THE MOWING DEVIL

THE MOWING DEVIL is a facsimile of a 1678 cautionary tale "The Mowing-Devil: Or, Strange NEWS out of Hartford-Shire." This edition functions in two ways: as a two-sided poster, or, folded down and cut to form an 8 page chapbook.

The text tells of a rich farmer who is haggling over wages with a poor labourer for mowing a field of oats. Not willing to pay him what he is justly owed, in his anger the farmer declares that "the Devil himself should mow it..." and the Devil does just that, to such perfection, that no man dared to move a grain from the field. The story warns against the hubris of the rich farmer in the face of the gifts of providence, and the unjust abuse of the poor man for asking what he was owed for the fruits of his labour.  

Hildegard Press Special Edition, 2026 | Poster, 12 × 18” / Chapbook saddle 4.5 × 6”, 5pp | digital print