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object:1.48 - The Corn-Spirit as an Animal
book class:The Golden Bough
author class:James George Frazer
subject class:Occultism
class:chapter


XLVIII. The Corn-Spirit as an Animal



1. Animal Embodiments of the Corn-spirit

IN SOME of the examples which I have cited to establish the meaning
of the term "neck" as applied to the last sheaf, the corn-spirit
appears in animal form as a gander, a goat, a hare, a cat, and a
fox. This introduces us to a new aspect of the corn-spirit, which we
must now examine. By doing so we shall not only have fresh examples
of killing the god, but may hope also to clear up some points which
remain obscure in the myths and worship of Adonis, Attis, Osiris,
Dionysus, Demeter, and Virbius.

Amongst the many animals whose forms the corn-spirit is supposed to
take are the wolf, dog, hare, fox, cock, goose, quail, cat, goat,
cow (ox, bull), pig, and horse. In one or other of these shapes the
corn-spirit is often believed to be present in the corn, and to be
caught or killed in the last sheaf. As the corn is being cut the
animal flees before the reapers, and if a reaper is taken ill on the
field, he is supposed to have stumbled unwittingly on the
corn-spirit, who has thus punished the profane intruder. It is said
"the Rye-wolf has got hold of him," "the Harvest-goat has given him
a push." The person who cuts the last corn or binds the last sheaf
gets the name of the animal, as the Rye-wolf, the Rye-sow, the
Oats-goat, and so forth, and retains the name sometimes for a year.
Also the animal is frequently represented by a puppet made out of
the last sheaf or of wood, flowers, and so on, which is carried home
amid rejoicings on the last harvest-waggon. Even where the last
sheaf is not made up in animal shape, it is often called the
Rye-wolf, the Hare, Goat, and so forth. Generally each kind of crop
is supposed to have its special animal, which is caught in the last
sheaf, and called the Rye-wolf, the Barley-wolf, the Oats-wolf, the
Pea-wolf, or the Potato-wolf, according to the crop; but sometimes
the figure of the animal is only made up once for all at getting in
the last crop of the whole harvest. Sometimes the creature is
believed to be killed by the last stroke of the sickle or scythe.
But oftener it is thought to live so long as there is corn still
unthreshed, and to be caught in the last sheaf threshed. Hence the
man who gives the last stroke with the flail is told that he has got
the Corn-sow, the Threshing-dog, or the like. When the threshing is
finished, a puppet is made in the form of the animal, and this is
carried by the thresher of the last sheaf to a neighbouring farm,
where the threshing is still going on. This again shows that the
corn-spirit is believed to live wherever the corn is still being
threshed. Sometimes the thresher of the last sheaf himself
represents the animal; and if the people of the next farm, who are
still threshing, catch him, they treat him like the animal he
represents, by shutting him up in the pig-sty, calling him with the
cries commonly addressed to pigs, and so forth. These general
statements will now be illustrated by examples.



2. The Corn-spirit as a Wolf or a Dog

WE begin with the corn-spirit conceived as a wolf or a dog. This
conception is common in France, Germany, and Slavonic countries.
Thus, when the wind sets the corn in wave-like motion the peasants
often say, "The Wolf is going over, or through, the corn," "the
Rye-wolf is rushing over the field," "the Wolf is in the corn," "the
mad Dog is in the corn," "the big Dog is there." When children wish
to go into the corn-fields to pluck ears or gather the blue
corn-flowers, they are warned not to do so, for "the big Dog sits in
the corn," or "the Wolf sits in the corn, and will tear you in
pieces," "the Wolf will eat you." The wolf against whom the children
are warned is not a common wolf, for he is often spoken of as the
Corn-wolf, Rye-wolf, or the like; thus they say, "The Rye-wolf will
come and eat you up, children," "the Rye-wolf will carry you off,"
and so forth. Still he has all the outward appearance of a wolf. For
in the neighbourhood of Feilenhof (East Prussia), when a wolf was
seen running through a field, the peasants used to watch whether he
carried his tail in the air or dragged it on the ground. If he
dragged it on the ground, they went after him, and thanked him for
bringing them a blessing, and even set tit-bits before him. But if
he carried his tail high, they cursed him and tried to kill him.
Here the wolf is the corn-spirit whose fertilising power is in his
tail.

Both dog and wolf appear as embodiments of the corn-spirit in
harvest-customs. Thus in some parts of Silesia the person who cuts
or binds the last sheaf is called the Wheat-dog or the Peas-pug. But
it is in the harvest-customs of the north-east of France that the
idea of the Corn-dog comes out most clearly. Thus when a harvester,
through sickness, weariness, or laziness, cannot or will not keep up
with the reaper in front of him, they say, "The White Dog passed
near him," "he has the White Bitch," or "the White Bitch has bitten
him." In the Vosges the Harvest-May is called the "Dog of the
harvest," and the person who cuts the last handful of hay or wheat
is said to "kill the Dog." About Lons-le-Saulnier, in the Jura, the
last sheaf is called the Bitch. In the neighbourhood of Verdun the
regular expression for finishing the reaping is, "They are going to
kill the Dog"; and at Epinal they say, according to the crop, "We
will kill the Wheat-dog, or the Rye-dog, or the Potato-dog." In
Lorraine it is said of the man who cuts the last corn, "He is
killing the Dog of the harvest." At Dux, in the Tyrol, the man who
gives the last stroke at threshing is said to "strike down the Dog";
and at Ahnebergen, near Stade, he is called, according to the crop,
Corn-pug, Rye-pug, Wheat-pug.

