seven o'clock in the morning
Monsieur Le Mierre had sent round word to his neighbours that on a certain day in March he would hold the working festival of _ La Grand ' Querrue _ , or _ The Grand Plough _ . That meant the combination of these neighbours into a band of all day workers , for the purpose of deeply trenching a certain field in preparation for the cultivation of parsnips . The large expensive plough to be used was the joint property of Le Mierre and his richer neighbours , and it was , naturally , available for each in turn . Every master brought his men and his horses and bullocks to the fray , and at seven o'clock in the morning the work and jollity began . The field to be ploughed lay at the base of cliffs covered with the tender grass and golden gorze bushes of early Spring . Deep purple scentless violets clustered in sheltered nooks , where granite , ivy-covered boulders rose grimly along the slopes and little ravines of the cliffs . Primroses , many of them milk white , starred the grass ; and wild blue hyacinths grew tall and graceful in damp patches shaded by stunted trees .