_The Plough._
"Look how the purple flower, which the plough
Hath shorn in sunder, languishing doth die."
_Peachum._
This implement was known to the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, and was
invented at a very early period, being perhaps nearly coeval with the
cultivation of the soil itself. Anciently, the tenants (in England) in
some manors, were not allowed to have their rural implements sharpened
by any but those whom the lord appointed; for which an acknowledgment
was to be paid, called _agusa dura_; in some places _agusage_, a fee for
sharpening plough-tackle, which some take to be the same with what was
otherwise called _reillage_, from the ancient French _reille_, a
_ploughshare_.
_Ancient Fête at Gorhamlury._--In the year 1577, Queen Elizabeth was
entertained at Gorhambury, by Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper, from
Saturday, May the 18th, to the Wednesday following, at the expense of
577_l_. 6_s_. 7-1/4_d_. besides fifteen bucks and two stags. Among the
dainties of the feathered kind, enumerated in this entertainment, Mr.
Nichols mentions herons, bitterns, godwites, dotterels, shovelers,
curlews, and knots. Sir Nicholas Bacon was frequently visited by the
queen, who dated many of her state papers from Gorhambury.