So with the wolf. In Silesia, when the reapers gather round the last
patch of standing corn to reap it they are said to be about "to
catch the Wolf." In various parts of Mecklenburg, where the belief
in the Corn-wolf is particularly prevalent, every one fears to cut
the last corn, because they say that the Wolf is sitting in it;
hence every reaper exerts himself to the utmost in order not to be
the last, and every woman similarly fears to bind the last sheaf
because "the Wolf is in it." So both among the reapers and the
binders there is a competition not to be the last to finish. And in
Germany generally it appears to be a common saying that "the Wolf
sits in the last sheaf." In some places they call out to the reaper,
"Beware of the Wolf"; or they say, "He is chasing the Wolf out of
the corn." In Mecklenburg the last bunch of standing corn is itself
commonly called the Wolf, and the man who reaps it "has the Wolf,"
the animal being described as the Rye-wolf, the Wheat-wolf, the
Barley-wolf, and so on according to the particular crop. The reaper
of the last corn is himself called Wolf or the Rye-wolf, if the crop
is rye, and in many parts of Mecklenburg he has to support the
character by pretending to bite the other harvesters or by howling
like a wolf. The last sheaf of corn is also called the Wolf or the
Rye-wolf or the Oats-wolf according to the crop, and of the woman
who binds it they say, "The Wolf is biting her," "She has the Wolf,"
"She must fetch the Wolf" (out of the corn). Moreover, she herself
is called Wolf; they cry out to her, "Thou art the Wolf," and she
has to bear the name for a whole year; sometimes, according to the
crop, she is called the Rye-wolf or the Potato-wolf. In the island
of Rgen not only is the woman who binds the last sheaf called Wolf,
but when she comes home she bites the lady of the house and the
stewardess, for which she receives a large piece of meat. Yet nobody
likes to be the Wolf. The same woman may be Rye-wolf, Wheat-wolf,
and Oats-wolf, if she happens to bind the last sheaf of rye, wheat,
and oats. At Buir, in the district of Cologne, it was formerly the
custom to give to the last sheaf the shape of a wolf. It was kept in
the barn till all the corn was threshed. Then it was brought to the
farmer and he had to sprinkle it with beer or brandy. At
Brunshaupten in Mecklenburg the young woman who bound the last sheaf
of wheat used to take a handful of stalks out of it and make "the
Wheat-wolf" with them; it was the figure of a wolf about two feet
long and half a foot high, the legs of the animal being represented
by stiff stalks and its tail and mane by wheat-ears. This Wheat-wolf
she carried back at the head of the harvesters to the village, where
it was set up on a high place in the parlour of the farm and
remained there for a long time. In many places the sheaf called the
Wolf is made up in human form and dressed in clothes. This indicates
a confusion of ideas between the corn-spirit conceived in human and
in animal form. Generally the Wolf is brought home on the last
waggon with joyful cries. Hence the last waggon-load itself receives
the name of the Wolf.

Again, the Wolf is supposed to hide himself amongst the cut corn in
the granary, until he is driven out of the last bundle by the
strokes of the flail. Hence at Wanzleben, near Magdeburg, after the
threshing the peasants go in procession, leading by a chain a man
who is enveloped in the threshed-out straw and is called the Wolf.
He represents the corn-spirit who has been caught escaping from the
threshed corn. In the district of Treves it is believed that the
Corn-wolf is killed at threshing. The men thresh the last sheaf till
it is reduced to chopped straw. In this way they think that the
Corn-wolf, who was lurking in the last sheaf, has been certainly
killed.

In France also the Corn-wolf appears at harvest. Thus they call out
to the reaper of the last corn, "You will catch the Wolf." Near
Chambry they form a ring round the last standing corn, and cry,
"The Wolf is in there." In Finisterre, when the reaping draws near
an end, the harvesters cry, "There is the Wolf; we will catch him."
Each takes a swath to reap, and he who finishes first calls out,
"I've caught the Wolf." In Guyenne, when the last corn has been
reaped, they lead a wether all round the field. It is called "the
Wolf of the field." Its horns are decked with a wreath of flowers
and corn-ears, and its neck and body are also encircled with
garlands and ribbons. All the reapers march, singing, behind it.
Then it is killed on the field. In this part of France the last
sheaf is called the _coujoulage,_ which, in the patois, means a
wether. Hence the killing of the wether represents the death of the
corn-spirit, considered as present in the last sheaf; but two
different conceptions of the corn-spirit--as a wolf and as a
wether--are mixed up together.

Sometimes it appears to be thought that the Wolf, caught in the last
corn, lives during the winter in the farmhouse, ready to renew his
activity as corn-spirit in the spring. Hence at midwinter, when the
lengthening days begin to herald the approach of spring, the Wolf
makes his appearance once more. In Poland a man, with a wolf's skin
thrown over his head, is led about at Christmas; or a stuffed wolf
is carried about by persons who collect money. There are facts which
point to an old custom of leading about a man enveloped in leaves
and called the Wolf, while his conductors collected money.



3. The Corn-spirit as a Cock

ANOTHER form which the corn-spirit often assumes is that of a cock.
In Austria children are warned against straying in the corn-fields,
because the Corn-cock sits there, and will peck their eyes out. In
North Germany they say that "the Cock sits in the last sheaf"; and
at cutting the last corn the reapers cry, "Now we will chase out the
Cock." When it is cut they say, "We have caught the Cock." At
Braller, in Transylvania, when the reapers come to the last patch of
corn, they cry, "Here we shall catch the Cock." At Frstenwalde,
when the last sheaf is about to be bound, the master releases a
cock, which he has brought in a basket, and lets it run over the
field. All the harvesters chase it till they catch it. Elsewhere the
harvesters all try to seize the last corn cut; he who succeeds in
grasping it must crow, and is called Cock. Among the Wends it is or
used to be customary for the farmer to hide a live cock under the
last sheaf as it lay on the field; and when the corn was being
gathered up, the harvester who lighted upon this sheaf had a right
to keep the cock, provided he could catch it. This formed the close
of the harvest-festival and was known as "the Cock-catching," and
the beer which was served out to the reapers at this time went by
the name of "Cock-beer." The last sheaf is called Cock, Cock-sheaf,
Harvest-cock, Harvest-hen, Autumn-hen. A distinction is made between
a Wheat-cock, Bean-cock, and so on, according to the crop. At
Wnschensuhl, in Thringen, the last sheaf is made into the shape of
a cock, and called the Harvest-cock. A figure of a cock, made of
wood, pasteboard, ears of corn, or flowers, is borne in front of the
harvest-waggon, especially in Westphalia, where the cock carries in
his beak fruits of the earth of all kinds. Sometimes the image of
the cock is fastened to the top of a May-tree on the last
harvest-waggon. Elsewhere a live cock, or a figure of one, is
attached to a harvest-crown and carried on a pole. In Galicia and
elsewhere this live cock is fastened to the garland of corn-ears or
flowers, which the leader of the women-reapers carries on her head
as she marches in front of the harvest procession. In Silesia a live
cock is presented to the master on a plate. The harvest-supper is
called Harvest-cock, Stubble-cock, etc., and a chief dish at it, at
least in some places, is a cock. If a waggoner upsets a
harvest-waggon, it is said that "he has spilt the Harvest-cock," and
he loses the cock, that is, the harvest-supper. The harvest-waggon,
with the figure of the cock on it, is driven round the farmhouse
before it is taken to the barn. Then the cock is nailed over or at
the side of the house-door, or on the gable, and remains there till
next harvest. In East Friesland the person who gives the last stroke
at threshing is called the Clucking-hen, and grain is strewed before
him as if he were a hen.

