View source for God Speed the Plough

[[Anon.]] ([[1594]]) 


== Historical Records  ==

''Henslowe’s Diary'',&nbsp;F.8<sup>v</sup> (Greg I. 16):
 
:Jn the name of god Amen begninge the 27 of 
:desem[r] 1593 the earle of susex his men <br>

{| cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" align="left" border="0" style="width: 471px; height: 51px;"
|-
| R[d] at good spede the plowghe . . . . . . . . .<br> 
| iij<sup>ll</sup> j<sup>s</sup><br>
|-
| R[d] at god spead the plowe the 5 of Jenewary 1593 . . . .<br> 
| xj<sup>s</sup><br>
|}

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== Theatrical Provenance  ==

Beginning on 27 December 1593, Sussex’s Men leased the Rose and played 12 plays through 6 February 1594. ''God Speed the Plough'' was their first offering of the new run (27 Dec); it is not marked “ne.” It received two performances and returned an average of 36s. to Henslowe. 



== Probable Genre(s)  ==

Comedy? (Harbage) 



== Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues  ==

Arber III.68b/180:

primo marcij [1601]
John harrison Junior filius 
Johannis Senior 
:Entred for his Copye vnder the handes of master PASFEILD and the wardens A 
:booke called ''GOD spede the ploughe''    ...    vj<sup>d</sup> 

There is a ballad entitled “God speed the Plow, and bless the corn-mow, A Dialogue between the husband-man and the Serving-man” ([http://www.archive.org/stream/p3roxburgheballa06chapuoft#page/522/mode/2up Roxburghe ballads]). It is basically estate morality, with each man praising the pleasures of his profession. Predictably, the serving man likes the up-scale, busy, urban life, while the ploughman likes the joys of agricultural life and husbandry. It is an exchange not unlike the meeting of Touchstone and Corin in ''As You Like It'' ([http://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/Library/Texts/AYL/M/Scene/3.2 Internet Shakespeare Editions]).  

The play (1593-4), the book registered by the Harrisons, father and son (1 March 1601), and the ballad (''c''. 1665) may have no tighter connection than a title, but the ubiquity of that title suggests that the subject matter of the three would be similar in the treatment of city and country life.

== References to the Play  ==

None known. 



== Critical Commentary  ==


Greg notes the registration of the book, “God Speed the Plough,” on 1 March 1601, adding that the phrase was proverbial (II.157, Item 27). 



== For What It’s Worth  ==

The proverbial phrase is not totally obsolete; David Mamet wrote a play in 1988 called ''Speed-the-Plow''. 




== Works Cited  ==

Ebsworth, J. Woodfall (ed). ''The Roxburghe Ballads''. vol. 6, part 3. Hertford: Printed for the Ballad Society by Stephen Austin and sons, 1888. pp. 521-25. [http://www.archive.org/stream/p3roxburgheballa06chapuoft#page/522/mode/2up Internet Archive]



Site created and maintained by [[Roslyn L. Knutson]], Professor Emerita, University of Arkansas at Little Rock; updated, 30 August 2009. 

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