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Amazing, you can keep rats outta the grain but not squirrels outta bird feeders.
Mav, why did they make those corn dollies? I can't imagine it is just for decoration. After all that hard work, who wants to be making dollies just for the hell of it.
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> what about sleaving? Sorry, Jess, no can help (apart from a scurrilous story in a novel called Merlin by Robert Nye)  > why did they make those corn dollies? I’m sorry to say I cannot remember properly, Bel ~ I once read summat about a pre-Christian mystical foundation to the practice but cannot remember any detail at all. I’m sure you’re right – it must have had more significance than merely decorative. I went to a local National Trust property a few weeks back btw, called Llanerchaeron: it has a fabulous set of traditional agricultural buildings from the Victorian high days of agriculture which includes a particularly impressive set of staddle stones. A feature I had not previously seen elsewhere was the difference of those plainly designed as rat-proof (hence for grain ricks) and others which would have allowed rodent access so must have been to simply keep the foot of haystacks out of the wet. You can see a brief tour of the Nash house in the first link (though not anything of the farmstead and estate buildings). http:////www.worldwidewales.tv/index2.php?mid=286http:////www.nationaltrust.org.uk/scripts/nthandbook.dll?ACTION=PROPERTY&PROPERTYID=219
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Carpal Tunnel
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In the Authorized (King James) Version, Psalm 126:6 reads "He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."
Doubtless inspired by this verse, an American, Knowles Shaw (1834-1878), wrote the following hymn text in about 1865:
Sowing in the morning, sowing seeds of kindness,
Sowing in the noontide and the dewy eve;
Waiting for the harvest, and the time of reaping,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.
Refrain
Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves,
Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves,
Sowing in the sunshine, sowing in the shadows,
Fearing neither clouds nor winter’s chilling breeze;
By and by the harvest, and the labor ended,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.
Refrain
Going forth with weeping, sowing for the Master,
Though the loss sustained our spirit often grieves;
When our weeping’s over, He will bid us welcome,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.
Refrain
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Corn Dollies are a form of straw work associated with harvest customs. Primitive communities believed that the corn spirit lived amongst the crop, and the harvest made it effectively homeless. Therefore, they fashioned hollow shapes from the last sheaf of wheat or other cereal crop. The corn spirit would then spend the winter in their homes until the "corn dolly" was ploughed into the first furrow of the new season. "Dolly" is a corruption of idol.http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_dolly At Jericho, where excavations dated a settlement around 6000 BCE, female figures have ben found suggestive of a worship of a Mother-Goddess. This perhaps represents one of the earliest recorded fertility vegetation cults.The regular cultivation of the crops was observed to be a cycle of events. Such cycles could be unpredictable, especially in times of drought. Around this cycle it seems a cult of death and resurrection developed. […] In Scotland two dollies might be made. The first would be the young maiden, 'maighdean bhuana', the second the hag or 'cailleagh'. These are more typical pagan symbols, the hag representing the crone of winter.http://www.celticmist.freeserve.co.uk/corndolly.htmSome more quite interesting mythological and Celtic lore (of which this is a brief extract) on this site… The harvested crops may feed us over the harsh winter months but, in order to renew them at the end of this time, we must be sure to collect and store the seeds for their eventual rebirth. Contained within them is the mystery of Life in Death in the image of the Wicker Man, the Corn Man or John Barleycorn. In some cultures the last sheaf of grain to be harvested became the Barley-mother, the Old Woman, the Maiden, to be honored until spring and then re-planted. One of the most widespread traditions is the corn dolly made out of the last sheaf of wheat cut. Known variously as the Wheat Bride, Kern Baby, Old Woman, Wheat Mother, etc. it was kept carefully throughout the winter, then either plowed into the fields the following spring, or burned and the ashes scattered over the fields. Each district also had their own customs concerning the making of the dolly. Some simply made the doll from the cut stalks (averting their faces so that the Grain Goddess couldn't tell who had struck the killing blow) while others left a tuft of wheat uncut, plaited it , and then had the men throw their scythes at it until it was cut. Some places made the carrying of the Corn Dolly to the house a kind of game where one man tried to run back with it without anyone else taking it away from him. This could be an early form of "football" and where the tradition of this game began. The embodiment of the Spirit of Vegetation, the dolly was put in a position of honor in the home. Sometimes a communal dolly was kept in the church and a large feast took place after the last of the harvest was in.http://www.crystalforest3.homestead.com/Mabon.htmlFor a picture of the stooks in a field, scroll down this page… http://www.strawcraftsmen.co.uk/resource.html
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Carpal Tunnel
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Took out a couple of lines, Sweetie: http://www.strawcraftsmen.co.uk/resource.htmlFascinating, about the corn dollies--thank you! It makes perfect sense. Hmm--might be worth another mention that your 'corn' is our 'wheat' (or whatever). We have cornshuck dolls, here, made from the shucks on ears of what you-all call maize. I've not heard these referred to as corn dollies, however.
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Thank you Mav. That's really interesting. I'm doubly glad you gave us the brief descriptions though, cause I can't open any of your links.
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Ooo, even I know that one Father Steve. It must be pretty common to have made it all the way here.
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oops, sowy ~ the demerits of putering late at night! Links fixed as suggested by J.
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I'll forgive you this time, you wascally wabbit. And, I like it when you're 'putin' late at night! :-))
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