Again, the corn-spirit is killed in the form of a cock. In parts of
Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Picardy the reapers place a live cock
in the corn which is to be cut last, and chase it over the field, or
bury it up to the neck in the ground; afterwards they strike off its
head with a sickle or scythe. In many parts of Westphalia, when the
harvesters bring the wooden cock to the farmer, he gives them a live
cock, which they kill with whips or sticks, or behead with an old
sword, or throw into the barn to the girls, or give to the mistress
to cook. It the Harvest-cock has not been spilt--that is, if no
waggon has been upset--the harvesters have the right to kill the
farmyard cock by throwing stones at it or beheading it. Where this
custom has fallen into disuse, it is still common for the farmer's
wife to make cockie-leekie for the harvesters, and to show them the
head of the cock which has been killed for the soup. In the
neighbourhood of Klausenburg, Transylvania, a cock is buried on the
harvest-field in the earth, so that only its head appears. A young
man then takes a scythe and cuts off the cock's head at a single
sweep. If he fails to do this, he is called the Red Cock for a whole
year, and people fear that next year's crop will be bad. Near
Udvarhely, in Transylvania, a live cock is bound up in the last
sheaf and killed with a spit. It is then skinned. The flesh is
thrown away, but the skin and feathers are kept till next year; and
in spring the grain from the last sheaf is mixed with the feathers
of the cock and scattered on the field which is to be tilled.
Nothing could set in a clearer light the identification of the cock
with the spirit of the corn. By being tied up in the last sheaf and
killed, the cock is identified with the corn, and its death with the
cutting of the corn. By keeping its feathers till spring, then
mixing them with the seed-corn taken from the very sheaf in which
the bird had been bound, and scattering the feathers together with
the seed over the field, the identity of the bird with the corn is
again emphasised, and its quickening and fertilising power, as an
embodiment of the corn-spirit, is intimated in the plainest manner.
Thus the corn-spirit, in the form of a cock, is killed at harvest,
but rises to fresh life and activity in spring. Again, the
equivalence of the cock to the corn is expressed, hardly less
plainly, in the custom of burying the bird in the ground, and
cutting off its head (like the ears of corn) with the scythe.



4. The Corn-spirit as a Hare

ANOTHER common embodiment of the corn-spirit is the hare. In
Galloway the reaping of the last standing corn is called "cutting
the Hare." The mode of cutting it is as follows. When the rest of
the corn has been reaped, a handful is left standing to form the
Hare. It is divided into three parts and plaited, and the ears are
tied in a knot. The reapers then retire a few yards and each throws
his or her sickle in turn at the Hare to cut it down. It must be cut
below the knot, and the reapers continue to throw their sickles at
it, one after the other, until one of them succeeds in severing the
stalks below the knot. The Hare is then carried home and given to a
maidservant in the kitchen, who places it over the kitchen-door on
the inside. Sometimes the Hare used to be thus kept till the next
harvest. In the parish of Minnigaff, when the Hare was cut, the
unmarried reapers ran home with all speed, and the one who arrived
first was the first to be married. In Germany also one of the names
for the last sheaf is the Hare. Thus in some parts of Anhalt, when
the corn has been reaped and only a few stalks are left standing,
they say, "The Hare will soon come," or the reapers cry to each
other, "Look how the Hare comes jumping out." In East Prussia they
say that the Hare sits in the last patch of standing corn, and must
be chased out by the last reaper. The reapers hurry with their work,
each being anxious not to have "to chase out the Hare"; for the man
who does so, that is, who cuts the last corn, is much laughed at. At
Aurich, as we have seen, an expression for cutting the last corn is
"to cut off the Hare's tail." "He is killing the Hare" is commonly
said of the man who cuts the last corn in Germany, Sweden, Holland,
France, and Italy. In Norway the man who is thus said to "kill the
Hare" must give "hare's blood," in the form of brandy, to his
fellows to drink. In Lesbos, when the reapers are at work in two
neighbouring fields, each party tries to finish first in order to
drive the Hare into their neighbour's field; the reapers who succeed
in doing so believe that next year the crop will be better. A small
sheaf of corn is made up and kept beside the holy picture till next
harvest.



5. The Corn-spirit as a Cat

AGAIN, the corn-spirit sometimes takes the form of a cat. Near Kiel
children are warned not to go into the corn-fields because "the Cat
sits there." In the Eisenach Oberland they are told "the Corn-cat
will come and fetch you," "the Corn-cat goes in the corn." In some
parts of Silesia at mowing the last corn they say, "The Cat is
caught"; and at threshing, the man who gives the last stroke is
called the Cat. In the neighbourhood of Lyons the last sheaf and the
harvest-supper are both called the Cat. About Vesoul when they cut
the last corn they say, "We have the Cat by the tail." At Brianon,
in Dauphin, at the beginning of reaping, a cat is decked out with
ribbons, flowers, and ears of corn. It is called the Cat of the
ball-skin (_le chat de peau de balle_). If a reaper is wounded at
his work, they make the cat lick the wound. At the close of the
reaping the cat is again decked out with ribbons and ears of corn;
then they dance and make merry. When the dance is over the girls
solemnly strip the cat of its finery. At Grneberg, in Silesia, the
reaper who cuts the last corn goes by the name of the Tom-cat. He is
enveloped in rye-stalks and green withes, and is furnished with a
long plaited tail. Sometimes as a companion he has a man similarly
dressed, who is called the (female) Cat. Their duty is to run after
people whom they see and to beat them with a long stick. Near Amiens
the expression for finishing the harvest is, "They are going to kill
the Cat"; and when the last corn is cut they kill a cat in the
farmyard. At threshing, in some parts of France, a live cat is
placed under the last bundle of corn to be threshed, and is struck
dead with the flails. Then on Sunday it is roasted and eaten as a
holiday dish. In the Vosges Mountains the close of haymaking or
harvest is called "catching the cat," "killing the dog," or more
rarely "catching the hare." The cat, the dog, or the hare is said to
be fat or lean according as the crop is good or bad. The man who
cuts the last handful of hay or of wheat is said to catch the cat or
the hare or to kill the dog.



