Colin Cater 2000
Cater writes on Mudcat: “Idea derives from who knows when – I got it from Ratlebone and Ploughjack?Song took several years to develop – chorus came first then the verses a couple of years later.”
Chorus Only once a year, Penny for the Ploughboy To keep us in good cheer and multiply the grain Only once a year, Penny for the Ploughboy Speed the plough until the year turns round again At the end of the year all the fields were brown in the days when I was young With corn in the barns, frost in the ground and never a green shoot sprung Then the ploughmen came with hobnailed boots and the Molly dance rich and slow And with magical plays and songs of the land they bade the corn to grow Then they ploughed and sowed and harrowed him in and the rain from heaven did fall The wind did blow and the sun did shine and he soon grew amazing tall When the corn was ripened the harvesters came and the barns and the breweries rang And when all was safely gathered in they raised their voice and sang. But now the seasons are all changed round, a slave to the great machines. The fields are ploughed in the high summer time, by the turn of the year they’re green Gone are the trades, the horses, the families that followed the seasons along And the old pubs close because they can’t resound to the fiddle or a country song But there’s strength in the plays, the dances and songs that have lasted a thousand years There’s strength in barley malt and hops brewed into a country beer It puts a spring in the step of an old straw bear, makes the dancer leap for the skies And when the Molly gangs come to speed the plough they’ll raise their glass and cry.