Songs and Ballads for the People, by J.M. Neale (1843)

Songs and Ballads for the People

By the Rev. John Mason Neale

London: James Burns, 1843.

VIII. God speed the Plough!

The teams are waiting in the field, The ploughmen all a-row; As brisk and gay as birds in May, They make a goodly show. The farmer stands, and sees all hands Turn’d out and ready now; Yet ere they start, with all our heart We’ll say, God speed the plough!

We plough the field; but He must yield His sunshine and His rains: In hope we plough, in hope we sow, That He will bless our pains. ‘Tis even weight, and furrow straight, That bears away the bell; So off! And now God speed the plough, And send the ploughman well!