6. The Corn-spirit as a Goat

FURTHER, the corn-spirit often appears in the form of a goat. In
some parts of Prussia, when the corn bends before the wind, they
say, "The Goats are chasing each other," "the wind is driving the
Goats through the corn," "the Goats are browsing there," and they
expect a very good harvest. Again they say, "The Oats-goat is
sitting in the oats-field," "the Corn-goat is sitting in the
rye-field." Children are warned not to go into the corn-fields to
pluck the blue corn-flowers, or amongst the beans to pluck pods,
because the Rye-goat, the Corn-goat, the Oats-goat, or the Bean-goat
is sitting or lying there, and will carry them away or kill them.
When a harvester is taken sick or lags behind his fellows at their
work, they call out, "The Harvest-goat has pushed him," "he has been
pushed by the Corn-goat." In the neighbourhood of Braunsberg (East
Prussia) at binding the oats every harvester makes haste "lest the
Corn-goat push him." At Oefoten, in Norway, each reaper has his
allotted patch to reap. When a reaper in the middle has not finished
reaping his piece after his neighbours have finished theirs, they
say of him, "He remains on the island." And if the laggard is a man,
they imitate the cry with which they call a he-goat; if a woman, the
cry with which they call a she-goat. Near Straubing, in Lower
Bavaria, it is said of the man who cuts the last corn that "he has
the Corn-goat, or the Wheat-goat, or the Oats-goat," according to
the crop. Moreover, two horns are set up on the last heap of corn,
and it is called "the horned Goat." At Kreutzburg, East Prussia,
they call out to the woman who is binding the last sheaf, "The Goat
is sitting in the sheaf." At Gablingen, in Swabia, when the last
field of oats upon a farm is being reaped, the reapers carve a goat
out of wood. Ears of oats are inserted in its nostrils and mouth,
and it is adorned with garlands of flowers. It is set up on the
field and called the Oats-goat. When the reaping approaches an end,
each reaper hastens to finish his piece first; he who is the last to
finish gets the Oats-goat. Again, the last sheaf is itself called
the Goat. Thus, in the valley of the Wiesent, Bavaria, the last
sheaf bound on the field is called the Goat, and they have a
proverb, "The field must bear a goat." At Spachbrcken, in Hesse,
the last handful of corn which is cut is called the Goat, and the
man who cuts it is much ridiculed. At Drrenbchig and about Mosbach
in Baden the last sheaf is also called the Goat. Sometimes the last
sheaf is made up in the form of a goat, and they say, "The Goat is
sitting in it." Again, the person who cuts or binds the last sheaf
is called the Goat. Thus, in parts of Mecklenburg they call out to
the woman who binds the last sheaf, "You are the Harvest-goat." Near
Uelzen, in Hanover, the harvest festival begins with "the bringing
of the Harvest-goat"; that is, the woman who bound the last sheaf is
wrapt in straw, crowned with a harvest-wreath, and brought in a
wheel-barrow to the village, where a round dance takes place. About
Luneburg, also, the woman who binds the last corn is decked with a
crown of corn-ears and is called the Corn-goat. At Mnzesheim in
Baden the reaper who cuts the last handful of corn or oats is called
the Corn-goat or the Oats-goat. In the Canton St. Gall, Switzerland,
the person who cuts the last handful of corn on the field, or drives
the last harvest-waggon to the barn, is called the Corn-goat or the
Rye-goat, or simply the Goat. In the Canton Thurgau he is called
Corn-goat; like a goat he has a bell hung round his neck, is led in
triumph, and drenched with liquor. In parts of Styria, also, the man
who cuts the last corn is called Corn-goat, Oats-goat, or the like.
As a rule, the man who thus gets the name of Corn-goat has to bear
it a whole year till the next harvest.

According to one view, the corn-spirit, who has been caught in the
form of a goat or otherwise, lives in the farmhouse or barn over
winter. Thus, each farm has its own embodiment of the corn-spirit.
But, according to another view, the corn-spirit is the genius or
deity, not of the corn of one farm only, but of all the corn. Hence
when the corn on one farm is all cut, he flees to another where
there is still corn left standing. This idea is brought out in a
harvest-custom which was formerly observed in Skye. The farmer who
first finished reaping sent a man or woman with a sheaf to a
neighbouring farmer who had not finished; the latter in his turn,
when he had finished, sent on the sheaf to his neighbour who was
still reaping; and so the sheaf made the round of the farms till all
the corn was cut. The sheaf was called the _goabbir bhacagh,_ that
is, the Cripple Goat. The custom appears not to be extinct at the
present day, for it was reported from Skye not very many years ago.
The corn-spirit was probably thus represented as lame because he had
been crippled by the cutting of the corn. Sometimes the old woman
who brings home the last sheaf must limp on one foot.

