves on the evening of Plough Monday, with faces painted white, and marked out hideously in red or black lines.
1996 R. Hutton Stations of Sun xi. 128 [Norfolk] The ‘Plough Witches’ would lead around one of their number on a chain, covered in straw and pretending to be a bear, growling and capering.
Derivatives
ˈplough witcher n. = plough witch n.; cf. plough bullocker n. at plough bullock n. Derivatives.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > mime > mumming > [noun] > mummer > types of
witch-mana1538
plough bullock1762
plough stot1817
witch-chap1827
plough bullocker1848
plough jag1852
plough jack1859
plough witcher1860
oonchook1885
janney1896
plough witcha1903
hodener1909
1860 Notes & Queries 2nd Ser. 9 381/2 The mummers are called ‘Plough-witchers’, and their ceremony ‘Plough-witching’.
1871 Notes & Queries 4th Ser. 8 53 [Huntingdonshire] The plough witchers came as usual to my house on the evening of Plough Monday (Jan. 9th) rattling their cans and asking for money.
1933 E. K. Chambers Eng. Folk-play 90 The performers call themselves Plough Jacks, Plough Jags, Plough Stots, Plough Bullocks, Plough Boggons, Plough Witchers, or Morris Dancers.
ˈplough witching n. the ceremonies enacted by the plough witches; cf. plough bullocking n. at plough bullock n. Derivatives.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > mime > mumming > [noun] > type of
hodening1807
plough bullocking1838
plough witching1854
plough jagging1866
1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words II. 124 Plough witching, going about to the neighbouring villages on Plough Monday.
1891 C. Wordsworth Rutland Words 27 He was so set on the plough-witching.
1967 S. Marshall Fenland Chron. ii. v. 200 The Straw Bear were a sort o' ceremony that took place on Plough Monday when I were a child, though my husband says it used to belong to some other day once and only got mixed up with plough witching time by chance.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1827