The last straw?

In my dad’s Countryman’s Diary column from October 1976, he recounts childhood memories of the Harvest Festival in his local moorland church in Lealholm. He describes how brightly the church was lit, how every surface was laden with locally-grown produce and that it was jam-packed with worshippers giving thanks for that year’s harvest and praying for the next one.

Not only was there produce, but also examples of local craftsmanship, especially corn dollies which, for obvious reasons, are particularly associated with the harvest. He recalls that one skilled parishioner had made a beautiful replica church and filled it with fruits and nuts, and it sat in pride of place on the altar.

Reading this made me want to find out more about corn dollies, as I only had vague knowledge that they were somehow linked to paganism and the harvest. I didn’t really know why people went to such effort to make these unusual objects.

I discovered that there is evidence of corn dollies, in various forms, dating back many thousands of years in lands where cereals were commonly grown. Wheat was one of the first cereals to be domestically cultivated, proven by archaeological evidence from Ancient Egypt and the Near East.

The ancient belief was that the gods oversaw the yearly cycles of food production, and it was the people’s duty to keep them happy to ensure a good harvest. A bad harvest meant you had done something to upset them.

The Corn Spirit was especially revered as she was so fundamental in the protecting the health and well-being of the population by providing such an important foodstuff. Most civilisations that relied on cereal crops had their own version – The Romans had Ceres (from which the word ‘cereal’ comes), the Greeks had Demeter (meaning Earth Mother) and for the Egyptian’s it was Isis, which means ‘Queen of the Throne’.

The beliefs were all very similar in that as the crop was being harvested, the Corn Spirit would retreat as the reapers approached, until she was forced into the last few ears of corn still standing. Instead of being harvested for food, these remaining stems would be turned into a corn dolly into which the Corn Spirit could leap, and then live safely in the worshipper’s home until the following spring when the fields would be planted again.

By giving the spirit a warm home over the winter, it was believed that she would look favourably on her protectors, and provide a healthy harvest the following year. Come spring, the corn dolly would be broken up over the field, liberating the spirit, who would then look after the newly-planted crop. The term ‘corn dolly’ came into use relatively recently in the early 20th century. Before that, they were known as harvest trophies.

Corn is a generic term for a cereal crop, and includes wheat, oats, rye and barley, and ‘dolly’ stems from the ancient Greek word ‘eidolon’, meaning ‘idol’ or ‘spirit’. As most corn dollies were by tradition destroyed, not many ancient ones survive, although there are a few remaining in museums, such as the Ryedale Folk Museum in Hutton-le-Hole, the Yorkshire Farming Museum at Murton, York Castle Museum and Temple Newsam near Leeds.

Different regions of the country would have their own special corn dolly designs, such as the Yorkshire Spiral, the Stafford Knot, the Cambridge Umbrella and the Suffolk Horseshoe. The skill with straw wasn’t confined to dollies though - hats, baskets and items of furniture were also common and practical, as were delicate little ornaments known as the Countryman’s Favour. A country lad would present his lady love with a token of his affection in the form of a plaited straw buttonhole, which she would then wear over her heart.

Creating objects from straw is a skill that it dying out, although is still practiced today by a number of dedicated artists. The Guild of Straw Craftsmen hold regular events and classes at which you can learn more about this ancient and impressive art.

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