But sometimes the corn-spirit, in the form of a goat, is believed to
be slain on the harvest-field by the sickle or scythe. Thus, in the
neighbourhood of Bernkastel, on the Moselle, the reapers determine
by lot the order in which they shall follow each other. The first is
called the fore-reaper, the last the tail-bearer. If a reaper
overtakes the man in front he reaps past him, bending round so as to
leave the slower reaper in a patch by himself. This patch is called
the Goat; and the man for whom "the Goat is cut" in this way, is
laughed and jeered at by his fellows for the rest of the day. When
the tail-bearer cuts the last ears of corn, it is said, "He is
cutting the Goat's neck off." In the neighbourhood of Grenoble,
before the end of the reaping, a live goat is adorned with flowers
and ribbons and allowed to run about the field. The reapers chase it
and try to catch it. When it is caught, the farmer's wife holds it
fast while the farmer cuts off its head. The goat's flesh serves to
furnish the harvest-supper. A piece of the flesh is pickled and kept
till the next harvest, when another goat is killed. Then all the
harvesters eat of the flesh. On the same day the skin of the goat is
made into a cloak, which the farmer, who works with his men, must
always wear at harvest-time if rain or bad weather sets in. But if a
reaper gets pains in his back, the farmer gives him the goat-skin to
wear. The reason for this seems to be that the pains in the back,
being inflicted by the corn-spirit, can also be healed by it.
Similarly, we saw that elsewhere, when a reaper is wounded at
reaping, a cat, as the representative of the corn-spirit, is made to
lick the wound. Esthonian reapers of the island of Mon think that
the man who cuts the first ears of corn at harvest will get pains in
his back, probably because the corn-spirit is believed to resent
especially the first wound; and, in order to escape pains in the
back, Saxon reapers in Transylvania gird their loins with the first
handful of ears which they cut. Here, again, the corn-spirit is
applied to for healing or protection, but in his original vegetable
form, not in the form of a goat or a cat.

Further, the corn-spirit under the form of a goat is sometimes
conceived as lurking among the cut corn in the barn, till he is
driven from it by the threshing-flail. Thus in Baden the last sheaf
to be threshed is called the Corn-goat, the Spelt-goat, or the
Oats-goat according to the kind of grain. Again, near Marktl, in
Upper Bavaria, the sheaves are called Straw-goats or simply Goats.
They are laid in a great heap on the open field and threshed by two
rows of men standing opposite each other, who, as they ply their
flails, sing a song in which they say that they see the Straw-goat
amongst the corn-stalks. The last Goat, that is, the last sheaf, is
adorned with a wreath of violets and other flowers and with cakes
strung together. It is placed right in the middle of the heap. Some
of the threshers rush at it and tear the best of it out; others lay
on with their flails so recklessly that heads are sometimes broken.
At Oberinntal, in the Tyrol, the last thresher is called Goat. So at
Haselberg, in West Bohemia, the man who gives the last stroke at
threshing oats is called the Oats-goat. At Tettnang, in Wrtemburg,
the thresher who gives the last stroke to the last bundle of corn
before it is turned goes by the name of the He-goat, and it is said,
"He has driven the He-goat away." The person who, after the bundle
has been turned, gives the last stroke of all, is called the
She-goat. In this custom it is implied that the corn is inhabited by
a pair of corn-spirits, male and female.

Further, the corn-spirit, captured in the form of a goat at
threshing, is passed on to a neighbour whose threshing is not yet
finished. In Franche Comt, as soon as the threshing is over, the
young people set up a straw figure of a goat on the farmyard of a
neighbour who is still threshing. He must give them wine or money in
return. At Ellwangen, in Wrtemburg, the effigy of a goat is made
out of the last bundle of corn at threshing; four sticks form its
legs, and two its horns. The man who gives the last stroke with the
flail must carry the Goat to the barn of a neighbour who is still
threshing and throw it down on the floor; if he is caught in the
act, they tie the Goat on his back. A similar custom is observed at
Indersdorf, in Upper Bavaria; the man who throws the straw Goat into
the neighbour's barn imitates the bleating of a goat; if they catch
him, they blacken his face and tie the Goat on his back. At Saverne,
in Alsace, when a farmer is a week or more behind his neighbours
with his threshing, they set a real stuffed goat or fox before his
door.

Sometimes the spirit of the corn in goat form is believed to be
killed at threshing. In the district of Traunstein, Upper Bavaria,
they think that the Oats-goat is in the last sheaf of oats. He is
represented by an old rake set up on end, with an old pot for a
head. The children are then told to kill the Oats-goat.



7. The Corn-spirit as a Bull, Cow, or Ox

ANOTHER form which the corn-spirit often assumes is that of a bull,
cow, or ox. When the wind sweeps over the corn they say at Conitz,
in West Prussia, "The Steer is running in the corn"; when the corn
is thick and strong in one spot, they say in some parts of East
Prussia, "The Bull is lying in the corn." When a harvester has
overstrained and lamed himself, they say in the Graudenz district of
West Prussia, "The Bull pushed him"; in Lorraine they say, "He has
the Bull." The meaning of both expressions is that he has
unwittingly lighted upon the divine corn-spirit, who has punished
the profane intruder with lameness. So near Chambry when a reaper
wounds himself with his sickle, it is said that he has "the wound of
the Ox." In the district of Bunzlau (Silesia) the last sheaf is
sometimes made into the shape of a horned ox, stuffed with tow and
wrapt in corn-ears. This figure is called the Old Man. In some parts
of Bohemia the last sheaf is made up in human form and called the
Buffalo-bull. These cases show a confusion of the human with the
animal shape of the corn-spirit. The confusion is like that of
killing a wether under the name of a wolf. All over Swabia the last
bundle of corn on the field is called the Cow; the man who cuts the
last ears "has the Cow," and is himself called Cow or Barley-cow or
Oats-cow, according to the crop; at the harvest-supper he gets a
nosegay of flowers and corn-ears and a more liberal allowance of
drink than the rest. But he is teased and laughed at; so no one
likes to be the Cow. The Cow was sometimes represented by the figure
of a woman made out of ears of corn and corn-flowers. It was carried
to the farmhouse by the man who had cut the last handful of corn.
The children ran after him and the neighbours turned out to laugh at
him, till the farmer took the Cow from him. Here again the confusion
between the human and the animal form of the corn-spirit is
apparent. In various parts of Switzerland the reaper who cuts the
last ears of corn is called Wheat-cow, Corn-cow, Oats-cow, or
Corn-steer, and is the butt of many a joke. On the other hand, in
the district of Rosenheim, Upper Bavaria, when a farmer is later of
getting in his harvest than his neighbours, they set up on his land
a Straw-bull, as it is called. This is a gigantic figure of a bull
made of stubble on a framework of wood and adorned with flowers and
leaves. Attached to it is a label on which are scrawled doggerel
verses in ridicule of the man on whose land the Straw-bull is set
up.

