2018 Jag Day
Saturday 6th January, 2018
Generally fine day, mainly sunny. Evening was frosty with short wintery showers making it very slippery in places.
Collected for British Heart Foundation £332
Minibus from Ready Rent a Van of Normanby Rd Scunthorpe organised by Dave Barlow
Started at West Common Crescent, Scunthorpe.
11.00. Gainsborough Market Place (Plough Jag)
12 20 Sweyn Forkbeard (Coffee and Lunch)
13.00. Eight Jolly Brewers (Plough Jag and songs)
14.00. Pink Pig Farm, Bottesford (Plough Jag)
15.30 The Sun and Anchor, Scotter (Plough Jag, songs & tunes)
17.00 Malt Shovel, Ashby (Plough Jag and a good meal)
19.00 The Three Horseshoes, Scotton (Plough Jag, and songs)
20.30 The Sheffield Arms, Burton Upon Stather (Plough Jag, songs and tunes)
21.45 The Bay Horse, Winteringham (Plough Jag, songs and tunes)
Characters
Rag Fool Eamon Greene s
Recruiting Sergeant Geoff Convery s
The Lady Gordon Griffin
The Horse Colin Spence
Joe Straw Steve Hindley m
Flash Hatman Keith Brown m
Beelzebub Dave Barlow s
The Doctor Geoff Miller s
Dame Jane Martin Campbell
Besom Betty John Baker s
Hatman Dot Griffin s
Musicians at Eight Jolly Brewers only – Jerry Oakes (fiddle) and Mark Lenihan (Melodeon).
Regulars Pete Boulby, Dick Skinner, and Chris Marshall were unable to turn out due to them all suffering from the dreaded flu.
Yet again there was a good and appreciative crowd in Gainsborough Market place, many of whom had come along specifically to see the Jag. Again the hoss rather overplayed his part and began with a version of the introduction to the Haxey Hood. But it was entertaining. The Sword dance went well despite the last rehearsal being in The Sheffield Arms on January 7th 2017.
Brunch was enjoyed at the Sweyn Forkbeard, a Wetherspoons pub, where it worked better, this year, to let everyone sort out their own food and drinks.
The Eight Jolly Brewers was a good venue, as usual, despite the staff being unsure at what time we would arrive, again, as usual. Pork pie and scotch eggs were provided by the management, and some excellent singing and good tunes were performed, including tunes from the fiddle of Jerry Oakes and the melodeon of Mark Lenihan.
At the Pink Pig Farm the audience mainly consisted of Jag supporters, from both the Grimsby and Scunthorpe areas. The staff had, thoughtfully, cleared a few tables away this year, to allow more room for the performance. The hoss, and his coconuts, introduced a version of an old Cadbury's chocolate advert, which was originally for hazel nut chocolate bars. There was a also a disclaimer about the Plough Jag containing nuts somewhere in there. We thought that this extension of the part was for only the benefit of Colin's family, but it also cropped up in subsequent performances through the day.
The audience at the Sun and Anchor did not contain most of the regular attendees but the Jag was still well received. Songs and tunes were replaced by conversation until just before the time to go, when, suddenly, prompted by John Baker’s family, a short burst of songs occurred.
Another change of management at the Malt Shovel this year meant that, again, there was some uncertainty about the Jag being performed. Luckily, during enquiries about permission to perform, a regular at the bar overheard the conversation and told the new landlord and landlady, Anita and Steve that the Plough Jag was a good draw and that it must be allowed to take place. The Jaggers performed on entry to the pub and then ate food from the good value evening menu. Thanks to Mary-Anne Hindley, the food was pre-ordered, paid for, and organised early in the day, and consequently went without a hitch. As the local gentleman had predicted, a large number of the customers were there to see the Coleby Plough Jag, and eat!
At the Three Horse Shoes at Scotton, there was at select and appreciative, audience who were very receptive to jag and the songs and tunes that followed. Some locals commented that they had enjoyed the singing and they didn't usually get the benefit of this.
The Sheffield Arms also had recently been taken over by another new management, who were cautiously enthusiastic about hosting the Coleby Plough Jag. Their fears were allayed by the numbers of Jag supporters who turned up to see the performance. Songs and tunes followed.
Thanks to the efforts of Kay Ashberry, the Jag was invited to perform at the Bay Horse in Winteringham, a venue not visited since 2007. This was attended by a good sized, interested, audience almost like the ones most recently experienced at the Ferry House at Burton upon Stather. There was a great response to the songs and tunes performed after the Jag. The landlord and landlady kindly provided sausages and chips for the occasion.
Interestingly, Colin Spence revealed, whilst travelling in the mini bus, that he had written a song – the 'North Kelsey Witch'. The team managed to persuade him to perform this in a couple of venues through the evening and this could become a regular song in the Jag. Lincolnshire dialect words feature well in this song.
Thanks to Martin Campbell we had two new besoms made by Wyn Watkins of Market Rasen- one being of broom and the other being of birch. We gave the birch besom its first outing in this year's Jag. Thank you Wyn.
This year is 45 years since the first performance !!
