More's the pity- He had to get back to work in the fields.
In the 17th c., there was little work to be done in the fields, so the Christmas holiday season was extended as late as Candlemas (New Oxford Book of Carols).
Souse is pickled meat or fish; it persists in North America. (If you are American-Canadian, you should know it from old-timers who put up meat and fish along with canning fruit, etc.