When Bean is King of the Sport here.
Beside, you must know,
The Pea also
Must revel as Queen of the Court here."

Then the cake was cut and distributed amid much laughter and merry
shouts. The holders of the bean and pea were hailed as king and
queen for the night, the band struck up some time-honoured melody,
and a country dance followed which was ever carried on with much
spirit. The king exercised his royal prerogative by choosing
partners for the women, and the queen performed a like office for
the men; and so they merrily played their parts till the hours grew
late.

But the holidays were nearly over, and the time for resuming work
had arrived. However, neither the women nor the men seemed to be in
any hurry to begin. The day after Twelfth Day was humorously called
St. Distaft's[3] Day, which was devoted to "partly work and partly
play." Herrick, the recorder of many social customs, tells us that
the ploughmen used to set on fire the flax which the maids used for
spinning, and received pails of water on their heads for their
mischief. The following Monday was called Plough Monday, when the
labourers used to draw a plough decked with ribbons round the
parish, and receive presents of money, favouring the spectators with
sword-dancing and mumming. The rude procession of men, clad in clean
smock-frocks, headed by the renowned "Bessy," who sang and rattled
the money-box, accompanied by a strangely-dressed character called
the Fool, attired in skins of various animals and having a long
tail, threw life into the dreary scenery of winter, as the
gaily-decked plough was drawn along the quiet country lanes from one