Synopsis
Simon Savage, a farmer, is impatient with gauche son Matthew's attempts to woo Minnie Ross, the daughter of a neighbouring widow. Attempting to boost his son's confidence, he offers to lend him his fine own coat, and to wear Matthew's in the meanwhile. The coat swop works in both directions, however, so that the father assumes youthful vigour, and the son a certain gravitas. Simon becomes taken with Minnie, and Matthew with her mother, until by the end of the play, they begin to realise the value of what they had. The expectations of another generation ultimately prove too much for each, and it is with some relief that they revert to their usual roles.