'Old Bessie'

"[Twelfth Night] festivities include country dances, and the introduction of a "Fool Plough", a plough decked with ribands brought into the barn by a dozen mummers together with a grotesque "Old Bessie" (played by a man) and a Fool dressed in animal skins with a fool's hat."

Twelfth Night (holiday) at Wikipedia

"Two strange figures were seen in the Beltane festivities of long ago and both can still be seen today in some places. First, we have the she-male: a man dressed in women’s clothing, who was called Betsy, Bessie, Maggie, Molly, Cadi, etc. He is not just the comic character he appears to be. He is a representation of the First Cause, encompassing every thing and every polarity, a symbol of not just the Duality, but of the Totality Itself."

FROM: The Old Ways: Beltane by Doug and Sandy Kopf