Rename ploughman’s the Little Fergie lunch

MUCH divided opinion has been generated over a Dartmoor pub’s decision to change the name of its ploughman’s lunch to a ploughperson’s. Personally, it’s clumsy and doesn’t slide off the tongue.

Historically such work would have been physically demanding and done by men, hence the ploughman’s. However, there is evidence from way back that the occasional woman was a competent “ploughman”. This was thought to be down to the natural empathy women have with animals in general and horses in particular.

Traditionally though, women would have mostly been involved with animal husbandry rather than field work, but the two world wars meant women became increasingly involved with field work.

However, everything changed dramatically in the 1950s when the Ferguson tractor, affectionately called the “Little Grey Fergie”, arrived on the scene with its revolutionary three-point linkage and power takeoff. It meant that say, a small plough, could be attached and the job was a doddle.

I remember as a youngster on the farm using the Fergie to do all sorts of jobs. It was a world removed from the heavy-duty tractors that went before, much like jumping from a Ford Model T into a Mini.

And so, the mechanisation of farming truly began. Today, a woman can do pretty much every job on the farm because of modern machinery. Yes, a few jobs remain where brute force is a necessity, but they are rare.

Anyway, back with the

ploughman’s lunch: surely it should be rechristened the Little Fergie lunch? After all, with the arrival of mechanisation the need for a jumbo meal to replace the energy used became less and less, hence the handy “Little”. Oh, and Fergie can be male, female or trans.

Huw Beynon Llandeilo