Happy Roc (or St. Distaff’s Day)!

Saint Distaffs day, or the morrow after Twelfth day.

Partly worke and partly play
Ye must on S. Distaffs day:
From the Plough soone free your teame;
Then come home and fother* them.
If the Maides a spinning goe,
Burne the flax, and fire the tow**:
Scorch their plackets***, but beware
That ye singe no maiden-haire.
Bring in pailes of water then,
Let the Maides bewash**** the men.
Give S. Distaffe all the right,
Then bid Christmas sport good-night;
And next morrow, every one
To his owne vocation.

Robert Herrick, Hesperides (1648)

* To feed (alternate spelling of “fodder” from the German füttern).
**In the textile industry, a tow (rhymes with cow, unless referring to cellulose acetate which sounds like toe) is a coarse, broken fibre such as flax, hemp, or jute. Flax tows are often used as upholstery stuffing, and tows in general are frequently cut up to produce staple fibre.
*** Petticoats
**** To drench or souse with water.