Again, the corn-spirit in the form of a bull or ox is killed on the
harvest-field at the close of the reaping. At Pouilly, near Dijon,
when the last ears of corn are about to be cut, an ox adorned with
ribbons, flowers, and ears of corn is led all round the field,
followed by the whole troop of reapers dancing. Then a man disguised
as the Devil cuts the last ears of corn and immediately slaughters
the ox. Part of the flesh of the animal is eaten at the
harvest-supper; part is pickled and kept till the first day of
sowing in spring. At Pont Mousson and elsewhere on the evening of
the last day of reaping, a calf adorned with flowers and ears of
corn is led thrice round the farmyard, being allured by a bait or
driven by men with sticks, or conducted by the farmer's wife with a
rope. The calf chosen for this ceremony is the calf which was born
first on the farm in the spring of the year. It is followed by all
the reapers with their tools. Then it is allowed to run free; the
reapers chase it, and whoever catches it is called King of the Calf.
Lastly, it is solemnly killed; at Lunville the man who acts as
butcher is the Jewish merchant of the village.

Sometimes again the corn-spirit hides himself amongst the cut corn
in the barn to reappear in bull or cow form at threshing. Thus at
Wurmlingen, in Thringen, the man who gives the last stroke at
threshing is called the Cow, or rather the Barley-cow, Oats-cow,
Peas-cow, or the like, according to the crop. He is entirely
enveloped in straw; his head is surmounted by sticks in imitation of
horns, and two lads lead him by ropes to the well to drink. On the
way thither he must low like a cow, and for a long time afterwards
he goes by the name of the Cow. At Obermedlingen, in Swabia, when
the threshing draws near an end, each man is careful to avoid giving
the last stroke. He who does give it "gets the Cow," which is a
straw figure dressed in an old ragged petticoat, hood, and
stockings. It is tied on his back with a straw-rope; his face is
blackened, and being bound with straw-ropes to a wheelbarrow he is
wheeled round the village. Here, again, we meet with that confusion
between the human and animal shape of the corn-spirit which we have
noted in other customs. In Canton Schaffhausen the man who threshes
the last corn is called the Cow; in Canton Thurgau, the Corn-bull;
in Canton Zurich, the Thresher-cow. In the last-mentioned district
he is wrapt in straw and bound to one of the trees in the orchard.
At Arad, in Hungary, the man who gives the last stroke at threshing
is enveloped in straw and a cow's hide with the horns attached to
it. At Pessnitz, in the district of Dresden, the man who gives the
last stroke with the flail is called Bull. He must make a straw-man
and set it up before a neighbour's window. Here, apparently, as in
so many cases, the corn-spirit is passed on to a neighbour who has
not finished threshing. So at Herbrechtingen, in Thringen, the
effigy of a ragged old woman is flung into the barn of the farmer
who is last with his threshing. The man who throws it in cries,
"There is the Cow for you." If the threshers catch him they detain
him over night and punish him by keeping him from the
harvest-supper. In these latter customs the confusion between the
human and the animal shape of the corn-spirit meets us again.

Further, the corn-spirit in bull form is sometimes believed to be
killed at threshing. At Auxerre, in threshing the last bundle of
corn, they call out twelve times, "We are killing the Bull." In the
neighbourhood of Bordeaux, where a butcher kills an ox on the field
immediately after the close of the reaping, it is said of the man
who gives the last stroke at threshing that "he has killed the
Bull." At Chambry the last sheaf is called the sheaf of the Young
Ox, and a race takes place to it in which all the reapers join. When
the last stroke is given at threshing they say that "the Ox is
killed"; and immediately thereupon a real ox is slaughtered by the
reaper who cut the last corn. The flesh of the ox is eaten by the
threshers at supper.

We have seen that sometimes the young corn-spirit, whose task it is
to quicken the corn of the coming year, is believed to be born as a
Corn-baby on the harvest-field. Similarly in Berry the young
corn-spirit is sometimes supposed to be born on the field in calf
form; for when a binder has not rope enough to bind all the corn in
sheaves, he puts aside the wheat that remains over and imitates the
lowing of a cow. The meaning is that "the sheaf has given birth to a
calf." In Puy-de-Dme when a binder cannot keep up with the reaper
whom he or she follows, they say "He (or she) is giving birth to the
Calf." In some parts of Prussia, in similar circumstances, they call
out to the woman, "The Bull is coming," and imitate the bellowing of
a bull. In these cases the woman is conceived as the Corn-cow or old
corn-spirit, while the supposed calf is the Corn-calf or young
corn-spirit. In some parts of Austria a mythical calf
(_Muhklbchen_) is believed to be seen amongst the sprouting corn in
spring and to push the children; when the corn waves in the wind
they say, "The Calf is going about." Clearly, as Mannhardt observes,
this calf of the spring-time is the same animal which is afterwards
believed to be killed at reaping.



8. The Corn-spirit as a Horse or Mare

SOMETIMES the corn-spirit appears in the shape of a horse or mare.
Between Kalw and Stuttgart, when the corn bends before the wind,
they say, "There runs the Horse." At Bohlingen, near Radolfzell in
Baden, the last sheaf of oats is called the Oats-stallion. In
Hertfordshire, at the end of the reaping, there is or used to be
observed a ceremony called "crying the Mare." The last blades of
corn left standing on the field are tied together and called the
Mare. The reapers stand at a distance and throw their sickles at it;
he who cuts it through "has the prize, with acclamations and good
cheer." After it is cut the reapers cry thrice with a loud voice, "I
have her!" Others answer thrice, "What have you?"--"A Mare! a Mare!
a Mare!"--"Whose is she?" is next asked thrice. "A. B.'s," naming
the owner thrice. "Whither will you send her?"--"To C. D.," naming
some neighbour who has not reaped all his corn. In this custom the
corn-spirit in the form of a mare is passed on from a farm where the
corn is all cut to another farm where it is still standing, and
where therefore the corn-spirit may be supposed naturally to take
refuge. In Shropshire the custom is similar. The farmer who finishes
his harvest last, and who therefore cannot send the Mare to any one
else, is said "to keep her all winter." The mocking offer of the
Mare to a laggard neighbour was sometimes responded to by a mocking
acceptance of her help. Thus an old man told an inquirer, "While we
wun at supper, a mon cumm'd wi' a autar [halter] to fatch her away."
At one place a real mare used to be sent, but the man who rode her
was subjected to some rough treatment at the farmhouse to which he
paid his unwelcome visit.

