"GOD SPEED THE PLOUGH."
(Vol. i., p. 230.)
L.S. asks, in what rebellion was the banner carried with the motto "God
speed the plough?"--(_Homily against Wilful Rebellion._)
Probably in the rebellion of the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland
in the north of England, during the autumn of A.D. 1569. In the passage of
the homily which immediately follows the one quoted by L.S., occur these
words:--
"And though some rebels bear the picture of the five wounds painted,
against those who put their only hope of salvation in the wounds of
Christ ... and though they do bear the image of the cross painted in a
rag ... yet let no good and godly subject ... follow such
standard-bearers of rebellion."
Again: just _before_ the quotation cited by L.S. {9} is an allusion to the
"defacing or deformation" which the rebels have made, "where through they
tarry but a little while they make such reformation, that they destroy all
places, and undo all men where they come."
Collier, in his _Eccles. History_, vol. vi. p. 469. edit. Straker, 1840,
part ii. b. vi., says,--
"However, the insurrection went on, and the rebels made their first
march to Durham. And here going into the churches _they tore the
English Bible_ and the _Common Prayer_. They officiated in the service
of the mass, _had the five wounds of Christ represented in some of
their colours_, and a chalice in others. One Richard Norton, an ancient
gentleman, carried the standard _with a cross in it_."
In this passage we have three out of four facts enumerated: 1st. The
defacing of places; 2d. The banner with the five wounds; 3d. The standard
with the cross. It does not, therefore, seem unreasonable to infer, that
the other fact alluded to, viz. the banner with the motto, is to be
referred to the same rebellion.
It is not, however, impossible that the rebellion, which broke out A.D.
1549, first in the western counties, and then in Oxfordshire, Bucks,
Norfolk, Suffolk, and Yorkshire, may be also alluded to in the homily. For
Cranmer, in his answer to the Devonshire and Cornish rebels, urges this
amongst other reasons:--
"Fourthly, for that they let the harvest, which is the chief
sustentation of our life; and God of his goodness hath sent it
abundantly. And they by their folly do cause it to be lost and
abandoned."--Strype's _Mem. of C._, ed. Oxf. 1840, vol. ii. p. 841.
An argument similar to the one used in the homily.
The insurrection, in fact, in the midland and north-eastern counties, began
with an attempt to redress an agricultural grievance; according to Fox
(_E.H._ vol. ii. p. 665. edit. 1641); "about plucking down of enclosures
and enlarging of commons." The date of the homily itself offers no
objection; for though it is said (Oxf. ed. Pref. p. v.) not to occur in any
collected edition printed before 1571, yet there exists a separate edition
of it printed in 4to. by Jugge and Cawood, probably _earlier_ than A.D.
1563. Collier does not quote his authority for the statement about the
banners, but probably it was either Camden or Holinshed, and a reference to
these authors, which I regret I have no means of making, might established
the particular point in question.