ACCORDING to local tradition we should all be enjoying a public holiday today.

Plough Monday once marked the end of the Christmas period and was often the only holiday of the year for Dorset farm labourers apart from the odd celebrations such as May Day or Harvest Home.

Active from the Middle Ages until the late 1800s, Plough Monday was the day field labourers could have fun at the expense of their wealthier neighbours.

Judith Proctor from the Poole Mummers and Anonymous Morris explains the customs of this little known local event: “At this time of year everyone was broke. Farm labourers would have the plough blessed and then visit neighbours accompanied by dancers. The idea was that you made a donation or they would plough across your front lawn.”

This year Plough Monday is making a comeback as local dance group Holly Copse Molly will be celebrating on Poole Quay this evening at 7.30pm outside the Lord Nelson pub.

“It was a shambolic dance to almost extort money, as the fields couldn’t be worked during the winter months.

“We wear colourful outfits and facepaint. If we don’t do it, then people either won’t and it will die out,” says Christine of Holly Copse Molly.

Molly dancing is a form of Morris dancing, but with the emphasis on cross-dressing.

“Traditionally it would be a group of young men and women dressed up in drag. So you wouldn’t know what you were looking at,” added Christine.

Given the current state of the British economy, perhaps Plough Monday should be reinstated as a public holiday? The Holly Copse Molly hopes to recruit some new dancers at tonight’s performance on Poole Quay.