In the neighbourhood of Lille the idea of the corn-spirit in horse
form in clearly preserved. When a harvester grows weary at his work,
it is said, "He has the fatigue of the Horse." The first sheaf,
called the "Cross of the Horse," is placed on a cross of boxwood in
the barn, and the youngest horse on the farm must tread on it. The
reapers dance round the last blades of corn, crying, "See the
remains of the Horse." The sheaf made out of these last blades is
given to the youngest horse of the parish (_commune_) to eat. This
youngest horse of the parish clearly represents, as Mannhardt says,
the corn-spirit of the following year, the Corn-foal, which absorbs
the spirit of the old Corn-horse by eating the last corn cut; for,
as usual, the old corn-spirit takes his final refuge in the last
sheaf. The thresher of the last sheaf is said to "beat the Horse."



9. The Corn-spirit as a Pig (Boar or Sow)

THE LAST animal embodiment of the corn-spirit which we shall notice
is the pig (boar or sow). In Thringen, when the wind sets the young
corn in motion, they sometimes say, "The Boar is rushing through the
corn." Amongst the Esthonians of the island of Oesel the last sheaf
is called the Ryeboar, and the man who gets it is saluted with a cry
of "You have the Rye-boar on your back!" In reply he strikes up a
song, in which he prays for plenty. At Kohlerwinkel, near Augsburg,
at the close of the harvest, the last bunch of standing corn is cut
down, stalk by stalk, by all the reapers in turn. He who cuts the
last stalk "gets the Sow," and is laughed at. In other Swabian
villages also the man who cuts the last corn "has the Sow," or "has
the Rye-sow." At Bohlingen, near Radolfzell in Baden, the last sheaf
is called the Rye-sow or the Wheat-sow, according to the crop; and
at Rhrenbach in Baden the person who brings the last armful for the
last sheaf is called the Corn-sow or the Oats-sow. At Friedingen, in
Swabia, the thresher who gives the last stroke is called
Sow--Barley-sow, Corn-sow, or the like, according to the crop. At
Onstmettingen the man who gives the last stroke at threshing "has
the Sow"; he is often bound up in a sheaf and dragged by a rope
along the ground. And, generally, in Swabia the man who gives the
last stroke with the flail is called Sow. He may, however, rid
himself of this invidious distinction by passing on to a neighbour
the straw-rope, which is the badge of his position as Sow. So he
goes to a house and throws the straw-rope into it, crying, "There, I
bring you the Sow." All the inmates give chase; and if they catch
him they beat him, shut him up for several hours in the pig-sty, and
oblige him to take the "Sow" away again. In various parts of Upper
Bavaria the man who gives the last stroke at threshing must "carry
the Pig"--that is, either a straw effigy of a pig or merely a bundle
of straw-ropes. This he carries to a neighbouring farm where the
threshing is not finished, and throws it into the barn. If the
threshers catch him they handle him roughly, beating him, blackening
or dirtying his face, throwing him into filth, binding the Sow on
his back, and so on; if the bearer of the Sow is a woman they cut
off her hair. At the harvest supper or dinner the man who "carried
the Pig" gets one or more dumplings made in the form of pigs. When
the dumplings are served up by the maidservant, all the people at
table cry "Sz, sz, sz !" that being the cry used in calling pigs.
Sometimes after dinner the man who "carried the Pig" has his face
blackened, and is set on a cart and drawn round the village by his
fellows, followed by a crowd crying "Sz, sz, sz !" as if they
were calling swine. Sometimes, after being wheeled round the
village, he is flung on the dunghill.

Again, the corn-spirit in the form of a pig plays his part at
sowing-time as well as at harvest. At Neuautz, in Courland, when
barley is sown for the first time in the year, the farmer's wife
boils the chine of a pig along with the tail, and brings it to the
sower on the field. He eats of it, but cuts off the tail and sticks
it in the field; it is believed that the ears of corn will then grow
as long as the tail. Here the pig is the corn-spirit, whose
fertilising power is sometimes supposed to lie especially in his
tail. As a pig he is put in the ground at sowing-time, and as a pig
he reappears amongst the ripe corn at harvest. For amongst the
neighbouring Esthonians, as we have seen, the last sheaf is called
the Rye-boar. Somewhat similar customs are observed in Germany. In
the Salza district, near Meiningen, a certain bone in the pig is
called "the Jew on the winnowing-fan." The flesh of this bone is
boiled on Shrove Tuesday, but the bone is put amongst the ashes
which the neighbours exchange as presents on St. Peter's Day (the
twenty-second of February), and then mix with the seedcorn. In the
whole of Hesse, Meiningen, and other districts, people eat pea-soup
with dried pig-ribs on Ash Wednesday or Candlemas. The ribs are then
collected and hung in the room till sowing-time, when they are
inserted in the sown field or in the seed-bag amongst the flax seed.
This is thought to be an infallible specific against earth-fleas and
moles, and to cause the flax to grow well and tall.

But the idea of the corn-spirit as embodied in pig form is nowhere
more clearly expressed than in the Scandinavian custom of the Yule
Boar. In Sweden and Denmark at Yule (Christmas) it is the custom to
bake a loaf in the form of a boar-pig. This is called the Yule Boar.
The corn of the last sheaf is often used to make it. All through
Yule the Yule Boar stands on the table. Often it is kept till the
sowing-time in spring, when part of it is mixed with the seed-corn
and part given to the ploughman and plough-horses or ploughoxen to
eat, in the expectation of a good harvest. In this custom the
corn-spirit, immanent in the last sheaf, appears at midwinter in the
form of a boar made from the corn of the last sheaf; and his
quickening influence on the corn is shown by mixing part of the Yule
Boar with the seed-corn, and giving part of it to the ploughman and
his cattle to eat. Similarly we saw that the Corn-wolf makes his
appearance at mid-winter, the time when the year begins to verge
towards spring. Formerly a real boar was sacrificed at Christmas,
and apparently also a man in the character of the Yule Boar. This,
at least, may perhaps be inferred from a Christmas custom still
observed in Sweden. A man is wrapt up in a skin, and carries a wisp
of straw in his mouth, so that the projecting straws look like the
bristles of a boar. A knife is brought, and an old woman, with her
face blackened, pretends to sacrifice him.

On Christmas Eve in some parts of the Esthonian island of Oesel they
bake a long cake with the two ends turned up. It is called the
Christmas Boar, and stands on the table till the morning of New
Year's Day, when it is distributed among the cattle. In other parts
of the island the Christmas Boar is not a cake but a little pig born
in March, which the housewife fattens secretly, often without the
knowledge of the other members of the family. On Christmas Eve the
little pig is secretly killed, then roasted in the oven, and set on
the table standing on all fours, where it remains in this posture
for several days. In other parts of the island, again, though the
Christmas cake has neither the name nor the shape of a boar, it is
kept till the New Year, when half of it is divided among all the
members and all the quadrupeds of the family. The other half of the
cake is kept till sowing-time comes round, when it is similarly
distributed in the morning among human beings and beasts. In other
parts of Esthonia, again, the Christmas Boar, as it is called, is
baked of the first rye cut at harvest; it has a conical shape and a
cross is impressed on it with a pig's bone or a key, or three dints
are made in it with a buckle or a piece of charcoal. It stands with
a light beside it on the table all through the festal season. On New
Year's Day and Epiphany, before sunrise, a little of the cake is
crumbled with salt and given to the cattle. The rest is kept till
the day when the cattle are driven out to pasture for the first time
in spring. It is then put in the herdsman's bag, and at evening is
divided among the cattle to guard them from magic and harm. In some
places the Christmas Boar is partaken of by farm-servants and cattle
at the time of the barley sowing, for the purpose of thereby
producing a heavier crop.



10. On the Animal Embodiments of the Corn-spirit

SO much for the animal embodiments of the corn-spirit as they are
presented to us in the folk-customs of Northern Europe. These
customs bring out clearly the sacramental character of the
harvest-supper. The corn-spirit is conceived as embodied in an
animal; this divine animal is slain, and its flesh and blood are
partaken of by the harvesters. Thus the cock, the hare, the cat, the
goat, and the OX are eaten sacramentally by the harvester, and the
pig is eaten sacramentally by ploughmen in spring. Again, as a
substitute for the real flesh of the divine being, bread or
dumplings are made in his image and eaten sacramentally; thus,
pig-shaped dumplings are eaten by the harvesters, and loaves made in
boar-shape (the Yule Boar) are eaten in spring by the ploughman and
his cattle.

The reader has probably remarked the complete parallelism between
the conceptions of the corn-spirit in human and in animal form. The
parallel may be here briefly resumed. When the corn waves in the
wind it is said either that the Corn-mother or that the Corn-wolf,
etc., is passing through the corn. Children are warned against
straying in corn-fields either because the Corn-mother or because
the Corn-wolf, etc., is there. In the last corn cut or the last
sheaf threshed either the Corn-mother or the Corn-wolf, etc., is
supposed to be present. The last sheaf is itself called either the
Corn-mother or the Corn-wolf, etc., and is made up in the shape
either of a woman or of a wolf, etc. The person who cuts, binds, or
threshes the last sheaf is called either the Old Woman or the Wolf,
etc., according to the name bestowed on the sheaf itself. As in some
places a sheaf made in human form and called the Maiden, the Mother
of the Maize, etc., is kept from one harvest to the next in order to
secure a continuance of the corn-spirit's blessing, so in some
places the Harvest-cock and in others the flesh of the goat is kept
for a similar purpose from one harvest to the next. As in some
places the grain taken from the Corn-mother is mixed with the
seed-corn in spring to make the crop abundant, so in some places the
feathers of the cock, and in Sweden the Yule Boar, are kept till
spring and mixed with the seed-corn for a like purpose. As part of
the Corn-mother or Maiden is given to the cattle at Christmas or to
the horses at the first ploughing, so part of the Yule Boar is given
to the ploughing horses or oxen in spring. Lastly, the death of the
corn-spirit is represented by killing or pretending to kill either
his human or his animal representative; and the worshippers partake
sacramentally either of the actual body and blood of the
representative of the divinity, or of bread made in his likeness.

Other animal forms assumed by the corn-spirit are the fox, stag,
roe, sheep, bear, ass, mouse, quail, stork, swan, and kite. If it is
asked why the corn-spirit should be thought to appear in the form of
an animal and of so many different animals, we may reply that to
primitive man the simple appearance of an animal or bird among the
corn is probably enough to suggest a mysterious link between the
creature and the corn; and when we remember that in the old days,
before fields were fenced in, all kinds of animals must have been
free to roam over them, we need not wonder that the corn-spirit
should have been identified even with large animals like the horse
and cow, which nowadays could not, except by a rare accident, be
found straying in an English corn-field. This explanation applies
with peculiar force to the very common case in which the animal
embodiment of the corn-spirit is believed to lurk in the last
standing corn. For at harvest a number of wild animals, such as
hares, rabbits, and partridges, are commonly driven by the progress
of the reaping into the last patch of standing corn, and make their
escape from it as it is being cut down. So regularly does this
happen that reapers and others often stand round the last patch of
corn armed with sticks or guns, with which they kill the animals as
they dart out of their last refuge among the stalks. Now, primitive
man, to whom magical changes of shape seem perfectly credible, finds
it most natural that the spirit of the corn, driven from his home in
the ripe grain, should make his escape in the form of the animal
which is seen to rush out of the last patch of corn as it falls
under the scythe of the reaper. Thus the identification of the
corn-spirit with an animal is analogous to the identification of him
with a passing stranger. As the sudden appearance of a stranger near
the harvest-field or threshing-floor is, to the primitive mind,
enough to identify him as the spirit of the corn escaping from the
cut or threshed corn, so the sudden appearance of an animal issuing
from the cut corn is enough to identify it with the corn-spirit
escaping from his ruined home. The two identifications are so
analogous that they can hardly be dissociated in any attempt to
explain them. Those who look to some other principle than the one
here suggested for the explanation of the latter identification are
bound to show that their theory covers the former identification
also.






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